(I am actually posting two year-end lists from two long-time Swedish supporters of the site, both of whom are named Johan. Having seen both lists, I can tell you that both are very interesting — and dramatically un-alike. This Johan uses the name “Johan” in his comments, and his list is not metal, but the descriptions are so interesting that even I was seduced into listening… and came away very pleasantly surprised.)
As I’m sure many metalheads do, I too have tastes and urges that I have to roam outside of the realms of metal to satisfy. I have found that with increasing age my attention span (or maybe just the amount of time I can spend listening to music per day) has shrunk, meaning that I often tend to latch on to songs rather than albums, and since metal is my first and foremost love, other genres tend to end up more on the periphery.
That said, the non-metal songs that I do latch on to, I usually hug to death like some demented Swedish octopus. In other words, the songs I am about to recommend below all come with the very highest of praise from me. Continue reading »
