MACHINE MUSIC PRESENTS – THE BEST METAL OF 2020

Ah, that last vestige of OCD-tastic satisfaction that is the dreaded Year End List! It was a funny one for, I think, obvious reasons, this 2020 of yours. And yet amid the chaos, uncertainty, and throttling depression there was also quite a bit of music, mutual support, and the lovely electrical grid that is people all over the world doing cool shit. This year we actively participated in said grid with our international, cross-continental, inter-galactic compilation MILIM KASHOT VOL. 2, in our ongoing weekly recommendation posts, and in a boatload of wonderful interviews and conversations with some uplifting, inspiring people in the The War Inside My Head, Albums of the Decade, and Pillars of the 90s interviews series. We also started doing the "oh look we're premiering a new song from a very cool band" type thing, which is nice too, especially since those usually involved interviews as well (you can find them here).

If this is your first time round our zany-yet-dead-serious take on the year-end-list thing then feel free to check our 2019 list, which was pretty great and weird, as expected. The general idea is that I make up categories for my favorite albums of the year, I pick the best out of each category and then construct a list-type object further down the post, culminating with some words about my favorite few albums of the year. The special feature this year is that my AOTY, and which has consistently been my AOTY for the better part of 2020, has also graciously agreed to chat with us concerning said album and you can find a link to that interview both here and down in the "list portion" of this train-wreck of an enterprise.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and support whatever it is that we do on Patreon, and check out our kinda-sorta podcast, MATEKHET (YouTube, Spotify and all that).

Here's to a better 2021. Not that everything about 2020 was necessarily bad but, you know. Wasn't great. Anyhow: *trumpets* The Categories:

PART I – THE CATEGORIES

BEST ALBUMS FOR DROPPING ACID ALONE IN A DARK FOREST CLEARING ONLY YOU DROPPED IT TOO SOON AND NOW YOU'RE JUST STUCK IN TRAFFIC AND FREAKING OUT

Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin kynsi (Nuclear Blast) [Read Interview Here] – TOP PICK

Brii – Entre Tudo que é Visto e Oculto (Lovers & Lollypops) – TOP PICK

Nero di Marte – Immoto (Season of Mist)

Khthoniik Cerviiks – Æequiizoiikum (Iron Bonehead Productions)

Circle of Ouroborus – Viimeinen Juoksu (His Wounds)

Void Paradigm – Ultime Pulsation | Demain Brûle (Avantgarde Music)

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BEST ALBUMS FOR FINALLY ARRIVING AT THAT CLEARING BUT IT'S SNOWING AND YOU FORGOT TO PACK A SWEATER AND THE TRIP IS KINDA STILL GOING AND YOU'RE NOT SURE IF YOU'RE REALLY DYING OR IF THIS IS AN ESPECIALLY BAD PART OF SAID TRIP

Lamp of Murmuur – Heir Of Ecliptical Romanticism (Death Kvlt Productions) [Read Interview Here]

Paysage d'Hiver – Im Wald (SPKR)

Revenant Marquis – Youth in Ribbons (Death Kvlt Productions)

Fanebærer – Den første ild (Nattetale Records)

Múspellzheimr – Múspellzheimr (Amor Fati Productions)

Ûkcheânsâlâwit – Tekipûk (His Wounds) – TOP PICK

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BEST ALBUMS FOR MALNOURISHED PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN BASEMENTS AND HAVE BULGING VEINS AND A DEEP-SEATED DESIRE TO OWN ALL THE FENDERS

Thin – Dawn (Twelve Gauge Records)

Infant Island – Beneath (Dog Knights Productions)

Envy – The Fallen Crimson (Temporary Residence) – TOP PICK

Nuvolascura – As We Suffer From Memory and Imagination (Zegema Beach Records & Dog Knights Productions)

Fuck the Facts – Pleine Noirceur (Noise Salvation)

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THE NOT-SO-ANNUAL "MUSIC THAT ALLOWS METALHEADS TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THEIR EMOTIONS" CATEGORY IN WHICH I SHALL PICK TOO MANY ALBUMS BUT GOD DAMN I'VE HAD WAY TOO MANY EMOTIONS, TOO MUCH.

