Leviathin’s List of 2009′s Most Epic Albums Part 1

10. Porcupine Tree – The Incident (Roadrunner)
This is a 2-disc album, with the first disc being a straight 55 minute epic. Leave it to Steven Wilson. The only complaint I would have is that pretty much none of the tracks can really stand alone but as a whole its an epic song. If you want to hear just a part, check out the edited version of ‘Time Flies’ on their lastfm page.

9. Sonata Arctica – The Days of Grays (Nuclear Blast)
My favorite power metal band. They haven’t lost their touch at all. I love listening to them in the winter… They just seem like a winter band. This album is one of their best so far. Tony Kakko can sing the shit out of anything. Not as many epic super high screams as I would like but that doesn’t hurt it too much.

8. Animals as Leaders – Animals as Leaders (Prosthetic)
I wanted to put ALL of the instrumental metal bands I discovered this year into my list, but that would have taken up half the list and most of them don’t even have labels yet (see: Exivious and Cloudkicker, seriously, check them out) so I decided to put up the one I listened to the most. Animals as Leaders is like a more hardcore Scale the Summit, which is great. This is the album for someone trying to move into metal without words I think. It’s not all weird and introspective, its just metal, its easy to get.

7. Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings (Roadrunner)
This album is Dream Theater, the Dream Theater you know and respect, which isn’t a bad thing, but that’s why it isn’t higher on my list. It’s a good overview of what they can do, but they didn’t really go anywhere new. I was expecting something a little more groundbreaking from them. That being said, if you like Dream Theater, then you will still like this album, but if you don’t this one won’t change your mind about them.

6. Scar Symmetry – Dark Matter Dimensions (Nuclear Blast)
This band comes out with some of the catchiest songs. In that sense, they are like the opposite of Scale the Summit, I can’t focus on anything else when I listen to them, I just want to sing along. One of my favorite Melodic bands, I always love listening to the whole album. If you like this one, go back and check out the rest of their discography.