RWEI Top 20 Albums of 2021

It's been another hell of a year, huh?

While live music was still shut down across most of the world for a good chunk of the year, we saw the releases of so many new albums- many of which were pushed back from 2020. 

So much so that there was almost too much music to listen to at times. I know I definitely don't just speak for myself in that part, but I particularly felt that this year. 

It was therefore a great pleasure to ask the people over in the RWEI Discord server to list their Top 20 albums of the year in order to compile a more varied and interesting list than what I could have done myself (particular shout out to Scott1985 for helping write the reviews for album numbers 19, 13 and 8. Very much appreciated!).

Without further ado then, here are the Top 20 albums of the year, as compiled by our server!

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20. Slaughter To Prevail

Kostolom (13th August)

Sumerion Records

FFO: Slipknot, Thy Art Is Murder, Whitechapel

When one is asked which country any given deathcore band is from, it's likely that Russia would even enter the top fifty answers you could give to this question. 

Coming in red hot- and wearing the pride of their homeland quite literally on their chests- Slaughter To Prevail put paid to the notion that Russia isn't actually the ideal place for this kind of music to originate. 

With their injection of a ferocious, groove-laden nu-metal Slipknot and KoRn-esque bounce, mixed together with the violent vocal delivery brought by the Russian language that could (quite literally) soundtrack taking on a grizzly bear in bare fisted combat, Slaughter To Prevail are unquestionably the most stupid sort of fun that deathcore has been in a long old time. 

Give this a listen if you don't mind your deathcore being a bit less on the serious side. 

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19. Between The Buried and Me

Colors II (20th August)

Sumerion Records

FFO: Protest The Hero, SikTh, Periphery

Straight off the bat, the tenth album from influential progressive metallers is nowhere near as good as 2007's critically acclaimed Colors. 

That opening statement should not discount this sequel from being viewed as what it is however; a tremendous djenty prog album. If you like your metal music manic, disorientating and containing so much shit going on in the background that you discover new things on your 10th (or in the case of this album, probably your 100th) listen- then BTBAM should be right up your street.

Colors II certainly will struggle to convert new fans, but as with this kind of off-the-wall, challenging music, it almost seems like converting new fans isn't really the point. What's on offer here will more than satisfy the hardcore following that already exists for BTBAM and other mad bands of a similar ilk. 

Great music from great musicians who constantly strive to push the limits of what is actually possible within their field on any given release.

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18. Mastodon 

Hushed and Grim (29th October)

Reprise Records

FFO: Gojira, Baroness, Tool

Four years after their thematically heavy and powerful Emperor Of Sand, Mastodon's eighth album continues to show just why they are such leaders within the progressive/sludge scene, and within the entire metal genre as a whole. 

With a whopping 86 minute runtime, Hushed and Grim's length gives Mastodon the (metaphorical and literal) space to expand their craft and explore new sonic ideas and textures. Grief isn't a new thematic avenue for Mastodon to pursue, but following the death of their long-term manager Nick John, this album is undoubtedly the closest the band have gotten to fully undertaking the weight of this subject. 

Hushed and Grim is a patient kind of album that only unveils its true greatness after many listens, but it is also one that fully deserves the time and effort put into it. Yes, this is a dense and sometimes difficult album to dive into fully but there are many succinct, riffier moments here on songs like 'The Crux', 'Teardrinker' and 'Pushing The Tides' though. These, and the rather digestible length of the individual songs themselves can help even the most reluctant prog rock by-stander work their way through this album. 

Give it a few shots before you make your mind up on this one, for sure. 

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17. Ice Nine Kills 

The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood (15th October)

Fearless Records

 

FFO: Motionless in White, Of Mice & Men, We Came As Romans

Following on from 2018's The Silver Scream, the sixth album from Boston's horror-core trendsetters continues to merge theatrical metalcore with lyrical threads from horror movies such as American Psycho ('Hip To Be Scared'), Pet Semetary ('Funeral Derangements'), Hellraiser ('The Box') and many others. 