The Microphones – Microphones in 2020 (P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd) – TOP PICK

Ulver – Flowers of Evil (House of Mythology)

Hum – Inlet (Earth Analog Records)

Jesu – Terminus (Avalanche Recordings) – TOP PICK

Nothing – The Great Dismal (Relapse Records) – TOP PICK

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BEST ALBUMS THAT REPRESENT THE DESCENT INTO THE HELLISH, SULPHUROUS DEPTHS OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS AKA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO DO YEAR-END LISTS

Neptunian Maximalism – Éons (I, Voidhanger Records) [Read Interview Here] – TOP PICK

Plague Organ – Orphan (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Urfaust – Teufelsgeist (Ván Records)

ÔROS KAÙ – Imperii Templum Aries (Epictural Production / I, Voidhanger Records)

KIP – Songs of Love (Independent) – TOP PICK

Dark Buddha Rising – Mathreyata (Svart Records)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE LIKE BUYING A TICKET TO THE CARNIVAL AND YOU GET IN BUT EVERYTHING IS SLIPPERY WITH GREEN SLIME, AND FOR WHATEVER REASON'S THERE'S AN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND IT'S PAINTED NEON RED AND YOU GO IN AND IT'S MID SUNDAY SERVICE AND EVERYONE IS WEARING CORPSE PAINT ONLY KIND OF IRONICALLY AND THEY SMELL LIKE PINES

Odraza – Rzeczom (1716360 Records)

Biesy – Transsatanizm (Godz Ov War Productions) – TOP PICK

Psychonaut 4 – Beautyfall / სულდაცემა (Talheim Records) – TOP PICK

Ba'a – Deus Qui Non Mentitur (Osmose Productions)

Medico Peste – ב :The Black Bile (Season of Mist)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE MUSICAL EQUIVALENT OF A VERY SCARY METAL ALBUM THAT DIED, WAS BURIED IN SOUR GROUND AND RETURNS TO LIFE BUT ITS KINDA CRAZY NOW. YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THE GROUND IS SOUR AND ALL THAT

Black Curse – Endless Wound (Sepulchral Voice Records) – TOP PICK

Skáphe – Skáphe³ (Mystiskaos) [Read Interview Here]

Kommodus – Kommodus (GoatowaRex) – TOP PICK

Dragged into Sunlight – Terminal Aggressor II (Prosthetic Records)

Jordablod – The Cabinet of Numinous Song (Iron Bonehead Productions)

Hagetisse – The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin (Analög Ragnarök)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE A SUPER-SLOW-MOTION REPRESENTATION OF A BUILDING COLLAPSING ON A PRETTY FLOWER

Hellish Form – MMXX (Transylvanian Tapes) – TOP PICK

Drown – Subaqueous (Prophecy Productions)

Funeral Leech – Death Meditation (Carbonized Records)

Atramentus – Stygian (20 Buck Spin) – TOP PICK

Void Rot – Collapsing Pillars (Sentient Ruin Laboratories / Everlasting Spew) [Read Interview Here]

Drune – Seer (Independent)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT TAKE YOU OUT TO A PROPER DATE, PICK YOU UP IN STYLE, BOOK A NICE TABLE AT A NICE RESTAURANT AND INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY GOING TO THE RESTAURANT INVITE YOU TO STEP INSIDE THE BACK OF CONCRETE MIXING TRUCK, THROW THE SWITCH AND VOMIT ALL OVER YOU AND YOUR NICE CLOTHES

Chepang – Chatta (Nerva Altar) – TOP PICK

Triage – Triage (Rescued From Life and Starless Abyss Records)

Internal Rot – Grieving Brith (Iron Lung Records) – TOP PICK

Soil of Ignorance – Stop the Madness (Independent)

Leprophiliac – Necrosis (Inhuman Assault Productions / Rescued From Life Records)

