Welcome back for our second annual year end wrap-up of The Real Mister Terrific's favourite heavy albums. 2021 was so insanely AWESOME for new music that I felt it would be a major disservice to limit this list to only ten albums. Get ready to break your neck on 21 of the best heavy albums from 2021, in no particular order. The list will include only full-length albums of new material - no live albums, compilations, EPs, or reissues. Comment below with your favourite releases of the year!
Band: IOTUNN
Album: Access All Worlds
2 Favorite Tracks: Laihem's Golden Pits; The Tower of Cosmic Nihility
Copenhagen's IOTUNN take their name from Old Norse, essentially translating to "giant" in english. A suitable moniker as this album is MASSIVE, and even more impressive being their debut. Jón Aldará turns in the vocal performance of a lifetime overtop exciting and progressive song structures. Plenty of guitar heroics from brothers Jens Nicolai and Jesper Gräs, with numerous hooks that will dig deep into your brain. Access All Worlds is a stunning effort of atmospheric heavy metal storytelling. Oh yeah, did I mention the vocals? Holy shit. I NEED to see these guys in concert.
Website: iotunn.bandcamp.com
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: February 26, 2021
Format Reviewed: Digipak CD
Band: Alien Weaponry
Album: Tangaroa
2 Favorite Tracks: Ahi Kā; Hatupatu
Tangaroa is the second album from New Zealand groove / thrash trio Alien Weaponry. Like their 2018 debut, several of the songs are sung in their native indiginous te reo Māori. The raw edge is still present with more mature and focused songwriting, tons of energy throughout. Their 2021 / 2022 tour dates supporting Gojira will hopefully bring more recognition to this impressive young band.
Website: alienweaponry.com
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: September 17, 2021
Format Reviewed: Boxed Set
Band: Flotsam and Jetsam
Album: Blood in the Water
2 Favorite Tracks: Brace for Impact; Seven Seconds 'Til the End of the World
Legendary thrashers Flotsam and Jetsam have improved on an already impressive back catalogue with their 14th album since 1986's genre-defining debut Doomsday for the Deceiver. Easily among their strongest material, Blood in the Water is 12 very well-produced tracks of fast, catchy, thunderous metal paying heavy tribute to old-school speed / thrash with modern recording techniques. Another formidable performance from mainstay singer Eric "A.K." Knutson while the rest of the band sound aggressive, hungry, full of piss and vinegar (as my grandmother used to say.) Flots 'til death! \m/
Website: flotstildeath.com
Label: AFM Records
Release Date: June 4, 2021
Format Reviewed: CD
Band: Moonspell
Album: Hermitage
2 Favorite Tracks: Common Prayers; The Hermit Saints
Portugal's Moonspell have constantly shifted and evolved throughout their nearly 30 year career under the dramatic stylings of frontman Fernando Ribeiro. 13th album Hermitage sees the band at their most "progressive," driven partially by the stylings of new drummer Hugo Ribeiro who replaced founding member Mike Gaspar in 2020. The title track and The Hermit Saints pick up from their last 2 albums Extinct and 1755, while The Greater Good and Entitlement show off heavy influences from Pink Floyd and Physical Graffiti-era Led Zeppelin. I believe this to be Moonspell's most complete album to date, and a crowning achievement in their discography.
Website: moonspell.com
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: February 26, 2021
Format Reviewed: Digipak CD
Band: Aborted
Album: ManiaCult
2 Favorite Tracks: Impetus Odi; Dementophobia
Another veteran band to the death metal scene, Belgium's masters of gore Aborted have really upped the game from their last album. Where 2018's TerrorVision was a little too monotonous and predictable at times, ManiaCult is enthralling from start to finish. Dirty, nasty, filthy, raw and twisted. If that's how you like your death metal, you'll love ManiaCult.
