User
Reviews 2 Approval 91%
Soundoffs 213 News Articles 58 Band Edits + Tags 151 Album Edits 121
Album Ratings 2686 Objectivity 69%
Last Active 01-06-23 2:36 pm Joined 02-20-16
Review Comments 28,639
| Steak's 2020
Haven't done a year end list in a few years, this year I wanted to so here you go babes. Only the top 12 are ranked. | 1 |  | Invent, Animate Greyview
Progressive Metalcore
Man, I'm so glad this was as good as it was. The loss of Ben English on the mic was huge, but Marcus really stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park on his first album with the band. You'll find the usual chilly ethereal instrumentation of their past albums here, with that frosted over atmosphere even more emphasized than ever before. I was so afraid that losing Ben would be the downfall of this band (as it usually is with bands of the genre), but they're in good hands.
Rec'd tracks: Dark, Cloud Cascade, Shapeshifter, Monarch | 2 |  | Enter Shikari Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Art Rock/Alt Rock/Post Hardcore
This is the album that screams quarantine to me. This came out right after all of the lockdowns and shutdowns took place, and man did this album help me feel better about being trapped in the house. There are fun dancey tracks, melancholic artsy waltz style tracks, and everything in between really. This is the quintessential Shikari album, and while it may not top my nostalgia love for the debut album, it damn near came close to taking the spot of my favorite album by these guys.
Rec'd tracks: The Dreamer's Hotel, Modern Living, satellites | 3 |  | Coletta Idealism
Psychedelic Pop Rock/Post Hardcore
I'm on clouds bros. These guys stunned me with their first EP back in 2018 with their unusual blend of a more psych rock based take on the swancore genre. Enter 2020 and it seems that Coletta wanted to drop their more post hardcore roots in favor of the poppy side that was shown in flashes on the EP, but did it work for them? Idk you tell me, it's my 3rd favorite album this year lmao idiot. But yes, this style shift absolutely worked wonders for them, giving us a dreamypopscape that I love to get lost in. Some out of nowhere rap bits need to be fleshed out but overall this was obnoxious, in the best way possible.
Rec'd tracks: Black Rabbit, Agoraphobia, Wanderlust, Bloom, Sweet Nothin | 4 |  | Crystal Lake The Voyages
Metalcore/Hardcore
Crystal Lake decided to give some of their older fans a gift by re-recording some pre-Ryo tracks off of their first two albums which resulted in one of their strongest outings to date. Better production and Ryo's strong vocals give these old tracks new life, and they're accompanied by friends far and wide for some stellar guest spots. Familiar voices in Gideon come through as well as a heart warming feature from the old vocalist Shinya Hori (who I might add sounds the best he ever has). This shit absolutely whips sack.
Rec'd tracks: Twisted Fate, The Passage, The Burden, Into the Great Beyond | 5 |  | Loathe (UK) I Let It In And It Took Everything
Metalcore/Shoegaze/Djent
Johnny gave this a 2.4, so I had to check this out. From the opening minute of the second song I had a feeling I was gonna love this, and I just gotta thank ol johnster for shining light onto this wonderful album for me. Now I'm not a huge fan of Deftones themselves, but when they influence other music it usually turns out incredibly well. On this album you can go from a vicious assault to a hazey soothing soundscape frequently, with both styles executed superbly.
Rec'd Tracks: Aggressive Evolution, Two Way Mirror, Screaming, Gored | 6 |  | Bilmuri EGGY POCKET
Post Hardcore/Alt Rock/Easycore
For the unacquainted, this is the solo project of Johnny Franck (former guitarist/clean vocalist of Attack Attack). Now before you immediately exit your window and turn off your monitor let me say this: it doesn't sound anything like his material in former bands. When I heard this I played it on repeat and couldn't get enough of it, such a fun blend of post hardcore and alt rock/pop stylings that I never tire of.
