Heavy Metal Yeti's Best Metal Albums of 2020!

*Favourite Album Art*
Autoinducer - Germophobe

    One more time around the great celestial mosh pit brings us together again to take a look at some of our favourite metal albums of the last rotation. Last year I made an effort to get out to every single live show that caught my eye and this year I find myself in the biggest concert drought of my adult life. Things were a bit different this year due to a certain virus impacting every aspect of our lives. I think it may have even influenced my choice for favourite album art of the year... #Germophobe

    While all has been relatively well at Yeti HQ, I am desperately looking forward the days that I can feel the bass drum in my chest and clash with my brothers and sisters in the pit once again! There's been a silver lining to this madness however as 2020 was a year of live streams, drive in concerts, and metalhead innovation at its finest with some of metal's greatest talents taking to platforms like Twitch to connect with fans and create new avenues for support with no touring on the horizon. There's a reason we are the dominate species on this planet and we will weather this storm.

    Some fantastic metal albums came out this year! The underground continued to spew out wicked new releases with bands like Cryptic Shift, Undeath, Sweven, and Odious Mortem really catching my eye along with many new devastating death metal releases across the spectrum. So many bands delivered huge this year and there were certainly many front runners for AOTY depending on your taste. For me personally this list changes depending on my current state of mind but The Ocean Collective, Ulcerate, Intervals, and Eternal Champion absolutely crushed it without a doubt. We also got killer albums from metal giants like Napalm Death, Annihilator, Paradise Lost, Vader, Incantation, Benediction, Sepultura, Lamb of God, Testament, Ozzy, and Dark Tranquility. We even got some new Deftones and on top of all this, Carcass released an EP this year which could be an omen of things to come!

    Sadly though we lost way too many legends this year. Rest in peace Sean Malone, Sean Reinert, Reed Mullin, Neil Peart, Riley Gale, Eddie Van Halen, Pete Way, Peter Green, Brent Young, Lee Kerslake, Frankie Banali, Gordon Haskell, Alex Trebek, Mitch, Merlin and every other metalhead off to the great gig in the sky.

    I don't have much to report on this year for live shows with a everyone in the same boat of disappointment for cancelled or rescheduled festivals and shows. Missing the Mayhem/Abbath tour as well as the "evening with" double set Between the Buried and Me show hurt the worst for me I think. I did manage to get out to the Metallica drive in concert "PANDEMICA" and while it was nice to get out on a summer night to blast metal with friends outside of my living room, the pre-recorded show paled in comparison to some of the live streams we got this year. Speaking of live streams, god damn we had some gems. I watched Between the Buried and Me play Colors in its entirety sitting in a lawn chair on the edge of a lake in Northern Ontario. While I think every band gave us some sort of stream, some of my favourites were from BTBAM, Devin Townsend, Blood Incantation, Temple of Night, Lamb of God, Tesseract, and Obituary.   

    Overall, it's been one hell of a year for the human race and I find myself more than ever relying on the raw power of the music I love to keep me going. I hope everyone reading this is making out okay, and if you're not, keep holding on because sunny days and muddy festivals are on the way. Plague aside, it was another incredible year for metal releases. We all have a lot to look forwarrd to next year and all I can say is that the first mosh pit back is going to be an ABSOLUTE MASSACRE!! In the meantime, here are 30 of my favourite metal albums of 2020!! Cheers to every metalhead supporting underground music during these difficult months as we wait for the return of live shows and normal life! If we all mask up when needed and wash our dirty-ass hands, maybe we can have some live music sooner rather than later!! Cheers! /../;,,;/../

1. Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still
Technical Death Metal - Debemur Morti Productions
https://ulcerate.bandcamp.com/

