We’ve been out of 2018 for a week now and I’ve been gathering my thoughts ever since, pitting the albums and EPs I enjoyed the most against each other to formulate the monstrosity of music you now see below. It was undoubtedly yet another great year for music across the board. There was almost too much great music, creating a challenge in organizing lists such as this but I gave it my best.

All of that being said, when it comes to metal music, rock music, hardcore, and so on – these were my favorite releases for 2018! I broke it into my top 30 favorite albums, top 15 favorite EPs, and a whole bunch of runner ups I thought were worth mentioning. Dig in and, hopefully, you’ll find something that you enjoy!

Furthermore, we got some top notch musicians to give their takes on 2018’s best! You can find links for all of their opinions on the matter listed out right here:

 


Ben Orum (All Shall Perish, Oblivion) Top 10 albums of 2018
Christian Münzner (Alkaloid, ex-Necrophagist) Top 10 albums of 2018
Danny Tunker (Alkaloid, Abhorrent, ex-Aborted) Top 10 albums of 2018
Misstiq’s Top 10 albums of 2018
Hideous Divinity’s Top 10 albums of 2018


 

Albums

30. Limbo – Self-Titled

29. Skyharbor – Sunshine Dust

28. Posthuman Abomination – Transcending Embodiment

27. The Crown – Cobra Speed Venom

26. Augury – Illusive Golden Age

25. Clutch – Book of Bad Decisions

24. Ihsahn – Àmr

23. Voivod – The Wake

22. Psycroptic – As the Kingdom Drowns

21. Hate Eternal – Upon Desolate Sands

20. Valermada – Fear, Regrets and Mourning

19. Gorod – Æthra

18. Inferi – Revenant

17. Judas Priest – Firepower

16. Irreversible Mechanism – Immersion

15. Horrendous – Idol

14. Serocs – The Phobos / Deimos Suite

13. Nott – The Wretched Sounds

12. Woundvac – Terrorizing the Swarm

11. Anachronism – Orogeny

10. Convocation – Scars Across

9. VOLA – Applause Of A Distant Crowd

8. Zeal & Ardor – Stranger Fruit

7. Soreption – Monument of the End

6. Slugdge – Esoteric Malacology

5. Sectioned / Frontierer – Annihilated / Unloved (Pretty much the same band members / level of enjoyment ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)


4. TesseracT – Sonder

3. Alkaloid – Liquid Anatomy

2. Sulphur Aeon – The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos

1. Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name

EPs

15. Dream Tröll – The Witch’s Curse

14. Falsegiver – Чернее Чёрного

13. Tulip – Self-Titled

12. The Arusha Accord – Juracan

11. Earth Eater – Oblivion

10. The Exiled Martyr – Insight

9. The Artifice Precept – Premonition

8. Cryptopsy – The Book of Suffering – Tome II

7. Deeply Woven – Self-Titled

6. Rhetort – Hypophora

5. Orbit Culture – Redfog

4. Cattle Decapitation – Medium Rarities (it’s a b-sides collection so I fit it on this list instead)

3. Vitriol – Pain Will Define Their Death (2018 re-release from 2017… Don’t care… It’s awesome)

2. Aerith – Self-Titled

1. Arsafes – The Silk Road Experience Pt.1

Runner Ups (In Alphabetical Order)

