Imagine if My Bloody Valentine had actually got their arses into gear and made that fabled third album when they were meant to. Well, it would have sounded like this. I can not find any other way to describe this than post-Blackgaze. It still is a wonderful collusion of dreamy and darkness, but the brittle element supplied by the metallic elements has been removed. Instead, we have a fascinating amalgamation of gloom and tranquillity. All the tracks are slight and light-touched, like they are almost not there. They are darkly ethereal, filled both with an unaccountable beauty, but also have an ever present under current of dread. If the Cocteau Twins had been asked to soundtrack the Exorcist, this is what it would have sounded like.

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At frickin last. After nine failed attempts, Trivium have finally produced an album that I feel lives up to all their hype (not that they are making albums for the sole purpose of pleasing me, but still). Up until now they have left me cold, and I haven’t quite got on the Trivium train. “In the Court of the Dragon” is in many ways the album that I had wanted Maiden to have made. It’s anthemic, it has choruses designed for a baying crowd to chant along to and it is concise. The tracks feel economical in their length and that they have been written with a clear understanding of how they will end (there have been many songs I have listened to this year where I was sure I would be trapped in a specific track for the rest of eternity).

“In the Court of the Dragon” is the history of Metal distilled into one record. If an alien lands tomorrow and asks to understand what this bizarre genre is all about, I will hand them a copy of “In the Court Dragon”. It captures Metal larger than life, its energy, its bombasticity and its eccentricity. Heavy Metal has always been about a combination of fantastic and brutality, this runs through this album. It is jagged enough to get the adrenaline flowing but commercial enough to be accessible. Brimful of catchy tracks that are muscular enough to hold their own, this is the album that finally, after nearly twenty years, proves Trivium’s right to be at Metal’s top table.

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Maybeshewill’s decision to call it a day back in 2016 always felt premature and a case of unfinished business. Purveyors of a particular brand of math and post rock, their story did not feel in anyway to be over. This has proved very much to be the case, though they are one of a number of bands that had the misfortune to decide to reunite in 2020 only to find any opportunities to actually perform again together were thwarted. They decided to do the next best thing and headed for the studio.

“No Feeling is Final” feels like a fitting next chapter. It contains the traits that we expect from them but it is much more mature and rounded album than its predecessor. “No Feeling is Final” is the sound of a band that over the last seven years has grown up and become more sure of themselves and their collective abilities. There is less showing off (“ohh look what we can do”) and instead it is a self-reflective and self-assured record that knows when to be restrained and when to roar. In fact, there is very little roaring and instead it occupies itself with being a delicate and beautiful tapestry of refrained instrumentals. Sumptuous, slight and utterly wonderful.

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Swedish progressive Metal act that started of as a supergroup side project for a number of extreme metal musicians, but has morphed into the main band of former Opeth drummer Martin Lopez and vocalist Joel Ekelof. They have created a really interesting amalgamation of Prog Metal and eighties AOR that sounds a lot like 90125 era Yes.

There is a luscious musicology about what Soen are doing. It’s clever, intricate and oozes in quality. Having been immersed in the harshness of Extreme Metal, Soen feel like an exercise in cleansing and purification. There are no jagged lines or brittle edges here. The overall feeling of “Imperial” is smooth and glossy and it is full of melodic refrains and lavish flourishes. Rich and luxurious, this is the aural equivalent of eating truffles.

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Apparently, this is celestial Blackgaze (no me neither and I am the queen of sub-genres). However even though I don’t quite know where to pigeonhole this album, I still bloody love it. It is an atmospheric, expansive and cinematic. A widescreen record that should soundtrack footage of frozen wastelands. “Istok” weaves a cloud of haunting melody around the listener. Entirely instrumental aside from third track ‘The Shinning’ it has a meditational and transcendental quality about it. Too evocative to be background music, but tender enough to accompany hardcore daydreaming. Very much an album to lose oneself in.

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My god! How many ideas can one album have and how many meandering, but fruitful highways can a single record wander? If “Odyssey” was a wine I would be getting whiffs of Hawkwind, sniffs of vintage Uriah heep, large gulps of Opeth and bigs glugs of Cathedral. This is doom prog, plodding monolithic riffs encased in a crust of expansive and rather cosmic musicality.

The doom is used as a grounding anchor to allow the album to stroll off in different sonic directions, but still have a fixed point upon which to return to. Experimental and sprawling, this is the audio equivalent of a open world adventure. Very much one of those records that provides new experiences each time you venture into it.

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Those who have a season ticket to my lists might remember “A Romance with Violence” from last year, which was a Spaghetti western reimagined as Black Metal. Well Untamed Land claim to be the inventors of the seemingly incompatible pairing of Western Cinematics and Black Metal. This is their second album (and their is used sparingly as Untamed Land are actually Patrick Kern on his lonesome) and it sees them further expand the idea of Black Metal being a canvas upon which to tell tales of the American west.

