I have been having a hard time finding new music I like. New music from old bands haven’t been all that great, and new music from new bands sounds mostly like old music from the old bands, so I just end up listening to the old stuff for the most part.

So I look back at the music I purchased in 2015 (not necessarily albums released 2015) and think about which ones I actually cared enough to listened to it quite often during the year. What follows is the list I came up with.

#10: Slipknot (.5: The Gray Chapter)
I’m not even a big fan of Slipknot, but I do like some of their songs, and definitely like their live performance: high energy there! I hesitated in getting their latest album simply because there was more talk about their new masks then about their new music. When I finally broke down and got the album I dug the music.

#9: Nightwish (Endless Forms Most Beautiful)
Nightwish is another band I'm not a big fan of. However, I am a big Floor Jansen fan, and am likely to consume whatever music features her vocals. I believe she's under utilized in Nightwish, and her music with both After Forever and ReVamp were a lot better, but, I still dig this album just because of her voice.

#8: Soulfly (Archangel)
I like the fact that Soulfly has been getting heavier upon each new album. Max has been very active, putting albums with Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, and Killer be Killed, and most of the music is pretty decent, even more so considering some old bands who struggle to release one album every 5 years or so, and when they do, the album even isn’t that great.

#7: Slayer (Repentless)
As mentioned in my My Slayer Top 10 List, I’m digging the band’s latest release. It’s my favorite one with Bostaph on drums, Gary Holt puts down some good leads on it, and the band overall sounds good to me on this album.

#6: Iron Maiden (Book of Souls)
It took me a few listens, but this album grew on me. There are things I don’t like on it, but overall, it’s a good album. Bruce still sounds awesome! The video for Speed of Light is great.

#5: Gentle Storm (The Diary)
I’ve been following some of Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s work for a while. I also like Anneke van Giersbergen’s voice. So, when they got together (again…) to collaborate on new music, I knew I’d have to check it out. I like this album they’ve put out as Gentle Storm, and I like how they have two versions of it: one with all songs played in "heavy" style (the Storm), and one with the songs played in a more "folk" style (the Gentle).

#4: Act of Defiance (Birth and the Burial)
Good debut album by former Megadeth’s lead guitarist and drummer. Not earth-shattering, but it has better (heavier) tunes than what I’ve heard on Megadeth’s last several albums.

#3: Soto (Inside the Vertigo)
I’ve been a fan of Jeff Scott Soto since Malmsteen’s first two solo albums. I’ve always enjoyed Jeff’s voice a lot and have been spinning his latest album quite a bit.

#2: At the Gates (At War with Reality)
So, this band puts out a great album back in 1995, breaks up, and 18 years later decide to put out another album... and damn, it sounds awesome!! The album came out in 2014, but I only got it in 2015, and that's why it made it to this list.

#1: Darkane
Their music is really right up my alley: aggressive vocals with good melodies, aggressive guitars with great riffs, and a drummer who creates great lines. In fact, the drummer, Peter Wildoer, is the reason I found out about this band. He was my favorite drummer who auditioned for Dream Theater, and after those auditions I heard he was recording James LaBrie's latest solo album. Even though I don't like LaBrie's vocals, I had to buy the album because I like the drumming on it so much. Then, I looked more into Peter's work and found out about Darkane. Great band for my taste.

For your convenience, I’ve created a "Top 10 Purchases of 2015" Play List on YouTube. :)