2020 Year End Review - Eric's Picks

2020 was pretty bogus… outside of the music, that is. For rock and metal fans, it actually shaped up to be a pretty damn good year. There wasn't a runaway hit album for me (any of my top 5 could have taken the top spot depending on the day of the week), but there was so much quality that it was hard to narrow things down to just 15 albums. But these times call for pain and sacrifice, and I'm willing to do what must be done for my fellow citizens. Without further ado…

15. Irist - Order of the Mind

Spotify’s autoplay feature kept slipping Irist in at the end of other albums I was listening to all year. It wasn’t long before I took the bait, and I’m glad I did. Irist wear their influences (Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan, and a whole lot of Gojira) on their sleeves, but they shape those influences into the kind of full, dynamic sound that many bands struggle their careers to create. An impressive album by any measure, but a really stunning debut effort.

14. Sepultura - Quadra

The Green-era of Sepultura continues to make the case for itself being every bit as relevant as the Max-era. If you’re not sold by now, you probably never will be. Quadra is full of rippers, but it’s the album-closing slow-burn of ‘Agony of Defeat’ that stuck with me all year.

13. Onslaught - Generation Antichrist

It’s been a while since I checked in with Onslaught, so I can’t speak to the quality of their output since the 80’s. I’ve got to imagine this is a pretty big comeback album for them, because if the rest of their output has been this good, I’ve really been missing out. Killer thrash tunes with great vocals hooks, delivered with convincing venom by new singer Dave Garnett.

12. Detonator - Volume One

I don’t know why the excellent Spittin’ Cobras would opt to change their band name over a drummer change, but whatever. If you never heard the Spittin’ Cobras’ brand of hard-charging rock-and-roll, you need to. And then you’ll definitely want to hear Detonator, because they’re essentially the same band and they still kick ass.

11. Disastroid - Mortal Fools

2020 was a good year for bringing back the mid-90’s grunge sound, and nobody did it more furiously than Disastroid. Check out my Mortal Fools review for more on this grunge-metal master blaster.

10. Jonny Polonsky - Power and Greed and Money and Sex and Death

2020 didn’t have a lot going for it. But there were a few things in the win column and two of them were Jonny Polonsky albums. Kingdom of Sleep was an early-year mainstay for me. PAGAMASAD is even better—a well-rounded rock album full of spirit and beauty—and the best Jonny Polonsky album since Intergalactic Messenger. 

9. Maggot Heart - Mercy Machine

Quoting from my review of Mercy Machine, “Maggot Heart seem to have hit their stride with Mercy Machine, delivering a strong collection of songs that lives up to the band’s impressive musical aesthetic. Fans of Olsson's previous bands, who also like their rock with plenty of razor sharp edges, may just have a new favorite band in Maggot Heart.”

8. Armored Saint - Punching The Sky

I said it before, I’ll say it again. Armored Saint have never sounded better, and John Bush still makes me want to be a better man.

7. Division of Laura Lee - Apartment

I think I like this album even more than when I reviewed it earlier this year. Another fine example of why DOLL are one of my favorite rock bands.

6. Carcass - Despicable

I wrote a track-by-track review of Despicable on our Instagram feed (pleeeeease follow us, please!). In sum, “I can see how old-school Carcass fans might feel this song (and the EP in general) is an unwelcome step back towards the Swansong days, but I think this is the perfect blend of that era with Surgical Steel.” I couldn’t stop listening to this thing.

5. Verbal Razors - By Thunder and Lightning

A wise man once wrote, “Verbal Razors fucking rip, bro. If this album doesn't tear your face off, then you must have gorilla-glued that shit on like some sort of weirdo.” Best thrash album of 2020, and there was some decent competition.

4. Kvelertak - SPLID

It’s tough to articulate what makes Kvelertak such a great band. Hell, it’s tough to even describe them in a way that doesn’t sound run-of-the-mill. They’re a very metal rock band who more often than not sing in Norwegian. Their songs are quite good, but no individual track is going to knock your socks off. And yet the cumulative effect of Splid sneaks up on you. This album is just plain fun and arguably their best yet.

3. Local H - LIFERS

I’ve spent most of my adult life thinking I don’t like Local H, and I’m not sure why (Ometer Chad claims we had a bad experience seeing them perform with Failure a few decades back, but I have no memory of it). In any event, Ometer Chris insisted I check this out, and I was blown away. This is what I wish QOTSA still sounded like, with a dash of what I wish Foo Fighters still sounded like, mixed with a bit of what Shiner has always sounded like. I love every song on this album with the exception of ‘High, Wired, and Stupid’ which sounds an awful lot like what I thought Local H sounded like. No worries, though—program that out, and you’ve got 51 minutes of the best alternative rock of 2020.

2. Khôra - Timaeus

From my review of Timaeus: “While I initially lamented the lack of killer vocal hooks or noteworthy riffs, Khôra's magic is all in the compositions. The songs frequently segue from chaotic maelstrom to psychedelic eddy and back again, but the tone changes always feel purposeful, each one an important step forward on a bizarre, dark odyssey.”

1. Dark Fortress - Spectres From The Old World

As I said when I reviewed Spectres From the Old World back in July, “Dark Fortress are an awesome progressive, blackened death metal band who’ve been around forever and feature V. Santura from Triptykon on guitar and Florian Magnus Maier from Alkaloid on vocals...Spectres is an AOTY contender for me.” There was a lot of quality rock and metal in 2020, but nothing ever unseated Dark Fortress.

Honorable Mentions:

I liked all of these albums quite a bit and was a little sad I couldn’t include them on this list, so I’ll include them on this list:

• Horned Almighty - To Fathom the Master’s Grand Design
• Mora Prokaza - By Chance
• Enslaved - Utgard
• Toehider - I LIKE IT
• Napalm Death - Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
• ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - X: The Godless Void and I’m Tired of Typing This Title
• Katatonia - City Burials
• Vader - Solitude in Madness

Best News From 2020:

Ok, second best news, just after the development of the life-saving vaccines coming our way next year: MANTIC RITUAL IS BACK!!!!