Continuing our series of ‘old shit’ here at Teeth of the Divine, we present you with the best heavy metal albums of 2004. Boo-yah! From what we can remember, as it’s been five or six years already, is that the list was conducted on our forum and all the posters, staff members and other mental patients were invited to voice their favorites. The albums were then given points based on how many times, and how soon they were mentioned. Or something like that. None the less, the result represents a collective mind. Thus, we call it official. But, most importantly, how does your Top 2004 list compare to ours today?

2004 meant the return of legendary thrash bands, most notably, bands like Exodus and Death Angel, whose albums and returns were given a great amount of media exposure. This of course took some space away from the ‘smaller acts’. Reformed back in the beginning of the new millennium, Hirax have returned to grace the music […]

Good things come to those who wait. Originally released on Empire Records in 2003, this superb slab of Polish brutality was licensed by Adipocere for a wider release in late 2004. Great move as it will expose more of the world to one of Poland’s undiscovered death metal gems. While Vader and Behemoth arguably stake […]

If the private investigator skills I picked up by watching Mr. Matula crack cases and score with the whores in one of the longest running German cop TV-shows, Ein Fall für Zwei, on TV can be trusted – Canadian Horfixion has more years (12) behind them than I can count (I’ve only got ten fingers; […]

While most of Finland is obsessed with trolls and tooth harps, only a handful of Finnish acts have veered into more brutal territory, Scent of Flesh being the only recent band that immediately springs to mind above and beyond older acts like Disgrace and early manifestations of Amorphis and Sentenced. Until now. Enter Sotajumala (Finnish […]

Denmark’s Mercenary took a sucker punch at me a couple of years ago, with their Everblack album. The mix of two completely different genres, (dare I say, melodic) death metal and power metal, showed that it isn’t impossible to marry the two together if it’s done with the needed boldness and disregard for naysayer opinions: […]

I just came. Italy is well known for mixing perverted ideas together and expressing the results musically. Usually such releases are worthy of filling the garbage bin, but exceptions are known to happen. Thee Maldoror Kollective is one of such occasions with their latest album where things could have gone horribly wrong, but luckily didn’t. […]

With the album opening salvo of ‘The Shining’, France’s Anorexia Nervosa graced my ears with one of the most epic, grandiose and powerful song openings I’ve heard in 2004. The sheer scale of the synth laden dramatics and thunderous buzz of the guitars is the introduction to one superb album and a black metal album, […]

Highly touted by Willowtip as the second coming of Cynic and Pestilence, Australia’s Alarum has some mighty big expectations to fill with their progressive, tech infused metal. But whereas prior tech death attempt by label mates Carpharnaum floundered in overdone tech frivolity, and Necrophagist took the more brutal route of technical death metal, Eventuality actually […]

Sure to raise some eyebrows with their self-appointed label of “Summer Black Metal”, Woods of Ypres follow -up their promising demo-cd (self-released full-length?), with an emotional work of dark and passionate metallic art. The music is an engaging mix of traditional epic metal, blackened at the edges then tempered with harmonic indulgences and prog-rock excursions. […]

An Isis clone from….Switzerland on an English record label. Yup, you read it right, and a pretty solid clone at that. Fledging UK label Codebreaker Records, somehow found this lot amid all the chocolate and cheese, and unearthed a pretty punishing, draining three-piece with their influences firmly emblazoned on their sleeve. Centered around droning, mid […]

After sullying myself and this site with an abundance of glossy, wimpy stadium metal, I felt the need to get dirty and grimy and seeing as I already reviewed the Lair of the Minotaur, the UK’s doom merchants Ramesses fit the bill perfectly. With four lengthy, filthy, down tuned, buzzing hymns of lumbering war anthems, […]

Often, the terms “progressive”, “experimental” and “avant-garde” are overused (my self included) to describe any music that simply can’t be pigeonholed, categorized, or maybe defies our metal shuttered concepts of what should be construed as “metal”. Bands like Arcturus, Ulver and Solefald, who break the mold of metals restrictive constraints are either hailed as geniuses […]

I could take up half of this review discussing the viability of Cradle of Filth as a bonafide black metal act and their subsequent litany of either crazed fans or haters that pass them of as pop stars slithering under the banner of a more extreme exterior. But instead, let’s just talk about the album […]

I’m not normally that impressed with album artwork, but with band named after Horiyoshi’s epic book and equally Eastern themed artwork, 100 Demons piqued my attention. Hailing from Connecticut and with one album, In the Eyes of the Lord under their belt courtesy of Goodlife Recordings, 100 Demons should not surprise with their style; angry, […]

New blood can rejuvenate. Plague Angel proves this. Arioch is a good choice for Legion’s replacement. When Legion took over vocals I was not won over for awhile. I got used to his style and started to think of him as one of the best of the more deathish black style even overlooking his rather […]

From Thunder Bay Ontario hails a new Canadian Viking squad. Raping the Ancient is the second full length release of black viking noise. Pure violence no melodies no rowdy drinking hymns. Just smash you in the head battle music. I was looking forward to hearing this disc because I have heard good things about their […]

Around since 1989, New Jersey’s Vicious Circle has been rather unprolific with only 2 full length albums (including this one) in their rather long and unspectacular tenure. Well, like a fine wine, age has graced Vicious Circle with the ability to grow better with age. And while The Art of Agony is hardly a world […]

Roughly translated as ‘Lord, You Are Not Worthy’, Domine Non Es Dignus is the highly anticipated follow up to the utterly devastating debut The Codex Necro which due to its caustic, barren and apocalyptic sound, arguably made England’s Anaal Nathrakh one of the most extreme black metal acts around. So how does album number 2 […]

Just like the band finding no need for lyrics or song titles, this music defies words of description. You simply have to hear it for yourself. The instrumentation is often excellent and those sections that the metal-in-the-narrow-sense fan would recognize are well done but simply not very important in the overall makeup of the album. […]

Orange County straightedge bruisers Throwdown have been filming themselves since their first ever show. Now, all of the footage has been artfully edited and interlaced with interviews to chronicle the band’s history in typical Jackass meets Behind the Music fashion. With footage from their first 1999 tour, Warped Tour in 2003, European and Australian tours, […]

Every so often, an album is released that contains a markedly higher level of anticipation around it. Promises of a “groundbreaking” or a “genre-defining” effort are thrown around like so many empty words, as most people know that such promises rarely come to fruition. The latest such “big” album in the pipe is the next from […]

I’ve known about Arum since 2001 when they released their first cd. This is their second. This Brazilian black metal band is not bad but nothing extraordinary either. I do not want to trash them because I like the album and it shows effort, but nothing original here, which is usually not a sticking point […]

The artwork change for Singapore’s black thrash band Impiety demonstrates a renewed desire to enflame the general public. Piles of corpses from concentration camps adorn the cover and the cd. The booklet announces “man, the actual beast of hell, capable of committing the most bestial and heinous   great beast in all of us. And to […]

Mnemic is one of the next generation ‘mechanical’ bands that combine elements from and between Fear Factory, Meshuggah and to some extend Strapping Young Lad. And quite like certain parts of the history, Mnemic doesn’t seem to want to break out from the rat race as things haven’t really changed dramatically on The Audio Injected […]