Featuring a host of guest appearances- some, such as Corpsgrinder, being spookier than others- alongside some massive choruses, sharp humour and wit, this album is likely to appeal to metalcore and horror fans in equal measures. Although this will not be to everyone's taste, Ice Nine Kills have certainly filled in the gap that bands like Motionless In White have vacated within the more spooky side of things in recent years. 

If you like both your horror films and metalcore on the theatrical and slightly campy side, you should definitely give Ice Nine Kills a listen. 

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16. Harakiri For The Sky 

Maere (19th February)

AOP Records

FFO: Alcest, Numenorean, Svalbard

With the sheer deluge of atmopheric black metal and blackgaze albums that have emerged within the last five years or so, it takes quite a lot for a band to stand out within the genre.

Enter the fifth album from Austrian two-piece Harakiri For The Sky, who truly make their mark with over 80 minutes of their majestic mix of atmospheric black metal, shoegaze and post-hardcore. Laced with emotional vocals, soaring guitars and luscious pianos, Maere conjures comparisons to bands like Alcest and Svalbard (particularly on their latest LP)- all with a sense of scale that never loses momentum through its admittedly long runtime. After several listens, that length is really the only sticking point to this album, and there will definitely be many who find their attention dipping as they reach the halfway point. 

For those who are either able to just lose themselves in this sound or be perfectly content having the album on in the background while they do other things though, this is a gorgeous listen that really cements Harakiri For The Sky as one of the best bands of their kind. 

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15. Every Time I Die 

Radical (22nd October)

Epitaph Records

FFO: Cancer Bats, The Bronx, The Dillinger Escape Plan

Having started working on this album back in 2019, it has been a long time coming for Buffalo's most famous rock band to release a follow-up album to 2016's Low Teens. 

Holding off the album's release until 2021 has meant that songs such as 'Post-Boredom', 'Planet Shit' and 'Desperate Pleasures' pack even more of a punch now than they would've in previous years. It is particularly impactful to hear vocalist Keith Buckley howl, "Give us our plague, now... Spare only the ones I love, spare the rest", knowing full well what has followed in the two years since it was written.

All of that aside, Radical succeeds at being the "most" Every Time I Die album so far, with so many colossal riffs, witty one-liners and southern hardcore swagger that this is probably the band's definitive album to date. Assuming ETID survive as a band (look up that particular saga if you're unaware) until next year, the shows accompanying this release will no doubt go down in history as being some of the best of their entire career. 

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14. Dollar Signs 

Hearts Of Gold (12th March)

Pure Noise Records

FFO: The Smith Street Band, PUP, Spanish Love Songs

Say to anyone with a passing awareness of third-wave ska that a punk inclined band has a fondness for horns and humorous lyrics in their music, and they'll most likely conjure up images of meme-worthy bands such as Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger. 

In the case of North Carolina's Dollar Signs, this is somehow both an incredibly fair comparison to make while also being incredibly far off the mark. 

Smashing together introspective, brutally honest lyrics relating to mental health struggles, failed relationships and inner self-doubt with ramshackle genre-bending punk rock that is sprinkled with cheery horns, synths and interludes that almost have a hip-hop feel to them, Hearts of Gold is a chaotic listen from start to finish that always sounds one power chord away from completely falling apart. So much so that this album will definitely not appeal to everyone. 

If, however, you're open to the idea of emo-flavoured bands such as Spanish Love Songs and The Smith Street Band being smothered with sweet nostalgic horns and infectious earworms, then do give this album a listen.

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13. Voices 

Breaking The Trauma Bond (26th November)

Church Road Records

FFO: Akercocke, Type O Negative, Celtic Frost

The fourth album from London progressive black metal act Voices takes all the brutality that these guys were able to muster up in their previous band Akercocke and then puts that black metal sound through a 00's Radiohead filter. Seemingly deciding that this mixture of sounds was not interesting enough, the band cobble together elements from bands as diverse as The Cure, Anathema and Mayhem. 

The end result is an album which is in equal parts horrific and beautiful. Dark and enlightening. Hopeless and utterly awe inspiring. Not entirely a surprise given the influences on show here, but it is still an incredible achievement to have all of this on one record, nonetheless. Although this album has only been out a few weeks, it has very quickly made its mark and has been on constant rotation for the entirely of December. 