2. Intervals - Circadian
Progressive Metal - Independent Release
https://intervalsmusic.bandcamp.com

3. Question - Reflections of the Void
Death Metal - Chaos Records
https://question-chaos-records.bandcamp.com/

4. Scarab - Martyrs of the Storm
Death Metal - ViciSolum Records
https://vicisolumrecords.com/album/martyrs-of-the-storm

5. Inferi - Of Sunless Realms
Technical Death Metal - The Artisan Era
https://inferi.bandcamp.com/

6. Odious Mortem - Synesthesia
Technical Death Metal - Willowtip Records
https://odiousmortem.bandcamp.com

7. The Ocean Collective - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic
Progressive Metal - Metal Blade Records
https://theocean.bandcamp.com

8. Bedsore - Hypnagogic Hallucinations
Progressive Death Metal - 20 Buck Spin
https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/hypnagogic-hallucinations

9. Cryptic Shift - Visitations from Enceladus
Technical Death Metal - Blood Harvest
https://cryptic-shift.bandcamp.com/

10. Spirit Adrift - Enlightened In Eternity
Heavy/Doom Metal - 20 Buck Spin
https://spiritadrift.bandcamp.com

11. Uada - Djinn
Melodic Black Metal - Eisenwald
https://uada.bandcamp.com

12. Temple of Void - The World That Was
Death/Doom Metal - Shadow Kingdom Records
https://templeofvoid.bandcamp.com

13. Necrot - Mortal
Death Metal - Tankcrimes
https://necrot.bandcamp.com

14. Sylosis - Cycle of Suffering
Melodic Thrash Metal - Nuclear Blast
https://www.sylosis-band.com

15. Havukruunu- Uinuos Syömein Sota
Black Metal - Naturmacht Productions
https://hammerstunde.bandcamp.com

16. Testament - Titans of Creation
Thrash Metal - Nuclear Blast
http://www.testamentlegions.com

17. Protest The Hero - Palimpsest
Progressive Metal - Independent Release
https://protestthehero.bandcamp.com

18. Mors Principium Est- Seven
Melodic Death Metal -  AFM Records
https://merchbooth.net/mors-principium-est

19. Undeath - Lesions of a Different Kind
Death Metal - Prosthetic Records
https://undeath.bandcamp.com

20. Hellripper - The Affair of the Poisons
Black/Speed Metal - Peaceville Records
https://hellripper.bandcamp.com

21. Skeleton - Skeleton
Thrash/Black Metal - 20 Buck Spin
https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/skeleton

22. Benediction - Scriptures
Death Metal - Nuclear Blast
https://benedictionband.bigcartel.com

23. VoidCeremony: Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel
Progressive Death Metal - 20 Buck Spin
https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/entropic-reflections-continuum-dimensional-unravel

24. Intronaut - Fluid Existential Inversions
Progressive Metal - Metal Blade Records
https://www.facebook.com/Intronaut

25. Sojourner - Premonitions
Atmospheric Black Metal - Napalm Records
https://sojournermetal.bandcamp.com

26. Carnation - Where Death Lies
Death Metal - Season of Mist
https://www.carnationband.com

27. Ulthar - Providence
Death Metal - 20 Buck Spin
https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/providence

28. Eternal Champion - Ravening Iron
Epic Heavy Metal - Independent Release
https://eternalchampion.bandcamp.com

29. Esoctrilihum - Eternity of Shaog
Black Metal - I, Voidhanger Records
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com

30. Void Rot - Descending Pillars
Death/Doom Metal - Everlasting Spew Records
https://voidrot.bandcamp.com/

EP OF THE YEAR:
Lutharö - Wings of Agony (EP)
Melodic Death Metal - Independent Release
https://lutharoband.bandcamp.com

Honourable mentions: Incantation, Abysmal Dawn, Napalm Death, Defeated Sanity, Skeletal Remains, Black Crown Initiate, Midnight, Draconian, Vile Creature, Imperial Triumphant, Sepultura, Havok, Dark Tranquility, Pyrrhon, Contrarian, Paradise Lost, Ripped to Shreds, Vader, Primitive Man, Paradise Lost, and so so many more!

