{"id":729,"date":"2021-12-26T21:31:57","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T04:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sdmetal.org\/msm\/?p=729"},"modified":"2021-12-31T15:44:18","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T22:44:18","slug":"todds-top-metal-of-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sdmetal.org\/msm\/todds-top-metal-of-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd’s Top Metal Albums of 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I was asked if I wanted to contribute a Top Ten of 2021 list, I jumped on that, assuming it would be a quick & easy slam-dunk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just like the year 2021 itself, things soon got complicated: albums that I thought came out this year were actually from a year or two prior, re-visitations of some 2021 albums that I thought wowed me this year turned out to be perhaps less than “wow\u2019able” upon further review\u2026, and releases from the big-time mainstream groups (yes, that\u2019s right: I used the \u201cM\u201d-word, gasp!) fell somewhat empty once the hype was tamped down a bit: an Iron Maiden<\/strong> double album that is far too long<\/em>…, Sodom<\/strong> and Destruction<\/strong> E.P.\u2019s that were \u201cphoned-in\u201d…, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ten Things I Really Liked This Year<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But enough of how some Metal in 2021 sorta dropped the ball. Here\u2019s what actually did<\/em> wow me \u2013 listed in no<\/strong> particular order<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unto Others<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cStrength<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

aka Idle Hands<\/strong> (note: Google the fuck out of your Next New Band Name before putting out anything lol), the renamed Unto Others<\/strong> took everything that was magical and dare I say fun from Goth Metal of yesteryears and melded it to a modern metal aesthetic. This follow-up to the awesome 2019 \u201cMana<\/em>\u201d is more mature, more angry, and is just plain \u201cmore\u201d of what this band does…, and does very very well<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Archspire<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cBleed the Future<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

aka \u201cOur tech-death instruments have so many strings that we can keep an entire manufacturer in business during in even the worst of pandemics!<\/em>\u201d I got into the wizardry of Archspire<\/strong> with their killer 2017 \u201cRelentless Mutation<\/em>\u201d. With a bigger budget, tighter production, and one of the most disturbing videos<\/a> to ever stick in my head in a very long time, these guys from Victoria BC band put out a truly amazing album this year. Pick this up and<\/em> their back catalog, pronto!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Helloween<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cHelloween<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was front row center for tickets to the parade to slag on what was (on paper) a cash-grab gimmicky stunt to breath new life into an old (really old) band. \u201cIf a Helloween with one vocalist is great, then a Helloween with three vocalists has to be three times greater!<\/em>\u201d, the records execs proclaimed. But you know what? This album actually fucking works.<\/a> The songs are well written for the respective vocalist(s) on each song. This being German Power Metal (hell, these guys basically gave birth to the genre), there\u2019s going to be some cheese, of course. But it all gels into a warm and tasty platter of Germanic metal goodness, start to finish. [Bonus points for the great artwork not<\/strong> featuring dumb Pumpkinhead mascot dumbassery.]\n<\/div><\/div>

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Kenn Nardi<\/strong> – \u201cTrauma<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bit of a dark horse entry here, that I do not expect to see on many (any?) other Top 10\u2019s. As some of y\u2019all probably know, Kenn Nardi<\/strong> was the heart&soul of the awesome and criminally overlooked Anacrusis<\/strong> of the 80s and early 90s. Like so many bands, Anacrusis<\/strong> was hitting their stride right when Grunge was sucking the life (and contracts) from the US music scene, and the band folded. But that didn\u2019t stop Kenn<\/strong> from writing. After putting out a few metal-adjacent solo albums (for only hardcore completists to be honest), this is his first solo that truly has Anacrusis<\/strong> DNA all up in it.<\/a> There\u2019s a ton of material here that would fit right in as a double CD bonus disk in an Anacrusis<\/strong> boxed set thing \u2013 but yet this also very approachable for folks new to what he\u2019s been about since the 80s. There\u2019s not a single clunker in his impressively mature and diverse release. Check this out and you might be surprised. [And seriously, if you don\u2019t know Anacrusis<\/strong>, get on that shit<\/a>, stat!]\n<\/div><\/div>

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Flotsam and Jetsam<\/strong> – \u201cBlood in the Water<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A band that has always had the albatross of \u201cWho? Oh yeah, The Band that Jason Newsted ditched when he joined That Other Metal Band<\/em>\u201d. A totally unfair characterization, since that is quite literally ancient history in the life of this AZ act. Since Newsted\u2019s high-viz departure, Flots&Jets<\/a> has never really put out anything bad per se<\/em>, but at the same they have never really put the pedal to metal and written a truly crushing album. That so-so streak is most definitively broken by this album. Instantly agreeable and very head-bang\u2019able at the very first listen,<\/a> and one that rewards folks diving into to the thick of things with repeat listens. #Jasonwho?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Exodus<\/strong> – \u201cPersona Non Grata<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no secret that I\u2019m a dual-hatted fanboy here: both Exodus and Zetro will always get my loyalty. They could have slap-dashed some of the same ol’ \u201cStale White Bread Bay Area Thrash Metal<\/em>\u201d thing that Death Angel<\/strong> and Testament<\/strong> have been putting out the past 5-6 years to pay for their A.A.R.P memberships\u2026, but that\u2019s just not how Gary Holt\u2019s boys do things. Exodus<\/strong> is just as relevant and vicious<\/a> now as they were back when pleasures of the flesh and murders in the front row were the norm. This album rips!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Panopticon<\/strong> – \u201c…And Again Into The Light<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This dude is a machine. He routinely cranks out amazingly diverse material<\/a> with each and every release \u2013 and yet each album has it\u2019s own thumbprint. Considering how often I\u2019ve re-played this album while driving in the foggy misty environs of the PacNW this Fall, it would be totally remiss of me to not show this album some serious love.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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1914<\/strong> – \u201cWhere Fear And Weapons Meet\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I may<\/em> have already babbled incoherently <\/a>about this album in the past. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The Crown<\/strong> – \u201cRoyal Destroyer<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For whatever reason, for a time I always had The Haunted<\/strong> and The Crown<\/strong> mixed up in my head. While the former is sorta\/kinda\/okay-most-definitively shitty, I\u2019m late to the game in picking up on how awesome The Crown<\/strong> is! Okay, this is another album that won\u2019t get much attention from All Of The Other Metal Top Ten\u2019ers posting on the interwebz this season \u2013 I expect this band signed to Metal Blade Records is just not \u201cunderground\u201d enough to be that kewl. But I dig this album quite a lot! Don’t be an “only underground metal is trve!” elitist and check this out <\/a>\ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Witches Hammer<\/strong> – \u201cDevourer of the Dead\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And lastly, this is a case where I\u2019m including these guys in my Top Ten purely to throw them some much-needed exposure. These Canadians started out way the fuck back in 1985, and put out some decent demos before life got in the way and they folded the band. But like so many other acts now, these now decidedly older empty-nester dudes started jamming, and the next thing you know they’re putting out some truly legit Thrashy Speed Metal that more than rivals what the kids half their age are doing these days. Last year\u2019s \u201cDamnation Is My Salvation<\/em>\u201d was a big win for me, and this year their new one picks up right were they left off. Clever and vicious Thrash\/Speed Thrash Metal that has a great \u201cflashback to 1986\u201d vibe, complete with the warm & fuzzy production values. Check this out, for sure!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Six Notable Mentions Of Stuff That I Also Liked<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n