The 20 Best Hard Rock & Metal Albums of 2020

To say that 2020 sucked ass would be an understatement. With the corona-virus pandemic everything was affected, not the least of which was the music scene. This was a year mostly without live music. And, while some bands have decided to postpone releases till next year, like for example The Pretty Reckless, there was thankfully some amazing metal and hard rock albums to get us through these shitty times. Among, them legends released some of their finest work in years, while younger bands put out all the stops on their work. Here, then is my annual crop of the creme-de-la creme.

20. Repuked- Dawn of Reintoxication- Repuked's third album is equally repulsive, fun, and crushingly heavy. Read my full review here.

19. The White Swan- Nocturnal Transmission- Yes, I know this is an EP, but I would fucking be completely off if I didn't rank this. Cause, this sludge metal band fronted by Kittie's Morgan Lander is damn, fucking good! My full review. 

18. Incantation- Sect of Vile Divinities- This classic death metal act are back with this smashingly brutal release. My full review. 

17. Poppy- I Disagree- Poppy's I Disagree might be this year's most pleasant and adventurous surprise. She takes the kawaii metal sounds made famous be acts like Babymetal and really improves upon it. And, while I usually hate this brand of metal, I love what she does here. Mixing pop, industrial, metal, and nu-metal sounds, it's a fun, catchy, and original bit of music.

16. Testament- Titans of Creation- One of thrash metal most endearing and classic bands continue to release constantly great music. I slightly prefer the couple of albums before this one, but that just goes to show the quality of their output. As this is a fucking awesome blast of thrash assault! 

15. Annihilator- Ballistic, Sadistic- One of the year's earliest releases remains one of the best thrash metal albums of 2020. My full review.

14. Necrot- Mortal- Necrot continue to bring us the old school death metal, in this their best work to date. My full review. 

13. Deftones- Ohmes- After the disappointing Gore, the Deftones came right back up with this solid return to form. The album is a long time listen, as it takes a few spins to really get its hooks into you. But, once it does it sticks to you and only gets better with every listening. 

12- Napalm Death- Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism- Let it never be said that Napalm Death aren't afraid to add a few new twists to their classic sound. This killer album ranks as their finest release in many a moon. Heavy and angry as fucking hell, this album is an absolute ripper that will leave listeners beaten and bloody on the floor (even without the added bonus of concert mosh pits).

11. Abysmal Dawn- Phyolgensis- This album introduced me to brutality of Abysmal Dawn and with that they gained a new fan. Here is my review of one of the very best death metal albums of the year.

10. Trivium- What the Dead Men Say- Trivium are on a fucking roll after their amazing last The Sin and Sentence. This is a truly worthy follow up to that modern classic. Melodic, heavy, and technically strong, Trivium continue to put to shame many of other bands simialr to them and beyond. What the Dead Man Say is one of the listenable metal releases of this year, with the title track being one of the coolest singles and videos of 2020.

9. AC/DC- Power Up- 2020 definitely sucked a big bag of dicks. But, some good things came from it. And, one of the best things has to be the return of the mighty AC/DC! It's great to have Brian Johnson back signing in what might be the greatest hard rock act of all fucking time. And, Power Up is their best work in many years. Sure, I liked albums like Black Ice and Rock or Bust, but where Power Up rules is in the quality. You see many of the the tracks here rank among the most memorable songs they have composed in many, many years.

8. Lindsay Schoolcraft- Worlds Away- While, not a metal album in purest sense, this incredible record is the most beautiful and haunting release of 2020. My review of this amazing and powerful disc can be found here. 

7. Lucifer- Lucifer III- Three albums into their career, and Lucifer have become one of my favorite bands out there. Their seventies/ early eighties inspired metal sound is magnificently done. And, Lucifer III is their best yet. Songs like "Midnight Phantom", "Leather Demon", and "Lucifer" are some of my most played songs of 2020. 

6. Warbringer- Weapons of Tomorrow- My absolute favorite modern era thrash band continue to put out albums that puta lot other bands in this style of music, both new and old, to shame! The full frontal assaults of Weapons of Tomorrow is proof, yet again of this. Angry, fast, and filled with lyrics on war, this is killer thrash at its finest! 

5. Traveler- Termination Shock- Who would have thought that the best classic heavy metal album of the year, would also be in the top five albums of the year?  And, it comes from a newer band to boot! My full review. 

4. Sodom- Genesis XIX- German thrash masters Sodom are back! This is not only with their best album since their 80s heydays, but the best thrash release of 2020. My full review. 

3. Lamb Of God- Lamb of God- If it works stick with it! And, that's just what Lamb Of God does with groove laden crusher. It features songs that get you pumped up and wanna open a whole can of whoop ass. There are even team ups with Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta and Testament's Chuck Billy for further musical beatdowns.

