4) Devin Townsend Project – Transcendence (Hevy Devy Records) 

Transcendence is definitive Devin Townsend. Every single song is a thick, sonic experience with layers of complex, beautiful arrangements. Transcendence is a ride through your own spiritual journey, ushered along by the jester king of progressive heavy metal. As great as Devin’s production work goes, another big name in the modern progressive metal field, Adam “Nolly” Getgood (Periphery) is credited with Engineering and Mixing.

Track Pick: “Failure” or “Higher”

3) Megadeth, Dystopia (Tradecraft/uME) 

With Dystopia we have Megadeth writing songs that are just as blistering and aggressive as anything to come from them yet. After it was announced that both Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover had departed from the band it seemed up in the air how the album would eventually turn out, but I stayed optimistic as Dave Mustaine’s history of choosing musicians is pretty stellar. As it would happen, Dave and Jr would go on to enlist Kiko Loureiro (Angra) and Chris Adler (Lamb of God, Nitro?) and come out with one of their best albums in years. The artwork even features my favorite incarnation of Vic Rattlehead, a dressed up, katana wielding, cyberpunk, bounty hunter of some sort.

Track Pick: Dystopia

2) Haken, Affinity (Inside Out)

Affinity was one of those albums that I instantly felt a connection with but could not even remotely comprehend until I had gone through it a half dozen times. It is an astoundingly technical, modern progressive metal album with deep, classic progressive rock roots. The aesthetic of the 80s permeate the album with themes of science and technology, hope, and the future found throughout. It may sound like a daunting task, because it is, but do yourself a favor and dive into the 15 minute epic, “The Architect.” 

Track Pick: “The Architect” or “1985”

1) Avantasia, Ghostlights (Nuclear Blast)

I did not get very far into 2016 before I realized that I had a masterpiece on my hands, and ultimately what was going to be my #1 for the year. It was literally the first album of 2016 to come through my speakers, and nothing has dethroned it since. Ghostlights is a fully realized concept album, following up the story established in their 2014 release The Mystery of Time, and was created to be listened to as a whole, non-stop. It also can be picked apart and every single song would stand on it’s own as something unique and entertaining. Each of the guest vocalists brought in fit their parts perfectly. “Seduction of Decay” is one of the best songs that Geoff Tate (Operation: Mindcrime, ex-Queensryche) has done in years. Entirely present and personal biases aside, Tobias Sammet wrote one of the best albums released this year, but also one of the best of his entire career. (And finally brought Avantasia to the US!)

Track Pick: “Let the Storm Descend Upon You” or “Lucifer”

Honorable Mentions:

Machinae Supremacy – In the Night World (Hubnester Records)

It doesn’t get released until the 16th, but given how much I have been enjoying “My Dragons will Decimate,” I wouldn’t consider my list finished until I’ve heard the whole thing. 

Lamb of God – The Duke EP (Nuclear Blast)

Since only two of the five songs were originals, no matter how much I enjoyed them this was never going to make the top 10. However, the two new tracks are both excellent and the live ones a bonus.

Crobot – Welcome to Fat City (Wind-up Records)

Alter Bridge – The Last Hero (Napalm)

Primal Fear – Rulebreaker (Frontiers Records)

Twelve Foot Ninja, Outlier (Volkanik Music)

Fallujah – Dreamless (Nuclear Blast)