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Megadeth threw its fans a bit of a curveball with TH1RT3EN, a more melodic and less thrashy record than the band has delivered on its prior two albums.  Rippers like “Sudden Death” and “Never Dead” kept the ‘Deth faithful happy but the mid-paced “Public Enemy No. 1” and “Black Swan” balanced things out with catchy choruses.  Still, TH1RT3EN is a great record that shows Dave Mustaine still has a few tricks up his sleeve, maintaining Megadeth’s ranking as a metal powerhouse.

Not unlike Anthrax, Machine Head had a lot to prove this year. Following the brilliant 2007 release of THE BLACKENING, a record which got equal amounts of critical and scene praise, the Bay Area thrashers had set the bar at an impossible height but UNTO THE LOCUST gives that record a run for its money. Robb Flynn’s ferocious bark, coupled with the sizzling guitar team of Rob and Phil Demmel, really deliver on this record. The songs are still long, averaging seven minutes apiece, but there isn’t a dud in the bunch, even with the use of a children’s choir causing a few eyebrows to be raised.

Right from the opening blast of “Locked in the Dungeon”, two things become clear: 1) Scheepers remains one of the greatest singers in metal, and 2) the album won’t be straying too far from the style the man is known for. In fact, a good three quarters of the album could fit easily onto a Primal Fear album…. However, the self-titled SCHEEPERS album is his first kick at the solo artist can, but he’s not alone – he’s brought a veritable army of friends to help him out – PF band mates Mat Sinner and Magnus Karlsson, metal man about town Snowy Shaw, Ripper Owens, Victor Smolski, Mike Chlasciak, and more.

Considering Sebastian Bach has been a solo artist for almost fifteen years, he has only released two proper studio albums under his own name! But, hey, quality over quantity, right? KICKING & SCREAMING is a hard-driving record with Baz’s still-mighty vocals placed front and centre and it is vastly superior to his last record, 2007’s ANGEL DOWN. KICKING & SCREAMING feels like the record Bach has wanted to make since he left Skid Row and, more importantly, fans seem to feel the same way, too.

Perhaps the most impressive entry in the Metal-Rules.com Top 20 is Whitesnake’s FOREVERMORE. Once a blues-rock band that morphed into a hair metal phenomenon before imploding under industry pressures, Whitesnake basically disappeared for almost twenty years. Then, from out of nowhere, came the brilliant GOOD TO BE BAD in 2008, proving that David Coverdale’s vocal issues had been resolved and he could still assemble a dynamite band. FOREVERMORE builds on that success with another batch of groove-based tracks loaded with melodies and backed by the blistering guitar team of Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich layered with Coverdale’s rich, smoky vocals.