Website: goremageddon.be
Label: Century Media
Release Date: September 10, 2021
Format Reviewed: CD
Band: Rivers of Nihil
Album: The Work
2 Favorite Tracks: The Void from Which No Sound Escapes; MORE?
Progressive death metal band Rivers of Nihil added a LOT more "progressive" to the formula on their fourth full-length. Following up 2018's nearly flawless masterpiece Where Owls Know My Name must have been a daunting task for the band, and The Work certainly delivers with a delicious platter of addictive songs. Of all the releases in 2021 this is the album I have listened to the most. Their usual technical death metal brutality is still there and the increased musical variety provides numerous tasty ear-treats. Just listen to the 3 punch combo of Clean, The Void from Which No Sound Escapes, and MORE? to get a good idea of just how creative Rivers of Nihil can be. If you want to understand the true genius of this band, I suggest listening to all 4 of their albums in full, in succession. DO THE WORK.
Website: riversofnihil.com
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Format Reviewed: Boxed Set
Band: Me and that Man
Album: New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 2
2 Favorite Tracks: Blues & Cocaine (feat. Michale Graves); Angel Of Light (feat. Myrkur)
Extreme metal icon Adam “Nergal” Darski of Polish band Behemoth is now on the third installment of his "dark folk" side project Me and that Man. The songs aren't "heavy" in the traditional sense - Darski features a wealth of guest performers from all across the heavy music scene which results in folk-style songs full of haunting atmospheres, memorable guitar leads, and some good old foot stompin' fun. Blues & Cocaine? Let's call it "outlaw folk." Giddy up.
Buy New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 2 here
Website: meandthatman.com
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: November 19, 2021
Format Reviewed: CD
Band: Hypocrisy
Album: Worship
2 Favorite Tracks: Bug in the Net; We're the Walking Dead
It's been a long 8 years since we last heard new music from Swedish melodeath legends Hypocrisy. The album announcement in early 2021 was such a pleasant surprise. Worship is everything you'd expect from metal god Peter Tägtgren, and his masterful audio production takes the songwriting to another level. With a good mix of moshpit-inducing death metal craziness and a couple of moody mid-tempo melodic numbers, this has become one of my favourite Hypocrisy albums right up there with 2005's Virus.
Website: hypocrisyband.com/worship
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: November 26, 2021
Format Reviewed: Boxed Set
Band: Ex Deo
Album: The Thirteen Years of Nero
2 Favorite Tracks: Imperator; Boudicca (Queen of the Iceni) [feat. Brittney Slayes]
Another side project making my favourite albums list this year! Ex Deo is the Juno-nominated project of Maurizio Iacono and Jean-François Dagenais from Canadian extreme metal band Kataklysm. The fourth full-length album of Roman history-based death metal, Ex Deo tell their tale of fifth Roman emperor Nero. As any good concept album should be, The Thirteen Years of Nero is best absorbed in one listen from start to finish. Yes, individual songs stand out on their own, but when mixed with the brilliant orchestration from Clemens Wijers, this becomes a cinematic experience. Ex Deo's finest work in an already impressive catalogue.
Buy The Thirteen Years of Nero here
Website: exdeoband.com
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Format Reviewed: Boxed Set
Band: Leprous
Album: Aphelion
2 Favorite Tracks: Running Low; The Silent Revelation
While not as heavy as the other bands here (2021 has these Norwegians sounding closer to Queen and Robbie Robertson at times), I found Aphelion to be an expansive and rewarding listen. The singing from Einar Solberg is nothing short of outstanding on pretty much every song, leading the band through a myriad of styles and instrumentations - guest musicians include cello, violin and a brass orchestra. Opening track Running Low is one of my favourite songs by any band this year, along with The Silent Revelation's upbeat energy and catchy chorus. Do yourself a favour and check these guys out.
Website: leprous.net
Label: Inside Out Music
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Format Reviewed: Mediabook CD
Band: BÆST
Album: Necro Sapiens
2 Favorite Tracks: Towers of Suffocation; Purification through Mutilation
Danish death metal band BÆST were already one to keep an eye on with their previous 2 albums (and EP.) On Necro Sapiens, they have hit full-stride. 44 minutes and 9 tracks (discount the 34 second intro piece) of glorious brutality, the whole album is an addictive and pummeling experience. Plenty of homage to old-school guitar shredding mixed with modern tech-death songwriting, every song is a banger. Necro Sapiens never stops being interesting, catchy, and heavy as fuck.
