Another @#$&! 2015 Top 10 rock albums list: Part 1

Depressing end to a year full of strong records
By Peter Lindblad

Killing Joke and Jaz Coleman released
one of this year's best records with 'Pylon.'

There was no happy ending to 2015 for hard rock and heavy metal. The December deaths of Lemmy Kilmister and Scott Weiland cast an overwhelming pall over a year dotted with peaks and valleys, the June passing of Yes bassist extraordinaire Chris Squire being one of the lowest of low points.

Once the grief passes, and eventually it will, the sun will break through the clouds, shining a light on the positive developments of 2015, such as the grand return of Jeff Lynne's Electric Light Orchestra and the release of critically acclaimed solo albums from Keith Richards, David Gilmour and Roger Waters. And while it appears the end is near for Black Sabbath and the ride is over (maybe?) for Motley Crue, battling brothers Ray and Dave Davies surprised everyone and briefly reunited onstage on Dec. 18, much to the delight of Kinks fans everywhere, rumors of a Guns 'N Roses reunion – now officially confirmed as a go, with a performance scheduled at the famed Coachella festival – gained unstoppable momentum and Phil Collins declared he is back ... for better or worse.

As is the case every year, a slew of incredible rock albums issued forth in 2015, bravely facing a music industry still in a state of flux and fighting for relevancy against tough odds, as a celebrity-infatuated public continues to genuflect at the pedicured feet of Adele, Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars. Here is Part 1 of our list of the Top 10 rock albums of 2015.

Stryper - Fallen 2015

10. Stryper – Fallen: Heaviness is next to godliness for Stryper these days. On Fallen, the Christian metal stalwarts keep thickening their sound and toughening gnarly riffs without sacrificing the sweet, uplifting melodic sensibilities and transcendent vocal blends adored by fans of their '80s output. More lyrically ambitious than past efforts, Fallen finds Stryper taking more risks, while refusing to abandon the signature elements that have always called the faithful to worship.

9. Lamb Of God – VII: Sturm Und Drang: Appearing rejuvenated, with Randy Blythe's terrifying legal ordeal in the Czech Republic behind him, Lamb Of God emptied their bag of tricks on the wild ride that was VII: Sturm Und Drang, proving that the disappointing Resolution was an aberration and thankfully not a trend. The words "controlled fury" get thrown around way too often, but that's what Lamb Of God engage in here, with brawling, savage riffs, titanic chugs and catastrophic breakdowns making beautiful chaos. There is great vitality and energy to VII: Sturm Und Drang, things that have been missing from recent Lamb Of God efforts. Blythe's personal journey out of hell seems to have lit a fire under the band he fronts.

Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene
Extinction 2015

8. Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction: Pollution is choking earth to death, and nobody is really doing much about it. That makes Cattle Decapitation very angry. On The Anthropocene Extinction, the extreme metal idealists paint an ugly apocalyptic vision of severe ecological devastation, and their rage at the apathy and corruption of mankind is manifested in some of the most intense, disorienting aural madness recorded in recent memory. And while it all seems to come dangerously close to going off the rails, Cattle Decapitation skillfully orchestrates a frenzied, enormous riot of pulverizing beats, violent riffs and diseased vocals designed to shock and awe. Welcome to Thunderdome.

Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls 2015

7. Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls: A bit long-winded perhaps, with three songs clocking in at more than 10 minutes in length, The Books Of Souls dares to go places that Iron Maiden has rarely ever ventured. As their approach continues to grow increasingly progressive, resulting in some of the most complex and dramatic creations of their career, Maiden still indulges in the kind of thrilling, thunderous gallops and soaring, twisting harmonies that have always driven their most stirring anthems. And while that's a comfort to their legions of fans, as is the fact that they haven't lost any of their instrumental brilliance, The Book Of Souls also shows they're still eager to broaden their horizons and deeply explore new lyrical themes.

6. Killing Joke – Pylon: At war with the forces of oppression and greed, these post-punk veterans go for the jugular on the exciting, heart-pounding Pylon. Surging with great momentum from start to finish, while enveloped in swirling, expansive darkness, Pylon is a spiritual and political uprising for Killing Joke, a deep forest primeval of tribal drums overrun by modern electronic and industrial insurgency. In the distance, the powerful, echo-laden voice of Jaz Coleman sounds the alarm for mankind, delivering poetic tidings of the peril and calamity that should befall us if we fail to heed these warnings.

