2020s Metal & Hard Rock Albums

DragonForce's tenth album and first self-titled record, with a release date of 19 March 2027: the first with Alissa White-Gluz and Alessio Garavello sharing the vocals.

Saxon's twenty-fifth album, with a release date of 22 January 2027. The title track came with a video on 2 September 2026.

A fiftieth-anniversary album: re-recordings of the band's best-known songs, each with a long list of guest musicians.

Cursum Perficio is a useful way to hear ANTHRAX from a different angle within the 2026 catalogue.

Asia's fourteenth studio album, and their first in twelve years, led by the single "The Traveller (Into The Light)".

At the Gates' eighth album, from April 2026: Tomas Lindberg's vocals, cut before his cancer surgery, and their first No. 1 on Sweden's albums chart.

The End Is Not The End, ATREYU's tenth album, ties the ferocity of metalcore to the openness of modern rock with a forward-looking spirit.

BAND-MAID's first single in four years and seven months: the title track plus 'Days' and 'CAGE', with footage from the 2024 Zepp tour on the limited editions.

Engines Of Demolition finds BLACK LABEL SOCIETY shaping Southern-rock grit, doom-leaning weight and bluesy guitar cries into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

The sixth album, and the first the band made as a five-piece after Joel Hokka's departure, following roughly a year and a half away.

The fourth studio album and the second with Eugent Bushpepa. Reigning Phoenix Music issues it worldwide on 11 September 2026, the physical edition a double CD carrying the previous year's live album Live at Hallenstadion Zurich as its bonus disc. Ward Records releases the Japanese edition as GQCS-91785~6.

Art Of Chaos finds CRASHDIET shaping sleazy glam-metal attitude and catchy hard-rock hooks into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

Splat!, DEEP PURPLE's 2026 album, plays with a light touch, built on seasoned improvisation, blues warmth and the dialogue of keyboards and guitar.

The Moth finds DEVIN TOWNSEND shaping huge progressive-metal sound design, ambient space and introspective melody into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

Dir En Grey's twelfth album, released on 8 April 2026, their newest record and fourteen tracks long.

A 2026 tie-in single: the title song and "No time to fall", each with an instrumental, across four tracks.

Down's fourth album, with a release date of 20 November 2026 on Nuclear Blast. It is their first full-length since Over the Under in 2007, and King Diamond sings on "Merciful Fate".

DRAGONLAND's seventh album, with a release date of 23 October 2026 on Scarlet Records. Produced, mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman, it contains the final recorded contributions of long-time guitarist Olof Mörck (AMARANTHE), who left the band in July 2026.

A five-track EP that balances open, refreshing melodies with loud-rock weight and presents the second chapter of East Of Eden through Ayasa’s violin-led identity.

Set The Dark On Fire finds EDENBRIDGE shaping symphonic-metal fantasy and clear melodic-metal uplift into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

A ten-song independent hard-rock statement that turns recovery, major-band experience and renewed creative freedom into Erik Grönwall’s first original solo album in sixteen years.

Come This Madness is a useful way to hear EUROPE from a different angle within the 2026 catalogue.

Sanctuary finds EVANESCENCE shaping gothic/alternative-metal shade and dramatic melodies that include piano color into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

Goliath finds EXODUS shaping rough Bay Area thrash riffs, confrontational energy and heavyweight sound pressure into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

Legacy is a useful way to hear FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH from a different angle within the 2026 catalogue.

The Legend Of The Six Kings is a useful way to hear FROZEN CROWN from a different angle within the 2026 catalogue.

The fourteenth full-length album by Galneryus and their first in about two years, after the twentieth-anniversary record The Stars Will Light the Way. This is the standard edition: nine songs and about sixty-five minutes on a single CD, with the same track list as every other format.

More Stereo Crush is a useful way to hear GOTTHARD from a different angle within the 2026 catalogue.

Greta Van Fleet's first album in three years, released on 9 October 2026 through Republic Records: thirteen songs made in spring 2026 at the band's studio in Tennessee and co-produced with Mike Elizondo, and named after the original purpose of London's Alexandra Palace. Universal Music Japan's SHM-CD edition, UICY-16536, followed on 14 October.

Gus G.'s fifth solo album, about five years after Quantum Leap. He wrote and produced all of it, and it sets guitar instrumentals beside songs sung by Doro Pesch, Matt Barlow, Ronnie Romero and Dino Jelusick. The Japanese edition (KICP-4117) adds a radio edit of "Dancing With Death" for eleven tracks.

A melodic-metal EP that links fantasy-adventure imagery with bright speed, heroic guitar work and the renewed identity of HAGANE.

The second full-length album since HAGANE regrouped in 2024: eleven songs, two of them from the METAL QUEST EP, issued in Japan as a CD + Blu-ray and as a CD.

A five-track EP that condenses HANABIE.’s current Harajuku-core sound into metalcore impact, digital pop color, streetwise energy and unapologetic self-affirmation.

Shout finds HARDLINE shaping classic melodic hard rock and AOR-polished vocal drama into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

Hatebreed's ninth studio album and their first in six years, produced by Zeuss: eleven songs in about thirty-five minutes.

The eighth album and the first with new singer Ângelo Parisotto — Seneca's On the Shortness of Life as its subject, released in the band's thirtieth year.

II is a useful way to hear ICONIC from a different angle within the 2026 catalogue.

Awesome Anthems Of The Galaxy is IRON SAVIOR's covers album, turning anthems, many from 1980s pop and new wave, into cosmic power metal.

The first studio album Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have made together, issued as SatchVai on 6 November 2026.

A career-spanning compilation running from the 1974 debut Rocka Rolla to 2024's Invincible Shield, released through Sony Music.

Dark Asylum is a useful way to hear KAMELOT from a different angle within the 2026 catalogue.

The Anaheim Stadium show of 20 August 1976, released for the first time for KISS's fiftieth anniversary and newly mixed by Eddie Kramer.

The ninth album, the first release on the band's own Kissin' Dynamite Records and the last with Hannes Braun as singer. Six new songs stand beside seven re-recordings from the first two albums.

KOIAI's fourth EP and the first release by the settled five-piece line-up with vocalist Mirei Sakurada; the title track became the August 2026 ending theme for Nippon TV's DayDay.

Kreator's sixteenth studio album, from January 2026, produced by Jens Bogren; the Japanese edition came out the same day.

Into Oblivion finds LAMB OF GOD shaping physical groove-metal weight, thrash-sharp riffing and modern aggression into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

Lonesome_Blue’s second full-length album, produced with Mao, in the standard edition containing the ten main tracks.

