Dear readers of my blog!

Today is the day where I would like to share a list of my twenty favourite records of the year 2016 with you. I will also talk about recommendable songs, live albums and compilations that were released this year. I will end this post with a list of upcoming releases I'm looking forward to next year.

1. Unbeing - Ceres

The Canadian instrumental progressive metal quintet takes the crown with an absolutely mindblowing narrative track that tells a gripping science-fiction story over twenty-nine stunning minutes that should please to those who like movies such as ''Alien'', ''The Martian'' and ''Passengers''. Instrumentally, the group manages to take us on a journey through space thanks to a numbing rhythm section, atmospheric and majestic keyboard passages and a technically impressive guitar play. Listening to this masterpiece is an absolutely unique experience.

 2. Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage

Avenged Sevenfold deliver an outstanding progressive metal record that varies from sinister metalcore over traditional heavy metal with classic progressive rock influences to intellectual masterpieces that fusion a multitude of genres and styles in a surprisingly coherent and fluid way. The musicians aren't only outstanding from a technical point of view but manage to write a whole album of cinematic grandeur that proves all the naysayers wrong.

3. Arkan - Kelem

This album is an absolutely stunning progressive gothic metal release with vivid Middle Eastern folk passages and profound lyrics about contemporary conflicts. New singer Manuel Munoz adds many new dimensions to the band sound with his sorrowful vocals and collaborates with his former bandmate Foued Moukid nine years after the last The Old Dead Tree record. Welcome back to the metal scene, Manuel Munoz!

4.  Screaming Savior - Semblances of the Void

Originally titled ''千面无容'', Screaming Savior's ''Semblances of the Void'' mixes majestic symphonic black metal with inspired Asian neofolk sounds. The Chinese sextet finds the right balance between atmospheric and calm songs with exotic instrumentation, melodic symphonic gothic metal and unchained black metal parts with cold riffs and pitiless blastbeats. The groups sucks you into a liberating yet sinister atmosphere right from the start and never lets you go until the very end after a majestic journey of almost forty-five minutes.

5. Babymetal - Metal Resistance

The revolutionary Japanese idol band release a superb sophomore studio album that focuses mainly on the band's liberating metal style with a handful of carefully chosen and perfectly integrated soundscapes. The band delivers this year's best power metal song with ''The One'' and this year's best folk metal tune with ''Meta Taro'' on one single output. The three singers sound much more mature and skilled than on the predecessor and prove all the naysayers wrong who were expecting this group to be an artificial one-hit wonder. If the future of metal music sounds like this, I'm all in!

6. Black Crown Initiate - Selves We Cannot Forgive

Progressive extreme metal band Black Crown Initiate releases a strong sophomore studio record that focuses much more on the group's atmospheric, calm and intellectual soundscapes where the group unfolds its true magic. This album is an impressive and surprising step forward after a strong but much more extreme debut record.

7. Myrath - Legacy / ميراث

Myrath offer a series of memorable anthems that are much easier to digest than anything the band has released before without losing its charismatic mixture of thoughtful power metal, impressive progressive metal and vivid folk influences. 

   8. Anthrax - For All Kings 

Anthrax proves that its stunning comeback effort ''Worship Music'' was more than an exceptional effort because ''For All Kings'' keeps the impressive level of the liberating predecessor. The band comes around with sorrowful and mellow anthems like ''Breathing Lightning'', more complex and progressive tunes like ''Suzerain'' and pitiless thrash metal as in the youthful ''Zero Tolerance''. This is a perfect record for metal parties that only features killers and no fillers.

9. Voivod - Post Society 

Voivod offers this impressive EP consisting of four new songs and a brilliant cover version of Hawkwind's ''Silver Machine'' to introduce its new line-up featuring bassist Rocky whose performance is technically appealing and refreshingly powerful. The new songs are dystopian progressive metal masterpieces that need some time to grow but turn out to be among the band's very best songs since the new millennium. 

 10. In Extremo - Quid pro Quo 

In Extremo manages to release one of its heaviest and yet one of its most folk-influenced records in recent memory. The melancholic and progressive epic ''Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein'' is among the very best songs the band has ever written while the metalcore tune ''Flaschengeist'' and the traditional folk rock anthem ''Piske Palve'' represent the band's enormous creativity and diversity on this highly entertaining best German album of the year 2016.

