Xephyr's 2020 - Top 75 Albums by Xephyr

Black Metal has taken over 2020 in a big way. In fact, most of my top 10 and a good portion of my top 20 this year are Black Metal or Black Metal leaning. Im Wald, though, was something special when I checked out this two-hour behemoth early in the year. With so many bands pushing the boundaries of Black Metal into the avant-garde or whatever have you, there was something refreshing hearing an album that hearkens back to the beginnings of Atmospheric Black Metal with the knowledge and wisdom of 20+ years of material proceeding it. It's easy to say that something like this has all been done before, and in some ways it has, but this is the first time that an album like this has truly clicked for me, and it became such a rewarding experience to constantly go back to it. Even compared to his self-titled, I prefer the fuller production quality of this album, even though it sounds a bit less raw. Im Wald is everything that I wanted out of a classic Atmospheric Black Metal experience and more, so it emerges as the winner of 2020 by an admittedly thin margin.

Eternity of Shaog gradually crept up my list as I kept revisiting it throughout the year. It has some of the best moments of any album from this year, whether its a sweetly evil violin melody or massive transitions into crushing riffs. The entire album has this sinister aura to it that I can't get enough of, especially since the concept of the album seems to be about repentance and purgatory. It's filled with progressive ideas that all work together beautifully to create a seriously epic sound that's kept me captivated for the entire back half of 2020.

A collaboration of cosmic proportions that never ceased to amaze me all year. Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum are a perfect match and deliver a complex and immersive experience with an album that deserves its 2 hour runtime. I'm always impressed by the "Space" Black Metal trend going on right now, and this may be the best album in that niche.

Éons is an album of truly gargantuan proportions, with its spacy, tribal, droning avant-garde style being something that I haven't heard before. It's incredibly drawn out, but it doesn't exactly feel like it. I always get so engrossed in the progression of this album that, even though it may feel like a chore or a slog, I keep coming back for more and more of the full experience. What starts out as a groove-oriented jazz affair quickly becomes an atmospheric journey through whatever you can imagine. Easily one of the most unique albums I've ever heard and well deserving of the top 5, I highly encourage anyone to give this album a try, just for the experience of hearing something totally new.

A difficult, but concise and rewarding album, Imperial Triumphant lose some of the jazz that they had on Vile Luxury and instead go for an even more avant-garde and dissonant approach. It took a while for me to decide whether this album was for me or not, but I think its uniqueness and complexity eventually became apparent. Through all of the nonsensical melodies and sections there are still some great, crushing riffs and some extremely memorable moments.

I was someone who didn't quite get why Oranssi Pazuzu were so highly regarded, especially when I first listened to Mestarin kynsi. Sure, it's a different and more psychedelic take on Black Metal that borrowed and evolved some of the concepts shown on last year's Waste of Space Orchestra album, but I didn't quite get it. After a while though, I came around and agree that these guys are something special and this album is just too solid to ignore. It's much more concise than Värähtelijä, which I appreciate, but it doesn't cut any corners in the process. Each track is a trance-like journey that's unlike anything else that's come out this year.

Cryptic Shift emerged the winners of the technical extreme metal battle this year, even though this may be a contentious pick. Starting an album off with a 22 minute A-Side is bold, especially when their chosen style is so chaotic and admittedly disconnected. It worked out for me though, with Visitations From Enceladus ripping through other Tech-Death acts with absolute impunity. The riffs are gnarly, the vocals are fantastic, and the spacey atmosphere and concepts appeal directly to my biases in this sort of genre. It's technical in all the right ways without being too unfocused and it's not afraid to lay into what makes heavy, extreme music great. I can't wait to see what these guys do next.

This is one of the most unique "Black Metal" experiences I've ever heard, with a large portion of the album being entirely acoustic. Kaatayra really doubles down on his Brazilian heritage and invokes some seriously tropical but desolate feelings in ways I haven't really heard before. It also serves as an extension of his other 2020 album, with this one being softer and more atmospheric while the other is darker and more aggressive. Definitely give this one a shot if you're looking for something unique in the Black Metal scene.

Kaatayra released two incredible albums in 2020 and it's hard for me to really separate them from each other in this list. Both show different sides to his style, with this one being a more standard Black Metal experience and the other being almost entirely acoustic. This one hits hard though, with a very unique Black Metal atmosphere that isn't exactly cold, but does a fantastic job of conjuring the feelings of Kaatayra's home country, Brazil. I think it's great to hear a different, more localized take on modern Black Metal, since most of the classic albums come from unbearably cold and dark countries and parts of the world. Really impressive stuff.

