Yeah, I’ll include 2020 in the list since I actually have one I want to add. I think people should not have to be limited to any specific genre of metal. Any band from any genre of metal can be included. Really just whatever you like and think are the great albums of the past decade+.
I**** would say these are the ones I think deserve a spot. There are hundreds of albums I did not hear and this is simply a list from the things I listened to. I am hoping to find some new great stuff.
My list:
Nightwish - Imaginaerum - this is the top spot for me and is one of my favorite albums of all time. It was with this release that I began to describe Nightwish as my favorite band. Endless Forms Most Beautiful was a great followup, but this was peak Nightwish up to this point. They have a new album in about 2 months and I hope it’s great.
Sepultura - Quadra - this is the 2020 release and I can NOT believe how great it is. Look, Sepultura has continued to put out albums the last 24 years, but they have not released a true masterpiece since Roots(my pick for greatest metal album of all time). And then…Quadra. It’s the best metal album I’ve heard in a long, long time. I can not recommend it enough. The first Sepultura Derrick Green album that is as good as their earliest releases. Get it.
**The Dark Element - self-titled **- Wow, I had zero expectations(good or bad) for this release. It is amazing and such a surprise. Unfortunately, their second album released last year was not as good as this. It was fine, but not as good. Still, Dark Element released one of the best debut albums I’ve heard in a long time.
**Soulfly - Ritual **- Is Soulfly the real Sepultura? I mean, they certainly sound a lot more like Sepultura from the early 90’s than the current band. Anyway, Soulfly has released a lot of albums, but this one from last year is their best. If Quadra had not come out from actual Sepultura, I would have called this “the best Sepultura album since Roots”.
I’m sure I can think of some more, but this is where I am at right now. Anyone else have thoughts to share?
Not a huge Metal Head, but I listened to a TON of metal in the last couple of years but I think PanopticonRoads to the North needs to be on any best of the decade list (though Kentucky and Autumn Eternal are both great also).
Controversially I would also say DeafheavenSunbather belongs on the list. Even if you hate it (and people seem to, though I like it) it seems to have been hugely influential.
I also really loved the Carcass album Surgical Steel. They are awesome.
I promise I’ll mostly list things that you are unlikely to have heard of, let alone heard, because that’s how I roll.
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2010
The Sword - Warp Riders (playlist) - Get rid of track #8 and you have one of the most solid metal releases of the year. Not doom, not heavy rock, not death metal… just metal. Plus it’s a concept album, and who doesn’t love that every once in a while?
Turbid North - Orogney (playlist) - if Pink Floyd became a tech death band, this is the album they would have released (yes, it’s a concept album too). The Hunter is an ICE. My pick for Best of 2010; it’s held up very well IMO.
Whores Of Tijuana - Psycholongevity - A shapeshifting bunch of degenerates with a wicked sense of humor. This is the least metal album I’ll list for 2010. Fans of Sister Double Happiness will enjoy this (I do, anyway).
Yakuza - Of Seismic Consequence (playlist) - Thinking man’s progressive art metal. Every song is perfect. This is still my favorite release from them.
I don’t like any of the extreme subgenres of metal, so my picks are going to include a lot of old-school throwback-type stuff:
The Sword - Warp Riders (2010)
High Spirits - Another Night (2011)
Motörhead - Aftershock (2013)
Night Demon - Curse of the Damned (2015)
Visigoth - The Revenant King (2015)
Black Wizard - New Waste (2016)… Revival is probably the best metal song I heard all decade, that riff that comes in at 4:10 is absolutely SICK
Eternal Champion - The Armor of Ire (2016)
Ghost - Prequelle (2018)
Riot City - Burn the Night (2019)
Not a ton of albums by new bands made it into my regular rotation coming out of that thread, but I LOVE Panopticon. It’s, for me, Black Metal that makes sense.
Roads to the North is on my top albums of the decade regardless of genre list too.
I can’t really do that because I don’t do that; sorry.
I purchased more than 50 albums last year and listened to at least that many that I did not purchase. I listen to a wide variety of music, even within the metal genre. There’s simply no way to quantize anything as “THE best”.
What I can do, tho, is look back and see what I rated each song and then see how many times I listened to it (more listens means I played it purposefully), see what CDs stayed in my car for months on end, and re-listen to things to see if my old rating still seems accurate for my tastes today. Then I’ll whittle those down to a few that you hopefully didn’t hear about or that are simply sooooo good that they can’t be left out.
Gutulax - Shit Beast - 25 minutes of groovy grindcore about bodily functions but mostly about shit.
Orchid - Capricorn - Orchid does Black Sabbath better than Black Sabbath has done Black Sabbath in decades. 'Nuff said.
Speedwolf - Ride With Death - All whiskey and beer and cigarettes and motorcycles and “fuck you”, this is speed metal perfection. If Lemmy had joined forces with Zeke, this is what it would have sounded like.
