The full list of my top 100 metal albums for 2021 is up over at my Rate Your Music page, and if that's not enough, here's the backup list with yet another 100 albums I really dug, including some of my favorite EPs and so forth. But below are my hierarchical top 21 for 2021 in both the full-length and EPs/demos/splits categories!
My Top 21 Metal Albums of 2021
01. Hooded Menace (Fi) - The Tritonus Bell (98)
02. Steel Bearing Hand (US) - Slay in Hell (95)
03. Lucifer (Inter) - IV (95)
04. Nekromantheon (No) - Visions of Trimegistos (93)
05. Bunker 66 (It) - Beyond the Help of Prayers (93)
06. Pharaoh (US) - The Powers That Be (93)
07. Necromantia (Gr) - To the Depths We Descend (92)
08. Warmoon Lord (Fi) - Battlespells (92)
09. Tribulation (Se) - Where the Gloom Becomes Sound (92)
10. Spectral Wound (Ca) - A Diabolic Thirst (90)
11. Pestilence (Nl) - Exitivm (90)
12. Seth (Fr) - La morsure du Christ (90)
13. Yoth Iria (Gr) - As the Flame Withers (90)
14. Borgne (Fr) - Temps Morts (90)
15. Suffering Hour (US) - The Cyclic Reckoning (88)
16. Sarke (No) - Allsighr (87)
17. Craven Idol (UK) - Forked Tongues (87)
18. Woman is the Earth (US) - Dust of Forever (85)
19. Worm (US) - Foreverglade (85)
20. Cerebral Rot (US) - Excretion of Mortality (85)
21. Wharflurch (US) - Psychedelic Realms of Hell (85)
My Top 21 Metal EPs, Demos and Splits of 2021
01. Nordjevel (No) - Fenriir (92)
02. Mooncitadel (Fi) - Onyx Castles & Silver Keys (88)
03. Shrieking Demons (It) - Diabolical Regurgitations (87)
04. Cult of Luna (Fi) - The Raging River (87)
05. Vanik (US) - Entrails & Thrills (85)
06. Vektor (US)/Cryptosis (Nl) - Transmission of Chaos (85)
07. Ordinul Negru (Ro) - A Sojourner Wandering Through the Barren Openness (85)
07. Ordinul Negru (Ro) - A Sojourner Wandering Through the Barren Openness (85)
08. Lorna Shore (US) - ...And I Return to Nothingness (85)
09. Insomnium (Fi) - Argent Moon (83)
10. Vukari (US) - Omnes Nihil (83)
11. Ildskær (Dk) - Paa Dækket Kalder De Døde (82)
12. Severed Boy (US) - Tragic Encounters (82)
13. Witch Vomit (US) - Abhorrent Rapture (82)
14. Whipstriker (Br)/Ice War (Ca) - Split (82)
15. Spirit Adrift (US) - Forge Your Future (82)
16. Lady Beast (US) - Omens (80)
17. Havukruunu (Fi) - Kuu Erkylän Yllä (80)
18. Enslaved (No) - Caravans to the Outer Worlds (80)
19. Sea Mosquito (UK) - Fire, Magic & Venom (80)
20. Gaahls Wyrd (No) - The Humming Mountain (80)
21. Katavasia (Gr) - Invoking the Spirit of Doom (80)
My Top 21 Non-Metal Albums of 2021
01. Jess & the Ancient Ones (Fi) - Vertigo
02. Perturbator (Fr) - Lustful Sacraments
My Top 21 Non-Metal Albums of 2021
01. Jess & the Ancient Ones (Fi) - Vertigo
02. Perturbator (Fr) - Lustful Sacraments
03. Wardruna (No) - Kvitravn
04. Leprous (No) - Aphelion
05. Zombi (US) - Liquid Crystal
06. Mirthquell (US) - Return of the Ancients
07. Hante. (Fr) - Morning Tsunami
08. Youth Code (US) - A Skeleton Key in the Doors of Depression
09. Steven Wilson (UK) - Future Bites
10. White Void (No) - Anti
11. The Limit (US) - Caveman Logic
12. Styx (Ca) - The Crash of the Crown
13. Fen Walker (US) - Fare Thee Well Battle Winds
14. The Vintage Caravan (Is) - Monuments
15. Hail Spirit Noir (Gr) - Mannequins
16. St. Vincent (US) - Daddy's Homenequins
17. Weedpecker (Pl) - IV: The Strength of Forgotten Thoughts
18. Arcanist (Fr) - Poseidonis
19. Blind Golem (It) - A Dream of Fantasy
20. Greta Van Fleet (US) - The Battle at Garden's Gate
21. Night Flight Orchestra (Se) - Aeromantic II
21. Night Flight Orchestra (Se) - Aeromantic II