Outstanding Power finds LOVEBITES shaping Japanese power/speed-metal drive and the shine of classical twin guitars into a 2026 album with a clear sense of…

The first new song from the lineup that formed in July 2026, a streaming single written and sound-produced by Kayoko Kusano with Shota Horie on guitar and Kishida on beat programming.

Metalmorphosis finds MASTERPLAN shaping European melodic power-metal uplift and thick hard-rock-leaning groove into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

The ninth studio album, and the first made after Brent Hinds left the band in March 2025 and died that August. It is also the first with Nick Johnston (guitar) and João Nogueira (keyboards) as full members.

Released on January 23, 2026, Megadeth is MEGADETH’s seventeenth and final studio album.

Dead To Rights finds METAL CHURCH shaping hard-edged US power metal and thrash-leaning riffs into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

The fifth Metalite album, released worldwide on 25 September 2026 by Perception, a division of Reigning Phoenix Music. It is a concept record set in 2058, three years after the departure from Earth that Expedition One left off in 2055, and runs to twelve songs. Ward Records issued the Japanese edition the same day with a Japanese booklet and translated lyrics.

The 2026 remaster of Metallica's 1997 seventh album, cut by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering with Greg Fidelman overseeing, issued in Japan as a single SHM-CD.

METALVERSE's first official recording of any kind. The one-track digital single appeared at midnight JST on 8 May 2026 alongside the group's first studio-shot music video, on which KOBAMETAL is credited as executive producer.

Michael Monroe's eleventh solo album and his first in four years: twelve songs released by Silver Lining Music on 20 February 2026, with the Japanese edition out from Victor the same day.

The 2005 covers album expanded for 2026 with five newly added bonus tracks: fifteen songs on a single SHM-CD.

The seventeenth album, which Ministry have named as their last. Cleopatra Records issues it on 30 October 2026.

NEMOPHILA's second EP: five songs including the single "-GOU-", self-produced like GOZO and billed as the four-piece's last original recording.

A five-song 2026 EP that condenses the four-piece NEMOPHILA’s physical groove, self-written material and renewed identity.

The Swedish band's first live album, drawing on Kids In A Ghost Town and Teenage Rebel, recorded at Gothenburg Film Studios for Napalm Records.

A best-of collecting the band's signature songs as 2026 versions — re-recorded, remixed and remastered.

A second maxi single built on the theme of setting out, led by “Starlight Voyage” — three songs, with a DVD on the limited edition.

WROC finds PAUL GILBERT shaping virtuoso rock guitar, pop-minded playfulness and bluesy humanity into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

Unbridled is Pride of Lions' eighth studio album, released by Frontiers Music on 10 July 2026. Jim Peterik produced it and Larry Millas mixed it; the Japanese edition followed on 22 July through Marquee Avalon.

Queens of the Stone Age's ninth album, out on 30 October 2026: nine songs built on the idea of kintsugi, produced by Josh Homme with the band's own bassist Michael Shuman.

A nine-CD anthology of Rainbow in 1975 and 1976: the first two albums, three complete German concerts, tour rehearsals and rarities.

The four-song EP that is Sepultura's last studio release, out in April 2026 and in Japan on 10 July.

EI8HT finds SHINEDOWN shaping modern American hard-rock strength and large melodies that can reach pop listeners into a 2026 album with a clear sense of identity.

Announced as SINNER's final studio album and released by Reigning Phoenix Music. Seven guest vocalists appear, among them Ronnie Romero and Michael Bormann, and Jacob Hansen mixed and mastered it at Hansen Studios in Denmark.

Sixteen tracks in the 1998 order, remastered for SKID ROW's 40th anniversary: 40 Seasons, the band's 1998 best-of, on CD and on its first official vinyl.

The band counts this as its eighteenth studio album, released by Frontiers Music Srl on 25 September 2026.

Homage is a covers record on which TESLA pays respect to the songs at its roots, playing them as unforced, natural hard rock.

The Darkness's first self-chosen best-of, dated 27 November 2026: songs from all eight studio albums, closing with the new "Masters Of The Universe".

The 55th-anniversary edition of Thin Lizzy's 1971 debut: three SHM-CDs and an audio Blu-ray, carrying Richard Whittaker's new stereo mixes and fifteen previously unreleased recordings.

TMG's third album: six songs, including the title track with Ado, a Beatles cover and “DOOM”, the theme of the film Yatsuhakamura.

TRIVIUM's eleventh studio album, born of Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and steeped in Japanese horror film; Josh Wilbur produced it and Jacob Hansen mixed it.

The fourteenth studio album and the first since Bloodlines (2023). Mighty Music issued it internationally on 11 September 2026 as PMZ437CD, and Marquee Inc. in Japan on 9 September as MICP-12044. It is the first studio record to feature guitarist John Foottit, who joined in January 2026.

The sixth album, released on 3 June 2026 as the companion piece to Gate of Heaven: the band's own announcement calls it the darkest and most chaotic world they have written. It gathers the two songs of the December 2025 single, "Zen'aku no Higan" and "∞", and re-records "affected" and "Get Revenge On The Tyrant" from the 2014 debut. Eleven tracks.

An archival live album of the 5150 tour's New Haven show of 27 August 1986, the Sammy Hagar line-up issued as a standalone CD for the first time.

The band's first live album with a symphony orchestra, recorded with the Orchestre symphonique de Quebec in Quebec City on 4 June 2025.

Zilqy's first full-length album: ten songs, every lyric by Anna, mixed and mastered by Lance Prenc, including “World's End”, “CAVEAT” and “RUN”.

An EP Aerosmith made with Yungblud: four songs the two acts wrote together and a 2025 mix of "Back In The Saddle" from Rocks, the first new Aerosmith music in over twelve years.

A two-disc live CD of Aldious' final one-man show at Toyosu PIT on August 13, 2025, carrying every song performed before the band's indefinite hiatus.

Antifragile finds ALL THAT REMAINS shaping metalcore riffing and emotionally direct melodic-metal hooks into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Borderland finds AMORPHIS shaping Finnish melancholy, progressive-metal construction and folk-like melodic color into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Blood Dynasty is a 2025 ARCH ENEMY album of melodic death metal, where sharp riffs meet dramatic melodies that reach toward traditional metal.

Here Be Dragons finds AVANTASIA shaping rock-opera theatricality and the large uplift of melodic and power metal into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

BABYMETAL’s 15th-anniversary album, using ten globally connected tracks to push beyond established metal boundaries.

A 2025 EP that compresses BAND-MAID’s sharp riffs, modern impact and hook-driven songwriting into a focused statement.

Released on September 24, 2025, After Rain is BLINDMAN’s twelfth full-length album, issued in the band’s thirtieth-anniversary year.

A mini album on which the current line-up re-records six songs from 2013-2016 that had stayed in the live set ever since.

