Howard's Pick-

Synthetic - 'Control' 

Third studio album for the Brighton industrial trio, and easily the best yet. They are moving steadily away from the Soft Cell/Joy Division type sound which characterised their earlier efforts, and instead heading into territory all of their own. The melodies are extremely catchy in all tracks, although The Body Farm, Embrace and Show Me The Way are (for me at least) the most memorable. I am informed a remix-type 'mutated' follow up album is coming out shortly.

 Marilyn Manson - 'The Golden Age of Grotesque'

As before, a new album and a new stylistic direction. The theme this time: 1920's cabaret, gone horribly wrong! I found this slightly more hit-and-miss than its predecessor Holy Wood (which, in turn, was no match for the mighty Mechanical Animals), but there's still plenty to enjoy here. The first single 'mOBSCENE' grew on me after a few listenings, and 'This is the New Shit' is fun in an alternating-between-fast-and-slow kind of way. Make sure you get the special edition, which also includes last year's excellent cover version of 'Tainted Love'.

Defcon2 - 'Collateral Damage' 

There's some very good stuff on this compilation, more consistent in quality than its 2001 predecessor. There's a completely different line-up of bands, most of whom are regularly spotted playing large UK venues. The Sepia, The Narcissus Pool and Leech Woman for example, can often be spotted on London gig lists. Action Directe provide a very good stomper, and Interlock provide an excellent antidote to all the electronics with a near-operatic track to close the album. Oh, and it's not that expensive either!

Electrocute - 'A Tribute To Your Taste'

I bought this five track EP in a record shop in Berlin, as a token attempt to study their local alternative releases. The cover did it for me, but to be fair the contents aren't at all bad (and sung mostly in English too). Garbage, Throbbing Gristle and a large number of punky influences all collide here and the result is pretty enjoyable. They might be coming to these isles one day, you never know...

Andy's Pick-

Mithras - 'Worlds Beyond the Veil' 

The last time I heard a release that literally left me with my jaw on the floor was Swans "Soundtracks for the Blind" in 1997. Such is a rare occurrence, however this English two piece, (they sound more like a sextet!) have redefined not just death metal but metal as a whole with this.   So what's new? - well almost everything. An astral influence permeates every sinew of this and takes it to another level. The otherworldly guitar solos - many of which come direct from demo tapes - are better than anyone in the genre. The atmospheric instrumentals sound like meteorites crashing into the earth and leave you shivering with their intensity. Pummeling sections of blastbeat with particularly inspiring Morbid Angel influenced drumming mesh around the chopping strident  riffs and lead you up and away. I cannot do justice to this record at all  with words but this is very special indeed and I know already I will still  be playing it in 10 years time. Not just my favourite album this year but the best of the millennium so far and frankly by a country mile.

Justin Sullivan - 'Navigating by the Stars' 

My most hotly awaited album this year and it did not disappoint. The songwriting remains poignant and the atmosphere claustrophobic despite the prominence of acoustic guitars. A re-working of "The Changing of  the Light" and "Home" are the highlights of a perfect set and Danny Thompson's double bass playing is spooky and magnificent.

3) Anthrax - 'We have come for you all' 

The comeback album of the year (are you watching Metallica?). Packed full of melody, aggression, kooky tunes and depth it has seen Anthrax claw back an audience. The live performances this year also left no  room for doubt. One of metal's best - They are the Law!

4) Killing Joke - "Killing Joke"  

Huge and ominous after the relatively safety of the "Democracy" effort, KJ came back with all guns blazing and a batch of songs that justified the hype. The understated productions leaves the lyrics bare to sear with their relevance. Listen to "blood on your hands" and try to say that Jaz Coleman does not mean it. You would be liable to get punched  in the throat. Along with New Model Army they remain one of the most necessary bands the UK has ever produced and tragically more so now  than ever.  

5) Katatonia - 'Viva Emptiness'

A slight u-turn back to Katatonia's metal roots but maintaining the gothic despondency that characterizes their more recent efforts, here Katatonia sound at their most pained. Witness the "I trust you, you lied" refrain in "Ghost of the Sun" and bear testimony to the damaged soul behind it, and marvel at "Evidence" where Katatonia released the song of the year. 

Stinker of the year:

Metallica - 'St Anger' 

The rumour is that this contains some of the best Metallica material since "Master of Puppets" but you'd never know. I was as excited as everyone with the mooted return to form and was shattered when  Metallica returned to the fray with a horribly contrived effort. This is poorly arranged, badly executed and suffers from the worst production job I have possibly ever heard. The drum sound is f**king appalling (even worse than on "...and Justice for all"!) with Lars Ulrich apparently vainly tw@tting a biscuit tin in a toilet and the complete lack of guitar solo's is a criminal waste of Kirk Hamment's talent. To be fair to a degree persistence is rewarded but this is still a lamentable effort that is just not worthy of this bands past. The mainstream press by and large gave the band the sympathy vote but the fans were not so easily taken. Chronic.

