Drum roll please … or maybe a hearty dose of blast-beats! Tis the season to commence the good, bad and ugly of 2014! Of course we’re talking about BravePicks 2014, where all the staff put their collective metal minds together to build the ultimate lists including individual Top 20s (new studio albums ONLY),  Top 5 Brave Embarrassments, Top 3 Concerts, What/Who Needs To Stop In 2015? and Metal Predictions For 2015.

BravePicks 2014

4) BEHEMOTH - The Satanist (Metal Blade)

BraveWords scribe Jason Deaville gave The Satanist a devilishly glowing 10/10 review:

We couldn't rightfully dissect The Satanist without taking into consideration the recent travails of frontman, Adam 'Nergal' Darski. Having spent the past few years battling, and conquering, a life-threatening illness, Darski, the warrior, both on and off stage, has taken that energy, that esprit for life, and, quite literally, channelled it directly into The Satanist. Nergal, in an effort to memorialize and pay respect to the disease that nearly claimed him, had his blood embodied into the album artwork, composed by Russian symbolist painter, Denis Forkas. As a symbolic gesture, there is nothing more fitting - the elemental, organic, sanguine fluid of both nature and music coursing through impassioned veins, coalescing in a sacrament of biological euphony never before achieved in extreme music. Looking beyond the symbolism, The Satanist strikes a harmonious balance in its beautiful composition. Where tension once ruled, there now exists a confident air of subtlety and brutality.

Read more at BraveWords.

BravePicks 2014 Top 30

4) BEHEMOTH - The Satanist (Metal Blade)

5) EXODUS - Blood In, Blood Out (Nuclear Blast)

6) AT THE GATES – At War With Reality (Century Media)

7) MAYHEM - Esoteric Warfare (Season Of Mist)

8) TRIPTYKON - Melana Chasmata (Century Media)

9) CANNIBAL CORPSE – A Skeletal Domain (Metal Blade)

10) OVERKILL - White Devil Armory (Nuclear Blast/eOne)

11) ARCH ENEMY - War Eternal (Century Media)

12) 1349 - Massive Cauldron Of Chaos (Season Of Mist)

13) SANCTUARY - The Year The Sun Died (Century Media)

14) OBITUARY - Inked In Blood (Relapse)

15) GRAVE DIGGER – Return Of The Reaper (Napalm)

16) ACE FREHLEY - Space Invader (eOne)

17) MASTODON — Once More ’Round The Sun (Reprise)

18) EDGUY – Space Police: Defenders Of The Crown (Nuclear Blast)

19) THE DAGGER – The Dagger (Century Media)

20) PRIMORDIAL – Where Greater Men Have Fallen (Metal Blade)

21) UNISONIC - Light Of Dawn (earMusic)

22) PRIMAL FEAR – Delivering The Black (Frontiers)

23) DEVILMENT – The Great And Secret Show (Nuclear Blast)

24) MR. BIG - ...The Stories We Could Tell (Frontiers)

25) EYEHATEGOD – Eyehategod (Housecore)

26) STEEL PANTHER – All You Can Eat (Open E)

27) CALIFORNIA BREED – California Breed (Frontiers)

28) TESLA – Simplicity (Tesla Electric Co.)

29) PRONG – Ruining Lives (SPV/Steamhammer)

30) GAMMA RAY – Empire Of The Undead (EarMusic)