Roar Like Thunder finds BUCKCHERRY shaping rough rock-and-roll heat and memorable hard-rock hooks into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

The last recording Cathedral ever made: a half-hour piece taped in 2012 at the end of the sessions for The Last Spire, released in October 2025.

A recording of the band's 3 July 2025 support slot for Judas Priest at the Hallenstadion in Zurich — nine songs, around forty minutes, in front of what the band puts at seven thousand people. It appeared on 19 December 2025 as a digital-only release.

Cradle of Filth's fourteenth studio album, from March 2025 and their first for Napalm Records; the Japanese edition came out the same day.

Thrill Of The Bite finds CRAZY LIXX shaping eighties glam-metal sparkle and a tight modern hard-rock production into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Wonderland finds CROWNE shaping polished Scandinavian melodic hard rock and arena-sized scale into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Deafheaven's sixth studio album, from March 2025, returning to the blackgaze sound Infinite Granite had set aside.

Released on February 7, 2025, Parasomnia is DREAM THEATER’s sixteenth studio album and the first full-length studio record to feature drummer Mike Portnoy…

Game Of Faces finds DYNAZTY shaping Scandinavian melodic-metal clarity and the momentum of modern synths and rhythms into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

East Of Eden’s first full album, recorded entirely by the MINA-era five-piece and uniting metal, loud rock and melodic drama across ten core songs plus the standard-edition instrumental bonus.

Aspiral finds EPICA shaping symphonic-metal grandeur, progressive construction and weight rooted in extreme metal into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

A second covers collection that rebuilds songs by Judas Priest, Mötley Crüe, Journey, Helloween, Heart and others through range, dynamics and hard-rock physicality.

The third Eriksplanations collection turns Erik Grönwall’s YouTube interpretations into a twelve-song tour through metal, classic rock, pop balladry and Swedish tradition.

Seventeen tracks: fourteen marked "2025 VERSION" and three live recordings.

Nineteen tracks: sixteen marked "2025 VERSION" and three live recordings, including the collaboration with BABYMETAL.

Brotherhood finds FM shaping the class of British AOR and the supple drive of melodic hard rock into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Ghost's sixth studio album, from April 2025, and the first of their records to reach number one on the Billboard 200.

Stand And Deliver finds GIANT shaping American hard-rock groove and AOR-polished melody into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Beyond Tomorrow finds GINEVRA shaping melodic-metal uplift and polished songcraft related to AOR and hard rock into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Stereo Crush finds GOTTHARD shaping sturdy Swiss hard-rock groove and the approachable songcraft of melodic rock into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Welcome To The Future, H.E.A.T's eighth album, pushes the band's melodic rock forward with arena-sized choruses and modern drive.

A full-length statement from HAGANE’s renewed line-up, combining Japanese melodic color, speed, weight and direct choruses.

Chasing Euphoria is a useful way to hear HAREM SCAREM from a different angle within the 2025 catalogue.

Giants & Monsters finds HELLOWEEN shaping German power-metal speed, bright humor and huge choruses into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

A three-CD, forty-two-track anthology for the band’s fortieth year, running from the 1985 debut to the 2021 reunion album.

Reforged – Machine World revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

This Consequence finds KILLSWITCH ENGAGE shaping metalcore weight and a melodic-death/heavy-metal sense of melancholy into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

The fifteenth L.A. Guns studio album, released by Cleopatra on 4 April 2025 and built on hard, early-sounding rock and roll. King Records' Metal Frontier imprint issued the Japanese CD (KICP-4098) on 23 April with a commentary booklet, translated lyrics and one bonus track.

In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye finds LABYRINTH shaping Italian power metal speed and progressive architecture into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Lacuna Coil's tenth album, released on 14 February 2025, about a generation consumed by social media, with Randy Blythe and Ash Costello as guests.

Gravity finds LEVERAGE shaping Finnish melodic-metal melancholy and strong hard-rock-leaning riffs into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

A focused digital single that strips Lonesome_Blue down to the force of three performers and a direct, resilient melodic core.

Lonesome_Blue’s second EP condenses the renewed three-member lineup into six songs balancing weight, pop immediacy and emotional range.

LUMiRiSE’s first full album, capturing its formation, vocalist change and restart across twelve tracks that move through loud rock, punk, metal, anime-song brightness and ballad drama.

Unatoned by MACHINE HEAD: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

The End finds MAMMOTH WVH shaping a thick modern hard-rock sound and intimate melodies touched by alternative rock into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Don't Sell Your Soul is a 2025 MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP album of classic hard rock, with Michael Schenker's singing guitar at the center of every song.

A career-spanning hits collection running from 1981 to 2025 and closing on a newly recorded "Home Sweet Home" with Dolly Parton; the Japanese edition runs to 26 tracks on two discs.

In August 1976 Lemmy, Eddie Clarke and Phil Taylor recorded together for the first time at Manticore Studio in Fulham. The tape was lost for decades; restored, it came out on 27 June 2025 for the band's fiftieth anniversary.

NEMOPHILA’s fourth album, written by the four members and renewing the band’s heaviness, emotional vocals and free-form mixture.

A second full album arriving in the band's second year, closing on the four-part suite “Shisha no Sho.”

A first maxi single sold at the venues from the opening night of the band's first national tour, its sleeve the artist photograph that had been shot before the songs existed.

Paradise Lost's seventeenth album, released by Nuclear Blast on 19 September 2025: produced by Gregor Mackintosh, their first record of new songs in five years.

Heart Of A Lion, PERFECT PLAN's fourth album, puts powerful vocals and polished choruses up front, adding keyboards to its AOR-leaning melodic rock.

EvangelCore 1 finds PEYTON PARRISH shaping Viking/folk heroism, heavy modern-metal beats and cinematic choruses into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Domination finds PRIMAL FEAR shaping steel-plated German heavy/power-metal riffs and battle-ready choruses into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

A live acoustic EP recorded in the Catacombs of Paris on 8 July 2024, the first time a musical act had been allowed to play there with the city's permission.

A New World Rising finds RAGE shaping the direct drive of German power metal and hard riffs rooted in thrash into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

An eight-track EP marking the band's fiftieth year, issued by Silver Lining Music on 14 February 2025: five new songs, plus three live recordings that between them feature three different Raven drummers.

An EP holding a single version, two live recordings from 2023 and two acoustic performances; the Japanese pressing is a limited edition.

A four-CD, fifty-track anthology for the band’s fiftieth year, running from both sides of the 1973 debut single through vault recordings and live versions.

A two-CD, thirty-one-track anthology for the band’s sixtieth year, laid out in order from 1972 to 2022.

The long-awaited Christmas album, released in 2025.

