01) Better Lovers, God Made Me an Animal EP (Sharptone)

An EP? As my top album of the year?! Yes, that’s correct. It might only contain four songs, but they consist of some of the best riffs of the year. A powerhouse unit of Every Time I Did members, Will Putney (Fit For An Autopsy) and Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan) was a recipe for success. The full-throttle velocity of Jordan Buckley’s riffs are so defining and take another level with Puciato’s intense throat-ripping screams and Putney’s production. I impatiently wait for their full-length debut. 

Honorable Mentions:

Babymetal, the Other One (Self)

Currents, The Death We Seek (SharpTone)

Veil Of Maya, [m]other (Sumerian)

Stellar Circuits, Sight To Sound (Nuclear Blast)

Spiritbox, The Fear Of Fear EP (Rise/Pale Chord)

ONI, The Silver Line (Ironshore)

Periphery, Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre (3DOT)

Unearth, The Wretched; The Ruinous (Century Media)

Baroness, Stone(Abraxan Hymns)

DevilDriver, Dealing With Demons Vol. II(Napalm)