08) Silver Bullet, Shadowfall(Reaper Entertainment)

A slightly more underground recommendation, but a solid one nonetheless, comes in the shape of Silver Bullet from Finland, who deliver more than solid work on their third album, “Shadowfall.” While the production could maybe use a little more fine-tuning, the song material itself is top-notch, and songs like “Shadow of a Curse,” “Creatures of the Night,” or “Soul Reaver” won’t disappoint fans of European-style melodic metal in the vein of Sonata Arctica, Gamma Ray or Stratovarius.

07) Serenity, Nemesis AD

I’d be remiss if I failed to mention my countrymen of Serenity in this year’s list, as they’ve just released their eighth studio album, “Nemesis AD,” which proved to be a late highlight of 2023. While its predecessor, “The Last Knight,” was met with some mixed reviews, “Nemesis AD” seems to greatly please listeners’ tastebuds. While Serenity can never quite shake the fact that they have always been greatly inspired by Kamelot (in fact, Kamelot’s long-time and fan-favorite singer Roy Khan is featured on the track “The Fall of Man” on this album), Serenity have been able to carve out a niche of their own over the years, mostly thanks to singer Georg Neuhausers unique vocal approach and history-focused lyrics.

06) Twilight Force, At the Heart of Wintervale(Nuclear Blast)

After a few troublesome early years, notably marked by the early departure of original singer Christian Eriksson, the band seems to have come into their own at this point, thanks to the addition of vocalist Alessandro Conti, a true master of his craft. His voice adds the final sparkle to the catchy and technically challenging tunes on the band’s fourth studio album, and they are made all the better for it. “At the Heart of Wintervale” is not only the band’s best-produced album to date, but it also sports some formidable bangers and merciless earworms in the shape of tracks like “Dragonborn,” “Skyknights of Aldaria” or “Sunlight Knight.” If you enjoy your metal melodic, epic and glorious, then Twilight Force is for you.

05) Angra,Cycles of Pain (Napalm)

Angra from Brazil have always enjoyed a certain special status in the international metal scene, notably thanks to their frequent inclusion of traditional Brazilian influences in their music. When former Rhapsody (of Fire) singer Fabio Lione joined the band in 2013 (hard to believe it’s already been ten years!), it certainly turned some heads, but being one of the premier vocalists of the genre, Lione turned out to be a perfect fit for the Progressive Power Metallers from Brazil, and his third album with them leaves little to be desired for fans of the band and the genre. “Ride into the Storm,” “Tide of Changes (Pt. II),” or “Faithless Sanctuary” are just a few examples of melodic Metal goodness you can find in “Cycles of Pain.”