Para Bellum finds TESTAMENT shaping Bay Area thrash sharpness and the weight of modern heaviness into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

The Darkness's eighth album, released in March 2025. It reached number two in the UK, the band's highest chart placing since their debut.

The Haunted's tenth album, released on 30 May 2025, their newest record and twelve tracks long.

The Hellacopters' ninth album, released by Nuclear Blast on 31 January 2025 and the first they made with Nicke Andersson producing alone.

Satanic Rites Of The Wildhearts, a 2025 album by THE WILDHEARTS, pits punk roughness and hard-rock thickness against dangerously catchy pop hooks.

Nine songs, about forty-two minutes, rebuilding the Decca-era material around new acoustic playing by Eric Bell.

The Wild Card by TREAT: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

A five-track EP that opens TRiDENT’s major-label chapter with a sense of daybreak, renewed purpose and an increasingly open, singable rock sound.

The fifth album, released by FABTONE on 26 November 2025 and the first half of a concept pair completed by Gate of Hell in June 2026. Its ten songs include the title tracks of the three singles that preceded it — Sekai Rinne, SAKURA chevalier and Convergent Rays — and close with a re-recording of "Satsuriku no Miseria" from the 2014 debut.

Apex finds W.E.T. shaping melodic rock that combines AOR smoothness, hard-rock push and Scandinavian clarity into a 2025 album with a clear sense of identity.

Zilqy’s first EP, presenting the Japanese all-female metal band’s post-melodic nu-metal identity with global ambition.

Humanoid looks at contemporary anxieties, but its core is unmistakably ACCEPT: steel-hard riffs, straight-ahead beats, and heavy metal built for immediate impact.

Alcest's seventh studio album, from June 2024, deliberately returning to the lighter sound of their early records.

The Catalyst sharpens AMARANTHE’s defining contrast of three distinct vocal colors.

This follow-up revisits the spirit of Apocalyptica’s debut, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, through the sound and experience of the band today.

Coming Home presents AXXIS’s long-developed melodic hard-rock brightness with the relaxed confidence of a seasoned band.

A 2024 full-length that channels BAND-MAID’s global experience into technical hard rock, strong songs and cinematic scale.

A Japan-only, limited-pressing CD: the title track plus three songs from their Tokyo shows of May 2024. Four tracks, about seventeen minutes.

The fifth album, and their second consecutive number one on the official Finnish album chart. Japan got it on the same day as the rest of the world, with two live recordings from Helsinki added.

Blind Guardian's complete re-recording of their 1992 album Somewhere Far Beyond, released in August 2024 on the day they played Wacken Open Air.

Blood Incantation's fourth studio album, from October 2024, made of two suites in three parts each.

A Japan-only compilation closing the band’s fortieth year. The standard edition holds the sixteen songs a Japanese fan vote chose, about an hour and twenty-one minutes.

Arriving in BON JOVI’s fortieth-anniversary year, Forever brings the band’s open-hearted spirit and life-affirming outlook to the front.

The advance song from Forever, issued as a CD single in Japan alone. The disc carries the radio edit.

Recorded in Gothenburg with producer Fredrik Nordström; its opener "Still Burning" placed 42nd in Metal Hammer's readers' poll for the best song of 2024.

Bring Me the Horizon's seventh studio album, surprise-released in May 2024 as part two of the Post Human series.

Two Shots at Glory is an anniversary-minded release that looks back over CRAZY LIXX’s path while showing that the band still has forward momentum.

Endtime Signals deepens the melodic-death-metal aesthetic DARK TRANQUILLITY has shaped for decades.

=1 finds DEEP PURPLE welcoming a fresh guitar color while reaffirming the essentials that have long defined the band: spontaneity, sharp riffing, and unshakable groove.

PowerNerd keeps DEVIN TOWNSEND’s layered imagination intact while shifting the center of gravity toward shorter, more direct song power.

DragonForce's ninth album, from March 2024: the first with Alicia Vigil as a full member on bass, and the last Marc Hudson sang on.

Their seventh studio album and the first in seven years, after Six. The Japanese pressing adds a bonus track for eleven in all.

The second chapter of Forbidden Fruit, preserving the debut’s vivid impact while deepening the groove, darkness and dramatic interaction of the five-piece.

Megalomanium II pushes ECLIPSE’s talent for immediately memorable choruses and hard-edged guitar riffs to the front with very little hesitation.

Stand United presents FIREWIND’s guitar-led power metal with an emphasis on melodic strength.

Their fourteenth studio album, released in the fortieth year since the band formed. The Japanese pressing adds an acoustic version for twelve tracks.

Silver Romance is a bright, affirmative power-metal record worthy of FREEDOM CALL’s twenty-fifth anniversary.

War Hearts channels FROZEN CROWN’s new-lineup momentum into direct, aggressive power metal.

The Stars Will Light the Way ties GALNERYUS’s virtuosity and melodic instinct together with unusual density.

Gatecreeper's third studio album, from May 2024 and the first with bassist Alex Brown.

An EP that reignites HAGANE’s melody, speed and optimistic force around the theme of survival and forward motion.

The band’s first major-label EP, packing Tokyo identity, otaku culture, transformation-heroine imagery and modern romance into fierce breakdowns and vivid pop hooks.

High on Fire's ninth studio album, from April 2024, folding Turkish and Middle Eastern music into their sludge.

Invincible Shield makes the heavy-metal language JUDAS PRIEST has forged over decades sound like a force that is still moving forward.

The eighth album, and the first to reach number one in Germany, with 12 in Austria and 11 in Switzerland. It is also the second-to-last record with Hannes Braun singing.

Knocked Loose's third studio album, from May 2024, with Poppy and Chris Motionless as guests.

The last EP recorded with founding vocalist Kotono — five songs led by the title track, whose video came out three months ahead of the release and carried the band to its first European shows.

From Zero is LINKIN PARK’s first full album in its new lineup, and it restates the band’s core urgency with a contemporary outline.

A groove-driven single that releases the playful, live-ready side of Lonesome_Blue’s three-member lineup through bold rhythmic hooks.

The first record the current five-piece wrote from nothing — five songs that swallow the raw drive of the debut EP.

Drama again shows how MARTY FRIEDMAN treats the guitar not simply as a vehicle for technique, but as a voice that tells stories.

The fourth Metalite album, released by AFM Records on 19 January 2024. It is a concept record set on Earth in 2055, following five commanders and a renegade crew trying to carry humanity off a ruined planet, and it runs to sixteen songs including "Utopia", the band's first instrumental. Marquee Inc. put the Japanese edition on sale two days earlier, on 17 January.

Eleven songs from Schenker’s years in UFO, re-recorded with guest singers. Eleven tracks, about sixty minutes.

