Top 10 (or however many you want to rank) albums of 2018 so far...

[nattmorker]

My last "preliminary" Top 20:

1   Amorphis - Queen of time
2   Between the Buried and Me - Automata I
3   Orphaned Land - Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs
4   Ghost - Prequelle
5   Avatar - Avatar Country
6   Between the Buried and Me - Automata II
7   Haken - Vector
8      In Vain - Currents
9   Ihsahn - Ámr
10   Angra - ØMNI
11   Obscura - Diluvium
12   Ostura - The Room
13   Into The Great Divide - Into The Great Divide
14   Michael Romeo - War of the Worlds pt 1
15   Dimmu Borgir - Eonian
16   The Night Flight Orchestra - Sometimes the World Ain't Enough
17   Neal Morse - Life & Times
18   Nacho Vegas - Violética
19   Augury - Illusive Golden Age
20   Beyond Creation - Algorythm

[Crow]

I have like 20ish 2018 albums I still need to spin enough to form a solid opinion on so i doubt I'll be able to make an accurate list in time

[bosk1]

There just hasn't really been anything much good in 2018 thus far.  Unfortunately, there isn't a ton on the horizon either.  I might be able to squeeze together a top 5 at the end of the year. 

Thus far:
Delta Deep - self titled
Stryper - God Damn Evil

Okay, the year has gotten a bit better.  If I am allowed to include live albums, I at least have a top 5 now.

1.  Redemption - Long Night's Journey Into Day:  I expect this to be album of the year.  Fantastic release.
2.  Epica - Attack on Titan Songs:  I hate to be the guy that says "lyrics don't matter; I only listen to the music."  But this band has grown on me through the years as one where I find their lyrics to be utterly ridiculous, but I can honestly say I love listening to their music and watching them play without paying attention to...whatever it is they are singing about.
32.  Michael Romeo - War of the Worlds, pt. I:  Fun release.  Yeah, a lot of the music could very well be Symphony X leftovers.  But I have no problem with that. 
43.  Neal Morse - Similitude Live:  Similitude is a fantastic album, and the performance here is great.  I only rank it so low because this live presentation does not bring anything new to the table.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  But I hate to take away from fully original album releases by other bands for a live album that is pretty much a by-the-book presentation of an album that was already an album of the year contender the year before last.
54.  Delta Deep - s/t:  If you told me Phil Collen was going to release a blues album, my curiosity would not likely be piqued.  But having seen most of the songs live on G3, I gained an early appreciation for what he did here.
65.  Stryper - God Damn Evil:  Yeah.  Stryper. 

I still don't think I will get to 10 by the end of the year.  But I am liking how my list is shaping up now.

Well, almost the end of the year, and my list hasn't really changed.  I took out Epica because, after follow-up listens, I didn't end up liking it enough to buy it.  So, overall, VERY slow year for good music.  But Redemption was VERY good, so it isn't a total loss.  Looking forward to 2019.

[wolfking]

Never liked anything I heard from Lords of Black.  Haven't checked this new one though.
Forgot there was a new Subsignal, will have to check.
I thought the first song released for the King Company was shit, but I'll look into it.
Not a Trillium fan, first album didn't stick at all.
The Gus G was quite decent, but not top 10 material.

You got some backasswards standards if you'd 'throw in' Kamelot ahead of Gus G.  Check Trillium out - WAY better than their first one too - which I deleted from my library because I disliked it so much.  Glad I gave this album a chance - it's certainly better than Vega or Kamelot.

I'll add it to the list.

[Dave_Manchester]

Probably my final top 5 for the year:

1. Arena - Double Vision
2. Between The Buried and Me - Automata II
3. Ghost - Prequelle
4. Between The Buried and Me - Automata I
5. Mark Knopfler - Down The Road Wherever

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I see just about everyone thinks the back half of Automata is better than the first half.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit

If everyone gets in their top 5/10/20/whatever then we can make a DTF top 10? If someone's willing to do it, I ain't volunteering 

It's funny, Zeal & Ardor used to be on Metal Archives. I'm guessing they were removed because they started getting some "mainstream" attention. 