Beaten to Death – Laat maar, ik verhuis naar het bos (Mas-Kina Recordings)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT AREN'T ACTUAL ALBUMS BUT A DEEP LOOK INTO WHO YOU ARE AS A HUMAN AND A PERSON IN THIS MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE, WHICH IN MY CASE IS RAPIDLY ZOOMING INTO BEING THE KIND OF NEARLY-40-YEAR-OLD FAILURE WHO TAKES TIME OUT OF HIS DAY TO FUCKING WRITE YEAR-END LISTS

Old Man Gloom – Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning & Seminar IX: Darkness of Being (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

MSW – Obliviosus (Gilead Media) – TOP PICK

Pharaoh Overlord – 6 (Rocket Recordings) – TOP PICK

Serpent Column – Kathodos (Mystiskaos)

Boris – No (Fangs Anal Satan)

Wren – Groundswells (Gizeh Records)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT BARF

Defeated Sanity – The Sanguinary Impetus (Willowtip Records) – TOP PICK

Edenic Past – Red Armcord (P2 / Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Pharmacist – Medical Renditions Of Grinding Decomposition (Bizarre Leprous Production)

Throat Breach – Humiliating Distortion (Desert Wastelands Productions)

Miasmatic Necrosis – Apex Profane (Goatgrind Records)

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THE ANNUAL AWARD IN EXCELLENCE IN BEING A PYROCLASTIC CLOUD OF TERRIFYING CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Decoherence – Unitarity (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK

Teratolith – Eclipse (Brucia Records) [Read Interview Here]

Mahr – Maelstorn (Amor Fati Productions)

Death. Void. Terror – To the Great Monolith II (Repose Records)

Vyrion – Nil (Independent) – TOP PICK

Svartsyn – Requiem (Carnal Records)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT FEEL LIKE THAT SCENE IN A BEAUTIFUL MIND WHERE RUSSELL CROW IS SCRIBBLING WEIRD MATH EQUATIONS ON THE LIBRARY WINDOW WHILE BEING MARRIED TO JENNIFER CONNELLY AKA THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ALIVE, ONLY IN BLACK METAL

Creature – Ex Cathedra (I, Voidhanger Records) [Read Interview Here]

Anaal Nathrakh – Endarkenment (Metal Blade Records)

Krallice – Mass Cathexis (Independent) – TOP PICK

Imperial Triumphant – Alphaville (Century Media Records)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT REPRESENT THE COMING TOGETHER OF TWO DISTINCT BODIES AND FORMING A UNIFIED SHINING WHOLE, KIND OF LIKE THE INTRO OF A FRENCH CARTOON SHOW I USED TO WATCH AS A KID CALLED ONCE UPON A TIME….LIFE WHERE A BOY AND A GIRL HUG EACH OTHER AND TURN INTO A BALL OF SHINING CHROMOSOMES

Panopticon/Nechochwen (Bindrune Recordings)

The Ruins of Beverast/Almyrkv (Ván Records) – TOP PICK

Friisk/Loth (Vendetta Records)

Abduction / Nocturnal Prayer ( Inferna Profundus Records,)

Mania/Phobonoid (Lunar Seas Records)

Ancalagon/Obscurum (Independent)

Oxalate / Perpetuated / Blood Spore / Vivisect (Blood Harvest Records)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT SOUND LIKE DISTORTED GUITARS BEING PLUGGED INTO THE THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF G'MORK FROM THE NEVERENDING STORY

Fawn Limbs – Sleeper Vessels (Sludgelord Records / Wolves and Vibrancy / Roman Numeral Records) – TOP PICK

Aseitas – False Peace (Translation Loss Records)

Wake – Devouring Ruin (Translation Loss Records) – TOP PICK

Dephosphorus – Sublimation (Nerve Altar)

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BEST ALBUMS FOR WANDERING THE HOUSE AT NIGHT, HEARING A STRANGE SOUND, OH SHIT IT MIGHT BE A GHOST, OH SHIT IT IS A GHOST! OH OK IT'S THE GHOST OF EDDIE VAN HALEN

