#2 DEMONAZ - March Of The Norse (Nuclear Blast)

Demonaz is more metal than most - especially you. He was once the mind-boggling guitarist of one of the mightiest Norwegian black metal bands ever; Immortal. The thing is that he played so hard and so fast that he developed tendinitis. As a result he had to quit as the band's lead guitarist, but because he was so awesome, Abbath, (pretty much the greatest of the NBM personalities that didn't kill anyone) declared (because that is what Abbath does; he declares) that Demonaz was still a member of Immortal and would write the lyrics to all of their songs and continue to tour with them as a frost bitten road bro just for inspiration because he was that fucking cool and integral to the continued existence of Immortal (loyalty is a Viking value, after all). Of course Abbath was dead on right, and now Demonaz a/k/a Harald Nævdal has produced his first record outside of Immortal, and it is beyond reproach. Imagine Immortal playing with classic Iron Maiden and you might have an idea of how totally metal and totally great this record is. If you like metal, you will love this record. It is a no frills, non-ironic, traditional slab of the genre; the kind of which we do not hear often enough. It is also quickly worming its way up into my "best of" list for the year. Devil horns up.