Short Cuts: Rivers Of Nihil, Battlecross, Cattle Decapitation

CD Review: Rivers Of Nihil – Monarchy

Metal Blade Records

All Access Rating: A

Rivers Of Nihil - Monarchy 2015

Adopting a terrifying god complex, Jeff Dieffenbach loudly roars the declaration, "I am the sun/I am the moon," his bellowing rage cutting through the dizzying maelstrom of complex riffs, blast beats and melodic grandeur that is "Sand Baptism." Here's where the world of Monarchy, the sprawling, ambitious new concept album from progressive death-metal architects Rivers Of Nihil, begins to turn. Religious tyranny is established amidst beautifully orchestrated sonic chaos. The new inhabitants of a desert-like earth, stewards of a planet barely worth saving, are divided into classes and their mutual destruction seems assured. Monarchy is Rivers Of Nihil's 2112, an epic dystopian tale brutally told that spills out in great sonic floods, exploring labyrinths of dark, astral melody as sonic devastation of biblical proportions occurs below in the furious grooves and violent intensity of "Ancestral, I" and the surging, explosive dynamics of "Perpetual Growth Machine" and "Reign of Dreams." What stunning, chimerical crescendos emerge from the post-rock tumult of "Circles In The Sky" and the instrumental ebbs and flows of "Terrestria II Thrive," and just when it seems Rivers Of Nihil couldn't possibly outdo themselves, the heavens open in the cinematic, ever-evolving closer "Suntold" and you're left speechless by its blinding brilliance. God save this Monarchy.
– Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Battlecross – Rise To Power
Metal Blade Records
All Access Rating: A-

Battlecross - Rise To Power 2015

Taking no prisoners in their Rise To Power, thrash-metal's greatest hope for a glorious rebirth returns leaner and hungrier than ever. Going back to work, lunch bucket in hand, these angry boilermakers with their blue-collar ethos – coming off 2013's impossibly fast and furious War of Wills – have sharpened their visceral attack, growing ever more aggressive and vicious in doing so. From the one-two punch of a stampeding "Scars" on through "The Path," with its unpredictable mix of soaring, melodic twin-guitar leads, rampaging riffs and Van Halen-like swing, Battlecross lands a flurry of knockout punches on Rise To Power. Sounding more ferocious and tighter than on previous outings, there is ruthless efficiency and superhuman dexterity in their playing. Taking a page out of Pantera's playbook, these Michigan-based malcontents carve red-hot, irresistible grooves into "Not Your Slave," "The Climb," "Bound By Fear," "Despised" and "Blood and Lies," and for all the whiplash dynamics they employ here, these writhing, crashing tracks should come with a cervical collar. Classic thrash elements are thrown into a blender by Battlecross on Rise To Power with thermonuclear guitar solos and different vocal textures that growl and lash out like rattlesnakes, and what comes out is a fresh, combustible racket intent on leading a thrash revival.
– Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
Metal Blade Records
All Access Rating: A

Cattle Decapitation - The
Anthropocene Extinction 2015. 

Subtlety is not Cattle Decapitation's strong suit. Take the gruesome cover art of its latest extreme-metal manifesto, The Anthropocene Extinction, for instance, depicting ecological catastrophe so severe that earth has become a lifeless wasteland strewn with mangled corpses. And the title of this apocalyptic horror show suggests the planet itself is already in its death throes, choking on the polluting behavior of humanity. If that is, indeed, the case, Cattle Decapitation is going out with guns blazing, these angry giants constructing colossal sonic thrill rides to oblivion and delivering fiery, tempestuous sermons of judgement and recrimination tossed about by massive, pummeling riffs, crazed drumming and a variety of seething vocal textures that spit venom and hoary rage in exciting, sensory overloads "Mutual Assured Destruction," "Not Suitable For Life," and "Apex Blasphemy." The sheer brutality, calculated aggression and chaotic math of "Manufactured Extinct" are awesome to behold, as is the all-consuming closer "Pacific Grim" – its menacing, heavy chugs, widescreen guitars and machine-gun rhythms creating an overwhelmingly intense aural experience that is not for the faint of heart. And such is also the case for "The Prophets of Loss," where one Philip Anselmo lends a hand with vocals, and "Plagueborne," with its neck-breaking tempo changes, as the breathtaking violence and enormity of The Anthropocene Extinction leaves one dazed and disoriented, with the unexpected shifts of "Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot)" and the blazing solar storm that is "Circo Inhumanitas" sucking all the air out of your lungs. What's truly chilling, however, is the funereal acoustic dirge "Ave Exitium," as hopeless and forlorn a eulogy as you're likely to ever hear. There are about a thousand different maneuvers taking place within the stretched boundaries of every track, and each one will send jaws plummeting to the floor, and the crazy thing is, for all the surprises they spring, they all make perfect sense. Even a few compelling strains of melody can be gleaned from the madness. A nominee for album of the year, without question.
– Peter Lindblad