Rebel Wizard – Magickal Mystical Indifference (Prosthetic Records)

Spirit Possession – Spirit Possession (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Bütcher – Goats Carry My Chariot (Osmose Productions)

Midnight – Rebirth by Blasphemy (Metal Blade Records)

Nite – Darkness Silence Mirror Flame (Creator-Destructor / Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Hellripper – The Affair of the Poisons (Peaceville Records)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN PUNCH THROUGH A WALL WHILE PONDERING THE FUTILITY OF IT ALL AND MOST OF ALL THE FUTILITY OF YEAR-END LISTS. OH, AND IT'S IN A CAVE.

Undeath – Lesions of a Different Kind (Prosthetic Records) – TOP PICK

Ripped to Shreds – Luan (Nameless Grave Records)

Skelethal – Unveiling The Threshold (Hell's Headbangers)

Necrot – Mortal (Tankcrimes)

Venomous Skeleton – Drowning in Circles (Everlasting Spew Records)

Caustic Wound – Death Posture (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

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BEST ALBUMS THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE IS HURLING THROUGH SPACE ON AN ASTROID, HIS FACE IS PEELING OFF SLOWLY BUT HE CAN'T PEEL IT ALL THE WAY OFF SINCE HE HAS TO HOLD ON TO THE ASTROID AND THE SKIN PEELS OFF BIT BY BIT AS HIS FACE CONTINUES TO PEEL OFF AND THEN A SUPERNOVA EXPLODES RIGHT NEXT TO HIM AND HE CAN SEE THE ALL-ENCOMPASSING BLAST WILL DECIMATE HIM TOO BUT HE CAN'T STOP THINKING HOW BEAUTIFUL ALL THE COLORS ARE. HIS FACE IS STILL PEELING OFF.

Afterbirth – Four Dimensional Flesh (Unique Leader Records) – TOP PICK

Faceless Burial – Speciation (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK

VoidCeremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel (20 Buck Spin)

Pyrrhon – Abscess Time (Willowtip Records)

Glorious Depravity – Ageless Violence (Translation Loss Records)

Azath – Through a Warren of Shadow (Pulverized Records)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THEMSELVES THE SUPERNOVA MENTIONED IN THE ABOVE CATEGORY

Sweven – The Eternal Resonance (Ván Records) – TOP PICK

Bedsore – Hypnagogic Hallucinations (20 Buck Spin)

Malokarpatan – Krupinské ohne (Invictus Productions) – TOP PICK

Ulthar – Providence (20 Buck Spin)

Esoctrilihum – Eternity Of Shaog (I, Voidhanger Productions)

The Holy Flesh – Emissary and Vessel (Caligari Records / Dybbuk Productions)

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THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE SOUL DANCING BESIDE A BONFIRE OF RAW EMOTION AND MELANCHOLY, AS THE SUN DISAPPEARS OVER A WOODED HORIZON LIKE A BASKETBALL, LEAVING A RED/ORANGE SCAR IN THE EVENING SKY

Arkheron Thodol – Rituals of the Sovereign Heart (Naturmacht Productions) – TOP PICK

Yovel – Forthcoming Humanity (Red Nebula)

Shaidar Logoth – Chapter III: The Void God (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) – TOP PICK

Kaatayra – Toda História pela Frente (Independent) – TOP PICK

Hostblod – Dikter om döden (Le Narthécophore / Winter Sky Records/ Fólkvangr Records)

Ketoret – Ketoret (Independent)

At the Altar of the Horned God – Through Doors of Moonlight (I, Voidhanger Records)

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BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE BLACK CANDLES IN A TYPE O NEGATIVE VIDEO

The Path of Memory – Hell is Other People (Iron Bonehead Productions)

Rope Sect – The Great Flood (Iron Bonehead Productions)

Black Wing – No Moon (The Flenser)

Lotus Thief – Oresteia (Season of Mist)

Wailin Storms – Rattle (Gilead Media)

