New Year's Eve is upon us, and it's time to look back on the year that was 2007. In particular, let's look at the world of heavy metal.

Because let's face it... 2007 was an absolutely bad-ass year for metal!! If you're a metalhead and you didn't find anything to listen to over the past year, then you've got some serious problems.

So let's get on with the show already!! The following is a list of my top 10 favorite metal albums to come out in 2007, as well as any thoughts I have about them. I tried to get ahold of as many albums that came out this year as I could, so I had a lot of stuff to go through in getting to a final 10. Needless to say, I've been listening to a lot of good music this year.

#10: The Way of the Fist by Five Finger Death Punch - I wonder how many metalheads out there would include this album in their "best of" lists? With a bunch of high-profile releases in '07 from the likes of Behemoth, Machine Head, and the likes, I think that a lot of people probably looked over this release. Regardless of whether people noticed it or not, I found the debut release from Ivan Moody's (formerly of Motograter) new band to be a rather enjoyable listen. If you like modern groove metal, then you should enjoy this album. None of the ten tracks are bad, and even the lead single "The Bleeding" is pretty good.

#9: Dark Passion Play by Nightwish - I really got into Nightwish earlier this year, and despite learning that the band was without longtime vocalist Tarja Turunen, I was still excited for their latest album to come out. I know that peoples' opinions are going to be quite varied on new vocalist Anette Olzon, , but I think that this Finnish symphonic metal band's latest studio offering is just as good as their last album, the awesome Once. I think that Dark Passion Play succeeds because, despite a vocalist change, the key songwriting force in the band, keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, is still in Nightwish. So if you enjoyed Once, then chances are you'll enjoy Dark Passion Play.

#8: Bleed the Fifth by Divine Heresy - I must say, this album took some time to grow on me. When I picked it up on its release day, I didn't really think much of it. In fact, I probably wouldn't have even considered it to be a contender for this list then. My, how things have changed. If you're a metalhead, then you probably know the name Dino Cazares (if not, you've got some serious catching up to do ). Divine Heresy is the former Fear Factory founder/guitarist's newest band. I read in a review once that much of this album sounds like it could pass off as Fear Factory stuff; perhaps that's why I ended up liking Bleed the Fifth so much. I really listened to this one a lot as the year went on, thus earning it a spot in my Top 10.

#7: Passenger by Mnemic - I'll come right out front and say it: I really like this album, and I'm not quite sure why. There's just something inherently addictive about Mnemic's sound, and I found myself listening to Passenger a lot over the course of the year. So, despite not being able to really explain why I like it, the album gets spot #7 in my list. Or perhaps, that's the whole reason its here...

#6: Road to Bloodshed by Sanctity - If you had talked to me earlier in the year, this album would have been somewhere around #3 or #4 on this list. Well, that's certainly changed. But that doesn't mean I like the album any less now then I did then. The first track I ever heard from Road to Bloodshed was the album opened "Beneath the Machine," and I had to look at my satellite radio receiver because my brain thought it was hearing Testament. I got around to downloading the album, and only listened to it once before I went out and bought the CD. I was quite impressed with Sanctity's modern thrash/groove metal. A very enjoyable listen from start to finish, placing it at #6.

Here we are, moving into the top 5...

#5: Icons of Evil by Vital Remains - Arguably the most brutal album on my Top 10 list. I was officially introduced to Vital remains one night after work when I heard the song "Hammer Down the Nails" on the radio in my car. I was pretty much instantly hooked on this wicked sick death metal stuff. Icons of Evil boasts the absolute fastest double bass drum work I have ever heard in my life; seriously, it sounds like the minigun from your favorite shooter going full force. Dave Suzuki sure can pound those things... With songs that rival stuff by Dragonforce in length (thus leading me to call it "epic death metal"), there's plenty of ridiculous drum work to go around, as well as superbly awesome musicianship from the other instruments. And Glen Benton, of Deicide fame and one of my favorite metal vocalists, is here on vocal duty. So I really really like this album.

