Top Ten Albums of 2021 / Rob "The Metal Guy" Awards

After living through all the hysteria and chaos of 2020, a year that shall go down in history as one of the most inconceivable years in the history of the world, people looked to 2021 as a year of redemption. In terms of hard rock and heavy metal music I felt as though 2020 was a decent year, but 2021 seemed to be the year where bands really stepped up their game. As much as people thought the return of CM Punk to professional wrestling was a historic and monumental moment, I personally found myself rejoicing to the news that artists like Old Tower and Wallachian Cobwebs were putting out new releases. Independent music labels like Sentient Ruin continued to promote hard working up and coming underground acts from around the world, which is always great to see compared to those labels still promoting aging rockers who look like they just escaped from the retirement home. 2021 may not have been exactly what we were expecting the world to look like after 2020, but I do think we can look back and appreciate some of the brilliant sounding albums that came out during the year. So here it is everyone, my top ten list for 2021....

10. Tower “Shock to the System”

This New York City based band displayed a tremendous amount of ballsy sounding hard rock and heavy metal attitude on their sophomore full-length album, “Shock to the System.” The high soaring vocals of singer Sarabeth Linden perfectly complimented the band’s feverish sounding guitar riffs. Overall, the album contains a strong and confident energy, which seems to grow from the beginning of the album until the very end. I also was extremely impressed by the band’s songwriting skills and I thought that the music sounded tight. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/10/tower-shock-to-system.html

9. When the Deadbolt Breaks “As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy” 

These Connecticut based musicians are an extremely creative act and one that took me by complete surprise after I listened to their new album. When the Deadbolt Breaks offers listeners a truly atypical sounding listening experience on, “As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy.” Their unique brand of psychedelic doom is very refreshing and they show a willingness to experiment with a variety of different sounding musical concepts. The dynamic arrangements hook you right from start by writing some haunting chord progressions along with a fair amount of trippy rhythms. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/10/when-deadbolt-breaks-as-hope-valley.html

8. Maze of Terror “Offer to the Fucking Beasts” 

I don’t know what it is about Peru, but there has been a decent amount of brutal sounding bands to come out of that country over the years. Maze of Terror is yet another band from the region that knows how to write some gruesome sounding pieces of raw brutality. The band mixes casket crushing old school death metal with some merciless black metal to craft an unholy sound which does not disappoint. Plus, the frantic lead guitar work adds to the over bloodbath of devastation laid down by the band’s skillful drummer. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys vicious sounding music with a blasphemous attitude that is sure to scare the hell out of a pack of Jehovah Witnesses. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/09/maze-of-terror-offer-to-fucking-beasts.html

7. Concilium “Desecration” 

Talk about HEAVY! This Portuguese extreme metal band knows how to lay down some juggernaut sized riffs along with some monstrous sounding drum parts. Of course, the band worked with Sentient Ruin on the release of this album, which should come as no surprise given the label’s history of finding the most extreme and profound sounding artists around. I think what stood out the most about this album for me was the band’s ability to get to the point and no overwhelm the listener with unnecessary arrangements. Sometimes you just want a meaty sized riff to come crashing down on you like an avalanche of distorted destruction leaving a trail of carnage in its path. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/06/concilium-desecration.html

6. Last Agony “The Imminent Slaughter”

Another band on the Sentient Ruin roster that knows how to unleash a tidal wave of face kicking insanity. Adrenaline pumping noise-punk with some blackened aggression is what this Canadian based band brings to the table on their debut full-length release. The songs on the album may be are short, but the band unleashes an insurmountable amount of chaos on each track. From the rebellious sounding guitar riffs to the singer’s unapologetic vocals, I swear that this band means business. Really hope they keep recording new music and building off of this album’s relentless sounding energy. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/04/last-agony-imminent-slaughter.html

5. Crawl Below “9 Mile Square”

This album came out earlier this year and I still find myself playing it over and over again. Overall, the compositors are extremely mesmerizing and wrap you in this veil of haunting tranquility. The musician behind this band, Charlie Sand Eyes, is a very creative artist who also happens to be in the band When the Deadbolt Breaks. I find Crawl Below to be a fascinating act, especially since the style of music seems to be influenced by a lot of bands that I really enjoy. In the end, Charlie tells these haunting musical tales that are inspired by the history of the area in which he resides located in Connecticut. Having lived in Connecticut myself for a couple years I was really impressed how he captured the spell casting natural beauty of the historic region through the album’s sound. Overall, an album worth checking out and the follow-up release that is coming out in 2022 is another phenomenal sounding release. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2020/12/crawl-below-9-mile-square.html

4. Wallachian Cobwebs “Night Sobbed a Potion Diseased” 

If you are a reader of this blog then you will remember how much I enjoyed Wallachian Cobwebs’ debut album, “Hearken to the Moon Whisper.” This one-man dungeon synth artist took vampiric lore and created a masterpiece of an album, so once I heard there was going to be a follow-up, I was simply overcome with excitement. The new album, “Night Sobbed a Potion Diseased,” takes the story of Frankenstein’s Monster and creates this haunting soundtrack which I thought was very creative. Every sound grabs your attention and creates these vivid mental pictures as if you were witnessing this tale of terror firsthand. The cinematic like environment is perfectly recorded, so anyone who desires a powerful ambient/dungeon synth release should check this album out.   