Also, it looks like you just volunteered Luke 

[TAC]

Cool. Luke's gonna do it? Awesome!

[Elite]

I thought he was going to do it when he made the thread. Very nice idea!

[twosuitsluke]

You can expect results around the summer...

[Nachtmerrie]

2018 was a great year for me, way better compared to 2017:

I still have some albums to check out but I don't think those will bring a lot of changes to the first 10 of my top 15.


1. TesseracT - Sonder
2. The Ocean - Phanerozoic 1: Palaeozoic
3. Haken - Vector
4. Oceans of Slumber - The Banished Heart
5. Between the Buried and Me: Automata I
6. Between the Buried and Me: Automata II
7: Redemption: A Long Night's Journey into Day
8. Coheed and Cambria: Vaxis - Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures
9. Behemoth - I Loved You at Your Darkest
10. Manic Street Preachers - Resistance is Futile
11: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
12: Valis Ablaze- Boundless
13: Michael Romeo - War of the Worlds Part 1
14. Gleb Kolyadin - Gleb Kolyadin
15: Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit

Bonus:
Best songs: Juno - TesseracT and The Decay of Disregard - Oceans of Slumber
Best live show: TesseracT and Ne Obliviscaris

[twosuitsluke]

I had really high hopes for the new Oceans of Slumber but I just couldn't get into it. I just don't feel it. I've listened to it quite a lot but I got to the point where I felt I was just trying to hard to like it. Too many other good releases as well!

[Crow]

Yeah new OoS is their weakest for sure, it's not just you

Feels like they stripped back all the interesting elements of their music to focus mostly on the vocals

[ProfessorPeart]

Not exactly a banner year for good albums, but there's been a few gems.

You said it. This feels like the first year in a while where I can't really pick a true standout awesome album. Just mainly a small group of good to really good records.

I really can't pick an album of the year so I will just list the standouts that I am listening to the most.

Ultraphonix - Original Human Music
Northward - Northward
Voivod - The Wake
A Light Divided - Choose Your Own Adventure
The Dead Deads - Sketches & Animation (EP)

Honorable Mention
Halestorm - Vicious
Blaze Bayley - The Redemption of William Black
Haken - Vector
Umphrey's McGee - it's not us
Umphrey's McGee - it's you
A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant

Still to hear
Paul Gilbert - Behold Electric Guitar (arriving today)
Ashes Of Ares - Well Of Souls
Within Temptation - Resist
We Are Sentinels - S/T

Here's where I am now. Pretty sure this won't change. The Paul Gilbert album still needs to be listened to and could crack one of the lists but we'll have to see.

Late entry is Rikard Sjöblom's Gungfly with the Friendship album. This could have had the Beardfish name on it.

Ultraphonix - Original Human Music
Rikard Sjöblom's Gungfly - Friendship
Northward - Northward
Voivod - The Wake
A Light Divided - Choose Your Own Adventure
The Dead Deads - Sketches & Animation (EP)

Honorable Mention
Halestorm - Vicious
Blaze Bayley - The Redemption of William Black
Haken - Vector
Umphrey's McGee - it's not us
Umphrey's McGee - it's you
A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant
We Are Sentinels - S/T

Still to hear
Paul Gilbert - Behold Electric Guitar (arriving today)
Within Temptation - Resist

[Grappler]

I don't have any sort of a list and haven't put any thought into ranking albums at all, but I can say that the album that I listened to and have enjoyed the most all year is:

Dee Snider - For the Love of Metal


That is such a surprise to me, but I love it and keep coming back to it over and over again.

[Art]

Gunship - Dark All Day
L'Enfant De La Forêt - Strangled
Judas Priest - Firepower
Hollow - Between Eternities of Darkness
Michael Romeo - War of The Worlds Vol 1
Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth

[RoeDent]

I think I've got my top 5 of the year set:

5. Spock's Beard - Noise Floor
A lot like their last album, this is one of those albums where I don't often have the desire to listen to it, but when I do I really enjoy it. There's still something stopping me from really liking Box of Spiders though. Favourite track: One So Wise

4. The Tangent - Proxy
A great return to form after the intensely political and ranty Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery. Favourite track: The Adulthood Lie

3. Kino - Radio Voltaire
Fantastic album, one that further cements John Mitchell as one of the finest songwriters of modern prog. Favourite track: Out of Time

2. Haken - Vector
This came close to being number one, but the last two tracks kinda bring it down a peg, along with the fact it's so short. Favourite track: Puzzle Box

1. Southern Empire - Civilisation
This wins it for me. Four utterly magnificent modern prog tracks, a soulful lead singer, some stellar guitar solos, some prog-metal heaviness without being full-on prog metal. 100% would recommend. Favourite track: Crossroads

[Zydar]

I'm ready to sum up the year now.

Top Albums:

1. Ghost - Prequelle (Album Of The Year)
2. Haken - Vector
3. Paul McCartney - Egypt Station
4. Judas Priest - Firepower
5. Spock's Beard - Noise Floor

But the best album release was the Super Deluxe 50th anniversary version of The Beatles' White Album. Since it was originally released in 1968, it doesn't count as a new album.

Top Songs:

1. Ghost - Dance Macabre (Song Of The Year)
2. Haken - Puzzle Box
3. Ghost - Rats
4. Haken - Veil
5. Paul McCartney - Despite Repeated Warnings

So yeah, Ghost and Haken was pretty much 2018 for me

[deggs37]

Not necessarily in order:

1. Ghost - Prequelle
2. BTBAM - Automata II
3. A Perfect Circle - Eat The Elephant
4. The Sea Within - The Sea Within
5. Haken - Vector
6. Gorillaz - The Now Now
7. Alice in Chains - Ranier Fog
8. Ray LaMontagne - Part of the Light
9. Eminem - Kamikaze
10. Riverside - Wasteland


Stuff I just haven't had a chance to listen to as much yet:

Angra - Omni
Ihsahn - Amr
Muse Simulation - Theory
Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis - Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures
Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway - Dictator
Soulfly - Ritual
Tenacious D - Post-Apocalypto
Voivod - The Wake

[YtseJamittaja]

Well, since I posted this for a new thread and didn't know this existed so I could post my thought here.. 

1. VOLA - Applause Of A Distand Crowd
Ghost, title track and Alien Shivers are so good and catchy songs and the album overall is great balance of heavy and melodic pop stuff so I choose this album to be my number one. A year ago I didn't even knew this band existed! The mix is really good and the flow overall is just perfect.

2. Haken - Vector
I think Haken is nowadays my favorite band and expectations were really high on Vector since The Mountain and Affinity were just perfect 10/10 albums. Vector has it's elements and it's good but songs like Host and A Cell Divides are not that good. Puzzle Box and Nil By Mouth are fortunately really strong tracks and Veil is good, not as good as like Crystallized or Architect but good. It just feels a bit too short and I have feeling that not all the songs are flowing quite well for each other.

3. Amorphis - Queen of Time
Oh, our great Amorphis from Finland did wonderful job with Queen of Time! Tracks like The Bee, Amongst Stars and The Golden Elk are good examples when you are just pissing honey and listening those strong riffs. Toni's voice is gold. All of the tracks weren't as good as those mentioned so it's just my third album of the year.

4. Michael Romeo - War of the Worlds - Pt. 1
This album was really surprise for me. I found out the single Black a week before the release and didn't even know Romeo is working on album! Tjis was pleasant surprise and it has many great really Symphony X style tunes. Favorite tracks are Fear the Unknown, F*cking Robots and Differences. Believe is also good song but it feels a bit out of place in the album.

5. Skyharbor - Sunshine Dust
This was another surprise for me. Many songs are really strong and catchy. Favorite tracks are Dim, Out of Time and Sunshine Dust. I'm not really familiar with Skyharbor but need to check their other releases too definitely!