Rec'd tracks: Midwestlawncaredadswhosmashbrews, Flourideinthehardseltzerwater, E G G | 7 |  | Palm Reader Sleepless
Melodic Hardcore/Post-Metal/Metalcore
I've been a huge fan of these UK boys since before Braille dropped, and they seemed to be getting better with each release. When Braille came out I thought that was their peak, that is until this dropped. They went even more atmospheric and posty with this release, adding these HUGE effective choruses and creating such a solid album. This might be the best fusion of post-metal and metalcoreish styles I've ever heard, and I can't wait to hear more.
Rec'd tracks: Hold/Release, Stay Down, Willow, A Bird and its Feathers, Both Ends of the Rope | 8 |  | Svalbard When I Die, Will I Get Better?
Post Hardcore/Screamo/Blackgaze? idk maybe
The female fronted skramz outfit returns to wallop you with not only extreme instrumentation, but strong lyrical content as well. The vocals are strong, joined by these beautifully melodic leads and crushing rhythm section that only lets up for the more ethereal numbers done on the album. I'm glad this didn't get slept on like their other albums, and it lead to some interesting discussions in the threads.
Rec's tracks: Open Wound, Throw Your Heart Away, The Currency of Beauty | 9 |  | Novelists FR C'est La Vie
Progressive Metalcore
I've been in love with these guys since I first heard a single of theirs back in 2015, and that love has not waned much if at all. Their last album Noir took some time to grow into the 5 that it eventually became, and this also took some time to soak (shout out to Benecidal). Matteo's smooth as silk cleans are omnipresent, along with his strong harsh vocals that only seem to get stronger and stronger each release. The guitarist of this band always seemed to be a step ahead of every other guitarist in the genre, and his lead work is stellar throughout this 9 song journey. This is Matteo's last outing with Novelists which deeply saddens me, but I hope his new project turns out well, and maybe someday they'll end up on one of my year end lists.
Rec'd tracks: Somebody Else, Lilly, Modern Slave, C'est La Vie, Human Condition | 10 |  | Saviour A Lunar Rose
Metalcore/Post Hardcore
The underground Aussie group started off 2020 with a strong effort that quickly became my favorite album of theirs. Vocalist Bryant Best has drastically improved his delivery, opting for a more strong mid scream than his typical yells of the past, and his beefy lows are far more present than they ever have been in the past. Clean vocalist Shontay Snow does her usual spectacular performance, offering a beautifully stark contrast to Byrant's strong harsh vocals. Instrumentation stepped it up a bit from the last album, overall a solid album that will most likely go overlooked unfortunately.
Rec'd tracks: Never Sleep, Souvenir, Passengers, Rose, The City | 11 |  | Dua Lipa Future Nostalgia
Dance Pop
2020 was the year I got more into dancey poppy stuff, so I'm not sure why it took me until like November to listen to this. Admittedly I passed her off as a tik tok artist, and I wish I hadn't because this immediately hooked me. From dancing with my girlfriend in the kitchen while we make breakfast, to just jamming this at my desk at work, this has become one of the most fun and beloved albums I've heard this year.
Rec'd tracks: Future Nostalgia, Don't Start Now, Physical, Levitate, Hallucinate, Love Again | 12 |  | Yukika Soul Lady
City Pop/Dance Pop
Another fun dance pop record to round up my top 12 albums this year, this made me wanna pack my bags and take the next flight to Japan (please let me stay with you johnny). Some tracks sound like they'd fit right in on a 90s era sega game, with bop after bop getting stuck in my head for days on end.
