Heavy Metal Yeti's Best Metal Albums of 2018!

*Favourite Album Art*
Mammoth Grinder - Cosmic Crypt

   Earth's molten metal core has circled the sun once again and it's been a hell of a journey!! 2018 was a year full of ups and downs for metalheads as well. Machine Head as we know it called it quits, Batushka are on the rocks, Slayer played some of the last live shows we'll ever see, Blood Music is shutting down, social justice warriors took down Pestilence, Pat O'Brien from Cannibal Corpse got in trouble, Cory Taylor and Rob Flynn got mad at a bunch of people again, and Devildriver released a god damn country album. All the while over, way too may killer bands went on hiatus and we're still waiting for a new Tool album... As always I want to raise a glass and give cheers to the metalheads we lost this year. Rust in Peace Vinnie Paul, Erik Lindmark, Jill Janus, Bret Hoffmann, Mikio Fujioka, Randy Rampage, Carsten Otterbach, Oli Herbert, Stan Lee, and every other metalhead off to the great gig in the sky /,,/

   But all was not lost with the year of the never-ending Nightwish Tour producing some absolutely awesome live tours and some of the best metal releases I've heard in years! Killer new bands like Alien Weaponry and Conjurer released their first full length albums and heavy hitters like Between the Buried and Me and Pig Destroyer found their sound again, with Voice of Trespass being one of he most unique and progtastic metal songs I heard this year. Even better, while all this was happening some of the old guards like Judas Priest, Anvil, Satan, Voivod, Dimmu Borgir, Deicide, Metal Church, Kalmah, Venom, and Cryptospy all put out new material this year.

   It was hard to keep track of all the releases this year, but here are my top 20 albums of 2018! /,,/ For me, album of the year has changed a few times. When I made my list early in December, The Ocean Collective stole my heart with their latest release in geological time; Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic. Phanerozoic is a modern prog metal masterpiece, delivering unbelievable power and atmosphere throughout every song. I kept finding myself coming back to this album, for some reason eerily relating to the Sea Scorpions caught up in the great dying. But as the month went on and I kept listening to my top albums, Rivers of Nihil's Where Owls Know My Name had a bigger impact on me than it originally had earlier in the year. It is for this reason that I have moved them into the pole position as my favourite release of the year. There is something about death metal saxophone that is just too hard to resist I guess!

   While I may have missed a few releases here and there, these are my favourite and most listened to albums from the past year. If you haven't checked any of them out already, take some time to broaden your metal horizons! Cheers to all the metalheads around the world and here's hoping that the next few years take a lesson from 2018 and offer up some more magnificent metal for our headbanging pleasure. Feel free to post your top albums in the comments! /,,/

1. Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
Progressive/Technical Death Metal - Metal Blade Records
https://www.metalblade.com/riversofnihil

2. The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic 
Progressive Metal - Metal Blade Records
https://theocean.bandcamp.com

3. Inferi - Revenant
Melodic/Technical Death Metal - The Artisan Era 
https://inferi.bandcamp.com

4. Irreversible Mechanism - Immersion
Progressive Death Metal - Blood Records
https://blood-music.bandcamp.com

5. Between the Buried and Me - Automata I & II 
Progressive Metal - Sumerian Records
http://www.betweentheburiedandme.com

6. GOROD - ÆTHRA
Progressive/Technical Death Metal - Overpowered Records
https://youtu.be/GOROD

7. Beyond Creation - Algorythm
Progressive/Technical Death Metal - Season of Mist
https://beyondcreation.bandcamp.com

 8. Obscura - Diluvium
 Progressive/Technical Death Metal - Relapse Records
 https://obscura.bandcamp.com

 9. Alkaloid - Liquid Anatomy
Progressive/Technical Death Metal - Season of Mist
https://alkaloidsom.bandcamp.com

10. Revocation - The Outer Ones
Technical Death/Thrash Metal - Metal Blade Records
https://revocationband.bandcamp.com

11. Psycroptic - As the Kingdom Drowns 
Technical Death Metal - Prosthetic Records
http://psycroptic.com

12. Conjurer - Mire
Sludge / Doom Metal - Holy Roar Records
https://conjureruk.bandcamp.com

13. Alterbeast - Feast
Technical Death Metal - Unique Leader Records
https://uniqueleaderrecords.bandcamp.com/Alterbeast

14. Black Fast - Spectre of Ruin
Progressive Thrash Metal - eOne
https://youtu.be/BlackFast

15. Smoulder - The Sword Woman
Epic Doom Metal - Independent
https://smoulder.bandcamp.com

16. Horrendous - Idol 
Progressive Death Metal - Season of Mist
https://horrendoussom.bandcamp.com

 

17. At The Gates - To Drink From the Night Itself 
Melodic Death Metal - Century Media Records
http://atthegates.se

18. Judas Priest - Firepower 
Heavy Metal - Columbia Records
http://www.judaspriest.com

 

19. Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light
Melodic Death/Thrash Metal - Prosthetic Records
https://skeletonwitch.bandcamp.com

20. Khemmis - Desolation 
Doom Metal - 20 Buck Spin
https://listen.20buckspin.com/Khemmis

Honourable mentions: Sulphur Aeon, Cryptopsy, Kataklysm, Mammoth Grinder, Jungle Rot, Gravespell, Voivod, YOB, Kalmah, Gruesome, Immortal, Dee Snider, Necrophobic, Panopticon, Krisiun, Tomb Mold, Harakiri For The Sky, Soulfly, Skeletal Remains, Sleep, and all the other bands that made 2018 a kick ass year for metal!! /,,/

If you liked this list check out my past AOTY lists to see if there is anything you've missed!!
https://heavymetalsasquatch.blogspot.com/2018/03/heavy-metal-yetis-best-metal-albums-of.html
https://heavymetalsasquatch.blogspot.com/2016/12/metal-yetis-best-metal-albums-of-2015.html
https://heavymetalsasquatch.blogspot.com/2014/12/heavy-metal-sasquatchs-top-fourteen.html