6. Between the Buried and Me - Automata II
If just this album has more songs (Automata I was not that good IMO) it could have been higher on the list. I like when Tommy is not growling all the way. Voice of Trespass is so fun song! All the others are good too.

7. TesseracT - Sonder
Sonder was a bit disappointment for Tesseract standards. It has a new a lot better version of Smile (one of my favorite tracks of the year) and few other great tracks but then a few not so strong tracks.

8. Distorted Harmony - A Way Out
Chain Reaction was really good album so my hopes were high again. There are a few really great tunes (Downfall, Awaken, For Ester) but the overall album wasn't as good as CR. The vocalist has bettered his voice and I think DH could hit with really good album but I think they need to compose stronger, a bit more straightforward melodies.

9. Seventh Wonder - Tiara
I'm not sure if I like SW or if it's a bit too much at the same time. Tiara has reallr great elements but at the same time there's a ton of unnecessary parts. Dream Machines, The Everones and Tiara's Song are on my playlist constantly so I think this is a good album. On one day this album could be on the top 5 but as today it just haven't clicked me overall.

10.Good Tiger - We Will All Be Gone
Good drumming and the album has good tunes overall but I don't like the voice of the vocalist. That's too bad since they really have potential to shine!

[cramx3]

Saw the new thread and figured I should share here instead:

I've been thinking a lot about this lately and I thought I had it all set, until I didn't.  Right now this is what I am thinking:

1. Seventh Wonder - Tiara
2. Haken - Vector
3. Greta Van Fleet - Anthem of the Peaceful Army
4. Ghost - Prequelle
5. Redemption - Long Night's Journey Into Day

Honorable mentions:

Amaranthe - Helix
Kamelot - The Shadow Empire
Breaking Benjamin - Ember

[TAC]

I have the Distorted Harmony, Good Tiger, and the Skyharbor Saved in my Spotify. I did buy the Romeo, but I honestly haven't listened to it since it came out.

[Stadler]

To say it's been a slow year is being kind.


Myles Kennedy - The  Year Of The Tiger
Alice In Chains - Ranier Fog (what a strong record).
Slash - Living the Dream

I haven't heard the new Ace Frehley record yet.   

[cramx3]

Alice In Chains - Ranier Fog (what a strong record).

Haven't listened to the album, but really enjoy the songs I've heard and saw live from this album (I LOVE Never Fade).  It came to my attention last night that the 5 grammy nominated bands for album of the year, I have seen 3 of them and will see the 4th of the 5 this Saturday.  I found that really awesome and for once I kind of agree, the Grammys got shit right for the best rock album this year.  I think AIC has a real good chance of winning.

[YtseJamittaja]

I have the Distorted Harmony, Good Tiger, and the Skyharbor Saved in my Spotify. I did buy the Romeo, but I honestly haven't listened to it since it came out.

It depends if you like Symphony X you will like Romeo's solo album. I would have liked it to be more different than his work in SymX since only different song is F*cking Robots with those embarrassed dupstep sounds. But yeah, at first it didn't do anything but it have grown to be a decent album.

[busty sinclair]

heres my list

1 Haken- Vector
2 Umphreys Mcgee- Its you
3 Sea Within- S/T
4 Anderson Paak- Oxnard
5 Dragon Inn 3- S/T
6 Pineapple Thief- Dissolution
7 Spocks Beard- Noise Floor
8 We Came from Space- While You Were Away
9 Coheed and Cambria- Unheavenly Creatures
10 Roine Stolt The Flower King- Manifesto of an Alchemist

[Sacul]

I can help compile a DTF top 10 list for 2018 once we are all done 

Not a definitive list, still got to revisit some stuff and properly sort it, but this is my first draft:

[home]

Not exactly sure about the order yet, but these are the 2018 albums that made some sort of impression:

KIDS SEE GHOSTS - KIDS SEE GHOSTS
Anderson .Paak - Oxnard
Ólafur Arnalds - Re:member
Death Cab For Cutie - Thank You For Today
Post Malone - Beerbongs and Bentleys
Jon Hopkins - Singularity
Jean Grae & Quelle Chris – Everything's Fine
Nils Frahm - All Melody
Floex & Tom Hodge - A Portrait of John Doe
Gunship - Dark All Day
Haken - Vector
God Is An Astronaut - Epitaph
We Made God - Beyond The Pale
Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses
Julia Holter - Aviary
The Family Crest - The War Act I
Sleep Party People - Lingering pt. II
Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt

[Ninjabait]

Gonna go ahead and solidify my Top 10 for the year:

01. Charlie Puth - Voicenotes
02. Muse - Simulation Theory
03. The Algorithm - Computer Optimization Techniques
04. Gleb Kolyadin - Gleb Kolyadin
05. Submotion Orchestra - Kites
06. Michael Giacchino - The Incredibles 2 Original Score
07. Seventh Wonder - Tiara
08. CHVRCHES - Love is Dead
09. Ludwig Gorannson - Black Panther
10. Between the Buried and Me - Automata II

Hon. Mention: Ayumi Hamasaki - Trouble, Opiuo - Opiuo X Syzygy Orchestra Live at Red Rocks (would definitely be top 5, but I don't personally count live albums unless they're live studio albums like Snarky Puppy)

SOTY: Muse - Break it to Me

[Sacul]

02. Muse - Simulation Theory

[Crow]

okay, i'm just gonna post an updated list based on all the stuff i've currently rated:

1. Poly-math - House of Wisdom | We Are the Devil
2. Ancestors - Suspended in Reflections
3. Extremities - Gaia
4. Monotheist - Scourge
5. Structural Disorder - And the Cage Crumbles in the Final Scene
6. Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It
7. Slugdge - Esoteric Malacology
8. Lumnos - Ancient Shadows of Saturn
9. The Earth and I - The Candleman and the Curtain
10. Huntsmen - American Scrap

this is absolutely gonna change by the time i get through the 20 or so other 2018 albums i have rn though. likely candidates:
Irreversible Mechanism
Actor|Observer
Helrunar
Sacrificed Alliance
Sunless Dawn
Toska
Even the Trees

uuhh yeah there was a lot this year I dug, if BTBAM and Alkaloid didn't even make it and some of those barely scraping by in my top 10 (and will almost certainly be kicked out). and hell there could be others on this list where when i really start getting into them i love them more than i expect

interesting observation: i had not heard of a single band on this entire list (incl. those candidates) before this year. the conclusion to be drawn is that established acts kind of disappointed me this year while a ton of new acts popped up to fill in those gaps with really cool stuff

uhh this is what the list looked like last time:

1. Poly-Math - House of Wisdom | We Are the Devil
2. Monotheist - Scourge
3. Extremities - Gaia
4. Lumnos - Ancient Shadows of Saturn
5. Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It
6. Slugdge - Esoteric Malacology
7. Huntsmen - American Scrap
8. The Earth and I - The Candeman and the Curtain
9. Alrakis - Echoes from Eta Carinae
10. Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name

i guess some minor changeups (mostly because I haven't listened to Lumnos or Huntsmen in months tbh) but not a whole lot of movement which is I guess kinda disappointing 

[Bolsters]

Structual Disorder is the only one of those I know.

[Crow]

Structual Disorder is the only one of those I know.

see, this is why you need to do a 2018 roulette

[Bertie_Wooster]

1. Steve Perry Traces
2.  Deathwhite For a black tomorrow
3. Haken Vector
4.  Phish swedish metal album
5.  Muse simulation theory
6.  Andrea Bocelli. Si
7.  Coheed and Cambria unheavenly creatures
8.  Kanye West YE
9.  Umphries mcgee
10. Smashing Pumpkins Shiny and oh so bright

[TAC]

5. Structural Disorder - And the Cage Crumbles in the Final Scene

Nice!

It's on my list too.


I'll post it later today.