2010s Metal & Hard Rock Classics

Fear Factory's seventh studio album, out in February 2010. Dino Cazares is back after nine years and Gene Hoglan plays the drums.

The debut album by Triptykon, the band Thomas Gabriel Fischer formed after Celtic Frost. Released in March 2010.

Periphery's debut, released by Sumerian Records in April 2010 and the record that set the terms for djent-side progressive metal.

Killing Joke's thirteenth album, out in September 2010 and the first in twenty-eight years recorded by the original four.

Nails' debut album, from 2010: ten songs in under fourteen minutes, grindcore pulled toward powerviolence.

The debut album by Sweden's Ghost, released by Rise Above Records in October 2010 and nominated for a Grammis.

The second Alcest album, from March 2010: further into shoegaze, and with the black metal voice back in it.

A Dramatic Turn of Events is a turning-point album for Dream Theater, introducing Mike Mangini through intricate meters, precise ensemble work and large-scale melody.

Amaranthe's self-titled debut defined the band's sound, crossing female clean, male clean and harsh vocals over metal with an electronic edge.

The fourth album by Iceland's Solstafir, out in October 2011: a double record, six songs on each disc.

The second album by Cambridge's Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, from 2011: self-released, and the record that broke them.

The third album by Tunisia's Myrath, from October 2011, built on Arabic scales and melody inside progressive metal.

The Beginning of Times wraps Amorphis’ mythology-rooted atmosphere in melancholy melody, weighty guitar and soft keyboard color.

The Unforgiving builds on a narrative concept with Sharon den Adel’s clear voice, heavy guitar and electronic accents.

Deafheaven's debut, released by Deathwish Inc. in April 2011: four songs, recorded in four days.

The eighth Septicflesh album, from April 2011, recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

The third album by Miami's Torche, from 2012: thirteen songs in under forty minutes, heaviness and bright melody in the same place.

Angel of Salvation brings together Galneryus’s high-speed guitar and keyboards, powerful high-register vocals and a grand approach that includes extended compositions.

Kreator's thirteenth album, out on Nuclear Blast in June 2012 and a defining record of their later melodic period.

Bleed & Scream joins hard, tight riffs, urgent rhythm and instantly singable choruses into a persuasive form of modern melodic rock.

The eighth Corrosion of Conformity album, from February 2012: self-titled, and made as a trio without Pepper Keenan.

Borknagar's ninth album, out in March 2012 and the first with ICS Vortex and Vintersorg sharing the lead vocal.

House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 opens STONE SOUR's two-part concept work, telling a story by Corey Taylor through heavy riffs and melodic songs.

The Faceless's third album, released by Sumerian Records in August 2012 and opening with a three-part suite.

Halestorm's second album, from April 2012; "Love Bites (So Do I)" won a Grammy from it.

Carcass's sixth album, from September 2013: their first in seventeen years, recorded as a trio.

Battle Beast's second album, from May 2013 and the first with Noora Louhimo singing.

Kvelertak's second album, from March 2013: black metal and rock and roll played in the same place.

13 returns Black Sabbath to low, rolling guitar riffs, sticky rhythm and an apocalyptic atmosphere.

Vengeance Falls packs Trivium’s sharp riffs, tight rhythm and memorable clean choruses into a focused, compact form.

Cathedral's tenth and final studio album, from April 2013: made after announcing their split, and back in the heavy, slow doom of their debut.

Ghost's second album, from April 2013: recorded in Nashville, their major label debut, and a 2014 Grammis winner.

The third album by Milan's Destrage, released by Metal Blade Records in March 2014 and the record they are remembered for.

The debut album by Sweden's Blues Pills, out on Nuclear Blast in July 2014: the late 1960s, recorded now.

The debut album that collided idol pop with extreme metal language and introduced kawaii metal as a worldwide surprise.

Triptykon's second album, from April 2014, and the last album cover H. R. Giger ever made.

Behemoth's tenth album, from February 2014, written after Nergal's recovery from leukaemia.

The debut by the English duo Royal Blood, from August 2014: bass and drums only, and number one in Britain.

The second album by Austria's Harakiri for the Sky, from April 2014, named after the Aokigahara forest.

Sabaton's seventh album, from May 2014, written one individual at a time rather than one battle at a time.

Ghost's third album, from August 2015; "Cirice" from it won the 2016 Grammy for best metal performance.

Faith No More's seventh album, from May 2015 and their first in the eighteen years since Album of the Year.

