Best albums of 2020

[Keenan]

Top five albums of this ridiculous ass year, GO!


Mine are :

5 : Ihsahn - Pharos EP
4 : The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic
3 : Elder - Omens
2 : Katatonia - City Burials
1 : Fates Warning - Long Day Good Night

Those are just my top five metal albums, though. My actual album of the year is a tie between the soundtrack for the Final Fantasy VII Remake (With which I'm sure Dave would agree) and Monsters by The Midnight, a synthwave band.



Two favorite songs of the year are -



and




Albums to look forward to in 2021? New Evile and Vektor aside, of course.

 

[zerostatic]

Best albums of 2020:
1) Warbringer - Weapons of Tomorrow - Sad to see this album not getting more praise. Warbringer have improved and matured since War Without End in 2008! Songs like Power Unsurpassed and Firepower Kills are great reminders of past albums while the best songs, The Black Hand Reaches Out, Heart of Darkness, and Notre Dame, all show the band going in a new direction that reminds me of Iron Maiden's song writing.

2) Alestorm - The Curse of the Crystal Coconut - I listened to this album almost every day while floating around the pool in the summer. Best songs are Fannybaws, Chomp Chomp, Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship, and Wooden Leg pt. 2.

3) Vader - Solitude in Madness - Another outstanding album from Vader. Another one I am surprised isn't receiving more praise. My favorite part of this album is they have trimmed all the fat off and it comes in under 30 minutes.

4) Benediction - Scriptures -Impressed with the vocal performance from Dave Ingram on this record. Best songs are Scriptures in Scarlet, Tear Off These Wings, and We Are Legion.

5) Incantation - Sect of Vile Divinities - Another brutal album from Incantation. It may not be their best, but it is a fun listen that never gets boring. Ritual Impurity, Shadow Blade Masters of Tempest and Maelstrom, and Siege Hive are the best songs.

6) Skeletal Remains - The Entombment of Chaos - I was late to the party on their last album and didn't hesitate to buy this. Best songs are Congregation of Flesh, Toms of Chaos, and Dissectasy.

7) Schizophrenia - Voices - This EP was one of the top thrash releases of the year. Look forward to hearing more from this band.

8) Sepultura - Quadra - I didn't think Sepultura had another good album in them but this was a pleasant surprise. Top songs are Isolation, Capital Enslavement, and Agony of Defeat.

9) My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion - Another band that can do no wrong. To Outlive the Gods, The Solace, and The Old Earth were highlights.

10) Mercyless - The Mother of All Plagues - Their last album was one of my top albums for 2016. This one is a bit weaker but still contains some pummeling death metal! Songs to check out include Bring Me His Head, Banished from Heaven, Descending to Conquer, and All Souls are Mine.

Honorable Mentions:
Ensiferum - Thallasic
Sodom - GenesisXIX
Abysmal Dawn - Phylogenisis
Reactory - Collapse to Come
Hazzerd - Delirium
Ironsword - Servants of Steel
Havok - V
God Dethroned - Illuminati
Gama Bomb - Sea Savage
Macabre - Carnival of Killers
Carcass - Despicable
Evil Dead - United States of Anarchy
Exhumed/Gruesome - Twisted Horror
Vampire - Rex
Bear Mace - Charred Field of Slaughter

 

[Podgie]

Maybe I just haven't had my ears to the underground like usual (and I'm missing something) but not a lot caught my attention last year... so without seeming too uninspired, my two albums of the year are ...

Trivium - What the Dead Men Say
It rips, don't care.

Warbringer - Weapons of Tomorrow
Loved Woe to the Vanquished, and this lives up to it.

Actually both were released on April 24th, so that's my day of the year too

Honorable mentions?

Enslaved - Utgard
Ihsahn - Pharos
Green Carnation - Leaves of Yesteryear
Sodom - Genesis XIX

(Not so) Dishonorable mention?

This absolutely BREAKS MY HEART... but my beloved, My Dying Bride. Two releases in one year and both left me underwhelmed. I know what the band's gone through these past few years, and I still love them dearly... I pre-ordered the album package and was so optimistic (naturally), but for the first time ever I was so disappointed. Not going to rant but again, I think I may be missing something because the album's been received really well (zero!!) ... and lets be honest, this album could well have not happened at all. Long live the Bride.

 

[ThatOneDude]

I haven't listened to a lot of new music this past year, outside of some nice metal releases. My favorites are pretty limited.

Warbringer - Weapons of Tomorrow
Vader - Solitude in Madness
Warfect - Spectre of Devestation
Duoxini - Sins of Society

I do think there are some standouts. New Grindpad is good, I like the new Sepultura record more than I anticipated, and new Sodom was a lot more inspired than usual and it resulted in a better than usual record for this new era of theirs. New Testament is also good even if I'm not a massive fan of their style (and also the fact its been the same album released multiple times).

Albums that I wasn't happy with? I think the new Gama Bomb album could've been a bit more faster? I don't know the exact words for it but it felt like they were leaning into their Judas Priest influence a lot more than usual. They executed it well, just wasn't my cup of tea.

