THE ULTIMATE TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 2020

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 like within a year...

You have probably checked my 50 Top Black metal albums of 2020 as well as 50 Top Death Metal Albums of 2020 articles. So you know what to expect here. Wait, but there's more.

Yeah, I listened to tons of music, bought too much vinyl, CDs, T-shirts, and a few cassettes. I did my best to support the scene and to spend my little spare time dedicated to my favorite music. 

As usual, I created a simpler table for the AOTY publication, with links to Bandcamp or Spotify, where the respective albums are available. I hope it is another small trace, a legacy for the next generations. And for us the metalheads - another long list to check and enjoy. And yeah, probably within two weeks, it will be forgotten... 

Thank you to all of you who dropped by at this blog in 2020. Massive respect and gratitude for the friendship to all the great peers from the metal community on Twitter. Without you, my passion for the beloved music wouldn't be the same. 

Here it is. On 20.12.2020. The end complete  - my ultimate TOP 101 albums of 2020 list. Cheers! 🤘🍻

#	Band	Album	Listen at
101	UMBRA VITAE	Shadow of Life	Bandcamp
100	INGESTED	Where Only Gods May Tread	Bandcamp
99	STALKER	Black Majik Terror	Bandcamp
98	SODOM	Genesis XIX	Spotify
97	DISEMBOWEL	Echoes of Terror	Bandcamp
96	MY DYING BRIDE	The Ghost of Orion	Spotify
95	ATRAMENTUS	Stygian	Bandcamp
94	DAWN OF SOLACE	Waves	Bandcamp
93	IRONSWORD	Servants of Steel	Bandcamp
92	AMORPHIA	Merciless Strike	Bandcamp
91	DISRUPTED	Pure Death	Bandcamp
90	OF FEATHER AND BONE	Sulphuric Disintegration	Bandcamp
89	DEEDS OF FLESH	Nucleus	Bandcamp
88	UNDEATH	Lesions of Different Kind	Bandcamp
87	ARKERON THODOL	Rituals of Sovereign Heart	Bandcamp
86	PLAGUE YEARS	Circle of Darkness	Bandcamp
85	CARNATION	Where Death Lies	Bandcamp
84	…AND OCEANS	Cosmic World Mother	Bandcamp
83	SARCATOR	Sarcator	Bandcamp
82	CRO-MAGS	In the Beginning	Spotify
81	SKELETHAL	Unveiling the Threshold	Bandcamp
80	TEMPLE OF VOID	The World That Was	Bandcamp
79	FUNERAL LEECH	Death Meditation	Bandcamp
78	NECROPHOBIC	Dawn of the Damned	Bandcamp
77	MARROWFIELDS	Metamorphoses	Bandcamp
76	SELBST	Relatos De Angustia	Bandcamp
75	FORGJORD	Laulu Kuolemasta	Bandcamp
74	STILLBIRTH	Revive the Throne	Bandcamp
73	DEVANGELIC	Ersetu	Bandcamp
72	RINGARE	Sorrow Befell	Bandcamp
71	PLAGUE	Portraits of Mind	Bandcamp
70	MARTWA AURA	Morbus Animus	Bandcamp
69	IMHA TARIKAT	Sternenberster	Bandcamp
68	SOLSTAFIR	Endless Twilight of Codependent Love	Bandcamp
67	END	Splinters from an Ever-Changing Face	Bandcamp
66	MEGATON SWORD	Blood Hails Steel - Steel Hails Fire	Bandcamp
65	COESXISTENCE	Collateral Dimension	Bandcamp
64	DEFILED	Infinite Regress	Bandcamp
