50 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2017

Ah, Greece. It doesn’t pump out internationally successful metal that often, but when it does, that metal is so heavy that it feels like a thousand punches in the teeth. Names like Rotting Christ, Thou Art Lord, Nightfall and, of course, the symphonic trailblazer Septicflesh all prove that point effortlessly.

Of all these pummelling bands, however, Septicflesh is the one getting the nod on this list thanks to the sheer, epic power of their tenth album Codex Omega.

Expertly produced by ex-Machine Head shredder Logan Mader, the album balances some of the most extreme music to come bursting out of 2017 with some of the most immense and enormous classical orchestras ever witnessed on a metal disc.

Just listen to lead single “Portrait of a Headless Man”, the harmonious first minute of “Martyr” or the giant opener “Dante’s Inferno” to get a perfect peek at the Septicflesh MO, many of the record’s best moments sounding like they were composed by a master like Hans Zimmer.

And all of the classical gorgeousness frames the huge growls of Spiros Antoniou and the sublime riffs, both of which are plentiful on Codex Omega. And behind it all is the most alien sense of melody, with passages like those on “Martyr” and “Dark Art” harrowingly harmonic and infectious despite their brutality.

Codex Omega has seen Septicflesh easily out-perform extreme/classical contemporaries like Ne Obliviscaris and Fleshgod Apocalypse, thanks to the sheer amount of focus the orchestra receives, as well as the pure, almost ridiculous scope of the classical interludes.