Chris Galea

Important releases in 2014

• (Keeping in mind there were also lots of albums I didn’t have the time to listen to……)
• ARCHSPIRE – Archspire
• AVATARIUM – Avatarium
• CANNIBAL CORPSE – A Skeletal Domain
• CETI – Brutus Syndrome
• CLOVEN HOOF – Resist Or Serve
• EMPYRIUM – The Turn Of The Tides
• GAMMA RAY – Empire Of The Undead
• HANS VAN EVEN – Stardust Requiem
• MAGNUM – Escape From The Shadow Garden
• MARTIRIA – R-Evolution
• MEKONG DELTA – In A Mirror Darkly
• MOETAR – Entropy Of The Century
• NEOPLASMAH – Auguring The dusk Of A New Era
• NUBIAN ROSE – Mental Revolution
• OBITUARY – Inked In Blood
• OPETH – Pale Communion
• PENDRAGON – Men Who Climb Mountains
• RING OF FIRE – Battle Of Lenningrad
• RIOT – Unleash The Fire
• RISE OF AVERNUS – L’Appel Du Vide
• SAOR – Aura SEPTIC FLESH – Titan
• SYNAPTIK – The Mechanisms Of Consequence
• TARJA TURUNEN & MIKE TERRANA – Beauty And The Beat
• TESLA – Simplicity
• THE SKULL – For Those Which Are Asleep
• THRESHOLD – For The Journey
• TOURNIQUET – Onward To Freedom
• TRIPTYKON –  Melana Chasmata
• WALL OF SLEEP – No Quarter Given

• HELLION (U.S.A.)
• LEAF HOUND (Eng)

• TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA – ‘Hammersmith Apollo’, London – 11^th January
• BEHEMOTH + CRADLE OF FILTH + IN SOLITUDE + INQUISITION + SVARTTJERN – ‘The Forum’, London – 10^th February
• ONSLAUGHT + ARTILLERY + NIGHTLORD + ONE MACHINE – ‘Islington Academy’, London – 20^th July
• TROUBLE + LEAF HOUND + AMULET – ‘The Underworld’, London – 10^th November
• MORBID ANGEL + BENEDICTION + UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION – ‘Islington Academy’, London – 12^th December

• SYNAPTIK (http://synaptikmetal.com)
• THE SKULL (www.twitter.com/troubletheskull)
• VISIGOTH (http://facebook.com/visigothofficial)
• ONE MACHINE (www.feedtheonemachine.com)

• “The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug’ (dir.: Peter Jackson)
• ‘Muppets: Most Wanted’ (dir.: James Bobin)
• ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (dir.: Wes Anderson)
• ‘Ironclad: Battle For Blood’ (dir.: Jonathan English)

• 2014 was a big improvement for me with regards to gigging (i.e. more and better) and I hope to continue this trend in 2015.
• A Black Sabbath tour with Ward, Iommi, Osbourne and Butler would be great!

• Allegaeon – Elements Of The Infinite
• Amadeus Awad’s Eon – The Book Of Gates
• Amaranthe – MASSIVE ADDICTIVE
• Animals As Leaders – The Joy Of Motion
• Arch Enemy – War Eternal
• Architects – Lost Forever // Lost Together
• Arion – Last Of Us
• The Contortionist – Language
• Delain – The Human Contradiction
• Devil You Know – The Beauty Of Destruction
• Devin Townsend Project – Z2
• Distorted Harmony – Chain Reaction
• Epica – The Quantum Enigma
• Evergrey – Hymns For The Broken
• Insomnium – Shadows Of The Dying Sun
• Linkin Park – The Hunting Party
• Mayan – Antagonise
• My Name Is Janet – Big Unveiling In The Town Of Dead
• Ne Obliviscaris – Citadel
• Periphery – Clear EP
• Stream Of Passion – A War Of Our Own
• Vanishing Point – Distant Is The Sun
• While Heaven Wept – Suspended At Aphelion
• Within Temptation – Hydra
• Wovenwar – Wovenwar

• Amaranthe + Deals Death + Smash Into Pieces in March
• Within Temptation + Delain in April
• Gregory Porter in November (who isn’t metal but doubtless a wonderful singer)

• Arion all the way!

• Releases:Timo Tolkki’s Avalon – Angels Of The Apocalypse Francesco Artusato Project – Our Dying Sun
• Annoying people not accepting my vegetarian straight edge lifestyle

… listen to great releases by Nightwish, Symphony X, Carach Angren, Periphery and maybe also Seventh Wonder, Textures, Devil You Know etc. (and many more I surely forgot to mention)

… discover even more new music

… schedule enough time to write at least one hour per day

… be more persistent with my blog

… interview great musicians

… expand my knowledge about music in general

… see bands like Amaranthe, Nightwish and Kamelot (and many more) live

… pass my driving test as soon as possible in 2015 and drive a lot after that

… spend more time with my weird but very lovely friends

… travel a bit and visit friends

… make the right decisions regarding my subjects for the last two school years

… come up smiling semester one of four semesters until passing my A level exams and have fun meanwhile

… have a nice time working at Open Flair Festival in my hometown

… listen to even more metal than in 2014

• The Pineapple Thief’s ‘Magnolia’
• Ne Obliviscaris’ ‘The Citadel’
• Soen’s ‘Tellurian’
• Transatlantic’s ‘Kaleidoscope’
• Schammasch’s ‘Contradiction’

• Would have to be Ian Anderson’s ‘Homo Erraticus’ show, as it’s the only one I’ve seen so far this year. Bloody great,though.

• Thank You Scientist with their release ‘Maps of Nonexistent Places’.

• Freak Kitchen’s ‘Cooking with Pagans’
• Opeth’s ‘Pale Communion’ (though I doubt you’ll find many with the same opinion as myself)
• Mastodon’s ‘Once More Round The Sun’

• That ‘Hand. Cannot. Erase’ by Steven Wilson will not only be an excellent album, but that it might be recognized in the mainstream.
• That Periphery’s ‘Juggernaut’ will live up to the half decade of hype.
• That Tool might actually release something. They’re in the studio, but who knows if what they’re doing will ever see the light of day?

• Alestorm – Sunset on the Golden Age
• Animals as Leaders – The Joy of Motion
• Behemoth – The Satanist
• Dark Fortress – Venereal Dawn
• Demonic Resurrection – The Demon King
• Devin Townsend – Z²
• Epica – The Quantum Enigma
• Falconer – Black Moon Rising
• HammerFall – (r)Evolution
• Machinae Supremacy – Phantom Shadow
• Mors Principium Est – Dawn of the 5th Era
• Ne Obliviscaris – Citadel
• Opeth – Pale Communion
• Vesania -Deus ex Machina
• Xerath – III

• Distress of Ruin
• Inkvisitor
• Inthraced
• Lost Society
• Orion Nightfall
• Ruoja
• Shade Empire
• Systematic Sickness Kin
• Wolfheart

• Inthraced
• Demonic Resurrection

• Coffee

• I got a collection of new books, hopefully they’ll make a good read
• Avengers 2
• Seeing Nightwish live with their new and amazing singer
• Seeing Moonsorrow live again as well
• New releases from Carach Angren and Keep of Kalessin
• Time II

• Opeth – Pale Communion
• Evergrey – Hymns for the Broken
• Epica – The Quantum Enigma
• A.C.T. – Circus Pandemonium
• Kaipa – Sattyg

• Volbeat, Fængslet, Horsens – August 2014

• United Progressive Fraternity
• In the Presence of Wolves
• Blues Pills

• Actually, not a whole lot – not even worth mentioning… bring on 2015.

• Hopefully great new albums from: Steven Wilson, The Gentle Storm, Symphony X, Queensrÿche, Seventh Wonder, Nightwish, Headspace and many more…

• Kampfar – Djevelmakt
• Taake – Stridens Hus
• Mr. Big – The Stories We Could Tell
• Triosphere – The Heart of the Matter

• Aerosmith (Hellfest)
• Vulture Industries (Southern Discomfort Metal Festival)

• No personal regrets, but band people, please stop dying out

• Seeing Faith No More, Triosphere, and attending Karmøygeddon Metal Festival

• Dio (Tribute) –  This Is Your Life
• Arch Enemy – War Eternal

• Tankard – The picture of those stage divers almost tearing down the stage lightning from the ceiling with their feet kind of stuck.

• The drama around AC/DC’s drummer Phil Rudd is a shame.

• It would be nice for me to be able to go to more gigs again! Metal is live music after all.

