40) U.D.O. – Steelfactory

Location: Wuppertal, Germany
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/udoonline/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/u.d.o._official/
 Record Label: AFM Records

Heavy metal legends keeps on deliverin’!  Steelfactory, with all its power and glory is one of those albums you shouldn’t skip if you like it hard & heavy, the German way! Udo’s distinguished vocal style haven’t changed a bit! Expect nothing but epic stuff! Kudos for these exotic stainless steel riffs & solos!

39) Immortal – Northern Chaos Gods

Location: Bergen, Norway
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/immortalofficial
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/ImmortalOfficial/
Record label: Nuclear Blast

Black metal veterans, Immortal with their 9^th studio album Northern Chaos Gods is all about what black metal should be!  Grim and dark are perfect words to describe the latest release of the Norwegian veterans. Nice way to honor the Northern pagan gods

38) Artillery – The Face of Fear

Location: Taastrup, Denmark
Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/ARTILLERY.DK
Bandcamp:  https://artillerymetal.bandcamp.com/
Record label: Metal Blade Records

Danish thrash metal veterans Artillery are back! With The Face of Fear, they have brought some more than decent songs which range from mid-tempo heavy metal style to faster, thrashing stuff. And yeah, their music is melodic as always. Hands down for these eastern-sounding solos! If you’re an Artillery fan, you’ll get your thrash metal fix!

37) Gama Bomb – Speed Between the Lines

Location: Dublin, Ireland
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gamabomb
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gamabombthrash/
Record label: AFM records

We’ve been told that thrash metal has been dead for quite a while…However young bands like Gama Bomb are the ones that keep it alive!  Their 6^th studio album Speed Between the Lines is a fun and easy to listen album. As always, catchy riffs and pretty memorable songs are on the table! Their vocalist’s range is somewhere between Iron Maiden and Ninja Turtles.  With stuff like this, Gama Bomb keeps the moshpits rolling’!

36) Cripple Bastards - La Fine Cresce Da Dentro

Location: Asti, Italy
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cripplebastards
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cripple_bastards/
Bandcamp: https://cripplebastards.bandcamp.com/
Record Label:  Relapse Records

Grind on! Italian grindcore legends just can’t fail!  This is what I would call Spagetti Grindcore album of the year! With La Fine Cresce Da Dentro,  Cripple Bastards keep the adrenaline & aggression flowing! Their frequent switch between grindcore and death metal is astoundingly good! Plus, the Italian language makes this band sound exotic and brain sapping!

35) Obscura – Diluvium

Location: Munich, Germany
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RealmOfObscura
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/RealmOfObscura/
Bancamp: https://obscura.bandcamp.com/
Record label: Relapse Records

It’s tech-death time!  They just can’t make a bad album, can they?  Diluvium is worthy of Obscura’s name! This album has a variety of influences, from jazz to more progressive stuff. You put it all together, and you get some fine technical death metal release! So heavy that it makes planets collide!  

34) Beyond Creation - Algorythm

Location: Montreal, Canada
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BeyondCreationOfficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondcreationofficial/
Bandcamp: https://beyondcreation.bandcamp.com/
Record label: Season of Mist

Canadian technical death metal band extraordinaire, Beyond Creation  really put frets on fire with their latest album – Algorythm!   If you’re in for some tech-death incorporating fretless bass, melodic riffs & solos, look no more!  Beyond Creation is one of the driving forces within the genre because of obvious reasons!  Hail to Montreal Quebec scene!

33) Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons – The Age of Absurdity

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PhilCampbellATBS/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phil_campbell_and_the_bs/
Record label: Nuclear Blast

Phil Capmbell, ex-Motorhead guitarist is still around! His second album, The Age of Absurdity is a pure rock’n’ roll/heavy metal release!  Pretty refreshing, easy-to-listen stuff, that will come in handy after a dozen of  extreme metal albums! And btw, don’t expect a band mimicking Motorhead.  Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons are not going in that direction! However, briliant riffs & leads of Mr. Campbell will surely draw your attention!