2. Body Count- Carnivore- Here is another winner from motherfucking Body Count! It's pissed off, badass, timely, and a total ass kicker. In fact, this runner-up fits 2020 like a leather fucking glove that punches your right in the fucking nuts! And, it gets bonus points for having duos with singers like Amy Lee of Evanscence and the late, great Riley Gale of Power Trip.

1. The Black Dahlia Murder- Verminous- And, once again The Black Dahlia Murder top the list with their latest. Killer music, lyrics, and artwork all amount to another yet another masterpiece from their excellent catalogue. TBDM is light years of not just most fellow melodic death metal acts, but I would say death metal in general. A shame we didn't get to experience this killer live, but at least we can enjoy this motherfucking awesome beast!

What are your favorite albums of 2020? Let me know in the comments section below!

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The 20 Best Hard Rock & Metal Albums of 2017, Pt. 2: 10-1

10. Morbid Angel- Kingdoms Disdained- Morbid Angel are back, motherfucker with the best album they have made in years and the best album from an old school death metal band in 2017. My full review: http://themastergio.blogspot.com/2017/11/morbid-angel-kingdoms-denied-album.html

9. Myrkur- Mareridt- This might piss of some of the more hardcore cvlt readers out there, but, for these ears, Myrkur- Mareridt is the very best black metal album of 2017. She simply drips with so much talent. The album is bold and complex, with various influences that make sound fresh in a world a of bands trying to be like other bands. She was a wonderful voice that ranges from beautiful and haunting to ethereal to menacing. As much as I adored her last full length, studio album M, this album actually tops it.  Not only is this my most played black metal album of last year, but one of my most played, period! Also, the video to "Ulvinde" is one of the coolest of 2017, beautiful, haunting, and horrific, much like her music is. 

8. Thy Art Is Murder- Dear Desolation- Without a shadow of a doubt, Dear Desolation is THE deathcore album of the year. It is heavy, has a great groove to it, and is awesomely aggressive and seething with unadulterated anger. The unrelenting music adds up to the finest album the band, has put out to date. Dear Desolation is a pummeling aural experience with some the most memorable songs of 2017, like "Slaves Beyond Death", "Puppet Master", and the title track They will make you wanna break some fucking shit!

8. Chelsea Wolfe- Hiss Spun- I fucking LOVE Chelsea Wolfe! There is little else of a way to describe how I feel about her and her amazing music. What is truly amazing is how she gets better and better with each following album. She is continuously putting out classics. Hiss Spun is incredible beyond mere words, an album that is more and more rewarding each time you listen to it. Heavy, in both emotion and sound, there is no way in hell that this is not metal. Her voice is majestic and cannot be compared to anyone else. It is one of the best the rock world has seen in the last couple of years. The excellent production brings every thing to life perfectly. I should also mention that the dark and soul crushing "16 Psyche" is one of my favorite, if not, in fact, favorite, single of the year.

6. Body Count- Bloodlust- From the moment I heard this album, I immediately became obsessed with it. While, the preceding album from them, Manslaughter was a very solid release, this is their first truly great work since their classic debut. Angry, timely, and ass kicking to 100th degree this IS the metal soundtrack for the world we live currently. The violent and pissed off lyrics fit perfectly with the strong musicianship on-hand. Songs such as "No Lives Matter", "The Ski Mask Way", and "This Is Why We Ride" will have you signing along and jumping into that motherfucking pit!

5. Power Trip- Nightmare Logic- This is THE album for those of us who reminisce of the old days of 80's thrash metal. Made to make you want to mosh and kick some fucking ass, this will get you thrashing around like a fucking maniac. Recalling bands like Anthrax and Nuclear Assault, at their peak, it incorporates both Bay Area influences and crossover thrash that has resulted in rave reviews from fans and critics. As the word of mouth swelled over, one might have been worried that this one got overrated. I am here to tell you fuck no, it did not! Songs like "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)", "Soul Sacrifice", and the title track, are ones that you will to not spot listening and banging your head to! On a side note, the video to the aforementioned "Executioner's Tax" is the most wonderfully 80s metal video of 2017!

4. Goatwhore- Vengeful Ascension- A monster of thundering and wholly memorable blackened death and thrash metal, with Vengeful Ascension, Goatwhore have made the definitive classic of their career. My full review: http://themastergio.blogspot.com/2017/06/goatwhore-vengeful-ascension-album.html

3. Warbringer- Woe to the Vanquished- Warbringer NEVER fail to make my best of list when they put out an album, and that is with good fucking reason. They are one of the best thrash metal band currently making music. And, Woe to the Vanquished is their best album, yet, and one of the best thrash metal records of the last couple of years. Unrelenting, fast, and crushing this fucker will make you move. In my humble, "Remain Violent" is easily one of the very best singles of 2017.

