AVENGED SEVENFOLD - HAIL TO THE KING
How predictable am I? But yes, Hail to the King. I love how huge and theatrical this sounds, especially on Shepherd of Fire. Each song is heavy, desperate to be played at ear splitting volume. M Shadows' voice carries you through each song, each story. There's themes of war and being imprisoned, death and being away from home. Synyster Gates dialed down the guitars to great effect and the introduction of Arin Illejay as drummer saw Avenged take the first steps to moving on. It's exciting, with a lot of interesting lyrics, and it's shooting them into the stratosphere.Favourite song: Acid Rain.
ALTER BRIDGE - FORTRESS
Predictably one of my most anticipated albums of this year. I fell in love with Alter Bridge when I heard AB III way back in 2010. Fortress is AB's darkest, angriest album to date. They've shaken off all the Creed associations. Each song tells an intricate tale, Addicted to Pain surrounds a destructive, abusive, inescapable relationship, Bleed it Dry borders on the political and All Ends Well is a comforting reminder to all those feeling a bit lost or stuck. Myles Kennedy's vocal is perfect, and there is never a dull moment. Big surprise comes in the form of Mark Tremonti taking charge on Waters Rising. It's exciting, fresh, but keeping in with a classic Alter Bridge sound and feel. Favourite song: Lover.
FALL OUT BOY - SAVE ROCK AND ROLL
Oh my heroes. Fall Out Boy seemed to appear from absolutely nowhere with this album. There wasn't much time to create too much hype and anticipation as the bomb of My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark was dropped and not long after, the rest of the album. It's quickly become my favourite Fall Out Boy album. Every song is different and it's not like anything else on my iPod. Patrick Stump's voice is stunning, and the lyrics are so clever. I think part of the appeal with it, is a few songs were a bit of a 'right song at the right time' moment, especially Miss Missing You. I was on board with this album from the start and I remember streaming it on my work experience and feeling excited about the music. (fangirl mode deactivated)
Favourite song: Just One Yesterday
HEAVEN'S BASEMENT - FILTHY EMPIRE
I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Heaven's Basement for a while. I liked the EP. Then that singer walked out on them. For a while, I didn't like the replacement's voice. He couldn't sing the old songs, because they weren't written for him to sing. Enter Filthy Empire and suddenly I fell for Heaven's Basement all over again. Aaron Buchanan's vocal fits in much better with this set of songs. There's a slight nod to their origins with Can't Let Go (previously on their self-titled EP) it's slightly heavy, in a more accessible way, each song is bigger and better sounding than the one that comes before it. A couple of ballads sprinkled here and there make for a strong, well rounded debut.
Favourite song: Be Somebody
MALLORY KNOX - SIGNALS
Mallory Knox were 2013's British band for me. After hearing Lighthouse at the end of last year, I was completely sold. Signals was a real surprise. In the past I've championed You Me At Six, Young Guns etc when they'd just started out, release full length albums and so forth, but with all of those I'd never liked an album as much as this one. The singles are very poppy, radio friendly rock. Death Rattle is a personal highlight, a much heavier sounding track. The songs feel like they have more depth than a lot of band's releases out there. There's plenty of hidden meanings, open for interpretation. It definitely gives them the edge they need in such an over saturated market.
Favourite song: Death Rattle.
Other albums I could've written about, but then this post wouldn't been the length of a Harry Potter novel:
30 Seconds to Mars - Love Lust Faith Dreams
Tonight Alive - The Other Side
Bullet For My Valentine - Temper Temper
Korn - The Paradigm Shift
Deaf Havana - Old Souls
