One can hear plenty of Rainbow and Black Sabbath again, but the creepy eccentricity of Atomic Rooster and an unabashed (and frankly far too brief) homage to Boston also rear their heads. Two years wiser, Green Lung have further refined and perfected their style to stunning effect. quintet is back with their highly anticipated follow-up, Black Harvest. Adroitly mixing classic hard rock with horrific themes, folk rock, doom, and stoner, Woodland Rites captivated and engaged from start to end. One of the best self-released albums of 2019 was Green Lung’s debut, Woodland Rites. But the quality and quantity of great riffs and memorable melodies also make Hushed And Grim instantly accessible, a combination that’s hard to beat, and tops our list of October’s best. A nearly 90 minute album is a lot to absorb, and there are a lot of subtleties that reveal themselves after multiple listens. Mastodon push the progressive envelope hard on this album, while also writing songs that are accessible and radio-ready. The 15 tracks on Hushed And Grim revisit some of the band’s older stylistic ventures, continue some of their recent musical forays and move in new directions. A band of Mastodon’s caliber has the skill and self-awareness to avoid those pitfalls, and manage to do so. Releasing a double album in today’s short attention span, single-driven music industry is a risk, with many being bloated and teeming with too much filler, boring interludes, self-indulgence and ambitions that fall short. Here are our choices for October 2021’s Best Heavy Metal Albums.
It was jam packed, with some worthy albums that would have easily cracked the top 6 most months, but had to be left out.
Frontman Joe Duplantier has hinted something more experimental, but if it can match its predecessor arenas surely beckon.Ī new Meshuggah release is on the way, so we’re expecting some of the most meticulous and ludicrous song structures in the business.The heavy hitters were out in full force this month, making for an outstanding month of new metal releases. A hybrid of Meliora riffs and /Prequelle/ choruses, you say? Hell yes.įive years from Magma we wait with bated breath to see what earth-shattering compositions Gojira come up with next. Not content with essentially predicting the plague and cracking arenas, everyone’s favourite satanic cult rockers Ghost have promised something for their fifth studio album.
They’ve certainly had plenty of fuel to work with lately.Ĭonsidering Ozzy’s partnership with producer Andrew Watt yielded the fantastic Ordinary Man, its very welcome news to hear the two are collaborating on a follow-up so soon – with members of Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters, no less. The title isn’t confirmed, but Megadeth have long had talent for turning a chaotic world into lightning-charged thrash gold. Megadeth – The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! Considering what they’ve achieved with such themes in the past, we’re ready to be devastated and enthralled yet again. For their follow-up to Emperor of Sand, Mastodon are channelling despair and tragedy – or so says guitarist Bill Kelliher.