Ministry's sixteenth album, out on 1 March 2024. It closes on a reading of Fad Gadget's Ricky's Hand.

Their first release after moving to Big Machine: two new songs and a Beastie Boys cover, three tracks running about twelve minutes.

Ten reconnects MR. BIG’s high-level musicianship with the strength of melodies anyone can carry away.

NEMOPHILA’s third album, concentrating scale, technique, melody and modern heaviness ahead of the band’s Budokan milestone.

Teenage Rebel lets NESTOR’s love of ’80s melodic rock shine through a modern, full-bodied sound.

Yesterwynde is NIGHTWISH’s tenth album, a vast symphonic-metal work shaped around time, memory, and the question of how human beings receive the world.

Opeth's fourteenth studio album, from November 2024, and the return of death growls for the first time since Watershed.

A self-produced first mini album sold only at the venue and by mail order on the day of the band's first-anniversary headline show; all 500 copies went at once.

The band's VAA debut and first full album, conceived as a single score on which eleven genre-crossing songs are written out.

Kingdoms of Magical Rock is a twenty-two-track covers set on which PEYTON PARRISH turns songs from film and animation into weighty rock.

Soul centers PEYTON PARRISH’s husky, forceful voice and connects rock’s direct emotional charge with hooks that stay in the ear.

The tenth studio album and Powerwolf's fourth German No. 1 — choir and organ intact, every song routed to its chorus by the shortest path.

The thirteenth Praying Mantis studio album, released on 19 April 2024 by Frontiers and, the same day in Japan, by Marquee Incorporated. It marks the band's fiftieth year; the Japanese edition adds an alternate version of the title track for twelve songs.

Afterlifelines is an ambitious double album that places RAGE’s raw trio attack beside a more expansive orchestral dimension.

Against the Winds delivers REVOLUTION SAINTS’ classic melodic-hard-rock approach with direct heat.

Challenge the Wind brings RHAPSODY OF FIRE’s grand orchestration, racing rhythm, and heroic-story melody to the front without hesitation.

Mean Streets finds the band carrying RIOT’s lineage with the heat and melody of American metal fully intact.

Saxon's twenty-fourth album, released on 19 January 2024, with Brian Tatler of Diamond Head on second guitar.

Orgy of the Damned is a covers record in which SLASH goes deeply into the classic blues that forms part of his musical foundation.

Clear Cold Beyond sees SONATA ARCTICA steering firmly back toward the rush of Nordic melodic power metal.

Ultrapower is a high-voltage record that amplifies the pleasures of heavy metal in a straight line.

A 2024 record the band describes as its acoustic project.

Released in 2024; it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart.

Restless Fight brings SUNSTORM’s polished AOR sensibility together with the strength of melodic hard rock.

Servitude is THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER’s tenth album and the beginning of a new chapter after profound loss.

TMG's second album, twenty years after the first: Tak Matsumoto, Eric Martin and Jack Blades with Matt Sorum on drums, and guest turns from BABYMETAL and LiSA.

TRiDENT’s second full album, reorganizing key songs from 2022 onward with new material to present twelve tracks of attack, melody and live-driven momentum.

A five-track EP that expands TRiDENT’s range through spicy riffs, nocturnal atmosphere and more intimate melodic writing.

A live album recorded at The Patriot Club in Wales in 2023 and released on 26 April 2024. The band describes the set as drawing on tracks from across the decades, and it places the 1980s material beside recent songs. "Gangland" and "Keeping Me Alive" previewed it.

Cycles of Pain turns ANGRA’s Brazilian color, progressive construction and power-metal lift into one extended drama.

Crimson & Jet Black is Anthem's seventeenth studio album, released on 21 April 2023. It is their first album of new material in about six years, sung entirely in English and released worldwide on the same day, and it reached No. 14 on the Japanese weekly chart.

The Beautiful Dark of Life collects ATREYU’s three 2023 EPs and adds new songs to complete a larger statement.

Life Is But a Dream... pushes AVENGED SEVENFOLD far beyond a simple metal framework and into an intensely experimental, existential space.

A concept album announcing BABYMETAL’s return through ten parallel worlds of reflection, loss and renewal.

The first of two 10th-anniversary compilations: fourteen songs, mostly single A-sides, running from "Thrill" through to "Different".

The second 10th-anniversary compilation: eleven songs drawn from album tracks and B-sides rather than the singles.

OUTBURST condenses new songs and re-recordings into a five-track mini album that captures BLINDMAN’s place during its twenty-fifth-anniversary era.

A live album from the band's London show — and the record whose release moved their Japanese home to IYT RECORDS.

Vol. 10 delivers BUCKCHERRY’s straight-ahead rock-and-roll instincts with no unnecessary detours.

Cattle Decapitation's eighth studio album, from May 2023, recorded in the weeks after a founding member's death.

CoreLeoni's first live album, drawn from the Rock Generation Tour of 2022 — the first tour with Eugent Bushpepa — and specifically the show in Spiez, Switzerland on 25 March 2022. Metalville Records released it on 27 October 2023.

Operation Phoenix brings together CROWNE’s polished AOR and melodic-rock instincts with the forward charge of power metal.

Eleven years after its previous studio record, Heaven Comes Down returns to the shades of melody and guitar lyricism that define DOKKEN.

East Of Eden’s debut EP, placing violin and heavy rock on equal footing while introducing the five musicians’ technique, melody and international ambition.

Megalomanium packs the kind of rock songs ECLIPSE does best: short, sharp and instantly memorable.

The first Eriksplanations album documents the YouTube cover work that grew during recovery through eight songs associated with Dio, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, KISS and more.

After a fifteen-year studio gap, Six makes it clear that EXTREME has always been far more than a one-hit story.

Face Your Fears places Harry Hess’s warm, soaring voice at the center of a carefully shaped AOR and melodic-rock record.

Call of the North puts FROZEN CROWN’s bright twin-guitar harmonies and relentless speed at the front of an epic power-metal charge.

Between Dread and Valor compresses new songs, instrumentals and a re-recording into a special GALNERYUS release with the density of a short, sharp statement.

Lighting Up the Sky gathers GODSMACK’s muscular riffs, dry groove and large melodies into a well-balanced record.

Greta Van Fleet's third album, released on 21 July 2023: ten songs made with producer Dave Cobb at RCA Studios in Nashville, where the band used the big recording room to catch the energy of their concerts. It reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 66th Grammy Awards. The Japanese edition is UICU-1357.

A Japan-only CD single for "Perhaps", the song Guns N' Roses released without warning in August 2023, pressed as an SHM-CD. The other new song, "The General", is the coupling. It comes in a paper sleeve with a written commentary and translated lyrics.

