BravePicks 2019 - The Scribes Speak!
Dillon Collins

Top 20 of 2019
1) AMON AMARTH – Berserker (Metal Blade)
2) FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE - Veleno (Nuclear Blast)
3) BARONESS - Gold & Grey (Abraxan Hymns)
4) HAUNT - If Icarus Could Fly (Shadow Kingdom Records)
5) IDLE HANDS - Mana (Eisenwald)
6) FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY - The Sea of Tragic Beasts (Nuclear Blast)
7) TYR - Hel (Metal Blade)
8) ANGEL WITCH - Angel of Light (Metal Blade)
9) OPETH – In Cauda Venenum (Nuclear Blast)
10) CATTLE DECAPITATION - Death Atlas (Metal Blade)
11) YEAR OF THE GOAT – Novis Orbis Terrarum Ordinis (Napalm)
12) SABATON - The Great War (Nuclear Blast)
13) ELUVEITIE - Ategnatos (Nuclear Blast)
14) GLORYHAMMER - Legends From Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex (Napalm)
15) OVERKILL - The Wings of War (Nuclear Blast)
16) EXHORDER - Mourn the Southern Skies (Nuclear Blast)
17) RAISED FIST - Anthems (Epitaph)
19) ROTTING CHRIST - The Heretics (Season of Mist)
18) POSSESSED - Revelations of Oblivion (Nuclear Blast)
20) SAVAGE MASTER - Myth, Magic and Steel (Shadow Kingdom Records)

Top 3 Concerts
AMON AMARTH, ARCH ENEMY, AT THE GATES, GRAND MAGUS – M Telus, Montreal, Quebec
TENACIOUS D – The Filmore, New Orleans, Louisiana
November Mayhem III –  SKULL FIST, AMMO, LYCANTHRO, BLACK MOOR, ALLAGASH  – The Rock House, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

Top 5 Brave Embarrassments
BRING ME THE HORIZON – Amo (Sony)
Who would think that an album featuring Dani Filth would be, by a mile, their most poppy?!

VOLBEAT – Rewind, Replay, Rebound (Republic)
More like Rewind, Replay, Repeat, amirite? This is rehash, carbon copy, watered down Volbeat and it makes me sad.

DEMON HUNTER – War and Peace (Solid State)
An ambitious double album in 2019 can’t make up for the fact that Demon Hunter’s heaviest years are behind them. There’s not much fight behind these guys anymore.

STEEL PANTHER – Heavy Metal Rules (Steel Panther, Inc)
There’s jokes and sex puns and a ton of cheese, but the album more than wears out its welcome by the halfway mark.

BABYMETAL – Metal Galaxy (Babymetal Records)
I’m not a massive Babymetal hater, but they haven’t exactly reinvented the wheel with Metal Galaxy. This pony doesn’t have a ton of tricks.

What/Who Needs To Stop in 2020
I’m doubling down on this from last year. The ‘end of the road’, ‘final tour’, proclamation from just about every major metal/hard rock band in recent years, aside from Black Sabbath, ended up being completely hollow. Bands like Mötley Crüe, Kiss and now Ozzy Osbourne have and are cashing in on the easy sell of a final ever tour, only to backpedal on whether the end really means the end. This sadly won’t change as long as artists are cashing in, and they are, on this easy layup.

Thoughts on 2019
We finally got that Tool album didn’t we. It was...Tool... for better or worse. Slipknot also uncorked a new album that won’t convert outliers but should more than appease diehards. Rammstein too, released a very Rammstein album. Those were perhaps the ‘big three’ in terms of releases. My 2019 will be dominated by the discovery of some hidden gems like Idle Hands, Savage Master, and Year of the Goat and new releases from some of my all time favourites like Baroness and Fleshgod Apocalypse. My love of NWOBHM has expanded tenfold thanks to groups like Haunt and the new Angel Witch, while viking or historic centered anything gets massive love. See my list for proof. Overall, a truly solid year for metal.

Metal Predictions for 2020
While 2019 gave us some mega headline grabbing stories, newsworthy albums, and the ‘final’ tour of Slayer, 2020 is fixing up to be a year of big-time, high profile reunions. Mercyful Fate is hitting the Euro festival circuit and that is 20 years too soon! In complete contrast in the different strokes for different strokes category are the reunions of My Chemical Romance and Rage Against the Machine. Both present some interest for their respective genres. And yeah Mötley Crüe, defying their court signed and sealed declaration to never tour again, are going to tour again. Raise your hand if you’re shocked! Elsewhere, metal icons Ozzy Osbourne and King Diamond both have new albums on-tap in the New Year and Judas Priest toasts to 50 years. Long live heavy metal!

Check out our BravePicks 2019 countdown where Entombed A.D. took the top spot here.

More scribes speak:
Mark Gromen
Greg Pratt
Carl Begai
Aaron Small
Nick Balazs