If you're looking for even more new music to check out, here are my AOTY lists from previous years!
2019 - https://heavymetalsasquatch.blogspot.com/2019/12/heavy-metal-yetis-best-metal-albums-of.html
2018 - https://heavymetalsasquatch.blogspot.com/2018/12/heavy-metal-yetis-best-metal-albums-of_9.html
2017 - https://heavymetalsasquatch.blogspot.com/2018/03/heavy-metal-yetis-best-metal-albums-of.html
2015/2016 - https://heavymetalsasquatch.blogspot.com/2016/12/metal-yetis-best-metal-albums-of-2015.html
2014 - https://heavymetalsasquatch.blogspot.com/2014/12/heavy-metal-sasquatchs-top-fourteen.html

- Metal Yeti /../;,,;/../

Metallica @ Starlight Drive In Theatre, Stoney Creek (Aug 29, 2020)

First of all I just want to thank all of my readers over the years and I hope all is well in your neck of the woods! The last time we checked in I had made the effort to go to every metal show big or small that caught my eye. It led to a wicked year full of metal, mosh pits, and all around good times with friends! 2020 was set to be another great year with an amazing crop of shows lined up... and here we are in the dying days of August with my first show opportunity a physically distanced drive-in with lots of wicked face masks and the faint smell of hand sanitizer on the breeze. PANDEMICA!!

All has been well at Yeti HQ but the loss of live music has taken a larger tole on me than I expected. So many amazing shows have been cancelled and I am eagerly awaiting reschedule date for the ones that are hoping to continue.  When I caught wind of the Metallica drive-in show, the decision was pretty simple to grab a ticket for a car full. Something different and a night out is exactly what everybody needs right about now! The show was filmed a week or so ago and set to play all across North America and elsewhere in one glorious metal event! A desperate attempt to capture the connections and power of the live experience.

The entire Squatch family was looking forward to the loudness so I borrowed an elder-squatch's kick ass Jeep with a fully stacked stereo system to make the most of the night. We rolled into the Starlight Drive In around 8:45 and drove through a few rows of cars and trucks lined up on the mounds, all setting up their mosh bubbles with physically distance polls marking where to park. The opening band could have been a better choice but I understand where they were going. I will not deny that Three Days Grace put on a wicked high energy set; easy to rock out and have a good time to for sure.

Metallica took the stage (screen?) after a classic Ecstasy of Gold intro highlighting all appropriate PPE and black and white long shots of the filming location. They opened with Hardwired to Self-Destruct and then continued with a very satisfying set list full of classics and a few modern hits. I was really happy to hear songs like For Whom The Bell Tolls, Seek and Destroy, Wherever I May Roam, Fade to Black, and One... but I started a micro sized jeep pit with the Yeti clan for CREEPING DEATH, MASTER OF PUPPETS, and BAT-TER-RY! I of course kept rocking to tunes like Fuel, Sad But True, Unforgiven, and Moth, but when it came to the closer I would have enjoyed a little bit of out of the box thinking instead of the radio's favourite song Enter Sandman. I would have loved to hear Ride the Lightning, Trapped Under Ice, or any other song..

All in all I had an absolutely wicked night! The show was very well done and it felt quite personal. James spoke to us as our sunset synced up with his mentioning that it was "Good to play again". The sound came through AMAZING in the jeep and we supplied the bass for a few rows. The band sounded great and they played as if they knew we were all watching, calling for the crowd where you'd expect and answering with a trademark "yeah!".  There were distant cheers and honks between songs and I even caught a few other people chanting DIE for Creeping Death!! There were clouds of funky smoke, bootlegged shirts, lighters burning out car windows for the deep cuts, and lots of fellow metalheads just making the best of the situation.

I think this may have just made me miss live music even more though and as it only left me wanting more (just like every other live show). A huge thank you to the Metallica boys for trying to give us some shred of normalcy for concert goers in the pandemic. Other bands like Between the Buried and Me have been streaming live shows which offers another great way to connect with bands these days but leave it to Metallica to do it bigger. A big screen live stream would be the next level here!! Cheers to every metalhead out there waiting for the return of shows and please continue to respect your regions pandemic response. If we mask up and wash our dirty ass hands, maybe we can have some live music in the years to come!

 -Metal Yeti /../;,,;/../