This is a Widescreen, atmospheric and rather experimental strain of Black Metal. It is not unafraid to step out of the conventions of the genre and uses it as a launching pad from which to sonically explore as opposed to a rigid rulebook. Key here is the ambiance. This is an album designed to conjure up imagery and to stir the imagination. Evocative, engaging and immersive, this is musical storytelling at its best.

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Right! Health warning here as this album won’t be for everyone. It is unnerving and rather impenetrable mix of industrial drone and ambient Black Metal. It is tight, taught and in places sounds like what homeland security would play to illicit compliance from captured interlopers. It is not the stuff that your Christmas playlist is built upon. So why, I hear you cry, is it so high in the list?

Well, I love and adore difficult music. Music to me should not be a background noise, it is not sonic wallpaper. It should shock, challenge and evoke a reaction. “Ephemeris” is the definition of difficult. It is best described as Black Trance (in fact there is a track called Dense Mental Trance which rather adequately captures the mood of the whole album) as it is a hypnotic and repetitive torrent of white noise.

This is the very edges of music, and it is that desire to be this explorative that has made me fall in love with this album. It is harsh, it is brittle, and it has no chinks of restorative redemption. This is a true heart of darkness, and it is that sheer level of despair and fury that makes the album so extraordinary. A landmark in inaccessibility.

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Lars Nedland is the current voice of my beloved Borknager. This is another of his many side projects (I have counted three, there may be more). He has collected a number of other Norwegian musicians to create a warm record that harks back to the point where the expansiveness of 70’s prog met the commerciality of its 80’s incarnation.

The Metal is dialled right back and instead what we get is an engaging and playful romp through prog’s most accessible time period. “Anti” is very much a love letter to the unsung pioneers of the eighties, it avoids the usual suspects, instead think early eighties Genesis and Yes, as well as large dollops of fish-era Marillion. There is also lashings of goth on offer here, but not the dark, foreboding kind. This is a welcoming, convivial album that uses the goth to add to the majestic and regal atmospherics as opposed to creating any sort of malicious aesthetic.

“Anti”, is an utter joy to listen to. The keyboards are luscious, and the melodies wash off you like like warm tender kisses. It is the feel-good factor channelled into recorded music. Very few albums on this list have managed to make me this happy.

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In certain circles this has been 2021 most anticipated record. A delicious collaboration between post-hardcore legends Converge and the queen of dark rock Chelsea Wolfe. It is one of those amalgamations that turns out to be greater than its constituent parts. Converge are the gods of noise. They have made a career out of creating great sheets of pulsating sonic punishment that personify their shared emotional states. This is by far the most accessible material that they have ever been part of, but that does not mean its impact has been in anyway watered down. Chelsea Wolfe weaves tapestries of torch-song goth. Deeply personal and insular, this is the most expansive I have ever heard her be. The material here feels like Stadium versions of her usual approach.

Together Converge and Chelsea Wolfe have subverted their respective styles, to create something that sounds like neither of them. There is a restrained and inward-looking feel to “Bloodmoon: I”, but this couples with an expansive confidence with both artists casting aside their respective imposter syndromes. Neither act have comprised their individualities, but they have both managed to temper their approaches and create something slow, brooding and immensely heavy. Dark but melodic this is a tremendous record that manages to be simultaneously downbeat and euphoric. Captivating and haunting, this sees both acts go mainstream without losing an ounce of their collective authenticity.

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You will have noticed on this list here, that interspersed between the dark and despondent there has been slices of pure unadulterated rock n’ roll goodness. As much as I love a sullen miserabilist wrapped in impenetrable gloom, I also adore good time boogie. Dirty Honey are not ploughing any new furrows here, the soulful bluesy heavy rock of their self-titled debut album has been done a million times before. But when it is done this well and with so much panache, is there any room to complain? If you were to accuse them of plagiarism you would also need to haul a thousand other bands into the dock, as Dirty Honey are just following a long lineage of young musicians that have appropriated the sound from which rock n’ roll was forged.

In many ways, Dirty Honey reminds me of The Black Crowes’ game changing first album, in that it is a raw and unrefined stab at blues rock that wears its passion and authenticity on its sleeve. It has a genuineness and innocence about it that comes from it simply being four friends that want to play rock n’ roll together. There is no marketing masterplan at play, and they are yet to have their exuberance beaten out of them by the unrepenting industry machine.

Marc Labelle has a sumptuous voice that drips sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. It has the raspy sleaze of Steven Tyler in his prime but there is a range here that is way and beyond anything he was ever capable of. Marc has seductive, penetrative tones that bypass the brain and go straight to the pleasure centres. The man is born to be a rock n roll singer and vocal refrains are some of the most impressive I have heard for decades. This is decadent, rich, blues-drenched rock music and as decadent, rich, blues-drenched rock music should be played. It may be bereft of originality, but when an album is this good who gives a monkey.

