The moment has arrived! Join us as we count down the twenty five best rock and metal albums of the year – who will take out the crown and join previous victors Kansas, Paradise Lost, Judas Priest, Devin Townsend and Raven?
25. Nekromantheon – The Visions of Trismegistos (Indie Recordings/Hells Headbangers)
“Nekromantheon get it…They understand just how visceral and, unlikely as it may seem, downright soulful this music can be when put in the right hands.There’s an awful lot of this kinda stuff around these days, much of it good and most of it, it seems, coming from South America; And these guys do actually have a bit of Latin insanity about them on the ripping thrash of Thanatos; But, in the cold light of day you have to note that none of the contenders are as yet in the same post code as Nekromantheon when it comes to sheer, heads-down metallic mayhem”. – Michael Stronge, 21/04/21
Read Mick’s full review HERE
24. Midnite City – Itch You Can’t Scratch (Roulette Media)
“Four songs in, I’m having trouble keeping a hold on my critical faculties as the urge to slip into the nearest pair of cowboy boots and a satin dustcoat becomes almost irresistible. If you loved this sort of music when it ruled the airwaves thirty years ago, you’re gonna have a whale of a time with this record… Fire Inside – and I don’t feel I’m going out on a limb by saying this in Mid-May – is the best slice of Brit-generated AOR you’ll hear all year” – Gavin Strickmann, 20/05/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
23. The Amenta – Revelator (EVP/Debemur Morti)
“The band attack the listener at such a visceral level that one can’t fail to be moved by the lurching grandeur of Parasight Lost, even if one isn’t quite sure why. At this level of experiential listening, no explanation is really required. This really is music you ‘feel’ as well as hear, absorbing as much of it’s impact through the chest as through the head…By no means is this an album that’s going to appeal to everyone, but if you have a strong enough constitution to wade through what many might consider ‘unlistenable’, then there are a wealth of sonic jewels awaiting your amazement and appreciation – trust me, this album really is worth the discomfort…” – Scott Adams, 18/02/21
Read Scott’s full review HERE then read the band’s Tim Pope in conversation about Revelator HERE
22. Smith/Kotzen – Smith/Kotzen (BMG)
“This is an easy listening album in the best sense, in that you’ll simply slip it into or onto your delivery method of choice and simply soak it up, over and over again… Without shifting too far from the basic blues rock format, this pair cover a lot of hard rocking ground on this album. At the end of the day, everyone loves listening to people who are good at what they do doing it well, and that’s just what you get with this record”.- GS, 30/03/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
21. Pharaoh – The Powers That Be (Cruz Del Sur Music)
“At the centre of the madness is the titanic vocal presence of Tim Aymar, who once again confirms his pedigree as one of the finest straight-up metal vocalists the Americas have produced…From the bucolic Waiting to Drown, through the full on metal glory of Freedom to the more progressive strains of Dying Sun, which remembers Halford and Tate in their pomp, he displays a power and control that is second to none, allied to a pleasingly gritty tone that you just don’t here that often in modern metal. It’s a bravura, scene-stealing performance from front to back” – GS, 16/06/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
20. Ninkharsag – The Dread March of Solemn Gods (Vendetta Records)
“Discipline Through Black Sorcery is a highlight, harnessing some truly frightening buzzsaw riffage from Kyle Nesbitt and Paul Armitstead that calls to mind Cradle of Filth at their least florid and most punkily primal; Even when the band reins things in a little – The Tower Of Perpetual Twilight’s stop-start nature facilitates a more dynamic approach and allows the lead guitars a bit more room to breathe, for instance – they make the slight change of pace count and in doing so double the impact of the songwriting… if traditional black metal with strong ‘proper’ heavy metal influences is the sort of thing you’re interested in, I’d suggest you get yourself an earful of this soonest”. – MS, 23/04/21
Read Mick’s full review HERE
19. Teramaze – The Beauty They Perceive (Wells Music)