#4: The Apostasy by Behemoth - I will admit, this was an impulse buy for me. I saw The Apostasy on sale for $10 at FYE while shopping one day, and decided to pick it up to get a feel for Behemoth since they were going to be on Ozzfest this year. Unfortunately, I missed out on Behemoth's show this summer, which is a damn shame... Because I have absolutely fallen in love with this album. This Polish band's blackened death is relentlessly brutal, and features some of the sickest drum work found anywhere in the metal spectrum. Just listen to the first minute or so of "Arcana Hereticae and you'll know what I'm talking about. If you like heavy music, get this album. If you don't, you're seriously missing out on something amazing.

Seven down, only three to go...

#3: The Last Kind Words by Devildriver - I've been into Devildriver for a little while, and I can say that if you listen to the band's three album's back to back to back, you can definitely hear an evolution in their sound. With their first album the band had a very groovy sound to their metal; great music to get up and move around to. Their second album took a turn towards a more technical st-yle with fancier guitar work. With The Last Kind Words Devildriver seems to have struck a middle ground between technicality and groove; and I'll be damned if it isn't a resounding success! Devildriver's third album is without a doubt their best so far, with plenty of catch riffs to headbang to and good guitar work to boot. One person I had in my car when driving out to Ozzfest this summer seemed somewhat surprised to hear soloing on a Devildriver album. Every song on this album is catchy and will stick in your head, and there isn't a bad track in the bunch. Devildriver has found a sound for themselves, and I think I'd still love them if they made three more albums like this one.

#2: The Blackening by Machine Head - Machine Head's latest studio album is probably going to be on top of a lot of metalheads' end-of-the-year lists. Hell, for most of the year it was almost guaranteed to be #1 on mine. The Blackening is the definition of how a metal band in this day and age should make an album. As soon as opening track "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" starts with its slow acoustic guitar part, this album proceeds to grab you by the neck and kick your ass, and it doesn't let up until closer "A Farewell to Arms," ending just as slowly and quietly as it began. In between you are treated to a collection of amazing songs, with even the weakest track ("Now I Lay Thee Down") managing to come out good. The highlight of the album, though, comes from the nine-minute masterpiece "Halo," which I guarantee you will have in your head for a while after hearing it. There's only one problem with The Blackening being so damned good... How in the hell is Machine Head going to top it for their next album?

So The Blackening got #2 in my list, eh? What could possibly have booted it down from the #1 spot that it help for so much of the year? Read on...

#1: Rise of the Tyrant by Arch Enemy - Wow. What. An. Album. As much as I like all of Arch Enemy's albums with vocalist Angela Gossow, Wages of Sin has always been my favorite. There's just something about the writing on that album that makes it so awesome. With their latest release, this Swedish melodic death metal group has done the one thing could make me infinitely happy with them; write another album in the same st-yle as Wages of Sin. Not just a Wages... Pt.2, though... Rise of the Tyrant is something all of its own. If the air raid siren that sounds at the start of opening track "Blood on your Hands" is any indicator, this is going to be one hell of an assault on your ears. Every song on this album is awesome; there isn't a weak moment to be found anywhere. Trying to decide which album would get the top spot on my list, between Rise of the Tyrant and Machine Head's The Blackening, was a difficult matter indeed. There was one deciding factor, though: Machine Head's album took a little bit of time to strike me with all it's awesomeness. Arch Enemy, on the other hand, beat me over the head with a steel rod the instant I put it in my CD player. And that is why Rise of the Tyrant is my #1 metal album of 2007.

So there you have it. My 10 favorite metal releases of the past year. I have spent so much money on music this year it's not even funny, but it was so worth it. But wait! There's more! These may be my top 10, but there were other metal albums that came out this year that I greatly enjoyed as well. Just... not as much as the above ten...

Honorable Mentions
Resurrection by Chimaira
The Hinderers by Daath
The Dethalbum by Dethklok
War of Attrition by Dying Fetus
Hellyeah by Hellyeah
Red, White, and Screwed by M.O.D.
United Abominations by Megadeth
The Art of Partying by Municipal Waste
Black Rain by Ozzy Osbourne
Temptation Come My Way by The Showdown
Cannibal by Static-X

2007 was a great year for metal all over. 2008 is looking to be a good one too. Happy New Year, metalheads!! \m/ \m/

Guess who got a PS3 for Christmas this year???



