1.Thy Catafalque - Vadak

2.Forhist - Forhist

3.Lake Of Tears - Ominous

4.Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee At State's End!

5.Unto Others - Strength

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I feel like my overall favorites list is getting too long. I'm splitting it up by rating.

1.Thy Catafalque - Meta

2.Sepulcros - Vazio

3.Kassad - Faces Turn Away

4.Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings

5.Xanthochroid - Of Erthe And Axen: Act I

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1.Archspire - Bleed The Future

2.Gojira - Fortitude

3.Tribulation - Where The Gloom Becomes Sound

4.Aephanemer - A Dream Of Wilderness

5.Beast In Black - Dark Connection

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Ratings go from:

WORSHIP ❤️❤️❤️: Absolute greatness, a mindblowing album.
LOVE ❤️❤️🖤: Amazing release with very few flaws.
LIKE ❤️🖤🖤: Enjoyable but far from perfect.
DISLIKE 💔: Not very good or maybe not fitting my tastes.

I've decided to stop rating albums with a numerical value as I tend to feel uncomfortable with that. This list has a minimalistic, subjective and visceral approach, based purely on sensations and personal tastes. Mainly for personal use and doesn't pretend to be a serious ranking, but emerges from the need to remember which bands and albums I enjoyed and the ones I disliked. I constantly revisit new releases so first impressions may change over time. It usually takes 8-10 spins for me to get completely sure of a rating.

1.Æther Realm - Tarot

2.Abhoria - Abhoria

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agrypnie - Metamorphosis

5.Allegaeon - Fragments Of Form And Function

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I have been quiet lately (haven't been doing much album reviews) and that has to do with some new things going on, so to make it up I finally decided on my top 25 Albums of 2021 as well as the number 1 (my album of the year) this time deciding to post after the metal storm awards to discover more music. A lot of heavy hitting bands release a lot of albums, even one in particular that I normally don't listen to encouraged me to buy one of they're LP's and another band I discovered that had me liking almost all of they're discography upon discovering. It was definitely another great year of metal and certainly can't to hear more music this year.

1.Dream Unending - Tide Turns Eternal

2.Fallensun - The Wake Of The Fall

3.Apallic - Edge Of Desolation

4.Unto Others - Strength

5.Be'lakor - Coherence

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Metallic World War 2021

2017 champions Archspire want to defend their leadership (strategy: we raze you with more BPM), while Dvne (3rd place in 2017) and Rivers of Nihil (3rd place in 2018) enhance their sonic arsenal by forcefully declaring war on sovereigns; however, the battlefield is filled with loose mines that could explode and blow everything up, ultra-technical mines called Inferi, Deviant Process and First Fragment (brand: Dominic Forest Lapointe). From afar, cautious and silent, veterans named Carcass, Dream Theater and Mastodon lurk. Steffen Kummurer of Obscura (3rd place in 2009, 2nd place in 2011, 6th place in 2016, 7th place in 2018) warrior experienced and reliable, re-sheaths his most powerful weapons (Jeroen Paul Thesseling and Christian Muenzner, champion with the Alkaloid in 2018) and prepares for the final assault on the Throne of Metal. The 2012 champions, Between the Buried and Me, dethroned but never tamed, take the field recalling the glorious colors of the past to regain what is rightfully theirs.

1.Between The Buried And Me - Colors II

2.Dvne - Etemen Ænka

3.Archspire - Bleed The Future

4.Obscura - A Valediction

5.Mastodon - Hushed And Grim

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In no particular order (after the top 5), here are my AOTY for 2021.
Some albums are not featured here, for which I've added description and Bandcamp link.
Enjoy :')

1.

2.First Fragment - Gloire Éternelle

3.Beast In Black - Dark Connection

4.Khirki - Κτηνωδία

5.Omnium Gatherum - Origin

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Limited only to the albums I rate higher than 7.
Suggestions are extremely welcomed.

1.Theologian - Nonextant

2.She Spread Sorrow - Hunters

3.Choir - Songs For A Tarnished World

4.Five The Hierophant - Through Aureate Void

5.Fragment King - Retreat

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My personal favorite 75 metal albums of the year, this year has been pretty good when comes to heavy metal, especially within black and melodic death metal, also a good year for symphonic metal.

My favourite non metal albums of the year

Spotify playlist:
2021

1.Swallow The Sun - Moonflowers

2.Helloween - Helloween

3.Ethereal Shroud - Trisagion

4.Turnstile - Glow On

5.Havengarth - The Path Through Reminiscence

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1.Suffering Hour - The Cyclic Reckoning

2.Cannibal Corpse - Violence Unimagined

3.Archgoat - Worship The Eternal Darkness

4.Diabolizer - Khalkedonian Death

5.Enforced - Kill Grid

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Alphabetical
Favourite track in ()

1.Archspire - Bleed The Future

2.At The Gates - The Nightmare Of Being

3.Be'lakor - Coherence

4.Djevel - Tanker Som Rir Natten

5.Doctor Smoke - Dreamers And The Dead

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1.Mastodon - Hushed And Grim

2.Carcass - Torn Arteries

3.Mortiferum - Preserved In Torment

4.The Ruins Of Beverast - The Thule Grimoires

5.Be'lakor - Coherence

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1.Ethereal Shroud - Trisagion

2.Veilburner - Lurkers In The Capsule Of Skull

3.First Fragment - Gloire Éternelle

4.Replicant - Malignant Reality

5.Dormant Ordeal - The Grand Scheme Of Things

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So earlier in 2021, I actually finished a nine year old list, and I thought starting this in July and backfilling with previous listens would be a good idea. Turns out not jotting down some thoughts about albums as you listen to them the first time is mistake, so almost every album on here has been heard at least twice - often more.

I'm going to leave it in release date order for now - maybe I'll put them in rating order, but that seems like a lot of work.

And even looking at my own list, I'm convinced there are albums I've heard that aren't on here, so that's great!

Anyway, enjoy reading and hopefully this might point you in the direction of something from 2021 you haven't bothered with yet.

Cheers!

1.Horndal - Lake Drinker

2.Unto Others - Strength

3.Obscura - A Valediction

4.Gatecreeper - An Unexpected Reality

5.Asphyx - Necroceros

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1.Trivium - In The Court Of The Dragon

2.Swallow The Sun - Moonflowers

3.Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

4.Leprous - Aphelion

5.Soen - Imperial

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