My favourite albums from 2021

1. 50

   Access All Worlds

   Iotunn

   

   

   Progressive metal | Melodic death metal

   Tracks:

   1. Voyage of the Garganey I
   2. Access All Worlds
   3. Laihem's Golden Pits
   4. Waves Below
   5. The Tower of Cosmic Nihility ●
   6. The Weaver System
   7. Safe Across the Endless Night

   n/a

2. 49

   Tales of Othertime

   Stormkeep

   

   

   Melodic black metal | Symphonic black metal

   Tracks:

   1. The Seer ●
   2. The Citadel
   3. A Journey Through Storms
   4. The Serpent's Stone
   5. An Ode to Dragons
   6. Eternal Majesty Manifest

   n/a

3. 48

   Infinite Granite

   Deafheaven

   

   

   Shoegaze | Post-rock

   Tracks:

   1. Shellstar
   2. In Blur
   3. Great Mass of Color
   4. Neptune Raining Diamonds
   5. Lament for Wasps ●
   6. Villain
   7. The Gnashing
   8. Other Language
   9. Mombasa

   n/a

4. 47

   Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike

   Kayo Dot

   

   

   Avent-garde metal | Progressive metal

   Tracks:

   1. The Knight Errant
   2. Brethren of the Cross ●
   3. Void in Virgo (The Nature of Sacrifice)
   4. Spectrum of One Colour
   5. Get out of the Tower
   6. The Necklace
   7. Epipsychidion

   n/a

5. 46

   Arrows

   Red Fang

   

   

   Stoner metal | Sludge metal

   Tracks:

   1. Take It Back
   2. Unreal Estate
   3. Arrows
   4. My Disaster
   5. Two High
   6. Anodyne ●
   7. Interop-Mod
   8. Fonzi Scheme
   9. Days Collide
   10. Rabbits in Hives
   11. Why
   12. Dr. Owl
   13. Funeral Coach

   n/a

6. 45

   The Ultra Vivid Lament

   Manic Street Preachers

   

   

   Alternative rock | Pop rock

   Tracks:

   1. Still Snowing in Sapporo
   2. Orwellian
   3. The Secret He Had Missed ●
   4. Quest for Ancient Colour
   5. Don't Let the Night Divide Us
   6. Diapause
   7. Complicated Illusions
   8. Into the Waves of Love
   9. Blank Diary Entry
   10. Happy Bored Alone
   11. Afterending

   n/a

7. 44

   Subjects

   Scale the Summit

   

   

   Progressive metal

   Tracks:

   1. Form & Finite ●
   2. Don't Mind Me
   3. Daggers & Cloak
   4. Dissemble
   5. Jackhammer Ballet
   6. The Land of Nod
   7. A New Way
   8. Space Cadet

   n/a

8. 43

   The Nightmare of Being

   At the Gates

   

   

   Melodic death metal

   Tracks:

   1. Spectre of Extinction
   2. The Paradox
   3. The Nightmare of Being ●
   4. Garden of Cyrus
   5. Touched by the White Hands of Death
   6. The Fall into Time
   7. Cult of Salvation
   8. The Abstract Enthroned
   9. Cosmis Pessimism
   10. Eternal Winter of Reason

   n/a

9. 42

   This Is How the World Ends

   Badflower

   

   

   Alternative rock | Post-hardcore

   Tracks:

   1. Adoloscent Love
   2. Fukboi
   3. Family ●
   4. Johnny Wants to Fight
   5. Stalker
   6. Everyone an Asshole
   7. She Knows
   8. Only Love
   9. Sasshole
   10. Don't Hate Me
   11. Tethered
   12. Machine Gun
   13. My Funeral

   n/a

10. 41

    The Dark

    Delta Rae

    

    

    Gothic Americana | Folk rock

    Tracks:

    1. The Beast
    2. Come Back Alive
    3. Take off Your Shoes ●
    4. All Good People
    5. Out of the Badlands
    6. Shadows of Vegas
    7. Somewhere in the Desert
    8. I Go to Work
    9. Last Words
    10. Never Coming Back
    11. Goddamn Shame
    12. Pay No Rent

    n/a

11. 40

    Twin Dream

    Glassing

    

    

    Post-metal | Atmospheric sludge metal

    Tracks:

    1. Spire
    2. Burden
    3. Absolute Virtue
    4. Faint
    5. Twin Dream
    6. Godless Night ●
    7. Doppler
    8. Among the Stars
    9. Where Everything Is Still
    10. True North
    11. At Long Last

    n/a

12. 39

    Inpariquipê

    Kaátaíra

    