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There is an irony in the fact that the musical snobs who deride the soft rock of say Bryan Adams, Simple Minds and Huey Lewis are probably exactly the same people who have made War on Drugs a platinum selling stadium band. This is synth drenched 80’s adult-oriented rock reinvented as a serious and respected art form. It does not necessarily mean that “Cuts like a Knife” is actually an undiscovered masterpiece, but it does mean that Adam Granduciel has hit on a rich unmined stream of musical inspiration. “I don’t Live Here Anymore” does not wander far from the fertile ground of its predecessors “Lost in the Dream” and “A deeper understanding” and there are no ill judged Bon Inver like jumps into ultra-modern soundscapes.

War on Drugs have found a signature sound and they have decided to build upon it. This does however mean that is repetitive or lacking in vision. “I don’t Live Here Anymore” is a gorgeous collection of self-aware anthemic americana. It very aware of its own limitations and concentrates on polishing and heightening its existing content as opposed to wanting to be something that it is not. It is that grounding and sense of honesty and earthliness that makes it such a real and touching album.

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“You are Not Alone” was my album of the year back in 2018. A euphoric kaleidoscope of diverse styles and inspirations, it was a beacon of positivity in a sea of nihilism. There has however been an evident shift from then and “God is partying” is an entirely different kettle of fish.

This time we find our erstwhile hero in a contemplative mood, questioning his own existence and the very ideologies that his career and image has been built on. If “You are Not Alone” was the sound of ecstatic self-confidence, well “God is Partying” is the come-down. It is the hangover album, the soundtrack to the creeping self-realisation that you are not actually the centre of the universe. If “You are Not Alone” is late Saturday night mid-session, then “God is Partying” is the Monday morning return to work.

There is optimism to be found here but it is much more refined and restrained. The highs are lower and mostly the tracks maintain a level of monotone normalism that is in stark contrast to the transcendental waves of bliss that emitted from “You are not Alone”. That is not to say that “God is Partying” is a bad album, bear in mind that it is at 28 in a stunningly good year for new music.

It is actually an extraordinary downcast and insular album that shows the complex inner workings of what many considered a shallow and one tracked mind. This is the sound of someone not used to bare his soul, baring his soul. It is deep, meditative and, in the end, cathartic. The party may well be over and for once we may be getting a glimpse at the real Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier.

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The sixth track on here is entitled multi-layered chaos, and it seems to sum up the record well. Across its eight tracks and forty four minute duration it has a hell of lot going on. There is Thrash, technical Death Metal and lots of melodic blackened Metal. Rather than pigeonhole these different variants into individual songs, Stortregn have decided to play all these distinctive styles simultaneously.

What could easily have been a mess actually turns into a delicious amalgam of complementary textures. This is a clever record and actually chaos is probably the furthest from the truth. The band seem highly adept at knowing when to be technical and then when to turn on the melody in order to have the biggest impact. I know entertaining is not a term used much within Death Metal circles, but this is a fascinating and, yes entertaining album. Everything is done so well, and the songs are so well crafted that it feels such a satisfying listen. When Metal like this is done this well, there is nothing else like it.

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For a man that doesn’t particularly rate Metalcore and Deathcore, I have got quite a lot in this list. However, “Kin” seems to mark Whitechapel’s shift away from the word of churning riffs and guttural growls and towards the forbidden fruits of Prog Metal. Previous album “The Valley” saw that metamorphosis begin, Phil Bozeman embraced the use of clean vocals and the intense guitars were slowed down to allow some forms of variations to creep in. “Kin” sees them leap into the world of intricate time-signatures and textured nuances with two feet.

The nearest comparison I can come up with is Swedish doom prog monoliths Katatonia. I know they feel an ocean away from the claustrophobic contorted sound of Deathcore but believe me, Whitechapel have made a Katatonia record, a really really good Katatonia record. There is so much emotional resonance here and they use light and shade in their music to create a delicate eco-system of subtle but pulsating riffs. It seems bizarre to say this about a band that comes from such a blunt and forthright genre, but this is such a refined and fragile album.

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Turnstile are single-handedly reinventing and rewriting hardcore. “Glow On” is nothing short of revelational. It takes a sound and approach that sounds familiar and then subverts it completely. Hardcore has been known for being pure and undiluted and in many peoples’ views once you add anything to it, it stops being Hardcore.

