This album really pleasantly surprised me. I was expecting uninspired formulaic deathcore. Instead I got a layered complex record with plenty of shades of light and dark. There is smorgasbord of varied genre reference points and unexpectedly this melting pot of varied influences actually worked. Each track feels like it comes from a different band but rather than come across as stilted, this variety actually takes the form of evolution. Not a band I expected to include but I bow to the fact they have created such an intriguing album.

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Talking about originality and variety, here comes a record which is essentially the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s do the songs of King Crimson. New York Arty indie meets Prog. It’s eccentric, eclectic and brimming with energy. You really have no idea where each track is going, let alone the actually album. It skitters all over the place and the only constant is the husky and alluring Karen O-esque vocals of Courtney Swain. You come out of it wondering what the heck you have just listened to, but desperate to dive straight back in again.

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Ah my beloved In Flames return with studio album number thirteen. A record that see’s them inch even further away from their now dim and distant melodic death roots. These days they trade exclusively in slick commercial metal of a Linkin park variety. For what it is, it is very good. The choruses are catchy, the guitars are big and the whole thing feels accessible and inviting. It is as underground as a flyover but it is still highly enjoyable because it has songs. Big spanking sing along-able songs. And that is good enough for me.

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If you are planning a Black Mass or some form of paganistic ritual then this is so the soundtrack for you. This is as retro as you can get and you could very easily persuade people that it is a long lost recording from some underground mid-seventies cult act. It is rich in texture and completely reverential of its subject matter. Yes it owes a hell of a lot to Ghost in its ability to articulate its unashamed devotion to Blue Oyster Cult. However any points it loses for a lack of originality, it picks up again for being such a riveting and entertaining listen.

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Kyuss should have been huge. They took Soundgarden’s Sabbath obsessed brand of grunge and slowed it down. It no longer sounded hurried and agitated, it now sounded laid back and stoned. There was the sound of burnt out mid west America, isolated and overlooked. It was anthems for a youth with nothing more to do than smoke weed, listen to metal and wait for adulthood to arrive. After varied reunion attempts (without guitarist Josh Homme who is far too busy selling out and being commercial), John Garcia has finally made a record that captures the spirit of his former glories. This album has a swagger, an attitude and a fire in its belly. It is full of spacey reverberating riffs and tracks to drive along deserted highways to. For the first time in decades John Garcia feels like he means it.

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God loves a trier. Heart of Coward are in the unenviable position of having been a next big thing that never actually made it. They came close in 2015 with an excellent album and a number of high profile tour and festival slots. But then vocalist Jamie Graham jumped ship and it looked like they were scuppered. However, four years later they have dusted themselves off, recruited a new frontman (Kaan Tasan) and decided to give it one last shot. “The Disconnect” is an ambitious and high voltage collection of tracks that see’s the band go for the jugular. Slightly more commercial and polished than before, it starts at hundred miles an hour and just accelerates. It is that unstoppable energy that makes the record so appealing. It is relentless and wears its heart firmly on the sleeve. This is undoubtedly Heart of Coward’s last shot and boy are they trying to make it count.

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So far most of the doom metal on this list has been on the lighter, more playful side of the fence. This is traditional, old skool doom at its best. Colossal jet black riffs crash down like waves, accompanying haunting vocals that scream of the injustices of organised religion. It is dark, atmospheric, foreboding and enticing. You feel yourself drawn in by the mesmerising slabs of guitar that are hypnotic in the momentum and their depth. As a debut release this is both ambitious and also highly impressive. It left me hungry for more, which is always a good sign.

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One of the most intriguing records on this list. A unique and very intriguing collaboration between Mancunian Post Rockers Pijn and up and coming Black Metallers Conjurer. It was originally meant to be a exclusive commissioned piece of work performed at 2018 Arctangent Festival. However, it has taken on a life of its own and they entered the studio together earlier on in the year to record their very very distinct amalgamation. It is quite hard to put your finger on actually what this is. Three of its four tracks are each nearly ten minutes in length (the other one, ‘Endeavour’, is a simply a two minute musical interlude) and they unfurl in a melee of different styles and tempos. You feel that you are on a musical journey as it disarms you atmospheric low key acoustica and then pummels you with savage guitar riffs. There is just so much here in its brief thirty minute lifespan that you have to give it multiple listens to take it all. Exhilarating, baffling and, in places, extraordinary.

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Well this is a first. We have a band getting two entries on the list and it is none other than drone metal uberlords Sunn O))). One of the most incredible and absorbing live acts on the planet (Manchester Live review here), you feel as well as hear them. In fact, their reverberations are so powerful that they managed to total my friend’s glasses by vibrating all the screws out of their fittings. This is the companion album to April’s Life Metal (keep your eyes out for it on the list) and it consists of four improvised meditations on life, the universe and everything, each in a different key (C, G, E and A for those who those things matter). It’s classic Sunn O))) in that it is low, slow and rumbling but it also has an organic earthy feel to it. There is a stark beauty to its minimalism and you can lose yourself in the four tracks. Devastatingly simple in its approach, the tracks stay with you much longer than one held chord played in one key has a right to.

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French metal has never been healthier by cornering the market in doing something different with our distinctly conservative genre. The Great Old Ones are both obsessed with and make music inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. What we get is a highly atmospheric and theatrical take on Black Metal, with complicated tracks that shift from sinister under-played melodies to big bold distorted guitars. The whole thing has an air of the macabre and the menacing about it. It results in a fascinating album that unfolds more like an audio novel than a communal garden record. It draws you into their ominous world. The question is will you get out again….