“Aussie proggists Teramaze return with their ninth album – and what a feast for the ears it is! This is sleek, supremely eloquent, intelligent heavy metal that demands the listener’s full attention and adoration. The album’s central fulcrum, Modern Living Space, is a quite astonishing piece of music; but to be honest in an album nearly an hour in length with no weak points discernible at all highlighting tracks seems pointless. This album is the complete article, top to bottom, front to back, and it is, with no word of a lie, one of the most consistently breathtaking records I’ve heard this year. Bravo!” – GS, 27/09/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
18. Dead Daisies – Holy Ground (SPV/Steamhammer)
“Chosen and Justified really is the sort of music Glenn Hughes was born to sing, and you’ll marvel at his hitting of the heights on 2021’s first goosebump-bothering chorus of the year. Deen Castronovo lays the beat down fat and strong, fat and strong enough for Hughes to rove all over it with some fine four string work whilst Doug Aldrich fires licks off right left and centre around David Lowy’s rock solid riffs. It’s nigh-on perfect funky rock n’roll, and you’re gonna lap it up”. -GS, 04/01/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
17. Cradle of Filth – Existence Is Futile (Nuclear Blast)
“For here, on Necromantic Fantasies, with the band on cruise-control and purveying what sounds like a sample-heavy mashup of the themes from the original Star Trek series and The Love Boat overlain by the guitars from Iron Maiden‘s Hallowed Be Thy Name and the raving barking of a lunatic, it is finally apparent that the final victory has been Dani Filth‘s, and his only. The detractors have been many, the co-conspirators at times seemingly even greater in number. But, through it all, the diminutive throat has stood by his vision, and in 2021 it is quite clear that Cradle of Filth will do as they please…The unflinching ‘do what thou wilt’ stance of the band means that they will never attain the levels of adulation attained by some of their contemporaries in the black metal or indeed wider extreme music scenes; but the fact remains that Cradle of Filth are a jewel in the British heavy metal crown, and this new album only serves to enhance that reputation further” – SA, 24/09/21
Read Scott’s full review HERE
16. Chez Kane – Chez Kane (Frontiers Records)
“From the opening Survivoresque strains of Better Than Love to the closing notes of last song Dead End Street, this album is a masterclass of AOR/melodic hard rock. Kane, whose vocal style most closely resembles Vixen‘s Janet Gardner in her pomp, has a wonderful voice, and the sort of technique the stumblebums who turn up on Idol and Got Talent shows would ransom their own grandmothers for. At times – the monstrous Ball And Chain, for instance, those of a certain age will be reminded of Cher‘s self-titled AOR tour de force from 1987. I’m not kidding – the girl’s that good…” – GS,24/02/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
15. Helloween – Helloween (Nuclear Blast)
“Opinion has been a little bit divided over Helloween in critical quarters, but it’s hard to see fans greeting this album with anything other than unbridled enthusiasm. This isn’t the aeon-spanning classic some would have you believe it to be, but it is the best album Helloween have released in some while, and the reassembly of key members here means that the band are once more a force to be reckoned with rather than an amiable bunch of blokes who aren’t quite as good as they used to be. I think we’ll all take that” – SA,24/02/21
Read Scott’s full review HERE
14. Crazy Lixx – Street Lethal (Frontiers Records)
“In simple terms, Danny Rexon has hit it out of the park again with this new album. Sensibly demurring on the chance to expand the band’s musical horizons, he concentrates on doing what he does best, with the result that Street Lethal provides fans with exactly what they want from Crazy Lixx, but with added craziness and, erm, even more lixx… although many try, few capture the spark of what made the late eighties such a wonderful time to be alive as a rock fan as well as Rexon. And for that, again, we must all give thanks. Utterly spellbinding stuff.” – GS, 21/10/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
13. Existance – Wolf Attack (Blood Blast Distribution)
“In almost every other way, the band have gone onwards and upwards from where they were half a decade ago! Wherever you drop the needle you’re confronted by sheer heavy metal bliss…the world of traditional/power metal is in rude health at the moment – but that makes it a very competitive area to be releasing an album into in 2021. Many, many have tried this year, but very few have managed to match the sheer class and skill of Existance on Wolf Attack ” – Ferry Templeton, 25/10/21