63	WAYFARER	A Romance With Violence	Bandcamp
62	HAVUKRUUNU	Uinuos Syömein Sota	Bandcamp
61	MIDNIGHT	Rebirth by Blasphemy	Bandcamp
60	DARKENED	Kingdom of Decay	Bandcamp
59	FIRES IN THE DISTANCE	Echoes From the Deep November	Bandcamp
58	GOATS OF DOOM/SARASTUS	Dawning ov the God	Bandcamp
57	ESOCTRILIHUM	Eternity of Shaog	Bandcamp
56	PULCHRA MORTE	Ex Rosa Ceremonia	Bandcamp
55	HORNA	Kuoleman Kirjo	Bandcamp
54	SCARAB	Martyrs of the Storm	Bandcamp
53	THE COMMITTEE	Utopian Deception	Bandcamp
52	IRON ANGEL	Emerald Eyes	Bandcamp
51	KATATONIA	City Burials	Bandcamp
50	VADER	Solitude in Madness	Bandcamp
49	IRIST	Order of the Mind	Bandcamp
48	BUTCHER	666 Goats Carry My Chariot	Spotify
47	DEPRAVITY	Grand Malevolence	Bandcamp
46	IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT	Alphaville	Spotify
45	KIRK WINDSTEIN	Dream in Motion	Bandcamp
44	THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER	Verminous	Bandcamp
43	KHORS	Where The Word Acquires Eternity	Bandcamp
42	DEFEATED SANITY	The Sanguinary Impetus	Bandcamp
41	HALJORUNA	Midtvinterblot	Bandcamp
40	INEXORUM	Moonlit Navigation	Bandcamp
39	SOLOTHUS	Realm of Ash and Blood	Bandcamp
38	PARADISE LOST	Obsidian	Bandcamp
37	RIPPED TO SHREDS	Luan	Bandcamp
36	EXOCRINE	Maelstorm	Bandcamp
35	SYLOSIS	Circle of Suffering	Spotify
34	NAPALM DEATH	Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism	Spotify
33	DARK TRANQUILLITY	Moment	Spotify
32	CEREMONIAL CASTINGS	Salem 1692	Bandcamp
31	AFTERBIRTH	Four Dimensional Flesh	Bandcamp
30	CYTOTOXIN	Nuklearth	Bandcamp
29	KATALEPSY	Terra Mortuum Est	Bandcamp
28	UNDERGANG	Aldrig I Livet	Bandcamp
27	ANACHITIS	The Sorcerer's Sorrow	Bandcamp
26	KRUELTY	A Dying Truth	Bandcamp
25	SEVEROTH	Vsesvit	Bandcamp
24	ARMORED SAINT	Punching the Sky	Bandcamp
23	KILLER BE KILLED	Reluctant Hero	Spotify
22	CRYPTIC SHIFT/ REPLICANT/ INNOCULATION/ ASTRAL TOMB	Chasm of Aeons	Bandcamp
21	REBEL WIZARD	Magickal Mystical Indifference	Bandcamp
20	BENEDICTION	Scriptures	Spotify
19	ENSLAVED	Utgard	Bandcamp
18	VAMPIRE	Rex	Spotify
17	DECEMBRE NOIR	The Renaissance of Hope	Bandcamp
16	TERNINAL NATION	Holocene Extinction	Bandcamp
15	XIBALBA	Años en Infierno	Bandcamp
14	CRYPTIC SHIFT	Visitations from Enceladus	Bandcamp
13	FACELESS BURIAL	Speciation	Bandcamp
12	LIK	Misanthropic Breed	Bandcamp
11	PAYSAGE D'HIVER	Im Wald	Bandcamp
10	ETERNAL CHAMPION	Ravening Iron	Bandcamp
9	HELLRIPPER	The Affair of the Poisons	Bandcamp
8	ABYSMAL DAWN	Phylogenesis	Bandcamp
7	SKELETON	Skeleton	Bandcamp
6	ULCERATE	Stare Into Death and Be Still	Bandcamp
5	ANAAL NATHRAKH	Endarkenment	Bandcamp
4	PALLBEARER	Forgotten Days	Bandcamp
3	UADA	Djinn	Bandcamp
2	SPIRIT ADRIFT	Enlightened in Eternity	Bandcamp
1	ULVER	Flowers of Evil	Bandcamp

 

Yes, my absolute winner for this apocalyptic year is ULVER's Flowers of Evil. But most of you already knew this... Have a great 2021!