#1 Hundredth - Rare. Shoewave? Post-dreamcore? Who knows. But Hundredth blazed completely new trails with this one and it paid off
#2 Northlane - Mesmer. Brilliantly written and performed songs, with a great mix of styles. This is Northlane at their best.
#3 Blanck Mass - World Eater. Difficult to categorize as well, this industrial/electro mindfuck is one to both dance and have a mental breakdown to.
#4 Despite Exile - Relics. A classy take on prog-deathcore, with well-timed breakdowns, solos and synths.
#5 Neck Deep - The Peace and The Panic. The word accessible can mean different things to different people, but Neck Deep took that turn well and deliver a really enjoyable album
#6 The Contortionist - Clairvoyant. By far their softest album but it feels more pure than anything they’ve put out before. Prog af
#7 The Gospel Youth - Always Lose. Anthemic and confessional pop-punk. This band work extremely hard and are about to explode.
#8 Turnover - Good Nature. Melancholic emo/alt-rock. An iconic autumn album.
#9 Counterparts - You’re Not You Anymore. An extremely safe album from Counterparts with no frills, but it’s thouroughly listenable.
#10 Outlier - Through A Set Of Rose-Shaded Eyes. Blackened hardcore/metalcore that feeds off Oathbreaker and Converge but is unlike anything I’ve heard in these genres yet.
#11 Ne Obliviscaris - Urn. A tech-death journey. Eyrie is a solid shout for song of the year.
#12 Krallice - Go Be Forgotten. Krallice released three (!!!) albums this past year but this is by far the best in my opinion, with genius song structures and a brilliant ambient interlude before the storming Ground Prayer.
#13 Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Finisterre. Progressive black metal with notable production and again, excellent songwriting.
#14 Violet Cold - Anomie. One that I slept on this year before listening to in the final few days of the year but this is a lush entry to the blackgaze genre.
#15 Sorrow Plagues - Homecoming. Another one-man blackgaze project, although Sorrow Plagues have started playing shows this year (which I was the witness to - one of the best performances of the year!).
#16 Employed to Serve - The Warmth Of A Dying Sun. Less chaotic than their previous album but a real statement from this young mathsy hardcore band.
#17 Dyscarnate - With All Their Might. I HEARD U LIKE DEATH METAL. Grooves for days.
#18 Polaris - The Mortal Coil. A solid debut album from this Australian metalcore album. Inspired by their wel-known countrymen but with their own signature sound.
#19 Inanimate Existence - Underneath A Melting Sun. Imaginative tech-death with storylines as dense as the riffing. A return to greatness for IA.
#20 Citizen - As You Please. Made a lot less of a splash than their previous albums but a collection of some really great songs.
#21 A Night In Texas - Global Slaughter. Making high screamed vocals in deathcore cool again. Super cool.
#22 While She Sleeps - You Are We. Another safe but solid metalcore release from one of Britain’s best bands.
#23 A Trust Unclean - Parturition. Making deathcore fun again.
#24 Make Them Suffer - Worlds Apart. Still the same band at their core but with a startlingly different tone to their songs. The difference in artwork tells you all you need to know about this.
#25 Spotlights - Seismic. A shoegazey, sludgey album that can only be compared to Justin Broadrick’s work. One of my favourite opening tracks from any album ever
