There's so much gay going on in this thread.
However, back on topic...
I can't say I have a definitive favourite album from last year and I'm still behind on some albums as well as still discovering releases from last year, but there were a handful that I found lovely or just enjoyable. I've also started growing out of metal more often so most of this list is not metal.
Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man (Potential top album)
Katatonia - Dead End Kings (Not as good as NITND, but still loved it)
pg.lost - Key
Whirr - Pipe Dreams
Trifonic - Ninth Wave
Shining - Redefining Darkness (Good, not great)
Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
Kaki King - Glow
If These Trees Could Talk - Red Forest
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
The American Dollar - Awake In The City (Another potential top album)
Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Âme
I still need to hear the new Enslaved, Scott Walker and Les Discrets to name a few of albums I've heard good things about. Also worth mentioning is In Mourning, Daylight Dies and Atoma. I loved the first album from In Mourning, didn't give the second album too many shots and found The Weight Of Oceans decent, but it didn't grab me. I recently listened to the new Daylight Dies and found it fairly boring which is disappointing since they've been a solid band for their first few full lengths. With Atoma; I loved Slumber, but Skylight didn't do much for me. A few solid tracks.
Hopefully this year will have better releases. Early on I'm looking forward to the new Agrypnie next month.