March. Already. Seems like yesterday we were regaling you with our favorite albums from last year. Then again, five years ago seems like yesterday to me so I’m a horrible judge of time. Be that as it may, 2018 has had a strong start musically and there’s no denying that regardless of taste and seemingly no let up in quality either. Which leads us right into this week with the absolutely riveting Cast of Static and Smoke from Vile Creature and its not only a great doom album but it’s centered around an excellent post-apocalyptic. Next up is Judas Priest with Firepower which, quite frankly, is the best thing they’ve done in a long time — you be the judge but for me, this is the heavy metal I wanted and needed to hear from the almighty Priest. Moving along, Eviternity from Kosmogyr is an unpredictable yet overwhelmingly powerful black metal debut that demands your attention but gives so much in return — not to be missed. Closing out the top slots this week is the debut, Purge, from India’s Killibrium which strikes a wicked balance between old and new school death metal with some killer grooves. As you read through and discover the rest of the list below you’ll understand how hard it was to not include at least 10 or so more up here so dive in and enjoy. Continue reading →