7) ASG, Blood Drive (Relapse)

It’s been a while since we heard from North Carolina’s ASG, but they made a welcome return with their fifth full length. Equal parts Torche riffage, Baroness-like melody and Jason Shi’s almost Perry Farrell-like vocals spent plenty of time in rotation this Summer.

6) Kvelertak, Meir (Roadrunner)

A few years ago, Kvelertak’s debut album exploded out of nowhere, and was probably my favorite debut album from a band in the last decade. Their follow-up found them reuniting with Converge’s Kurt Ballou and delivering an album that was… well nowhere near as memorable to me as their first. That said, it would have been close to impossible to live up to the standards of their first album, and a merely good Kvelertak album was enough to make it on my list.

5) The Ocean, Pelagial (Metal Blade)

The Ocean Collective’s sixth album sounds gimmicky on paper – each movement is named after a layer of the ocean and gets darker and heavier as the album goes on. However, they totally pull it off. Available as an instrumental version and with vocals, both versions are stellar. (re: the image – sorry, had to)