Welcome Metalheads! Well we’ve made it through another year and what a helluva year it’s been! It’s been an odd year for me personally but it certainly wasn’t an odd year in metal. There was so much awesome metal this year I hardly know where to begin but begin we shall!
Well metalheads we have a lot of great metal to be thankful for this year even though it made making this list an absolute nightmare. I have no idea what the actual number of albums I heard this year was but I know it was an absolute ton. Between what we are sent to check out, I find on my own and albums I listened to but don’t have in my music library the total is somewhere near 1,000 albums for the year. To put that in perspective that means I listened to an average of 15-20 new albums every single week this year and I still missed several! I can remember a time when I was young that I only heard maybe 20 new albums in a year and sometimes I miss those times. I love getting so much metal nowadays but I miss having the time to spin an album I love over and over and over again like when I was young until I had the whole damn thing memorized, knew every lyric, knew every band member and anything else included on the album sleeve. Now due to sheer volume even if I really like an album I may not have time to listen to it more than once or twice. Sure my favorites get spun whenever I have a spare moment while I’m doing other things but with a few exceptions I don’t get to just sit and drink in the full flavor of an album. Sadly albums that may take a few listens to really “get into” tend to go by the wayside because I just don’t have time to let them rattle around in my head any more. The albums you’ll see in my Top 25 here are the albums I took the time to listen to several times and will listen to several more times. Some of these selections were no brainers for me since I instantly loved them and a few grew on me when I had time for repeated listens. Please keep in mind that my list, like any list you see, is based on my personal taste so our opinions should differ greatly. There are also some like the new Opeth album you won’t find on this list because I’m putting that and a few others that are on the border between rock and metal on my Best Non-Metal Albums of the Year. Some of those may be argued but I really don’t think you can compare the prog rock/metal of Opeth to the brutality of things like Meshuggah or Aborted. So deal with it!
Holy Shit! It didn't suck!
It’s easy to forget sometimes when reaching the end of another year just how many of our long time favorites put out albums this year including Metallica who managed to put out an album that finally didn’t suck big sweaty donkey balls! It didn’t make my year end list but it is notable for not sucking. Some of these albums made my Top 25 list but here are some of the metal powerhouses that put out albums this year: Metallica (Duh!), Red Fang, Noctem, Whitechapel, Sodom, Obscura, Melvins, Megadeth, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Otep, DevilDriver, Cult of Luna (w/Julie Christmas), Black Tusk, Despised Icon, Amon Amarth, Black Crown Initiate, Aborted, Testament, Crowbar, Opeth, Revocation, Death Angel, Hatebreed, Meshuggah and Gojira! Plus a ton more but just those albums should give us nothing to complain about as metalheads this year. 2016 was another stellar year for metal and no matter what genre is your favorite there were several fantastic albums that came our way in the last 12-ish months. Even better news is that next year should be just as awesome with Matt Pike stating there should be a new High On Fire album in the spring and after 20-ish years… a new Sleep album in the fall!!!! Hopefully you’re as excited for that as I am since both are personal favorites of mine. Metal certainly isn’t going to die in 2017 and given the anger inspired by the election of that total idiotic douchebag Trump there should be plenty of inspiration for some brutal shit in the coming year! Sorry not sorry if you disagree but FUCK TRUMP! (Sorry Buke)
So all bluster aside let’s get to the one thing we can all agree on: Metal Fucking Rules! Before I head into my Top 25 I wanted to give a shout out to some honorable mention albums that I wish had made the cut but when I had a 100 albums vying for 25 spaces some just couldn’t make it but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy because they most certainly are. These are in no particular order they are just all excellent metal albums you should check out if you missed them.
Honorable Metal Mentions for 2016:
Vale of Pnath – II
(Sorry I never got to a review. Excellent Tech-Death!) 
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I always have a hard time getting down to my Top 25 every year so I tried to mainly base my list on what I listened to the most this year. It was still hard and if I made this list 1000 more times it’d be different every time but I’m satisfied that every album on my list this year is absolutely incredible and from all over the metal spectrum. Enjoy and feel free to disagree, this list is my opinion not yours.
I listen to this one as often as I can. The epic nature of this blackened doom makes for a very involved listen but it’s well worth it every single time. I look forward to the follow up to this impressive debut album.
Warfather may have lost one of my Death Metal Death Matches but it’s still an impressive death metal album (you’ll find the opponent they lost to further up on the list.) Due to the amount of awesome metal I heard this year I just wasn’t able to get back to this one as much as I would’ve liked.
