01. Witchery (Sweden) - Restless and Dead
02. Blind Guardian (Germany) - Nightfall in Middle-Earth
03. Nokturnal Mortum (Ukraine) - To the Gates of Blasphemous Fire
04. Bethlehem (Germany) - S.U.I.Z.I.D.
05. Borknagar (Norway) - The Archaic Course
06. Barathrum (Finland) - Legions of Perkele
07. Angra (Brazil) - Fireworks
08. Carpathian Forest (Norway) - Black Shining Leather
09. Meshuggah (Sweden) - Chaosphere
10. December Wolves (USA) - Completely Dehumanized
11. Clutch (USA) - The Elephant Riders
12. Impaled Nazarene (Finland) - Rapture
13. Dan Swanö (Sweden) - Moontower
14. Helloween (Germany) - Better Than Raw
15. Gorguts (Canada) - Obscura
16. Diabolical Masquerade (Sweden) - Nightwork
17. Cannibal Corpse (USA) - Gallery of Suicide
18. Arch Enemy (Sweden) - Stigmata
19. Katatonia (Sweden) - The Discouraged Ones
20. Soilwork (Sweden) - Steelbath Suicide
1998 was another pretty strong year, all things considered, and even though I've only got one 'perfect 10' record for the second straight year in a row, the field supporting it is formidable. This time I gave the top honors to one of my favorite black/thrash/speed metal records in history. What a blast that was, gave my listening habits a good kick in the balls, and still is quite a rush. This was also the year of my favorite albums from such names as Meshuggah, Blind Guardian, Gorguts, and Barathrum, while several groups like Cannibal Corpse were, in my opinion, upping their ante. No one genre truly stood out here. I suppose there was quite a lot of black metal, but much of it was distinct and adventurous and there weren't a lot of infallible 'newsprint' black records beyond the Carpathian Forest and Nokturnal Mortum offerings. It was around this time that I probably had my paper 'zine, all photocopied by myself, and featuring a lot of interviews as well as the first reviews I had written (much shorter than what I do now), so I suppose that having the 'zine granted me access to all manner of sounds due to the intake of promos and being in contact with bands and labels.
UPDATED FOR 2020
1998 was another pretty strong year, all things considered, and even though I've only got one 'perfect 10' record for the second straight year in a row, the field supporting it is formidable. This time I gave the top honors to one of my favorite black/thrash/speed metal records in history. What a blast that was, gave my listening habits a good kick in the balls, and still is quite a rush. This was also the year of my favorite albums from such names as Meshuggah, Blind Guardian, Gorguts, and Barathrum, while several groups like Cannibal Corpse were, in my opinion, upping their ante. No one genre truly stood out here. I suppose there was quite a lot of black metal, but much of it was distinct and adventurous and there weren't a lot of infallible 'newsprint' black records beyond the Carpathian Forest and Nokturnal Mortum offerings. It was around this time that I probably had my paper 'zine, all photocopied by myself, and featuring a lot of interviews as well as the first reviews I had written (much shorter than what I do now), so I suppose that having the 'zine granted me access to all manner of sounds due to the intake of promos and being in contact with bands and labels.
UPDATED FOR 2020
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