After hearing this album once, it shot up directly into the Top 10. As a fan of this epic, folky style of Pagan Black Metal, I constantly told myself that I was rating it too high. After a few months, I've come to accept that Havukruunu's 2020 album is just that good. The riffs are ridiculous, the songwriting is tight, the folk elements are expertly used, and there are even some surprises thrown in here and there for variety, like the atmospheric ending. Just an incredible album that doesn't have a mediocre song and is exactly how I want my folk-inspired Black Metal to sound.

Ulcerate plays the exact type of winding, layered Death Metal that I love, but I can't help but feel like it covers too much of the same ground over its runtime. While still incredible, it's dropped off a bit for me over the year.

The more I listened to Solitude towards the end of this year, the more I realized that this album is probably the most "2020" album for me personally. It might seem lame since obviously that's what the album itself is alluding to, but the atmosphere hit me just right as I was writing my review for me to bump this up to one of the best of the year. I've always really enjoyed Cloudkicker's material, but I think that this one is a step above the rest. Incredible and complex chug riffs, perfectly placed slower and more atmospheric sections, memorable melodies and sections, and it's just a cohesive treat to listen to all the way through. It has this aura of melancholy that really resonated with me after the initial few listens, making it jump up the list at the end of the year.

An incredible and classic blend of Extreme Metal genres from a band with an incredible story of releasing their first full length album 35 years after their first EP. This album has it all for Death and Thrash Metal fans, with crushing riffs, incredibly evil vocals, and old-school production that makes it all the more heavy.

Falconer's swan song album had an extremely slow burn for me this year; only fitting given the title and circumstances. I wish I had checked out Falconer's older stuff beforehand, just to really understand the gravity of this being their final album, but it finally came around for me. At first I thought that this was a pretty generic and dull Power Metal album with a decent singer and a ton of folk elements, but each track slowly started to grow on me more and more after quite a few relistens. The use of 3/4 time in a lot of the songs allows for some really unique rhythms and melodies, and the vocal performance is absolutely stellar throughout. It also gives off a fantastic medieval atmosphere that most Folk-leaning Metal bands fail to capture.

Easily the best straight-up Power Metal release of the year, Eternal Champion instantly won me over with their crushingly heavy riffs and catchy songwriting that, for the first time, made me concede that US Power Metal has the rest of the world beaten this year. These guys perform basic but addicting riffs with a great sense of how to get the most out of each chug riff. While there's not a whole lot of innovation going on here, sometimes the basic approach is the best one.

One of the classic names in Black Metal came out of nowhere at the end of 2020 and dropped the incredibly symphonic and impressive Totschläger, which is able to go toe-to-toe with some of the biggest Black Metal releases of this year. This album was addicting for me, showing that Abigor still has it in them after 20 years of Black Metal production.

DGM are back and better than ever in this continuation of their 2016 album The Passage, making catchy and energetic Progressive Metal without all the fluff that sometimes comes with it. Even though the album can get a bit repetitive, I love their modern style so much that I end up hardly caring that they lack a bit of variety. The riffs are fantastic, the solos rip, and there's an incredible amount of memorable choruses that I constantly want to come back to.

A friend recommended this one to me and it quickly became the most unique Progressive Metal album of the year. These guys evolved their sound into something truly head turning with tribal influences alongside melty, spacey, and sometimes downright strange atmospheres. If you're looking for something more atmospheric and progressive compared to DGM and Haken this year, check this one out instead, it's incredibly solid.

Haken have consistently been one of the biggest names in modern Progressive Metal, and Virus is a fantastic addition to their catalogue that started out great but dropped off for me a bit over the months. I quite like djent-y chug riffs when done right, and Haken definitely pull them off for this album, but some of the more Progressive tracks left me wanting a bit more. The first half is killer but I couldn't stop ignoring the weak second half with "Messiah Complex" and "Only Stars", bringing Virus down a few pegs from where it once was.

Protest is back in a big way with this one in my opinion. Even though their older material may be objectively better, I still really enjoyed Palimpsest's catchy choruses and historical topics. It may not have as much raw energy as Kezia, but the fast and technical playing is still fantastic overall. There are a few standouts and a few misses with the tracklist, but I think this is a huge comeback for Protest in a multitude of ways.

An incredible collaboration that was basically meant to be at this point, with Aerial Ruin being a massive part of Bell Witch's albums in the past. The contrast between dark, plodding acoustic folk and Bell Witch's heavy, somber chugs is seriously beautiful and moving. It's not as heavy of a hitter as something like Mirror Reaper and the songwriting can be a little formulaic at times, but the progression of each song and the overall atmosphere is fantastic through and through.

