Review of 2009

They say the years pass more quickly as you get older, but surely twelve months shouldn't disappear at such an alarming rate of knots? Busy old year again... 70 gigs, 304 different bands, 6 festivals... so here's my round up of the very best of the year.

Before the top gigs and albums a few thank yous...

Pink – the ever suffering gig widow and techie behind Chopmusic – thanks love!
Bill – gig buddy for the vast majority of the above gigs...
Powerplay Magazine – for all the gigs, CDs, interviews and for some truly insane times at gigs and festivals.
Midlands Rocks – early days but it's been great fun so far.
All the bands, metalheads, and general maniacs around the UK – pleasure partying with you guys!

Without further ado here's my favourites of 2009...

Top 10 Gigs

1. Anaal Nathrakh – Asylum
2. Satyricon – Bloodstock
3. The Rotted – Bloodstock
4. Gojira – Barfly
5. Behemoth – Wulfrun (supporting DevilDriver)
6. Testament – Wulfrun
7. Machine Head – Sonisphere
8. Skeletonwitch - Eddie's
9. Benediction – Hellfire
10. Airbourne – Sonisphere

Top 10 Albums

When asked for this list out of the blue by Midlands Rocks I struggled to split the top five. Having had a bit more time to cogitate, here's the definitive list...

1. Behemoth – Evangelion. Wow. Gets better every time you play it. Astonishing album.
2. Nile – Those Whom the Gods Detest. Technical death metal at its finest. Stunningly good.
3. Immortal – All Shall Fall. Much talked about return and rightly so. Welcome back – UK festival dates for 2010? Please?
4. Mastodon – Crack The Skye. Blood Mountain was superb – this is better. Incredibly technical.
5. Hatebreed – Hatebreed. Two or arguably three suspect tracks but the rest is as good as anything they've recorded. Huge breakdowns.
6. Absu – Absu. Extreme metal with a blackened heart.
7. Skeletonwitch – Breathing The Fire. Modern day thrash at its most savage.
8. Horde Of Hel – Blodskam. Pure black metal from anonymous Scandinavians.
9. Symbolyc – Engraved Flesh. Death metal with riffs, hooks, and soloing. Excellent debut album.
10. Xerath – I. Another great debut. Technical, heavy, and thoroughly impressive.

Close to the top 10 and worthy of mention (in no particular order...)

• Vried – Milorg. Black metal with folk and prog twists.
• Mutant – Laserdrome EP. Old school thrash meets modern day aggression.
• Daath – The Concealers. Good as debut The Hinderers was, this surpasses it. Intricate extreme metal.
• Chimaira – The Infection. Stripped down in a similar way to Metallica's Black album. Mean, moody, and magnificent.
• Nekkrosis – Technotic Subversion. What happens when old and new school death metal collide.
• Emperor – Live Inferno. A fitting epitaph for an extraordinary band. Please reform!
• Lamb of God – Wrath. A grower, hated it on first play, and then.... Stick with it!
• War From A Harlots Mouth – In Shoals. “Opeth on acid” was how I described it when it came out. Avant-garde doesn't come close.
• Adust – Question The Illogical. The EP that should catapult them into the big league. Hugely stylish.
• Evile – Infected Nations. Far darker than the debut but rewarding in a different way. Tragic loss of Mike Alexander – rest in peace fella.

Have a metal-filled 2010 – hope to see you at a gig soon!

Metallic regards

Chop