Perfect for the miserable weather that will inevitably rear its head over the winter months.

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12. Iron Maiden 

Senjutsu (3rd September)

Parlophone Records

FFO: Judas Priest, Dream Theater, Stevie Ray Vaughan

This far into their career, it is barely necessary to explain who Iron Maiden are or what they even sound like. Regardless, it is still a remarkable feat for them to still be creating albums of this scale and magnitude, over four decades into their illustrious career. 

Following up from 2015's widely acclaimed Book of Souls, Maiden have only went further into the realms of progressive minded metal, and it truly is a surprise that this album is actually slightly shorter than their last outing with an 81 minute runtime. The exclusion of an eighteen minute song on this album probably does help with that one, to be fair...

Rather than going into the album here, you can check out the review that RWEI contributor Ross posted upon the album's release here. Needless to say, this album will appeal the most to Iron Maiden diehards who pretty much enjoy everything they do, but there are still some pleasant surprises (such as the outlaw feel to 'The Writing On The Wall' or the snappier old-school offerings of 'Stratego' or 'Days Of Future Past') for more casual fans to check out if the entire album is slightly daunting. 

If you just fancy a double album's worth of heavy metal though, you'd do far worse than listening to this latest Maiden record, that's for sure. 

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11. Noctule 

Wretched Abyss (28th May)

Church Road Records

FFO: Svalbard, Enslaved, Saor

One of the handful of positive things that have came out of two years of a global pandemic has been the emergence of pet projects that have came out from artists who have had that extra bit of time on their hands. For Svalbard guitarist and vocalist Serena Cherry, this has arrived in the form of Noctule's debut Skyrim-themed atmospheric black metal release. 

Making it instantly clear that Cherry has previous history being in black metal bands before forming Svalbard, the soaring lead guitars, powerful growled vocals and icy atmosphere are a perfect accompaniment to Skyrim's sprawling Nordic landscapes and dank dungeons. There is an incredible dark beauty to Wretched Abyss that suggests it has been a long time in the making, and the result of which is one which is sure to excite Skyrim and black metal aficionados alike. 

One wonders and hopes that this is merely the start of this band's career and that we will see more from Noctule in the future. 

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10. Trivium 

In The Court Of The Dragon (8th October)

Roadrunner Records

FFO: Metallica, Iron Maiden, In Flames

Speaking of bands who have spent their time during the pandemic wisely, Trivium are perhaps the most impressive within the world of rock and metal, releasing two albums during this time. All before they've even had the chance to properly tour the material from last year's incredibly popular What The Dead Men Say. 

All of that would be pretty meaningless, however, if the new material wasn't any good. Thankfully then, the sublime form that the Florida quartet have found themselves on over the last few years continues with this tenth studio release. 

Taking full advantage of the fact that the band have so much material to work with and having bucket loads of confidence to pull it off, In The Court of the Dragon sees Trivium explore mythical themes through the lens of fantastical source material that will undeniably appeal to both history and D&D buffs in equal measures. Rather than reinvent the wheel, the band continue to craft absolutely massive heavy metal songs that meld together classical and modern elements more seamlessly than pretty much any other band out there today. As someone who has always enjoyed Trivium rather than love them over the years, it has been an absolute joy to see the band finally find themselves musically and solidify their position as modern metal heroes. 

This album only cements their position, and you'd be daft not to go check it out if you like your metal music. 

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9. Deafheaven 

Infinite Granite (20th August)

Sargent House

FFO: The Smiths, Slowdive, Radiohead

San Francisco's blackgaze pioneers Deafheaven have never really cared one single bit about what anyone thinks of them as a band. This alone has ensured that they have avoided catering to a notoriously stubborn black metal fanbase that can often be resistant to experimentation. 

All the better for the band on 2018's Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, which saw them meld together shimmering, melodic indie and post-rock with their particularly powerful mix of black metal and shoegaze. Without that album, you certainly wouldn't have the sound you hear on its successor, Infinite Granite.

