For fans of: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Tortoise, Kid A,

*Best Metal Album of the Year
Fear of a Red Planet
5. Baroness - Red Album (3D)
These heirs to the metal throne play bombastic epics that know exactly when to quit, making "progressive" a positive term instead of an accidental ipecac. Not unlike the early work of Metallica, their many masterworks go off in strange, but sensational directions, making one song sound like 3 or more mini songs in one before each individual part meets at the perfect climax point and trickle down in perfect, orchestral fashion. Nearly all of these moments are essential and the breathtaking precision is something that all bands in the genre should be taking notes on.

They'll be hard pressed to achieve what Baroness has here, but trying to reach that apex is bound to improve their product which is not just something hard music could use, but the bands themselves, also, because the majority of them are further behind the curve than they could ever fathom. Luckily, Baroness is fully aware of what is lacking and I'm hoping they stay hungry and motivated enough to keep reminding the rest of these morons of the glory days.

For fans of: early Metallica, Jesu, Mastodon, Tool, Slayer, High on Fire, Motorhead, Probot

Chillmatic
4. TomC3 & Prince Po - Saga of the Simian Samurai (Threshold)
Either I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, or the rest of the world is completely missing out on one of the world's next great producers, San Francisco's TOMC3.

Last year, Tom teamed up with the legendary Kool Keith on the wonderful and criminally unheard Project Polaroid, helping make Mr. Thornton sound livelier than he had since his Black Elvis days. He followed that stellar achievement this year with even more insanely gorgeous beats for a group effort with Prince Po, Pharoahe Monch's partner in crime from the influential greats known as Organized Konfusion. The result is another resounding (and astounding) success and even a better album than the phenomenal Project Polaroid and sadly, once more it was widely unheard by the music world at large.

It's beyond me how TomC3 continues to stay in hiding. It's a sin that this record hasn't been fed to more hungry ears, because nearly every track here is a feast of epic proportions. It's not one of those insanely original albums on paper, but Po's looney lyrics and colossal cadence blended with Tom's out of this world production and fun, crowd-moving beats keeps things fresh and often futuristic, sometimes, it seems, without even trying.