There hasn't been much notable Doom Metal for me this year, but Godthrymm came through and gave me the only record I needed for 2020. Well-written slow riffs, a full sounding atmosphere, and a memorable vocal performance kept this one in my rotation all year long.

Dzö-nga redeems themselves after their insanely forgettable 2017 release with some truly beautiful Atmospheric Black Metal while still leaning into Native American themes.

A fantastic split from The Ruins of Beverast and a band I hadn't heard of until now. Almyrkvi carry their weight against the well-known Tribal-Atmospheric-Death-Doom outfit with two fantastic opening songs that lead into the trippy atmospheric second half. Very unique stuff from both bands, splits like this only make me more excited for what these bands have in store for their full albums down the road.

Even though Rise Radiant wasn't all that I wanted it to be, it's still an incredibly solid offering from one of my favorite bands. Although it lacks impact, "Slow Violence", "Valkyries", and "Salt" are all incredible tracks in an album that still has great replay value despite its shortcomings. Caligula's Horse haven't managed to release a truly weak album yet, and I urge you to go check out the rest of their discography if you enjoyed anything off of Rise Radiant.

The more I went back to the few Death Metal releases that caught my ear this year, the more I realized that this release just absolutely rips. In terms of delivering a straight up Death Metal experience, no one did it better this year than Undeath, with crushingly heavy riffs and some great sounding growl vocals to go along with them. While I enjoy the more technical side of Death Metal way more than this sort of stuff, I have to give props to Undeath for using the fundamentals of Death Metal in a way that doesn't sound generic or tiresome.

Incredibly well performed, standard Black Metal that manages to have quite a bit of impact amongst the rest of the heavy hitters this year. Not something that's all too unique, but it's done so well that I always get sucked back in whenever I go back to it.

Even though I think Finntroll have released an impressive album, I definitely admit that this one is a guilty pleasure. I'm definitely biased towards energetic, symphonic, and folky Metal, so of course I was going to like this. It's a blast to listen to and even though it doesn't have a whole lot of substance, I still enjoy going back to it from time to time.

With all of the crazy Black Metal that came out in 2020, I have a soft spot for Dark Fortress's more hook oriented Spectres From the Old World. "Pali Aike", "Pazuzu", and "Isa" have been stuck in my head for a full week sometimes. While it might not be the most sinister and evil Black Metal release this year, it's just a collection of great songs that still have that Black Metal aggression and satisfying riff structure while having catchy and memorable choruses.

An extremely slow but rewarding Doom listen that has one of the best climaxes of the year during the 20-minute title track. MSW packs so much emotion and variety into this somber, depressing 40 minutes that I can't help but recommend it, even though it didn't exactly frequent my playlists too often.

Now this is the kind of Gothic Metal that I can get behind. Incredible atmosphere through and through, the Gothic element is never lost but it never feels forced or cheesy, the harsh vocals are fantastic, and there's a ton of variety between the heavier riffing and the more theatrical, calmer bits.

Panopticon's "Rune's Heart" carries this split on its strong shoulders, but Nechochwen's side still holds up fairly well.

Coming off of the incredible Mirror In Darkness, Serpent Column try something a bit more ambient this time around to mixed results. I was all about it at first, but Kathodos has fallen off quite considerably for me, with the pure madness of their previous album dampened a bit on this one in exchange for slower, moodier interludes and a full-on minimalist outro. I still love the chaos of Serpent Column, but I can't say that this new direction worked in their favor. A mediocre Serpent Column album is still impressive though, so not much to complain about.

An interesting blend of Asian folk influences with pristinely produced Deathy-Black Metal that has a ton of potential, but falls a bit short in some regards. The riffs are tight and the Asian influence is neat, but there's definitely something missing in terms of songwriting and overall progression of the tracks. Even still, Vengeful Spectre is a neat release that kept itself relevant throughout the year.

Some incredibly technical Death Metal that loses itself a bit here and there, but I prefer it over the more generic stuff that 2020 has been full of. The distinct fretless bass shines through really well, so if you're into that style of Tech Death, this is a solid offering this year.

An interesting blend of extreme metal genres played with an old-school mentality made this release stand out quite a bit. While a few sections feel a bit off, Draghkar provided some much needed variety with this unique concoction.

It's a shame that Bloem had to come out in the midst of so many other incredibly impressive Atmospheric Black Metal releases, because it remains a distinctive experience from this year. Each track has its own unique element to it that makes the album a gorgeous, but slightly forgettable experience.