Here, Deafheaven almost entirely scrap the extreme metal elements of their sound and, bar a few moments on songs like 'Great Mass Of Colour' and 'Mombassa', George Clarke's vocals are almost entirely clean and stylistically reminiscent of Morrisey or AFI's Davey Havok. Indeed, Clarke's vocals are far more front and centre on this album than they ever have been and it all sounds incredibly lush on top of such ethereal and dream-like instrumentation. Sure, this album will inevitably lose interest from those who adore black metal and also to those people who live for indie rock with a bit less bite than this. But for this particular fan of Deafheaven, this album is a wonderful detour from what the band normally do, and I wouldn't mind them continuing to explore this kind of musical terrain further. 

Knowing Deafheaven though, they will just do whatever the hell they want, regardless of what any listener thinks on the matter. Fair fucking play. 

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8. Cannibal Corpse 

Violence Unimagined (16th April)

Metal Blade

FFO: Decapitated, Napalm Death, Carcass

The boys from Cannibal Corpse are always good for some good old fashioned death metal head bang-age, but what happens when the main songwriter turns out to be a Rapture nut? 

Well, you get an ex-member of Morbid Angel in. Obviously. 

Erik Rutan's introduction as a replacement to long-time guitarist Pat O'Brien has given us what is undoubtedly a Cannibal Corpse album, but with what also sounds like a very fresh and updated sound. A new pair of eyes and ears (and any other gruesomely dismembered body part you want to throw in) have really managed to find and grab what is great about the death metal pioneers and rescue them from the increasingly murky Florida swamplands they beginning to sink in before. Not bad for a band on their fifteenth album. 

Give this one a listen if you like your death metal gruesome, ferocious and well-crafted.

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7. Brand of Sacrifice 

Lifeblood (5th March)

Unique Leader Records

FFO: Sylosis, Thy Art is Murder, Shadow of Intent

As much as it is really good to delve into the more intricate and cleverly put together works of music out there, sometimes it's just really cathartic to just spend 40 minutes wanting to just flip some tables to some proper heavy music. 

Adding all sorts of overblown drama and heft to their Berserk themed album, the Toronto group Brand of Sacrifice unapologetically become leaders in the current crop of outlandishly wicked deathcore on Lifeblood.  

Taking cues from the chunky, groove heavy approach of bands like Thy Art Is Murder and Shadow of Intent, Lifeblood's intense skull pummelling barely lets up for a second, and with just the right balance of sonic brutality and crispness of production, this intensity hits at its fullest without ever quite making you feel sick in the way that other grimier releases can. As much as it would have been nice to hear more of the operatic choir additions that are heard most effectively on 'Animal', its impact would probably be lessened if it appeared on more songs here. In short, Brand of Sacrifice don't really do anything that's ground-breaking or new, but you really don't always need that to find an album a hell of a lot of fun.

And Lifeblood is nothing if not a lot of aggressive fun metal to spend 40 minutes failing to stop your head bopping about to. 

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6. Gojira 

Fortitude (30th April)

Roadrunner Records

FFO: Mastodon, Opeth, Baroness

It's been five long years since Gojira released Magma- the album which truly elevated the French progressive death metal band to 'modern legend' status. 

After such a stylistic jump to a more accessible sound on that album, the question on its follow-up was always going to be whether the band continued to go down this more commercially viable route or bring back the heavier, more challenging material they began with. Fortitude simultaneously does both of these things, and the album is all the better for it. 

Sure, this release doesn't reinvent the wheel much at all. Instead, Gojira continue to refine and sharpen their tight and intricately recognisable sense of progressive groove, all the while providing some new textures (such as the world music influences on 'Amazonia' and 'The Chant' or the melancholic Pink Floyd offerings of 'Hold On') to make a pretty direct point about the bleak state the world finds itself in. Gojira have never been a band who have been afraid to point towards increasingly important issues in their songs, but in a year where a global pandemic has continued to rage on, and environmental summits have resulted in very little hope of change, Fortitude is the one album on this list that I wish could cut through to the wider public. 