The major-label breakthrough that expands Harajuku-core through space, games, escape, everyday anxiety and rebirth, establishing HANABIE. on an international scale.

Foregone reconnects IN FLAMES with the melodic-death-metal atmosphere associated with Gothenburg while combining it with modern weight and direct song construction.

Firestar reignites IRON SAVIOR’s blend of cosmic narrative and straight-ahead German power metal.

The Awakening is KAMELOT’s first studio record in five years and brings its symphonic shadows, progressive construction and dramatic melodies into especially clear focus.

The self-released debut EP — the first five songs put out by a band that had already been invited to a festival in India before it had any recordings at all.

A second EP arriving barely five months after the first, its five songs — from “Inside” to “My Breath” — each issued in turn as official audio.

The fourteenth L.A. Guns studio album, released by Frontiers Music on 14 April 2023. Marquee Incorporated issued the Japanese edition the same day as MICP-11777 with one bonus track. Eleven songs.

A tense digital single that turns the decision to end a damaging cycle into heavy rock momentum and emotionally direct vocals.

A melodic digital single that holds onto a shared sense of “blue” and future possibility while the band moves through change.

Judgement Day introduces LOVEBITES with Fami in the lineup and drives forward with speed, precise ensemble playing and big melodic payoff.

Mammoth II is the second MAMMOTH WVH record built around Wolfgang Van Halen’s all-instrument performance and songwriting.

After a decade away, Soundtrack for the End Times reunites MERCENARY’s melodic death metal, power metal and progressive metal instincts in one large return.

Congregation of Annihilation by METAL CHURCH: track list, Spotify player and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

72 Seasons looks back at the formative first eighteen years of life while using Metallica’s familiar language of heavy riffs and long-form construction to probe inward.

Hellriot connects MYSTIC PROPHECY’s heavy rhythmic chug directly to fist-raising choruses.

A cover EP that rebuilds songs by Metallica, System of a Down, Slipknot and Limp Bizkit through NEMOPHILA’s own attack.

Overkill's twentieth album, released in April 2023 after the longest gap of their career, and recorded by each member on his own during the pandemic.

The third digital single, closing the band's first year; its video passed 110,000 plays within a fortnight of going up.

A three-song first digital single put out barely two months after the band began playing; the free headline show that month drew over a hundred people.

A three-song second digital single arriving six months after the band started; all three songs went on to later records.

The Dio Album is Paul Gilbert’s instrumental tribute to Ronnie James Dio’s catalog across Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio.

Skalds of Metal connects Norse-mythic and warrior imagery to Peyton Parrish’s modern rock and metal drive.

The Most Magical Album on Earth rebuilds songs from Disney films through Peyton Parrish’s rock and metal sensibility.

A ninth album that gathers new songs and unreleased material as a bridge to the next chapter, with a covers disc by befriended bands on the deluxe editions.

Pride of Lions' seventh studio album, released on 16 June 2023. Its ten songs make it the band's shortest record, and the Japanese edition appeared the same day as MICP-11795 through Marquee Avalon.

Code Red lines up PRIMAL FEAR’s tank-like riffs with Ralf Scheepers’ soaring high voice and refuses to compromise either element.

Queens of the Stone Age's eighth album, out on 16 June 2023: self-produced, and the record that closes the trilogy they made for Matador.

The fifteenth studio album, recorded at drummer Mike Heller's own studio in Los Angeles and released by Silver Lining Music on 30 June 2023.

Eagle Flight shows the new REVOLUTION SAINTS lineup carrying forward the project’s essential melodic-hard-rock lift.

Saxon's second covers album, released on 24 March 2023, with songs by ten acts including the Animals, Alice Cooper, the Who and Cream.

Sleep Token's third studio album, from May 2023, and Spotify's most streamed metal album of that year.

On the Prowl treats every glamour-metal cliché as both a punchline and a declaration of love.

An album recorded in 1991 and shelved for over thirty years after its singer died. Out 27 January 2023.

STMLT’s six-track debut EP, joining the group’s accessible video-creator identity with heavy loud-rock and metal arrangements built for the live stage.

Tomb Mold's fourth studio album, from September 2023, announced only four days before it appeared.

A five-track EP that turns the act of pulling a dream into reality into loud-rock force, bright melody and future-facing momentum.

The thirteenth studio album, released by Mighty Music on 5 May 2023 as PMZ390CD. Ten songs run from "Edge of the World" to "Making All The Rules", among them "A New Heartbeat", which had already given the previous year's EP its title.

Touchdown polishes the classic heavy-metal feel U.D.O. has defended for decades.

A one-track digital single issued on 1 April 2023. The song had been written for the singer Tokoyami Towa under sponsorship by Nissin's Yakisoba U.F.O.; this is Unlucky Morpheus playing it themselves, the band whose Shiren composed it and whose Fuki wrote the words.

Sin puts Adrian Vandenberg’s melodic instinct and weighty riff craft in the foreground.

Nine songs from across the band's history re-recorded by the current line-up for their fortieth anniversary, plus a new title song and one cover.

Seven reunites WINGER’s precision as players with its instinct for enormous melodies.

Bleed Out overlays WITHIN TEMPTATION’s symphonic beauty with modern-metal weight and electronic tension.

After a long absence, Altaria return with Wisdom, a record that presents bright Scandinavian melodic-metal lines alongside approachable hard-rock warmth.

Halo is a refined fusion of the death-metal weight, folk-derived melody and progressive arrangement that Amorphis have developed over decades.

Deceivers sharpens Arch Enemy’s melodic-death-metal design with exceptional precision.

Tobias Sammet assembles a varied cast of singers and builds theatrical storytelling and oversized melody as a sequence of connected scenes.

A 2022 EP that lives up to its title, unleashing the band’s technical rock energy through compact, immediate songs.

Their first album for Century Media and their first number one in Finland, built around "Dark Side", the song they took to Eurovision. Japan received it as their debut release there, retitled Sick & Dangerous.

Blind Guardian's eleventh studio album, released in September 2022: their first under the band's own name in about seven years, after an orchestral album.

The third and last of the avex albums, carried into a SUMMER SONIC 2022 appearance; guitarist MOE joined after it.

Cave In's seventh studio album, from May 2022 and the first with bassist Nate Newton.

Chat Pile's debut album, from July 2022: nine songs built on real events in Oklahoma City.

CoreLeoni's first album of original material, and the first with Eugent Bushpepa singing. Production problems pushed the international release back a week to 20 May 2022, while the Japanese edition kept the original date of 13 May. The band reported it reaching No. 2 in Switzerland and No. 39 in Germany.

With new vocalist Gabriel Keyes, Crashdïet restart their rough-edged glam-metal machine without losing its identity.