11. Megadeth - Dystopia 

Megadeth delivers its best album in more than two decades with this sinister and slightly progressive conceptual thrash metal record that tells sorrowful tales of a dystopian world. Especially the more experimental middle section around tracks like ''Post American World'' and ''Poisonous Shadows'' hits really hard but the album also has a few catchier tracks like ''The Threat Is Real'' and ''Dystopia'' that can really convince. While this output doesn't beat Anthrax's new record due to a few fillers, Megadeth easily beats its other colleagues from the Big Four who released weaker efforts this and last year.

12. Master's Hammer - Formulæ 

Master's Hammer's new output is my greatest new discovery this year since I wasn't familiar with this band before. The Czech experimental extreme metal trio offers extremely creative tracks that only have their mysterious and sinister atmosphere in common. Some tracks use danceable darkwave sounds, other tunes use exotic instruments such as dobros and xylophones while other songs are supported by choirs or a female guest vocalist. This highly entertaining and inspired extreme metal release offers a myriad of unusual soundscapes and should be experienced over and over again to discover its plentiful potential.   

Other great studio albums that didn't make it into my personal top twelve are:  13. Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale, 14. Masquerader - Vortex Day Zero, 15. Equilibrium - Armageddon, 16. Mercy Isle - Undying Fire, 17. The Vision Bleak - The Unknown, 18. Rob Zombie - The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser, 19. David Bowie - Blackstar, 20. Ewigheim - Schlaflieder.

Here are my favourite live albums, DVDs and Blu-rays of the year: 1. Babymetal - Live at Wembley, 2. In Extremo - Quid pro Quo Live, 3. In Flames - Sounds from the Heart of Gothenburg, 4. Metallica - Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, Metallica!, 5. Disturbed - Live at Red Rocks.

My favourite compilation album of the year 2016 was: The Vision Bleak - Timeline - An Introduction to The Vision Bleak

These are my favorite songs of 2016:

1. Unbeing - Ceres

2. Vektor - Recharging the Void

3. Arkan - Just a Lie

4. Myrath - Believer

5. In Extremo - Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein

6. Anthrax - Breathing Lightning

7. Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage

8. Equilibrium - Eternal Destination

9. Babymetal - Meta Taro 

10. Anvil - Daggers and Rum

11. Avantasia - Draconian Love

12. Metallica - Moth Into Flame

13. The Vision Bleak - The Kindred of the Sunset

14. In Flames - The Truth

15. Gojira - Stranded 

16. Trick or Treat - United

17. Megadeth - Poisonous Shadows

18. Black Sabbath - Isolated Man

19. Blind Guardian - Children of the Smith

20. The 69 Eyes - Miss Pastis 

 

Best video clip: Tainted DickMen - Don't Be Afraid

 

These are the records I'm looking forward to in 2017:

Edenbridge - The Great Momentum / Grave Digger - Healed by Metal / Iron Reagan - Crossover Ministry / Kreator - Gods of Violence / Over Kill - The Grinding Wheel / Seven Kingdoms - Decennium / Trollwar - The Traveler's Path / Xandria - Theater of Dimensions

 

Arkan brought Manuel Munoz of The Old Dead Tree into their band to break new grounds. The charismatic singer reunites with his former bandmate Foued Moukid. They had recorded two outstanding albums together a decade earlier. It's no surprise that Arkan's newest output sounds like a mixture of the group's own melodic death metal with charismatic Middle Eastern folk elements and The Old Dead Tree's mournful progressive gothic metal style. While it seems like a big risk to part ways with beloved former French-Algerian singer Sarah Layssac who decided to focus on her acting career, it really pays off and Arkan leaps forward to release what might be its best record so far.

The fusion between the band's old and new style is very balanced, coherent and fluid. ''The Call'' recalls the band's classic style and opens with acoustic folk elements before it transforms into a mysterious melodic death metal mid-tempo stomper with passionate growls that sound like a storm passing by. The record's most extreme track might be ''Erhal'' with its pitiless up-tempo rhythm section, destructive riffs and hoarse growls. This song is more brutal than all the tunes from the entire last release combined. It's a welcome change of pace on an overall more atmospheric release.

