Best Heavy Metal EP's 2016

Best Rock & Metal EP's 2016

Ghost-Popestar 

Ghost returned this year with only a small offering of the usual demonic romp we love. With the usual flavour of Blue Oyster Cult meets Abba fused with sabbathesque riffs, In the form of  a 5 track EP. It only consists of one original new Ghost track "Square Hammer", Which kicks in with a doors like keyboard driven intro and verse before kicking into a pop like chorus that vocally sounds just as catchy as something from an 80s pop group as much as it does cult underground metal ala "Mercyful Fate". The EP continues this style and trend with revved up covers from acts such as Echo & The Bunnymen, Simian Mobile Disco, Eurythmics and Imperiat.

Gorguts-pleiades dust




This EP is the only one on the list to only consist of one, Thirty- Three minute track. But never fails to confuse or disorientate. The EPs concept is instinctively unique following the destruction of a library set in Baghdad during the middle ages which held much of the worlds previous history and was destroyed by mongols. For anyone who thrived on the new heightened progressive elements of their previous full length "Colored Sands" I can not recommend enough it is filled with the usual mechanical excellence the band have crafted their career on but also weighted down with an avant-garde intelligence that the band have become better known for in recent years.

Puppy- Vol 2



I stumbled upon this group on accident whilst looking for new underground pop metal acts in the UK. And wow what a surprise. For a band that appear to be new on the scene. They have managed to pack so much excellence into a 5 track EP. Their is so much eclectic flair on display its hard not to praise the band as soon as the last track ends, Everything from groove based sabbathesque riffs to dual guitar harmonies and power chords fused with a punk like swagger are on display here. Vocally you would be forgiven for thinking the band are actually american as their is plenty of nods to more alternative/grunge 90s bands such as Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chain. It's this juxtaposition of styles that made this one of my most played EP's this year. In other words the perfect blend of 90s pop sensibility with the technical proficiency of classic metal acts.

Pallbearer- Fear & Fury




Much like Ghosts Popestar. This years offering from one of the leading flagships of modern doom "Pallbearer" came in the form of a short but sweet three track EP, Comprising of one original song and 2 covers. The band tread steady ground doing what they do best. Clear and well produced fuzzed out doom awashed with lashings of reverb. The Black Sabbath cover is easily identified despite the even sludgier down trodden pummel, His vocal style is able to create the haunting echo of Ozzy with plausible grandeur. The Type O Negative Cover "Love You To Death" was also a nice surprise showing how Pallbearer are also capable of pulling of tracks filled with guitar tones that have a bit more chime than perhaps we are used to from them, Whilst also showing us how harmonic the vocalist can really get.

Gone is Gone- (Self Titled)





Being a massive fan of Mastodon and Queens Of The Stone Age, This announcement of this EP was monolithic news, It's easy to forget this is even an EP, Not just because it consists of eight tracks compared to the usual four. But because the band sound tight and dynamic. The single "Starlight"features a heavy amount of keyboard with the bass and guitar providing a metallic wall of sound, Which provides a perfect ethereal soundscape for Troys coarse but clear vocal style. Whilst "Violescent" kicks in with a QOTSA fuzz riff that sounds like it comes straight out of the late 90s. The songwriting partnerships are audibly clear, But the EP never comes across as a miss mash of conflicting styles instead coming across as early signs of a supergroup forming an early adroit footprint. Leaving me eager to hear the bands first full release the beginning of next year.