Label: Century Media
Release Date: March 5, 2021
Format Reviewed: Mediabook CD
Band: Gojira
Album: Fortitude
2 Favorite Tracks: Amazonia; Grind
SURRENDER TO THE GRIND! France's groove metal good guys should be HUGE after Fortitude. Their progression from the raw technical death metal of 2001 debut LP Terra Incognita to their modern metal classic From Mars to Sirius. From the thicker production and refined songwriting of L'Enfant Sauvage through the transitional Magma. Every album has seen brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier add more elements to their sound until we are blessed with full-length number seven. Opening track Born for One Thing is a catchy headbanger while Amazonia features a superb galloping guitar riff and sing-a-long chorus. Fortitude became my soundtrack for the summer of 2021, it seemed that each week a different song was my favourite.
Website: gojira-music.com
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release Date: April 30, 2021
Format Reviewed: CD
Band: Genghis Tron
Album: Dream Weapon
2 Favorite Tracks: Ritual Circle; Dream Weapon
Damn, these guys are cool. Back together after a 13 year hiatus with some lineup changes and a more synth-heavy sound, New York experimental group Genghis Tron have taken their eclectic style to a whole new level. Dream Weapon offers more depth, more hypnotics, more psychedelia, more atmosphere! Listening to this album takes time to digest, with several songs exceeding 7 minutes - and necessarily so! - often building into heavily textured soundscapes that are given ample room to "breathe." One of the most interesting and creative heavy albums from 2021.
Website: genghistron.bandcamp.com
Label: Relapse Records
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Format Reviewed: Digital Album
Band: Be'lakor
Album: Coherence
2 Favorite Tracks: Valence; Much More Was Lost
Beauty in darkness. In a year full of awesome melodeath releases, Coherence stands out with its epic soundscapes taking influences from the heavier days of Opeth and older Dark Tranquillity while having a clear ambition to progress the genre. Plenty of memorable riffs bolstered by a production that gives every layer of instrumentation its own atmospheric depth. Australia's Be'lakor have shown that they can lead the future of death metal on the world stage.
Website: belakorband.com
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: October 29, 2021
Format Reviewed: Boxed Set
Band: Black Label Society
Album: Doom Crew Inc.
2 Favorite Tracks: Destroy & Conquer; Forsaken
If you've been a fan of Black Label Society at any point, you will know exactly what to expect. Rockers, ballads, juicy and eccentric guitar solos... What makes Doom Crew Inc. different - and an improvement - on previous albums, is the much talked about addition of longtime touring guitarist Dario Lorina to the recording process. Indeed, leading man Zakk Wylde, has always taken the reigns of all guitar parts up until this latest offering. This decision has absolutely progressed the already-impressive songwriting quality of BLS. I feel that Doom Crew Inc. is the finest offering from Black Label Society since their masterpiece The Blessed Hellride.
Website: blacklabelsociety.net
Label: Entertainment One
Release Date: November 26, 2021
Format Reviewed: CD
Band: Blood Red Throne
Album: Imperial Congregation
2 Favorite Tracks: Itika; Zarathustra
Oh man, I needed a chiropractor after every run through this nasty stomper of an album. Imperial Congregation is the first album I've heard from Norwegian death metal crew Blood Red Throne, which surprised me after finding out they have a 2 decade career and 10 albums! Looks like I have a new back-catalogue to explore. Where some of the other death metal bands on my list this year have shown the progressive or melodic side of the genre, death-marching towards the future, Imperial Congregation is grinning satisfactorily from its grave, feasting on the roots. It was difficult to choose favourite tracks when the whole album is a complete work of shredding mastery, although closing track Zarathustra is particularly stellar, and Consumed Illusion was the first song that really got me into this band. And the production? Wow. This is what I wish all my favourite 90's metal albums sounded like.
