Tag: YearinReview

2025 Best of Metal: #20 Allegaeon-The Ossuary Lens

Release date: April 4, 2025
Origin: Denver, Colorado, USA
Personnel: Ezra Haynes-vox, Greg Burgess-guitar, Michael Stancel-guitar, Brandon “Booboo” Michael-bass, Jeff Saltzman-drums

Technical death metal can be hit and miss. There’s a tendency for some of these bands to get caught up in the technical aspects of the genre at the expense of the songs themselves. A lot of time things can devolve into a musical wankery exercise rather than crafting solid songs. Allegaeon has been guilty of veering too far into the wankery in the past. This current album walks a fine line. The proceedings at the front end of the album are pure frenetic riffing. Greg Burgess and Michael Stancel are a super tandem of extremely technical guitar players. Some of the early songs are honestly hard to keep up with. However, the last half of the album (especially the last four songs) really elevate The Ossuary Lens into the realm of being a solid album. This album also saw the return of longtime vocalist Ezra Haynes. I was always a fan of his vocal style and goofy stage antics. So, that was a welcome return. Another nice addition is that Stancel has begun adding clean vocals to the proceedings and he simply has a lovely voice. Nice solid album.

4 flip flops out of 5

Year in Metal Review 2025

Hi there little headbangers! Yeah, I’m back. Sadly, I think this might be the last go round here in the Void. I’m getting old and my energy for keeping up with this thing has really waned. You probably already knew that since I’ve knocked this whole blog back to a year end sort of thing rather than keeping up with things throughout the year. So, let’s go out with a bang. Hell, maybe I’ll resurrect the thing when I finally retire from my day job.

2025 was kind of a bummer, man. Fucking Ozzy died. Even though we all knew it was on the horizon, it was still a shock to see it in print. The dude was at the genesis of this art form we all cherish. There will never be a talent or character like Ozzy. Legend. Maniac. Hero. I will say that it was damn lovely that he was able to go out on his own terms and play one last show in front of his fans. Just a storybook ending.

Other deaths of note this year were Ace Frehley of Kiss (another legend of 70’s metal), Brent Hinds of Mastodon (just a tragic end after splitting with Mastodon), John Sykes of Whitesnake/Blue Murder/Thin Lizzy, Tomas Lindberg of At The Gates, Les Binks of Judas Priest (Stained Class, motherfuckers!), and a personal sad one for me in Coburn Pharr, former vocalist of Annihilator (go listen to Never, Neverland).

Bands hanging it up in 2025 were Orange Goblin and Whitesnake. Dave Mustaine announced that Megadeth’s new album in 2026 will be their last. Exodus saw the firing of longtime vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza (replaced by former Exodus singer Rob Dukes). Longtime duo behind Katatonia, Jonas Renske and Anders Nystrom, split ways with Jonas keeping the Katatonia name going. Finally, Arch Enemy and vocalist Alissa White-Gluz parted ways after four albums together.

On the positive side, Soundgarden got elected to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. It also sounds like we might get one more Soundgarden album based on recordings the band did before Chris Cornell’s death. Also, Alex and Geddy of Rush have recruited a new touring drummer and will be touring as Rush in 2026. So excited to see them playing their songs again live. Not to be outdone by their Canadian brethren, Triumph is also reuniting for a lengthy tour in 2026.

On the personal side, I kind cut back the numbers of shows that I attended, but still managed to see a choice number of shows. I started the year off by seeing Mike Portnoy’s return to Dream Theater and their 40th anniversary tour. I got to see Harakiri For the Sky for the first time. I was lucky to see an intimate spoken word show by Randy Blythe of Lamb of God while promoting his new book. I saw a banger of a double bill with Chicago instrumental bands Russian Circles and Pelican. I went to see Rivers of Nihil and ended up catching Covid for the second time (the first time I caught it was also at a Rivers of Nihil show…I’m no longer allowed to see them live). I stepped out of my metal bubble and went to see Wu Tang Clan with the punk rock wife. I celebrated the life of Ozzy at a Brown Sabbath show, which is a Latin rock Black Sabbath cover band based in Austin. I got to see the winner of last year’s Golden Flip Flop, Anciients. Austin has a psychedelic music fest called Levitation Fest and one day had Blood Incantation, Acid Bath, The Sword and Mastodon. Let me tell you, Mastodon sounds really different without Brent. Their performance really made me sad. Finally, I rounded out the live music year seeing the double bill of Judas Priest and Alice Cooper. Rob Halford will never die.