32)Dragonlord – Dominion

Location: San Francisco, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/enterthedragonlord/
Record Label: Spinefarm Records

Now that’s some American black metal! Legendary thrash metal god, Eric Peterson, of Testament fame, keeps delivering the goods! As usual, he is behind all guitars & vocals in Dragonlord. Dominion will deliver us to evil and the fiery pits of hellish molten lava! OF DOOOOOM! This album is filled with evil-sounding  keyboard chants & haunting melodic riffs!  And when it comes to vocals, Eric Peterson’s possessed growls & screams might scare you a bit!  Dragonlord’s Dominion is a thing you shouldn’t miss if you deem to call yourself a black metal fan

31)Terrorizer – Caustic Attack

Location: Los Angeles, US
Facebook page (new): https://www.facebook.com/terrorizerofficial
Facebook page (old): https://www.facebook.com/terrorizergrindcore
Bandcamp (Earrache): https://terrorizer-band.bandcamp.com/
Bandcamp (Season of Mist): https://terrorizer.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrorizerofficial/
Record Label: Spinefarm Records

Grindcore veterans Terrorizer are back! Caustic Attack is an essential release that everyone should check out! As the album cover suggests, Terrorizer embodied their visions of apocalypse through over-the-top face melting punky/death metal style.   Pete Sandoval’s  groundshaking drumming will make you feel as if you were caught in a crossfire! We may not talking about World Downfall  part II  but this album is one of the strongest releases coming  from Terrorizer’s  discography!

30) Kevin Hufnagel – Messages to the Past

Location: Philadelphia, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Kevin-Hufnagel-165771196852107/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k_hufnagel/
Bandcamp: https://kevinhufnagel.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Translation Loss Records

Mesmerising chord progressions and out-of-this-world leads! Kevin Hufnagel’s music will always make  you lose words, especially in this time of the season!  Messages to the Past is an  unprecedented instrumental progressive gem that will awaken all your emotions & senses! Time and time again, Kevin’s creative force reached a point of eargasmic culmination!

29) Monstrosity – The Passage of Existence

Location: Tampa, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MonstrosityOfficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monstrosityflorida/
Bandcamp: https://monstrosityofficial.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Metal Blade Records

Hail Monstrosity! Tampa, Florida based legends keep on delivering!  Their latest album, The Passage of Existence is on-spot death metal work of art that deserves to be in your collection! The album art perfectly depicts what this album is all about!  Monstrosity unleashed all the chaos in these hellfire-driven riffs! Unavoidable, monstrous stuff for all fans of old school death metal

28) Saxon – Thunderbolt

Location: Barnsley, England
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/saxon
Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/saxon
Record Label: Silver Lining Music

Get ready for some epic heavy metal!  The almighty Saxon brings forth their 22^nd (you read that right folks!) album, titled Thunderbolt.  And it’s all about classic heavy metal/rock ‘n roll style executed in all its power and glory! What’s really cool about this album is the fact that this album is dedicated to the late Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead (RIP).  Thunderbolt is all about catchy songs, & stories of blood, thunder & steel  and will surely quench your heavy metal thirst!

27) Marduk – Viktoria

Location: Norrkoping, Sweden
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Mardukofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mardukofficial
Record Label: Century Media Records

Black metal ist krieg!  And all the hell breaks loose with the sound of air raid sirens blasting on your stereo! Marduk portrays the chaos of war in a very plausible fashion!  WW 2 geeks will find those lyrics pretty interesting to say the least! Speaking of music, Viktoria is an astounding piece of art executed in a typical brutal & melodic Marduk style, without succumbing to the trends or commercial values of the music industry. And for the record, that album cover is damn spooky to say the least!

26) Krisiun – Scourge of the Enthroned

Location: Ijui, Brazil
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/krisiun.official/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krisiun/
Record Label: Century Media Records

Bring it on! When it comes to  Brazilian death metal veterans  Krisiun, consistency is the word that describes their work!  They’ve remained true to their sound with no big
changes whatsoever.   Scourge of the Enthroned, their 11^th studio effort is a proof that these guys are ahead of their game! Satanic lyrics & thunderous guitar outbursts will diminish you to nothingness and your soul will perish in eternity (While listening to this record at least)! After all, we are talking about one of the strongest old school death metal albums of 2018!25

25) Deicide – Overtures of Blasphemy

Location: Tampa, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialDeicide/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deicideofficial/
Bandcamp: https://deicide.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Century Media Records

Kickass release from a kickass band. Tampa, Florida death metal legion Deicide didn’t change their unholy formula at all! Overtures of Blasphemy is kind of album that won’t be suitable to Christians. Glen Benton’s voice is still intact and it blends perfectly with the straightforward guitar and drum madness that’s going on without a stop! Like a big, satanic meatgrinder destroying everything on its path! Nice guitar work!