An incredibly vital album from one of the best metal bands on planet earth, who just keep continuing to excel at what they do better than pretty much anyone else. 

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5. Employed To Serve 

Conquering (17th September)

Spinefarm/Universal

FFO: Lamb of God, Gojira, Bleed From Within

If you were to ask almost any person in the UK to point out the town of Woking on a map, you'd probably struggle to get anyone who isn't actually from London to be able to get anywhere close (Prince Andrew included. Sorry not sorry). 

Mad then that Woking's Employed To Serve been slowly but surely working their way to becoming one of the country's most solid metal bands then. Oh, and they are due to be supporting Gojira on their UK tour in March. If this seemed like it would be one hell of a leap for this band to make on 2019's Eternal Forward Motion- which still remained partially within mathy hardcore territory- Conquering makes this move towards groove metal supremacy make so much sense that is hard to imagine the band going in any other direction at this point. 

Bringing together a more accessible sense of stomp to the bounce and energy brought forward on their last release with an ungodly amount of headbanging riffs, infectious vocals and instrumental clean melodies, Employed To Serve move closer and closer to being the next UK metal band to really make a name for themselves.  

Go listen to this if you like red-blooded metal. You'll struggle to find a better version of this particular sound from this entire year. 

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4. Spiritbox 

Eternal Blue (17th September)

Pale Chord Music

FFO: iwrestledabearonce, Architects, Sleep Token

For better or for worse, there is always at least one band each year that is selected by the rock and metal press to represent the ambition and hopes for an entire massive genre. 

Arguably, the metal band to do that this year have been Canada's metalcore newcomers Spiritbox. From the ashes of iwrestledabearonce, husband and wife duo Mike Stringer and Courtney LaPlante are the main driving force behind this new project which looks to move further beyond previous limitations.

Borrowing as many elements of electronic, ambient music and contemporary R&B as they do from the likes of Architects and Bring Me The Horizon, Spiritbox's approach to progressive and technically minded metalcore is one that feels particularly right for the modern interpretation of this genre. Indeed, Spiritbox are pretty damn successful at capturing the zeitgeist of the moment, but this would mean absolutely nothing if there wasn't any talent or songs to write home about. The singles alone here put to bed the idea that there is nothing to Spiritbox, but it is LaPlante's sheer technical power, ability and range that really steal the show here. It is so easy to become cynical when a band receives the amount of hype that Spiritbox have, and (personally speaking here of course) I'm not sure I'm fully on board quite yet. 

There is a lot of promise within this young band though, and it's hard not to hope that they manage to shatter any glass ceilings that may exist for them as a result. 

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3. The Dirty Nil 

Fuck Art (1st January)

Dine Alone Records

FFO: Cheap Trick, Weezer, Metallica

Over the course of the three albums released by Ontario, Canada's The Dirty Nil, the genre lines which traditionally separate bands have become more and more redundant and this follow-up to 2018's Master Volume is all the better for it. 

Beginning with one of 2020's best singles 'Doom Boy', The Dirty Nil stick a middle finger up to the notion that classic rock can't be cool in the modern era, as they mix together AOR style melodies and guitar hooks with all the snarl and bite of the best punk bands; all with a added dose of thrashy groove and heft for good measure.

Indeed, 'Doom Boy' sets a pretty damn good precedent for what Fuck Art is. A complete celebration of rock music in its entirety. From the summery offerings of Weezer-esque songs like 'Blunt Force Concussion' and 'Hang Yer Moon'; to the stadium rock hand claps in 'Possession' that are reminiscent of The Darkness or even Queen; to the southern rock swagger of songs like 'Ride Or Die' or 'One More And The Bill', this album manages to feel utterly timeless. It somehow never feels any less relevant or important for the modern era though either. 2021 has been a pretty crap year as a whole, but it's been made better by the fact that Fuck Art has been around for its entirety. 

Completely joyful stuff all round, and there is something here for everyone to get on board with, regardless of what era or style of rock music you're into. 