YOB - Atma - pounding NW doom that will haunt you. Mind-expanding, goosebump-giving DOOM! The opening track is one of my favorite of all time, from any band in any genre.
Armored Saint - La Raza (2010) and Win Hands Down (2015) La Raza is the better of the two.
Judas Priest - Firepower (2018) This album jumped in to my top 10 rather quickly.
Kobra and the Lotus - Prevail I (2017) and Prevail II (2018) I only just found out about this group a year or so ago. I actually like most of their stuff except for the first album.
Satan - Life Sentence (2013) Atom by Atom (2015) and Cruel Magic (2018) I love NWOBHM and picked up these albums a year or two ago. I can listen to them all straight through, and do quite often. Atom by Atom is probably the best.
I’m going to have to look in the The Sword, I have heard of them and have heard a couple of songs but never really looked in to them.
Oh yeah, add Firepower to my list too. Dig the crap out of that album.
Also I was going through my Spotify “metal albums I like” Playlist and I think I should add Gojira - Le Enfant Savage and Sleep - the sciences to this list.
Also, I just started listening to Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name because I saw it on a couple best of lists, and I don’t know if I want it on my list yet, but I’m digging it. They are different. Kind of like Pink Floyd meets Death with a little bit of Ministry and Opeth thrown into the mix. There is a sax part for cripes sake. so props for that at least. I’ll have to see if I come back to it. But it’s worth giving a spin if you haven’t.
A Life Once Lost - Ecstatic Trance (playlist) - unlike anything else. A landmark album. Truly, uniquely joyously lost and somewhat angry about it. This album has been a huge influence on my own guitar playing and songwriting. I can’t say enough good things about this music.
Dying Fetus - Reign Supreme (playlist) - brutal death metal/grindcore at it’s finest. Excellent production, fantastic songs, great performances all the way through. This is the album that saw Dying Fetus finally hit their stride, IMO.
Encrust - From Birth To Soil (playlist) - Sludgy death ‘n’ roll from Chicago. This album is lean and mean. Fantastic songs, great riffs, some of the best vocals of the past decade. Terrific dynamics and a sense of drama in every song help elevate this into the stratosphere. Sadly, they were one and done.
Ne Obluiviscaris - Portal Of I - Absolutely stunning, this album is musical perfection. Every second of every song is flawlessly incredible. This is highly complex, highly technical progressive death metal unlike anything you have heard before. Another landmark album for the year. Another album that I simply cannot say enough good things about.
The Fat Dukes Of Fuck - Honey From The Lips Of An Angel - I’ll let my crazy homies speak for themselves: “THE FAT DUKES OF FUCK LIVE IN LAS VEGAS NEVADA. THEY MOSTLY PLAY MUSIC FOR SPOILED ASS HOLES THAT DON’T GIVE A SHIT. WON’T YOU PLEASE BE ONE OF THOSE ASS HOLES?”
Whores - Ruiner - this 4 song EP sounds like Meantime-era Helmet went on a bender with Unsane. Loud, angry, almost drone-like at times; the wall of sound this trio creates is impressive as hell in itself. Combine it with canny songwriting and tight performances and you get this utterly memorable 19:20 set.
Geez, Luiz…From this lawn-curating, increasingly-out-of-the-metal-loop curmudgeon…
In the last ten years or so in a hobbit-like ‘cave’ of less and less engagement with genre, but Holy Diggy-Dogs that absence has been filled well with Spawn of Possession’s Incurso and their nutty brand of non-linear, face-ripping, whole wheat goodness. (starts at 1:38, AFAIC)
High Tension - Death Beat - Ddaaaaaaaaaaamn I fucking love this album. SOOOO much energy; this album could prolly power a small sun.
Nails - Abandon All Life - my fav Nails album. This is loud LOUD angry thick-like-a-slab-of-cement music, all 17:23 of it.
Oozing Wound - Retrash - Loud, angry repetitive music with a wicked sense of humor. “New York bands, they ain’t your friends; they just want your cocaine!” Still their best album.
Orchid - The Mouths Of Madness - yes, the Sabbath-y band just mined a John Carpenter flick; you got a problem with that? :dubious: I didn’t think so. 'Nuff said.
Suicidal Tendencies - 13 - This didn’t sell nearly as many copies or concert tickets as another old band’s album with the same title, but it’s far, FAR superior. Absolutely the best Suicidal Tendencies album, this spent over 14 months in my car. I estimate I’ve listened to it more than 8,000 times and it always sounds fresh and exciting. Hands down the best album of 2013.
Does anyone listen to Behemoth? Their Satanist album topped many lists of the best metal album of the decade. I have listened to their last two albums and have honestly find them…good, but nothing super special. They actually sound like they have enough talent to make a good album, but I would have encouraged their singer to move away from death-grunts and move more towards a clearer and less stereotypical type of singing voice.
Anyone a fan? I would not call myself a fan, but listened out of my continual search for new music.
