23. Within Temptation – The Unforgiving (2011)The Heart Of everything wasn’t bad. It had several good songs, but was a bit inconsistent. The Unforgiving on the other hand is great from start to finish. And that intro track is fucking brutal! Now, I won’t argue that every song follows the same formula and can be a bit samey, but it’s only the formula of the songs. It doesn’t sound like all the songs blend together here. Basically I said the same thing in the write up for Alyson Avenue, but it’s true. Sometimes bands don’t need to experiment or write off the wall songs, but just a collection of catchy rockin’ songs, and that’s what WT have done here with great success. Sharon’s voice isn’t as angelic as it used to be, but she still sounds great as does the rest of the band. I even got my girlfriend into the band with this album. The Unforgiving is a concept album based on a comic series of the same name, and I guess you have to read the comics to really get the gist of what’s going on, because it’s kind of vague on the album. It has to do with revenge I’m pretty sure. But you really don’t have to know what’s going on though to enjoy the album as the songs work on their own too. If you like straight up Rock and metal with a female singer and you haven’t heard anything by Within Temptation yet (or you thought The Silent Force was a little too poppy), check out The Unforgiving. It’s great.
Recommended tracks: Shot in the Dark, In The Middle Of The Night, Faster, Murder, A Demon’s Fate
22. Symphony X – V: The New Mythology Suite (2000)Symphony X is cheesy blah blah blah. V is a concept album about Atlantis. Yep. It’s also the last album to feature all clean singing from Russell Allen, which is a shame, but it’s not like he started doing death growls afterwards. Anyway, the sound of V isn’t all that different from their previous albums, but the songs are a little more fleshed out. New to the band is bassist Mike LePond who does a good job of following up Thomas Miller. Michael Romeo is his usual shreddy self and sounds great, but who really shines is Russell Allen, but that’s nothing new. He’s one of the greatest metal singers out there (“hahaha no he’s not, noob. [insert generic death metal/metalcore/Pattoncore singer here] is clearly better hahaha”) Now Russell may be doing things now that I don’t like, but back then he was amazing. Communion And The Oracle is my all time favorite SX song. It’s just a beautiful piece of music. People who can’t take Allen’s vocals seriously need to understand that Symphony X’s music calls for a theatrical singer, so being a little over the top is necessary. To finish off the album is the epic Rediscovery Part II, a 12 minute piece of Power-Prog Metal bliss, although admittedly the solo section is a bit lackluster. If you’re looking for a good place to start with Symphony X, V: The New Mythology Suite is a good place to start. How's that for redundancy? That or The Divine Wings Of Tragedy, but there’s an abomination of a song on that one called The Witching Hour.
Recommended tracks: Evolution, Fallen, Communion Of The Oracle, Egypt, Rediscovery Part II
21. Redemption – The Origins Of Ruin (2007)This was my first introduction to Redemption. After making a signature for Nick with his favorite albums of 2007 which TOoR was a part of, I downloaded the album and tried listening to it. The vocals were certainly different, and the music just didn’t interest me. The only thing that stuck with me was the verses of Memory, or just the “I still remember” parts, because it’s said so much. It wasn’t until 2 years later I would give the follow up Snowfall On Judgment Day a listen and it was then that Redemption clicked huge for me. I listened to Origins again and it was like a different album. The Suffocating Silence kicks off the album with a full on metal assault, and the ending instrumental section is killer. I still don’t think Bleed Me Dry is all that great, but it isn’t a bad song. Afterwards, The Death of Faith And Reason gets the headbanging going again, and then it’s one of my favorite Redemption songs, Memory. The second part in the unofficial “Break Up Trilogy” following Sapphire. I still haven’t thought of a good name for it. It’s a beautiful prog epic, very melodic, but sad. The title track is very eerie and depressing about a man completely lost and without hope, and his world crumbling down. The other songs have a similar feel to each other, and I think Nick Van Dyk is a Dragonball Z fan because the intro to Blind My Eyes sounds like a theme from the show. Used To Be has one of my favorite instrumental bits from Redemption and Fall On You is an epic closer written about Nick’s daughter. Redemption picked up the metal with their future albums, but The Origins Of Ruin is a great Prog metal classic.
Recommended tracks: The Suffocating Silence, The Death of Faith And Reason, Memory, Used To Be, Fall On You
The road so far:50. Sarah McLachlan - Afterglow
49. Green Carnation – Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness
48. Def Leppard - Pyromania
47. Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
46. 3 Doors Down – The Better Life
45. Alyson Avenue – Presence Of Mind
44. Nightwish – Imaginaerum
43. Judas Priest – Painkiller
42. Stone Sour – Come What (Ever) May
41. Blind Guardian – A Night At The Opera
40. Evanescence – Evanescence
39. Within Temptation – The Silent Force
38. Missy Higgins– The Sound Of White
37. Metallica - …And Justice For All
36. Iron Maiden – The Number Of The Beast
35. Pathosray – Pathosray
34. Disturbed – The Sickness
33. Suspyre – The Silvery Image
32. Megadeth – Countdown To Extinction
31. Iron Maiden – Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
30. Star One – Space Metal
29. Blind Guardian – Nightfall In Middle-Earth
28. The Offspring – Ixnay On The Hombre
27. Pyramaze – Immortal
26. Circus Maximus – The 1st Chapter
25. Iron Maiden – Somewhere In Time
24. Into Eternity – The Scattering Of Ashes
23. Within Temptation – The Unforgiving
22. Symphony X – V: The New Mythology Suite
21. Redemption – The Origins Of Ruin