Read Ferry’s full review HERE
12. Shadecrown – Solitarian (Inverse Records)
“Solitarian is easily the most ambitious thing Shadecrown have attempted to date, weaving elements of Paradise Lost, Swallow the Sun and Amorphis via Jari Hokka‘s vast vocal presence seamlessly with some crunchy rifferama from Tomi Tikka and Joonas Vesamäki. As the song gains momentum around the four minute mark, you feel yourself really up for the ride, fully invested in seeing where the band take you on their gargantuan trek… These are exciting times for this band, who have simultaneously managed to serve up music that entrenched fans will love whilst proving that their capacity for development and progress would appear to be limitless. A win-win situation for sure, and one from which the band can only move onwards and upwards! ” – FT, 08/09/21
Read Ferry’s full review HERE
11. Fear Factory – Aggression Continuum (Nuclear Blast)
“There’s an air of nostalgia to a lot of the material here in yet another ironic twist to proceedings – the ‘Factory being one of metal’s most forward thinking units, traditionally – but that won’t, or shouldn’t, detract from the fact that the music they are making is still boldly relevant in 2021. Nobody else makes a noise quite like Fear Factory, and it’s a shame that as listeners we’ll be denied the chance to listen to Burton C. Bell’s trademark melodies soaring over the filthiest of Dino Cazares’ riffs – as they do here on the belligerent Manufactured Hope – ever again ” – MS, 25/05/21
Read Mick’s full review HERE then see what Dino Cazares thinks of AC HERE
10. U.D.O. – Game Over (AFM)
“There’s plenty of strident material to enjoy on Game Over. Thunder Road is pure, ripsnorting Dirkschneider-approved mayhem, as are the aforementioned Marching Tank and bellicose, belligerent standout cut Metal Never Dies… But whatever your trad metal preference, Herr Dirkschneider has it covered with that familiar and much-loved wounded bulldog snarl; it’s such a comfortable sound in 2021 it almost borders on easy listening music for heavy metal fans, but that isn’t to diminish in any way the class and craft involved in churning this schtick out over a period of almost half a century.” – SA, 15/09/21
Read Scott’s full review HERE then have a look at this chat with the man himself HERE
9. Exodus – Persona Non Grata (Nuclear Blast)
“Slipping Into Madness is perhaps where Zetro’s claim comes closest to being vindicated; the mid section where guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus play off one another whilst drummer Tom Hunting keeps things percolating nicely with some neat drumwork is actual genius, really well crafted heavy metal of the kind we don’t hear enough of these days. Years of experience are squeezed until the pips squeak to create music like this, but the effort is well, well worth the result… in the final washup; no, this isn’t the best Exodus album ever. But it is a bloody great hulking success of a record, guaranteed to inspire you to get your old high tops out of the attic and set about some serious thrashing” – MS, 28/10/21
Read Mick’s full review HERE
8. Sweet Oblivion featuring Geoff Tate – Relentless (Frontiers Records)
“Anybody Out There, Let It Be and Another Change could all have been written when Tate was at his peak (by which I mean from the first Queensrÿche EP to …Mindcrime), with the former in particular hitting all the right notes, from the tone of Aldo Lonobile’s guitar to Tate’s superbly overwrought, drama-filled delivery… At the end of the day, everybody deserves the chance to admit they were wrong, and it’s undeniable that this is the best Tate has sounded (with the exception, perhaps, of his contributions to Avantasia) since leaving Queensrÿche ” – GS, 27/04/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
7. Killing – Face The Madness (Mighty Music)
“In simple terms, this album slays…Starting an album with a scream that can only be accurately described as ‘Arayaesque’ is a risky move – you’ve got to be pretty to good to back up an opening gambit like that – but bassist Rasmus Soelberg pulls it off and from that moment on it’s full steam ahead, all guns blazing through nine songs that will remind you again and again what it was that made you love thrash metal in the first place, Because, first and foremost, this album is a celebration of thrash in all it’s glory. And what a celebration it is. ” – SA, 20/07/21