So, that’s it. Let’s start the countdown tomorrow, shall we? There were some pretty solid releases this year and some really ambitious swings by some bands. You’ll see some familiar names and some new surprises.

2023 Metal Year in Review

Man. I tried. I really did.

I had every intention of getting this damn thing up and running again. And I started out decently in January. But, then atrophy just seemed to take hold of whatever creativity still lingers in my brain. Every time I started thinking about reviewing an album, the whole exercise seemed to be more trouble than it’s worth. Hell, I don’t know how many of you out there actually read this shit or even care if it continues in the future. It’s hard to get motivated when I’m not entirely sure if there is even an audience beyond a handful of friends that even give a shit. Plus, sometimes I just feel like I’m regurgitating the same old review over and over. How many ways can you describe a guitar riff or soaring vocal line? Hell, I’m certain if I actually went back and read the Year in Review for 2022, I was probably complaining about the same weary sense of repetition and burn-out as I am today.

So, is the end of this blog? Fuck, I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I’ll kick my shit into gear in 2024. Maybe I won’t. Maybe it will just be this little year-end treat for you diehards to look forward to all year long.

So, much like my motivation in writing this blog, my attendance at live shows definitely took a hit in 2023. Whether late night weekday shows or just the pain of standing for 3-4 hours straight, I have essentially become a old guy in 2023. Hell, I ended up not going to see Khemmis play because it was raining (the show was at an indoor venue). Granted, I still love the music as much as I ever have. And there were a slew of terrific albums released this year. But, I’m just wearing down and being more selective in the shows I go see these days. Hell, most of the shows I went to this year weren’t even in the metal realm. Some highlights on the metal side were King’s X (I will always see them when they hit town), Enslaved/Insomnium (Amazing double bill…Enslaved continues to be one of the best live metal bands going these days), Ghost/Amon Amarth (mainly to see Amon Amarth on a large stage). On the non-metal side, I went to see NOFX’s Punk in Drublic two day fest with the punk rock wife, the Violent Femmes performing the debut self-titled album in full (also with the punk rock wife), Sting and Peter Gabriel. The Amon Amarth show held my favorite live show memory this year. I had a couple of nerdy 20-somethings sitting next to me at the venue. You could tell they were new to this whole metal thing and were there to see Ghost. You get a lot of this type at a cross-over crowd that Ghost appeals to. Anyhoo, Amon Amarth comes out with their full Viking stage and just start pummeling. A couple of songs in, one of the dudes leans over to me as says with as much innocent enthusiasm as he could muster, “I HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THESE GUYS!!! THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!!!!!” I laughed and gave a hearty, “FUCK YEAH!!” Towards the end of their set, he leans over again and shouts, “I THINK I’M A FUCKING VIKING NOW!!!!” This fucking dude made my entire year.

In the newsworthy items, KISS finally called it quits on live shows (maybe), Mike Portnoy is back in Dream Theater (Finally!!!), Agalloch got back together to play a couple of shows (hopefully, this means new music in the future) and Marty Friedman got up and played a few shows with Megadeth (this was a definite treat).

So, tomorrow, we start the Top 20 countdown for 2023. It was another pretty decent year for new music. You’ll see a lot of entries from bands that I have banged the drum for hard in the past. You’ll also see some newcomers that I haven’t reviewed before.

To end, we once again lost some metal warriors over the past year. None of these guys were huge stars, but in their own way they put their mark on this music we love so much. So long and thank you for the wonderful music from the following individuals:

Sebastian Marino-guitarist, Overkill
Tim Aymar-vocalist, Control Denied
Jim Duncan-guitarist, Dark Angel
Kirk Arrington-drums, Metal Church
Berne Marsden-guitarist, Whitesnake
Steve Riley-drums, WASP/LA Guns
Charlie Dominici-original vocalist, Dream Theater