Top 20 Albums of 2020

With this year being full of anxiety, unrest, anger, and turmoil, music was always there to help us overcome all of this internal and external darkness. With the world of rock and heavy metal going strong with insane songs of technical excellence and relatable subject matter, we look back at the top 20 best albums of this year. When we look back at how we overcame this uncertainty, these albums will serve as the soundtrack as we remember our courage and strength to keep on pushing.

#20- August Burns Red-Guardians

One of the metalcore greats have returned with easily some of their heaviest material to date. This album is packed full of aggressive riffs and vocals that have the ability to pulverize and serenade all at the same time. They have demonstrated constant evolution that continuously opens more doors for the future. Songs such as Defender and Lighthouse brings in the perfect bridge of their brutality and melody while songs such as Bones and Bloodletter are straight up bangers. While this album has tons of darkness behind it, August Burns Red let all sides of their signature sound shine brighter than ever on Guardians.

#19- Trivium- What the Dead Men Say

Trivium continues to deliver a soundtrack of inner strength and power. Trivium returns with their heavier roots from albums such as Ascendancy and The Crusade and delivers a brand new form of intensity that has yet to be seen. Tracks such as Catastrophist bring in pure melodic power while Amongst the Shadows and the Stones bring in raw brutality. With Matt’s intense vocals and Cory’s intense guitar work followed by hard hitting rhythm, Trivium’s What the Dead Men Say gives us the ultimate soundtrack to overcoming the trials and tribulations of 2020.

#18- Deathwhite- Grave Image

Deathwhite delivers an essence of mystery combined with darkness with their sound of combining black metal, doom metal and post metal, essentially creating a sound of their own. This album has the ability to be mesmerizing and terrifying all at the same time. Tracks such as Plague of Virtue and In Eclipse and Further from Salvation delivers a great flow of emotional melody that is constantly engaging. If Deathwhite stays on this path, they will be one of the main faces of post metal in the 2020s.

#17- Elder- Omens

Elder had big shoes to fill after their 2017 release of Reflections of a Floating World, but they truly rose to the occasion. These stoner metal masters unleashed their inner progressive side to deliver a listen that instantly surrounds you with serenading harmonies and beautiful guitar work that is practically hypnotic. Halcyon is all out serenading while the title track Omens brings in raw and dirty riffs combined with their progressive sound delivering much contrast throughout this melodic journey of an album.

#16- An Autumn for Crippled Children- All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet

An Autumn for Crippled Children pushes the boundaries of black metal with their post metal sides being expressed on this album. An Autumn for Crippled Children deliver something super emotional and atmospheric, showcasing the most beautiful sides of darkness. Water’s Edge, Paths and Silver brings super intense and fast riffs behind their atmospheric melody while the vocals deliver raw aggression serving as a sonic dream and nightmare of an album.

#15- Lamb of God

With everything that they had to overcome, Lamb of God returns with a vengeance. With Art Cruz coming on board, he came in hitting just as hard as the rest of the band and created an album that shows that Lamb of God is able to experiment and still maintain their brutality. With the lyricism going along perfectly for the times we are living in, Lamb of God is a band that is always ahead of their time, in this case, more ways than one. New Colossal Hate delivers an essence of power that is super suspenseful and unsettling, and that is carried even further with a track such as Resurrection Man which is practically a fairytale from hell. Tracks such as Reality Bath and Gears brings in their signature sound of groove, and toping it all off with special guests such as Chuck Billy of Testament and Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, you got the ultimate killing spree of an album that brings power and unity.

#14- Unleash the Archers- Abyss

Unleash the Archers have officially set the standard of how power metal should sound at these times. With Brittany Slays vocals going full range with all out shredding guitars, Unleash the Archers have taken the world by storm and with this album, have left a permanent mark on it. The title track Abyss takes you through multiple layers of space and time while Legacy delivers an element of catchiness that is super fun and easy. Add all out shredding in a track such as Return to Me and Soulbound and you get the ultimate power metal album. Unleash the Archers lets every element of their signature sound shine full force on Abyss.

#13-Lightworker- Fury by Failure

Lightworker is a newer band and they knew how to hit the ground running. Further experimenting with metalcore, they brought in alternative and technical elements that demonstrates exploration, which in turn will leave listeners discovering something new with every passing listen. Lightworker is a new band on deck and you are going to want to get on board ASAP. A track such as 10/18 brings in serenading melodies with their alternative side, creating a riff packed anthem while Words Dissolve brings in savage intensity. Losing Ground brings a pure essence of brutality combined with melody that is mesmerizing and hard hitting. Lightworker incorporates many sounds on Fury by Failure, and in turn, have found a sound that is completely their own. If they stay on this path, great things will come.

#12- Constellatia- The Language of Limbs

In just 4 songs, Constellatia delivered one of the most intense black metal albums of 2020, bringing in sides that are melodic, raw, emotional and all out epic. The Language of Limbs is a record that takes you on an epic journey through darkness that you are going to want to embark on many times. Starting off with All Nights Belong to You, they bring a raw and every epic opening that is both super raw and nasty, but beautiful at the same time. Ending with the Garden, they create a melodic anthem combined with the rawness of the purest black metal. Constellatia is a band that destroys harmony and rebuilds it, essentially creating a new one.