Turnstile have no truck without that type of parochial attitude and with “Glow On” have tried to blend as many other influences and styles as possible. There is samba here, there is R&B and there is, whisper it, funk. Hell, Devonté Hynes (once known as Lightspeed Champion remember him?) turns up in his persona of Blood Orange. To quote Steve Coogan as the late great Anthony H Wilson, “this is the moment that the white man learns to dance”. And that is the point, this is an album that challenges every perception and opinion about heavy music and utterly disproves them. It is vital, colourful and full of vim and vigour. Wonderful.

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Another former winner of my coveted album of the year trophy (2017 for “Thrice Woven”). “Primordial Arcana” sees them step away from the ambient atmospherics and instead create an album that is for all intents and purposes a best of Black Metal. Opener ‘Mountain Magick’ sounds like “In the nightside Eclipse” era Emperor whilst ‘Through Eternal Fields’ brings to mind Darkthrone at their most atmospheric.

“Primordial Arcana” manages to capture perfectly the juxtaposition at the heart of Black Metal. The unholy alliance of decaying evil and majestic wonderment. Black Metal wants to be as nasty and anti-social as it can be (burning down churches was a sure-fire way to cause a stir in ultra-liberal Norway) but it wants to do that it in as flamboyant and grandiose way as possible. “Primordial Arcana” perfectly surfs this oxymoron.

It has replaced the Satan worship with a devotion to the natural environment and its big bad is humanity and its blindness to what it is doing to the planet. Previous albums were transcendental meditations about the wonderous of the world around us. “Primordial Arcana” is angry about we are doing to that very same world and uses caustic Black Metal to manifest that anger. Epic but also uncompromising, this is the sound of a band deciding that pro-active action is the only way forward.

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Veterans of this list, they scored the top spot back in 2009 with the sublime “Crack the Skye”. Since then, the subsequent three albums have all been in my end of year Top 10. This is something about the strength of this year’s release as “Hushed and Grain” is by far the best album they have made since “Crack the Skye” yet it only has made 23.

“Crack the Skye” was a once in a lifetime achievement and is certainly one of the best Heavy Metal albums ever made, if not one of best albums ever made. Ambitious, self-contained and utterly extraordinary, it singlehandedly revitalised the concept album and showed how it could work in the 21st century. Since then, they have struggled to live in its imposing shadow. “The Hunter” was an attempt to go mainstream and commercial that has not aged well and “Once More ‘Round the Sun” and “Emperor of the Sun” both tried (and failed) to recapture the alchemy and black magic that made “Crack the Sky” such an amazing album.

“Hushed and Grain” does not even bother to immolate its distinguished sibling and is all the better for it. Instead, we get an organic album that borrows as much from American folk as it does from Metal. This is a dark and reflective record that is deep, long and profound. Death and grief are familiar subjects with Mastodon but here they seem to actually contemplate them rather than rally against them. It is philosophical, challenging and probably their most mature record yet. It is still weighty and heavy, but that girth is used sparingly and therefore has more impact when it arrives.

There is a lot to take in here and certainly this is their most varied and diverse record. It may initially seem to be over-packed with diverse ideas but this one of those albums that unfurls over time. Creative and psychedelic, Mastodon finally seem to have exorcised the spectre of “Crack the Sky” by creating an album that is (almost) equally brilliant but sounds nothing like it.

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Everyone’s favourite reprobates swung back into action in 2019 in indomitable fashion. “Renaissance Men” was their best album since “Earth Vs. Wildhearts” and the swagger and tinkle in their collective eyes was very much back to stay. Fast forward two years (and one global pandemic) and we get the second instalment of this particular purple patch. Whereas “Renaissance Men” was very much a Wildhearts album and sounded like it had direct linage from their esteemed debut, “21st Century Love Songs” sees them take a sharp left into hitherto uncharted territory.

Across ten high octane sonic grenades, Ginger and co make daring raids on multiple genres including punk, glam rock and prog. There are even tracks were The Wildhearts sound like, whisper it, a proper Metal band. What is so striking about the record is its ambition and its openness to take risks. They could have played safe and made “Renaissance Men part 2”, but instead they opted to decisively flex their creative muscles and stretch their collective musical palettes as far as they could go. A diverse album that shows that the Wildhearts can produce a catchy sing along in any genre that they desire to stick their noses into.

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Surely a shoe in for best of lists everywhere, Green Lung have produced an album that manages to sound simultaneously vintage and thoroughly modern. They have taken folk Metal and given it a thoroughly British makeover. “Black Harvest” feels organic, expansive and part of a linage to stretches back through Jethro Tull and Black Widow. But there are new elements at play here. There are snatches of thrash and the malevolent spectre of Black Metal is never far away. “Black Harvest” feels like it re-writes the rule book and resets the clock in terms of pagan influenced Metal. It makes no pretense to follow a certain model or template and instead defiantly does its own thing. Warm, appealing and in places utterly joyous, it shows that folk Metal does not need to be camp or self-obsessed, but instead can be life-affirming and euphoric.

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