Top 10: Metal Albums of 2003

2003 was a big year for me! It was the year that 4 year old Joe became a big brother. 20 years later and the kid never caught the metal bug like I did. That said, he’s still a standup dude and enjoyed Ozzy’s Bark at the Moon the couple times I played it for him. Although yours truly wouldn’t discover this music for another 5 years, many of the albums on this here list would become personal favorites throughout junior high, high school, and beyond. So without further ado, here are our Top 10 Metal Albums of 2003.

10. Overkill – Killbox 13

Come 2003, the groove-thrash revolution was in full swing. Headbangers Ball was back, hosted by none other than Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed infamy, and playing videos from the likes of Lamb of God, Machine Head, and Shadows Fall. Of course, none of these bands would have had careers if it weren’t for the likes of Overkill, who pioneered the sound way back in the late ’80s. I’ve always said for us groovy as Overkill got, they never sacrificed their identity, and that remains the case on Killbox 13. Whether it be brainless knuckle-draggers like “I Rise” and “Crystal Clear”, or abundant slabs of 80s nostalgia like “Devil by the Tail” and “Until I Die”, Overkill unleashed their thrash attack with lethal accuracy and blistering extremity.

9. Edge of Sanity – Crimson II

Having spent the better part of the ’90s revolutionizing melodic and progressive death metal with Edge of Sanity, it made sense that Dan Swanö wanted to pivot his focus towards old school death metal supergroup, Bloodbath, as well as his burgeoning production career. Alas, after 1997’s Cryptic received a lackluster reception, I can’t help but think Swanö internally wanted to end EoS on a high note. He most certainly did, reviving the band with the help of session musicians for their swansong, Crimson II. A follow-up to 1996’s Crimson, Crimson II isn’t so much an album as much as it’s one 43 minute epic journey. The melodic flash and progressive exploration that defined the band, scene, and past decade is showcased one final time, and in grandiose fashion. Sorry brutal death metallists, but I’ll take Swanö’s virtuosity over whatever IQ lowering slam albums came out the same year.

8. Sabbat – Karmagmassacre

From the early ’90s onwards, Sabbat was absolutely untouchable, releasing one unholy offering of blackened thrashing old school metal after the next. Hell, if Sabbat’s output was all you knew in those days, dare I say the Norwegian scene came off as boring by comparison? What’s absolutely NOT boring is the dynamism and musical hellfire showcased on their eighth album, Karmagmassacre. From grim Hellhammerian hymns (“In League with Devils”) and raging thrash (“I’m Your Satan”), to unadulterated speed (“Plasmas Goat”) and blackened traditionalism (“The Letter From Death”), Karmagmassacre has it all. This would be Sabbat’s last album until 2011’s Sabbatrinity, but more on that in a later list.

7. Iron Maiden – Dance of Death

I’m not sure I can think I can think of another album in metal history where the disparity between the awfulness of an album cover and the greatness of its music is as significant as Iron Maiden’s Dance of Death. Feast your eyes on that “artwork” for a second, if you can call it that. I guess in a way Maiden were trailblazers, giving us an album cover that looked AI generated 20 years before AI, but I digress. This entry isn’t about Dance of Death‘s cover, but its music. The songs boast that balance between the band’s NWOBHM heyday (“Wildest Dreams”, “Montségur”) and pomp-prog adventurism (“Dance of Death”, “Face in the Sand”), just as Brave New World did before it. The songs are memorable and the performances are simply brilliant, especially Bruce Dickinson whose vocals slay on here like it’s The Number of the Beast all over again.

6. Toxic Holocaust – Evil Never Dies

Considering what a massive staple of the 21st century metal scene they are, it’s hard to believe there once existed a time when Toxic Holocaust was virtually unknown. Yet for nearly everyone in the underground, their introduction to Joel Grind’s one man black/thrash juggernaut came in late 2003 with the release of Evil Never Dies. With its lo-fi production, breakneck thrashing, and arcane wickedness, one could mistake this for an album recorded nearly 20 years earlier. Grind took the best qualities of Venom, Sodom, Destruction, and Bathory, threw ’em in a blender, and singlehandedly paved the way for a resurgence of the era when black metal meant more than corpsepaint and tremolo riffs. Indeed, Evil Never Dies.

