Here we go then, the last twenty five… Who will have recorded Sentinel Daily‘s best in show? Read on to find out…
25. Myrkur – Mareridt (Relapse)
“The divisive Dane is back with another dose of cinematic vision and hair-raising musical chicanery… Amalie Bruun may well be a black metal charlatan – but she’s an absolutely stunning musician. Isn’t that enough?” Scott Adams – 15/09/2017
Read Scott’s full review of the Album HERE
24. Warrior Soul – Back on the Lash (Livewire/Cargo)
“Kory Clarke‘s having some booze, and we’re all invited to join him… Warrior Soul in 2017 don’t perhaps have the voice-of-a-generation pretension that earlier hits like The Losers may have hinted at but for a balls-out, fun-at-the-rock-club-with-a-pint-and-a-shag-in-prospect soundtrack you won’t go far wrong with Back on the Lash“. Michael Stronge 21/11/2017
Michael’s full appraisal of Back on the Lash can be found HERE
23. Neperia – Drawing New Worlds (Own Label)
“They aren’t yet as polished as Nightwish, of course, which means there’s a gratifying intensity and rawness to everything they do at this stage… If you’ve become a little jaded with the world of symphonic metal as exposited by the big names of the genre then this corker of an album might just re-ignite your spark”. Ferry Templeton 03/02/17
Read Scott Adam’s review of Neperia’s Drawing New Worlds HERE
22. Sweet & Lynch – Unified (Frontiers Music)
“Unified is a great listening experience, with all four members being absolute masters of their respective crafts. If one of your great pleasures in life is, like me, to be able to listen to people at the top of their game going through their paces, then this is going to be an album you’ll need to obtain”. Gavin Strickmann 13/11/2017
Gavin waxes in full about Unified HERE
21. Pallbearer – Heartless (Nuclear Blast)
“So much of Heartless seems designed almost cynically to tug at the wallets of youngsters new to doom and keen to find out more; set piece barrages of stentorian riffage that set control for the heart of the ear whilst never going near the heart… Yet, for all the posturing, when the band hit their epic, almost progressive stride on tracks like I Saw the End it’s easy to put your suspicions aside and simply wallow in the sheer, imperious immensity of it all”. Ferry Templeton 21/12/2017
20. Caligula’s Horse – In Contact (InsideOut Music)
“It’s hopefully too early in the band’s career to proclaim In Contact as their magnum opus, but for the moment it certainly stands as their most consistently impressive work to date. Built around the searingly fluid guitar playing of Sam Vallen and the impassioned vocalising of Jim Grey, In Contact is an intensely emotional assault on the listener’s sensibilities that shows the way to the chasing pack of Aussie prog hopefuls. Masterful stuff”. – Scott Adams, 11/12/2017
19. Mastodon – Emperor of Sand (Reprise Records)
“Despite the ever-present feeling of smugness that never fails to get up my nose, Mastodon returned in 2017 with, for me, the best and most complete album they’ve presented since 2004’s Leviathan. They’re pretty much untouchable in 2017, free to cast their creative nets wherever the fancy takes them, and thankfully with Emperor… it’s taken them to a motherlode of classy riffs, smooth solos and easy-on-the-ear vocals, the whole being a surprisingly excellent batch of modern metal with bags of charm”. Michael Stronge 21/12/2017
18. Trivium – The Sin and the Sentence (Roadrunner Records)
“One of their finest albums to date… Songs like The Wretchedness Inside, Sever The Hand, The Revanchist and Thrown Into The Fire ensure the assault on the senses is not finished and provide what older school Trivium fans would have been looking for in this album. I am hanging to see these new songs woven into the new set list and can’t wait for the guys to announce they’re on their way back to the land Down Under”. Paul Kerr 24/10/2017
Read what Paul and his sons thought of the album in full HERE
17. Morbid Angel – Kingdoms Disdained (Silver Lining Music)
“In 2017 we have to embrace the fact that Morbid Angel are never going to replicate the grandeur of their first quartet of albums. If, as seems certain, the future of the band is to be built around the Azagthoth/Tucker axis forevermore then this is a pretty heartening start to the new era. Long may it continue”. Scott Adams 01/12/2017
Read, and doubtless violently disagree, Scott’s full appraisal of the album HERE
16. Mean Streak – Blind Faith (Rock of Angels Records)
“Mean Streak continue to build a strong reputation as one of Europe’s best-kept metal secrets… It’s been great to watch this band’s evolution over the years, and it’s going to be great watching go from strength to strength as time goes by. I’ve a feeling that Blind Faith is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the band”. Scott Adams 02/06/2017
Scott’s full review of Blind Faith can be found HERE
15. Lancer – Mastery (Nuclear Blast)
“Great stuff on all fronts then; it’s great to see a band making palpable steps towards greatness, and the fourth Lancer album is going to be something to behold, of that I’m in no doubt. But for now just enjoy the mastery of this album”. Scott Adams 09/01/2017
Scott’s full review of Mastery is HERE
14. Lionville – A World of Fools (Frontiers Music)
“I cannot urge you strongly enough to get involved in this album if you count yourself as a fan of AOR or melodic hard rock. Hours of listening pleasure await you if you do”. Gavin Strickmann 07/03/2017
Gavin froths at the mouth over the AOR splendour of Lionville in full HERE
13. Diablerie – The Catalyst Vol 1: Control (Primitive Reaction)