Diamond Star Halos expands Def Leppard’s trademark blend of stacked harmonies, bright guitars and pop momentum into a broader palette.

Lightwork retains Devin Townsend’s talent for enormous walls of sound while giving them more air and calm than some of his recent work.

Dir En Grey's eleventh album, released on 15 June 2022: eleven tracks running 53:45.

As its title suggests, Divisive addresses distrust and division while returning to Disturbed’s direct heaviness and large-scale melody.

DRAGONLAND's sixth album, released in 2022, a comeback after eleven years since Under the Grey Banner. A sci-fi concept album set in space and separate from The Dragonland Chronicles saga, it was released by AFM Records; the Japanese edition is on Marquee/Avalon (MICP-11706).

Centered on Herman Frank, Dreamtide’s return revisits the strengths of melodic hard rock with care and restraint.

Final Advent finds Sweden’s Dynazty linking heavy riffs, polished electronic textures and arena-sized choruses with impressive density.

Shangri-La finds Edenbridge building a fantasy world around Sabine Edelsbacher’s clear voice and Lanvall’s grand arrangements.

Closer to the Edge places Harry Hess’s warm yet focused voice at the center of polished melodic rock.

AfterLife draws on Five Finger Death Punch’s direct strengths: hard riffs, marching rhythms and Ivan Moody’s raw vocal presence.

FM’s thirteenth album refines the band’s urbane melodic-rock identity with relaxed performances and carefully shaped harmonies.

Ghost's fifth studio album, from March 2022, built on the rise and fall of empires.

After a long gap, Giant return around David Huff and Mike Brignardello, with Kent Hilli’s voice helping restate the appeal of their melodic hard rock.

Fronted by the soaring voice of Kristian Fyhr, Ginevra’s debut delivers Scandinavian melodic-rock clarity in a modern sound.

With Kenny Leckremo back in the band, H.E.A.T reclaim the speed, melody and positive energy that shaped their early identity.

HAGANE’s first full-length album, expanding the band’s twin-guitar sparkle, speed, heavy riffs and dramatic storytelling.

Abrakadabra blends Hardcore Superstar’s glam-metal flash with punkish roughness.

A seventh album four years on, rebuilt around new singer Victor Emeka — with three former members guesting on "Tribal Mark".

Second Skin centers on Nathan James’s commanding voice and polishes classic hard-rock craft in a contemporary way.

Complicated centers on Jeff Scott Soto’s wide expressive range, linking hard-rock power with AOR smoothness.

The eighteenth album, out on earMUSIC on 8 April 2022 - his first away from Epic and Sony since 1995.

Freedom by JOURNEY: track list, album artwork and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

The seventh album and the first for Napalm Records, number 2 in Germany. The band gave the 6,000 euros the single "Good Life" earned to a children's cancer charity in Tübingen. Avalon issued the Japanese edition as MICP-11671.

Requiem concentrates Korn’s uneasy grooves, down-tuned weight and Jonathan Davis’s wounded-sounding voice into a brief, dense runtime.

Kreator's fifteenth studio album, from June 2022 and the first with Frédéric Leclercq on bass.

Lacuna Coil's 20th-anniversary remake of Comalies, released on 14 October 2022, with all thirteen songs rearranged and the original on a second disc.

Omens puts Lamb of God’s interlocking riffs, groove and Randy Blythe’s raw roar directly in the listener’s path.

Neptune Blue, Lana Lane’s long-awaited return, connects progressive structure with melodic accessibility around her expressive, soaring voice.

From Womb to Tomb uses the passage from birth to death as a frame for Lillian Axe’s naturally dramatic songwriting.

Lonesome_Blue’s first pre-debut single, joining ominous tension, heavy rhythm and a large melody to announce the band’s arrival.

A pre-album single that turns the decision to confront fear into sharp riffs, forceful rhythm and a large melodic chorus.

Lonesome_Blue’s debut EP joins voice-actor expression and professional rock musicianship through metal, progressive detail and pop melody.

A pre-debut single featuring Ayasa, expanding Lonesome_Blue’s sound through psychedelic color, violin and progressive movement.

Lonesome_Blue’s first full-length album joins loud rock, metal and progressive detail to strong, immediate melodies.

Lorna Shore's fourth studio album, from October 2022, closing on a title track in three parts.

Of Kingdom and Crown is a concept album that unfolds Machine Head’s low-end weight, punishing riffs and exposed emotion across an extended narrative.

Building on the renewed strength of Dystopia, this album is charged with the urgency that defines Megadeth at their best.

Meshuggah's ninth studio album, from April 2022, and the first they released away from Nuclear Blast.

The tenth solo album, with Slash guesting on the title track, released by Silver Lining Music on 10 June 2022 and by Victor in Japan the same day.

True to its title, Universal presents Michael Schenker’s guitar vocabulary as a language of melody shared by an international cast of singers.

A second album capturing NEMOPHILA’s international momentum through heavy riffs, wide melodies and an unrestricted mixture.

Get Rollin', Nickelback's first studio album in years, delivers thick guitars, Chad Kroeger's rough voice and memorable choruses without fuss.

Nordic Union’s third album is built around Ronnie Atkins’s forceful, character-rich voice and Erik Martensson’s meticulous songwriting.

With guest turns from Jeff Beck, Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde and more, this album surrounds Ozzy Osbourne’s unmistakable voice with a wide range of guitar colors.

Brace for Impact carries the appeal of eighties AOR and hard rock into a modern production with real conviction.

Rise of Vikingr combines Norse-myth imagery with Peyton Parrish’s deep, forceful vocals and modern rock/metal production.

The twelfth Praying Mantis studio album, released by Frontiers on 28 January 2022. Marquee Incorporated issued the Japanese edition the same day, adding an acoustic version of "Find Our Way Back Home" for twelve tracks.

Digital Noise Alliance brings together sharp guitars, accessible progressive turns and a sense of social tension in the current Queensrÿche lineup.

Rammstein's eighth studio album, from April 2022, an unplanned record made in the gap a postponed tour left.

Turborider pushes Reckless Love’s glam-metal hedonism further into eighties synth-pop color.

Continuing the dystopian story of its predecessor, Dystopia Part II deepens the setting through André Andersen’s layered keyboards and classically shaped arrangements.

Crazy Times is a useful way to hear SAMMY HAGAR from a different angle within the 2022 catalogue.

Saxon's twenty-third album, released on 4 February 2022. At seventeen it is their highest UK placing since Power & the Glory in 1983.

As its title suggests, Rock Believer returns Scorpions directly to the sharp riffs, cutting guitar leads and crowd-ready choruses at the heart of their sound.