Released on 28 August 2015 and a UK No. 10, Bad Magic is what the band themselves call "the 23rd (and final) studio album". Warner Music Japan issued the Japanese pressing the same day as WPCR-16754.

The Book of Souls pours Iron Maiden’s heavy riffs, three-guitar melody and dramatic vocals into large, narrative-like structures.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful overlays Nightwish’s symphonic-metal grandeur with a gaze toward nature, life and science.

Baroness's fourth album, from December 2015 and the first they made after the 2012 bus crash.

The sixth Panopticon album, from October 2015: one man's black metal with Appalachian folk laid into it.

Deafheaven's third album, released by Anti- in October 2015: five songs, all recorded live.

Blind Guardian's tenth album, from January 2015, made with three choirs and two orchestras.

The sixth album by San Diego's Cattle Decapitation, from August 2015, about what humanity has done to the environment.

Dystopia concentrates Megadeth’s sharp riffs, crooked structures and cold, pressurized atmosphere into a tightly focused record.

Hardwired. to Self-Destruct places Metallica’s quick, explosive thrash instinct beside longer pieces that patiently accumulate weight.

Sabaton's eighth album, from August 2016, a concept record built on last stands from history.

The sixth solo album by Emperor's Ihsahn, from April 2016, built around the Arctic.

BABYMETAL’s second album turns global momentum into power metal, metalcore and progressive scale, confirming the group’s strength.

Myrath's fourth album, from February 2016, named with the English translation of the band's own name.

Amon Amarth's tenth album, from March 2016: their first concept record, and certified gold in Germany.

The second album by Sweden's Twilight Force, from August 2016 and their first for Nuclear Blast.

The second ColdWorld album, from July 2016, eight years after the first: one man's atmospheric black metal from Germany.

The seventh studio album, built around themes of illness and time. Its opening track "Sultan's Curse" won Best Metal Performance at the 60th Grammy Awards, and the album was nominated for Best Rock Album.

The third album by Arkansas's Pallbearer, from March 2017, bringing progressive rock structure into doom.

Kreator's fourteenth album, from January 2017, and the first to enter the German chart at number one in thirty-two years.

Awakening from Abyss introduces Lovebites with a remarkably complete union of speed, precise twin guitars, soaring vocals and large melodic payoff.

Hydrograd mixes punk urgency, big hard-rock riffs and metal weight into songs that are rough-edged but immediately catchy.

Queens of the Stone Age's seventh album, from August 2017: produced by Mark Ronson and number one in Britain.

The third Bell Witch album, from October 2017: one eighty-three-minute song, in memory of their late drummer.

The second album by The Struts of Derby, from October 2018: 1970s glam rock made with today's production.

Firepower reignites the heavy-metal language Judas Priest established over decades with a muscular, contemporary sound.

Greta Van Fleet's debut album, released on 19 October 2018: ten songs written by all four members, produced by Marlon Young, Al Sutton and Herschel Boone and recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville and Rustbelt Studios in Michigan. It entered the Billboard 200 at No. 3. The Japanese edition (UICU-1298) adds the four songs of the Black Smoke Rising EP.

Sleep's fourth album, released without warning on 20 April 2018, fifteen years after Dopesmoker.

The debut by Los Angeles's Twin Temple, from 2018: Satanism sung as 1950s doo-wop.

Onmyo-za's twelfth album, from June 2018, the harder half of a pair released on the same day.

Moonglow revisits Avantasia’s metal-opera scale with deeper shading, polished melodies and a stronger sense of story.

Breaking Benjamin's sixth album, from April 2018, produced by Benjamin Burnley himself.

We Are Not Your Kind expands Slipknot’s anger and chaos through more detailed production and a deeply uneasy atmosphere.

The sixth album by Britain's Bring Me the Horizon, from January 2019: a long step away from metalcore into electronics and pop.

Rammstein's seventh album, from May 2019: their first in ten years, and certified diamond in Germany.

Sunn O)))'s eighth album, from April 2019, recorded and mixed by Steve Albini entirely on analogue tape.

I, the Mask reconnects In Flames’ melodic-death-metal sharpness with the modern heavy-rock sensibility the band has developed over time.

Battle Beast's fifth album, from March 2019, the second written around Janne Bjorkroth after Anton Kabanen's departure.

Diamond Head's eighth album, from May 2019, the second with Rasmus Bom Andersen singing.