Empress – Wait til Night (Brilliant Emperor Records) – TOP PICK

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THE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN BEING NAPALM DEATH

Napalm Death – Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (Century Media Records) – TOP PICK

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THE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MAKING ME FEEL THAT BY LISTENING TO AN ALBUM I'M SOMEHOW DOING SOMETHING DEEPLY WRONG

Cauldron Black Ram – Slaver (20 Buck Spin) – TOP PICK

Proscription – Conduit (Dark Descent Records) – TOP PICK

Shezmu – À Travers Les Lambeaux (Krucyator Productions)

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THE BEST ALBUMS THAT WOULD HAVE WORKED AS THE SOUNDTRACK TO LEV TOLSTOY'S SEMINAL NOVELLA THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1886 AND ONE OF THE MOST OPPRESSIVELY BLACK METAL NARRATIVES IN THE WESTERN CANON

Afsky – Ofte Jeg Drømmer Mig Død (Vendetta Records)

0 – Entity (Ván Records)

Hrae – Þar sem skepnur reika (Bile Noire)

Blood Red Fog – Fields of Sorrow (Sol Records) – TOP PICK

Havukruunu – Uinuos Syömein Sota (Naturmacht Productions) – TOP PICK

Déhà – A FLEUR DE PEAU – II – Burdening Everyone (Musical Excrements)

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BEST ALBUMS MADE BY SAD DUTCH PEOPLE INCLUDING ALBUMS THAT WERE NOT MADE BY DUTCH PEOPLE REALLY, BUT COME ONE THEY'RE PROBABLY DUTCH ON THE INSIDE

Fluisteraars – Bloem (Eisenwald)

Turia – Degen van Licht (Eisenwald) – TOP PICK

Silver Knife – Unyielding / Unseeing (Amor Fati Productions)

Nubivagart – Roaring Eye (Amor Fati Productions)

Spectral Lore / Mare Cogitum – Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine (I, Voidhanger Records)

Mourir – Animal Bouffe Animal (Throatruiner Records)

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THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ENJOY TEAM SPORTS, WATERY BEER AND HAVE SHARED AT LEAST ONE LINK TO A HARD TIMES ARTICLE IN THEIR GROUP CHAT WITH THE CAPTION "IT ME"

Gulch – Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress (Closed Casket Activities)

Muro – Pacificar (Beach Impediment Records)

Code Orange – Underneath (Roadrunner Records)

Expander – Neuropunk Boostergang (Profound Lore Records) – TOP PICK

Skeleton – Skeleton (20 Buck Spin)

Cro-Mags – In the Beginning (Mission Two Entertainment) – TOP PICK

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THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE IN A PIANO, A STRANGE, TRAGIC FIGURE THAT CAN NEVER LEAVE THE CONFINES OF THAT HELLISH MUSICAL SPACE BUT FINDS SOME STRANGE SOLACE WHEN GIANT-LOOKING CREATURES SIT DOWN AT THE PIANO AND PLAY FOR A WHILE

The Academy of Sun – The Quiet Earth (TAOS Records)

Toby Driver and Nick Hudson – Black Feather Under Your Tongue (Ice Level Music) – TOP PICK

Mick Barr – 12th Chamber​/​Qurotenthrough II (Hathenter)

Staraya Derevnya – Inwards Opened the Floor (Raash Records)

Aidan Baker, Simon Goff, Thor Harris – The Bit (Gizeh Records)

Beherit – Bardo Exist (Kvlt) – TOP PICK

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THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE THE PAIN AND BEAUTY OF LIFE, THE ABYSS INTO WHICH WE STARE AND THE WARMTH THAT FENDS IT OFF (FOR NOW)

Liturgy – Origin of the Alimonies (Independent) – TOP PICK

Botanist – Ecosystem Version B (Favonian)

Mamaleek – Come and See (The Flenser)

Forlesen – Hierophant Violent (Hypnotic Dirge Records) – TOP PICK

IER – 妖怪 (Independent)