I can't express how happy I am that Manuel Munoz is back in a regular metal band. He nails both the mournful clean vocals and his expressive extreme metal vocals. On this album, his clean vocals really add whole new dimensions to the band's already impressive soundscapes. He has a very unique way to sing and even pronounce syllables. Manuel Munoz is the kind of unique singer you can recognize as soon as he sings the first few lyrics of a song. His enchanting, hypnotizing and melodic vocals truly unfold in the sinister ''Nour'' where the vocalist somehow represents the calm before the storm. The track has a sorrowful vibe yet something strangely comforting thanks to the unique vocalist. This song is a true beauty. Another perfect example fur Manuel Monoz' passionate vocals is the calmer and more plodding ''Beyond the Wall'' where softer and lower vocals in the verses perfectly harmonize with more desperate and higher vocal parts in the slightly faster transitional parts. The band's folk elements also harmonize perfectly with the expressive vocals in this song.

It's not easy to point out a best song on a consistent high quality release like this one but I have to underline the qualities of ''Just a Lie'' that reminds me a lot of the style adapted by The Old Dead Tree on ''The Perpetual Motion''. This progressive masterpiece has a dark, desperate and epic vibe carried by a thunderous rhythm section, sorrowful riffs and heartbreaking chord progressions while the calmer transitional passages with acoustic guitars and soothing vocals take you on a most emotional journey. In addition to this, the inspiring lyrics about contemporary conflicts in the Middle East even add to the appeal of this song and the entire record. This explains the record's mournful vibe that perfectly orchestrates these problems. This was the kind of music I was dreaming of when I first heard that Manuel Munoz would join Arkan and this track is like a dream come true.

Welcome back to the metal scene, Manuel Munoz! In my opinion, ''Kelem'' is both Arkan's strongest release so far and the greatest gothic metal album of the year. It convinces both musically thanks to a new style based upon atmosphere, emotions and a more progressive approach as well as lyrically because most of the songs refer to the human side in contemporary conflicts and offer a lot of food for thought. If you care for intellectual gothic metal, you must purchase this outstanding record that will grow on you with each consecutive spin.

Final verdict: 95%

After the rhythmic, energizing and danceable ''24/7'', Ewigheim makes a one hundred eighty degree turn and offers the smooth, introspective and dreamy ''Schlaflieder''. Obviously, the album title doesn't refer to ordinary lullabies but rather talks about eternal sleep which is a euphemism for death. The sinister lyrics describe death as a destiny and salvation that one should rather embrace than fear because it's a part of all our lives. These philosophical lyrics can be seen as very liberating, profound and realistic if you or someone close to you faces death. If you are a fragile person, mentally unstable or already in a suicidal mood, these emotional lyrics can though be dangerous because they describe death as something trivial, omnipresent or even desirable.

Musically, the band focuses on soft keyboard patterns, numbing piano melodies, a smooth yet precise rhythm section, simplistic guitar riffs and elegant baritone singing. The crooning, dark and low vocals are hypnotizing, mournful and seductive. They can be seen as the trademark and highlight of this record and remind of a more relaxed alternative to Moonspell, Tiamat and Type 0 Negative. The vocals are supported by doom and gothic metal riffs, simple and sorrowful piano melodies and numbing electronic background sounds. This mixture convinces most in the comforting and enchanting opener ''Schlaflied'', the longing and melancholic ''Einmal noch'' and the elegiac ''Wir, der Teufel und ich II'' that manages to tell an epic story despite its concise length.

There are only few tracks that venture into mid-tempo territories and feature some more poignant riffs like the rhythmic ''Himmelsleiter'', the urgent ''Besessen & entseelt'' and the closure of the gloomy ''Dies ist der Preis'' where heavy guitar riffs are in the foreground. In general, this album should rather be categorized as depressive or gothic rock but not as a metal output. Imagine a gloomier version of Anathema and Katatonia and you might have a better idea of what to expect. If you like sinister rock music that needs some time to open up, focuses more on the overall atmosphere than on songwriting aspects of each specific track and delivers profound lyrics offering some food for thought, this record will grow on you as it did on me. It's an album for special moments only that truly unfolds its magick during rainy and dark autumn or winter nights. If you are expecting a bleak and desperate riff-based gothic metal record, you might find this release rather underwhelming and should approach this album cautiously.

