Concert Hopper Richard's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2020!
1) Lamb of God – Lamb of God
Lamb of God, after the departure of drummer of Chris Adler, have begun to expand their horizons as evidenced on their self-titled album with Randy Blythe (vocals) continuing to expand his range by adding clean vocals to his repertoire. Couple this with a pulsing, blasting musical backdrop and you are on a wild ride that winds its way through topical journeys that touch on modern topics and of course, the state of the world in all its depressing glory. Perhaps the highlight of the album is Memento Mori which is Randy’s reminder to himself to not let the state of the world drag him into the depths of darkness within his mind. ConcertHopper covered this album entirely back in June and this article can be found at the following link: Lamb of God returns to their roots with new, self-titled LP! — Concert Hopper
Randy Blythe of Lamb of God by Xerxes Tzolis for ConcertHopper.com
2) The Acacia Strain – Slow Decay
Like Lamb of God, The Acacia Strain have been on a journey of musical exploration, starting with 2019’s It Comes in Waves album which harkens much more to black metal than the standard Acacia Strain fare. With Slow Decay the band takes a few surprising paths, including many guest slots in various songs on the album. On the whole, the album the band takes on many current topics like the wildfires in Washington in 2018 as well as the anti-vaccination movement that has become so prevalent in society and which, in the modern era of COVID is poised to rear its head again.
The Acacia Strain from the Masquerade by Richard Davenport for ConcertHopper.com
3) Zeal & Ardor – Wake of a Nation
Zeal & Ardor were one of the surprises of 2019 for us at ConcertHopper after seeing them at Welcome to Rockville. The Swedish gargantuans who found their footing by merging slavery-era chants and songs to black metal music. With the release of Wake of a Nation the band departs from this merging of genres and takes on the difficult subject of race relations in the world. With songs like “I Can’t Breathe” which was written in the wake of the George Floyd killing and features samples from Black Lives Matter protests across America. They take on the broad history of racism in America, even going back in the song “Tuskegee” which tackles the little-known Tuskegee Syphilis study which, for over 40 years allowed syphilis to spread while given placebo for 40 years.
Zeal & Ardor from Welcome to Rockville 2019 by Richard Davenport for ConcertHopper.com
4) August Burns Red – Guardians
August Burns Red is never a band to disappoint and this holds true with their album, Guardians. Fresh off their tour (which ConcertHopper was there to cover) where they played their Constellations album in its entirety, the band launched into this album. As seems to be trend with most of the albums on this list, the band takes on several modern topics including how the mainstream media no longer has the best interest of the public at heart. Perhaps the highlight of the album though is what is possibly the most brutal track on the album, “Bloodletter” which, along with crushing instrumentals provides lyrics that speak to the evils of the music industry and those that try to take advantage of artists for their own gain.
August Burns Red during the Constellation Tour at The Tabernacle by Richard Davenport for ConcertHopper.com
5) Code Orange – Underneath
Prior to the onset of COVID, Code Orange was set to embark on what was going to be an incredible tour with Slipknot, Underoath, and A Day to Remember. Listed by Corey Taylor himself as one of the bands that was set to push heavy music forward (along with Knocked Loose and Ho99o9,) they truly are a force to be reckoned with. This comes to fruition on Underneath where the band continues to spread their wings and push the genre forward. “Swallowing the Rabbit Whole” is one of the song’s most interesting and complex songs, both lyrically and musically and is perhaps a hint at where the band wants to go musically in the future. The lyrics explore the subject of self-discovery and how the journey has the potential to be so rewarding but warns of the difficulties that could occur as a result. The band also performed a live stream on the streaming service, Twitch with full stage production in the gap caused by COVID.