2. Trivium- The Sin and the Sentence- I am a huge fan of Trivium, and while I like all their albums, to one degree or another, anything after Shogun, just has not felt up to snuff. That is until this album. The Sin and the Sentence is not just their best sine that masterpiece, but ranks among their best work, period. I liked this album from my first listen, but its real power lies in each listen after that. It simply gets better and better after every time you hear it. It is GREAT to hear Matt Heafy scream again, and, of course, the musicianship on display her, from the entire band, is utterly mind blowing. Perfect to sing along and headbang to this is not just the second best album of last year, but the finest mainstream metal album, as well. 

1. The Black Dahlia Murder- Nightbringers- For two albums in a row, a band has topped this list. I maybe mistaken, but I do believe that is a first for a band on this site to accommplish. But, when the band is as great as TBDM, there should be no surprise. Abysmal was a magnificent record, but somehow they topped it with Nightbringers. In many ways, it feels like the real follow up to the perfection that is Nocturnal. From the artwork, to the album title referencing the night, to the very music itself, this is the album for anyone who said that they peaked with that aforementioned disc. Dark, technically strong, and utterly battering this is a masterwork of mello-death. Songs like the absolutely KILLER opener "Widowmaker", the merciless "Of God and Serpent, of Spectre and Snake", the rollicking title track, the awesome "Matriarch", the wait... EVERY fucking song rules on this album, every single one is a fucking 5 out of 5. As such, there is no other choice but to declare Nightrbingers the best album of 2017!

The 20 Best Hard Rock & Metal Albums of 2017, Pt. 1: 20-11

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The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 6: 120-111

120. Winds Of Plague - The Great Stone War- The second album by my favorite deathcore act has an ogre and a knight crossing swords. Epic, awesome, and fierce!

119. Watain- The Wild Hunt- The best black metal release of last year has an altar with all you would want on one dedicated to evil: a skull, an inverted crucifix, pentagram, etc. The dark colors help to add that wonderful sense of evil.

118. Suicide Silence- The Black Crown- The third album by one of the best deathcore acts out there was also the last one to have Mitch Lucker on vocals. I think it's their best release, up to now. It also happens to have their best looking cover. A creepy eye, two grim reapers, two snakes, and a ribcage = METAL!!!

117. Iced Earth- The Dark Saga- The fourth album by Iced Earth was inspired by Todd McFarlane's horror/ superhero comic Spawn, and as such the demonicly powered superhero was on the cover. As a geek metalhead, I remember seeing this cover and being like "that is fuckin' awesome!"

116. Iron Maiden- Powerslave-The Egyptian themed cover of this classic and fifth album by Maiden also carried on to their classic "World Slavery Tour". The cover, itself, is beautiful and highly detailed.







115. Heavenly- Carpe Diem- Heavenly are a French power metal band. This is their fifth full length album. While, I can honestly say that I am not a fan of theirs, or care for their style of music, this is about the album covers, not the music. And, as such this is a beautiful and sexy drawing of an angelic chick and a naughty S&M/ metal chick, who are about to get into some lesbian kissing. Yay!




114. Motorhead- Orgasmatron-  The original working title to this, the seventh album by the band, was Ridin with the Driver. It was too late for Joe Petagno to change his artwork, so the train remained. That's fine by me, cause the speeding Snaggletooth train fuckin' rocks!!!






113. Judas Priest- Defenders of the Faith- The ninth studio album has amazing artwork by Doug Johnson. The creature is called the Metallian. This tank-like robotic beast is described in the back of the album as: "Rising from darkness where Hell hath no mercy and the screams for vengeance echo on forever. Only those who keep the faith shall escape the wrath of the Metallian... Master of all metal." 

112. Whitechapel- This Is Exile- The second album by this killer deathcore band has a a very thin man, with a cloth over his face and barbwire on the lower part of his body. The artwork is beautiful, haunting, and savage. 

111. Warbringer- War without End- The last album in this batch comes from this American thrash band, and has a tank rolling over bones, with demonic soldiers in the background, all occurring in some fiery/ hellish world. By combing war and evil this is pretty much a classic looking thrash metal cover!