The heavier shades of Progressive Metal always intrigue me, and Black Crown Initiate hit that sweet spot of being just heavy enough without overdoing it. They definitely take some risks with the atmospheric breaks, but I think they pay off in the end to create a pretty well balanced album. There are a few sections that hit incredibly hard and there was some great replay value in this one for me.

While Rannoch's formula should be something that appeals directly to my biases, something didn't work out in the end. There are some good riffs and moments, I obviously liked it enough to give it a 4/5, but something just didn't click with this one. Its pieces are great, but as a full album something's missing. Still some solid heavier Progressive Metal, though.

One of the only Funeral Doom releases on my list, Drown has a prolific history with all the bands the sole member has been in, but this time he chooses to take the listener into the dark, watery depths. While this isn't a new concept, I really enjoyed how Subaqueous structured itself and the payoff points are huge, which is 90% of the battle in creating a great Funeral Doom release.

Some straight up Heavy Metal, devoid of any of the fancy schmancy stuff. All the riffs are suitably fast and furious and the female vocalist really carries most of the tracks. Excellent debut with the band nailing the style they were going for, really looking forward to what they release next.

A strange lo-fi project that is oddly charming given how grating it is. I checked it out because of the absolutely ridiculous name, but Old Nick has more tricks up their sleeve other than their wordy titles and questionable grammar.

An extremely fun, guilty pleasure album for me this year. Packed with energy and short and sweet songs, Hellripper might be retreading old ground but knows how to make it entertaining.

I hadn't heard of Thy Catafalque before Naiv, so I'm pretty unaware of the rest of their prolific history according to RYM's ratings. I wouldn't necessarily call this release all that Avant-Garde, as it stays put in the realm of accessibility through its entirety, not that it matters all that much. There are some fantastic riffs and melodies that go along with the Hungarian Folk angle it takes, and the folk elements sound more sleek and modern, giving the album a cool feel.

While Undeath may have beaten out Faceless Burial with its old school Death Metal approach, these guys put in a great effort with a more complex and groove-centric style. This was one of the few pure Death Metal releases I kept wanting to come back to this year, so it's definitely worth a listen if you need a bit more pizzazz in your Death Metal.

Cirith Ungol are back in a big way, bringing some classic Heavy Metal into 2020 with a great vocalist, classic production, and varied, hard-hitting riffs. It took me a while to warm up to this one, since the vocals are rather unique and the songs themselves seem fairly bare bones compared to the 2020 Metal landscape, but sometimes the basics are all you need.

The more I listened to Æequiizoiikum, the less I understood it. I can see this being impressive for fans of more complicated extreme metal variants, but it just wasn't for me. It became a chore to listen to, even though I dug some of what I heard.

This is the little Progressive Metal album that could this year. While I don't think it has a lot of staying power, this short and concise experience has everything a Prog Metal fan could ask for.

Chunky riffs galore carry an album that's sort of rough around the edges in more than a few places. A couple standout songs make it worth it though, since Temple of Void know how to make a chug riff sound fantastic.

One of the more strange albums I've listened to this year. Malokarpatan really try to fuse some serious folk elements into a pretty standard sounding Black Metal approach, with mixed results. This one has its obvious highs and lows but manages to remain interesting and intriguing throughout.

There hasn't been much Post Metal to write home about this year, but Dola satisfied my itch with an extremely dark album that has a thick, depressing atmosphere and some great, albeit slightly predictable

Some of the most exciting Traditional Doom Metal I've heard in a while, giving me a much needed break from all the extreme stuff this year. I can see the vocals being polarizing, but I thought they fit really well. Extremely free flowing and heavy when it needs to be, this is an album that I wish I gave more chances throughout the year.

One of the best classic Black Metal albums this year. Lamp of Murmuur sounds exactly how you expect them to sound, but they're able to carve in some really interesting riff progressions and atmospheric bits to separate them from the pack.

These New Zealanders have one of my favorite sounds in Atmospheric based Metal with their light and heavenly atmospheres and male vs female vocal contrast, but Premonitions may have been too much of the same. This one doesn't exactly do anything new and while it's far from bad, my bias towards their overall sound definitely shined through in the 4/5 I gave it, hence why I'm putting it farther down on this list regardless of my score. It's standard Sojourner with a few better than average tracks and a few not-so-memorable ones.

Deftones are back with another Deftones album. This Deftones album has some serious Deftones in it as they attempt to be as Deftones as possible in this new Deftones album. They really Deftones it up in every possible Deftones way.
...It's a Deftones album, what else do you want from me?

