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

      View entire list ››

1.Trivium - In The Court Of The Dragon

2.Swallow The Sun - Moonflowers

3.Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

4.Leprous - Aphelion

5.Soen - Imperial

      View entire list ››

2021 albums that I enjoyed so far, a lot more coming, obviously a work in progress

1.Wheel - Resident Human

2.Needlepoint - Walking up That Valley

3.Sur Austru - Obârşie

4.Dordeduh - Har

5.Need - Norchestrion: A Song For The End

      View entire list ››

A couple of years ago I was still at the point where the IPA Gods had not bestowed the appreciation of that type of beer upon me. Then. One fateful night in Denver, CO I had a Voodoo Ranger and it changed my opinion of IPAs.

It seems that 2021 is the year that I started to gain an appreciation for Avant-garde Black.

1.Mortiferum - Preserved In Torment

2.Ustalost - Before The Glinting Spell Unvests

3.Krallice - Demonic Wealth

4.The Temple (NZL) - The Temple

5.Worm - Foreverglade

      View entire list ››

Albums I've listened to released between April - June.

1.Suidakra - Wolfbite

2.Thy Catafalque - Vadak

3.Duskmourn - Fallen Kings And Rusted Crowns

4.Odraza - Acedia

5.Crimson Dimension - Crimson Dimension

      View entire list ››

My List of the releases made during 2021. Score based on the excel sheet i've made https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Hk_3gkpCfeKtdZNus_z3sxg-U8XJ_MqklfC8tbealaE/edit?usp=sharing

1.Decline Of The I - Johannes

2.Vokonis - Odyssey

3.Between The Buried And Me - Colors II

4.Kanonenfieber - Menschenmühle

5.Stortregn - Impermanence

      View entire list ››

F*ck 2020! 2021, here we go!

1.Gråt Strigoi - Communion Of The Nameless

2.Vouna - Atropos

3.Ethereal Shroud - Trisagion

4.Noltem - Illusions In The Wake

5.Big Brave - Leaving None But Small Birds [Collaboration]

      View entire list ››

Good morrow
This is Prnzo
this list is probably for...
idk, the more adventurous...
jack-of-all-trades listener
lots of apples/oranges here
hopefully this top list helps
at least one MS'er
and if not...
there's always next yr
...unless there's not

update: this list still reflected just releases from earlier in the year - I keep updating my list offline... but I'm never happy with some of the configuration/arrangement (due mostly to indecision or losing track of even a very good release here n there)

1.Between The Buried And Me - Colors II

2.Dordeduh - Har

3.Adjy - The Idyll Opus (I-VI)

4.The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls

5.Converge and Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I

      View entire list ››

Be Patient dudes, This List is under Construction

1.Akercocke - Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone

2.Mgła - Exercises In Futility

3.Hail Spirit Noir - Mayhem In Blue

4.Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors

5.Fires In The Distance - Echoes From Deep November

      View entire list ››

2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

1.Archspire - Bleed The Future

2.The Ruins Of Beverast - The Thule Grimoires

3.Bloodred Hourglass - Your Highness

4.Thy Catafalque - Vadak

5.Swallow The Sun - Moonflowers

      View entire list ››

Albums I've heard in 2021 in order of preference.

1.Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World

2.Hypocrisy - Worship

3.Bodom After Midnight - Paint The Sky With Blood

4.Epica - Omega

5.Moonspell - Hermitage

      View entire list ››

After clocking well over 700 albums in 2020, I'm hoping 2021 will be a bit busier IRL and thus slightly less comprehensively covered in these lists, but let's see - with all the new strains emerging, who TF knows when we might return to a semblance of normality. Until then, I'll be trying to make sure that nothing noteworthy passes my radar.

1.Vulgaris - Asundre

2.Dvne - Etemen Ænka

3.Heliocentric - Ishmael

4.Decline Of The I - Johannes

5.Dordeduh - Har

      View entire list ››

No stars - Don't know yet
✮✮✮✮✮ - Incredible, possibly Album Of The Year
✮✮✮✮½ - Awesome
✮✮✮✮ - Solid release
✮✮✮½ - Good release
✮✮✮ - Not bad
✮✮½ - Shuffle material (probably boring as an album)
✮✮ - Disappointing

1.1914 - Where Fear And Weapons Meet

2.In Mourning - The Bleeding Veil

3.Dordeduh - Har

4.Tribulation - Where The Gloom Becomes Sound

5.Stortregn - Impermanence

      View entire list ››

1.Lorna Shore - ...And I Return To Nothingness

2.Harakiri For The Sky - Mære

3.Monolord - Your Time To Shine

4.Ethereal Shroud - Trisagion

5.Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Noktvrn

      View entire list ››

1.Asphyx - Necroceros

2.Cannibal Corpse - Violence Unimagined

3.Fulci - Exhumed Information

4.Baest - Necro Sapiens

5.Hooded Menace - The Tritonus Bell

      View entire list ››