The Top 5 Albums of 2019

December marches on fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

I have to laugh at this list. Unlike what I did for 2018's album ranking, this year was actually pretty damn easy! In fact, some of the records on this list were actually announced the year before, and automatically made their way onto here. A couple others throughout 2019 also arrived onto this list, and it made my work much simpler this time around. About the only amount of work I needed to do was figuring out how to order them. So with that said, here are my top 5 albums of 2019. Enjoy!

5) Musmahhu - Reign of the Odius (Song) & Waldgeflüster - Mondscheinsonaten (Song)

We start off this list with a pretty new Death Metal monster. Despite actually being just one guy, the melodic Musmahhu put out an EP last year (Which you can listen to here), and then the real first course came out literally at the start of the year (The 11th of January, if I’m correct). From the first few notes of the beginning track, I knew I was in for a ride.....and a ride I got! It’s always great to hear solo artists come up with great music, and Musmahhu definitely does. The more I discover people/bands who know what the hell they’re doing, I’m liking Death Metal & Black Metal more and more. Speaking of which......

There’s also Waldgeflüster, another band I’m glad I discovered! Taking the normally ugly & heavy style of Black Metal, and somehow making it beautiful, these Germanic wizards continue to surprise any who listen. Their release this past April is no exception: though their previous release was the first I sat down & listened to, the first single off of this album got stuck in my brain, and in turn convinced me to pursue this release. Upon my first listen, it helped me realize that Black Metal can be a little more versatile than I once thought. It’s amazing at how emotional Mondscheinsonaten was, and I recommend it to anyone who wants something more with their Black Metal.

4) Korn - The Nothing (Song)

The most relatively recent album on this list (It came out near mid September on the 13th), I had actually forgotten about it for a bit, till 2 weeks after the release of the album’s first single. I loved the hell out of it, and then the 2nd single came out, and that was pretty damn good too. Finally, the album came out, and I can say that it was worth the wait. In a way, The Nothing is perhaps the rawest & most personal record of Korn’s career, what with the agony of frontman Johnathan Davis seeping into every single track. This isn’t a record that’ll help you find your happy place, although to be fair none of the band’s releases are. Still, this is one time that the number 13 isn’t bad luck, and The Nothing easily kills that myth.

3) Devin Townsend - Empath (Song A/Song B)

At this point, categorizing Devin Townsend into a single musical style seems silly. Though his roots will always sprout from the Progressive Metal tree, he has seemingly branched out into just about everything one can think of. Transcendence from 2016 was certainly spectacular & one of the best releases that year, but Empath might have actually managed to surpass it. The first time in ages he released a record under his own name, Empath can be best described as a musical & emotional rainbow. So many different styles, and so many ways to feel while you listen. If you want you metal more on the awe-inspring/third-eye opening/illuminating side of things, then you need to get this!

2) Beast In Black - From Hell With Love (Song) & Sabaton - The Great War (Song) & Everfrost - Winterider (Song) & Hammerfall - Dominion (Song)

This year, we got 3 significant Power Metal releases. Battle Beast’s 5th CD (Despite it’s issues), Sabaton’s 9th, and relative new comers Beast In Black with their 2nd smash success, From Hell With Love. Taking the title of cheesiest Power Metal band away from his former compatriots, Anton Kabanen assembled a band that proved to be even stronger, even more beastly, even more 80s, and even more geeky than his prior group. Berserker proved to be a fantastic starting record, but it’s From Hell With Love that completely gives them the title of “Beast”! From the opening notes of Cry For A Hero, and to the concluding beats of No Surrender (Not to mention the two fantastic bonus cover tracks on the special edition), it’s obvious that this new band is what BB should still be. This was one of the albums I was considering to be no. 1, but there was one that absolutely floored everybody on here. Regardless, From Hell With Love is a massively happy treat, and it’s one you should indulge in!

And then of course there’s the Sabaton release, The Great War. Being announced the day after April Fools, fans thought it was a belated joke....then it turned out it wasn’t. The previews/singles then showed up, and they got people pumped. Finally the album came out this past July, and.....as usual, Sabaton delivered! Despite it’s considerably darker nature, this is one of the best albums of the year. As usual they continue to try new things with their music, and the end result is nothing but genius. Like Beast In Black’s second offering, I was considering having The Great War be the number one album of 2019, but as with From Hell With Love......something else managed to get past it.

