Here we are with round 2 of my top 100 albums of 2020!
90. Amaranthe - Manifest
Sure there are distorted guitars and harsh vocals, but this is so catchy that it's just a glorified pop album.
Amaranthe has three vocalists, and mixes pop, rock, metal and electronic that sounds both parts rock concert and being in da club.
I almost feel like this is a guilty pleasure, but goddamnit, I can't resist these damn hooks.
89. clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Oakland's own Daveed Diggs is the frontman of experimental hip hop group clipping. Producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes are behind him laying down the industrial hip hop and noise tracks.
The sequel to There Existed an Addiction to Blood, this album continues on with more horror themed stories. Hands down this is the best thing released in 2020 with Daveed Diggs in it. Fight me.
88. The Pineapple Thief - Versions of the Truth
Ever since Porcupine Tree dissolved, it doesn't feel like drummer extraordinaire Gavin Harrison ever found a home in a new band. He's played in plenty of bands since then, but it never felt like his band so to speak.
The Pineapple Thief is no different. He was intiially brought on as a hired gun, and apparently is now a full time member. Still, it doesn't feel like his permanent home. ANYWAY, I'm really just here for Gavin Harrison's drumming, the other dudes playing the prog rock is also good times.
87. Lazerblades - Astrophonic
This is some excellent jazz fusion out of Bloomington, IN. Lazerblades consists of a drummer, two keyboardists, and a sax/flute player.
It has a chilled out cosmic feel to it, and reminds me a lot of Loop Vertigo. Just like that group, this will also likely fly under the radar and that's a damn shame.
86. Black Crown Initiate -
VIolent Portraits of Doomed Escape
Ever since their debut album, The Wreckage of Stars, I knew this band was destined for progressive death metal greatness. While some argued their sophomore effort was weak, I really dug it.
Now we have their third album, and they are definitely here to stay. This helps fill in that gap that Opeth left behind when they transitioned to 70s prog worship.
85. Kilter - Axiom
This trio of avant garde psych Colin Stetson doom Zorn stoner jazz Zappa WTF is this lays down some serious ear wrecking music. It's definitely a challenging listen, but worth the effort.
This is the perfect soundtrack to when you have people over at your house and you want them to leave.
84. Sevendust - Blood & Stone
I have been very casually following Sevendust since 2001's Animosity. I found them to be decent, but something wasn't quite clicking with me. I was probably going down the prog and death metal rabbithole, and I left behind alternative / nu metal.
In 2015, Lajon Witherspoon guested on the Earthside song, Mob Mentality. I "rediscovered" Sevendust and I have found that I have seriously been missing out.
83. Anubis - Homeless
Just like France has their avant garde scene, the prog scene in Australia is legit. Anubis leans a lot more towards old school prog, a la Yes and Genesis.
Little did I know that this band has been around for quite some time, and I love when I discover bands like this because I have an extensive back catalog I can dig into.
82. The Night Flight Orchestra - Aeromantic
What do you get when a bunch of Swedish melodic death metal dudes form a side group? You get adult oriented 80s yacht rock WTF?!
One of my favorite "supergroups" to form within the past few years, they put together a brand of catchy hooky irresistable rock that brings me back to the 80s.
This Boy's Last Summer basically uses a recycled riff, but I don't care, the song rules, jam it hard!
81. Carach Angren -
Franckensteina Strataemontanus
Alright, calm down with that latin there buddy. Carach Angren is a symphonic black metal band from the Netherlands, and what sets them apart is that the lyrics sounds like they are reading from a horror book.
Franckensteina Strataemontanus is about German occultist Johann Konrad Dippel which apparently gave inspiration to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Good times.
