50 Favorite Albums of 2021
This is NOT a straight top-to-bottom list. There was just too much outstanding music this last year, so I did things a little differently. I have 7 over-arching "genres" (term used liberally), each with a top 3 albums + 2 honorable mentions. One of the "genres" is a Wild Card, meaning these were definitely favorite albums, but for whatever reason didn't fit into the other genres. (Whatever - my list, my rules!) And lastly, I have 15 honorable mentions, spanning all genres, ordered alphabetically by band. There are at least a dozen albums that could be swapped around with albums here, or even added on, but I had to draw the line somewhere. So much good music in 2021! Would love to know your thoughts. Enjoy!
Genres in Order
- Death Metal
- Doom / Sludge
- Cores (Aggressive)
- Cores (Heavy)
- Prog
- Black Metal
- Wild Card |
1 | | First Fragment Gloire Eternelle
Death 1 (tied) |
2 | | Inferi (USA) Vile Genesis
Death 1 (tied) |
3 | | Aborted ManiaCult
Death 3 |
4 | | Abiotic Ikigai
Death HM |
5 | | Summoning the Lich United in Chaos
Death HM |
6 | | King Woman Celestial Blues
Doom 1 |
7 | | Converge Bloodmoon: I
Doom 2 |
8 | | Khemmis Deceiver
Doom 3 |
9 | | Lysjakt Ethereal Palace
Doom HM |
10 | | Somnuri Nefarious Wave
Doom HM |
11 | | Every Time I Die Radical
Cores (Agg) 1 |
12 | | Kaonashi Dear Lemon House, You Ruined Me: Senior Year
Cores (Agg) 2 |
13 | | Employed To Serve Conquering
Cores (Agg) 3 |
14 | | Capra In Transmission
Cores (Agg) HM |
15 | | SeeYouSpaceCowboy The Romance of Affliction
Cores (Agg) HM |
16 | | Humanity's Last Breath Välde
Cores (Heavy) 1 |
17 | | Zao The Crimson Corridor
Cores (Heavy) 2 |
18 | | Dead World Reclamation Aura of Iniquity
Cores (Heavy) 3 |
19 | | Dethrone the Corrupted The Amygdaloid Decay
Cores (Heavy) HM |
20 | | Lorna Shore ...And I Return To Nothingness
Cores (Heavy) HM |
21 | | Burial in the Sky The Consumed Self
Prog 1 |
22 | | Dvne Etemen Ænka
Prog 2 |
23 | | Between the Buried and Me Colors II
Prog 3 |
24 | | Fractal Universe The Impassable Horizon
Prog HM |
25 | | The Lylat Continuum Ephemeral
Prog HM |
26 | | Presages Pleurs
Black 1 |
27 | | Ghost Bath Self Loather
Black 2 |
28 | | Les Chants de Nihil Le Tyran Et L'esthète
Black 3 |
29 | | Noctule Wretched Abyss
Black HM |
30 | | So Hideous None But a Pure Heart can Sing
Black HM |
31 | | Frequency Eater Engulf
Wild Card 1 |
32 | | Exanimis Marionnettiste
Wild Card 2 |
33 | | The Beast of Nod Multiversal
Wild Card 3 |
34 | | Dessiderium Aria
Wild Card HM |
35 | | URNE Serpent and Spirit
Wild Card HM |
36 | | Demon King The Final Tyranny
Honorable Mention |
37 | | Earth Groans The Body
Honorable Mention |
38 | | Hippotraktor Meridian
Honorable Mention |
39 | | Ophidian I Desolate
Honorable Mention |
40 | | Pale Ache Sorrow Will Overcome Me
Honorable Mention |
41 | | Pupil Slicer Mirrors
Honorable Mention |
42 | | Stortregn Impermanence
Honorable Mention |
43 | | Subnuba Veneficus Aeternus
Honorable Mention |
44 | | The Behest of Serpents Disciples
Honorable Mention |
45 | | The Mask of the Phantasm New Axial Age
Honorable Mention |
46 | | To Kill Achilles Something to Remember Me By
Honorable Mention |
47 | | Turbulence Frontal
Honorable Mention |
48 | | Vulvodynia Praenuntius Infiniti
Honorable Mention |
49 | | Wolf King Path of Wrath
Honorable Mention |
50 | | Yautja The Lurch
Honorable Mention |
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