Heavy metal albums 2016
And for good reason too just spin it and try not to be damn impressed. Terminal Redux is an absolute killer of an album packed to the gills with grand epics and face shredding metal that the heavy community embraced with zeal and praise. Enter Vektor and their frenetic brand of sci-fi-themed progressive thrash metal. After all, the raison d’etre of the genre itself is to ape the sounds of the 80’s heavyweights, and aside from a predilection in a few groups to marry those styles with death metal and hardcore, not much in the way of new has been happening. The wave of retro-thrash, re-thrash, or whatever you want to call it has been going strong for nearly a decade now, and while it has offered up some solid releases by great bands, it hasn’t been known to have the most forward-looking of attitudes.
Hearing that the crabwalk king was breaking off to march under his own banner brought equal amounts of skepticism and eager anticipation would it end up being retreaded and watered down Immortal, or would the freedom from band politics, personality conflicts, and bureaucracy allow Abbath to release the album we could have been blessed with after 2009’s All Shall Fall? Considering that much of this record was originally written for the next Immortal it’s no surprise we get the latter, and it’s a hell of a way to launch a new era for the ‘Elvis of black metal’ (thanks for that, Matt Pike). The classic rock and metal vibe, the epic grandeur of the songs, and most of all the riffs. There are several reasons why Immortal was the first black metal band that clicked with me way back in the days of high school. With crushing heaviness, powerful melody, and a strong penchant for soulful interludes, Witherscape may be doing more than any other band to fill the gap left by fellow countrymen Opeth after they embarked on their new phase of exploration, although bands like Barren Earth certainly deserve mention in that category as well. The Northern Sanctuary is easily on level if not a step up from its predecessor and is without a doubt an example to live by in modern progressive death metal. Swedish metal master Dan Swanö’s newest musical endeavor had one hell of a debut with The Inheritance, easily making its way onto this site’s end-year list in 2013 so I had big hopes for the follow up. Here’s my personal Top Ten for 2016, in no particular order, along with some worthy mentions and non-metal favorites. With new records from established acts like Khemmis, Subrosa, Lord Vicar, Goatess, and Vainaja delivering great results while completely new groups like King Goat, Messa, Spirit Adrift, and Kroh dropped albums of equal–if not greater in some cases–quality, it is hard not to see the last year as a strong one for the world of the slow and heavy.
![heavy metal albums 2016 heavy metal albums 2016](https://www.albumsthatrock.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The-20-Best-Heavy-Metal-Albums-of-2016.jpg)
Because of my personal leanings, I feel that 2016 was an unexpected banner-year for doom in particular.
![heavy metal albums 2016 heavy metal albums 2016](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/metal-cd-albums-budapest-hungary-september-heavy-music-s-various-bands-91605645.jpg)
Releases from Nails and Wormrot put a spotlight on grind while Vektor put out a near-universally lauded album that showed what thrash can be if it ever moves past the retro-worship of recent years. 2016 did nothing but continue that evolution, ushering in attention-worthy developments in many disparate corners of the heavy spectrum. With each year in the past decade seeing an ever-increasing diffusion of heavy metal and its ocean of sub-styles, it is getting harder to crown a single trend or movement as the defining character of the previous twelve months.