AllMusic 2017 Year in Review
Favorite Metal Albums
Veteran bands like Cannibal Corpse, Godflesh and Converge brought the thunder on some of 2017's best metal albums, along with more left-field releases from Myrkur, Pallbearer and Sikth, which proved you don't have to be rote to be heavy.
Formidable sophomore evolution for the industrial revivalists that assaults with both power and forboding atmosphere.
The metalcore veterans deliver a balanced, brutal, and almost relentlessly efficient set that deftly utilizes every inch of sonic space to its advantage.
Employing elements of hard rock, shoegaze, stoner metal, and Hawkwind-esque space rock, the Canadian rockers' sophomore LP delivers both atmosphere and power.
A thoroughly enjoyable, yet unavoidably pugilistic 50 minutes of in-you-face time.
The post-Thin Lizzy unit's third studio outing invokes the heyday of late-'70s/early-'80s classic rock without falling victim to nostalgia.
25 years on, this Japanese power trio again prove their mettle as rock leviathans with a set that looks back while exploring new terrain.
Newly recorded version of the deathcore outfit's pummeling 2007 debut that features improved production and new track "Glorious Day."
Nearly 30 years on, the progenitors of death metal turn in an unrelentingly aggressive 14th album.
The Midwest trio delivers a windswept blast of sludge metal and shoegaze-addled post-rock that blurs the line between seismic and serene.
Nearly six years in the making, the Massachusetts metalcore/punk legends' ninth studio LP serves up a punishing barrage of sonic exclamation points.
Cryptoriana: The Seductiveness of Decay
With a consistent lineup since 2015, the English horror metallers scale back orchestrations to deliver a much heavier offering.
These British power metallers push their music out in all directions and make the argument that they should be one of the world's biggest bands.
An awesome debut from the uncompromising instrumental rock quartet challenges, realigns, and perhaps redefines post-metal's boundaries.
Godflesh explore their industrial and post-punk influences on the tense, moody follow-up to their 2014 reunion album.
French musician Gautier Serre's highly eclectic breakcore/metal project moves to Metal Blade for its most refined work yet.
Ritual is the goth-metal's troupe leanest set of material to date, and its moody charms are administered with both muscle and grace.
On the industrial outfit's 20th outing they deliver a potent and pleasing set that is a highlight of their 21st century output.
On an album nearly five years in the making, the lineage thrash metallers and producer Jens Bogren show the kids how it's done.
Continuing his late-era hot streak with producer Tyler Bates, Manson's tenth merges heartbreak and blues with a jagged industrial edge.
On their seventh studio album, the Georgia quartet re-enlist producer Brendan O'Brien and return to the concept album.
On her second full-length, the Danish-born artist emerges into a dark, illustrative, atavistic creative identity of her own intimate design.
The Aussie metallers deliver a lethal blend of blastbeats and soaring melodies that invoke Dimmu Borgir by way of Dream Theater.
On this offering, the band walks the tightrope between doom, death, prog, and goth metal, and gets the tenuous balance absolutely right.
The New Jersey thrash legends' 18th full-length outing snaps necks with impunity, but it does so with structural inventiveness.
On their third full-length, this Little Rock doom quartet move further afield to excellent result without leaving their origins behind.
A satisfying distillation of Sikth's particular mish-mash of metal proclivities as one could hope for, especially after such a lengthy hiatus.
With Arsis guitarist Brandon Ellis now in the fold, the Detroit death metal quintet deliver a blistering, tight 33-minute set that ranks with their best records.
Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light
The second collaboration between noise-metal boundary-pushers the Body and Full of Hell might be the craziest album either group has produced.
The Florida-based decibel pushers continue their sonic metamorphosis from thrash-blasted metalcore to melody-driven (almost) trad-metal on their eighth full-length effort.
Portland's black metal horde returns to its heavy, unhinged, atmospheric pagan nature worship with power, malevolence, and majesty.