Metalenema Episode 12-23-2020 – Best Metal Albums of 2020!

/ black metal, death metal, heavy metal, metal, podcast, radio, speed metal, streaming, thrash metal / By

 

It turns out 2020 was an incredible
year for metal, despite being awful for virtually everything else.
The hits kept coming right up until the final bell, and we are here
to make sure you catch them all. That’s right, this list of “Best
metal of 2020” actually features nothing but actual metal bands!
How novel!

[DOWNLOAD IT HERE]

Notable stats from this year’s haul:

  • Germany takes this year’s MVP,
    along with many of the runner-ups, and Sweden and Finland remain in
    force, with notable assists from Greece and the US.

  • Our two most favored releases came
    out just in time to make their debuts on this episode.

  • Necrovore worship is officially a
    thing.

  • Ambush releases from established
    bands are also a new trend, which is fine by us. Hype is for scene
    kids who don’t actually know what they like.

Top 10 of 2020

  1. Omegavortex, “Black
    Abomination Spawn” (Invictus Productions)     – Continuing where
    house favorite Beyond left off, these psychotic Germans hurl forward
    into a vortex of unpolished, uncompromising death metal chaos. This
    was going to win our “best of” vote, not matter what, so it
    might as well be right fucking now!

  2. Abigor, “Totschläger (A
    Saintslayer’s Songbook)” (WTC Prod) –     Holy
    shit, new Abigor out of nowhere, and man is it good! All the twists
    and turns of the current era combined with the bombast and frenzy of
    the classic material. This would have taken the top slot if it
    wasn’t for Omegavortex coming out the week before.

  3. Sorcier Des Glaces, “Un Monde
    de Glace et de Sang” (Obscure Obhorrence) –     There’s
    nothing we like more than a new SDG album, especially when it’s a
    particularly good one! Quebec’s long-running black metal lords bring
    the     glace
    and the     sang just
    in time for our winter of discontent.

  4. Mavorim,
    “Axis Mundi” (Purity Through Fire) –     If
    you still miss Satyricon circa 1996, this Teutonic entry will bring
    you that and more with some well-appointed and imminently listenable
    black metal.

  5. Ectoplasma,
    “4 Doors to Death, Vol II V/A” (Unspeakable Axe)
    –     Four
    tracks on this split from these grisly Greek death metal upstarts
    were enough to make the grade. We can’t wait for the next
    full-length!

  6. Sanctifying
    Ritual, “Sanctifying Ritual” (Iron Bonehead Productions) –     If
    Morbid Angel had stuck with their “Abominations of Desolation”
    configuration for a follow-up, it probably would have sounded like
    this. Death metal of the old era, done the right way. No marketing
    acronyms required!

  7. Cultus
    Profano, “Accursed Possession” (Debemur Mortis Productions) –
    Easily
    one of the best current-era American black metal entries, Cultus
    Profano gets everything right with their excellent sophomore effort.

  8. Ordinance,
    “In Purge There is No Remission” (The Sinister Flame) –
    Finnish
    black metal with aggression, darkness, and atmosphere. It was one of
    the surprises of the year, and it rules big time.

  9. Black
    Curse, “Endless Wound” (Sepulchral Voice Productions) –     Better
    than all the other bands of which this is comprised, Black Curse
    broke out in a notable way on this debut full-length. It’s a dense
    and gripping piece of feral death metal worth hearing.

  10. Abyssfire,
    “The Raging Hearts of Hell” (Ridge ov Dragon) –     We
    don’t know much about this death/black band, except that they are
    new, from Russia, really good, and deserving of your attention!

    And
    the best of the rest:

  11. Abhomine Progeny Devoid Proselyte Parasite
    Plague
  12. Acherontas The Brazen Experimentalist Psychic Death –
    The Shattering of Perceptions
  13. Armagedda Guds kadaver (En falsk Messias) Svindeldjup Ättestup
  14. Ascendency Culling The Weak Birth Of An
    Eternal Empire
  15. Azarath Fall Of The Blessed Saint
    Desecration
  16. Cardiac Arrest Endless Dread The Day That
    Death Prevailed
  17. Cénotaphe Aux cieux antérieurs Monte Verità
  18. Deathsiege Poisonous Worlds Unworthy
    Adversary
  19. Deathsiege Victorious Dead Unworthy Adversary
  20. Enshadowed The Great Animist Stare into the
    Abyss
  21. Front Antichrist Militia
    Antichrist Militia
  22. Graceless Warpath Where Vultures
    Know Your Name
  23. Grafvitnir Into the Unknown Deaths Wings
    Widespread
  24. Ifernach In The Hollow Of The Togharmach The Green Enchanted Forest
    Of The Druid Wizard
  25. Ildskær Mellem Tvende Troner Den Rædsomste Nat
  26. Invincible Force Damned by Noise and Lust Decomposed Sacramentum
  27. Katavasia Triumphant Fate Magnus Venator
  28. Malicious Death Embalmed Deranged Hexes
  29. Mongrel’s Cross As a Being Undead Arcana, Scrying and
    Revelation
  30. Nawaharjan Warassuz Lokabrenna
  31. Nexul Partitioned By Severity Scythed Wings
    Of Poisonous Decay
  32. Novae Militiae Advent of the Prophet Topheth
  33. Ofermod Persisting to Die in Thee Pentagrammaton
  34. Ondskapt Old and Hideous Grimoire Ordo Devus
  35. Perdition Temple Desolation Usurper Sacraments of
    Descension
  36. Sulfure L’antre de la tarasque
    Neurotisme
  37. Todestriebe The Impossibility of Atonement In the Vortex of
    Destructive Creations
  38. Wargrinder Plague Descendants Ironclad
    Destroyer
  39. Warmoon Lord The Morningstar’s Descent Pure Cold Impurity
  40. Ymir Silvery Howling Ymir
  41. Yoth Iria Sid-Ed-Djinn Under His
    Sway