Yes I admit metal certainly had declined at this point, I've been struggling myself to come up with albums I found memorable. This has to be one of the worst years for metal imho, but there are still a few I found fairly impressive:

1. Inquisition - Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm
2. Nails - Unsilent Death
3. Misery Index - Heirs To Thievery
4. The Birthday Massacre - Pins And Needles
5. Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
6. Overkill - Ironbound
7. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier 
8. Alcest - Écailles De Lune
9. Sargeist - Let The Devil In
10. Burzum - Belus
11. Ghost - Opus Eponymous
12. Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra
13. Kalmah - 12 Gauge
14. Deftones - Diamond Eyes
15. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Valleys Of Neptune

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 08.08.2022 at 12:50

Yes I admit metal certainly had declined at this point, I've been struggling myself to come up with albums I found memorable. This has to be one of the worst years for metal imho, but there are still a few I found fairly impressive:

1. Inquisition - Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm
2. Nails - Unsilent Death
3. Misery Index - Heirs To Thievery
4. The Birthday Massacre - Pins And Needles
5. Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
6. Overkill - Ironbound
7. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier 
8. Alcest - Écailles De Lune
9. Sargeist - Let The Devil In
10. Burzum - Belus
11. Ghost - Opus Eponymous
12. Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra
13. Kalmah - 12 Gauge
14. Deftones - Diamond Eyes
15. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Valleys Of Neptune

Ah I completely forgot about Ironbound!

To be fair there was some stuff by bands I like I didn't check out simply because I wasn't in the mood for them (Accept, Kamelot, DSO etc) contributing to a lackluster list for a lackluster year. Your top 4 piques my interest though, I should give those a listen.

Written by blackwreath13 on 08.08.2022 at 14:05

Ah I completely forgot about Ironbound!

To be fair there was some stuff by bands I like I didn't check out simply because I wasn't in the mood for them (Accept, Kamelot, DSO etc) contributing to a lackluster list for a lackluster year. Your top 4 piques my interest though, I should give those a listen.

I used to listen to Inquisition quite alot, they have some of the best riffs in black metal I would say. Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm is one of their best too imo, their titles are a bit of a mouthful though

Definitely not the best year ever, but there are some highlights that need to be mentioned. The 2010's do get better after that so don't give up haha.
Here ar the releases I think are worth a listen :

Metal
1. Igorrr - Nostril
2. Sigh - Scenes From Hell
3. Shining - Blackjazz
4. El-Ahrairah - The Blessing
5. Defeated Sanity - Chapters of Repugnance
6. Sutekh Hexen - Alters
7. Prosanctus Inferi - Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation
8. Sete Star Sept - Revision of Noise

Not metal
1. Ho-kago Tea Time - Ho-kago Tea Time Second (J-pop / J-rock)
2. 385 - Nōmiso araou (hardcore punk / jazz punk)
3. Midori - Shinsekai (hardcore punk / jazz punk)
4. Beach House - Teen Dream (dream pop)

At this time (and later) I was listening to new releases only very selectively.
Thus what I'll have here is just a bunch of albums that I like.
I wont even be able to say if this year (and all succeeding) was good for metal or not.

Very good ones:
Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit
Shattered Hope - Absence
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
Ophis - Withered Shades

Good ones:
Mourning Lenore - Loosely Bounded Infinities
Overkill - Ironbound
Atlantean Kodex - The Golden Bough
October Tide - A Thin Shell
The Foreshadowing - Oionos
Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
Mar De Grises - Streams Inwards

Written by Redel on 08.08.2022 at 16:10

Very good ones:
Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit
Shattered Hope - Absence
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
Ophis - Withered Shades

Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit is one I've yet to properly listen to, I'm guessing it will probably be included in my list if I had.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 08.08.2022 at 21:07

Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit is one I've yet to properly listen to, I'm guessing it will probably be included in my list if I had.

And that one indeed demands a proper listen. Took me some time and a couple of spins to dive into and really appreciate.

Written by Roman Doez on 08.08.2022 at 15:07

Definitely not the best year ever, but there are some highlights that need to be mentioned. The 2010's do get better after that so don't give up haha.
Here ar the releases I think are worth a listen :

Metal
1. Igorrr - Nostril
2. Sigh - Scenes From Hell
3. Shining - Blackjazz
4. El-Ahrairah - The Blessing
5. Defeated Sanity - Chapters of Repugnance
6. Sutekh Hexen - Alters
7. Prosanctus Inferi - Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation
8. Sete Star Sept - Revision of Noise

Not metal
1. Ho-kago Tea Time - Ho-kago Tea Time Second (J-pop / J-rock)
2. 385 - Nōmiso araou (hardcore punk / jazz punk)
3. Midori - Shinsekai (hardcore punk / jazz punk)
4. Beach House - Teen Dream (dream pop)

Punk Jazz huh? That sounds interesting.

I missed out on much of the decade, so I can only hope it improves.

Written by Redel on 08.08.2022 at 16:10

At this time (and later) I was listening to new releases only very selectively.
Thus what I'll have here is just a bunch of albums that I like.
I wont even be able to say if this year (and all succeeding) was good for metal or not.

Very good ones:
Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit
Shattered Hope - Absence
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
Ophis - Withered Shades

Good ones:
Mourning Lenore - Loosely Bounded Infinities
Overkill - Ironbound
Atlantean Kodex - The Golden Bough
October Tide - A Thin Shell
The Foreshadowing - Oionos
Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
Mar De Grises - Streams Inwards

Same here, 2011 will be a challenge. At the moment I have heard three albums from that year...