THE BEST OF 2003
Our East Coast Editor, Christopher J. Kelter,
tells us his choices.
Hails!
Yet another busy year has ended and I have dutifully compiled my picks for honorable mention and Top Ten for the year 2003. Here are my 'honorable mention' picks for 2003 (in no particular order):
Accelerated Evolution – Devin Townsend Band
"O.S.I." by Office Of Strategic Influence
"How The West Was Won" by Led Zeppelin
"Retaliate" by Misery Index
"Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation" by Darkest Hour
"Rabbit Don't Come Easy" by Helloween
"Viva Emptiness" by Katatonia
"Versus The World" by Amon Amarth
"Crave And Collapse" by Narcissus
"St. Anger" by Metallica
"The Morning Never Came" by Swallow The Sun
"Hatecrew Deathroll" by Children Of Bodom
"Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation" by Darkest Hour
"No Reply" by Daylight Dies
"Wicked Underground" by Lynch/Pilson
"Dance Of Death" by Iron Maiden
"Antenna" by Cave In
"Roadmap Of Pain" by Total Devastation
"Take A Look In The Mirror" by Korn
"Black Utopia" by Derek Sherinian
And the Top Ten:
10: DREAM THEATER "Train Of Thought" - A surprisingly heavy release from progressive
metal's best band.
9: MOONSPELL "The Antidote" - A confident return to form by Portugal's best band regardless of genre.
8: ARCH ENEMY "Anthems Of Rebellion" - Need a swift musical kick in the ass? Here you go.
7: NIGHTRAGE "Sweet Vengeance" – "Sweet Vengeance" got a lot of playing time from me almost to the detriment of my other interests.
6: OPETH "Damnation" – Opeth's 'light' work was definitely as good as fans had hoped.
5: SOILWORK "Figure Number Five" – Catchy as hell and a damn fine record to boot.
4: HASTE 'The Mercury Lift" - The absolute best surprise of the year. While I was familiar with Haste and songs from their first two records I was not prepared for how good
"The Mercury Lift" turned out.
3: ENTOMBED "Inferno" – Death'n'roll never sounded so good.
2: LAMB OF GOD "As The Palaces Burn" - The best American metal band of today bar none.
1: DIMMU BORGIR "Death Cult Armageddon" - Dark and aggressive without losing sense of what constitutes motion in heavy music.
Stay metal and I'll see you at the other side of 2004!
Copyright © 2003 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights
reserved.
Revised: 06 Oct 2019 11:48:50 -0400.