Code Orange courtesy of Revolver Magazine ("There's Nobody Like Us": Code Orange Stake Their Claim on the Future of Heavy Music | Revolver (revolvermag.com))
6) The Ghost Inside – The Ghost Inside
Four years after the horrendous bus accident that saw the death of their driver as well as multiple injuries to band members, including Andrew Tkaczyk who lost his leg, the band triumphantly returned with a live concert in Los Angeles. After this renewed energy applied to performing and recording, the band launched into this self-title album. Not surprisingly, a large portion of the album is devoted to the accident five years prior and the growth of everyone in the band since then. This is obvious right at the intro song, “1333” which was the exact number of days between the accident and the day the band played their comeback show. From there, the album continues to be a testament to perseverance, with tracks like “Phoenix Rise” and “Begin Again”.
The Ghost Inside courtesy of Alt Press (The Ghost Inside have announced their return with “one night only” show (altpress.com))
7) Alpha Wolf – A Quiet Place to Die
Alpha Wolf recalibrated as a band after allegations of sexual assault led to the dismissal of vocalist Aidan Ellaz. After a hiatus, the Australian powerhouses introduced Lochie Keogh as the new vocalist and Mitchell Fogarty as their new drummer and they promptly set to kicking ass with songs like “Black Mamba”. After several incredible singles, the band released their first full-length album since the introduction of Keogh and Fogarty. Not ones to shy away from the topic that led to the bands struggles, the song “Restricted (R18+)” tackled the subject of sexual and physical abuses from the eyes of the victim. From there they continued to release a sonic barrage, culminating in perhaps the most sonically brutal track of the album (perhaps even of the bands’ entire catalog) “Akudama”.
Alpha Wolf courtesy of Kill Your Stereo (Alpha Wolf take a bite out of heavy music scene politics with 'Creep' (killyourstereo.com))
8) Trivium – What the Dead Men Say
Trivium as a band have seen massive and impressive growth over the course of the past year or two. Nominated for a Grammy, the band propelled themselves forward into What the Dead Men Say, an album that was written amidst a global pandemic and, in between all of the bands’ members livestreaming on Amazon’s Twitch platform where lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy is a pioneer for artists looking to expand their reach (and where he has stated he earns more income than touring with his band). The band combined elements of their progression across the entire arc of their careers, from the beginning to the power that turned them into a Grammy contender and into the future. The band, as they have become so keen to do, utilized a mixture of clean vocals with Keafy’s refined screaming vocals alongside bassist Paolo Gregoletto’s own screaming vocals. The band pushed their own boundaries by including a couple of acoustic songs. All of this is neatly summed up with a masterful performance of the album’s highlight, “Catastrophist”, which has seen heavy play time on Sirius XM’s stations.
Trivium courtesy of Consequence of Sound (Trivium Announce New Album, Share New Song "Catastrophist" | Consequence of Sound)
9) Mark Morton – Ether
Like many other acts on this list, Mark Morton has been on a journey of musical discovery since releasing his first solo album, Anesthetic last year. Like the first album, Ether features appearances by much of heavy music royalty including Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, John Carbone of heavy pioneers Moontooth and Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage, Light the Torch, and Blood Has Been Shed. The pinnacle of the album may very well be Morton and Hale’s incredible cover of the Black Crowes classic, “She Talks to Angels”.
Mark Morton courtesy of Jackson Guitars (Mark Morton (jacksonguitars.com))
10) The Black Dahlia Murder – Verminous
Purveyors of brutality, The Black Dahlia Murder have always been responsible for full-on sonic assaults, pulled no punches with their album Verminous. Often focusing on the very death metal/black metal subjects of sorcery and general dubious acts, the song weaves a serpentine path among an assortment of topics like necromancy, the hopelessness of humanity and of course death. Perhaps the culmination of the album is “Dawn of Rats” which is a song about a subject most bands would shy away from, the abuses of the Catholic church on children.
The Black Dahlia Murder courtesy of Metal Blade Records (The Black Dahlia Murder | Metal Blade Records)
As honorable mentions who would have been included in this album had they produced full-length albums this year, I would also like to add how impressed I was with newcomers Spiritbox who have been crushing the metal scene during the period that COVID has taken over. They have appeared on Sirius XM live concerts and their vocalist Courtney LaPlante appeared in the One Thousand Painful Stings music video with The Acacia Strain. I look for them to be a force in metal as we move forward.