Final verdict: 82%

From a purely objective point of view, ''Yoga Hosers'' could be seen as one of the worst movies ever made. The story is extremely weak. The movie has several big plot holes. The acting performances are somewhere between average and terrible. The characters are quite one- dimensional. The special effects are extremely cheap. The movie is filled with stupid stereotypes about Canadians and Germans. The German, French Canadian and English Canadian accents are also stereotypical and while a few expressions and pronunciations are employed correctly, they are completely exaggerated and annoyingly repetitive. The movie also rips off other films, characters and even actors. Even the soundtrack seems to have been put together in a very odd way where the main actresses perform famous classics in mostly horrid ways.

And yet, from my subjective point of view, I adored ''Yoga Hosers'' from start to finish and not only despite but because of its flaws. If you are ready to switch your brain off, have some fun and watch this movie with a few friends, this is an entertaining, light-hearted and surprising party movie. It doesn't have the diversity, intensity and uniqueness of its predecessor ''Tusk'' but it has its very own style and might also have a small but faithful cult following in the years to come.

The movie literally got me into it right from the start. I'm a huge fan of metal music and its diverse sub-genres, so when the film opened with a reinterpretation of Anthrax's famous ''I'm the Man'', I got my first positive surprise. The new lyrics for the song aren't very innovative but they are amusing and the idea itself is quite cool.

The characters in this movie are so stupid, stereotypical and one- dimensional that it's actually funny. From the horny, obsessive and possessive stepmother over the angry, closed-minded and severe physical education teacher to the hysterical, megalomaniac and narcissistic villain, you get a whole series of hilariously entertaining characters. I somehow liked the so-called school hottie who actually looks plain horrible and who pretends to be a gentleman and turns out to be a satanist. His slightly retarded sidekick is another stereotypical character that is so over-the-top that I had to laugh about him all the time.

Throw in a lot of interesting story ideas and you get a very unusual potpourri. The historic references to Canadian national socialist Adrien Arcand show that the makers of this film are actually familiar with Canadian culture and history. The movie also makes fun of cheap magazines and the obsession of media with stars and starlets in general. The idea to center this story around two bored, cynical and naive female store clerks who are addicted to their cell phones and judge everyone and everything around them is also quite interesting. It's actually interesting to live this story from the point of view of two unsympathetic anti-heroes that symbolize stereotypically everything that might be wrong with the new millennium's generation. The older generation isn't portrayed in a more favourable way though and is often depicted as conservative, grumpy and prejudiced. The film also lives from its numerous cameo appearances featuring Johnny Depp as weird French Canadian police officer, Justin Long as surprisingly aggressive yoga teacher with weird marketing ideas and slogans and Kevin Smith as the face of an army of miniature monsters made of sausages and sauerkraut.

This leads us to the incredible story line. A follower of French Canadian national socialist Adrien Arcand, a doctor from Berlin called Adronicus Arcane, purchases some land in Winnipeg, builds a subterranean palace, creates an army of tiny sausage warriors with sauerkraut blood, places himself into cryopreservation and plans to wake up one hundred years later in order to conquer North America. He wakes up three decades too soon after a power shortcut caused by a band performance in the back-store of a convenience store. He decides to send out his sausage warriors to kill people and get their body parts to build an ultimate monster suit for his sausage warriors. Unfortunately for the villain, he is living below the convenience store of two bored female clerks, naive high school students and yoga enthusiasts who will team up with a strange French Canadian police officer to save their country.

Let's put this simple. If the story sounds like a cool idea to you, you will like this movie like I did. If you think it's the worst thing you have ever heard, do yourself a favour and avoid this controversial cult flick. If you are somewhere in between, watch this at your own risk. I can't wait to watch the final instalment of the True North trilogy called ''Moose Jaws''.

Final verdict: seven out of ten bratzis