A neat, drawn out, and much more ambient take on a warmer Black Metal sound. Just be prepared for ambience to be a big part of the compositions.

Some satisfyingly standard Doom Metal that has some surprise harsh vocals that help pull the project together. Solid riffing throughout, a bit heavier than most straight up Doom Metal despite the Gothic influenced vocals. I think it overstays its welcome though, with a few tracks not quite working out in their favor.

The best album that I'll never listen to ever again.

Some slow, booming, and pretty massive Funeral Doom out of newcomers Atramentus. Great modern release for the genre, even though I didn't spend too much time with it. Diehard Doom fans will be very pleased with this one.

A short and sweet taste of what Inferi is looking like in 2020, with no real surprises. I like Inferi's full and more technical sound that stays more in the realms of straight up Death Metal rather than meandering around other influences like other Tech Death acts seem to do. Decent stuff all around here.

A decent Gothic Metal offering from one of the greats. Nothing particularly outstanding, but nothing bad either. There are some great tracks here and there that make Obsidian a better-than-mediocre attempt for a band that continues to have a good run 16 albums into their career.

A somewhat drab and flat but unique in its own right album that was a pleasant listen for me. Silver Knife play a more chill style of Atmospheric Black Metal that borders on Shoegaze/Post Metal at times. There are some neat, memorable moments that made it stand out enough to make the bottom of the list.

A ripping, furious, white knuckled Metalcore release that brings some emotion back into the 2020 Metalcore scene. While I'm not exactly a fan of the genre on the whole, I have to give credit where credit is due and say that this is some heavy, heavy stuff. If you like aggression and deep chugs, you're in the right place.

Melodic Death Metal done right with some nice symphonic, Middle Eastern flourishes in the background. Modern Melodic Death Metal is normally a no-go for me unless the band's name is Insomnium, so I'm glad to see another band with a unique style rise to the occasion. A few standout tracks elevated this into something I enjoyed thoroughly.

A lot of albums towards the lower end of my lists make the cut because of the "fun-factor", and this one absolutely falls into that category. Even though this kind of generic Speed/Thrash has been done to Hell and back, Bütcher simply adds the right amount of goats to keep me coming back to this one every now and again. The shrieking vocals and relentless riffing of "Iron Bitch" tells you pretty much everything you need to know about this record, but they knock it out of the park with the 9-minute title track that is really well written given how quickly the rest of the album tires itself out. Is it generic, redundant, and slightly monotonous? Yeah, but it's fun.

Ensiferum pull themselves up from the depths of obscurity with a solid Power/Folk release that, as a prior fan, pleased me enough to remember that it was a good album. There are some great and catchy singles on here and I'm glad that Ensiferum still have some gas left in the tank.

A slow, trance-like experience from one of the most atmospheric Doom Metal bands out there. I expected a bit more experimentation from the group that made up half of Waste of Space Orchestra, but if gradual, lethargic riff progressions with well crafted atmosphere is your thing, this one will definitely hit harder than it did for me.

One of the only solid Power Metal releases this year from a well-versed vocalist. Absolutely nothing new here, just a couple of decent Power Metal tracks.

A hilariously cheesy slab of Power Metal that has some seriously wonky lyrics and incredibly clichéd ideas, but it's still a ton of fun. "Powersnake", "Hel", and "Chain Breaker", are pretty good singles to start the album, but it falls off pretty hard from there. The spoken word and male vocals still get a chuckle out of me, "One" is the most eye-rolling ballad I've heard in quite a while, and the title track "Emblas Saga" is suitably epic sounding.

Another classic-sounding and solid offering from Traveler, coming only a year after their 2019 debut. There's no standout-tracks like "Starbreaker" from last year, but it's great to see this style of Heavy/Speed Metal still kicking in 2020. Great vocals and riffs, but never strays from its comfort zone.

Even though there are some sluggy riffs and great sections in this one, stuff that I've come to expect from The Ocean, this one seriously fell flat for me. There wasn't anything that gripped me, the vocals are all over the place, the songwriting doesn't flow all that well, just a messy one in general. Thankfully The Ocean's general sound is something that I really enjoy, so I can't be too upset at it, but what a letdown.

I thought I really liked this album in the beginning of the year, but I've sadly moved on from this one. Still some solid riffing and ideas, but the vocals mixed with the monotony of the album really got to me in a bad way after a while.

Honorable Mention:
A Christmas Carol doesn't seem like it belongs in with my normal list, but this is a fantastic Christmas album that covers an insane amount of classic Christmas songs in really clever ways. I didn't think I needed a Power Metal version of this story, but Majestica delivers in a huge way.