The Game you love to hate! Guess Dan's Top 5 of 2023

[whiplash1972]

3 minutes ago, Crazysam said:

I'll take another stab at it, but this time I'll remove the 3 we've gotten right to maybe improve the chance of figuring out 1 more

1. Gunship - Unicorn
2. First Signal – Face Your Fears
3. Station - And Time Goes On
4. Orbit Culture – Descent
5. Wings of Steel – Gates of Twilight

[heavyharmonies]

And... fail.

Although Orbit Culture made my honorable mention list.

My #4 has been posted about here on the board, but my #1 has not... and yet it fits the genres here.

If they haven't been guessed by morning, I'll post the answers.

[Crazysam]

7 minutes ago, heavyharmonies said:

And... fail.

Damn, I thought I'd hit on one of those.  I'm throwing in the towel as you've got me stumped.  Hopefully someone can figure the last two out before you reveal them

[whiplash1972]

Well, I wasn't going to guess anymore, but since the clock is ticking, I'll be using the "Crazysam Method" 

1. Brian Durbin - Only Jams

2. Jag Panzer - The Hallowed

3. All For Metal - Legends

4. Theocracy - Mosaic

5. Riverside - ID.Entity

[heavyharmonies]

Nope. Riverside was in my top 5 early in the year, but it faded down the stretch. 

[auslander]

Ok I will throw out a few more just because.

Arctic Rain - Unity

Grand Design - Rawk

Mammoth WVH - II

Seventh Crystal - Wonderland

Winger - Seven

 

[heavyharmonies]

Nope.

Looks like at this point titles are getting thrown out at random, so...

My #4 album is Cyhra - Trigger (Nuclear Blast Records). Excellent slice of modern melodic metal/rock.

 

 

 

Now... my #1 album of the year. This one broke my process entirely. It was released on December 28, so my guess is that it never was listened to by a LOT of people. Poor choice of release date.

I had to delay making a decision as I wanted to "let it simmer" and see if it held up upon replay over several weeks both on its own and mixed in with other material in heavy listening rotation... and it did.

The way I decided to start my writeup:

"What would happen if Robby Valentine, Kissin' Dynamite, and Powerwolf all came together to record The Rocky Horror Picture Show?"

You would end up with something very much like Dominum - Hey Living People (Napalm Records). It's a horror themed album with a sense of the theatrical throughout, but at its core melodic hard rock and solid across the board. The whole fucking album is infectious as hell IMO.

My candidate for "song of the year" is from this album, the lyrical genius of "We All Taste the Same" (remember the theme of the album):

 

The crunchy "Frankenstein" with great gang choruses:

 

And the wonderfully quirky Better Shoot Yourself:

 

Even the two (!) covers on the album are very well executed: Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Right Round and Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning.

Here are the official videos they've done for the album thus far:

 

 

 

[nyoilers]

Never would have guessed those 

[auslander]

I guess I have to remember it isn't THE actual top 5 hard rock albums of the year, it is just Dan's top 5. 

[whiplash1972]

The Cyhra.... just not doing it for me, but the Dominum is pretty good, especially the choruses. I immediately thought of Ghost (the band, not the annoying fucker living in my house) when I heard them. May need to investigate further...

[Crazysam]

I've not heard of either of those artists.  I think the Dominum tracks sound pretty good also. That's one of the reasons I enjoy checking out everyone's best of lists each year as I always find several good releases that I otherwise may have missed. 

[Kristian]

What a find on that Dominum album!

Heard it through a couple of times today, excellent stuff "Cannibal Corpses" and "Better Shoot yourself" are my early favorites.

[Eric3]

Rats, I was about to guess Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 2 but I see the game has ended.

Edited January 27 by Eric3

[Jez]

Nice pick on the Dominum. I completely missed this too due to the release date being over the holiday period, but after playing this several times, it would definitely have made my ‘honourable’  list. Great stuff 

[lettard]

Agree on Dominium...very good , Cyhra..hmm nah not for me I'm afraid , but each to their own  

Edited February 2 by lettard

[auslander]

Not a fan of Dominium. Tried to see why you guys seem to like it so much. But can't get into it. Sounds like a rock version of Andrew Lloyd Webber to me...

Cyhra are a lot better. I quite like that but it really isn't a top 5 album. How either of these are better than Temple Balls in anyone's view astounds me. Each to their own, I guess.

[tobi is an animal]

5 hours ago, lettard said:

 Cyhra..hmm nah not for me I'm afraid , but each to their own  

Agreed. I struggle with Jake E's vocals, so glad Nils replaced him in Amaranthe. 

Edited February 2 by tobi is an animal

[tobi is an animal]

2 hours ago, auslander said:

Not a fan of Dominium. Tried to see why you guys seem to like it so much. But can't get into it.

yea, it's not doing much for me neither.

Edited February 2 by tobi is an animal

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Once again, Dan's top five is more controversial than Terry's. And we haven't even seen his, yet. ;}

[auslander]

4 minutes ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Once again, Dan's top five is more controversial than Terry's. And we haven't even seen his, yet. ;}

I mean it IS February now... what's the hold up?!

[heavyharmonies]

Real-life time conflicts, but I'm working on the page now...

[heavyharmonies]

Posted:

https://heavyharmonies.com/cgi-bin/2023best.cgi

[Geoff]

On 2/3/2024 at 12:51 AM, auslander said:

Not a fan of Dominium. Tried to see why you guys seem to like it so much. But can't get into it. Sounds like a rock version of Andrew Lloyd Webber to me...

Cyhra are a lot better. I quite like that but it really isn't a top 5 album. How either of these are better than Temple Balls in anyone's view astounds me. Each to their own, I guess.

Yeah, me too. Dominium is definitely not my cup of tea in any way - I can definitely imagine having nightmares about it... but nothing to do with the horror theme ( ) - to each their own, of course, though. I definitely hear everything I dislike about Kissin' Dynamite mixed in with, yep, I can even hear the parts of Robby Valentine I don't like too. Not sure who Powerwolf are, but I'm assuming some kind of power metal? Very theatrical indeed, which is the polar opposite of what I seek, but good luck to 'em. Looks like they just picked up a bunch of new fans. 

But the Cyhra one actually sounds bloody good and I'll be checking this album out asap.