Rec'd tracks: I Feel Love, Soul Lady, Cherries Jubiles | 13 |  | Good Tiger Raised in a Doomsday Cult
Post Hardcore
A fun summery post hardcore album from these guys, a solid step up from the last. | 14 |  | Lost For Life We All Share The Blame
Metalcore/Hardcore
Former For The Fallen Dreams vocalist Dylan's first project since leaving like 7 years ago, solid short fun EP | 15 |  | No Note if this is the future then I'm in the dark
Screamo
Fun little gem Marskid found, skramz with red hot chili peppers song titles lol | 16 |  | Passcode Strive
J-Pop/Trancecore
Fun trancecore with the guise of it being made by idols. Think Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas made by idols. | 17 |  | Avenade Vice Versa in Such Things
Noise Rock/Post Hardcore/Garage Punk
Wild noisy mix of genres, very unpredictable album that's a lot of fun! | 18 |  | Yashira Fail To Be
Sludgy Metalcore
Relentless pounding core shit that will have your heart beating and head feeling heavy, only to want more once it's done with the assault. | 19 |  | Dance Gavin Dance Tree City Sessions 2
Swancore/Post Hardcore
They had two releases this year, this being the better one. More live versions of some deeps cuts, the band sounds perfect live. | 20 |  | Ichiko Aoba Windswept Adan
Folk
This is just beautifully serene, me on the cover | 21 |  | Plini Impulse Voices
Prog Metal/Prog whatever/Bedroom Warrior Aficionado
Plini is back with another installment of "damn this dude is so insanely good", with probably his best songwriting to date. Trilogy EP still best tho | 22 |  | Weathered Everything All at Once
Emo/Alt Rock
Nice chill emo that I probably would never have checked if not for Marsbro | 23 |  | Seiko Oomori Kintsugi
J-Pop/Art Pop
Wild off the walls J-pop, not my favorite outing by her but still so good | 24 |  | Glowing No Fun
Indie Rock
From our very own staff writer and dear friend verdant, this was so fun and energetic. | 25 |  | Chamber (US) Cost of Sacrifice
Metalcore/Hardcore
Lost of albums came out that have this sound, this one was one of the better ones | 26 |  | Snail's House Imaginarium
Electronic/Downtempo/Future bass
Another solid Snail's House outing, doesn't reach the highs of the two 2018 releases but it's a good time. A more laid back sound from him this go around | 27 |  | Kingdom of Giants Passenger
Metalcore
I wasn't expecting this to be good after the first single, but they blew me away with this one. Fun guitar leads and dope vocals galore | 28 |  | beabadoobee Fake It Flowers
Alt Rock/Indie Pop
Fun garagey indie stuff | 29 |  | I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME Razzmatazz
New Wave/Synthpop
Fun synth driven bangers from former Panic members | 30 |  | Inventure No Time to Waste
Progressive Metalcore
Solid fun progcore that doesn't push any boundaries, but good nonetheless | 31 |  | Joji Nectar
Sadboi/Alt R&B
A longer album this time so a few more ups and downs but overall another strong release from Joji, thanks b0ss | 32 |  | PVRIS Use Me
Synthpop/Alt Rock
This got a little too much hate me thinks, it was another fun outing from Pvris. Dropping some of the more moody textures for more upbeat poppy stuff and it works well | 33 |  | Two People Second Body
Downtempo/Ambient Pop
This was fun to throw on and vibe out to | 34 |  | Black Crown Initiate Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape
Prog Death Metal
Not usually my schtick but this resonated with me. Strong vocals and pummeling instrumentation | 35 |  | TRVSS New Distances
Post Punk/Hardcore
Another fun gem found by Marskid lol the dude scours bandcamp like no other | 36 |  | Gulch Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress
Metalcore/Deathcore/Hardcore
Mean in your face beat you down core | 37 |  | Hum Inlet
Gazey Alty You already know what it is
Strong return from these 90s rockers | 38 |  | Hollow Front Loose Threads
Metalcore/Post Hardcore
Run of the mill core stuff done very well, just up my alley enough to let it slide | 39 |  | Nuvolascura As We Suffer From Memory and Imagination
Screamo
Skramz with dope lead guitar | 40 |  | Sunami Sunami
Beatdown
8 minutes of dumb beatdown that owns | 41 |  | Infant Island Beneath
Screamo/Post-Metal
Massive screamo vibes in this house | 42 |  | Seori ?depacse ohw