5. King Diamond – The Puppet Master

Here’s a phenomenon I’ve noticed. For as much as people claim they “love” King Diamond, hardly ever does anyone mention any album he’s released from The Eye (1990) forward. How come? Yes, I’ll be the first to admit those first 5 KD albums are THAT great, but I’ll die on the hill that so is The Puppet Master. Perhaps the most lyrically grotesque King Diamond album ever released, The Puppet Master chronicles a man who treats himself to a Christmas morning puppet show, only to find out that said “puppets” aren’t really puppets at all. In the event you fall into the camp that believes KD’s catalog begins and ends with those first 5, I won’t spoil the rest. However, I’ll say this much: In true KD fashion, the story involves black magic and some brilliantly written and arranged old school metal as a musical backdrop.

4. The Lord Weird Slough Feg – Traveller

Purveyors of all things unorthodox and obscure, The Lord Weird Slough Feg continued their reign as America’s premiere epic metal dealers with their fourth album, Traveller. As the second album to feature guitarist John Corbett, Traveller sees him and founding guitarist/singer/songwriter Mike Scalzi absolutely interlocked, serving up Thin Lizzy inspired twin guitar lines, muscular NWOBHM riffage, progressive loop-de-loops, and everything in between. Those who prefer their traditional metal on the simple and straightforward side may be turned off by the overt ambitiousness. Those with a hunger for Manilla Road and Brocas Helm will be in heaven when cranking up this classic.

3. Enslaved – Below the Lights

Having survived the implosion of the Norwegian black metal a decade earlier, Enslaved had no moved on, fully embracing their status as the reigning demigods of progressive black metal. Their unexpected hybrid of ’70s prog and ’90s black metal first heard on Monumension (2001) is further explored on arguably the strongest album of their prog era, Below the Lights. Frostbitten tremolo riffs and stirring mellotrons shouldn’t go together, yet they do, and that’s just on the album’s opener (“As Fire Swept Clean the Earth”). From there, we’re treated to a militant black metal march (“The Dead Stare”), a viking metal throwback (“Havenless”), and multiple nods to the days when Led Zeppelin III and Aqualung ruled the earth (“The Crossing”, “Queen of Night”). Few bands were able to transcend their respective scene like Enslaved. Even fewer made it work. All hail Enslaved.

2. Twisted Tower Dire – Crest of the Martyrs

If Toxic Holocaust’s Evil Never Die was the throwback to black metal’s first wave that the early 21st century so desperately needed, then Twisted Tower Dire’s Crest of the Martyrs was the same for US power metal. Let’s just assess this situation for what it was: Those goddamn Europeans had stolen our thunder for nearly 15 years now, and did a great job doing so. Helloween, Blind Guardian, Running Wild, Gamma Ray…the list goes on. That said, it was time for us yanks to show the world how it was done, old school style. Enter Twisted Tower Dire. These fearless warriors came riding in with sword and guitar in hand, boasting the brawn and valor of Omen, Jag Panzer, and past overlords. To this day, Crest remains one of the strongest offerings of US steel ever forged. What in 2003 could be stronger, you ask?

1. Bathory – Nordland II

Quorthon accomplished more in 20 years than most could in 20 lifetimes. He helped invent black metal (Bathory), then reinvented it (Under the Sign of the Black Mark), proceeded to invent viking metal (Blood Fire Death), and then dabbled in thrash, alternative rock, and whatever other styles he pleased, before bidding farewell with arguably the most ambitious piece of his storied career. Expanding upon Nordland I released a year earlier, Nordland II is the final Bathory album: An hour long monolith of viking metal brilliance.

A little over a year after its release, Quorthon would pass away from heart failure due to a genetic condition. He was only 38. Think about that for a second. Quorthon wasn’t even 40 when he left us, yet he proved himself to be that prolific at such a young age. Could you imagine metal without Bathory? I couldn’t. A fair argument is to be made that they released the best metal album of 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, and so forth. There is, however, no denying that they are responsible for the greatest metal album of 2003, Nordland II.

“Damned he who sits still and curse woe the dark but will do not a thing
To light the torch, to shed the light, for him the dark is all within
Slowly across the sky the golden disc of light it tumbles on
The wheel of life and light, rebirth, the seasons, behold the wheel of the sun” – “The Wheel of Sun”

Honorable Mentions

• Darkthrone – Hate Them
• Killing Joke – Killing Joke
• Lamb of God – As the Palaces Burn
• Root – Madness of the Graves
• Type O Negative – Life Is Killing Me