Though it was hailed as a return to their earlier sound, 2008’s Death Magnetic was an average Metallica album at best

The term “extreme” has never been more appropriate for metal than when reflecting on 2008. Quite the rollercoaster ride for bangers, we’ve seen plenty of ups and downs over the past year. From masterful efforts to abysmal junk, from kick-ass new bands to proof that some geezers should call it a day, this has been one of metal’s most eventful years. While there are countless moments, concerts and albums deserving of attention over the last 12 months, here are a few personal favourites.

One of metal’s highest-profile years since thrash’s heyday, 2008 has proven that while modern rock becomes even more saccharine and blasé, our beloved expedient tempos and brash guitars continue to amass followers. Nary a month passed without something notable. Hard music fans were treated to an AC/DC album. Those of us with a penchant for pushing the boundaries of disgusting excess had the reunion of grind-gore gurus Carcass (who are purportedly working on a new album). Most importantly, though, 2008 saw a succession of instant classics hit store shelves, as outlined in this hack’s Top 10.

Where there’s good, though, bad and ugly are sure to follow. While 2008 held some great highs, the lows were perfect counterpoints. The two saddest metallic moments were the disbanding of Toronto’s Cursed during their European tour mere months after releasing what was their greatest effort to date, and the death of metallic guru Adrian Bromley. Renowned for his years of work as a journalist for publications including Chart Magazine, Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and his own revered Unrestrained! magazine as well as for his time as publicist for The End Records, his loss was a great blow to the scene.

Adding salt to metal’s wounds, let’s recap the biggest missteps, which were generally highly anticipated releases that didn’t live up to the hype. The greatest raspberry had to be Judas Priest’s misguided concept-operatic effort Nostradamus, topped only by the Titanic in sinking so quickly. While many might disagree, Death Magnetic — Metallica’s Rick Rubin-produced return to …And Justice For All-style thrash — was questionable at best. It’s only marginally better than their past two decades of output, and the band itself has reportedly attacked Rubin for its sound quality. Let’s not forget the runner-up, though: Armoury Records’ cheese-laden We Wish You a Metal Xmas, which features Alice Cooper’s whinge-worth “Santa Claws is Coming to Town,” Motorhead waxing stupidly about Rudolph and a death-metal version of “Silent Night.”

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The year’s best metal

• Toxic Holocaust — An Overdose Of Death (Relapse)

• Cursed — III: Architects Of Troubled Sleep (Goodfellow)

• Lords — Fuck All Y’All Motherfuckers (Metal Blade)

• Arson Anthem — Arson Anthem (Housecore)

• Fuck the Facts — Disgorge Mexico (Relapse)

• Motorhead — Motorizer (Steamhammer/SPV)

• Iron Giant — Creator Of Scars (Diminished Fifth)

• Voetsek — Infernal Command (Selfmadegod)

• KEN mode — Mennonite (Arctodus)

• Ramming Speed — Brainwreck (TDB Records)