    

    Avant-folk | Post-metal

    Tracks:

    1. Tiquindê
    2. Inpariquipê ●
    3. Ãráiãsaiê
    4. Dundararaiê
    5. Iasá

    n/a

13. 38

    Aphelion

    Leprous

    

    

    Progressive rock | Art rock

    Tracks:

    1. Running Low
    2. Out of Here
    3. Silhouette
    4. All the Moments
    5. Have You Ever?
    6. The Silent Revelation ●
    7. The Shadow Side
    8. On Hold
    9. Castaway Angels
    10. Nighttime Disguise

    n/a

14. 37

    De Doorn

    Amenra

    

    

    Post-metal | Sludge metal | Dark ambient

    Tracks:

    1. Ogentroost ●
    2. De Dood in Bloei
    3. De Evenmens
    4. Het Gloren
    5. Voor Immer

    n/a

15. 36

    A Beautiful Life

    Heartless Bastards

    

    

    Alternative rock | Art rock

    Tracks:

    1. Revolution
    2. How Low
    3. When I Was Younger
    4. You Never Know
    5. A Beautiful Life
    6. The River
    7. Photograph
    8. Dust
    9. Went Around the World ●
    10. Doesn't Matter Now
    11. The Thinker

    n/a

16. 35

    God Is Partying

    Andrew W.K.

    

    

    Hard rock | Heavy metal

    Tracks:

    1. Everybody Sins
    2. Babalon ●
    3. No One to Know
    4. Stay True to Your Heart
    5. Goddess Partying
    6. I'm in Heaven
    7. Remember Your Oath
    8. My Tower
    9. And Then We Blew Apart

    n/a

17. 34

    Moonflowers

    Swallow the Sun

    

    

    Death-doom | Gothic metal

    Tracks:

    1. Moonflowers Bloom in Misery
    2. Enemy
    3. Woven into Sorrow
    4. Keep Your Hart Safe from Me
    5. All Hallows' Grieve
    6. The Void
    7. The Fight of Your Life
    8. This House Has No Home ●

    n/a

18. 33

    Glow on

    Turnstile

    

    

    Hardcore punk | Melodic hardcore

    Tracks:

    1. Mystery
    2. Blackout
    3. Don't Play ●
    4. Underwater Boi
    5. Holiday
    6. Humanoid / Shake It up
    7. Endless
    8. Fly Again
    9. Alien Love Call
    10. Wild Wrld
    11. Dance-off
    12. New Heart Design
    13. T.L.C.
    14. No Surprise
    15. Lonely Dezires

    n/a

19. 32

    Bloodmoon: I

    Converge & Chelsea Wolfe

    

    

    Post-metal | Sludge metal

    Tracks:

    1. Blood Moon ●
    2. Viscera of Men
    3. Coil
    4. Flower Moon
    5. Tongues Playing Dead
    6. Lord of Liars
    7. Failure Forever
    8. Scorpion's Sting
    9. Daimon
    10. Crimson Stone
    11. Blood Dawn

    n/a

20. 31

    Doom Crew Inc.

    Black Label Society

    

    

    Heavy metal | Southern metal

    Tracks:

    1. Set You Free ●
    2. Destroy and Conquer
    3. You Made Me Want to Live
    4. Forever and a Day
    5. End of Days
    6. Ruins
    7. Forsaken
    8. Love Reign Down
    9. Gospel of Lies
    10. Shelter Me
    11. Gather All My Sins
    12. Farewell Ballad

    n/a

21. 30

    The Darkest Skies Are the Brightest

    Anneke van Giersbergen

    

    

    Alternative rock

    Tracks:

    1. Agape
    2. Hurricane ●
    3. My Promise
    4. I Saw a Car
    5. The Soul Knows
    6. The End
    7. Keep It Simple
    8. Lo and Behold
    9. Losing You
    10. Survive
    11. Love You Like I Love You

    n/a

22. 29

    As Blue as Indigo

    Tigercub

    

    

    Alternative rock

    Tracks:

    1. As Blue as Indigo
    2. Sleepwalker ●
    3. Blue Mist in My Head
    4. Stop Beating on My Heart (Like a Bass Drum)
    5. Funeral
    6. Built to Fall
    7. Shame
    8. As Long as You're Next to Me
    9. Beauty
    10. In the Autumn of My Years

    n/a

23. 28

    The Bleeding Veil

    In Mourning

    

    

    Melodic death metal | Progressive metal

    Tracks:

    1. Sovereign
    2. At the Behest of Night ●
    3. Solitude and Silence
    4. Thornwalker
    5. Blood in the Furrows
    6. Lights on the Mire
    7. Beyond Thunder

    n/a

24. 27

    Medicine at Midnight

    Foo Fighters

    

    

    Alternative rock | Hard rock

    Tracks:

    1. Making a Fire
    2. Shame Shame
    3. Cloudspotter
    4. Waiting on a War
    5. Medicine at Midnight ●
    6. No Son of Mine
    7. Holding Poison
    8. Chasing Birds
    9. Love Dies Young

    n/a

25. 26

    A View from the Top of the World

    Dream Theater

    

    

    Progressive metal

    Tracks:

    1. The Alien
    2. Answering the Call ●
    3. Invisible Monster
    4. Sleeping Giant
    5. Transcending Time
    6. Awaken the Master
    7. A View from the Top of the World

    n/a

26. 25

    Anti

    White Void

    

    

    Progressive rock | Hard rock

    Tracks:

    1. Do. Not. Sleep.
    2. There Is No Freedom but the End
    3. Where You Go, You'll Bring Nothing
    4. The Shovel and the Cross
    5. This Apocalypse Is for You
    6. All Chains Rust, All Men Die
    7. The Fucking Violence of Love ●
    8. The Air Was Thick with Smoke

    n/a

27. 24

    Vadak

    Thy Catafalque

    

    

    Avant-garde metal | Progressive metal

    Tracks:

    1. Szarvas
    2. Köszöntsd a hajnalt
    3. Gömböc
    4. Az energiamegmaradás törvénye
    5. Móló ●
    6. A kupolaváros titka
    7. Kiscsikó (Irénke dala)
    8. Piros-sárga
    9. Vadak (Az átváltozás rítusai)
    10. Zúzmara

    n/a

28. 23

    The Future Bites

    Steven Wilson

    

    

    Synth-pop | Progressive pop

    Tracks:

    1. Unself
    2. Self
    3. King Ghost
    4. 12 Things I Forgot
    5. Eminent SLeaze
    6. Man of the People
    7. Personal Shopper ●
    8. Follower
    9. Count of Unease

    n/a

29. 22

    Consolamentum

    Year of No Light

    

    

    Post-metal | Atmospheric sludge metal

    Tracks:

    1. Objurgation
    2. Alètheia ●
    3. Interdit aux vivants, aux morts et aux chiens
    4. Réalgar
    5. Came

    n/a

30. 21

    The Million Masks of God

    Manchester Orchestra

    

    

    Alternative rock | Progressive rock

    Tracks:

    1. Inaudible
    2. Angel of Death ●
    3. Keel Timing
    4. Bed Head
    5. Annie
    6. Telepath
    7. Let It Storm
    8. Dinosaur
    9. Obstacle
    10. Way Back
    11. The Internet

    n/a

31. 20

    Surface Sounds

    Kaleo

    

    

    Blues rock | Indie rock

    Tracks:

    1. Brother Run Fast ●
    2. Break My Baby
    3. Alter Ego
    4. Free the Slave
    5. Skinny
    6. Hey Gringo
    7. My Fair Lady
    8. I Want More
    9. Backbone
    10. I Walk on Water
    11. Into My Mother's Arms

    n/a

32. 19

    Mortal Coil

    Dödsrit

    

    

    Melodic black metal

    Tracks:

    1. The Third Door
    2. Shallow Graves
    3. Mortal Coil ●
    4. Apathetic Tongues

    n/a

33. 18

    In the Court of the Dragon

    Trivium

    

    

    Thrash metal | Metalcore

    Tracks:

    1. X
    2. In the Court of the Dragon
    3. Like a Sword over Damocles
    4. Feast of Fire
    5. A Crisis of Revelation ●
    6. The Shadow of the Abbatoir
    7. No Way Back Just Through
    8. Fall into Your Hands
    9. From Dawn to Decadence
    10. The Phalanx

    n/a

34. 17

    OK Human

    Weezer

    

    

    Baroque pop | Pop rock

    Tracks:

    1. All My Favorite Songs
    2. Aloo Gobi
    3. Grapes of Wrath ●
    4. Numbers
    5. Playing My Piano
    6. Mirror Image
    7. Screens
    8. Bird with a Broken Wing
    9. Dead Roses
    10. Everything Happens for a Reason
    11. Here Comes the Rain
    12. La Brea Tar Pits

    n/a

35. 16

    Migration

    Bossk

    

    

    Post-metal | Atmospheric sludge metal

    Tracks:

    1. White Stark
    2. Menhir ●
    3. Iter
    4. HTV-3
    5. Kibo
    6. Lira
    7. Unberth

    n/a

36. 15

    Deceiver

    Khemmis

    

    

    Epic doom metal

    Tracks:

    1. Avernal Gate
    2. House of Cadmus
    3. Living Pyre
    4. Shroud of Lethe ●
    5. Obsidian Crown
    6. The Astral Road

    n/a

37. 14

    Eternal Blue

    Spiritbox

    

    

    Metalcore | Progressive metal

    Tracks:

    1. Sun Killer
    2. Hurt You
    3. Yellowjacket
    4. The Summit
    5. Secret Garden
    6. Silk in the Strings
    7. Holy Roller ●
    8. Eternal Blue
    9. We Live in a Strange World
    10. Halcyon
    11. Circle with Me
    12. Constance

    n/a

38. 13

    Marching in Time

    Tremonti

    

    

    Alternative metal | Hard rock

    Tracks:

    1. A World Away
    2. Now and Forever
    3. If Not for You
    4. Thrown Further
    5. Let That Be Us
    6. The Last One of Us
    7. In One Piece
    8. Under the Sun
    9. Not Afraid to Lose
    10. Bleak
    11. Would You Kill
    12. Marching in Time ●

    n/a

39. 12

    Echoes from a Mass

    Greenleaf

    

    

    Stoner rock | Heavy psych

    Tracks:

    1. Tides
    2. Good God I Better Run Away
    3. Needle in My Eye ●
    4. Love Undone
    5. Bury Me My Son
    6. A Hand of Might
    7. March on Higher Grounds
    8. Hang on
    9. On Wings of Gold
    10. What Have We Become

    n/a

40. 11

    Strength

    Unto Others

    

    

    Gothic metal | Gothic rock

    Tracks:

    1. Heroin
    2. Downtown
    3. When Will Gods Work Be Done ●
    4. No Children Laughing Now
    5. Destiny
    6. Little Bird
    7. Why
    8. Just a Matter of Time
    9. Hell Is for Children
    10. Summer Lightning
    11. Instinct
    12. Strength

    n/a

41. 10

    Resident Human

    Wheel

    

    

    Progressive metal | Progressive rock

    Tracks:

    1. Dissipating ●
    2. Movement
    3. Ascend
    4. Hyperion
    5. Fugue
    6. Resident Human
    7. Old Earth

    n/a

42. 9

    Senjutsu

    Iron Maiden

    

    

    Progressive metal | Heavy metal

    Tracks:

    1. Senjutsu
    2. Stratego
    3. The Writing on the Wall
    4. Lost in a Lost World
    5. Days of Future Past
    6. The Time Machine
    7. Darkest Hour
    8. Death of the Celts
    9. The Parchment
    10. Hell on Earth ●

    This has been the one Iron Maiden album that took me the longest to love. And I think that's partially due to its barrage of mid-tempo epics and the relatively weak opening half for a Maiden album. Having said that, it is also one of their most interesting ones. I think over time this will reach the status of A Matter of Life and Death. If for nothing else, it will go down in history as having one of the finest songs they have ever penned, "Hell on Earth".

43. 8

    Witness

    Vola

    

    

    Progressive metal

    Tracks:

    1. Straight Lines ●
    2. Head Mounted Sideways
    3. 24 Light-Years
    4. These Black Claws
    5. Freak
    6. Napalm
    7. Future Bird
    8. Stone Leader Falling Down
    9. Inside Your Fur

    One of the finest bands to come out of Denmark, Vola's sound oscillates between old fashioned prog anorakism and modern instrumentation that is heavy on subtlety. Witness is such an album. Take the opener "Straight Lines", which starts off in a very djenty syncopating riffage which turns into a singalong chorus backed by keyboards that wouldn't be out of place in a David Guetta song. And the whole album carries on in that fashion; it constantly reminds you to pay attention to it. Wonderful stuff.

44. 7

    Monuments

    The Vintage Caravan

    

    

    Stoner rock | Hard rock

    Tracks:

    1. Whispers
    2. Crystallized
    3. Can't Get You off My mind
    4. Dark Times ●
    5. This One's for You
    6. Forgotten
    7. Sharp Teeth
    8. Hell
    9. Torn in Two
    10. Said & Done
    11. Clarity

    A rifftastic barrage of psychedelic hard rock that in unashamedly set in the 1970s, the album is retro rock done right. It is unmistakably influenced by the likes of Hawkwind and Deep Purple, but it also sounds incredibly fresh and exciting like they've just discovered a brand new genre. From the proggy "Crystallized" and through the wonderful "Dark Times", there isn't a dull moment or groove wasted.