• Mr. Big – The Stories We Could Tell
• Blues Pills – Blues Pills
• Tesla – Simplicity

• Iron Maiden headlining Hellfest 2014
• Mr Big in London

• Blues Pills

• The rude, obnoxious, heavy handed ‘tech’ for Soulfly who had to get the band to sort out the equipment because he didn’t know what he was doing and who sent me flying into a bass monitor. Seriously, eat shit and die.
• The sad news about Pat Torpey of Mr. Big having Parkinson’s disease, and hearing that Malcolm Young has dementia.

• Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover quitting Megadeth at the same time.

• Backstage with Nicko at Iron Maidens Hellfest gig
• Seeing Pat Torpey still rocking with Mr Big

• To go to Graspop Metal Meeting, and to see Evile back on the road

• VandenPlas – Chronicles of the Immortals : Netherworld (Path 1)
• Exodus – Blood in Blood Out
• Bloodbound – Stormborn
• Scar Symmetry – The Singularity (Phase I – Neohumanity)
• Sanctuary – The Year the Sun Died
• MaYan – Antagonise
• Legion of the Damned – Ravenous Plague
• Appearance of Nothing – A New Beginning
• Epica – The Quantum Enigma
• Septic Flesh – Titan
• Sonata Arctica – Pariah’s Child
• Shadow Host – Apocalyptic Symphony
• Diabulus in Musica – Argio
• Delain – The Human Contradiction
• Wolf –Devil Seed
• Helstar – the Wicked Nest
• Noveria – Risen
• Mother of Millions – Human
• Overkill – White Devil Armory
• Accept – Blind Rage
• Harmony – Theatre of Redemption
• Mors Principium Est – Dawn of the 5th Era

• MaYan – Antagonise
• Legion of the Damned – Ravenous Plague
• Delain – The Human Contradiction
• Within Temptation – Hydra
• Vandenberg’s Moonkings – Vandenberg’s Moonkings
• Coldblooded – Coldblooded
• Sinister – The Post–Apocalyptic Servant
• Epica – The Quantum Enigma
• Dictated – The Deceived
• Thanatos – Global Purification
• Neckbreak Nation – Stroke of the Devil’s Hour
• Born From Pain – Dance With the Devil
• Lord Volture – Will to Power

• Bloodbound – Satanic Panic
• Van Den Plas – Vision 3ree – The Godmaker
• Sonata Arctica – X Marks the Spot
• Obituary – Visions in My Head
• Exodus – Btk
• Harmony – What If (nice lyrics)
• Psychotic Gardening – Origin of the Infection
• Vornth – Rip Rip Rip
• Wolf – Shark Attack

• Psychostick – NSFW

• Synaptik
• Daydream XI
• Noveria
• Mother of Millions
• Laugh at the Fakes
• Night Mistress

• Trans Siberian Orchestra – Heineken Music Hall
• Delain – Bolwerk Sneek
• Freedom Call – Dokk ‘em Open Air
• Obituary – Stonehenge

• Stress and all the people (who have no experience and can’t even do it themselves) that have to judge you if you are doing your work o.k. expecting impossible things.

• My best friend’s four year old son getting better from the worst disease.

• King Crimson at The Egg, Albany, NY, 11 September, 2014

• In The Presence of Wolves

• Musically, the new Anathema did nothing for me. As for metal, the Black Crown Initiate album was a massive disappointment.

• Steven Wilson’s album will be as good as the last one, more amazing interviews with artists that I admire and mostly that people find new music based on reviews I have written.

• Epica – The Quantum Enigma
• Delain – The Human Contradiction
• Arion – Last Of Us
• Tuomas Holopainen – The Life And Times Of Scrooge
• Sonata Arctica – Pariah’s Child
• Amaranthe – Massive Addictive
• Arch Enemy – War Eternal
• Insomnium – Shadows Of The Dying Sun… and many others

• Amaranthe in Munich
• Sonata Arctica in Leipzig

• Arion

• stress
• that big family fight.. glad everything is okay now
• the long distance between Cristina (yeah, Cristina, also member of Power Of Metal) and I

• great music
• great concerts
• some better marks in school
• being healthy and all that stuff

• Exodus – Blood In, Blood Out
• Tormenter – Prophetic Deceiver
• Usnea – Random Cosmic Violence
• Mindwars – The Enemy Within

• Dream Theater – Along for the Ride Tour – 29 July, 2014, Festival Hall, Sofia, Bulgaria
• Reactory – 22 May, 2014, Grindhouse Club, Sofia, Bulgaria

• Perceptionist
• Hellrider

• The careless attitude of Metal Blade toward the promotion and the media coverage of the European tour of DYING FETUS, GOATWHORE, MALEVOLENCE and FALLUJAH; and the lack of contact and communication with the tour manager for live report and interviews from the gig in Sofia, Bulgaria.

