Drum roll please … or maybe a hearty dose of blast-beats! It is time to unveil BravePick #1! We've been counting down throughout December to reach the album that triumphed over all others. The BraveWords scribes had to sift through literally hundreds and hundres of new releases in 2014 to get to this point! But stay tuned, in the coming days we will be showcasing each scribe's 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.

Without further adieu, may we present to you the #1 BravePick Of 2014!

BravePicks 2014

1) BLOODBATH – Grand Morbid Funeral (Peaceville)

Unless you’ve been living in a coffin, Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup that has featured in its ranks members of Katatonia, Opeth, Hypocrisy, Witchery. And of course, legendary producer and Edge Of Sanity visionary Dan Swanö, who was part of the band’s earlier incarnation.

And like their previous releases, Grand Morbid Funeral embodies one of the vital scenes in death metal history, the band desperately digging deep into those sounds that enveloped Stockholm’s Sunlight Studios in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s.

Let’s cut to the chase here. That glorious and pristine “buzz saw attack” is the goal and Bloodbath’s sound resonated with all the writers this year! Dismember are no more. Entombed are fumbling the ball. Grave are perhaps one of the only entities flying that torch from said era. And what genius to unite with Paradise Lost singer Nick Holmes. For the record, the doom-laden Brits have taken many strange turns in their career post Icon and Draconian Times, so in September when it was announced that Bloodbath had a embraced a new frontman, it was another “stood in awe” moment. But Holmes is a bloody madman and compliments this new bible of butchery behind the mic with fire and brimstone!

Martin Axenrot (Opeth), Anders Nyström (Katatonia), Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), and Per Eriksson, who was previously the guitar technician for both Bloodbath and Katatonia, round off the line-up.

Recorded once again at Ghost Ward Studios and the City of Glass Studios in Stockholm, and mixed by David Castillo, Grand Morbid Funeral also features guest appearances including Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler from US gore-masters Autopsy!

You ain’t living life until you understand death! Death metal that is!

BravePicks 2014 Top 30

1) BLOODBATH – Grand Morbid Funeral (Peaceville)

2) ACCEPT – Blind Rage (Nuclear Blast)

3) JUDAS PRIEST - Redeemer Of Souls (Epic)

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)