In case that wasn't enough of an indicator, I had a great Christmas this year. Got lots of cool stuff. From a friend of mine I got a sweet leather armband covered in metal spikes. Then the family got the PS3 (bundled with Motorstorm), along with Transformers: The Game and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. I went out the day after Christmas and bought myself Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and Resistance: Fall of Man. Much bad-assery to be had all around. And now, I'll actually be able to play God of War 2 again! I played it once after I got it for my birthday, and then our PS2 didn't want to read the disc again. It's old and wearing out, which is part of the reason why we got a PS3.

Other stuff I got includes...

Season 2 of The Tick on DVD (I f*cking love that show)
Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Plus for PSP
A Mr. Potato Head that looks like Optimus Prime
A Mythbusters shirt (Front says "I reject your reality and substitute my own." Back has big BUSTED on it)
Bad-ass Devildriver watch on leather armband (seen here with spiked armband): http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/3927/armbandandwatchre9.jpg
365 of the Stupidest Things Ever Said 2008 calendar
POTC calendar
A trio of Metallica CDs (Ride the Lightning, their self-titled "Black album", and S&M)

And... I think that's about it. I went out and bought season 1 of The Tick today, along with a few more CDs (The Art of Partying by Municipal Waste, Framing Armageddon by Iced Earth, and In the Arms of Devestation by Kataklysm. My little brother got the old animated Transformers movie, so I totally geeked out over that. I've got fond memories of that movie...

So, I hope everyone here had a great Christmas as well if you celebrate it. I've got a little present for all you Roommates readers, so go check it out.

2007 is drawing to a close and the new year is almost upon us, so I guess I can wish you all an early Happy New Year!! I'll be doing a "Top 10 Metal Albums of 2007" list to close out the year (because let's face it, 2007 was a great year for metal), so be on the lookout for that sometime tomorrow.

See you all next year!

Almost forgot!!! My username on the PSN is NanoElite666. Wow, I bet you never would have guessed that one... Anyways, if any of you are PS3 owners, feel free to add me to your friends list.

You know, in the Pirates movies they're always asking why the rum is gone (or something similar)? Well, now I know why the rum is gone...

I DRANK IT!!!!!!

Yes, yesterday (the 11th) was my birthday, and I am now officially 21 years of age! I can now buy all the beer and other alcoholic beverages that I want, and the only thing that can stop me is shortness of cash.

But, I had a good day yesterday. Woke up and played the "Birthday Dethday" song by Dethklok real loud on my stereo. Went and got my license plates renewed and get my new driver's license, and in the process of doing so forgot my checkbook at home and had to drive all the way back to get it and go all the way back to the BMV again. Which isn't that long of a trip, but it was still dumb. After that, I went and finished up a new Roommates scene (yes, got another one done! ) before heading out to get lunch at the Applebees where my brother works. Had a really good burger with bacon and BBQ sauce on it, and my first beer of being 21. Then I went to work to buy more beer and, more importantly, a bottle of Captain Morgan's pineapple rum. More on that later...

Dinner of pizza and doing gifts was up later in the evening. From my friend I got a nifty belt and wallet set that's decked out in metal skulls. My brother gave me this cool sleeveless button-up Slipknot shirt that he found at a concert he went to a few months back, and he also got me God of War 2. I finally got my hands on GoW2!!! I got some shirts (one of which has more skulls on it), a new pair of jeans, another belt with a big skull design buckle, this little Atari cl@ssic game console thing you can plug into your TV, and a Wacom Intuos tablet.

Nano gots a tablet!!! I have a fancy new toy to play with! It's actually sitting here on my bed, waiting for me to set it up after I'm done writing this out here.

After dinner stuffs, I went over to a friend's place. Took that bottle of pineapple rum with me. There was Super Smash Bros., there was some Gundam: Federation vs Zeon (because it's simple and it's fun ), and there was American Pie Band Camp. The rum disappeared at some point during Band Camp... And let me tell you, I've been to band camp four times, and it was nothing like that movie. =P I mean, they didn't even have closet climbing...

And then... There was Pirates... I have finally seen the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie! Granted, I was drunk and will probably have to watch it again to pick up some stuff I missed last night... But from what I remember, it was a good movie. It's funny, I think I was calling out stuff before it actually happened and was turning out to be right half the time.

And after Pirates was a trip to the bathroom before crashing out a couch for the night. And boy, what a trip it was. I don't know what I found so inherently amusing about stumbling down a hallway, but I was laughing like an idiot the whole time.