Oh wait.....there’s one more! Out of everything that came out this year (Or for that matter, maybe even this decade), nothing has surprised me much like this release. On the cover it looks like it’ll just be some highly weeby music, said weebiness hides what it actually some incredible Power Metal. Yes, the album has lots of anime & manga inspiration, but it works on Winterider incredibly well. This isn’t an album that you can just listen to once: you actually got to get a few sessions with it to understand how incredible it genuinely is. It might get a bit heavy towards the end emotionally, but it somehow earns that emotional gut punch. To be genuinely honest I almost considered dethroning my no. 1 spot with Winterider, but in a weird way I couldn’t. Still, this second masterpiece of weeby (In a good way) Power Metal from one of Finland’s newest stars is one I would recommend to any Otaku who wants to get into metal!

I think that’s.......crap, we got one last one, and for real this time! I had the privilege of going to one of the final shows of Sabaton’s tour here in the United States. Coming along for the ride were the equally iconic Hammerfall, who I actually didn’t fallow beforehand (Despite being a huge Power Metal fan). That all changed once I got my hands on their 11 album, Dominion.....and I’m sure glad I did! From top to bottom this album is Power Metal of the highest degree, but with a nice dose of Hard Rock thrown into the mix, and the end result might be one of the rawest records within the genre. I’m definitely a fan of Hammerfall now, and it’s all thanks to number 11.

Now before I talk about my number one album of 2019, I wanted to briefly speak about some honorable mentions. The two releases that have taken these spots this year couldn’t be further apart in terms of quality & style, but they still stood out enough that they deserved to at least be commented on. So let’s see the honorable mentions of 2019!

HM1) A Pale Horse Named Death - When The World Becomes Undone (Song)

I didn’t want to put this album here. I really didn’t. When I found out that the spiritual successor to Type-O Negative was finally getting a 3rd album out close to 6 years after the last one, I jumped out of my seat! Then the album finally came out, and kind of like Paradise Lost’s 2017 album Medusa, I sort of got what I wanted. A Pale Horse Named Death definitely called upon the gothic energies of one of the greatest bands in the world with their first two records, but When The World Becomes Undone doesn’t use said energy quite as much. This release almost feels like a Grunge band experimenting with Gothic Metal, rather than a full-blown GM band. In theory this isn’t a bad thing, but APHND are Gothic first & foremost. Regardless, When The World Becomes Undone is most definitely enjoyable, but it’s not as strong as what the band’s first 2 releases were.

HM2) Battle Beast - No More Hollywood Endings (Song)

If I didn’t want to put the above mentioned album in my honorable mentions section, then there was no other place for this record but here. I stated it back when I updated the overview in March (Which you can read here), and I’m stating it here: Battle Beast finally sold out. There’s hardly any drive, any punch, any power, and most certainly, there really isn’t any beast on this record (Said beast has now been claimed by their more recent superiors). All that hope & excitement built up, only to almost immediately be demolished. That said, the few remnants of their older selves are most certainly the highpoints, and for that reason alone No More Hollywood Endings barely makes it onto this list.

1) Rammstein - Rammstein (Song)

There were plenty of albums in 2019 that were really anticipated. Empath, The Great War, you name it. However, I don’t think there was an album in 2019 that was quite as hyped up as Rammstein’s long awaited 7th studio album. Having waited for nearly a decade since their last record, you can be sure that fans were expecting Industrial Metal of the highest quality, and Rammstein easily delivered! Having 2+ decades of experience under their belt, the band created what is mostly likely to be their swan song, but it’s a powerful, loud, and Industrial swan song! I stated it in the update to my overview of the band (Which you can read here), but every damn track is top notch, and it felt like meeting an old friend after years of not seeing & hearing from them. If there was one album that deserved to take the no. 1 spot, it’s definitely this one.

And those were my top 5 albums of 2019. Again, this list was pretty easy to make in comparison to what I did in 2018.....Maybe more so than the lists from 2017 & before. Every album on here (With maybe the exception of No More Hollywood Endings) is worth listening to at the very least, or buying if you’re really into their singles. So with that said, It’s time to post up some holiday goodies, so I’ll see you all soon!



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If you’d like to look at what I thought the best albums were of last year, check out the link below:

Top 5 Albums of 2018