Go and live your passion

Another year has gone by. An apocalyptic one. The year with the pandemic, with the lockdown, with the fatal dates such as 01.01.2020, 02.02.2020. 20.02.2020, 10.10.2020, 11.11.2020 etc...The year when we had to sit back and reflect. To learn the lesson of patience. The metal scene did better than ever though. Thanks to the music, I survived. In 2020 we all witnessed a huge quantity of quality releases. A lot of them are going to stand with the time, I'm sure. That's why it was very difficult to make a cut and just limit my AOTY list to 20 or 50. The below 100 could have been 200 easily too. Many of the albums on the list have been covered in my monthly charts and I was chanting about them through the year. And of course, there are growers. This is how I compiled my AOTY list - the albums I enjoyed the most in 2020, the ones that I spent most of the time with, and made me go through. Of course, lists are valid at the time of publishing, that's why who knows how it might look...

2020 was definitely the year of Death Metal , but there were tons of Black Metal albums released too. I enjoyed the particular genre less than I did in the previous years.  The below list gives a hint about what black metal I listened to the most, and the albums I enjoyed the most in the already past year. Some of them are bleak, cold, full of hate. Others are encompassing various genres, and are on the edge of BM.  I am absolutely sure everybody has their own interpretation of the black metal albums that deserve attention. Yes, lists are personal. That's why I give you the 2020 choices of my icy black heart. 53 albums in no particular order and some honorable mentions. The bleakness of it all! ❤  cOh_PKSyU_U/X285OQ8YxZI/AAAAAAAACSs/uRu__1asZnU7sl_r8JLoDdBXO9cCrBXhwCPcBGAYYCw/s1000/cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> UADA Djinn Bandcamp PAYSAGE D'HIVER Im Wald Bandcamp ANACHITIS Sorcerer's Sorrow Bandcamp S...

2020 has been about DEATH metal. I've been enjoying the genre the most during this severe and challenging year. It's like both, the year and the genre were born one for another. I haven't listened to so much death metal since...probably the glorious 1991-1994 period! That's why I listed down the best death metal albums for 2020, the ones that really stood out for me personally, and the ones that made me feel good in this apocalyptic death (metal) year. My death meditation. And my reminder for the next generation, if there will be any. I listed below 50 death metal albums that mostly fit into the genre's accepted boundaries, excluding the melancholic and melodic death/doom. The list is in no particular order, but if you are a death metal fanatic, by the end of 2020 you must have listened to all of them already, and have your thought on the matter. However, there is so much more than these 50 which deserve attention and recognition. Really. Just dig in a bit - 2020 wa...

 Frankly, November began well, I was excited, but in the end, I lost my inspiration. Tons of new releases again. At some point, I felt lost in this pile, mismatching, and forgetting bands' names or albums... Finally, I selected 20 albums that I listened to or enjoyed the most. I perfectly understand that some of them are doomed to eternal oblivion, and possibly will never be played again...There were good albums, hands down. However, in the end, it was always something missing for me there... My list below includes 20 albums, and I added 11 honorable mentions. 31 albums, not bad. Check them all if you care. Thank you for trusting my choices!

Some surprises came out in the very last days of October. Worthy releases by some awesome bands. This happened after I published my regular TOP 20 Monthly list for October . So I decided to include those releases in a separate article, adding few more very good records which came out earlier in October. Anyway, I was accused that I'd got too mainstream and commercial with my October Top list, and maybe it was time to share some crypt stuff too. I have never done such post-publication, which just claims the quality of the tenth month of 2020. There are another 15 last-minute recommendations below, that you might want to check if you care for the Underground. I actually drowned into these quite fast. Let's just not forget about them, they are worthy indeed. Thanks to a couple of metalheads out there (you know who you are!) for recommending so much great music! ESOCTRILIHUM - F'htansg Release Date: 31 October If you follow the UG, then you know the qualities of Asthâghul, and ...

October was huge in terms of quality. It is the best month in this respect for 2020 so far. Great albums were released and hopefully, I encompassed them all in my long epic list here.  Besides the finest 20 records, I listed another 16 (!) very strong contenders which are mandatory at least to check once. They all easily could be part of the main 20 and do deserve our strong attention! I'm sure some of them might grow in the future. I'm not going to put any description of the below-listed albums. If you haven't listened to even one of these, it is all at your expense... HELLRIPPER - The Affair of the Poisons Release Date: 9 October ANAAL NATHRAKH -  Release Date: 2 October SPIRIT ADRIFT - Enlightened in Eternity Release Date: 16 October PALLBEARER - Forgotten Days Release Date: 23 October ENSLAVED - Utgard Release Date: 2 October BENEDICTION - Scriptures Release Date: 16 October CARCASS - Despicable EP Release Date: 30 October COEXISTENCE - Collateral Dimension Release Date...

September was uncontrollable! So many new releases and there was quality actually. Some really impressive albums went out. Albums that leave a trace. Of course, I couldn't listen to all releases. However, I picked 20 out of the huge pile I managed to check out and which I liked the most.  Some great albums left out of this list though. Others may grow in the upcoming weeks too. Let's just mention that Deftones, The Ocean, Hexx, Hittman, Marche Funebre, Morta Skuld, Mysthicon are outside and all of them do deserve strong recognition. There were disappointments too. I expected more from Heathen for example. Kataklysm couldn't impress me once again and I honestly think there's nothing inspiring left there. Skeletal Remains didn't disappoint me though - they released another trash again. Definitely album of the month goes to the highly expected UADA's Djinn! The others below are listed in no particular order as usual. Let's see which ones will really stay and ma...