KR&B
Fun shit bro | 43 |  | I Am Abomination Passion Of The Heist II
Progressive Metalcore/Post Hardcore
These guys are a blast from the past, jammed their old stuff in high school. This shit went bomb | 44 |  | Rina Sawayama Sawayama
Dance Pop
Fun shit that gets a little out there sonically, mixing other genres to form a clusterfuck of sounds that work very well together | 45 |  | Dream On Dreamer What If I Told You It Doesn't Get Better
Post Hardcore/Alt Rock
More or less the last album with a touch more screaming, so it's still pretty good but
doesn't reach the same heights. Gonna miss these guys, Loveless will always be one of my
favorite albums ever, hopefully Zach continues doing Young Lions
Regrets is spectacular, a great way to send the band off | 46 |  | Triangulo de Amor Bizarro oΙΉΙΉΙzΔ±qΙΉoΙ―ΙΗpolnΖuΙΔ±ΙΉΚ
Noise Rock/Shoegaze
Very fun gazey noisy shit | 47 |  | downy Mudai (7)
Post Rock/Electronic
Cool glitchy shit johnny told me to jam | 48 |  | Orphan Donor (USA) Old Patterns
Screamo
More skramz, with a more hardcore punk edge | 49 |  | Motives Death Throes
Melodic Hardcore
Melodic hardcore for the bois | 50 |  | The Motion Mosaic Avant-Garbage
Mathcore
TDEP inspired spazz fest | 51 |  | Landon Tewers Ai640 Pt. 3
Metalcore
His heavy side project gets another addition | 52 |  | Jida Lucid
Pop/Downtempo/R&B
Vibey shit rec'd by johnny and abe | 53 |  | Cindy Lee What's Tonight to Eternity
Hypnagogic Pop
This was my first delve into this style of pop and I loved how noisy it was | 54 |  | Envy The Fallen Crimson
Post-Metal/Screamo
The Japanese screamo titans return with a strong album | 55 |  | REOL Kinjitou
Electropop
Fun gonna get stuck in your head electropop ala johnny | 56 |  | Pressure Cracks This Is Called Survival
Hardcore
more hardcore bangers from these guys | |
SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Shout out to my homies | dedex
01.05.21 | love the effort bro, very cool to see 39
also "me on the cover" π | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Yea this took over an hour to put together, I wanted bigger blurbs for the top 12 and then smaller ones for the rest but you can tell when I got lazy with it lmao. and yea 39 is so good, thanks to you for putting it in my field of view :] | Pikazilla
01.05.21 | Some great stuff on here, fren
Sad to see 54 so low | dedex
01.05.21 | Not sure if I'm the one telling ya to jam it, but cheers nonetheless!
Sad to see 54 so low [2] tho | DDDeftoneDDD
01.05.21 | Shout to Steak and this great list! I'll and check your #1. | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Cheers boys, also after 12 itβs not ranked! Envy would probably make like top 20 | Uzumaki
01.05.21 | You beautiful bastard, you finally did it. Absolutely enjoyed reading your write-ups for this, and nice to see we have a lot of overlap. ;)
:smuggo: π | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Absolutely my beautiful pal, much love < 3 | Conmaniac
01.05.21 | U have 29 too lollllll nice (; | JeetJeet
01.05.21 | 1,2, & 5 have been on heavy rotation since they dropped. Good shit bruh | JesperL
01.05.21 | u have a nice ass steaky
great list & write ups, hard [2] on "I'm not a huge fan of Deftones themselves, but when they influence other music it usually turns out incredibly well" | JayEnder
01.05.21 | Lotta slappers on here Steaky boi. 1 is definitely in my rotation bc of your hype haha. Nice write ups dude! | WalrusTusk
01.05.21 | I need to remember to catch you mid year to talk about metalcore. I felt like there were a lot of decent releases this year but nothing really stood out from the genre. | onionbubs
01.05.21 | a lot of really great picks, especially 7 and 2. enter shikari was my aoty since the day it dropped so very glad to see it this high. will finally get around to 1 today | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | hell yea bois glad you gave it a look, I liked a good chunk of shit this year
@Walrus ya dude just drop a shout and I'll try to throw some more under the radar recs your way. Anything on here is a good place to start on shit you might've missed | SaveBandit
01.05.21 | Haven't been on this site since before Christmas and just happened to see good ol' Steaky boi post his 2020 list. What a day.
