The Top 50 Metal Albums of the Decade part II (2001)

2000 proved to be a decent year in metal, and 2001 was of course no different. So without further ado...the top five albums for 2001!

The band Amorphis has been around since the early 90s.  They were classified as a death/progressive/doom metal band early in their career.  In 2001 with the release of their fifth full length album, Amorphis took a huge risk, and it paid off!  They all but completely abandoned the death metal, and went for a more modern metal approach.  Surprisingly it works, but what also works is the saxophone that's played in the songs 'Alone', and 'Crimson Wave'.  It lends these songs, and the album as a whole a distinictive jazz like feel to it.

This album proved that the band could break away from one main sound, and try out many other things.  Naturally this album won't be everyone's cup of tea, and that's why I recommend this album to either those who aren't completely afraid to try something new, or for those people who don't want to listen to a bunch of screeching, shouting, and wailing.

"Am Universum" by Amorphis was released on April 3rd, 2001 by Relapse Records (World), and Nuclear Blast (Europe).

This, the bands final full length studio release did away with a good lot of the black metal that Emperor is still well known for.  For this album, "Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise" the band went past their usual black metal antics, and went for a more extreme symphonic metal angle.

Not as if it really made too much of a difference.  Ihsahn still screams, and shrieks as with all the other previous releases.  A keyboard is still played, and the guitars and drums are still played at a fast rate.  This is like comparing tangerines to oranges.  Sure there's a difference, but in the end both of them are orange citrus fruits that are good to eat.

For this final album, the band decided that they wanted to do a concept of the legend of Prometheus.  Those who enjoy Greek mythology may want to check this out, simply to hear another retelling of the story.

As far as the music goes, what you can expect is symphonic extreme metal.  Which really means that you can except metal with symphonic elements in it, but it does work out very well.

Emperor's "Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise" was released by Candlelight Records on October 22, 2001.

Ever wanted to know one of the many reasons why people like me enjoy this sort of music?  It's because, most of the time the musicians are dedicated, and will record their albums however they can,  Money be semi-damned.  Sure, they might need it, but a good lot of heavy metal musicians aren't going to throw little prissy fits, because they can't record in a gold plated studio.

The band Hollenthon is such a band.  Considering that it took them another seven years to create their third album 'Opus Magnum', because of the whole money issue; this is still a good band.

What about "With Vilest Worms to Dwell" makes it one of the best albums of the last decade?  Besides the playing, Martin Schirenc has a way with the keyboards that's quite excellent!  He manages to incorporate them into the songs without causing them to become overwhelming.

A lot of metal that incorporates the use of the keyboard can often times become cheesy.  Thankfully, Hollenthon avoids this.   Those wanting to listen to this album can expect metal that's a blend of symphonic/orchestral/folk, and melodic death metal.  Doesn't sound like it works?  Trust me, it does.

"With Vilest of Worms to Dwell" was released on June 11th, 2001, on Napalm Records.

Let's get something out of the way here. Back when Moonspell started out they were a folk, black metal band. Then they went more and more into the realm of dark metal; and then they released Sin/Picado which was a strange work of gothic rock that wasn't very good at all.

Thankfully the band woke up, and returned to writing some good quality gothic metal on their 2001 album; "Of Darkness and Hope" Make no mistake about it, this album is gothic/dark metal in one of the strictest sense of the words. It doesn't have the folk sound of "Under the Moonspell" or "Wolfheart", nor does it have the harshness of "Wolf on Fire" or "Goats in the Fog". What it does have are beautifully sung clean vocals, wonderful melodies and harmonies, and a dark almost night like atmosphere.

Those who don't care much for distorted vocals should give this album a chance.

Moonspell's "Of Darkness and Hope" was released by Century Media records on August 22nd, 2001.

Finally we come to the end!  The last album to be placed on this list is "Visions From the Spiral Generator" by Vintersorg.

It has always been my opinion that Andreas "Vintersorg" Hedlund of both er-Vintersorg, and Borknagar fame has some of the best vocals in the heavy metal genre.  Any guy that can actually sing, AND do the distorted vocals gets an A in my book.  Oh, but don't get me wrong, vocals do not always a good album make.  So it's a good thing that the instruments on this are played remarkably well.   Vintersorg plays a type of folk metal that's now become more and more progressive.

I enjoy this album.  The songs are well crafted, catchy, they make you want to come back for more, and I can listen to the album in one setting without growing bored. 

"Visions From the Spiral Generator" was released in 2001 by Napalm Records.

We've come to the end of 2001!  Next up I'll be looking at the top 5 albums for 2002 (according to me.)

And in case you haven't noticed, these hubs are a matter of my opinion.  They have no affiliation with any of the mainstream magazines out there.