 The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 5: 130-121

The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 4: 140-131 

The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 3: 150-141

The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 2: 160-151

The 175 Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers of all Time Pt. 1: 175-16

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The 10 Best Metal/ Hard Rock/ Punk Albums of the Year

The first thing I wanna address is the title to my long time readers. I know in the past the list has only had the word "metal" in it, but I wanted to avoid the "that's not metal" comment. And, in some cases, it isn't. So, in the end it's the right title to post here. Anyway, on to the subject at hand, this year saw A LOT of really fucking awesome releases. Enough so that the top ten kept changing, well except for my pick for best album. That remained the same from the moment I heard the album in a friend of mine's car. This has to be one of the most exciting years for heavy music, I've heard. So, that made making this list both tough to do and really awesome to wade through as a metalhead. Anyways, it's here, it's done, and now you can see my picks for yourself.

10. AFI- Burials- Perhaps the year's biggest surprise to me came in the form of this amazing album. It's dark and melodic, yet with the right type of sound to not turn-off their fan base. The album gets better with each listen, and is, in the end, the very best album of AFI's career. I would say it's thier masterpiece. Oh and "I Hope You Suffer" is one of the best rock songs of the year!

9. Eyes Set To Kill- Masks- I been a fan of ESTK for a while, but this album has made them one of my favorite bands out there. It's their best work, yet. It's a heavier and harder sound for the band, while still keeping the melody and accessibility that they have sonically. They even went back and picked two songs from their last album, White Lotus, and redid them to make them heavier and even better sounding than they already were! Songs like Haze and Little Liar are among some of my most played tracks of the year!
 


8. A Pale Horse Named Death- Lay My Soul to Rest- The second release from this band is just amazing! A dark and brooding epic that is crushing and emotionally charged. I wonder if they can top this one, but while it won't be easy, I think that they can! This is the definitive album to listen to when you are feeling like shit, or even when you ain't. And, songs like DMSLT, Cold Dark Mourning, and Shallow Grave make them light years ahead of any band even trying to make this kind of metal music.

7. Norma Jean- Wrongdoers- Another band that made their best album of their career has to be Christian metalcore masters, Norma Jean. With Wrongdoers they have streamlined their sound, while still keeping, it heavy and very aggressive with great technicality. It's an album that gets better with each listening and showcases a band that is just head and shoulders above any from the more generic music that others playing this kind of music have.

6. Suffocation- Pinnacles of Bedlam- This was a very solid year for extreme metal and this brutal and vicious release from NY's technical masters of mayhem is a shining example of just that. It ranks as one of their finest works, with the crushing Sullen Days ranking as one of the absolute best death metal tracks of the year!! On a side note, I think this is the best cover on the list.

5. Warbringer- IV: Empires Collapse- Every album they release gets ranked by me, because they are THE best of all the modern era thrash bands. This album continues that tradition with aggression and heaviness to spare. In all, this is the best thrash metal album of the year!

4. The Black Dahlia Murder- Everblack- While, I am a huge fan of these melodic death metallers, I always harken back to Nocturnal, as their best. While, that remains the case, they finally have an album that does comes close. Heavy and technically sound, this one rips from start to finish, and The Evil Dead inspired Raped in Hatred by Vines of Thorns might well be my absolute favorite death metal song of the entire year! I LOVE signing the chorus!!

3. Carcass- Surgical Steel- Holy fuck! It's been ages since a new Carcass came out, but my God have they made up for lost time!! This is one of the greatest comeback albums in the history of metal music! A continuation of the melodic death metal that they pioneered in the classic Heartwork, this is a masterpiece that has been getting rave reviews in every metal site and mag and with GREAT reason. This is their second best album of their career, and I cannot wait to see what they will give us next!

2. Watain- The Wild Hunt- One of my absolute favorite black metal bands continue to prove why they are head and bloody shoulders above their fellow musicians in the sub-genre. An epic, evil, and majestic album, it shows the band growing and experimenting and even slowing down for a ballad or two!! Yet, they always stay true to their wonderfully evil and Satanic sound. The best album to listen to in the pitch black, cold night released this year, and, unquestionably, well to me anyways, the best black metal release of the year.

1. Killswitch Engage- Disarm the Descent- While, it was a continuous moving around in the other rankings, this was the only album that came in at number one and stayed there. Jessie Leach had to become a better signer, as he was replacing Howard Jones (and returning to front the band full time). And, boy did he ever! A great mix of inspiring lyrics, driving grooves, great musicianship, crushing heaviness, wonderful melody, and those aforementioned amazing vocals, makes this their best work since The End of Heartache. I listen to this album all the time and it's great for just about anytime or anything I'm doing. "A Tribute to the Fallen" might be the best song of the year, at least to me. KsE are truly back and better than ever!!

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Five Finger Death Punch- The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Vol. 2
Winds of Plague- Resistance
Trivium- Vengeance
Avenged Sevenfold- Hail to the King
Five Finger Death Punch- The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell Vol. 1
Terror- Live by the Code
Arsis- The Unwelcome

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