• More important releases, more good shows (2014 I visited a record number of lives hows… 46, with more than 120 bands… but few were really good) and more great newcomers for 2015!

• Obituary – Inked in Blood
• Prong – Ruining Lives
• Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter
• Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds
• Vallenfyre – Splinters
• Illdisposed – With the Lost Souls on Our Side
• Devin Townsend Project – Z²
• Vader – Tibi et Igni
• Entombed A.D. – Back to the Front
• Sanctuary – The Year the Sun Died

• Flotsam & Jetsam (Tobakken, Esbjerg, Denmark)
• Carcass (Wacken Open Air, Germany)
• Devin Townsend (Wacken Open Air, Germany)
• Metallica w/ Slayer, Gojira and Ghost (The Prison, Horsens, Denmark)

• To be honest, no one really blew me completely away in 2014, but Aphonic Threnody released a very, very capable debut full-length, ‘When Death Comes’.

• The deaths of the mighty Oderus Urungus and H.R. Giger. R.I.P.
• J.B.O. What’s the point?
• Islamic State. What century do these people live in?

• That the rest of Faith No More’s new material is stronger than the first song released by the band.
• That I get to see the reunited Life Of Agony live during the year.

• Xerath – III
• Distorted Harmony – Chain Reaction
• Hemina – Nebulae
• Evergrey – Hymns for the Broken

• TesseracT (Lille Vega)

• Deceptic – The Artifact (Link)

• Xerath – Bleed This Body Clean (Link)

• Xerath – Bleed This Body Clean

• Projects – A new project led by mastermind Finn Zierler of Beyond Twilight. Do I need to say more?
• Wintersun – Time II. It was on my wish list the previous years, but here it comes again. I hope the “Sons of Winter and Stars” have arisen from their graves, and will surprise us in the upcoming year.
• Seventh Wonder – It is time for frontman Tommy Karavik, who replaced Roy Khan in Kamelot, and been touring and tearing up the stages all over Europe, to return to his old prog roots with SW.
• Headspace – They are currently working on their sophomore album, so I am crossing my fingers that the magic will happen next year.
• Distorted Harmony – New EP in the making. Will it be a worthy follow-up to their beautiful crafted sophomore release? Well, 2015 will have the answer to that question \m/
• Prospekt – best debut album of 2013 imo, and now they have something special brewing for the metalheads again. I really hope they will surprise attack me one more time \m/
• Vildhjarta – THALL 2015 \m/.
• Beyond the Bridge – My Germany neighbours and another favourite prog metal band of mine. I have high hopes that the band will return in 2015.
• Kamelot – will Mr. Youngblood and Tommy Karavik deliver another masterpiece? 2015 will tell you…
• Nightwish – with the announcement of new vocalist Floor Jansen teaming up with the already well-known and famous Finnish symphonic progressive power metal troop, this is one of my most anticipated albums of 2015.
• Shattered Skies – with several critical acclaimed EP’s behind them, it’s time for their full length debut. I can’t wait \m/
• Kingcrow – one of my favorite Italian progressive metal outfits out there today, and my anticipations are sky-high for the successor of “In Crescendo”, which blew me away in 2013.
• Periphery – the forefathers of djent has finally revealed a double album to be released very soon…it will be huge, but will it be groundbreaking?
• Solution .45 – a double album announced to follow-up on their critical acclaimed debut release “For Aeons Past”. I loved it, so I expect no less of the following two albums. Christian Älvestam is such a skilled vocalist and I expect him to fulfill his role again to perfection.
• Teramaze – mastermind Dean Wells is a workaholic and never finds time to sleep. A follow-up is already in the making, and a new frontman has been announced as well. Yes, I am very excited \m/

Less meat and more muscles surrounding my bones… More money to visit concerts… And more spare time left for enjoying metal in my always busy calendar…