Buy Imperial Congregation here
Website: bloodredthrone.com
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Format Reviewed: Digital Album
Band: Archspire
Album: Bleed the Future
2 Favorite Tracks: Drone Corpse Aviator; Abandon The Linear
I am pleased to see more kick-ass metal from the Canadian scene. Vancouver's Archspire have seen a heap of praise and many year-end lists for their new album Bleed the Future, following pretty much the same accolades on their previous effort, 2017's Relentless Mutation. And well-deserved! The amount of technicality is incredible to the point of absurdity with precision and rhythms that blister through every track. Despite the total ferocity, you will still find many hooks and grooves with reason to listen again and again. The amount of work that Archspire commit to their art is proof that they intend to bleed the future, indeed.
Website: youtube.com/Archspiremetal
Label: Season of Mist
Release Date: October 29, 2021
Format Reviewed: Digipak CD
Band: Cryptosis
Album: Bionic Swarm
2 Favorite Tracks: Death Technology; Mindscape
Another tech-centric release to make this year's list is brought to us by futuristic thrash / "multi-metal eruption" Cryptosis. This is such a fun album to listen to, featuring fist-pumping shout-along choruses paying proper tribute to their thrashy origins in songs like Death Technology and the guitar wizardry of Transcendence. The drumming is a highlight for me on many tracks, with Marco Prij throwing elements of technical death, black metal and thrash into his mix. High-energy modern metal at its finest!
Website: cryptosis.net
Label: Century Media
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Format Reviewed: Digipak CD
Band: Obscura
Album: A Valediction
2 Favorite Tracks: When Stars Collide; Devoured Usurper
I'll be seeing these guys in either Vancouver or Calgary, Canada (maybe both?) in March 2022 and obviously can't wait for it. Germany's Obscura have had a string of mostly great albums over their nearly 20 year career, mostly waving the flag of gothenburg-style melodic death metal, with varying degrees of progression blended in for good measure. On their sixth full-length, A Valediction gives us more of the urgent songwriting seen on last album Diluvium and less of the expansive, lower-tempo songs seen on 2016's Akróasis. One of my favourite tracks on the album is When Stars Collide which develops into a mid-tempo banger, followed by the blackened atmosphere of In Unity. Over time, I think this will become my most repeated Obscura album.
Website: realmofobscura.com
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: November 19, 2021
Format Reviewed: CD
Band: Terminus
Album: The Silent Bell Toll
2 Favorite Tracks: The Lion's Den; The Silent Bell Toll
Not very often you'll see an independent band on year-end lists, and after The Silent Bell Toll, I would hope that Arkansas stoner sludge group Terminus will see more of the industry attention they deserve. A few catchy tunes The Lion's Den and The Falcon mixed with more sprawling movements in the title track and massive album-closer Oh Madrigal. Overall, The Silent Bell Toll plays out as a complete work, becoming greater than the sum of its songs and demanding repeated listenings. Highly recommended!
Website: terminusrocks.bandcamp.com
Label: Independent
Release Date: August 20, 2021
Format Reviewed: Digital Album
Band: The Crown
Album: Royal Destroyer
2 Favorite Tracks: Motordeath; We Drift On
Nearly 30 years and some periods of adversity have shaped legendary Swedish metalheads The Crown into a ferocious, swaggering juggernaut. Latest offering Royal Destroyer picks up mostly where 2018's Cobra Speed Venom left off, but what I enjoyed most are the bits of different elements added to some of the songwriting. We Drift On is as melody-centric as anything the band has written, more about the mood and less about the straight-up aggression. Speaking of aggression, of course plenty of it to be had. Vocalist Johan Lindstrand spits pure rage throughout the album, ending on a righteously rowdy Absolute Monarchy while the entire band rips through a speed-metal influenced Motordeath. Extra horns up to Magnus Olsfelt for a standout bass guitar performance, almost taking center stage in multiple spots. Bitchin'.
Website: thecrownofficial.com
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: March 12, 2021
Format Reviewed: Digital Album
What were your top releases of 2021?
Until next time,
-The Real Mister Terrific