Well, it looks like two of my Top 10 made our overall Top 20 this year, which seems to be more or less on par with last year, if I recall correctly. Still have not heard that 40 Watt Sun album (Metal Blade dropped the ball on distribution, or what?), and I can’t believe that Progpeth took the top spot, with Mastodon not far behind. And here I thought we had more discriminating tastes at Hellbound… At least Lulu was nowhere to be seen!

Ladies and gentleman, the TOP 5 METAL ALBUMS OF 2011 according to the contributing writers of Hellbound.ca…

While I expected Hammers to be tight, I was pleasantly surprised to discover exactly how spot-on the intricacies of their songs translated live. Hammers of Misfortune, of course, had the perfect balance of both precision and emotion, the songs given a new vitality, positively glowing in the live setting.

We asked all of the contributing writers here at Hellbound.ca to submit their Top 10 albums of 2011, which we then compiled into a master list, assigning points to all their choices (10 points for #1, down to 1 point for #10). After tabulating the results, we have created Hellbound.ca’s Top 20 Albums of 2011. For part three of our continuing series, here is albums #10 through 6…

But is it a step forward, or backwards? That all depends on your perception. I, for one, don’t dig this as much as the first album, and am certainly curious as to which direction the band will take with a new frontman/axeman. One thing is certain, though. Black Pyramid III won’t be a blind buy for me…

We asked all of the contributing writers here at Hellbound.ca to submit their Top 10 albums of 2011, which we then compiled into a master list, assigning points to all their choices (10 points for #1, down to 1 point for #10). After tabulating the results, we have created Hellbound.ca’s Top 20 Albums of 2011. For part two of our continuing series, here is albums #15 through 11…

We asked all of the contributing writers here at Hellbound.ca to submit their Top 10 albums of 2011, which we then compiled into a master list, assigning points to all their choices (10 points for #1, down to 1 point for #10). After tabulating the results, we have created Hellbound.ca’s Top 20 Albums of 2011. For part one of our continuing series, here is albums #20 through 16…

For 135 minutes, this film tells the story of the beginning, the rise, the success, the excess, the triumph and the establishment of the institution that has become Ozzy Osbourne.