New Havok was neat, if not dealing with similar issues I had with their previous album. New Onslaught and Heathen felt bland and I really didn't like the new Evildead record.

I think the one I'm most disappointed in was the new Shrapnel. Lot of good riffs but none of the speed/tempo I wanted to go with it. Made me go back to their previous albums every time.

7) Schizophrenia - Voices - This EP was one of the top thrash releases of the year. Look forward to hearing more from this band.

I also agree with this. That EP was VERY solid and I hope they keep it up.

 

[zerostatic]

(Not so) Dishonorable mention?

This absolutely BREAKS MY HEART... but my beloved, My Dying Bride. Two releases in one year and both left me underwhelmed. I know what the band's gone through these past few years, and I still love them dearly... I pre-ordered the album package and was so optimistic (naturally), but for the first time ever I was so disappointed. Not going to rant but again, I think I may be missing something because the album's been received really well (zero!!) ... and lets be honest, this album could well have not happened at all. Long live the Bride.

It is not a bad album, the problem is that My Dying Bride has set the bar so high that an album that is good or average seems poor compared to past great albums.

 

[I-TEND-TO-DIE]

1. Havok - V
2. Skeletal Remains - The Entombment of Chaos
3. Evil Dead - United States of Anarchy
4. Sodom - Genesis XIX
5. Heathen - Empire of the Blind

 

[Darkofeden]

Imagine my surprise when back in the last week of December thinking to myself, "I should make a thread about our favorite albums of 2020!" and then forgetting, and then only just now noticing, two days before May that Keenan made it

1. clipping.- Visions Of Bodies Being Burned (absolutely phenomenal experimental hip-hop/horrorcore album, a sequel to their 2019 album that was also the same genre that also fucking ripped.)

2. Hayley Williams- Petals For Armor (not the most metal pick for this type of forum but god damn dude. this album really got me through early pandemic days and I love it.)

3. Havok- V (I've said some somewhere on this forum that I wasn't super into it at first but gave it another chance and fucking WOW dude. WOW this album rips. This album absolutely fucks. Legit couldn't get Panpsychism out of my head for at least 2 or 3 weeks)

4. Joji- Nectar (absolutely masterfully crafted, can sing along to basically the entire thing because pretty much every song is so fun/emotional you just gotta sing to it. only con I can think of off the top of my head is that the final track should be "Like you do")

5. The Weeknd- After Hours (4 year hiatus between albums was definitely worth it because man I love this album. absolutely love getting into the car and putting on the title track and just grooving out)

Honorable mentions: Sylosis- Cycle Of Suffering (love that sylosis is back), Childish Gambino- 3.15.20, Mac Miller- Circles, Trivium- What The Dead Men Say, Oliver Tree- Ugly Is Beautiful, Run The Jewels- RTJ4

Quarantine fucking sucked and continues to suck, but at least there's some solid music still dropping

 

[ThatOneDude]

1. clipping.- Visions Of Bodies Being Burned (absolutely phenomenal experimental hip-hop/horrorcore album, a sequel to their 2019 album that was also the same genre that also fucking ripped.)

Clipping knows how to set a fucking tone. I'm usually not a fan of something this experimental but the songs that I liked, I REALLY liked. 96 Campbell and Say the Name are my favorites.

Don't recommend listening to them when its 4am and you haven't gotten any sleep yet tho lol.

 

[Darkofeden]

Don't recommend listening to them when its 4am and you haven't gotten any sleep yet tho lol.

So glad someone else on this forum has heard this album. Funny you say that though, because the first time I heard it was at like 3am. I bought the cool vinyl from their label's website and it gave me a link to listen to it a few weeks early and the link dropped real late at night so there I was walking around my super dark apartment and the n ike, Check The Lock would come on and i'd be checking behind my shoulder and was so spooked

Say The Name and 96 are absolutely phenomenal, you are correct. Not a song on there I dislike

 

[Podgie]

Trivium- What The Dead Men Say

Oh aye. I'm still playing it!! Woof. There's some fucking great songs on this. And sure, I'm totally biased but I enjoy shamelessly fighting in their corner.

Seriously, in my opinion they ANNIHILATE bands like Lamb of God, Machine Head etc. In fact, the only other "modern" "mainstream" "metal" band I like anywhere near as much as Trivium is Slipknot, who I honestly feel belong in a category of their own...

 

[Darkofeden]

Oh aye. I'm still playing it!! Woof. There's some fucking great songs on this. And sure, I'm totally biased but I enjoy shamelessly fighting in their corner.

Seriously, in my opinion they ANNIHILATE bands like Lamb of God, Machine Head etc. In fact, the only other "modern" "mainstream" "metal" band I like anywhere near as much as Trivium is Slipknot, who I honestly feel belong in a category of their own...

Honestly, I love Trivium. My friend and I went to a meet and great when they were touring for Sin and the sentence, super nice guys. It's an honorable mention for me since it felt more Sin and the sentence part 2 then something new but man I really dug it! A lot of great stuff on there.

I will pretty much agree with you on your second point but I will say, there are a few LoG records I enjoy and I liked like... 3 Machine Head albums before I got sick of it