Névoa – Towards Belief (Independent)

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THE BEST ALBUMS THAT ARE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE TOO MANY EMOTIONS AND ALL THE EMOTION-WIRING GETS TANGLED AND YOU SHORT CIRCUIT AND CAN'T CONTROL YOUR BODY ANYMORE

Sumac – May You Be Held (Thrill Jockey Records) – TOP PICK

Dmamadaka – A Swarm of Flies (Independent)

Couch Slut – Take a Chance on Rock n' Roll (Gilead Media)

Today is the the Day – No Good to Me (BMG)

Anna von Hausswolff – All Thoughts Fly (Southern Lord Recordings) – TOP PICK

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THE BEST ALBUMS THAT FEEL LIKE BEING IN A DARK ROOM WITH SCARY NOISES AND BEING STRUCK BY A BASEBALL BAT BUT YOU'RE ON THE SUMMIT ON BOÖSAULE MONTESA, THE TALLEST MOUNTAIN ON IO, A MOON OF JUPITER. LOOK IT UP.

Cosmic Putrefaction – The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers (I, Voidhanger Records) 

Ulcerate – Stare Into Death And Be Still (Debemur Morti Productions) – TOP PICK

Cryptic Shift – Visitations From Enceladus (Blood Harvest Records)

Heretical Sect – Rapturous Flesh Consumed (Gilead Media)

Sxuperion – Omniscient Pulse (Blood Mountain Records) – TOP PICK

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THE BEST ALBUMS TO WHICH YOU MAY DEEPLY INTERROGATE YOUR SOUL WHILE WEARING A VERY COOL DESIGNER JACKET

Insect Ark – The Vanishing (Profound Lore Records)

Daggers – Neon Noir Erotica (Throatruiner Records) – TOP PICK

Ett Dödens Maskineri – Det Svenska Hatet (Suicide Records)

Exhumation – Eleventh Formulae (Pulverized Records)

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou – May Our Chambers Be Full (Sacred Bones)

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THE BEST INSUFFICIENTLY LONG RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR (EPs)

Vital Spirit – In The Faith That Looks Through Death (Hidden Tribe) – TOP PICK

Cosmovore – Into the Nescrosphere (Total Dissonant Worship / War Crime Records) – TOP PICK

Rejoice! The Light Has Come – Untitled EP (Transcending Records)

Gnaw – Barking Orders (Sleeping Giant Glossolalia)

Left Cross – Prophecy of Conquest (Stygian Black Hand)

Departure Chandelier – Dripping Papal Blood (Independent)

Lilim – Weighted Ghosts (Independent)

Deliquesce – Engineered Frailty (Goatgrind Records / Life After Death)

Living Gate – Deathlust (Relapse Records)

Wake – Confluence (Independent) – TOP PICK

Gasp – Sardonas (To Live a Lie)

Lower Splendor – Nocturnal Animals (Independent) – TOP PICK

Resin Tomb – Resin Tomb (Brilliant Emperor)

MYRDØD – MYRDØD (Independent)

Karst – Genesis of Nervous Decay (Independent)

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BEST DEMOS (RAN OUT OF CLEVER TITLES AT THIS POINT)

Scumeater – Scumeater (Lower Class Kids Records)

Cenobite – Soul Torn Apart (Independent) – TOP PICK

Spirit Possession – 2020 Demo (Independent) – TOP PICK

Disciple of Dzoavits – Demo 2020 (Independent)

Omnikinetic – Omnikinetic (Independent)

Moon – Clavicula Nox (Schattenkult Produktionen)

Deathsiege – Unworthy Adversary (Dawnbreed Records)

Dødskvad – Krønike I (Caligari Records)