It’s a little unfair to call this a debut album, though it is, because Graves At Sea chose to be primarily just a live band for about a decade. That aside this is just an excellent sludge/doom album and hopefully just the first of many.
Astrakhan arrived to me just in time to end up high on my mid-year list and now nearly six months later I still spin it as often as I can. An excellent debut album from a band I hope to hear much more from in the future.
Pretty much no matter where your metal preference lies you can’t go wrong with BCI. They are progressive and melodic tossing in ample doses of black metal, death metal, thrash and many other styles all adding up to an awesome metal album.
I listened to this one just after making my mid-year list or this would have been high on that list. This album is just absolutely epic managing to be progressive while combining black and death metal with doom. Put this one on and don’t make any plans for awhile because you’ll wanna take in every bloody good second!
Somehow this was only one of two thrash albums to land on my list this year though I heard several really good ones. There are a few songs on this one like The Moth that I absolutely love so I had no choice but to put it in here somewhere!
18. Dope Smoker – Marijuana
My Original Review
My Original Review
There are only a few albums I’ve listened to more this year than this one. Heavy groove doom tracks that are catchy and pretty short for doom songs. Is there a skunk in here? Nope, Feind’s just spinning Marijuana again! HAHAHAHA!
I may not have had this one as long as some others but damn it’s good. I loved Anciients debut, Heart of Oak, and this album is even better – a rarity for a sophomore effort. Anciients blend of progressive sludge/doom makes this one worth listening to from start to finish every time!
Need to get out some aggression? What could be better than a new Despised Icon album. It had been nearly 9 years since their last album, Ills of Modern Man, and their sound while familiar is much different on Beast. Beast is more hardcore than previous efforts which I’m sure pissed some off but all I hear is an excellent aggressive album that makes you wanna break some shit!
It was actually painful for me to put this album so low on my list. Cenotaph is an absolutely epic journey of progressive blackened funeral doom that is so layered and complex it won’t be for the casual metal fan. This is an album you can absolutely lose yourself in but since it is so deeply intellectual and involved I haven’t spun as many times as I’d like to but I’ve still spun it a couple dozen times!
Here was another painful decision to make. This is the first Meshuggah album to not land in my Top Ten since I became a fan with Nothing. That really isn’t saying anything bad about Meshuggah but a testament to how much f’ing great metal came out this year! I wanted to put this one higher but looking at what’s left I just couldn’t do it this year.
13 Testament – Brotherhood of the Snake
Sorry I wasn’t able to get to a full review
Sorry I wasn’t able to get to a full review
Testament’s last few albums just never seem to disappoint in the slightest and Brotherhood of the Snake is no exception. Any other year this would be in my top ten like Meshuggah but again it just misses out due to some great albums this year.
This is another album that I’ve practically worn out this year. This album is just absolutely excellent. Wo Fat do a fabulous job of blending stoner, sludge and doom together in perfect proportions. This is an album you need to own!
Fallujah amaze me with every release. Their last album suffered some production issues which they corrected in a big way on Dreamless. You won’t find much progressive technical death metal that is any better than this!
Hopefully some of those made your Best of the Year List as well! Now we’re down to my Top Ten! I had an extremely difficult time picking these ten and putting them in the order you’ll see them. I can honestly say that for perhaps the first time since I’ve been doing Year’s Best lists that all of these 10 albums deserve to be in the Top 5 but alas I can’t do that. I tried to base this purely off how many times I’ve listened to these albums and how often I go back to them and will continue to do so for years to come. I honestly love each of these albums which is what makes them my picks for the Top Ten! If you haven’t picked up some or all of these you need to get on that or your official Metalhead card is REVOKED! Enjoy!
Feind's Top 10
Metal Albums of 2016
Metal Albums of 2016
I’ve come back to this mix of stoner, sludge and doom so many times this year it’s not even funny and it never gets old. This is an album you need from a band that hopefully we’ll get to enjoy for many years to come!
This album was #1 on my mid-year list for major label releases so I expected it to be higher but I haven’t quite returned to it as many times as some others on this list thus its current position. Make no mistake though this is a fantastic album and one of Aborted’s best to date!
Everyone has their own taste but for me there wasn’t a better pure old school death metal album that came out this year. Instead of being another Entombed worshipping Swedish death metal act Centinex combine Swedish and American death influences for a perfect blend of old school death metal that really hits a sweet spot for me. This is my top death metal album for 2016 which is saying something because I’ve heard just a ton of great death metal this year!