“Impossible to pigeonhole, impossible not to be intrigued… Diablerie are a breath of foetid air in the increasingly formulaic world of extreme metal. If you’re a goth, a thrasher, a deathhead, a ritual-obsessed fan of the black arts, all of the above, or none of the above – there’s still something that’ll get your extremities moving on this album”. Michael Stronge 25/01/2017
Michael loses control over Control in full HERE
12. Akercocke – Renaissance in Extremis (Peaceville)
“A captivating mix of the brutal and the beautiful… This is the complete extreme progressive metal experience in 2017. And it’s rather wonderful”. Michael Stronge 22/09/2017
11. Airbound – Airbound (Art of Melody Music)
“High quality European AOR… this is one of the best albums of it’s kind I’ve heard in a long, long time, and I know you’ll enjoy it if you give it a go”. Scott Adams 04/09/2017
Read Scott’s full review of Airbound HERE
10. Craven Idol – The Shackles of Mammon (Dark Descent Records)
“An exciting leap forward from these blackened British beasts… Music like that found on The Shackles of Mammon isn’t written to be exactly ‘enjoyable’, of course – but there is a lot of enjoyment to be had if this style of music interests you as much as it does me, so I’m happily recommending this album”. Graham Goodge 30/03/2017
Read Graham’s full appraisal of Craven Idol HERE
9. Striker – Striker (Test Your Metal Records)
“The first thing to note about this self-titled effort is that it isn’t an immediate hit in the way that all of the band’s last three albums were. Each one of those was a motivated self starter, hitting you right between the ears first up; Striker takes a bit of a while to inveigle its way into your affections – four or five runs through in its entirety in this reviewers case – but if you’re ready to give the record a bit of time then the rewards to be reaped are, as usual with this most excellent of bands, immense”. Scott Adams 28/02/2017
Read Scott’s Striker review in all it’s glory HERE
8. Mark Slaughter – Halfway There (EMP Label Group)
“Almost perfect, then, and certainly better than most of the old duffers of Slaughter’s vintage that can be bothered to write new music in 2017 are coming up with. Hints of Boston (Turn It in particular is redolent of Tom Scholz and company) abound, whiffs of Nelson occur, but above all this album is 100% Mark Slaughter and that’s a bit of a result. Essential listening”. Scott Adams 08/05/2017
Scott’s full eulogy to Mark Slaughter can be viewed HERE
7. Vain – Rolling With the Punches (MBM)
“Davy’s Back! this is an incredibly strong album. If you were a fan but that fandom has lapsed, then this is the album to put flame to that lost ardour again; If you’re new to the magic of Vain then welcome, but don’t waste any more time listening to my watery-eyed blathering – just get stuck in. You won’t regret a single second”. Scott Adams 12/05/2017
6. Cats in Space – Scarecrow (Harmony Factory)
“Pure pomp perfection that’ll have you purring…I said earlier that Scarecrow wasn’t necessarily better than its predecessor, but I was messing about. It is, and it’s also better than anything else in its field you’ll hear in 2017. Majestic”. Scott Adams 25/07/2017
Scott Adams gives the full rundown of Scarecrow’s greatness HERE
5. Memoriam – For the Fallen (Nuclear Blast)
“Classic British death metal… Everyone in Memoriam is a master of his craft, and that mastery shines through on this release. Concise, hard hitting yet also retaining a crustiness that all the best British death metal seems to possess, it’s one of the best releases of its kind that I’ve heard in quite a while”. Graham Goodge 20/03/2017
Graham’s full appraisal of For the Fallen is HERE
4. The Night Flight Orchestra – Amber Galactic (Nuclear Blast)
“I think it took us two albums to maybe channel all our influences. Everyone in the band loves a lot of the same bands, obviously, but it takes time. This album almost feels like a first album in a way, especially as the two first ones were released on a very small label and Nuclear Blast is huge; so it feels as though it starts now in the sense that sound-wise and song writing wise it’s more focussed” Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid 19/05/2017
Read Scott Adams’ full review HERE
3. Kreator – Gods of Violence (Nuclear Blast)
“Not at all what you were expecting, probably… I’m going to immerse myself totally in this surprising but ultimately successful slice of risk-taking. And I think you should too”. Scott Adams 18/07/17
Read Scott’s full take on Gods of Violence HERE
2. Below – Upon a Pale Horse (Metal Blade)
“The stuff of legend… it’s almost redundant to try and review Upon a Pale Horse, because over the course of its eight song, forty seven minute duration Below don’t put a foot – or a riff – wrong, The music they make transcends the doom category that they find themselves placed in, although there’s a depressive, foreboding edge to their music that certain lends itself to the term; rather they take everything that has been glorious about true metal over the last thirty five years and mould it to their own ends with the touch of master craftsmen all”. Gavin Strickmann 24/05/2017
Gavin’s full Below review can be found HERE
All of which brings us to the ultimate position… Sentinel Daily‘s top album of 2017 is..
1. Paradise Lost – Medusa (Nuclear Blast)
“Medusa gives off the air of being the work of a band completely at ease with their past, present and future. A band in control, a band at the top of their game, they’ve written an album that sits comfortably among the best they’ve ever released. Here’s to many more if they’re as good as Medusa“. Scott Adams 31/08/2017
Read Scott’s full Medusa review HERE
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