Rolling Stone did it, Stereogum has done it, and we’ve been doing it. As 2015 draws to a close (2 1/2 weeks left, y’all!), so everyone’s taking a look back at the year that was and naming their top metal records of the year. Spin‘s only metal inclusion in their top 50 albums of the year was Deafheaven’s New Bermuda, so it’s no surprise that the album topped their just-released 20 best metal albums of the year. What is surprising is how underground the majority of the list was. Sure, High on Fire and Iron Maiden appear on it, as do some bands that are appearing on a handful of the year-end metal lists, like Tribulation and Cloud Rat. But they’ve done a pretty solid job of picking some more underground releases, like Portugese black-metallers Black Cilice, Philly’s Horrendous, and Obsequiae’s Aria of Vernal Tombs (which also made Chip McCabe’s list). Here’s the list, but head over to their site to check out what they had to say about each album.
20) Spectral Wound, Terra Nullius
19) Vastum, Hole Below
18) Sannhet, Revisionist
17) Iron Maiden, The Book Of Souls
16) Bosse-de-Nage, All Fours
15) Black Cilice, Mysteries
14) Myrkur, M
13) Torche, Restarter
12) High On Fire, Luminiferous
11) Obsequiae, Aria Of Vernal Tombs
10) Cloud Rat, Qliphoth
9) Dead To A Dying World, Litany
8) The Body & Thou, You, Whom I Have Always Hated
7) Mgła, Exercises In Futility
6) Tribulation, The Children Of The Night
5) VHÖL, Deeper Than Sky
4) Horrendous, Anareta
3) Bell Witch, Four Phantoms
2) Krallice, Ygg Huur
1) Deafheaven, New Bermuda