24) Soulfly – Ritual

Location: Phoenix, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SoulflyOfficial/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesoulflytribe/
Record Label: Nuclear Blast

The Ritual is about to begin! Max Cavalera’s brainchild, Soulfly is still in the game, delivering thrashing tribal groove of biblical proportions!  This album incorporates all the best elements of thrash, death & groove fused into one big thing called Ritual!  Max Cavalera’s savage vocals & crushing riffs will keep your head banging! This album also features guests like Immolation’s Ross Dolan & Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe and they nailed it!  In the end, Soulfly’s  Ritual brings forth tribal sonic aggression that will not leave you indifferent!

23) Behemoth – I Loved You at Your Darkest

Location: Gdansk, Poland
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/behemoth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behemothofficial/
Record Label: Nuclear Blast

Almighty Behemoth! Well.... this time, Behemoth is caught in between a  satanic romance & malevolent black metal.  I Loved You at Your Darkest melodic vibe may remind you of Deathspell Omega’s Drought, but still, this release also incorporates its darker, uglier & brutal side! Behemoth  showed us that they are not afraid to be creative &  experiment  with their musical talent.  It may be a hard album to swallow at first, especially for the trve frosty satanic black metal elitists , but the more you listen to it, the more you’ll like it!

22) Golgothan Remains -  Perverse offerings to the Void  

 Location: Sydney, Australia
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GolgothanRemains
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golgothan_remains/
Record Label: Independent

 If your body is striving for an unholy fix of dissonance, Golgothan Remains is the right thing for ya! The satanic appeal and musical approach these guys are pursuing may be the closest to Immolation  with tons of genuine stuff  they bring upon the table. Without a doubt, Golgothian Remains is one of the most prolific acts emerging from the fiery pits of the underground! 

21) Nightmarer - Cacophony of Terror

Location: Tampa, US
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nightmarercult
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightmarercult/
Record Label: Season of Mist

Nightmarer’s debut  album Cacophony of Terror is a dissonant death metal masterpiece heavily influenced by groove/djent elements.  Even though they are coming from the capital of death metal – Tampa, Florida, Nightmarer’s  musical approach  is miles away from the classic  80s/90s death metal sound.  Fans of Coma Cluster Void will surely dig this stuff!  Nightmarer’s music seems heavier than the universe!

20) Zealotry – At the Nexus of a Stillborn Worlds

Location: Boston, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/zealotrymetal
Bancamp: https://zealotry.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Unspeakable Axe Records

When it comes to Zealotry,they are a band  whose musical abilities are to be envied.  The dirtiness of the production  which can be heard on their latest release (including a hammering bass sound which is strangely, not buried in the mix), At the Nexus of a Stillborn Worlds, gives the whole thing organic sound which will make you feel as if you were  listening to a  classic album from the golden age of 90s death metal. But with tons of dissonance, pinch harmonics and unpredictable twists and turns.

19) Portal – Ion

Location: Brisbane, Australia
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PORTALDEATH
Bandcamp: https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/ion
Record Label: Profound Lore Records


Since its formation, Portal has been spreading the cult of dissonance among  its extreme followers. With every album, they are pushing the envelope of wickedness beyond the limits of reason known to the ears of ordinary listeners. Their latest album, Ion is the source of all sonic filth in their distinctive fashion. Their cacophonic ejaculation never ceases to amaze the audiences of both death/black metal realms. Portal’s music always sound like sonic interpretation of sorrow, despair and suffering on a mass scale. And Ion is no exception.

18) Ministry – AmeriKKKant

Location: Chicago, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreMinistry/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareministry/
Bandcamp: https://ministryband.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Nuclear Blast

The album title & the album cover say it all! Facepalmed Statue of Liberty & B-2 bombers. Seems like someone pissed Al Jourgensen off!   As always Ministry incorporated a bunch of political quotes as samples to mock the  the presidents in charge,  and now it’s time for Ministry  to take a pick on Donald Trump! When it comes to music, Ministry always tends to sound  experimental.  Cool effects, bunch of samples industrial metal riffs.... the good old Ministry way!

