1.Necrophobic - Dawn Of The Damned

2.Temple Of Void - The World That Was

3.Dark Tranquillity - Moment

4.Paradise Lost - Obsidian

5.Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still

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YET another list of my faves in the death metal genre this time in the year of our Lord Satan 2020. Haven't heard all the stuff I'd like yet and I welcome all the recommendations in the comments, cheers!

1.Aborted - La Grande Mascarade

2.Abysmal Dawn - Phylogenesis

3.Æpoch - The Scryer

4.Aeternam - Al Qassam

5.Æther Realm - Redneck Vikings From Hell

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All write-in votes from Metal Storm Awards 2020

1.

2.

3.Amaranthe - Manifest

4.Avatar - Hunter Gatherer

5.El Lobo En Tu Puerta - Santana Bendita

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My source was looking at the most popular 1000 metal albums (excluding demos and EPs) of the year in question on the RateYourMusic website. I liked more than these but these are the ones that spoke to me the most. I went through all 1000, chose carefully, then went back to my short list and eliminated a few. Surprisingly, there aren't any Mariusz Lewandowski pieces featured here which is unfortunate because like a lot of people I'm quite a fan of his art. List is in order of popularity rather than being ranked by my preference.

1.Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still

2.Neptunian Maximalism - Éons

3.Black Curse - Endless Wound

4.Testament - Titans Of Creation

5.Cirith Ungol - Forever Black

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1.Auðn - Vökudraumsins Fangi

2.Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still

3.Vader - Solitude In Madness

4.Aeternam - Al Qassam

5.Necrophobic - Dawn Of The Damned

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1.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

2.Cult Of Lilith - Mara

3.The Black Dahlia Murder - Verminous

4.Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still

5.Lethian Dreams - A Shadow Of Memories

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1.Faceless Burial - Speciation

2.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

3.Death - Symbolic

4.Entombed - Left Hand Path

5.Necrot - Blood Offerings

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Top 30 in alphabetical order plus some honourable mentions, the top 3 EPs and the best split. Here in the Black Lodge we had some other 20 album that could get in, but the gates in Twin Peaks woods slammed down in flickering flashlights...
The comments are from my delirious tulpa...

1.Above Aurora - The Shrine Of Deterioration

2.Acherontas - Psychic Death - The Shattering Of Perceptions

3.Akhlys - Melinoë

4.Ars Magna Umbrae - Apotheosis

5.Blaze Of Perdition - The Harrowing Of Hearts

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Surely not everything I've listened to, not even close. Every year I use Spotify to make some megalist and start plowing through. Most albums are listened to and discarded, but those that pique my interest get shunted into the Keeper playlist. (I also use other media when needed - particularly Bandcamp - but Spotify remains my favorite.)

1.10,000 Years - 10​,​000 Years

2.Acid Mammoth - Under Acid Hoof

3....And Oceans - Cosmic World Mother

4.Aversio Humanitatis - Behold The Silent Dwellers

5.Baardvader - Baardvader

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It's that magical time of the year again, when it's almost impossible to choose your top albums for the previous year, but here we are. Some of these bands delivered a much needed soundtrack for one of the toughest years so far, and I must say I'm satisfied. The list in itself is in order about halfway in, the rest I couldn't decide about, so the second half is not ranged in any particular order.  I won't go too much into details, but here are some main impressions.

1.Dark Tranquillity - Moment

2.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

3.Secrets Of The Moon - Black House

4.Pain Of Salvation - Panther

5.Katatonia - City Burials

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1.Sacred Outcry - Damned For All Time

2.1000mods - Youth Of Dissent

3.Sweven - The Eternal Resonance

4.Malokarpatan - Krupinské Ohne

5.Loathe - I Let It In And It Took Everything

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No particular order.

1.Dark Tranquillity - Moment

2.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

3.Havukruunu - Uinuos Syömein Sota

4.Wolfheart - Wolves Of Karelia

5.Sylosis - Cycle Of Suffering

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2020 has been nothing short of a horrific year. The music industry was quite possibly changed forever due to the pandemic, we saw tours and festivals canceled, and as of now, live shows seem to be a thing of the past.

However, this year ( especially in metal), we saw some big releases, impressive debuts, and the return of several bands that had been on hiatus for decades. Overall for albums, 2020 was rather impressive. Here's my favorite 100 metal albums of 2020...

1.Spectral Lore - Wanderers: Astrology Of The Nine [Collaboration]

2.Cryptic Shift - Visitations From Enceladus

3.Psychotic Waltz - The God-Shaped Void

4.Akhlys - Melinoë

5.Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still

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I don't think these are necessarily the best 30 albums of this year, but they're the ones that have I guess endured in my psyche and inspiried revisits more than most others. I was tempted to do a top 50, but after around #26 or so, I found myself confronted with about 50 albums that could've conceivably made it in, most of which I hadn't relistened to enough to rank above the others with confidence.

1.Psychonaut - Unfold The God Man

2.Elder - Omens

3.Enslaved - Utgard

4.Regarde Les Hommes Tomber - Ascension

5.Pure Reason Revolution - Eupnea

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Maybe this is a top, but those albumes are just the ones that I will listen recurrently.

1.Imperial Triumphant - Alphaville

2.Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi

3.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

4.Afterbirth - Four Dimensional Flesh

5.Igorrr - Spirituality And Distortion

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