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2. Teenage Wrist 

Earth Is A Black Hole (12th February)

Epitaph Records

FFO: Turnover, Hum, Superheaven

Shoegaze and alternative rock are two genres which have been practically inseparable over the last decade, and there have been so many killer bands that have come and gone during that time period.

With the exit of their previous singer, Teenage Wrist's Marshall Gallagher steps up to the plate to make a bid for wider attention within their genre with their second album Earth Is A Black Hole. 

Gallagher's lighter and softer vocal style lends itself well to the band's slight change in direction here, where some of the rougher elements of their sound are smoothed out and the melodies are ramped up in scale. 'Taste of Gasoline', 'Silverspoon' and 'Earth Is A Black Hole' should see the band play outdoor main stages at festivals like Reading and Download. The integration of their emo-reminiscent lyrics and vocal delivery with a sweet indie guitar tone that can be gotten from the nicest Slowdive or Oasis material means that the album always sits just perfectly between being melancholy and utterly loved up in the most bittersweet fashion. 

Although the band still have further scope to experiment and make these songs even bigger on their next outing, Teenage Wrist's first release with this lineup shows that they should be noticed by many more people who would simply lap up this sound.

The band's future could be very bright if they are given the chance to show this to the world. 

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1. Turnstile 

Glow On (27th August)

Roadrunner Records

FFO: Beastie Boys, Weezer, Higher Power

It's incredibly rare that an album from the rock and metal world can garner positive reviews from publications as distinct as Kerrang, the NME and Pitchfork, all the while not feeling like it's thoroughly part of a cynical industry machine.

Yet, Turnstile have managed to win over almost every major music reviewer on their third album Glow On, which also impressively sits as the third best album on Metacritic at the end of 2021. Just three years on from 2018's Time & Space, the band have catapulted themselves into the mainstream with their utterly unique take on hardcore that sees them expanding upon elements first seen in their last release.

Trying to explain what this album actually sounds like is actually quite hard when there are so many different elements working together so seamlessly. You have the base kind of hardcore sound that is in equal parts aggressive and fun. That fun, energetic feeling is emphasised with the Latin beats and hip-hop bounce that is all over the rhythms and production job here. Then there are the breezy alternative rock elements in some of the grungier guitar tones and melodies (seen most in songs like 'Mystery', 'Underwater Boi' and 'Lonely Dezires') that are reminiscent of early Weezer material. Adding to this easy-going nature, there are sprinklings of floaty, psychedelic clean tones throughout so much of the album that are emphasised by a hazy, almost distant sounding production job that gives the whole thing a spacey vibe. Finally you have the so many weird samples, guitar effects and bleepy bloopy sounds throughout the album that somehow tie all of these distinct moods together into something that feels essential to the listening experience. After listening to this album so many times, it's impossible to think of these songs without the added flavour that these tones provide. 

Somehow, that is only touching the surface of what is so special about this album, and it is truly incredible that Turnstile have made all of these different sounds work together in such a seamless fashion. Where so many bands try to meld together each of their members' respective influences and fail to make a cohesive body of work, Turnstile create something so new, unique and interesting that works so well and makes almost every other band seem conservative in comparison. So much of that comes from the band's confidence, which can be heard all over this undeniably cool record. Tell anyone you know that this band are from LA instead of Baltimore and they would have to believe you. This thing is simple dripping with attitude, passion and good vibes. If you like rock music at all, you need to check this album out as the hype is fully justified. Hopefully big things happen for Turnstile and they keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible within their genre. 

Whatever the hell that genre even is at this point...

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And there we have our Top 20 list of the year! Hopefully there have been a few albums of interest here and that there will be something new for you to check out.

If you are still looking for some more songs from this year, feel free to check out the playlist below which features songs from all of the Top 20 picks from everyone who took part in the RWEI server. 

And do feel free to click on the Discord icon on the left hand side of the page to join this particular server if you wish. We have chatted music and so much more throughout the entirety of the year and are always looking for more people to get involved!

2021 has certainly been a quieter year for RWEI, but we hope to do more things when 2022 comes so do keep checking in with us and give our socials a share if you want to help us out when that happens.

Stay safe out there and we'll hopefully be around again in the near future. Cheers!