Read Scott’s full review HERE
6. Seven Sisters – Shadow of A Fallen Star Pt. 1 (Dissonance Productions)
“London-based metal hopefuls Seven Sisters are that rare beast in the world of traditional heavy metal – a band that embraces the past wholeheartedly yet offers something fresh, something beyond the tried and tested… Shadow… is an incredibly enjoyable album to listen to, whether you buy into the band’s sci-fi mythos or not, and I guarantee you’ll find yourself returning to this album over and over again for it’s simple, unalloyed metallic appeal. Harking back to less complicated times, times when heavy metal had the power to move the feet as well as the brain and the heart in equal measure, this engrossing, superbly-executed latter day classic deserves a space on every self-respecting metalhead’s shelf.” – GS, 22/09/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
5. Alice Cooper – Detroit Stories (earMUSIC)
“Despite the mainstream media’s barrage of assertions to the contrary, time and again – in the world of hard rock at least – it’s the old guys who continue to hit hardest, at the same time retaining the sort of relevance that their youngers and supposed betters are meant to have the mortgage on. This time around, it’s the ageless Alice Cooper proving once again that real punk rock isn’t about corporate sponsorship and bawling the right slogans on demand – it’s about heart, soul, and, in the case of new album Detroit Stories, balls-out rock n’roll…” – MS, 21/03/21
Read Mick’s full review HERE
4. Fortress – Don’t Spare The Wicked (High Roller Records)
“Nestling somewhere on the metal spectrum between Queensrÿche (especially the superb second track here, Devil’s Wheel) and Riot V, Fortress have got you covered if you live for epic melodies, headbanging rhythms and musclebound riffs…The title track actually carries the legacy of bands like Virgin Steele in to the middle of the twenty first century, giving off a real US power metal charge as it hurtles headlong into your headspace, and, after listening to this record a lot (make that A LOT!!!) over the last couple of weeks, the only negative response I can come up with is that, at under half an hour in duration, it’s just too damn short!” – Hideous Destructor, 30/11/21
Read the full Hideous Destructor verdict on Don’t Spare The Wicked HERE
3. Dawn After Dark – New Dawn Rising (Chapter 22)
“Aided by a superb production from Andy Taylor, who knows a thing or two about harnessing the power of an eighties rock guitar, tracks like Truth and Freedom will transport you back to a steamy, beer n’fag flavoured club in the twitch of a Tony Henderson hihat. It’s a glorious listening experience, let me tell you, even if the start of (I’m Not) The Man I Used To Be sounds a little too close to Echo and the Bunnymen for comfort”. – SA, 26/11/20
Read Scott’s full review HERE then read vocalist Howard Johnson’s thoughts on the record HERE
2. Scattered Hamlet – Stereo Overthrow (Buck Moon Productions)
“What is Appalachian Alpha RocK? I hear the less enlightened amongst you ask. Basically, it’s a snub-nosed mix of latter-day Warrior Soul and the Texas Hippie Coalition, but whilst that may sound a little limiting, Scattered Hamlet are actually musically agile enough to keep things moving along nicely, in the process actually transcending the niche they’ve named for themselves…This ability to appeal to just about everyone would appear to set Scattered Hamlet in very good stead for the future. If they can continue to crank out new material of the quality of Death or Dishonor moving forward, then this looks like one party that’s set to last for a long, long time…” – GS, 05/11/21
Read Gavin’s full review HERE
All of which leads us to the moment where we reveal Sentinel Daily’s Top Album of 2021…
And the winner is…
1. Iron Maiden – Senjutsu (Parlophone)
“The whole record as I mentioned has a dreamlike state to it. I hear hints of the Seventh Son era all the way through to Book of Souls if I was asked for comparisons…if you’re looking for The Trooper’ or Two Minutes to Midnight-type stuff you’ll not find it here. The band is on a whole ‘nother plain now, a deep, emotional type musical world that for me is constantly pulling my emotions to and fro with a soundtrack type aura to everything I’ve seen and will see in life. If you jumped off the train long ago it’s understood, but if you’re still on the train what a ride it is!” – King Fowley, 01/09/21
Read King’s full review of our album of the year HERE
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