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/03/wallachian-cobwebs-night-sobbed-potion.html

3. Graveland “Hour of Ragnarok” 

One of my favorite bands, Graveland, did not disappoint this year with their new album, “Hour of Ragnarok.” The band really went all out with this new album and recorded a true masterpiece in my opinion. Rob Darken’s vocals along with the triumphant sounding instrumental arrangements throws you into this bombastic realm full of epic sounding music. You do hear the early Graveland sound at times, but the band has definitely evolved and become so much more dynamic in terms of their recording techniques and overall production quality. Conceptually this is probably one of the most impressive albums I have heard over the last couple years. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/09/graveland-hour-of-ragnarok.html

2. Old Tower “The Old King of Witches” 

I can say without hesitation that Old Tower is one of the most accomplished and exceptional dungeon synth/ambient artists around. For fans of this style of music, Old Tower has become one of the most recognized artists around the world. The Specter who is the mysterious artist behind Old Tower, is a true genius and this new album reinforces everything that I have said about Old Tower from day one. “The Old King of Witches,” takes a turn down an even darker road, leading listeners into an ambient world shrouded by a sinister energy that I believe creates a truly insidious atmosphere. When listening to this album is the dark you become bewitched by the music’s malevolent charm. I am so glad that I ordered this album on vinyl, even if I have to wait a while due to shipping delays. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/11/old-tower-old-king-of-witches.html

1. Abstracter “Abominion” 

Picking an album for the number 1 slot this year was not an easy task, but in the end Abstracter’s “Abominion” is the album that stood out above all the rest. The Bay Area based band has been a favorite of mine ever since they released their debut full-length album and I was very pleased when they started working Sentient Ruin. Abstracter is such an extremely talented group of musicians and their songs combine a plethora of savage sounding creativity. Each composition hits you with tremendous apocalyptic sized force, especially the riffs on this new album. There are no filer tracks, or cheap sounding compositions, because every riff and every sound demands you attention. “Abominion,” is truly flawless in my opinion and is an album that I expect to be playing on my turntable for many years to come. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/09/abstracter-abominion.html

Rob "The Metal Guy" Awards 

 

Best EP of the Year: Rude “Outer Reaches” 

Best Compilation of the Year: Snow Wolf Records “This Wretched Earth” (Global Black Metal Compilation Album)

Best Label of the Year: Sentient Ruin Laboratories

Best Cover Song of the Year: Hemotoxin for their cover of Death’s “Crystal Mountain”

Best Music Video: Venom Prison “Pain of Oizys” 

Best Record Store: Discology in Reno, NV 

Most Brutal Wrestler of the Year: Roman Reigns

Biggest Douche of the Year: Tony Khan 

Crawl Below "Its Ministers on Earth"

    Dwelling in the gloomy woods of Eastern Connecticut, Crawl Below has become a true anomaly in the world of extreme music. Over the years this one-man act has explored a plethora of different musical styles ranging from Lovecraftian inspired acoustic punk to spectral sounding death-doom. Charlie Sad Eyes, the mastermind behind Crawl Below, has written and recorded some extremely unique sounding releases over the years, all of which I tend to find rather enjoyable. 

    Crawl Below's new release, “Its Ministers on Earth,” steps into a darker and heavier sounding world by constructing some monolith sized blackened death doom tracks that really pushes the music into this more abrasive sounding world. I personally really enjoyed the last Crawl Below release, “9 Mile Square,” because the overall sound on that album conveyed a more doomy and gothic style very similar to that of Type O Negative. Honesty, this new release threw me by complete surprise, because the delivery comes across with more deafening attitude at times. Even though the sound on this album is not exactly similar to the previous release, I will acknowledge that the compelling sounding atmospheres and attention to detail remains very much the same. 

    “Its Ministers on Earth,” begins with a brutal sounding slugfest of harsh sounding guitar riffs and foundation crushing drum parts. The opening track, “The Daemon Damned Season,” starts out with the sound of ocean waves crashing against the shore, but eventually turns into an explosion of blistering aggression and ear shattering doom. The old school death growl vocal style used during the first vocal part of the song provides a sinister touch and is eventually accompanied by haunting clear sounding vocals. I thought that the contrasting vocal styles was a brilliant idea, and as the song progresses you find yourself becoming almost possessed by the music’s merciless sounding hypnotic aura. 

    On the second track, “Red Fell the Vapours,” Crawl Below continues to take a dive down a more venomous sounding musical void and summons forth some agonizing arrangements. I felt as though the music took on a more black metal meets death metal approach that featured a sporadic amount of feverish sounding guitar riffs. “Summoning Rite,” is a short instrumental drum arrangement that adds to the albums ritualistic occult like theme, which I personally think was a creative way to slow the music down a bit before the next onslaught of planet decimating death doom. 

    Track number five, “Will Rot the Base Chains,” is without a doubt my favorite song off of this album, even though I find picking a favorite to be an extremely difficult task given how well each song was written and recorded. Still, “Will Rot the Base Chains,” is a mesmerizing piece of music that really stands out by offering up a fair amount of eye opening dynamic arrangements. During the entire song I felt like I was listening with great interest and would become almost possessed by the guitar and bass parts along with the adrenaline pumping drumming. Plus, the haunting clean vocals towards the end of the song made you feel as if you were floating through a cosmic sea of comforting darkness. 

    Once again Crawl Below delivers a solid and utterly sinister sounding release with, “Its Ministers on Earth.” Charlie Sad Eyes is a very creative artist who is willing to experiment with each new release and step outside the box at times in order construct an album that vividly stands out. This is one of those albums where you feel every single riff and every single drum part, especially when the music takes a turn down one of those nightmarish sounding pathways shrouded in a veil of hazy doom. This album is highly worth checking out if you are a fan of blackened death doom with a surreal sounding occult like atmosphere that will make you go crazier than Anya Taylor-Joy's character in the movie, The Witch. 

Crawl Below Bandcamp:

https://crawlbelow.bandcamp.com/album/its-ministers-on-earth

Crawl Below Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/crawlbelow/