It’s not until you actually start combing through the hundreds of records you’ve listened to over a decade that you realize how daunting the task really is.

Picking a Best of 2015 list wasn’t easy. A few albums were outstanding, but I sometimes had a hard time finding new music that connected.

Every now and then, I come across a record like Delain’s that for some weird reason seems to call out to me for a listen despite past history.

Any time my year-end list starts with more than 20 candidates, it’s been a pretty metal year for me. That was the case for 2013 You May Also Like: Black Sabbath – ‘Black Sabbath’ (1970): On Second Thought Why Black Sabbath Went Out on a High Note With ’13’ BeastRead More

I’ll make a confession at the top of this review that will invalidate my opinion in the eyes of many Nightwish fans, but I didn’t really like the band with Tarja Turunen. You May Also Like: Rob Mazurek’s Black Cube Marriage – Astral Cube (2017) The Crazy World of ArthurRead More