| 4.5 superb |
| Agalloch The Mantle |
| Allegaeon Apoptosis |
| Amon Amarth Twilight of the Thunder God |
| Amorphis Under the Red Cloud |
| Arch Enemy Wages of Sin |
| Architects All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us |
| August Burns Red Phantom Anthem |
| August Burns Red Constellations |
| Be'lakor The Frail Tide |
| Behemoth Demigod |
| Behemoth The Satanist |
| Black Stone Cherry Black Stone Cherry |
| Blackbraid Blackbraid II |
| Bloodshot Dawn Demons |
| Bullet for My Valentine The Poison |
| Carcass Surgical Steel |
| Carcass Heartwork |
| Casualties of Cool Casualties of Cool |
| Children of Bodom Are You Dead Yet? |
| Children of Bodom Hexed |
| Their best album since AYDY, HOB comes close but this edges it on the number of competent riffs, catchy hooks, their best use of keyboards in years and great assortment of solos. Enjoyed every track on this immensely. |
| Children of Bodom Chaos Ridden Years - Stockholm Knockout |
| Counterparts Tragedy Will Find Us |
| Counterparts You're Not You Anymore |
| Counterparts Nothing Left to Love |
| Crossfaith The Dream, The Space |
| Crystal Lake Apollo |
| Dark Tranquillity Damage Done |
| Dark Tranquillity Fiction |
| Devin Townsend Ocean Machine: Biomech |
| Devin Townsend Project Ghost |
| DragonForce Sonic Firestorm |
| DragonForce Inhuman Rampage |
| DragonForce Maximum Overload |
| Dyscarnate And So It Came To Pass |
| Eluveitie Ategnatos |
| Ensiferum Ensiferum |
| ERRA ERRA |
| Gatekeeper (CAN) From Western Shores |
| Gojira L'Enfant Sauvage |
| Heaven Shall Burn Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance) |
| Hellripper Warlocks Grim and Withered Hags |
| Hooded Menace The Tritonus Bell |
| Horrendous Ontological Mysterium |
| I originally had this at a 3.5, just didn't click with me as much at the time, just wasn't there mentally. But returning to this a couple of times has really shot this up my list. Potential top 10 finisher right here, the whole thing front to back is great writing. Preterition Hymn is one of my favourite tracks of the year, easy. |
| In Flames Reroute to Remain |
| In Flames Clayman |
| In Flames Whoracle |
| Insomnium Winter's Gate |
| Insomnium Shadows of the Dying Sun |
| Judas Priest Invincible Shield |
| Kalmah Kalmah |
| Killswitch Engage Alive or Just Breathing |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Polygondwanaland |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Infest the Rats' Nest |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of... |
| Knocked Loose A Tear in the Fabric of Life |
| Lamb of God Sacrament |
| Maximum the Hormone Yoshu Fukushu |
| Megadeth Youthanasia |
| Meshuggah obZen |
| Misery Signals Of Malice and the Magnum Heart |
| Moonlight Sorcery Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle |
| Night Verses Every Sound Has a Color...: Part I |
| Omnium Gatherum The Burning Cold |
| Omnium Gatherum Beyond |
| Paradise Lost Obsidian |
| Parkway Drive Atlas |
| Parkway Drive Horizons |
| Refused The Shape Of Punk To Come |
| Scar Symmetry Holographic Universe |
| Shoji Meguro Persona 5 OST |
| Slugdge Esoteric Malacology |
| Soilwork The Ride Majestic |
| Soilwork Live in the Heart of Helsinki |
| Strapping Young Lad City |
| The Sword Apocryphon |
| The Sword Warp Riders |
| Tool 10,000 Days |
| Tool Fear Inoculum |
| Trivium The Sin and the Sentence |
| While She Sleeps This Is the Six |
| While She Sleeps Brainwashed |
| Whitechapel Kin |
| Wintersun Wintersun |