[LISTEN HERE] Æpoch – Awakening Inception
[LISTEN HERE] Alterbeast – Feast
[LISTEN HERE] Amorphis – Queen of Time
[LISTEN HERE] Annal Nathrakh – A New Kind Of Horror
[LISTEN HERE] Antilles – The Intricate Path of Creation
[LISTEN HERE] A Perfect Circle – Eat The Elephant
[LISTEN HERE] Architects – Holy Hell
[LISTEN HERE] Arsis – Visitant
[LISTEN HERE] Atrium – Recreate
[LISTEN HERE] At The Gates – To Drink from the Night Itself
[LISTEN HERE] Aviations – The Light Years
[LISTEN HERE] Azusa – Heavy Yoke
[LISTEN HERE] Behemoth – I Loved You at Your Darkest
[LISTEN HERE] Benighted – Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Master
[LISTEN HERE] Berried Alive – Bearies Alive
[LISTEN HERE] Between The Buried And Me – Automata I & II
[LISTEN HERE] Beyond Creation – Alogrythm
[LISTEN HERE] Bloodtruth – Martyrium
[LISTEN HERE] BlurryCloud – Pedesis
[LISTEN HERE] Convulsing – Grievous
[LISTEN HERE] Corpsessed – Impetus of Death
[LISTEN HERE] Craft – White Noise and Black Metal
[LISTEN HERE] Crevassian – Self-Titled
[LISTEN HERE] Crippled Black Phoenix – Great Escape
[LISTEN HERE] Cult Leader – A Patient Man
[LISTEN HERE] Daughters – You Won’t Get What You Want
[LISTEN HERE] Deafheaven – Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
[LISTEN HERE] DREHG – The Wolf You Feed
[LISTEN HERE] Engulf – Gold and Rust
[LISTEN HERE] ERRA – Neon
[LISTEN HERE] Faceless Burial – Multiversal Abattoir
[LISTEN HERE] Four Seconds Ago (Periphery) – The Vacancy
[LISTEN HERE] Ghost – Prequelle
[LISTEN HERE] Hadal Maw – Charlatan
[LISTEN HERE] Haken – Vector
[LISTEN HERE] Harakiri For The Sky – Arson
[LISTEN HERE] He Films The Clouds – Grace Patterns
[LISTEN HERE] High On Fire – Electric Messiah
[LISTEN HERE] Immortal – Northern Chaos Gods
[LISTEN HERE] Internal Bleeding – Corrupting Influence
[LISTEN HERE] Into Eternity – The Sirens
[LISTEN HERE] Jesus Piece – Only Self
[LISTEN HERE] Khemmis – Desolation
[LISTEN HERE] Knaaves – January
[LISTEN HERE] Lindhun – Disclosure
[LISTEN HERE] Mestis (Animals As Leaders) – Eikasia
[LISTEN HERE] Micawber – Beyond the Reach of Flame
[LISTEN HERE] Monstrosity – The Passage Of Existence
[LISTEN HERE] Monuments – Phronesis
[LISTEN HERE] Necrophobic – Mark of the Necrogram
[LISTEN HERE] Nekrogoblikon – Welcome to Bonkers
[LISTEN HERE] Noise Trail Immersion – Symbology of Shelter
[LISTEN HERE] Obscura – Diluvium
[LISTEN HERE] The Ocean – Phanerozoic
[LISTEN HERE] Outer Heaven – Realms Of Eternal Decay
[LISTEN HERE] Pig Destroyer – Head Cage
[LISTEN HERE] Polyphia – New Levels New Devils
[LISTEN HERE] Primordial – Exile Amongst the Ruins
[LISTEN HERE] Psychotomy – Aphotik
[LISTEN HERE] Revocation – The Outer Ones
[LISTEN HERE] Rolo Tomassi – Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It
[LISTEN HERE] Sam Mooradian – Depression for Breakfast
[LISTEN HERE] Sarah Longfield – Disparity
[LISTEN HERE] Sargeist – Unbound
[LISTEN HERE] Second To Sun – The Black
[LISTEN HERE] Sigh – Heir to Despair
[LISTEN HERE] Skálmöld – Sorgir
[LISTEN HERE] Skeletonwitch – Devouring Radiant Light
[LISTEN HERE] Sketchshow – Patchwork
[LISTEN HERE] Skognatt – Ancient Wisdom
[LISTEN HERE] Sleep – The Sciences
[LISTEN HERE] Sodom – Partisan
[LISTEN HERE] Subnuba – Distant Pixels
[LISTEN HERE] Terrorizer – Caustic Attack
[LISTEN HERE] Thou – Magus
[LISTEN HERE] Today’s Last Tragedy – Dark Days
[LISTEN HERE] Tomb Mold – Manor of Infinite Forms
[LISTEN HERE] Valhalore – Solace & Solitude
[LISTEN HERE] Vein – errorzone
[LISTEN HERE] Visigoth – Conqueror’s Oath
[LISTEN HERE] Walking Across Jupiter – Oneiroid
[LISTEN HERE] Watain – Trident Wolf Eclipse
[LISTEN HERE] Windhand – Eternal Return
[LISTEN HERE] The World Is Quiet Here – Prologue
[LISTEN HERE] Xenosis – Devour and Birth
[LISTEN HERE] YOB – Our Raw Heart