The year's been mighty kind to us headbanging folk, hasn't it? Almost all of the big hitters have delivered, with Slipknot and Machine Head unleashing neck-threateningly brilliant records and bands like Septicflesh, Nightbringer and Voices doing a superb job of keeping the cult alive.
The last 12 months has been peppered with incredible releases, and it's been no easy job picking out just 10 for this here list. But, without further phatic banter, here are the 10 metal albums from 2014 that slayed.
1. Behemoth - The Satanist
This was always going to be number one, right? Fresh from kicking leukaemia’s arse, frontman Nergal rallied the troops once more to march his way into heavy metal history. From the sickening, black-as-moleskin riff on Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel to the biblical epic O Father O Satan O Sun!, Behemoth crafted an opus that teetered on the brink of black and death metal and transcended either genre. 'The Satanist' stakes a claim as the ultimate Behemoth record and quite possibly the metal album of the millennium so far.
2. At The Gates – At War With Reality
Nineteen years of waiting culminated in this: At The Gates' return to the studio. Exuding a flurry of those trademark Gothenburg guitar harmonies and bringing Tomas Lindberg's lyrical prowess to the fore, songs like Death And The Labyrinth and The Circular Ruins stood toe-to-toe with the band's earlier material. A brooding masterpiece and a most welcome return to the top.
Homing in on their pop sensibilities and dispensing with a chunk of the folky nuances of yore, Kontrust produced an album of unrivalled fun. Basically, it's not unlike Skindred, Rage Against The Machine and the best elements of Europop shoved into a blender. 'Explositive' packed chunky riffs, competing vocal interplay and 11 songs that will turn any human into a meaty pogo stick.
One of the most anticipated records in black metal history, 'Planet Satan' avoided 'Chinese Democracy' syndrome by delivering exactly what the fans wanted: blistering, completely caustic cuts of industrial black metal. Stylistically it's not a far cry from their debut, 'In The Streams Of Inferno', but who cares? Mysticum are back, and their drum machine is still better than your drummer.
Far from the sludgy, progressive beast they were in the 'Remission' days, 2014 saw Mastodon scale previously unthinkable heights. 'Once More 'Round The Sun' had this band scaling the top 10 of the UK and US charts, inflicting their uniquely melodic metal upon the masses. The sludgy backbone is still there, but with choruses like the The Motherload, Mastodon have hit the jackpot.
This is what hell sounds like. Tom G Warrior's current outfit, Triptykon, took the thrashy elements of Celtic Frost and fused them with pure, unadulterated misery. A shade more progressive than previous efforts, 'Melana Chasmata' ran a near 80 minute course and, during that time, spelled out the soundtrack to your death. Utterly horrible.
Never one to half-arse things, Hevy Devy's 'Z²' clocked in at roughly two hours. The 'Sky Blue' side featured some of the man's most serene, goddamn beautiful work to date, while the 'Dark Matters' side served as complete overkill. Tracking down Ziltoid – a coffee-loving alien – and giving him a full-blown narrative, 'Dark Matters' was the heaviest, most madcap thing he's put out since Strapping Young Lad.
The departure of Mikael Åkerfeldt left Bloodbath fans feeling short-changed (hey, man's gotta get his jazz on) by the Swedish super-group. Enter Nick Holmes, esteemed Yorkshire Pudding and vocalist for Paradise Lost. He ditched the croon and growled his way through 'Grand Morbid Funeral' in a manner we haven’t heard since 'Gothic'. A bleak, utterly relentless album featuring a return to old-school death metal and Holmes' best vocals yet.
Channelling mid-’80s Ministry and a fair amount of Rob Zombie-isms, Combichrist embraced guitars and gravitated towards their heavier leanings on ‘We Love You’. Good for them, as it stands as the band's most consistent, rousing work to date. With it comes the ultimate 21st century industrial anthem: Maggots At The Party.
Undoubtedly the cheesiest thing featured on this list, Starkill's latest album threw caution and self-awareness straight in the bin. Overblown orchestration, black metal meddling and some of the best Alexi Laiho impressions we've heard recently culminated in the most entertaining, recklessly brilliant LP Dimmu Borgir never made.
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