Blues Rock

• I listened to Jimi Hendrix a lot in the past, of course its a huge influence for any modern guitar player and i really enjoy playing his songs on my Strat. This year i deep dived into his “cleaner” songs such like Little Wing, Castles made of Sand, Like a Rolling Stone (live at Monterey) Bold as Love Red House, The Wind cries Mary and Voodoo Chile (Blues version). Any of these songs are absolutely masterpieces.

• Stevie Ray Vaughan another Blues legend which died too early but left imense brilliant songs and performances. This year i listen in particular to Texas Floods, Voodoo Child (Slight Return), Cold Shot and Lenny.

• ZZ Top album La Futura from 2012 is a great album, at the same level as early Eliminator and Tres Hombres. Highly recommended!

• Philip Sayce is for me one of the best modern Blues Rock legends. His playing style is amazing and his songs remind of a modern rockier version of Hendrix, SRV and many other Blues Legends.

• Now going into traditional Blues, Muddy Waters is my all time favorite and the real King of Blues. This year i saw many times his performance with the Rolling Stones.

• I also really enjoyed and watched Davey Bones posts on Instagram about his Vintage gear and his renditions of Blues Classics. Great Production. Keep Rocking dude!

• Robin Trowner Bridges of Sight its another Blues masterpiece that i listened a lot.

• Honorable mentions: Jonny Winter, Eric Clapton, JJ Cale and Eric Gales

Technical Death Metal

I was never a big fan of Death Metal, i always felt the style a bit shallow, tasteless and lyrics without interest. Exception for me was always Children of Bodom which is one of my favorite Bands ever but it can hardly classified as traditional Death Metal but more like a Pop Melodic Death Metal band. This year i decided to give another try and focus on the more Technical/Progressive side of the genre and i quiet enjoyed the bands mentioned below.

• Necrophagist, this band and the music done by the band members is extremely complex and has lots of influences from Classical and Jazz. The songs on the album Epitaph are like travels into lots of different music styles, with lots music complexity taking into an extreme while having the traditional Death Metal base sound. Its quiet hard to express how complex the sound is.

• Obscura, a band which reminds me of Necrophagist, even some members used to play on this band. The songs are amazing, following also influences from Classical music. I’m only not totally convinced on the vocals which are maybe to extreme/harsh for me.

• Death, the album The Sound of Perserverance the final album of their career is a masterpiece.

Honorable mentions: Bloodbath and Lorna Shore

General Metal / Hard Rock

nothing new, i just enjoyed the little time i have to enjoy music to hear again some of my favorite bands and artists. Some highlights.

• Zakk Wylde / Black label Society, one of my all time favorite guitar player. I listen to a lot of Pride and Joy his band from the 90s where he wrote some great Southern rock style music. Solo album Book of Shadows and the last BLS albums Doom Crew Inc and Grimmest Hits

• Dream Theater Awake, my all time favorite DT album. I love those 7-String guitar riffs.

• Fear Factory. Demanufacture and Obsolete are amazing albums i think this band was quiet underrated during the Nu Metal Boom in the early 2000s.

Honorable mentions: Mastodon and Nevermore.

Black Label Society

… or really anything Zakk Wylde played

Necrophagist