Lots of good shit on here brother! Lots of stuff I haven't checked out too, so definitely going to hop on those ASAP. Oh and hope everyone had a nice holiday break and Happy New year! :] | Sabrutin
01.05.21 | Totally feel you with Shikari, special little album | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Onion man you gotta hop on Greyview immediately
@bandit hell yea man glad to turn you onto some new stuff, hope you dig what you check out :]
and yea I hope everybody had good holidays! | JesperL
01.05.21 | bandit u need to be here more often i very much enjoy your presence
and yes happy new year to all! | SaveBandit
01.05.21 | Aw shucks, thanks Jesper :] I'm planning on it. Just took some time away from everything for a while to reset. Now I'm ready for some new releases in 2021! | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Yea Bandit owns, great pal and lovely presence on the site | Ecnalzen
01.05.21 | Hello, yes, I have come to sample the prime steak cuts of 2020
Oh gosh, where to start? I super enjoyed Motion Mosaic and was pretty keen on Svalbard | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Hell yea welcome brother, anywhere is a good place to start my man. You ever peep Invent Animate at all? That's obvs my number 1 pick lol | SaveBandit
01.05.21 | Haha thanks Steak, appreciate it my dude. Soooo you've piqued my interest with #10... might have to check that one out first. Sounds like it might be right up my alley.
And yeah I'll second the Greyview suggestion to anyone who hasn't checked it out. That shit's fantastic. | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Yessss dude, hope you like it! Saviour are stellar and severely underrated, vocals can be hit or miss for people but I think they're a huge hit. I think you'll dig it :] | Ecnalzen
01.05.21 | Ah, geez, look at me and my not reading everything
"the top 12 are ranked"
I shall start where it begins!
| SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | Righteous man, hope you dig what you hear :] | dbizzles
01.05.21 | So much I haven't heard here. Definitely checking No Note and new Snail's House | tyman128
01.05.21 | Sick list bro! Props to 1, I'm surprised by how well they did with a new vocalist and exceeded expectations by far! Since you said after 12 the list isn't ranked, I'm assuming Motion Mosaic isn't really at 50 because that record absolutely SLAPS | outliers
01.05.21 | Hell yeah Saviour is mad underrated | butt.
01.05.21 | my buddy used to play guitar in Hollow Front a couple years back, I wonder how it feels for him to see them blast off now.
I wanted to like Enter Shikari because I fuckin loved the mindsweep, but just couldn't do this new album :-/ | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | I think you'll like those dbizz, check some of the other skramzy stuff too ;]
"I'm assuming Motion Mosaic isn't really at 50 because that record absolutely SLAPS"
Oh yea for sure lol, that's be like top 15 haha. And hell yea outliers my brother, Saviour slaps so hard | SteakByrnes
01.05.21 | @butt dude no way lol that's dope, I have a feeling they're gonna get huge ina few years because they have that type of sound that's pretty accessible. And yea it seems like the Enter Shikari album was a divisive one for some, I get why but I loved it. | Ecnalzen
01.05.21 | 2 down!
Invent and Savior are pretty dang good. Def gonna keep those on the ol radar and give another listen to
| SteakByrnes
01.06.21 | Glad to be of service my man, there's a lot more where that came from :] | Ecnalzen
01.06.21 | Oh yes
Where to go next in the top 12? Hmm... mebbe Palm Reader? Band name sounds familiar but not sure if I have heard them | SteakByrnes
01.06.21 | Oh I think you'll definitely like Palm Reader, from the opener alone you should be hooked m/ | JohnnyoftheWell
01.06.21 | some bangers here (55 so low!)