45. 6

    Hushed and Grim

    Mastodon

    

    

    Progressive metal | Sludge metal

    Tracks:

    1. Pain with an Anchor
    2. The Crux
    3. Sickle and Peace
    4. More Than I Could Chew
    5. The Beast
    6. Skeleton of Splendor
    7. Teardrinker ●
    8. Pushing the Tides
    9. Peace and Tranquility
    10. Dagger
    11. Had It All
    12. Savage Lands
    13. Gobblers of Dregs
    14. Eyes of Serpents
    15. Gigantium

    An album that needs a lot of unpacking, Hushed and Grim finally sees the band nail the vocals. Over the course of its 15 mind-bending tunes, Mastodon take listeners through a variety of moods and rhythms. Despite its length, it still feels like it's part of something bigger and we're only getting a glimpse. "Pain with an Anchor" starts off like a song hacked in two and forces the listener to perk up right away. "Teardrinker" is an amalgamation of all the different styles they've tried out over the years and "Pushing the Tides" carries on that polyrhythmic riffage that only Mastodon can pull off.

46. 5

    Colors II

    Between the Buried and Me

    

    

    Avant-garde metal | Progressive metal

    Tracks:

    1. Monochrome
    2. The Double Helix of Exinction
    3. Revolution in Limbo
    4. Fix the Error
    5. Never Seen / Future Shock
    6. Stare intoo the Abyss
    7. Prehistory
    8. Bad Habits
    9. The Future Is Behind Us ●
    10. Turbulent
    11. Sfumato
    12. Human Is Hell (Another One with Love)

    Sequel albums don't always work well (hi, Queensrÿche), especially when bands try to follow up on a fan favourite. But Between the Buried and Me totally nailed the assignment here. In fact, Colors II is even better than Colors. This is a band that is firing on all cylinders and rightfully carve their name at the top of the progressive metal echelon. Complex, catchy, melancholic, and cathartic all at the same time.

47. 4

    ... And Again into the Light

    Panopticon

    

    

    Post-metal | Americana

    Tracks:

    1. ... And Again into the Light
    2. Dead Loons
    3. Rope Burn Exit
    4. A Snowless Winter ●
    5. Moth Eaten Soul
    6. As Golden Laughter Echoes
    7. The Embers at Dawn
    8. Know Hope

    n/a

48. 3

    Persona Non Grata

    Exodus

    

    

    Thrash metal

    Tracks:

    1. Persona Non Grata
    2. R.E.M.F.
    3. Slipping into Madness ●
    4. Elitist
    5. Prescribing Horror
    6. The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)
    7. The Years of Death and Dying
    8. Clickbait
    9. Cosa del Pantano
    10. Lunatic-Liar-Lord
    11. The Fires of Division
    12. Antiseed

    Exodus has not had a dud this century and it all seem to have culminated with this thrash masterpiece. It's one bludgeoningly heavy riff after another, all delivered in an endless loop of grooves abd melodies. It's unrelentingly heavy and catchy at the same time. "Slipping into Madness", "Prescribing Horro" and "The Years of Death and Dying" are thrash metal done right.

49. 2

    Imperial

    Soen

    

    

    Progressive metal | Alternative metal

    Tracks:

    1. Lumerian
    2. Deceiver
    3. Monarch
    4. Illusion
    5. Antagonist
    6. Modesty
    7. Dissident ●
    8. Fortune

    This was my first foray into Soen, the band founded by ex-Opeth drummer Martin Lopez. This is progressive metal that doesn't rely solely on frenetic and complex instrumentation. What it eschews in overly complex arrangements, it makes up for catchy and emotional songs that soar and plunge all so subtly. And it's all delivered with a barrage of pretty impressive riffage. Check out "Monarch", "Illusion", or "Dissident" and you will not be disappointed.

50. 1

    Fortitude

    Gojira

    

    

    Progressive metal | Groove metal

    Tracks:

    1. Born for One Thing
    2. Amazonia
    3. Another World
    4. Hold on
    5. New Found
    6. Fortitude
    7. The Chant ●
    8. Sphinx
    9. Into the Storm
    10. The Trails
    11. Grind

    Gojira are at the height of their popularity and craft with this album. It is decidedly not as heavy as anything they've released, but that doesn't mean the intensity isn't there. Regardless of where you stand in your fandom of the band, there is no denying their genius as songwriters. The gorgeous "The Chant", the immensely catchy "Amazonia", the melancholic "Another World" and the weird and wonderful "Sphinx" are songs any band would kill to have made.