This year seems to have gone so quickly that it only seems five minutes since I was last writing this. This year I have listened to approximately 400 different albums so these truly are my best of the best for the year and each one will have a place in my storyboard of the year, regardless of position.
Album of the Year (Top 10)
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: The Horrors – V
Covering everything from goth rock to horror rock to psychedelic rock, The Horrors have consistently pushed their own boundaries with each subsequent album. But with the fifth release, V, all of their ideas have come together in one perfect The Horrors album. It’s going to be hard for them to top this.
Standout Track – “Something To Remember Me By”
- Jupiter Falls – Faces In The Sand
This album was previewed on The Moshville Times website earlier this year and had a lot of folks excited. This is the second album from the Leeds-based band and really pushes the hard rock boundary out. I would expect this to appear in more than one “best of” list this year.
Check out the original review for a more in-depth take on the album.
Standout Track – “Nothing to Me”
- Ghost Season – Like Stars in a Neon Sky
We have been following this Athens, Greece-based band since featuring them as our Band of the Day in October 2014. Their debut album, when it did drop, was even better than it promised. For fans of melodic metal this is a necessary purchase, it oozes class, talent and its own unique identity.
Standout Track – “Sons of Yesterday”
- At The Drive In – in*ter a*li*a
It was 17 years ago that At The Drive In last released an album. Careers have begun and ended in that time. This wasn’t a band trying to recapture their best but actually felt like a natural progression over that time.
Standout Track – “No Wolf Like Present”
- The Yalla Yallas – Medusa
Leeds based The Yalla Yallas seemed to surpass even their own expectations on their third long player. It was an album that was both politically charged and personally thoughtful, inviting the listener to either punch their fists in defiance or at least ponder the thought. An album that spoke out but was not outspoken.
Standout Track – “The Sound of the Kraken”
- Thunder – Rip It Up
Thunder had already had their Wow moment when they released a stonker of an album in 2015: Wonder Days. It was the album that said Thunder were back. So, it was with much appreciation to find that the follow up was as good as its predecessor. Keeping that trademark Thunder sound whilst keeping that hunger to be the best alive.
Standout Track – “Right From The Start”
- Breaking Samsara – Light of a New Beginning
German metal band Breaking Samsara are one of the definite dark horses of the top ten this year. Not least as we don’t know a lot about them, but their debut album spoke volumes in terms of power, presentation and seriously not having a poor track on it. We described it then as an album to fall in love with and we did just that.
Standout Track – “Time For Things to Change”
- Ghost of Mary – Oblivaeon
Technically this album by Italian symphonic dark metallers Ghost Of Mary was actually released in 2016 but so late I have included it in this year’s top 10. This is an album that will simply stun you for its beauty, its ferocity, its talent. It is an album bursting with innovation that takes you on a journey of emotion.
Standout Track – “Last Guardians”
- All Them Witches – Sleeping Through The War
Nashville’s All Them Witches seem to have hit a creative stride with this, their fourth album in only five years. This is an album that maintains a chilled atmosphere where the band lose themselves in the music whilst at the same time still having something to say.
Standout Track – “Don’t Bring Me Coffee”
- Creeper – Eternity, In Your Arms
Imagine Green Day reinvented as English goth rockers and you will come somewhere close to the feeling of Creepers debut album. This has been a year for Creeper and rightly so. This is just a band at the beginning and I know they will have a lot more to offer in the future. Misery has never sounded so joyous.
Standout Track – “Misery”
Best live show (Top 5)
Green Day – Sheffield Arena
What Moshville Times said: Billie Joe Armstrong is without a doubt the best frontman in rock right now. Forget the pretenders, the wannabes, there is no-one on his level when it comes to crowd interaction and effort put into a show and Green Day are one of the most entertaining bands out there.
- Iron Maiden – Leeds Arena
What Moshville Times Said: This, however, was a classic Maiden performance. It was evident from the moment that the band took to the stage that both the band and the crowd were up for it and that both were enjoying the intimacy of one of the smaller arenas on the circuit.
- Sullivan and Marshall – Bradford Underground
- Avenged Sevenfold – Sheffield Arena
What Moshville Times said: A thundering show that has proven why they are still at the top of their game after nearly two decades and something I’d be more than happy to witness time and time again.
- Gojira – Leeds O2 Academy
What Moshville Times said: Arguably one of the most talked about metal bands of the modern day, this evening not only showed that Gojira are still a force to be reckoned with, but that there will always be a strong metal scene and new bands will always come along
Best new bands I discovered:
This year there are a few and I really want to mention the following to look out for in 2018…
- Fliptop Box
- Breaking Samsara
- Petrol Girls
- Catch Fire