This is the first Hatebreed album I’ve ever had in my Top Ten of any year. Most of their albums have had a few songs I really like with the rest being filler for me but I’m not the world’s biggest hardcore fan. This album packed a punch for me all the way through and I keep going back to it which is a very good thing.
6 Khemmis – Hunted
My Original Review
My Original Review
Khemmis amazed me just last year with Absolution and just a year later here they are with another fantastic doom album! Khemmis have a Pallbearer type of doom sound which I love anyway but Hunted shows how much the band is developing their own distinct sound. I wanted to put this one higher because it’s terrific but I just couldn’t justify it beating out any of my Top 5 though it was about as close as it gets.
Gojira are and have been one of my absolute favorite metal bands for the last decade or so. Magma is more progressive than previous efforts but still manages to be heavy as fuck and catchy as well. To this point in their career they have yet to produce a bad album while continuing to evolve as a band with each new release. Some fans will complain as their favorite band’s sound changes but I love hearing a band evolve over time. It isn’t always for the better but in Gojira’s case it’s been fantastic!
I’ve listened to this album so many times this year I’m surprised I haven’t worn it out. I was a huge fan of Cult of Luna’s last album Vertikal but Mariner blows that album out of the water in my opinion. It’s a very progressive album and while I’ve seen some didn’t care for it I thought the addition of Julie Christmas was perfect for this album. I don’t know if they’ll continue to work together but if they make another album as good as Mariner then I’m all for it!
Well this was my #1 album for most of the year and it was hard for me not to put it in that top spot but it was just slightly edged out by the two albums that are left. In all honesty it should be a three way tie for my #1 spot but that would be cheating. Rest assured this Ape Cave debut album is fantastic and you won’t have to wait long for the follow-up because that’ll be coming in a few weeks creating another wonderful dilemma for next year’s Best list! That’s a problem I’ll be happy to have!
Well I’m a complete idiot. Yes, I’m sure you already knew that! When preparing my mid-year list I totally forgot all about this album from Votum. I listen to this one all the time but had a complete brain fart when compiling my mid-year list. This is one of my favorite progressive metal albums this year and probably of the last several years. This one can be deceptively heavy at times like the perfect combination of a Tool and Cynic album. Quite simply :Ktonik: is a masterpiece!
1 Spirit Adrift –
Behind|Beyond Ep & Chained To Oblivion
My Original Review of Behind|Beyond
My Original Review of Chained To Oblivion
Behind|Beyond Ep & Chained To Oblivion
My Original Review of Behind|Beyond
My Original Review of Chained To Oblivion
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This one was not as clear cut of a choice for me as in year’s past. Generally I know what my #1 album of the year is and for most of the year it was Ape Cave (in large part due to it coming out in January!) and I really didn’t think anything was going to knock that album off my top spot. Then I received Spirit Adrift’s 2 song Ep, Behind|Beyond with a promise of a full length coming before year’s end. The 2 songs on the Ep are among my favorites of the year and I had listened to them about a million times by the time the full length arrived. My first listen to Chained To Oblivion had me thinking, “really good not great” but I liked it so I listened to it several more times. With each listen it grew on me more and more until when combined with the Ep I knew I had a new top album for the year. I’m a pretty huge fan of doom as it is but it’s hard for me to understand how anyone wouldn’t like music this damn good! Dark and haunting while not being depressive is what Spirit Adrift provide in their sound, kind of like a darker Pallbearer. Combined these two albums are another 2016 masterpiece, a year which I personally feel has provided more of its fair share and that is a term I don’t throw around lightly. Snag this Ep and album, put your headphones on and just sit back and relax!
A Sample From Each of My Year's Best Albums
There you have it - Feind’s Top Metal of 2016! I don’t think metal has had a bad year in the last decade or so but holy fuck did 2016 have some good ones! There were just a ton of albums that deserved to be on this list but there are only so many spots. I’m sure your list looks a lot different than mine after all in a year with this much great metal it’s bound to. We all base our “Best of” lists on our own taste so if yours differs from mine, as I’m sure it does, let me know what your tops of the year were. There’s a ton to choose from and it’s possible something slipped right by me so let me know what you think in the comments below. Remember: Sharing Is Caring! Oh and FEIND IS ALWAYS RIGHT! HAHAHAHA
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Well Metalheads… am I full of crap or do you agree with my Best of 2016 List? What are your Top 5, 10… 20? Let me know what you think in the comments below. I’d love to see your top spots!
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