So yeah, that was the gist of my day yesterday. I had fun. Got cool stuff. And now, my brain seems to have quit out on me, as I've run out of stuff to talk about...

I'm gonna hook up my new tablet and play around with that now. Oh, and update Roommates, before I forget.

Despite being one, I think I will always be somewhat amazed by metalheads... As quick as they are to beat the sh*t out of each other in a circle pit at a show, the instant someone goes down to the floor everyone in the immediate vicinity rushes to pick that person up off the floor. We're so violent, but so quick to help one of our own... Maybe, if all the world's population was metalheads, we wouldn't have so many casualties in wars. I mean, if someone got shot, there'd be two or three medics on them in a few seconds.

So anyways!!! Me and my friend hauled our asses up to Detroit MI yesterday for one hell of an awesome metal show yesterday (Dec. 4)!!

Yes, we went all the way from Kettering, OH to Detroit MI just for a concert. Because it was so bad-ass a show that we'd have to be stupid to miss it! Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Devildriver, and Soilwork, all in one place! That's one of the most bad-ass concert lineups I've ever seen!

So despite getting to Detroit, getting lost somewhat, following the wrong directions the majority of the way to Ann Arbor, and having to turn our ass around and drive back to Detroit, we still managed to find our way to the show with time to spare before the first band went on. Because we're bad-ass like that, leaving several hours ahead of just the minimum required driving time.

So the first band up was Soilwork, all the way from Sweden, whom I haven't seen since Ozzfest '05. Needless to say, I was excited about seeing them again after getting familiar with much of their material. Of course, I was excited about seeing all the bands there after simply hearing about this tour... Soilwork had a short set, being the openers for the whole show, of only six songs. But, they were six good songs. Of course, just about all of their songs are good ones. =P They stuck to three of their albums for their set: from their newest release Sworn to a Great Divide they opened with the title track and played the lead single "Exile", from the totally bad-ass Natural Born Chaos they played the album opener "Follow the Hollow" and "As We Speak", and from Stabbing the Drama they played the title track to that album and closed their show with "Nerve", which is one of my all-time favorite songs by the band.

There was much bad-assery in the air, and it would only grow as the night went on.

Next up was Devildriver. Devildriver is now tied with Mudvayne for being the band that I've seen live the most, at three shows for each. And all three times I've seen them, they've opened their set with the song "End of the Line" from the album Fury of our Maker's Hand. Not that there's anything wrong with that; it makes for a great opening track. It's also the only song from that album that I've seen them play live outside of the first time I saw them (back in Feb '06 with In Flames and Trivium). I'm still waiting for them to play "Before the Hangman's Noose"... From their latest album The Last Kind Words they played the totally bad-ass "Not All Who Wander Are Lost" and "Clouds Over California", and also threw the album closer "The Axe Shall Fall" into their set, which was a bit of a surprise. And from their self-titled debut album, they played the likes of "Nothing's Wrong", "I Could Care Less", and closed their show the same way they did at Ozzfest (and I assume how they always close their shows, having only seen them three times and not remembering much of the first time ) with "Meet the Wretched". At some point during the show, Dez smelled weed. Which wasn't a big surprise.

After that, it was time for Killswitch Engage to take the stage. Another band I haven't seen since the second stage of Ozzfest '05. They were bad-ass then, they were even more bad-ass now. As an intro to their set, they played the intro part (thunderstorm sounds) to Slayer's "Raining Blood". Which was bad-ass all in itself. It could only be made more bad-ass if the band had gone on to open their set proper with a cover of the song... Ah well, we can dream... KSE's set consisted of a few songs that I didn't know (because I don't have their first two albums ), but I do know "My Last Serenade", which I can assume is a staple of their shows. Otherwise, from The End of Heartache they played "A Bid Farewell", "Breathe Life", "Rose of Sharyn" (vocalist Howard Jones called for the crowd in front of the stage to do a Wall of Death at the beginning of this song... Which is odd, because I normally wouldn't associate something like a Wall of Death with KSE... But, whatever, I was in it and I survived, so all's good and well. ), and the title track from the album (I swear, the crowd was singing louder than Howard himself during most of this one.. =P), and from their most recent album As Daylight Dies the band played "The Arms of Sorrow", "For You", "My Curse", and "Desperate Times", which I was definitely not expecting them to do. And to close their whole show off, the band played their cover version of Dio's "Holy Diver". And there was much rejoicing and bad-assery. Howard Jones is a big man and has quite a dominating presence on stage. Adan D. is quite a character, and he was wearing a cape. Just like he was when I saw the band on Ozzfest '05. Good times, good times... Oh, KSE also had a really cool backdrop up for most of their set. I think I got a good picture of it with my phone.