IIIXK – Demo 2020 (Independent) – TOP PICK

PART II – THE LIST

AMAZING FUCKING ALBUMS

50. Proscription – Conduit (Dark Descent Records)

49. Internal Rot – Grieving Brith (Iron Lung Records)

48. Expander – Neuropunk Boostergang (Profound Lore Records)

47. Undeath – Lesions of a Different Kind (Prosthetic Records)

46. Toby Driver and Nick Hudson – Black Feather Under Your Tongue (Ice Level Music)

45. Hellish Form – MMXX (Transylvanian Tapes)

44. Empress – Wait til Night (Brilliant Emperor Records)

43. Havukruunu – Uinuos Syömein Sota (Naturmacht Productions)

(-) Fawn Limbs – Sleeper Vessels (Sludgelord Records / Wolves and Vibrancy / Roman Numeral Records)

42. Envy – The Fallen Crimson (Temporary Residence Ltd.)

(-) Decoherence – Unitarity (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

41. Ûkcheânsâlâwit – Tekipûk (His Wounds)

40. Vyrion – Nil (Independent)

39. The Ruins of Beverast/Almyrkv (Ván Records)

38. Cro-Mags – In the Beginning (Mission Two Entertainment)

37. Beherit – Bardo Exist (Kvlt)

36. Sumac – May You Be Held (Thrill Jockey Records)

35. KIP – Songs of Love (Independent)

(-) Daggers – Neon Noir Erotica (Throatruiner Records)

34. Nothing – The Great Dismal (Relapse Records)

ALMOST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

33. Blood Red Fog – Fields of Sorrow (Sol Records)

32. Defeated Sanity – The Sanguinary Impetus (Willowtip Records)

31. Old Man Gloom – Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning & Seminar IX: Darkness of Being (Profound Lore Records

30. Atramentus – Stygian (20 Buck Spin)

27. Spirit Possession – Spirit Possession (Profound Lore Records)

26. Kommodus – Kommodus (GoatowaRex)

25. Sxuperion – Omniscient Pulse (Blood Mountain Records)

24. MSW – Obliviosus (Gilead Media)

(-) Cauldron Black Ram – Slaver (20 Buck Spin)

23. Biesy – Transsatanizm (Godz Ov War Productions)

22. Chepang – Chatta (Nerva Altar)

(-) Psychonaut 4 – Beautyfall / სულდაცემა (Talheim Records)

21. The Microphones – Microphones in 2020 (P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd)

20. Arkheron Thodol – Rituals of the Sovereign Heart (Naturmacht Productions)

19. Jesu – Terminus (Avalanche Recordings)

18. Brii – Entre Tudo que é Visto e Oculto (Lovers & Lollypops)

17. Ulcerate – Stare Into Death And Be Still (Debemur Morti Productions)

16. Anna von Hausswolff – All Thoughts Fly (Southern Lord Recordings)

15. Napalm Death – Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (Century Media Records)

SO, SO CLOSE TO BEING ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

14. Malokarpatan – Krupinské ohne (Invictus Productions)

13. Pharaoh Overlord – 6 (Rocket Recordings)

12. Caustic Wound – Death Posture (Profound Lore Records)

11. Forlesen – Hierophant Violent (Hypnotic Dirge Records)

(-) Shaidar Logoth – Chapter III: The Void God (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

10. Kaatayra – Toda História pela Frente (Independent)

9. Faceless Burial – Speciation (Dark Descent Records)

8. Wake – Devouring Ruin (Translation Loss Records)

7. Black Curse – Endless Wound (Sepulchral Voice Records)

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

6. Afterbirth – Four Dimensional Flesh (Unique Leader Records)

When I heard Afterbirth's 2017 debut Time Traveller's Dilemma I just about lost my mind. It was the perfect, impossible mix (this side of WORMED) of intelligence, progressive ambition, and sheer brutality. It wasn't perfect, but it was damn close, and it became for me one of those rare albums that I could just put on and let ride, regardless of mood. Four Dimensional Flesh (the lack of a hyphen is really killing me here, people) to me feels as if Afterbirth probed my brain to see what were the parts I loved the most in TTD, extracted them and expanded them into an entire album. Nothing short of an instant classic from a band that deserves its damn flowers and its fair share of recognition. Brutal paradise.