Dave's Pick-

Ministry - 'Animositisomina' (or however its spelt!)

So who'd have thought that this year my favourite release of 2003 would be a Ministry album? A few years back after the train wreck that was 'Filth Pig' it looked like they were a spent force, but 'Animositisomina' showed that there was life in the old dog yet (although I think that they chose the title to piss off wannabe music journalists who'd have to type it up multiple times!). Fair enough, it's easy to feel that some of tracks could be a few minutes shorter, but the album as a whole gave a good few of the wannabes out there (are you listening Mr Manson?) a good indication of how its done. Even the Ministry show at the Astoria was an all round success (After that show, I even saw 'Filth Pig' in a new light!). Oh well, it only took a decade for them to pull their socks up!

Type O Negative- 'Life Is Killing Me' 

OK, so this years UK show at the Astoria wasn't their greatest moment, but we'll put that down to Pete having the runs on the night. Fortunately the LP was a corker, if suffering from Type O's usual problem of every song being about 24 hours in length. Stand outs included 'I Like Goils', where Pete lashed out at some of the following he amassed after his almost career ending appearance in Playgirl (and the fans we're talking about here are the ones who'd stayed for the G.A.Y. club at the Astoria after the band's show in July!). 

Evanescence- 'Fallen' 

No,not a wind up, this really is my third favourite album of the year! Lets be honest here, they're nothing more than a MTV friendly version of Lacuna Coil, and the album is essentially a collage of all the best metal moments of the last decade(Paradise Lost meets NIN meets Lacuna with a bit of Linkin Park chucked in for the kids). But with no new Lacuna material this year, this was easily the next best thing. And lovely Ami is sure to warm the cockles of any lustful metal fan!

Killing Joke - 'Killing Joke'

I wasn't particularly bowled over by this upon my first listen. Base level production and a deconstructed feel to the performance really put me off it. However, its a grower, and a few months down the line I'm alot more appreciative of their efforts to put out a release that was truer to their original aspirations, when a lame come back album would have been the easiest option. The world desperately needed Killing Joke in 1980, but it needed them even more in 2003.

Stinker of the year:

David Gahan- 'Paper Monsters'

Hmmm, my dislike of this perhaps has less to do with the record itself and more to do with Dave being on an unending quest to rip apart Depeche Mode by slagging off his fellow band mates to just about every music journalist that interviewed him this year. Dave, if you've got problems with the band  speak to the band themselves! Sorry Dave, but I really don't want to see Depeche go down the tubes.

Ironically, the content of this ballad heavy LP (which seemed to have a shorter running time than most EPs!) bore more than a passing resemblance to DM's 'Exciter', so if Dave's going to complain about the quality of DM's recent output, phrases involving the words 'pot', 'calling', 'kettle' and 'black' do come to mind! Perhaps Mr Gore and Mr Fletcher will see the light, give Dave the the boot and then recruit Mesh's Mark Hockings in his place? Then again, maybe this whole 'war of words' in the press is all a scheme concocted by Mute records to secure a bit of publicity for Mr Gore and Mr Gahan's solo albums this year!

Fashtali's Pick- 

Winners: 

Deftones - 'Deftones'

In a year seemingly marked even more by war and corruption than normal, it was impossible not to love a song which asked "...to bring back peace to the earth", "Minerva 's chiming guitar and floating melody washed away my previous dislike of the Deftones. The highlight of the album, it was backed up by a solid bunch of songs that stepped over the stiffening corpse of nu-metal and into classic metal territory. Mid-priced but never boring.

Electric 6 - 'Gay Bar'

Everything pop should be, but frequently isn't. Controversial, irreverent, silly, more infectious than herpes and delivered with just the right amount of irony and a healthy dose of perversion. Electric 6 were the real Pop Idols of the year and the terror of small furry animals everywhere. Best video of the year BY MILES

Losers - 

Linkin Park - 'Meteora'

"Mediocre" would be more appropriate. Love 'em or loathe 'em, you had to admit that the slickly produced "Hybrid Theory" album didn't put a foot wrong. This however is more of the same, only all the good riffs were all used on the first album, and the youthful energy has dissipated into a kind of "but Muuummmm, do i HAVE to go on tour again...?" whining. Lying in a metaphorical open grave with the Deftone's footprints on their faces

Metallica - 'St Anger'

Metallica stripped back to garage rock basics sounded fabulous on paper, but the reality was tuneless and directionless, a band cruising on their reputation and past glories. In serious need of a rethink, or possibly some small furry animals.