Best Music of 2008

This was another great year for new rock & metal music, just like 2007. I'm not sure if it's my tastes this year, or just the way schedules worked out, but almost everything on the list this year is really on the heavy side of rock (there is no analogue to Foo Fighters to hop into the mix this time around). A couple bands are missing because they have no videos (I'm looking at you, Ayreon) or the song they chose to make a video for is so mediocre (I'm looking at you, Metallica).

Happy New Year!

Opeth - Watershed

In some ways, this album manages to eclipse Blackwater Park. It's a masterwork combination of their beautiful, acoustic harmonizing style and their brutal dark style.

Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe

Four albums in three years? Scar Symmetry are definitely one of my most favorite (and most productive) melodic death metal bands. Their vocal and musical hooks are gigantic, making me want to listen to their albums over and over again.

Trivium - Vengeance Falls

What can I say? Trivium is probably my favorite thrash band right now, and this song really captures their style well.

The Human Abstract - Midheaven

This was my favorite new discovery of the year; they have a very experimental prog rock sound and the video is very interesting (and very well done for a relatively obscure band).

Protest the Hero - Fortress

You thought The Mars Volta were a little odd? These guys are like the insane little cousin to Mars Volta's normality.

In Flames - A Sense of Purpose

I'm glad they chose this as the 2nd single for the album, because it is hands down the best on the disc. The hooks through the chorus are so big you could hang buffalo on them.

Testament - The Formation of Damnation

They went 9 years without a new album, and it was well worth the wait. The new album effortlessly blends the heavy driving style of The Gathering with the melodic style of Practice What You Preach.

Meshuggah - obZen

The drummer for Meshuggah is well known as being part drumming-robot, and this was the song that really caught people's attention for his style. Be warned that the video is kind of disturbing.

Evergrey - Torn

These guys are one of the most under-appreciated metal bands... they put out album after album with just stellar material but I rarely see them get mentioned (maybe because nobody growls).

Disturbed - Indestructible

The second video from their new album is for the war anthem "Indestructible", definitely one of my favorite songs on the disc. I find myself thrashing along in the car whenever it's in the rotation.

Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone

I'd never listened to Slipknot before I saw this video on Headbanger's Ball a couple weeks before the album's release. I always thought them to be a bit gimmicky, but this song really kicks ass.

DevilDriver - The Last Kind Words

I ended up watching this one because of the interesting video, and when I listened to the whole album with my Zune Pass, decided it was a keeper. (And, no, the kids aren't the band.)