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Priming the Year End Pump

With the holidays approaching and 2009 lurking ominously around the corner, we are hitting every music nerd's favorite season - end of year lists! Mine won't be coming for a bit yet, but to get you in the spirit I thought I would toss out my list of best metal albums of year. Up first, is the list as it appeared in the issue of Metal Edge on newsstands now:

01. Meanderthal - Torche (Hydra Head)
02. Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 - Nachtmystium (Century Media)
03. Life... The Best Game in Town - Harvey Milk (Hydra Head)
04. The Way of All Flesh - Gojira (Prosthetic)
05. Watershed - Opeth (Roadrunner)
06. Krallice - Krallice (Profound Lore)
07. Buried Death - Coffins (Southern Lord)
08. Death Magnetic - Metallica (Warner Bros.)
09. In the Future - Black Mountain (Jagjaguwar)
10. Conqueror - The Gates of Slumber (Profound Lore)
11. Acid or Blood - Racebannon (Southern)
12. Occasion - The Goslings (Not Not Fun)
13. Nude with Boots - Melvins (Ipecac)
14. War Metal Battle Master - Lair of the Minotaur (Southern Lord)
15. Board Up the House - Genghis Tron (Relapse)
16. Into Abaddon - Saviours (Kemado)
17. The Formation of Damnation - Testament (Nuclear Blast)
18. Live the Storm - Disfear (Relapse)
19. Slania - Eluveitie (Nuclear Blast)
20. An Overdose of Death - Toxic Holocaust (Relapse)

But, those lists were due waaaaay back in October, and I've heard quite a few decent metal albums since then and I've revised my list. Here's what it looks like now:

01. Meanderthal - Torche
02. Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 - Nachtmystium
03. Life... The Best Game in Town - Harvey Milk
04. The Way of All Flesh - Gojira
05. Watershed - Opeth
06. Krallice - Krallice
07. Buried Death - Coffins
08. Death Magnetic - Metallica
09. In the Future - Black Mountain
10. Conqueror - The Gates of Slumber
11. Always A Six, Never A Nine - Black Elk (Crucial Blast)
12. Occasion - The Goslings
13. Twilight of the Thunder God - Amon Amarth (Metal Blade)
14. Acid or Blood - Racebannon
15. Prehistoricisms - Intronaut (Century Media)
16. War Metal Battle Master - Lair of the Minotaur
17. Board Up the House - Genghis Tron
18. The Formation of Damnation - Testament
19. Fogcutter - Fiftywatthead (Signed By Force)
20. An Overdose of Death - Toxic Holocaust

Not a whole lot different, but I just couldn't let my list stand without those awesome Amon Amarth, Fiftywatthead, Intronaut and Black Elk albums. To wrap up my year in metal, an alphabetical list of runners-up that I also really liked (those that didn't appear on either list):

Akimbo - Jersey Shores (Neurot)
All That Remains - Overcome (Razor & Tie)
Architect - Ghost of the Salt Water Machines (Metal Blade)
Blacklisted - Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God (Deathwish Inc.)
Boris - Smile (Southern Lord)
Clouds - We Are Above You (Hydra Head)
Death Angel - Killing Season (Nuclear Blast)
Deicide - Til Death Do Us Part (Earache)
Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull (Southern Lord)
Enslaved - Vertebrae (Nuclear Blast)
Gods and Queens - Gods and Queens (Robotic Empire)
Grand Magus - Iron Will (Candlelight)
Helms Alee - Night Terror (Hydra Head)
Hero Destroyed - Hero Destroyed (Relapse)
In Flames - A Sense of Purpose (Koch)
Medusa - En Raga SuL (Hawthorne Street)
Merciless Death - Realm of Terror (Heavy Artillery)
Meshuggah - obZen (Nuclear Blast)
Russian Circles - Station (Suicide Squeeze)
Saviours - Into Abaddon (Kemado)
Sothis - De Oppresso Liber (Candlelight)
Soulfly - Conquer (Roadrunner)
The Sword - Gods of the Earth (Kemado)
Unearth - The March (Metal Blade)
U.S. Christmas - Eat the Low Dogs (Neurot)
Witch - Paralyzed (Tee Pee)
Zozobra - Bird of Prey (Hydra Head)

And a special shout-out for completely not sucking as expected:

Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy (Geffen)