Lamb of God. Undeniably the loudest show of the night. I could feel my insides shaking from the double bass drums of Chris Adler's kit. When LoG was playing, I could not hear anything else in the venue except for them. The band's set consisted of just about all the songs that they played for their show on Ozzfest this summer, give or take a few. After lots of smoke and red lights and sounds of gunfire and stuff burning, they ripped into "Hourglass" from the bad-ass Ashes of the Wake album. Other selections from that album included "Laid to Rest", "Now You've Got Something to Die For" (which might have been absent from their Ozzfest show...), and "Omerta". From their most recent album Sacrament they played album opener "Walk with Me in Hell", "Pathetic", "Blacken the Cursed Sun" (with the crowd chanting "HELL NO!!!" when necessary), "Descending" (also new from their Ozzfest set), and the infinitely awesome "Redneck". From the As the Palaces Burn album, there was much bad-assery in the form of album opener "Ruin" (with it's awesome drum break) and "Vigil" (the title track to the album was absent from their Ozzfest showing...). And to close off the whole night, LoG ended with "Black Label" from their debut album (well, debut under the name "Lamb of God" at least... ) New American Gospel. I have heard that this song is known for having vocalist Randy Blythe encourage the crowd to do a Wall of Death at one part of the song. In fact, so many people got injured and enough people complained that the band had to stop encouraging this action during the song. Alas, though, I've heard that people still do it at shows anyways... But twice now I've seen Lamb of God, and twice I have not seen a Wall of Death crop up during the playing of "Black Label". Ah well, I'm sure I'll get caught up in one at some point... Randy liked throwing half-empty bottles of water out into the crowd during the show. In fact, he threw one so high that it ended up hitting a light in one of the rafters above the stage area.

So all in all, the show was as bad-ass as could possibly be. I picked up a LoG and a KSE shirt on the way out, and also got ahold of a LoG wristband (like the Fear Factory one I already wear). So I've got new stuff to wear. My only complaint about the night, even though it isn't really much of one, is that the volume on Howard's and Adam's vocals during KSE's show were a little quiet compared to the sound coming from the rest of the band. But, it wasn't much of a problem, since I knew most of the songs and knew what they were saying anyways. That, and my phone didn't have enough charge left to run the camera by the time Lamb of God took the stage, so I don't have any pictures of them. I got some of Soilwork, Devildriver, and Killswitch Engage, though.

Pictures of new shirts, new wristband, and the few pictures of the bands I took (too busy trying to avoid getting killed in the pit to take a lot of pictures ) should be on the way sometime in the near future. Probably just as an update to this entry here.

You may think I'm crazy, but I say "Bah!" Finally, after over a year and a half of plaguing my inbox here on GS, I have finally found the accursed Phantom PM! Out of 95 pages of PMs I've gotten while being here on GS, I finally found this sucker on page 66. I got that thing back on March 29 of '06! For the longest time, I thought that GS had just gotten termially screwy on my. But no! There really was a PM in my inbox, keeping my number at 1. But no more!!

In other news... I just recently passed up my 3-year anniversary of being here on GS. Totally spaced my mind. To be honest, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was celebrating two years of being here.

And tomorrow, I'm hauling my ass to Detroit, MI to see Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Devildriver, and Soilwork. Can you say "bad-ass concert"? Yeah, I did too when I first heard about it a couple months back. Actually, my response was more along the lines of "OOOOOOOOH MY F*CKING GOD!!!!!!!"

Man, it's been waaaaaaaay too long since I last updated my little comic Roommates. How many of you thought I had given up on it? Be honest, now...

But seroiusly now... A nice long winter break from school means I've got free time to do all sorts of stuff that I couldn't do during classes. And since I've all but neglected Roommates over the past several months, I figured it was time to give it some attention. So in the past two days or so, I've gone and done three whole new scenes for you all that still read this!

Here's the link to my site, in case you need if for whatever reason.

Hopefully, you won't have to wait another five months for another update...