Tom's Top 15 Albums of 2015

2015 will be a year for the record books in the Campagna household. Why the New York Mets made it to the World Series, I bought a house, and of course my wife and I welcomed out little boy Connor into the world. Aside from those wonderful feats, there was metal to be had in 2015 and it was a damned fine year with so many huge bands putting out great records; listing them is a chore unto itself, but ultimately no one pays me for this so this list is what you make of it honestly. Make sure to check out the albums I did a full review for by clicking the link in the album title and also listen to a selection from each album by clicking the song below each write up.

Jack's Top 15 Albums of 2013

Hey, remember when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup this year? Yeah, that was pretty cool. Also of importance, particularly in relation to things this publication actually cares about as a collective, there were a staggering amount of fantastic albums in heavy music this year. I toiled with what to include in my Top 15 for quite awhile, but while there's plenty of excellent releases I've left off, this is the group of records I not only felt the most strongly about in a positive sense, but also that I feel deserve the most cred. On to the goods, children.

Oh, and it's good to be back.

Top 10 List Fuck-Up #1: Leaving Out Kylesa

Albums of the year lists are really difficult to make. And not because it takes time to dig up all the releases and think through each record you enjoyed. That part is fun. The process of whittling down all the best releases of a given year into a list of ten albums, however, is painstaking and always results in regrets. Count leaving Kylesa's Spiral Shadow off my list as that first huge regret.

Yeah... slap me. This one ruled.

I'd given Spiral Shadow a healthy number of spins by the time I started my list, and felt comfortable leaving it off at the time... but not until the last few weeks did it dawn on me how fucking genius Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants fourth effort together was. Give me the proverbial dunce cap, cause I definitely deserve it. The delivery of each crushing riff varies throughout the album, and the amalgam of the twin-drum assault only adds to the dynamism of what is certainly a tried-and-true album. Spiral Shadow progressively builds around the title track featured near the end of the record, which features one of the most stupidly epic riffs you'll ever come across. Plain and simple, Spiral Shadow is another linchpin in Kylesa's coat, and possibly their best release yet. And I'm sorry it took me this long to finally give it the press it deserves.

- Jack