17)Gorod – Aethra

 Location: Bordeaux, France
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GorodOfficial/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gorod_official/
Bandcamp: https://gorod.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Overpowered Records

As one of the greatest technical death metal bands around, Gorod will give you 45 minutes of insanely profound  musicianship! Aethra is a pretty layered album with a bunch of really exciting songs!  You really won’t hear the same song twice. These guys are lurking the heavy waters indiscriminately. At moments, the vocals sound as if you were listeining to Gojira, which is totally awesome! Gorod’s latest release is, by far, your best daily fix when it comes to tech-death, I’ll tell you that!Graveyard – Opus V

 16) Graveyard - Opus V

Location: New York, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PHILOSOPHIESOFTHEREALITY/
Record Label: Pro Sny Records

Well, well, well! Graveyard is an underground US grindcore band! They’re pretty unknown but the ferociousness of their pure, raw, guitar pro-free production will transport you to the good old days of 80s & the 90s! These guys describe their music as „political death noise“, whatever that means! Expect  nothing but jaw-breaking grindcore with lethal doses of death/black metal!  Old Sepultura, Sarcofago and Bathory are the bands that surely had  some major impact on Graveyard! Opus V is pretty diversified album, written like one big song with numerous chapters  that give a theatrical feel to the listeners, especially with political samples & movie quotes that raise the savageness of the music to monstrous proportions! Graveyard’s Opus V is a pretty original album to say the least!

15) Convulsing – Grievous

Location: Sydney, Australia
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/convulsing/
Bandcamp: https://convulsing.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Independent

Australia has tons of great bands…Convulsing is no exception to the rule! Their latest album, Grievous is facemelting death metal that incorporates both sheer brutality & atmospheric parts that add a completely new dimension to this sonic beast. If you’re up for some guttural vocals & groovy death metal riffs, intertwined with melodic chord progressions, Convulsing’s Grievous seems like the obvious choice. Think twice before hitting the play button! This album includes lethal doses of dissonance!

14) Chaos Echoes – Mouvement

 Location: France
Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/chaosechoes
Bandcamp: https://chaosechoes.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions

Chaos Echoes sounds literally as if you opened the gates of Tartarus. Their repetitive riffs create an apocalyptic setting that leave no listeners indifferent. Mouvement is prime example of what French death metal /black scene is all about! This ritualistic noise will make your jaw drop and your brain ripped to shreds! The band also includes tons of ambiental parts that add beauty to this whole thing.  Chaos Echoes is a band with their own developed sense of wickedness.  Portal worshipers will surely like ‘em!

12) Exlimitir – It Weighted itself in Silver

Location: Ottawa, Canada
Bandcamp: https://exlimitir.bandcamp.com/releases
Record Label: Independent

Now this happens when you sew up Demilich & Cheilist together. As if the album cover already suggests that! Exlimitir’s It Weighted itself in Silver is a monolith of screeching weirdness! This band has a genuine way of dealing with sonic filth! Its sliminess is stamped all over the record! What came out as a surprise are the eastern influences that can be heard in the leads. Exlimitir has a plenty of atypical, wicked-sick sounding riffs!  The production on the album is life consuming!  And props to that loud, eerie bass! These Canadians are about to become the forefront of dissonant death metal! P.S. make a Facebook page, goddamn it!

12) Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals – Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue

Location: New Orleans
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Philipillegals
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philiphanselmoandtheillegals/
Record Label: Season of Mist

This is probably the most disturbing album cover of 2018!  Phil Anselmo & the Illegalls fuse nihilistic soul-devouring grindcore with some  dirty black metal aesthetics!  Expect nothing but sonic-devouring filth with the most ghoulish of vocals  &  nastiest of the riffs. Choosing Mental Ilness as a Virtue is a quite shocking album and it will surely leave you breathless! The whole band’s opus spearheaded by Phil Anselmo  may be seen as a sonic manifestation  of exorcism!  Portal-like madness guaranteed!

