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 /../;,,;/../

Between the Buried and Me & The Contortionist @ Elements, Kitchener (July 9, 2019)

  Over the past 15 years I've been going to every single Between the Buried and Me show reasonably possible. Last night was no different, getting a chance to see the boys as they roll through Kitchener Ontario of all places on the third stop of their summer tour. I arrived just as their long time tour mates The Contortionist took the stage. They played a wicked set and built the anticipation greatly for the main event as I crushed a few beers. Between the Buried and Me took the stage and immediately set the tone with House Organ. SMASH! IGNITE! DESTROY! They proceeded to play a mix of songs mainly off Automata, and Parallax II with a sprinkle of Coma Ecliptic. I got hit so hard in the pit during Telos that my glasses flew right off my face (thanks to the dude that grabbed them for me ha ha).

  I've seen some amazing shows from these guys over the years, but last night was one of the best. The best part of the night happened before they even took the stage, getting a chance to meet Paul and shake his hand on my way into the gig! He was a super nice guy as expected. With a set list spread across most of the bands albums, we were even treated to a few rare gems (I'm looking at you Fossil Genera: A Feed From Cloud Mountain). The encore was the perfect cherry on top for long time fans, playing Foam Born and Decade of Statues from Colors before ending with long time closer Selkies. Cheers to Between the Buried and Me for consistently blowing my mind over the years. As always cheers to the crazy bastards in the pit, I'll see you all there next time! Check out a few pictures from the night below!

Between the Buried and Me

The Contortionist

 Metal Yeti /../;,,;/../

Alien Weaponry @ The Velvet Underground, Toronto (May 17, 2019).

     Alien Weaponry are one of the most interesting bands to have emerged out of the modern metal scene the last few years, and last night they landed in Toronto to start the thrash metal invasion on their Tūmatauenga Tour. Hailing from the far away planet of New Zealand these young humanoids, deliver a break neck blend of cultural infused thrash metal that pulls its vocal styling, language, and content from the bands specific Maori experience and ancestry to complement the modern take on early Sepultura era thrash they deliver fully on. Alien Weaponry released their first full length album "Tū" in 2018, to critical acclaim and open arms from the metal community. The music they make is powerful as all hell and is sure to attract many new and old thrash fans as well as some progressive metalheads along the way.

     By the time I got to the Velvet Underground the place was packed with battle jackets and eager fans. The opening bands Hounskull and Plethora did an great job priming the crowd for battle, with the anticipation palatable in the minutes leading up the main event. Alien Weaponry took the stage in style, with their drummer commencing a powerful Maori war chant and dance which was soon followed up all the thrash metal fury we came for.  They played a mixture of material from their early EP's as well as their debut full length release Tū. Another killer surprise was the band incorporating a few unreleased tracks into the set-list that we should be expecting to hear on future releases. The entire set was dialed with the crowd happily singing along to tracks like "RAUPATU" and "Holding my Breath". Alien Weaponry brought tremendous energy to the stage, with the members actively having a good time thrashing out and connecting with the crowd through the tunes.

     I've always been impressed by trio bands, and Alien Weaponry were no exception. This show had several highlights more me, with this being my first time seeing the band live. But on top of the stacked set-list, many my favourite moments were just seeing these young metalheads passion on stage. Alien Weaponry are very young to be where they are today, with none of the band members legally able to drink in the bar they were playing in. This band gives me so much hope for the future of metal, as clearly the torch is being passed to a very young but capable group of metalheads! Overall I had a fantastic night which I will not soon forgot. I highly recommend everybody takes the chance to see Alien Weaponry if given the chance, as I am sure they have a bright future in metal ahead of them. Cheers to all the crazies I clashed with in the pit (especially that mini wall of death, lmfao) and a huge thank you and shout out to Alien Weaponry for delivering the goods. Check out a few photos from the night below!

Alien Weaponry

-Metal Yeti