you can stay with me lol but we're both gonna have to go to korea to catch yukika F | SteakByrnes
01.06.21 | Reol would be higher ranked, but after 12 they aren't ranked :3 and hell yes let's do it, Yukika jam sesh in k town | Pangea
01.06.21 | Nice list! | Rowan5215
01.06.21 | righteous brother | SteakByrnes
01.06.21 | Absolutely righteous, thank you both much love | SaveBandit
01.06.21 | Saviour is pretty cool my dude. Thinkin I might dig into Inventure next? Also glad to see Eggy Pocket make the list man haha that album rules. Love the song with Rory Rodriguez and Jon Mess. Stupid catchy. | SteakByrnes
01.06.21 | Glad you thought so! Inventure is a fun time, nothing new brought to the table really but you'll be movin and groovin. And yesss dude I got so hooked on Eggy Pocket lmao, shit's so catchy and fun | SaveBandit
01.06.21 | It was a surprise album for me this year haha. Hadn't checked any of the Bilmuri stuff and decided to check out Eggy and was instantly hooked. Dude just knows how to write catchy songs, plain and simple. Same with that Coletta album actually, kinda just checked it on a whim but liked it quite a bit. It does feel a little front loaded though. | SteakByrnes
01.06.21 | Same here, I only found out about him because of Afterburner featuring him, decided to hop on his train a few months ago and glad I did haha. And I get that, it can feel a bit homogeneous, but I did the sound so much that I'm not bothered by it | nash1311
02.08.21 | Gonna start to tackle the albums on here I haven't heard (which is a lot). Holla! | SteakByrnes
02.08.21 | Oh hell yea brother, hope you find a bunch of stuff you like! I had a fun music year last year :] | Mort.
04.20.21 | hello i am here to agree with you that that Enter Shikari album was a quarantine defining album and is very good and bittersweet
have a nice day | SteakByrnes
04.20.21 | Thank you Mort I love you have a good day. Hopefully we can go to a Shikari concert together sometime in the future | Mort.
04.20.21 | luv u 2 bb and yes hope so because shikari gigs are genuinely the best gigs ive ever been to | SteakByrnes
04.20.21 | Yea they seem like the most fun gigs ever, and they've always had like 110% energy at all times. Shout out to the video of them playing Return to Energiser back in 2008 in like a backyard, Rou just jumps in a pool lmao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrPoHBFH7F0 | Mort.
04.20.21 | oh mate ive watched that video many a time. theres a few from that gig, its hilarious. they played that gig for free hahahahahaha. | Mort.
04.20.21 | also a great gig because they played the Feast which is one of my top shikari b sides | parksungjoon
04.20.21 | you listen to a lot of things and not all of them are core related
cool | SteakByrnes
04.20.21 | "they played that gig for free hahahahahaha." Woah really?? That's dope lmao, man I love these dudes haha
"you listen to a lot of things and not all of them are core related
cool"
Yea I've been trying to spread my taste out more the past couple of years, I'm far more broad in my taste than I was back in like high school and college but I still would love to expand it even further | bloc
04.20.21 | Seeing Steak dig something that isn't core is just plain weird | SteakByrnes
04.20.21 | It does happen! | JeetJeet
04.20.21 | steak brotherman we gotta put you onto some good rap/r&b this year | SteakByrnes
04.20.21 | Lay it on me brother I'm all ears | JeetJeet
04.20.21 | Peep Kenny Mason's Angelic Hoodrat album. And then listen to the deluxe version called Supercut. Bro can rap his ass off.
https://youtu.be/B4Q71yHAOFE
peep that song I promise it'll be one of the hardest tracks you've heard this year | JeetJeet
04.20.21 | as for r&b peep Brent Faiyaz. He's smooth as fuck with it
https://youtu.be/pBR01ndtids
https://youtu.be/Qdm1_70sK_A
https://youtu.be/5yoYlNFcMxg
cant go wrong with any of his projects he's really good | SteakByrnes
04.20.21 | Wow this Kenny Mason track rules lol I'm def gonna listen to that album. And word thanks for the hookup my brother I will report back with my thoughts |
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