11) Revocation – The Outer Ones

Location: Boston, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Revocation
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revocation/
Bandcamp (Relapse Records): http://revocation.bandcamp.com/
Bandcamp (Metal Blade Records): https://revocationband.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Metal Blade Records

A band that never released a single bad album! It is no exaggeration to say that Revocation is by far one of the leading creative forces in thrash metal!  With their 7^th album, The Outer Ones the band has created an interstellar super-sonic assault which is as always, in constellation with various subgenres of metal – thrash, death, progressive etc. And the album art confirms this statement!  The amount of talent present in these songs is close to the virtuosity of unearthly beings!

10) Suicidal Tendencies - Still Cyko Punk After All These Years

Location: Los Angeles, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/suicidaltendencies
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suicidaltendencies/
Record Label: Suicidal Records

SxTx!  Los Angeles-based crossover/thrash metal icons Suicidal Tendencies keep the machine rollin’!   This album got its name as a spin off title from 1993 album  Still Cyco After All These Years  and it's basically re-recorded  version of Cyco Miko's debut album  Lost My Brain (Once Again) with some new songs and that's why this album made it on our list!    As its title suggests, Still Cyko Punk After All These Years is a more punk-oriented  album but that doesn’t affect the quality of the songs in a bad way. On the contrary! And when you add funky bass elements to that, you get a pretty enjoyable Suicidal Tendencies release! Dean Pleasant’s riffs & solos followed  by the distinguished  Mike Muir vox is a win-win formula!  And once again, Dave Lombardo’s drumming extraordinaire bring this album to a whole new level!   

9) Thoren – Gwarth I

Location: Sterling Heights, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ThorenDeath
Bandcamp: https://thoren.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Independent

You’ll probably need no more than 5 seconds into Thoren’s Gwarth I to be won over by their over-the-top dissonant extravaganza. Thoren’s sound is a perfect mix of dissonant death metal flavored with mathcore and some djent influences.  Their music is as always, entirely instrumental which you may find pretty damn refreshing after the years of chronic ear-rape caused by death metal growls. But that doesn’t mean that Thoren’s music won’t squirm your brain a bit!

8) Baring Teeth – Transitive Savagery

Location: Dallas, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/baringteeth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baring_teeth/
Bandcamp: https://baringteethmetal.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Translation Loss Records

Dissonant masters Baring Teeth are back in the game! Their 3rd studio album Transitive Savagery is a prime example on how present day death metal should sound like. Baring Teeth  delivers  100% wicked sick  death metal, that sounds like the sonic equivalent of intergalactic clash of epic proportions!  If you’re not fond of atonal stuff, or more preciselly, noisey chords & chaotic song structures, you better  skip this album because,  as always, dissonant death metal is hard to digest.

7) High on Fire – Electric Messiah

Location: Oakland, https://www.facebook.com/highonfire
Faceboook page: https://www.facebook.com/highonfire
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highonfireband/
Bandcamp: https://highonfiresl.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: eOne

Now that’s some sick looking album cover!  High on Fire is one of those stoner metal weed-eating bands  that will always make you crave for a sweet leaf! Electric Messiah riffs are simplistic in nature, but they come with tyrannical, mastodonic, nerve-wrecking force! And yeah, every album with Matt Pike’s fingerprints is just like that! NERVE-WRECKING!! Electric Messiah may be overshadowed by Sleep’s latest release, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are talking about one of the strongest stoner/doom metal release of 2018  that every pothead will find more than enjoyable!

6) Pestlence – Hadeon

Location: Enschede, Netherlands
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Pestilenceofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pestilenceofficial/
Bandcamp: https://pestilenceofficial.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Hammerheart Records

What a surprise! Who would say that Pestilence would release such a groundbreaking record?  Hadeon’s album cover is an obvious take on their 1993 classic album – Spheres. And, goddamn, Pestilence has managed to write a masterpiece that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Testimony of the Ancient & Spheres! Hadeon is a perfect mix of old and new Pestilence!  Robotic voices, trippy interludes, jazzy bass, halo of dissonance and jaw-dropping leads & riffs will take you through an intergalactic journey without a precedent!  Patrick Mameli’s ghoulish vocals are as merciless as his guitar playing. HAIL PESTILENCE!