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Somewhere in Germany there was a meeting. “So this symphonic metal we do” stated band leader Hansi Kursch “wouldn’t it be interesting if we removed the metal”. Cue lots of uncomfortable shifting from the other three members “Ummm what do we do?” eventually pipes up lead guitarist Andre Olbrich, “See you in a year’s time?” suggests Hansi with a grin.

Being serious this is a project thirty years in gestation and is exactly as my skit suggests, a symphonic metal album with the metal removed. In fact what it is, is a Blind Guardian album with three quarters of the band given the afternoon off. It sounds like usual Blind Guardian (big, bombastic and pompous) but there are no squealing guitar solos or big drum fills. It’s an orchestral album with a German warbling over it about elves, dragons and other mystic shit. Actually it’s really good, but god is it taking the term pretentious to a whole new level.

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Frank Carter was born to be a star. It didn’t quite happen with the Gallows and Pure Love were close but no cigar. But it is third time lucky with the Rattlesnakes. This is a bluesy and very modern take on Punk. Much less direct and in your face as the Gallows but still with the same power. Frank is the perfect 21st Century frontman, honest about his failings, emotionally literate and wearing his frailties on his sleeves. This is a brutally honest open wound of a record. You can hear that the words don’t come easy out of Frank’ s mouth and are bundled up with pain and pathos. It feels real though, like you have been given unfiltered access to Frank’s complicated life. Not easy listening, but a thoroughly rewarding record.

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As I keep saying, there is loads of Black this year and here comes a very fine effort from the absolute godfathers of the scene. 1992’s “A Blaze in the Northern Sky” is the quintessential Norwegian black metal. Everything else released since then that claims to be old skool Nordic black is simply trying to emulate this record. But Darkthrone were smart, they didn’t try to better their masterpiece, instead moved into crust punk, speed punk and basically sounding like an angrier Motorhead. In the last few years, they have drift back to Black with the added ingredient of trying to sound like seventies Judas Priest. This is a metal album for metal purist. It is a love letter to the new wave of British Heavy Metal (that gave us Maiden, Venom and Saxon) and it is an unashamed recycle of riffs that we have known and loved. There is absolutely nothing new here but it is still really really enjoyable.

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I love Gurt. I love their unique brand of party sludge. This is knee deep in fuzzy distorted riffs that reverberate through your soul. But it also has a playful side. Gurt may make primal gritty metal that sounds like the bowls of hell bellowing out but they also have the ability to hold a tune. Yes the tracks here are heavy and fuzzy but they are also fun. It is that irreverent and impish side that makes “Bongs of Praise” stand out from every other record peddling stoner friendly warped hazy metal.

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Now, this is one of those strange entries where I use the word disappointed and underwhelmed, while with the entry below I had been chucking around superlatives like it was going out of fashion. The reason is is that this album has been hyped to within an inch of its life. It was being touted as Black Metal’s great (black and) white hope, as the true heir to Darkthrone and Mayhem’s charred and rusted throne. The simple fact, whilst this is a jolly good and highly atmospheric Black Metal album it is nought extraordinary or genre-splicing. There are some (Spoiler alert!) records to come that I do think fundamentally alter Black Metal’s axis, but as good as it is (and it is good) “Dawn of Infinite Fire” is not one.

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Thy Art is Murder tread a very singular path. Theirs is nasty heavy extreme death metal. Fast, caustic and lacking in subtlety. It is also highly invigorating and enthusing. It is angry music that rages at the injustice of the world. There is very little difference between this release and their previous three. Rather than evolve a sound, Thy Art is Murder have found their place and pitched camp. I love this sort of stuff; brutal, ugly and full of pent up aggression, I therefore love this album. It isn’t going to win any new fans but god, did it make me ride my bike faster!!

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Here they are again with probably the most accessible record to date. Now it is still a swirling whirlpool of deep resonating sound but there are chinks of light here in the darkness. The vocals are softer than Attila’s usual rasp goblinesque delivery (he is busy making the new Mayhem record so Hildur Guonadottir was drafted in) and guitars are tuned up rather than down. Yes this is still very much an acquired taste, but there is enough variation and experimentation to start throwing around terms like evolution and acceptance. Hell they were even featured in the Guardian.

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Death Metal like it used to be. Simple, direct and uncomplicated. Memoriam wear their hearts very much on their tattooed sleeves. The tracks here may be unsophisticated and lacking in complexity and variation, but they aren’t half bad. This is two fingers up to fashion, trends and credibility and a celebration of the power of guitar, bass, drums, guttural vocals and radical politics. It wins extra points for having a track called ‘Austerity Kills’.

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Exceptionally well made melodic death from Finland. This is beautifully crafted and immaculately produced. Everything about is big and well-polished. The choruses are colossal and chunky while some of the melodies scream arenas. It may lack edge and raw passion but I still found myself singing along with gusto!!!

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Another from Norwegian Black Metal’s founding fathers. Mayhem have been treading the boards and courting controversy for 35 years, though there has been a veritable revolving door of members. The fact that they have maintained the current line up since 2012 is in itself a minor miracle. A band never known for being traditional or conventional, Mayhem have in the last few years made a concerted effort to try and live up to their legacy. This has involved a highly lucrative two years trip around the world playing the legendary De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in full and now they have released an album that (whisper it) is actually listenable.

Since their heyday Mayhem have prided themselves in making records that are more art instillation than straight forward collections of songs. However Daemon see’s them actually make a number of concessions towards aural consistency and accessibility. It also feels like a band accepting and even revelling in their importance and heritage. After decades of consciously trying to be difficult, “Daemon” see’s Mayhem finally feel comfortable wearing their crown as Black Metal monarchy.

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