20.

Triptykon– Melana Chasmata

Amerced in a bleak world of dense unforgiving misery, Triptykon’s second album finds Tom G Warrior back at what he does best; making you feel like your inside a merciless world populated only by the world inside a HR Giger painting and distorted feedback. Misery condensed at its finest.

19.

Nothing More – Nothing More

An eclectic mix of radio rock, At The Drive In post hardcore and the right balance of eccentricity and anthemic tunes. Nothing More debut is a varied canvas of all the colours of the rainbow with just enough skill to not come across as all the flavours and ideas thrown together.

18.

Kyng- Burn The Serum

A real surprise here, as if Alter Bridge where really inspired by Kyuss grooves and took the occasional blunt. Combining big stoner riffs and grooves within the confines of four minute rock songs with soaring melodies to boot. Kyng prove to be

17.

Feed The Rhino– The Sound And The Sorrow

Despite being one of the UK’s premier hardcore bands for the best part of five years now, Feed The Rhino have still managed to slip the mind of most people outside of the select few in the know. The Sound And The Sorrow however could be the album to launch Feed The Rhino into the big leagues. With huge Helmet-esque riffs, chantable choruses and the weight of a herd of stampeding rhinos at feeding time, this is the band at their at most best.

16.

Cult Leader– Nothing For Us Here

Rising from the ashes of the mighty but short lived band Gaza, Cult Leader grab the baton of bleakness from their former selves with both hands and throttle the listener from start to finish with some of the most pummelling sludge you will hear this year. Mercilessly intense, heavy and crushing, I would advise you bring a crash helmet to your next listening.

15.

Tetama– Geocidal

Wacky, intense and unashamedly Mike Patton, Tetama is yet another side project from the man who can’t seem to sit still for a minute without forming a side project with whatever inanimate objects is in his general vicinity. Sounding like a bastard child of Fantomas, Peeping Tom and just a splash of insanity from Adult Themes Of Voice. This is another superb Patton project, for Patton fans and likely no one else.

14.

Behemoth- The Satanist

2014, the year Black Metal took on mainstream metal? Well The Satanist certainly established Behemoth as the première extreme metal band probably in the world as well as launching them to a level almost unseen before in the world of extreme metal. With its operatic scale of ambition and bombast in buckets, The Satanist is a vast sweeping epic as wide as the Sahara that the band has always threatened to make on previous albums.

13.

Krokodil- Nachash

With more meat on their riffs than a carnivore only buffet, Krokodil have managed to make a big impact on their debut album. Bringing a whole of lot of riffs and a hell load of swagger in the process the band, consisting of members of Gallows, Sikth, Slipknot. Most importantly, they delivered in a big way on their first album.

12.

Hark- Crystalline

What many thought Mastodon were lacking on their album, H A R K have delivered in abundance. Incredibly riffy tracks and with enough groove to satisfy even the most aggressive riff connoisseur, Crystalline packs more into 55 minutes than most bands would into their discography. Packing the majestic guest vocals of Clutch’s own Neil Fallon on ‘Clear Light Of…’ , Crystalline is everything you could hope from a debut album.

11.

Suicide Silence – You Can’t Stop me

Not many people thought we would see the return of Suicide Silence following the tragic death of vocalist Mitch Lucker, But even fewer though the band would then comeback to deliver the album of their careers in the process. You Can’t Stop Me sees the band transcend the deathcore brand to become one of the premiere new wave of metal bands out there today. Packed with the bands best tracks to date and a stunning performance from new vocalist Eddie Hermida, You really can’t stop Suicide Silence it seems.