Here’s the sixth instalment of the greatest album releases of 2015 from TeamRock, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog and Blues. Take your mind of those dreaded turkey leftovers and feast on these instead…
50. TRIBULATION – The Children Of The Night (Century Media)
Metal Hammer said: “Songs like In The Dreams Of The Dead deftly blend the primal oomph of dirty rock’n’roll with the jarring impact of early thrash, resulting in a profoundly satisfying ceremony of pitch-black rituals with startling commercial potential.Tribulation are one of the hottest properties in the metal underground right now, and deservedly so.”
49. SAMANTHA FISH – Wild Heart (Ruf Records)
Blues said: ”With Wild Heart, Fish refuses to play it safe. She hinted at her country influences with Last September from her 2013 album Black Wind Howlin’, but this time she pours a double shot of country into her blues and slugs it down in one. She’s never been afraid to step outside of her comfort zone – she’s blasted through Black Sabbath’s War Pigs live – and the boldness and range of Wild Heart mark her as one of the most exciting young blues artists around.”
48. NIGHTWISH – Endless Forms Most Beautiful (Nuclear Blast)
Metal Hammer said: “By their very nature, Nightwish’s music has always been designed to challenge the metal status quo. Their eighth studio album takes on a more placid, progressive form accentuated by flourishes from Troy Donockley, now a full-time member. In these humble moments Floor Jansen’s voice is exposed and she delivers her words with lush, confident phrasing and a sensitive treatment of the story of evolution.”
47. JOHN MAYALL – Find A Way To Care (Forty Below)
Blues said: “In light of his unparalleled contribution to British blues, there’s a temptation to approach Find A Way To Care burdened by reverence, fearful of criticising a pillar of the genre – but Mayall still knows how to sell a song. Don’t come to this album motivated by nostalgia or respect for his legacy. Embrace it because his present is just as compelling as his past.”
46. TITLE FIGHT – Hyperview (Anti-)
We said: “Melodic hardcore punk indie rockers (they’re all that and more) Title Fight have repeatedly referred to their latest record Hypermusic as an exercise in “guitar music”, and the dissonant and shoegaze guitar tones certainly find themselves at the forefront of the mix. At times, the guitars even risk overwhelming everything else that makes Title Fight such a unique proposition – the vocals are borderline inaudible in places and the pulverising bass and percussive elements are sorely missed – but the band’s continued subversion of genre makes for another interesting addition to their ever-evolving canon.”
45. BITERS – Electric Blood (Earache)
Classic Rock said: “Biters have succeeded in doing what used to be par for the course a quarter of a century ago. They’ve created a self-contained world – a darkened club where a never-ending party is soundtracked by the endless sonic explosion of MTV. It’s too soon to make a call on whether they’re spearheading something new – there’s definitely something stirring. If anyone’s going to bring the good times back, you’d do worse than to put your money on Biters.
44. GALLOWS – Desolation Sounds (Venn)
Metal Hammer said: “While 2012’s eponymous first outing with Wade MacNeil was a stripped-down, raucous affair following the bold ambition of Grey Britain, Desolation Sounds sees Gallows revisiting their more creative side. These are still unmistakably the same pissed-off young men that spewed out of Watford nearly a decade ago, but their venom has now been fused with more ideas in half an hour than they’ve managed in their career to date, and the results are all the more thrilling for it.”
43. SWEET BILLY PILGRIM – Motorcade Amnesiacs (Kscope)
Classic Rock said: “Central to the album, and something of a departure, is the bold use of Tim Elsenburg’s guitar. It’s at its most angular on Candle Book And Bell and FFwd To The Freeze Frame, songs that feel like an itchy match-up of Wire and Field Music. Though the record’s real strength is the deft vocal interplay between Elsenburg and Jana Carpenter, who imbues things with a new sense of depth and a nuanced sensitivity.”
42. FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES – Blossom (International Death Cult)
Metal Hammer said: “Frank Carter is a familiar if flitting presence on the British punk scene, and as the frontman of the Rattlesnakes, he’s back in his element. He may be a grown-up and a dad now, but he’s still capable of being a figurehead for the pissed-off youth who are too young to have had the Sex Pistols. As far as channelling anger into art goes, Blossom is a triumph.
41. SLAYER – Relentless (Nuclear Blast)
Metal Hammer said: “Slayer’s first album without Jeff Hanneman uncorked a maelstrom of neck-snapping riffs, chaotic tempos and darkened nihilistic ferocity – in short, everything we bloody love about Slayer. Intensified by gale-force torrents of hardcore and crunchy blasts of groove metal, Repentless brilliantly showcased Slayer’s peerless ability for summoning their indestructible trademark sound while still blowing everybody’s minds.”
