Top 15 Metal Albums, February 2015

This new-ish year numbered 2015 has already been loaded with amazing metal-oriented news. For instance, there's the story about how a paganism revival has inspired what will be Iceland's first temple to honor Odin and Thor since Christianity supplanted Scandinavian polytheism in millennium-ago Viking days. Maybe even more astoundingly, there was word that X-rays of papyrus scrolls cooked by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius have revealed what may well be heavy metal's oldest lyrics ever -- or at least, mysterious runes of some sort. And on top of that, there were these 15 albums!

Though OK, to get technical, a couple actually date back to the ancient, long-forgotten late months of 2014, just in case you missed them: Namely, those by sea-dwelling Sacramento, Calif., art-metal cephalopods Giant Squid and quasi-Teutonic New York rivethead-metal pair Hanzel Und Gretyl. But the rest are more or less fresh off the presses. Marilyn Manson's new one is more palatable than skeptics might guess; standard-bearers of grindcore and metalcore Napalm Death and All That Remains both find ways to feed their hungry and loyal fan bases; djent-crazed Marylanders Periphery have not one but two new albums (as if they weren't confusing enough already); and Florida's Torche have hip young sludge-pop fanatics salivating.

There are some older people, too! Prog-metal maze-builders Blind Guardian, devil-metal progenitors Venom and super classy Thin Lizzy spinoffs Black Star Riders show the kids how it's done -- or at least, how they themselves do it. Still, perhaps the most exciting new outings come from three young American bands hooked on metal sounds of yore: Night Demon from California, Visigoth from Utah, Corsair from Virginia. Then there's eclectic Paris oddballs 6:33, whose nerd-metal debut tries its darnedest to tie your cerebellum in knots. You can sample them all on the accompanying playlist -- and if you're left reeling, don't say you weren't warned!

1. Night Demon, Curse of the Damned
   
2. Visigoth, The Revenant King
   
3. Corsair, One Eyed Horse
   
4. Black Star Riders, [The Killer Instinct]
   
5. Hanzel Und Gretyl, Black Forest Metal
   
6. Marilyn Manson, The Pale Emperor
   
7. Giant Squid, Minoans
   
8. Torche, Restarter
   
9. 6:33, Deadly Scenes
   
10. Venom, From the Very Depths
    
11. Periphery, Juggernaut: Alpha
    
12. Periphery, Juggernaut: Omega
    
13. Blind Guardian, [Beyond the Red Mirror]
    
14. Napalm Death, Apex Predator – Easy Meat
    
15. All That Remains, The Order of Things