2021 Close But No Cigars

Solo Death Metal project from Martin Mendez, the bassist from Opeth. Surprise surprise it sounds exactly like a pre-Heritage Opeth.

Black Metal from Belgium. They do not just flirt with Classical music, they are engaged in a torrid affair with it.

The alter-ego act of Canadian Death Metal heavyweights Kataklysm. You have heard of Viking Metal, well this is Roman Empire Metal. Symphonic and cinematic and they are just waiting for the call to soundtrack Gladiator 2.

Modern sounding Blues from Brighton. Suave and rather sophisticated, it is not bad at all, it just doesn’t quite have the staying power to make it into the all-important hundred.

Bolthrower obsessed Death Metal from Holland. If you like Bolthrower you’ll like this.

The return of the indomitable Black Spiders. Good time rock n’ roll with a sting in its tail. Probably not as good as their previous records but still a bundle of fun.

This started off high, really high. It was even pushing a top ten placing earlier on in the year. But it simply did not hold up to numerous listens. Each time I went through it I found myself a little less enamoured, which is not a good sign. It’s a bit too sugary, a bit too poppy and just doesn’t have the presence to allow multiple plays.

Melodic doom from Sweden. This is by far their heaviest album to date. It is darker and more forlorn than they have been before and those infamous monolithic riffs are denser and slower. Very much an acquired taste, if you like doom you will like this, if you don’t you won’t.

First album in ten years for the side project from Killswitch Engage duo Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse Leach. Sounds nothing like Killswitch Engage. Is almost Post Metal in its use of introspective passages and wistful instrumentals. There are moments where it is amazing and others where it over stretches itself massively. The net result is a score draw meaning its rather meagre placing.

More Norwegian Black Metal. Atmospheric and rather bombastic.

Brutal Death Metal from Denmark (their name translates as Beast). It is primal, granular and pleasantly unpleasant.

This is rebirth number five for the Huddersfield thrashers. Matt Drake has withdrawn from music altogether and his brother Ol Drake, having returned to the fold in 2018, has stepped up to the mic and taken on front person duties. This is a frantic and unrelenting thrash album, very much in the vein of their debut record “Enter The Grave”. An invigorating listen that doesn’t quite have the songs to take it any higher in our list.

Depending on which way you swing this is either unlistenable tosh or the most amazing and mind alerting music imaginable. This is very introspective Avan-Garde Black Metal, monotonous and creeping. Certainly thought provoking and evocative, I’m not actually sure whether I enjoyed it or not.

King Woman is fronted by the highly prolific Kristina Esfandiari. They specialise in a rather Avent-Garde brand of doom. Almost free-form jazz meets Sabbath. A bizarre mix of kooky and challenging.

Right, this is where I lose load of friends, and a flurry of unfollows ushers forth. The simple fact is that it is not as good or as emotionally raw as their previous two records. “All Our Gods Have Abandoned” was a veritable treaty in processing grief and “Holy Hell” was a dark peerless record that reached into the very souls of the band and had them facing their own weaknesses and inadequacies. This, well, this is not bad, but in its adoption of more commercial and immediate tendencies, it has lost some of that bleak underbelly that made the last two albums so compelling. Not awful by any means, but it is also not as striking or unique as the previous two records and in such I found it (shock horror) less interesting.

The sixth resurrection of the classic Floridian Death Metal act. This version and iteration of the band features two original members (which is actually far better than previous incarnations). It is pretty standard Death Metal. Not bad at all but not taking the genre forward in any way, shape or form.

Former Hardcore punks have achieved their long-gestated transformation into a slick arena bothering heavy Rock machine. Actually for all my cynicism about hardcore bands abandoning their roots, this is actually very good indeed.

The clue is in the title as the alt-rock heroes have made a Glam Metal album. The concept is, to be honest, probably more fun than the album itself.

More Norwegian Metal and also Metallica’s new favourite band. Essentially it sounds like Volbeat meet Kvelertak at a Ramones convention. Good old fashioned rock n’ roll through the lens of heavy metal. Turbonegro without the camp.

Self-proclaimed purveyors of Norse Heavy Metal, “North Star” is full of Viking imagery. In Norway they take their Metal very seriously and this is very much an irony free zone. Anthemic and Epic, it is also rather pretentious.

Fifteenth album from the Prog Metal masters. It sounds like you expect a Dream Theater album to be. Big, sprawling and with more solos than you can shake a stick at it. It managed to simultaneously bowl me over with its intricateness and leave me cold. Hence its position in the no person land of also rans.

Putting aside last year’s “Waterfall II” (which was essentially unreleased stuff from 2013) this is My Morning Jacket’s first proper album for six year. It sounds like My Morning Jacket and as much as I liked it (and I did) it just didn’t grab me enough to think that I would ever listen to it again.

German Black Metal that sounds like it has fallen through a wormhole from the early 90’s. Enjoyable in the fact that it sounds like early Darkthrone or Mayhem but isn’t bringing anything new to an already crowded market.

Sounds like Lucifer I to III. It is still a thoroughly enjoyable slice of bluesy Rock but feels a little unnecessary as it is so similar to the previous four albums.

Pretty standard Extreme Metal. A power storm of searing riffs and pounding drums. Intense but ultimately forgettable.

Fifth solo outing from the prolific singer songwriter. This is a raw and revealing record that is downplayed and in places very sparse. Her voice is heartbreaking and emotive, but it just doesn’t have enough oomph to elevate it beyond being alright.

Eagerly anticipated second album from much vaunted New Zealand trio. It’s alright but probably not the powerhouse that we were all hoping for. There is a brooding intensity here, but it lacks the killer punchers to really allow them to live up to their potential.

Debut solo record from the Amorphsis keyboardist. Enjoyable but rather a vanity project.

Recommended by a good friend and again has a couple of excellent tracks (Mama Werewolf is terrific). A little too removed from my current tastes to make the actual TOP 100 but still a really good record all the same.

There some terrific tracks on here, but it's level of diversity means that it feels more like a compilation rather than an actual album.