2009 Metal & Hard Rock Albums

Unholy keeps Altaria rooted in traditional heavy metal while letting bright Scandinavian melodies ring out.

Show Your Colors is a turning point for Amoral, retaining heaviness while bringing clean vocals and strong melodies to the front.

Skyforger blends Amorphis’s heavy guitars with a distinctly northern sense of melancholy.

The Root of All Evil revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

Congregation of the Damned connects Atreyu’s shadowed atmosphere to rough, forceful metalcore.

Utopia adds bright keyboards and dramatic atmosphere to Axxis’s direct melodic-metal style.

The Circle pairs Bon Jovi’s arena-scale melodies with a more mature point of view.

Gather the Faithful is Cain’s Offering’s debut construction of dramatic power metal around grand keyboards and soaring vocals.

Chickenfoot’s debut channels the experience and distinct personalities of its members into unpretentious hard-rock energy.

Skeletons in the Closet is best heard not simply as a covers-related entry, but as a record that shows how CHILDREN OF BODOM translates outside material

Revolve packs Danger Danger’s strengths—quick riffs and huge choruses—into a focused melodic-rock record.

Autumnal fuses Dark Moor’s classical elegance with the lift of power metal in a romantic style.

Addicted unleashes Devin Townsend’s bright, high-energy side through loud guitars, stacked vocals and huge melodies.

Ki finds Devin Townsend deliberately holding back the usual explosions in favor of quiet tension and spacious sound.

Black Clouds & Silver Linings gathers Dream Theater’s intricate structures, virtuosic playing and dramatic vocal melodies on a grand scale.

Bring the Thunder is Dynazty’s youthful hard-rock debut, driven by immediate energy.

Design Your Universe layers orchestra, choir and metal riffs with great precision, creating an immense sonic space for Epica.

Last Look at Eden shows Europe moving beyond simple 1980s nostalgia toward a tougher modern hard-rock sound.

Aura presents Fair Warning’s refined melodic-rock character with calm confidence.

War Is the Answer connects Five Finger Death Punch’s enormous riffs and heavy groove to choruses that land immediately.

Can't Slow Down is a useful way to hear FOREIGNER from a different angle within the 2009 catalogue.

Need to Believe pairs Gotthard’s weighty hard rock with a mature gift for emotional balladry.

Beg for It combines Hardcore Superstar’s glam flash with rough hard-rock aggression in a volatile balance.

Leaving the End Open layers a polished AOR feel over Hardline’s firm hard-rock foundation.

Beautiful Mess by JEFF SCOTT SOTO: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Killswitch Engage balances the band’s metalcore weight and melodic strength with confident consistency.

Sonic Boom finds KISS returning to its fundamentals after a long gap between studio records.

Wrath uses Lamb of God’s massive riffs and biting rhythms to unleash overwhelming aggression.

Dreamcatcher delivers Last Autumn’s Dream’s Scandinavian melodic-rock melancholy with an intimate warmth.

Circus Colossus joins Leverage’s classic hard-rock instincts to a symphonic sense of scale.

Sad Day on Planet Earth keeps Lillian Axe rooted in melodic hard rock while reaching for a more shadowed emotional tone.

Tokyo Jukebox is best heard not simply as a covers-related entry, but as a record that shows how MARTY FRIEDMAN translates outside material into its own

Endgame reconnects Megadeth with speed, intricate riffs and high-level ensemble playing.

Fireangel joins Mystic Prophecy’s dark atmosphere to an aggressive power-metal drive.

16.6 balances Primal Fear’s speed-metal thrust with the weight of traditional heavy metal.

American Soldier turns the experiences and emotions of soldiers into a highly narrative Queensrÿche album.

Retribution integrates the cutting edge of thrash metal with metalcore’s heaviness at high density.

World Painted Blood condenses Slayer’s long-developed language of violent thrash metal into a sharp late-career statement.

The Days of Grays takes Sonata Arctica beyond speed and immediate catchiness into a more symphonic, intricate world.

Feel the Steel is Steel Panther’s debut celebration and send-up of 1980s glam metal.

Polaris finds Stratovarius opening a new chapter while returning to the essence of its power-metal sound.

House of Dreams presents Sunstorm’s polished AOR and melodic-rock strengths through finely detailed arrangements.

Deflorate sharpens The Black Dahlia Murder’s mix of melodic-death-metal speed and dark beauty.

Clash of the Elements pushes the clarity of The Poodles’ Scandinavian melodic rock through stronger full-band performances.

Chutzpah! mixes The Wildhearts’ punk urgency with broad hard-rock melody in a sharp, compact form.

Dominator by U.D.O.: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Babylon channels W.A.S.P.’s apocalyptic and religious imagery into heavy riffs and theatrical vocals.

W.E.T. brings together seasoned melodic-rock musicians with an unmistakable focus on song strength.

Karma makes clear that Winger is more than a pop-metal memory; it is a hard-rock band with serious musical power.