AUTOTHRALL'S YEAR END AUDIO CORONAVIRUS CLUSTERFUCK

If you're looking for the full list of my top 100 metal albums for 2020, check over here at my Rate Your Music Page. There's also a backup list of another 100 albums that didn't quite make that cut, as well as my favorite EPs. Below is the tighter, more hierarchical list of top picks. This year, partly due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, I set out to challenge myself to sample as many demos and albums from around the world that I could find, and thus there were thousands that I checked out, even if just for a couple minutes. So my choices this year come from a more massive sample size than usual...one that I can honestly say I will never attempt again! Despite the chaos of 2020, it was a solid year across multiple sub-genres, anything from atmospheric black metal to traditional throwback heavy metal.

My Top 20 Metal Albums of 2020

01. Havukruunu (Fi) - Uinuos syömein sota (95)

02. Katla. (Is) - Allt þetta helvítis myrkur (93)

03. Sölicitör (US) - Spectral Devastation (93)

04. Atramentus (Ca) - Stygian (92)

05. Akhlys (US) - Melinoë (92)

06. Midnight (US) - Rebirth by Blasphemy (92)

07. Lantern (Fi) - Dimensions (92)

08. Magick Touch (No) - Heads Have Got to Rock 'n' Roll (90)

09. Malokopartan (Sk) - Krupinské ohne

10. Proscription (Fi) - Conduit (90)

11. Napalm Death (UK) - Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (90)

12. Stälker (NZ) - Black Majik Terror (90)

13. Vanik (US) - III (90)

14. Bütcher (Be) - 666 Goats Carry My Chariot (90)

15. Sólstafir (Is) - Endless Twilight of Codependent Love (90)

16. Chronus (Se) - Idols (90)

17. Ulthar (US) - Providence (90)

18. Serment (Ca) - Chante, ô flamme de la liberté (90)

19. Undeath (US) - Lesions of a Different Kind (90)

20. Hail Spirit Noir (Gr) - Eden in Reverse (90)

My Top 20 Metal EPs, Demos and Splits of 2020

01. Lychgate (UK) - Also Sprach Futura (90)

02. Morketida (Fi) - Traveler of the Untouched Voids (85)

03. Rabid Beast (US) - Rabid Beast (85)

04. Schizophrenia (Be) - Voices (83)

05. Ordinul Negru (Ro) - Nebuisa (82)

06. Obnoxious Youth (Fi) - Mouth Sewn Shut (82)

07. Feral Vision (US) - Symbols for the Other World (82)

08. Ihsahn (No) - Pharos (82)

09. Ihsahn (No) - Telemark (80)

10. Plague Mace (Dk) - Primal Priest (80)

11. Golden Blood (At) - Cum, Coke & Blasphemy (80)

12. Expunged (Ca) - Expunged (80)

13. Necrocarnation (Ar) - Fragments of Dark Eternity (80)

14. Departure Chandelier (Ca) - Dripping Papal Blood (80)

15. Maul (US) - Monarchy of Mold (80)

16. Hot Graves (US) - Haunted Graves (80)

17. The Passing (US) - The Passing (80)

18. Mortiferum (US)/Hyperdontia (Inter) - Split (80)

19. Cadaver (No) - D.G.A.F. (80)

20. Apallic Decay (De) - Return of the Unhallowed (80)