5) Imperial Triumphant – Vile Luxury

Location: New York
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/imperialtriumphant
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imperialtriumphant/
Bandcamp: https://imperialtriumphant.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Gilead Records 

Arguably one of the sickest, and most original releases of 2018! Imperial Triumphant sound as if they are falling down the stairs with their instruments which is really a good thing if you ask me!   These unprecedented levels of noise and dissonance cannot go unnoticed!   Vile Luxury will take you out of your ordinary black metal shell.  The band also brought some unexpected jazz influences  with chlilling piano & sax parts that came about really well in the whole picture.  And yeah, this album was produced by Colin Marston and that fact alone will tell you how good the production on this release is . Dissonant black metal at its finest!   

4) Voivod – The Wake

Location: Montreal, Canada
Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/Voivod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voivodofficial/
Record Label: Century Media Records

The proggiest, yet one of the weirdest releases from Canadian thrash veterans – Voivod!  The Wake surely seems to be like an experiment that exceeded expectations!  Voivod simply nailed it! The atmosphere that surrounds this masterpiece will get you in a very unique state of sci-fi melancholy! These guys  have shown how thrash metal should sound like by overshadowing all their genre-mates! Dan Mongrain not only managed to continue Piggy’s legacy but he also gave Voivod a new, distinctive trait. Can’t decide what’s more mind blowing, leads from another dimension or these eerie, weird, chunky & dissonant riffs. This time, Snake is ahead of its game! His vocals are just mind-boggling!

3) Pig Destroyer – Head Cage

Location: Washington, US
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealPigDestroyer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pigdestroyerofficial/
Bandcamp: http://pigdestroyer.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Relapse Records

Well I’ll be damned!  Pig Destroyer are back in style!  In the end, 6 years of waiting was definitely worth it! Head Cage  is a twin headed beast consisting of organ moving  grooves & piercing grindcore riffs! Pure whipping madness! And you’ll beg for more! Head Cage has handful of noisy elements whose sole purpose is to deepen Pig Destroyer’s brutality! Scott Hull’s riffs are at least 5 levels above the rest of the grindcore scene! This album, at times, also incorporates refreshing stoner rock/bluesy influences which is quite surprising when it comes to PxDx.  Isac Hayes’ vocals haven’t lost an inch of brutality (come on, we are talking about a guy  whose mic died during the show but he still managed to outgrowl the whole band!) With album like this, Pig Destroyer is a threat to intergalactic balance!   

2) Sleep – The Sciences

Location: Oakland, US
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/officialsleep
Bandcamp: https://sleepsl.bandcamp.com/
Record Label: Third Man Records

If you ever wondered how cosmic blues sound like, the answer is here! This is by far, the most anticipated release in 2018! After 15 long years, the almighty Sleep is back! The Sciences is a gargantuan sonic titan that transcends your everyday stoner/doom metal bands. As the album art suggests, cosmic duo Matt Pike and Al Cisneros deliver mesmerizing riff-mantras that will surely be stuck in your head for eons!  It would be really hard to say whose contribution is bigger, Pike’s or Cisneros’.  Make no mistake, The Science is by far one of the most prominent albums of the decade, even beyond the realms of stoner/doom genre! I wonder how many tons of weed had to be sacrificed in order to make such a masterpiece!

1) Judas Priest – Firepower

Location: Biringham, UK
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJudasPriest
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judaspriest/
Record Label: Sony Music

This is it! Judas Priest’s Firepower surpassed every release of 2018!  British heavy metal pioneers are simply on top of their game!  When compared with their previous release, Redeemer of Souls, Firepower is more of a straight-forward, stainless steel, Metal Gods spectacle with pretty memorable riffs, melodies & choruses! This album will go down in history as one of Judas Priest’s finest releases! We refuse to believe that this would be the last album to feature Glenn Tipton!  Both Tipton & Richie Faulkner outdid themselves with powerful, larger-than-life leads & ear-bursting riffs! On the other side, Rob Halford’s hellish screams blend with the heaviness of the music that sounds as if it was weighing a billion tons! Judas Priest’s Firepower is larger-than-life album! The more you listen to it, the more it will consume you! The whole damn thing has unprecedented levels of catchiness with no fillers at all! Firepower will awake your fiendish lust for metal! Congrats, & make sure to release at least one more studio album!

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