BravePicks 2019 - GRAND MAGUS' Wolf God #20
December 12, 2019, 4 years ago
As Dark Angel famously said, “Time Does Not Heal”, but it certainly moves fast and here we are again, staring at our annual BravePicks countdown where the devout scribes at BraveWords get to stand up and shout! 2019, yet another banner year for extreme music, whether you call it heavy metal or not. We do, cuz we wear it on our sleeves! So the votes are in and the compiling is complete! It's time to crown the winners and put the noose around the bands that truly let us down.
So who will be our #1? You’ll find out as we count down the BravePick Of 2019 each day in December!
Everybody has an opinion and it’s time for ours! And stay tuned in January for the writers’ individual Top 20s (new studio albums ONLY), Top 5 Brave Embarrassments (a fan favorite!), Top 3 Concerts, What/Who Needs To Stop In 2019? and Metal Predictions For 2020. All will be showcased come the New Year!
So let’s commence the good, bad and ugly of 2019! First up, the Top 30 releases of 2019!
BravePicks 2019
20) GRAND MAGUS – Wolf God (Nuclear Blast)
Clad in fur and glory, Swedish doom trio Grand Magus unleashed the Wolf God amongst their prey in 2019 and what was left were tearing guitars with a rebellious approach. The majority of the tracks were recorded on their initial take and it delivers and honest and straight from the blackened heart effort. An album that pleads for repeated listens, the Wolf God reigns supreme at the #20 spot on our countdown!
Scribe Mark Gromen praised the album in his review stating: “‘To Live And Die In Solitude’ rides a wicked riff, something akin to countrymen/downtrodden masters Candlemass might uncover. High praise indeed. It ends abruptly and slides seamlessly into a jazzy, drumsticks on wooden block section prior to a full-blown ‘Glory To The Brave’. The most ambitious composition, after the aforementioned start, it meanders for a while, then (midway through) unleashes a spirited guitar run, before ending as a nearly a cappella call & response segment, with the titular phrase. Once again opting for a slightly more traditional metal structure, ‘He Sends Them All To Hel’ (single L Norse underworld). Ditto, the rapid paced headbanging verses of ‘Untamed’, juxtaposed with laborious chorus.”
BravePicks 2019 Top 30
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20) GRAND MAGUS - Wolf God (Nuclear Blast)
21) DESTRUCTION - Born To Perish (Nuclear Blast)
22) TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION - High In The Saddle (eOne)
23) EXHUMED - Horror (Relapse)
24) DEATH ANGEL - Humanicide (Nuclear Blast)
25) BEAST IN BLACK - From Hell With Love (Nuclear Blast)
26) D-A-D - A Prayer For The Loud (AFM)
27) IDLE HANDS - Mana (Eisenwald)
28) HELL FIRE - Mania (Riding Easy)
29) SOILWORK - Verkligheten (Nuclear Blast)
30) MEMORIAM – Requiem For Mankind (Nuclear Blast)
