The new song from Goatpenis is pretty tight. They continue to induce more melodic touches on their characteristically aggressive war metal.

Great and tasty doom metal. An amazing start for a band. It rapes.

Hi. I just came across this. It's heavy metal, with some Heavens Gate vibe. It combines transparent female vocals and classic 80s riffing, plus the shreddy leads. I'm enjoing it pretty much, and the current rating is pretty low, so I might as well give it a bit more visibility



also this, completely unnoticed despite the huge quality

it's the black metal equivalent of Ne Obliviscaris, great atmosphere, proficient composition, balance between neat moments and aggresion...

Very light/shoegazy black metal. Like Slowdive playing BM.



Really good but more elaborate drums (not such a simple machine) would have been even better.

Gothic metal/electronic rock from Germany. Catchy as hell.

Ok, a few I didn't see mentioned (although maybe I'm just blind)

Voivod/Nocturnus-esque prog death metal



blackened/brutal(ish) death metal



blackened death metal



blackened death metal

Written by sgtrobo on 15.11.2020 at 21:29

Cryptic Shift and Vredehammer

Haven't listened to the others yet but I second these suggestions. Fantastic albums in their own right, although I lean towards Vredehammer for how catchy and groovy it is. The kind of extreme metal you can dance to.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.11.2020 at 21:49

Written by sgtrobo on 15.11.2020 at 21:29

Cryptic Shift and Vredehammer

Haven't listened to the others yet but I second these suggestions. Fantastic albums in their own right, although I lean towards Vredehammer for how catchy and groovy it is. The kind of extreme metal you can dance to.

yes, good call. Vredehammer is a "workout album". Cryptic Shift is a "sit down, shut up, and listen...PAY ATTENTION DAMN YOU" type of album. You don't have to focus on Vredehammer to really get into it. You *do* have to focus on Cryptic Shift to catch all the nuances.

for what it's worth, I wouldn't dance to Pandrador or Werewolves, but they are both EXTREMELY good workout albums, speaking from personal experience.
Werewolves is kinda like a slightly more brutal version of Vader. Not that they sound like Vader, but their energy is somewhat similar.
Pandrador is more like...well...Behemmolation, if you catch my drift.

Another amazing album by these guys.

Might as well be my aoty so far

Despite the setbacks that 2020 has brought the music industry, artists have still managed to bless us with some phenomenal albums.

After a few months, it's already been an exemplary year for new music, with beloved artists like Halsey, Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa, Childish Gambino, and Fiona Apple releasing the best records of their careers.
Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
SAULT - Untitled (Rise)
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Creeper - Sex, Death & the Infinite Void
SAULT - UNTITLED (Black Is)
Rose City Band - Summerlong
Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways
Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
The Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?
Moses Sumney - græ
Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter
Taylor Swift - folklore
Paradise Lost - Obsidian
Imperial Triumphant - Alphaville
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia

I recommend these discs:
- Fates Warning - long day good night
- Pain Of Salvation - Panther
- Lunatic Soul - Throught shaded woods

Good production, good intensity and nice pacing. This is some good thrash metal from the Czech Republic.

Bangladeshi progressive melodic death.



Fun album with plenty of twists in memorable songs, and some sweet guitar work. Clean vocals took a few listens to grow on me, but easily the best melodic death I've heard this year.

Ok, if it weren't for this year's Victorius release, this would probably be the cheesiest record I've heard this year. An album with songs named (and based on) spells in Dungeons & Dragons. Lots of silliness wrapped in a pretty fun music package. Nice keyboard touches, excellent vocals (reminds me a bit of Tim "Ripper" Owens' lower register vocals at times) and some fun riffs. I enjoyed this quite a bit.

Also found a really good doom record today with amazing female vocals. It offers a nice contrast between the heaviness of the music and the softer style vocals. They give enough breathing room to the vocals to fully come into there own. Reall good stuff with a nice production to it as well.

I would like to use this opportunity to share the album my band , The Metal Alliance released earlier this year. The single is featuring Joakim Brodén of Sabaton.



The album it's in entirety can be listened here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/0wN96WewZVcyMqu8Z0EK8t?si=Bmtgu0lrTVC77RI29sOZ7Q

Written by tominator on 13.12.2020 at 03:31

Ok, if it weren't for this year's Victorius release, this would probably be the cheesiest record I've heard this year. An album with songs named (and based on) spells in Dungeons & Dragons.

Stinking Cloud is a pretty good title, but they missed some golden opportunities! Detect Secret Doors, Touch of Idiocy, Bigby's Feeling Fingers, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Tiny Hut, or Limited Wish would have been badass. (Seriously though, Wail of the Banshee or Horrid Wilting?)

Written by IronAngel on 17.12.2020 at 11:54

Stinking Cloud is a pretty good title, but they missed some golden opportunities! Detect Secret Doors, Touch of Idiocy, Bigby's Feeling Fingers, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Tiny Hut, or Limited Wish would have been badass. (Seriously though, Wail of the Banshee or Horrid Wilting?)

True, there are indeed a lot of possibilities that they didn't use. Personally would have loved to see titles like: Bigby's Hand, Vicious Mockery, Faerie Fire, Magic Jar, Crown Of Madness, ... Like you said, they had some fantastic possibilities that they didn't use. On the other hand there's more than enough D&D material to make some future albums. So, I kind of hope this wasn't a one album kind of thing.

Written by Fallen Ghost on 17.12.2020 at 10:43

The single is featuring Joakim Brodén of Sabaton.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0wN96WewZVcyMqu8Z0EK8t?si=Bmtgu0lrTVC77RI29sOZ7Q

Paging ScreamingSteelUS 🙋‍♂️

Speaking of recommended albums from 2020, when does the 2020 AotY voting begin?

Yep, February 1st it shall be.

Sweet, thanks. First year on MetalStorm, I'd hate to miss out

I loved Katla's latest album. That one is going to be my AOTY for sure.

I received a kind request to include this in the Clandestine Cuts by one of the band members, and I would have done so, had it not been released on the final day of 2020. But I did promise to recommend it here because it deserves to be recommended. It is Kenyan, shamanic, blackened death doom metal, and I like it a lot. The last track is my favourite, but the whole thing is worth checking out if you're into dark stuff (who isn't?).