We can definitely all agree that 2020 has been an absolute shocker! One of the few positives to come from this year was that the new music releases were exceptional. Interestingly and for obvious reasons, I subconsciously seemed to focus on the feel good element of music and in doing so I found some exceptional rock albums. I think 2020 was the year of rock and not metal, which is why my EOTY list really doesn’t have much of the heavy stuff in it for once. So here goes:
Dark Tranquility have nailed the ‘Gothenburg’ sound over their 30 year career. Damage Done being one of my favourite ‘scene’ records. However, Moment sees them experiment a lot more with melody and ease up on the riffs just enough to probably make this their least heavy album. It’s still an absolute belter though.
Nergal (of Behemoth fame) comes out swinging on this new record with influences from all over the spectrum. From americana to blues, folk and country. New Man is as far away from his main band as you can get. Here he invites a whole host of guest singers to help him out. The stand out tracks though are ‘Run with the Devil’ featuring Jorgen Munkeby and ‘By the River‘ which features Ihsahn delivering some of the best vocals of his career. This is a very eclectic and fun album and one i returned to regularly.
Lifers is catchy, fun and very angry. That anger can be felt through every single song whether it's the rousing ‘Hold that Thought’ or the contemplative ‘Sunday Best’ The album never sacrifices its catchiness for heaviness though and is able to blend both with ease. Ultimately Local H deliver one of the best hidden alt-rock gems of 2020.
Eric will probably reprimand me for putting a ‘folk’ record on the list but Song for our Daughter was one of my favourite albums this year, and the lead single ‘Alexandra’ was the soundtrack to my summer. This is a beautiful album that brings to mind the 60s folk records of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.
Inlet is a dense, heavy, soul-destroying record, and one I never expected HUM to release. While they were on hiatus, the guys in HUM clearly spent time listening to bands like Paradise Lost and Katatonia, because this is easily as bleak and heavy as anything those bands have ever put out. Blackmetalgaze is clearly now a thing! (Can i trademark that?) Either way it took me nearly the full year to be able to listen to it in one sitting, even when it got too much it always left me wanting more.
Rise Radiant isn't quite as good as 2017’s In Contact but it still contains all those amazing progressive Djent riffs and soaring choruses that Caligula’s Horse are famed for. Released at the start of the year, this album became on of my favourite ways to escape all the shit going down during Lockdown 1.0 and 2.0
Every time ABR release a record it ends up somewhere in my Top 10. They are one of the best metalcore bands around and they have not softened over the years, which makes them even more special. Guardians might just be the heaviest thing they have ever done. It’s certainly one of their best.
Higher Power bring back 90s post-hardcore in a big way. As I said in my full review of 27 Miles Underwater, “From the opening riff of ‘Seamless’ and its breakdown midway through, it felt like I was experiencing the joy of hearing Quicksand or Helmet for the first time.”
Silver Sun are power pop perfection. Sadly lead singer and main songwriter James Broad passed away in October this year leaving behind a legacy not many people know about. Which is a shame, as it contains 8 of the most perfect power pop records ever put to tape in it. Silver Sun should have been massive and this album should have sent them stratospheric when it was originally released back in 2014. Instead about 20 people bought it. In 2020 their entire back catalogue got released on Spotify. So you really have no excuse to not check them out now. This album got me through the darkest parts of the pandemic and put a huge grin on my face every time I played it.
Deftones can do no wrong! Ohms is a masterclass in high tension alt metal. Check out the ending to Urantia and its Tool aping riff. Chino’s vocals sound better than ever and this year Deftones demonstrated why you should never write them off. The title track closes out the album with one of the sweetest riffs released this year.
Massive Wagons are just fantastic. They brought the much needed rock n roll party to 2020 to make it at least a little bit more bearable. thanks guys! You can check out my full review of Massive Wagons' House of Noise for more of my thoughts on this one.
I was not expecting this album to be anything more than a footnote in their catalogue. Instead it is one of their best albums. It covers songs from every era and every album including ‘Urge‘ and ‘Anthem‘ from Endless Nameless which sound amazing! The production and sound quality capture the band and the crowd at their best. Ginger sounds better than ever and the recording genuinely makes it sound and feel like you are there at the show. The 30 year Itch proves once again why The Wildhearts are one of the greatest bands to walk this earth.
This is Katatonia’s BEST album and no one can convince me otherwise! For more on this excellent album, see our full review of Katatonia's City Burials.
This album came out of nowhere. Up until this year, I had never even heard of this band, but Abrams mix of massive choruses, exceptional hooks and mega riffs elevated them to the number 2 position and became one of my very favourite records of 2020. Check out my full review of Modern Ways.
I stumbled on Supercrush by accident. Our good friends over at Brooklyn Vegan had an article on the 28 best heavy shoegaze songs. Somewhere in one of the side links was a review of ‘On the Telphone’ by Supercrush and that was it…….hooked! SODO Pop has turned out to be my favourite album of 2020. For more on this one, check out our full review of Supercrush's SODO Pop.
These were some of the great albums that didn’t make the cut but had plenty of rotation on the stereo:
