(Andy Synn’s five-part retrospective on the year in metal concludes with his list of the “Personal Top 10″. Previous installments on the “Great”, the “Good”, the “Disappointing”, and the “Critical Top 10” albums can be found here, here, here, and here.)

So this is it… it’s the Final Countdown (cue the music!)

Seriously though, I hope you’ve all enjoyed and appreciated all my lists so far, and discovered (or rediscovered) some new or overlooked gems in the process. It’s definitely as much fun for me to write the things as I hope it is for others to read them, as it allows me to collect my thoughts and really take stock of just how good each year is, and look back on all the various trends and twists that have come and gone.

My “Personal Top 10” list is exactly that, a simple representation of what I have personally (and almost uncritically) loved the most this year. Whereas I try and make the “Critical Top 10” list as impartial and honestly representative of the year as I can do, my Personal list is just a reflection of my own tastes and biases – unashamed and unfiltered.

I can tell you right now, in fact, that even if I were to expand the list to 20, only a few entries from the Critical list would probably get a look in. Some would, no doubt about it, but by and large my personal favourites differ quite a bit from what I’d objectively class as the year’s “Best” albums. Though I’d argue that many/most of these albums definitely are amongst the best I’ve heard this year.

So, without further ado, my final list of completely super-pretentious garbage for all of those unlucky enough to have been born after the 1970s! Continue reading »

(Andy Synn’s five-part retrospective on the year in metal continues with his list of the “Critical Top 10”. Previous installments on the “Great”, the “Good”, and the “Disappointing” albums can be found here, here, and here.)

So there’s just two more lists left this week, and then I’m (almost, maybe, possibly, ok not really…) done rounding up this past year in metal.

To differentiate between the two, I’ve dubbed them (as in previous years), the “Personal Top 10” and the “Critical Top 10”, as I’ve taken a slightly different approach to compiling each one. The “Personal” list is, as you might have guessed, simply a list of my ten favourite albums of the year, which simply gives an insight into my own personal tastes and preferences, whereas the “Critical” list is where I’ve tried to be as impartial as possible, and really select albums which I think I could (semi)objectively justify as being the year’s best.

However, this year I’ve made the decision not to explicitly rank the “Critical Top 10” albums – partially because I was having enough trouble just slimming my initial list of candidates down to just 10 in the first place, and partly because I’ve decided to try and do things slightly differently this year – and instead I’ve tried to focus more on providing what I think is a cultural (and critical) snapshot of the year, selecting ten albums, from across the length and breadth of the metal spectrum, that I think embody the spirit and variety of the genre, as well as being amongst the best that 2014 has had to offer.

Think of it like a time-capsule of the year in metal, with me trying to select ten representatives that future generations will be able to look back on with a mixture of awe and incredulity.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. After the jump, my selections for ten of the best, most critically praised albums of 2014! Continue reading »

(As part of our year-end LISTMANIA series we present Andy Synn’s annual column about albums that failed to live up to his expectations. His preceding lists of the year’s “Great” and “Good” albums can be found here and here.)

For those of you unware of this, we don’t tend to go “negative” here at NCS. In fact I’m pretty sure this particular post is probably the most overtly “negative” thing we publish all year.

So, because I realize that this could ruffle some feathers, and runs somewhat counter to the site’s ethos which prevails for the other 364 days of the year, I thought it best to provide a few guidelines about how to read this post. And hopefully avoid any hurt feelings or shit-stirring as a result!

1. Just because I think these albums are “Disappointing” doesn’t mean you have to. I’m just providing an alternative viewpoint and, I hope, some reasonable justification for why I feel this way.

2. Just because I’ve rated these albums as “Disappointing” doesn’t equate to “Bad” – although some of them definitely are. Some of them are just disappointing when compared to the standards at which the band usually perform. Some of them see the band regressing, or spinning their wheels, and are thus deemed “Disappointing” in the overall context of their career.

3. It’s often difficult to communicate tone of voice over the internet, so please don’t read this as me gloating or glorifying in a band’s (perceived) mistakes. I’m not doing this to be controversial, or to make myself feel big or clever, nor am I trying to “troll” our readers, or any of the bands involved. Ultimately these are all bands I legitimately love/like myself, and the fact that these albums/EPs are a disappointment hits me as a fan just as much as it hits any of you.

4. If you’re the type to fly completely off the handle into an apoplectic rage just because someone else doesn’t think that album x, y, or z is the masterpiece you think it is… maybe don’t read this column? Again, I’m just providing an honest statement of opinion, in order to provoke debate and discussion – not a shit-flinging flame-war.

5. Please re-read point 4.

And there we have it. Hopefully that lays out a bit more clearly the why of this particular column. Now, onto the what. Continue reading »

(Here’s Part Two of Andy Synn’s five-part series on his reflections about metal albums released in 2014. His list of the year’s “Great” albums appeared here yesterday.)

What separates the truly “Great” from the merely “Good”? A variety of things really. Sometimes it’s not much at all. Some of these albums actually come within a hair’s breadth of achieving true greatness, while others stumble a little more obviously along the way.

It could be that they’re too long, or too short… too ambitious, or not ambitious enough… or just in some way lacking that singular spark which defines true greatness.

That being said, each of these albums is, in their own way, a damn fine listen, visceral, intense, and a worthy addition to anyone’s collection – just because they’re not defined here as one of the truly “Great” albums of the year, doesn’t mean they’re not very, very, good.

And some of these albums are definitely very good. Continue reading »