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Roadrunner Records TOP 10 of 2008

Jon Satterley, Sr. VP of New Media

  1. Eluveitie - Slania
    This album was a life-changer. I must have played it 200+ times. A mixture of folk/pagan/viking/melodic/death metal with huge choruses, amazing instrumentation and playing. (Clueless) people might laugh about this style of metal....but Eluveitie created something monumental with Slania and refreshed the genre for another decade. Not just my album of 2008, but easily in my all time top 20 albums.
  2. Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God
    Can Amon Amarth go wrong? Another year, another insanely good skull crusher of a record from the original viking metal crew. Seeing them live at Irving in October cemented the instant power and appeal of (the title track) Twilight of the Thunder God, probably my single "song of the year". And definitely my video of the year.
  3. Manowar - Gods Of War Live
    Well this is kind of a 2007 release, but I only discovered it in 2008 and it has featured hugely on my daily playlists. This is one of the best live albums I have ever heard - the first 7 songs just land one KO punch after another, as well as re-define what was previously Manowar's weakest album, "Sign Of The Hammer" with amazing renditions of "Mountains" and "The Oath". Seriously heavy metal.
  4. Grand Magus - Iron Will
    Awesome mixture of power and doom - I thought their last record, "Wolf's Return", was a biggie...but "Iron Will" easily surpassed it. The title track, Iron Will, is a veritable monster with a punishing chorus that rewards with every listen. Another example of modern metal kicking serioous ass in 2008.
  5. Satyricon - The Age Of Nero
    These dudes are seriously evil. And the new record reflects a kind of brooding malevolence that cuts through the morass of regular black metal wannabes and delivers mightily. Certainly an album that requires multiple listens to truly "get it"...but once you do....whoa!
  6. Judas Priest - Nostradamus
    Priest go opera. But it works. At least, on the track "Alone", Halford takes that incredible vocal power and brings things back to 1982 "Screaming For Vengeance" levels. Yes there is some filler, but if you love the Priest you can live with it as you hunt down the many classics that reside within.
  7. MASSIVE comeback from Trivium. One after another exploding riffs and monstrous choruses catapult this record to a new level for the band. Heafy really raised the bar this time, and made an album I kept going back to.
  8. Black Stone Cherry - Folklore & Superstition
    Hard rock, southern rock....just plain old rock 'n' roll.....hey I'm not one to get hung up about genres! (ha ha)....anyway, BSC made a killer album with "Folklore...", with tons more to sing-along to. I even compared "Peace Is Free" (favourably) to Foreigner's "I Wanna Know What Love Is"...but no one bought that...but I love it!
  9. Flight of the Conchords - S/Titled
    Hilarious - and worth buying simply for the Pet Shop Boys homage, "Inner City Pressure". And also my one non-metal/rock record in the top 10!
  10. Unleashed - Hammer Battalion
    Not as good as Midvinterblot, their 2006 masterpiece (in my opinion)....but still a crushingly heavy arsenal of brutal death metal blistering chaos...and yes, I carefully chose all of those words to describe this killer album.
Posted by Cam A. on 1/6/2009 @ 4:24:19 PM
Nice to see such a broad range. Although some bands I haven't heard enough of to comment on, I'm glad to see Satyricon and Eluveitie on someone's list. BSC is definitely on the opposite end of my spectrum but they had a strong release as well.
Posted by Peter Hodgson on 1/6/2009 @ 6:20:55 PM
Good call on Flight of the Conchords, Jon! My favourite episode is the one with the camera phone. Hehe.

I also really like Black Stone Cherry and the new Trivium.
Posted by Henrik Herdelin Andersen on 1/7/2009 @ 8:42:50 AM
I agree that Death Magnetic is an awesome album, but you challenged people to name 3 other bands "still going strong", so here goes:

AC/DC - Black ice is absolutely phenomenal. If you liked their early stuff, you'll love this one.

Iron Maiden - No matter how old these guys get they still put the fear of Eddie into people. I wonder how Bruce will sound like at age 80 though...

Megadeth - Apart from being my personal favorite band, these guys have an uncanny knack for revamping their sound to something even more spectacular just when you thought it couldn't get any better.

There's yer 3 bands "still going strong".

That being said I am sure there are several others that could be highlighted, but these were the three that sprung to my mind first ;)

Posted by mufuka on 1/7/2009 @ 10:37:14 AM
Age Of Nero... is that out in Europe already? Is that how it's part of the 08 list? Regardless, it's pretty sweet. Satyricon have never really disappointed me. Satyr and Frost always deliver with such force and power. Everything is so clean that it's almost more evil than the old days of rawness. The precision is cold.
Posted by Olivier C. on 1/28/2009 @ 10:24:36 AM
You are so right about Eluveitie's Slania album! I have played it again and again when i heard it for the first time. Really awesome!
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