#11- Currents- The Way it Ends

Currents is a band that will be the face of East Coast metal in years time. Currents was able to give many metalcore veterans a run for their money this year by delivering super relatable lyricism behind an aggressive voice while the riffs just continue to decimate. This record is constantly delivering groove and intensity in tracks such as A Flag to Wave and Poverty of Self while also bringing in some melodic aspects in tracks such as Monsters and Let Me Leave shine to the fullest. Packed with emotion, intensity and harmony, Currents creates a sonic experience like no other and brings a whole new lease of life to a genre that is classic at this point. If currents stays on this path, they will become the American Parkway Drive.

#10- The Black Dahlia Murder-Verminous

This mean, green death metal machine still remains hard to put down half a year later with its sonic intensity. The biggest evolutionary jump between two albums is demonstrated and every member equally demonstrated that. Godlessly and Child of Night brings in super speed that is pure death metal madness while a track such as How Very Dead brings in some experimental qualities to keep the album afloat the whole time. From the vocals that give you no room to breathe to guitar work that flows so perfectly, to rhythm that shows no mercy, The Black Dahlia Murder are easily on the level of a death metal legend.

#9-Sylosis- Cycle of Suffering

One of the best announcements of 2019 was the return of Sylosis and BOY, did they just top everything they have done previously. Sylosis delivers insane brutality in their signature melodic death metal sound while also demonstrating emotion that many of us were feeling through the course of this year. With songs such as I Sever or Shield delivering all out brutality to tracks such as Idle Hands or Invidia demonstrating very raw emotion, Sylosis is back and has tons more gas left in the tank.

#8-Igorrr- Spirituality and Distortion

As we have stated before, it’s not a matter of what this group is going to do next. It is a matter of what this group isn’t going to do next. With over hundreds of listens later, Igorrr delivered an album that continues to demonstrate that they are the masters of experimentation in heavy music. Very Noise brings in super suspenseful rhythm while Hollow Tree let the operatic vocals shine while Parpaing is straight guttural madness. Camel Dancefloor and Overweight Poesy brings in atmosphere and culture that takes us even further on a journey. With their multiple sounds and altering structures, Igorrr is not a metal band. They are simply a genre of their own. Every single track on this album can be interpreted in multiple ways.

#7-Stitched up Heart- Darkness

Stitched up Heart is easily one of the best modern rock bands and this album is a testament to that. Mixi’s vocals deliver a range and pitch that is goosebump inducing and power inducing all at the same time. While many singles were released before this album, the songs that weren’t released as singles proved to be just as strong. Hard-hitting tracks such as Warrior and This Skin that induce us with power in a realm of catchiness while more melancholy tracks such as Dirty Secrets and Problems that envelope us in a realm of goosebump inducing darkness, Stitched up Heart is able to say so much with their own sound.

#6-Make them Suffer-How to Survive a Funeral

Another metalcore act from Australia that proves that metalcore is a genre that cannot be overdone. Make them Suffer delivered pure aggression and phenomenal melody in their sound having both an old school and new school vibe. With tracks such as Erase Me that demonstrates the perfect vocal contrast, to a track as somber as The Attendant, Make Them Suffer knows how to create a sound that perfectly defines who they are.

#5- Aether Realm-Redneck Vikings from Hell

The title in itself already lets you know that you are in for an epic adventure, from the deep south, to the cold Scandinavia to the darkest depths of hell itself, Aether Realm was able to take multiple styles and complete reinvent them. With the title track Redneck Vikings from Hell bringing in such a fun and folky vibe to it, to a powerful anthem such as Guardians, Aether Realm is going to be the band that makes America unleash its inner viking.

#4-Heaven Shall Burn- Of Truth and Sacrifice

A double album with so much to offer, Heaven Shall Burn created the soundtrack to the times of confusion and turmoil that we are living in. It is almost unsettling to how accurate this album portrays the world we live in today. Heaven Shall Burn was able to create songs as catchy as La Résistance, as doomy and melodic as The Sorrows of Victory, a very long and melancholy track such as Expatriate to a power inducing track such as Children of a Lesser God all in one epic adventure of a listen. This album set the standard for how to make a double album in the future.

#3-Misery Signals-Ultraviolet

With the return of Jesse Zaraska, Misery Signals delivers one of the best metalcore albums since Jesse Leach returned to Killswitch Engage. This album combines the vocal excellence that Jesse Zaraska incorporated on Of Malice and the Magnum Heart, while having its semi progressive tendencies of an album such as Controller. Misery Signals made the long 7 year wait between albums 100% worth it with tracks such as Cascade Locks and Sunlifter which incorporates their perfect sound of melodic aggression.

#2 Ulcerate- Stare into Death and Be Still

This is a record that has no escapes once you enter it. The dark and dreary tone of this melodic death metal/doom metal/ avant garde masterpiece envelopes you into a realm like no other. With its sound of organized chaos demonstrated in a track Exhale the Ash, to a very unsettling melodic tone such as Visceral Ends, Ulcerate captured a moment of darkness and utilized it to the fullest on Stare into Death and Be Still.

#1-Loathe- I Let it in and it Took Everything

One of the earliest releases of 2020 still holds its spot on the number one album of 2020. Loathe was able to say everything they had to and then some with I Let it in and it Took Everything. With tracks as relentless as Aggressive Evolution and New Faces in the Dark, to mesmerizing anthems such as Two Way Mirror and Is it Really You, Loathe was able to pull multiple genres of rock and metal apart, and put it back together and deliver their own signature sound that is chilling, but beautiful all at the same time. This record moves in multiple directions, only to have a solid foundation that pieces it all together. Loathe is a band that is going to rule the world once the world returns.

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Haber

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