Some Good Stuff Already This Year:

[Nos]

Here's what I've been enjoying so far this year:

Soen - Imperial (Out 1/29)

Coming off what I think are the two best metal albums of the last ___ years, my expectations were sky high, and Soen still surpassed them. This is their tightest, most focused album yet. The production is powerful, and that only makes both the grooves and melodies hit even harder. I'm not sure what it is, but no one else playing rhythmic riffs like this catches me ear the way they do, and they keep getting better and better at delivering rousing, melancholy melodies. This is as close to flawless as an album's going to get.

W.E.T. - Retransmission (Out now)

This doesn't quite measure up to the greatness of "Earthrage", but that's the only problem with it. We got last year's melodic rock gem from Harem Scarem, and we've already gotten this year's. Soto sounds great, and it's just great song after great song. Side thought; Am I the only one who prefers Erik Martensson's side projects (W.E.T. and Nordic Union, specifically) more than his main gig in Eclipse?

Transatlantic - The Absolute Universe (Out 2/5)

Between the two versions of this album, there is a lot of great prog to be heard. They all brought their best material to the table, and my reservations about anything Neal or Roine have been doing were alleviated. It's typical Transatlantic, but they're the absolute best at what they do. The problem is that neither version of the album they're selling has all the good stuff. To be its best, I had to put together my own playlist, which is ridiculously stupid. There's a great album to be taken from the heaping pile of music they give us.

Illuminae - Dark Shadows (Out 2/12)

This is another Karnataka offshoot. Unlike the last one, this sounds like them, but as light as you can possibly get. Even so, I definitely enjoy it, and there are some beautiful melodies to be found throughout the record. I can't tell if the singer isn't as good as Hayley was on "Secrets Of Angels", or if she's just mixed too low to be heard over the music at points, but something about the vocals comes off a bit weak. This could have been a nice Karnataka record if they added some guitar power.