7) Devin Townsend Project, Z2 (Hevy Devy) 

It’s long been accepted that Devin Townsend is a wizard, but Z2 makes that case stronger now more than ever. The long awaited second chapter of Ziltoid brings the best that Townsend has to offer, from his delightfully weird prog to the grand production value found on previous albums. Originally, I thought that Sky Blue was overshadowed a bit by Dark Matters simply because, well, Ziltoid, but having spent more time with both of them, I find they match up pretty well. This is all you could want from a Hevy Devy double album and the wait was very much worth it to me.

6) Electric Wizard, Time To Die (Spinefarm) 

During closing time at my day job, I somehow got away with playing a song from this album for all my coworkers to hear. Immediately, a wave of misery and depression seemed to hit almost everyone in the store not used to such music (i.e. all but three of us). Granted, Electric Wizard is anything but happy, but I was quite chipper despite everyone else’s sudden mood swing. Amidst the complaints of the music, one coworker walked up to me and asked:

“Yo Matt, this your music?”

“Sure is.”

“…whatchu be doin’ at home?”

That conversation is more than enough reason for Time To Die to be on this list.

5) Eluveitie, Origins (Nuclear Blast)

Folk metal and its various derivatives have a reputation for being somewhat wacky considering bagpipes, tin flute, and hurdy gurdy aren’t exactly commonplace in metal. That said, I’ve always championed Eluveitie as metal storytellers who seamlessly meld melodic death metal with Celtic themes. The band spins tales of Celtic mythology on an album that runs smoothly from start to finish. Origins is at its best when vocalists Chrigel Glanzmann and Anna Murphy pair up to deliever barbaric harsh vocals and beatufiful cleans over the traditional instruments that take you to lands from long ago.