5. Turia – Degen van Licht (Eisenwald)

The Dutch black metal scene has long stepped out of the shadow of more established underground black metal hubs, asserting itself as the source of some of the best, most melancholy dark stuff around. But this year feels like a real coming out party, and in no small measure thanks to Turia's stunning, scene-defining masterpiece. Just enough raw texture to make you feel the instruments pummeling at your insides, and just enough sheer atmosphere and emotion to make you feel the beautiful, tangible, delicate human heart at the center of their storm. In terms of black metal that isn't of the tripped-out variety (coming soon on this very list) this is by far the best release of the year.

4. Neptunian Maximalism – Éons (I, Voidhanger Records)

Talk about improbable – 133 minutes of droning chaos, jazz-infused insanity, Sunn O)))-levels of sonic bombast, and a weird, cosmic theme has all converged into what is one of the most unique and compelling works of underground music in recent memory. And that last part, the "compelling" one, is the pièce de résistance of this whole trip, since these tracks have no business being this strange and unexpected all while being riveting and emotionally exciting. No business whatsoever. A masterpiece of modern whatever-the-hell-this-music-is and a watershed moment in heavy music. Musical mescaline.

3. Krallice – Mass Cathexis (Independent)

The story of a band that was the best at everything, that released one magnificent album after another, that was the very embodiment of attention-deficiency music should sound like and then goes out into the material world and releases one of their best albums ever. So, yeah. Krallice have never missed a beat (though Ygg Hur is still kind of growing on me) and have, at least in my eyes, hit new heights with their EPs Wolf and Loum and the great Go Be Forgotten. Mass Cathexis takes up some of these more recent ideas, builds on them, and in my eyes released their best album since Years Past Matter, which is, ah, you know, one of the best metal albums of the 21st century (and the subject of this interview I did with them last year). The legends produced another masterpiece.

2. Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin kynsi (Nuclear Blast)

Oranssi Pazuzu, for the last decade and change, have been at the vanguard of a lot of what I have loved about the metal of that period and have embodied much of why I consider that time span to be the best era in extreme music since the 90s (which is also why we did this somewhat unusual Albums of the Decade interview with them). They are and always have been unabashedly artistic, pretentious, navel-gazing, daring, feral, and always on the move, always searching for something else to feed into their vagrant creative apparatus. Most recently it meant consuming a chunk of last year's beautiful collaboration with Dark Buddha Rising, which translated into a much more droning, atmospheric, somewhat chaotic first 3/4 (give or take) of Mestarin kynsi. And yet, as always, those elements too were ingested by the wild minds of these Finnish geniuses, creating of their most difficult and most rewarding always to date, capped by what just might be one of their best songs ever. Oh, and just as an added bonus, they delivered what is without any shadow of a doubt the only truly memorable "COVID-19 livestream" event thus far.

1B. Liturgy – Origin of the Alimonies (Independent)

As with the above Finnish wizards, another tale of a meandering journey, and, as with Oranssi Pazuzu an improbably continued ascent to, I mean, who the hell knows. One of the things that have been truly mind-blowing about Hunter Hunt Hendrix and her Liturgy is just how measured and calculated it all seems, not only in retrospect but in real time. The explosion into "transcendental black metal" of the first couple of releases, the introduction of increased sound manipulation via The Ark Work, the consolidation of both veins in last year's H.A.Q.Q. And now another bold step into modern classical music that somehow holds all of those past iterations – and was written, to be fair, as some of those shifts were taking place – while pointing to a brand new and exciting direction. A defining creator of our time and one of the true musical visionaries of the contemporary extreme music scene. Unparalleled.

1A. Sweven – The Eternal Resonance (Ván Records)

This has been the one to beat basically all year long, ever since I first got the promo copy ahead of its release in the spring. To the extent that it required an interview with Sweven mastermind Robert Andersson to truly come to terms with this album and what it means to me. So for a more thorough spewing of my thoughts on this amazing album as well as *trumpets* a super-festive AOTY interview with Sweven go HERE. See ya'll in 2021.