Best Music of 2020
Anyway, here’s my favorite stuff that came out in 2020:
Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?
What can be said about this record? Svalbard are next level. They were a great hardcore band, and now they’re an amazing post-everything band. Svalbard are one of the most untouchable bands on the planet.
Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough Volume I
So it’s Bell Witch and it’s Aerial Ruin, and they blend seamlessly together to make the perfect slow burn doom album. This is the kind of album that I actively think “I should listen to Stygian Bough Volume 1” and then clear some time in my day to actually just sit there and take it in. It’s worth it.
Crippled Black Phoenix - Ellengæst
Cry of Love was definitely my favorite song of the year, and the rest of the album was solid, too. CBP continues their streak of jaw-droppingly consistent albums.
Unleash the Archers -Abyss
I’m not much of a power metal person. Unleash the Archers, though, completely transcends the genre. If I had to pick a single best record of the year, it would almost certainly be Abyss. This is front-to-back a perfectly written and played album. I think it helps Unleash the Archers a great deal that they’re approaching power metal from a heavier direction (their first album was much thrashier deathcore kind of stuff) which gives them, I would argue, a unique, more aggressive sound among their peers. In the world of power metal, it also helps that they seem like they’re having a blast and not taking themselves too seriously.
Killer Be Killed - Reluctant Hero
On paper, this doesn’t seem like something I’d be into. It’s a supergroup full of people from bands that don't feel like they would blend easily together with a kind of dumb band name playing groove metal AND YET this might be my favorite metal record of the year. It’s certainly the one I’ve listened to the most. Just a dense bunch of heavy, well written bangers.
Fuck the Facts - Pleine Noirceur
FtF were a pretty straight ahead grind band who then, this year, dropped… whatever this album is? It’s still a grind record, for sure, but they pretty thoroughly both raised the bar on and risen above the genre on this one.
Sólstafir - Endless Twilight of Codependent Love
Sólstafir is one of my favorite bands, but their last record was their least engaging in decades. Thankfully, they really righted the ship with this one, which maintains their increasingly dad-rock vibe while returning to form with regard to songwriting.
Zeal & Ardor - Wake of a Nation
One of the best bands in metal right now put out the most politically crucial album of the year. It’s a perfect distillation of the righteous rage at 2020 any decent person had eating them up all year long.
Electric Hydra - S/T
The best straight up heavy rock record of the year, full stop. I can’t stop listening.
Wake - Devouring Ruin and Confluence
Wake put out an album and an EP this year and they’re both fantastic blasts of their signature metal/grind/hardcore/sludge mix.
Wayfarer - A Romance With Violence
I’m not sure any band has been more aimed at me than a western-themed, atmospheric black metal band, and Wayfarer managed to reach new heights on their 2020 offering.
Feminazgul - No Dawn For Men
Feminazgul’s first full length is a wall-to-wall dive into atmospheric black metal perfection. At some point, we are all forced to look in the mirror and wonder why we'll never be as good as Margaret Killjoy. Also, my friend Trez did the artwork, so bonus points.
Battle Hag - Celestial Tyrant
The tagline on their Bandcamp page is “mighty riffs / far out licks” and…. yeah. That’s about right. This is some top notch, crushing doom that doesn’t skimp on either the heaviness or the melody. Great stuff.
Make Them Die Slowly - The Bodycount Continues
Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment
My dude Mick Kenney can sure pack riffs onto metal records, huh? Guess he had so many he needed two different bands to put out great albums this year.
Pallbearer - Forgotten Days
Deathwhite - Grave Image
So everyone is rightfully talking about how great the Pallbearer record is. And, yes, It’s fantastic. But on the “saddoom with a guy crooning over it” front, I actually think this Deathwhite record is top notch, as well. Either way, both of these records are masterworks of saddoom and you should put on both of them and just, like, you know. Think about stuff, man.
Spirit Adrift - Enlightened in Eternity
10/10 trad metal. Spirit Adrift keep getting better. This is what I put on when I play Dungeons & Dragons with my kid which, I cannot stress enough, is about the highest praise I can give a band.
Primitive Man - Immersion
Vile Creature - Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full
I know you heard all these, and I know you’ve seen all the top ten lists they made, and yeah they’re all that good. Bunch of wunderkinds playing doom.
Venom Prison - Primeval
One of my favorite death metal bands dropping a killer album to sum up my feelings on 2020.
REZN - Chaotic Divine
REZN is so good that I can even admit that they somehow make a saxophone work in metal. For real, though. One of the best stoner/doom bands on Earth right now. They’re heavy as anything.
Frayle - 1692
Frayle delivered on the promise of their EPs with their first full length. Easily one of the best bands in straight up doom right now.
The White Swan - Nocturnal Transmission
Only four songs, but it's such a good slab of trippy, heavy, grunge-inspired sludge that it can stand next to any full length on this list.
Cross Bringer - The Signs of Spiritual Delusion
Phantom Hymn - Catatonic Bliss
Toadeater - Bit To Ewigen Daogen
Here are my three favorite neocrusty releases of the year. Three great melting pot albums of hardcore, black metal, and crust. Each one got several spins from me.
Ulver - Flowers of Evil
Fotocrime - South of Heaven
Nomadic War Machine - Are We Not Monsters?
Rope Sect - The Great Flood
Four perfect gothpop/death rock releases this year. Each one has songs that got stuck in my head for days on end. I think I hummed Tough Skin by Fotocrime more than any song last year.
Orville Peck - Show Pony
God, his voice.
Steve Von Till - No Wilderness Deep Enough
Steve Von Till's solo stuff is consistently incredible, and this album is every bit as good as its predecessors. He can do more with fewer notes than almost anyone.
Zombi - 2020
Zombi's best record in... I don't know, decades? One of the most rock-oriented records they’ve done, reinventing their sound, while keeping the prog-synth-soundtrack core they've spent years refining intact.
The Budos Band - V
I can’t shake the feeling that if The Budos Band were to play whenever I walked into a room my life would be way better.
Hum - Inlet
Who'd have thought THIS was going to be a thing we'd be talking about?
Asshole Parade - Demo 2020
OR THIS?? Can Asshole Parade put out more records, please?
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