Rescue sees Shaman restating the heat and symphonic splendor of Brazilian power metal.

Planet Zero gives Shinedown a concept framework focused on polarization and the pressure of digital life.

The band's first album for Atomic Fire Records, made by the four-piece of Mat Sinner, Tom Naumann, Alex Scholpp and Markus Kullmann, and mixed by Jacob Hansen.

With new vocalist Erik Grönwall, Skid Row put their streetwise edge and aggression back at the front.

Skills’ debut brings together players such as Brad Gillis and Billy Sheehan, yet it does not depend on names alone.

4 shows how naturally Slash, Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators now function as a band.

The End, So Far keeps Slipknot’s violent heaviness at its core while opening into ambient space, melodic vocals and unsettling sound design.

Övergivenheten is a large-scale Soilwork album, joining the racing drive and deep melancholy of melodic death metal with progressive development.

Acoustic Adventures – Volume One revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

Acoustic Adventures – Volume Two revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

The tenth album. The cover shows the Hydra, the triple-neck guitar Vai designed with Ibanez.

After a long gap, Stratovarius return with the fast drums, shining keyboards and skyward choruses that define their identity.

A studio album released in 2022.

With Ronnie Romero joining the fold, Sunstorm give their familiar AOR smoothness a stronger hard-rock outline.

Under the Midnight Sun condenses The Cult’s gothic allure and hard-rock physicality into a tightly focused set.

The Hellacopters' eighth album, released on 1 April 2022: their first new record in fourteen years, and the first with Dregen on it since 1997.

The Endgame further refines the hard-edged, modern melodic-rock identity Treat have established since their reunion.

A five-track EP centered on “CRY OUT,” moving between heavy confrontation, playful tension and a more lyrical sense of connection.

The second re-recording EP, rebuilding earlier material through TRiDENT’s current trio sound across five songs of impulse, resistance, utopia and renewal.

A four-track EP issued on 22 April 2022: the title song and "Red Mist" alongside 2022 re-recordings of "Fireclown" and "Killers", both of which come from the 1980 debut Wild Cat.

The fourth album, distributed by Disk Union on 27 April 2022. It carries an album version of "“M” Revolution", the digital single from 2021, and four of its songs — "Amaryllis", "Welcome to Valhalla", "The Black Death Mansion Murders" and "“M” Anthem" — were given music videos. Ten tracks.

Voivod's fifteenth studio album, from February 2022, written by sending files back and forth when the band could not travel.

Zeal & Ardor's self-titled third album, from February 2022, laying black metal over African-American spirituals.

Too Mean to Die reaffirms the muscular, traditional heavy-metal language ACCEPT have defended for decades, now delivered with contemporary weight.

Archspire's fourth studio album, from October 2021, and winner of the 2022 Juno Award for Metal/Hard Music Album.

At the Gates' seventh album, from July 2021: a concept record on philosophical pessimism, with saxophone and strings joining the band.

After a major shift in its vocal setup, Atreyu move toward more open melodies and larger choruses on Baptize.

A three-song single — the title track with "火花" and "Corallium" — all three of which carried over to the following year’s EP Unleash.

An album that sharpens both aggression and melody, presenting BAND-MAID’s musicianship on a world-class hard-rock scale.

Dark Connection pushes Beast in Black’s power-metal drive into a neon-lit, cyberpunk world shaped by eighties synth-pop.

Black Label Society’s eleventh album is packed with Zakk Wylde’s thick, sustaining riffs, blues-rooted phrasing and low-slung groove.

The second avex album — twelve songs, followed three weeks later by a European edition on Setsuzoku Records.

Hellbound strips Buckcherry’s straight-ahead hard rock down to its most immediate form.

The seventh Bullet for My Valentine album, released worldwide by Spinefarm on 5 November 2021 and presented by the band as their heaviest. The Japanese edition adds "Stitches" for eleven tracks, and its limited pressing carries a second disc of five songs recorded at Summer Sonic 2018.

Carcass's seventh studio album, from September 2021, eight years after Surgical Steel and delayed over a year by the pandemic.

Converge's tenth studio album, from November 2021, made as a seven-piece with Chelsea Wolfe.

Cradle of Filth's thirteenth studio album, from October 2021, an existential record that looks squarely at the end of the species.

Street Lethal rebuilds Crazy Lixx’s love of eighties hard rock and glam metal with modern punch and a cinematic sense of motion.

Crowne’s debut presents Scandinavian melodic-rock polish in a remarkably clear and accessible form.

Turning to Crime is Deep Purple’s first studio album built entirely from songs written by others.

The Puzzle / Snuggles is a useful way to hear DEVIN TOWNSEND from a different angle within the 2021 catalogue.

Dream Theater’s fifteenth studio album gathers complex rhythm, precision unison work and melodic vocals into long-form progressive-metal architecture.

Wired sharpens Eclipse’s modern melodic-rock momentum with very little wasted space.

Omega expands Epica’s symphonic-metal scale to a grand, carefully controlled level.

The Bitter Truth is Evanescence's comeback record, facing pain and recovery head-on with gothic shading in a more direct, contemporary rock sound.

Returning to the studio after a long gap, Exodus deliver an extended blast of uncompromising thrash metal.

Fear Factory's tenth studio album, from June 2021. The vocals were recorded in 2017, and it is the last record to carry Burton C. Bell.

Winterbane develops Frozen Crown’s strengths—speed, twin-guitar melody and clear vocals—into a more three-dimensional third album.

Union Gives Strength gathers Galneryus's dramatic melody, complex development and virtuosic playing into one record with a strong sense of unity.

Fortitude retains Gojira’s low-end groove, machine-like riffs and massive rhythmic force while allowing more melody and openness into the frame.

Greta Van Fleet's second album, released on 16 April 2021 and produced by Greg Kurstin. Built on what the band saw while touring the world and framed in Biblical and ancient imagery, it reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Top Rock Albums. The Japanese edition (UICY-15978) adds live versions of "Heat Above" and "Stardust Chords".

Centered on Steve Overland’s rich, expressive voice, Groundbreaker’s second album delivers smooth, high-quality melodic rock.

Gus G.'s fourth solo album and the first made entirely of guitar instrumentals. King Records released the Japanese edition on 6 October 2021, two days before the rest of the world. Both editions are two CDs, the second holding seven songs recorded live in Budapest in 2018.

The first full album turns miso soup, dating apps, sweets and obsessive everyday life into a reform manifesto powered by metalcore and electronic color.

Heart, Mind and Soul tightly connects Hardline’s thick guitar riffs with soaring vocal melody.

Recorded in the Pumpkins United lineup with Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske alongside Andi Deris, this self-titled album is a major meeting point in Helloween’s history.

Senjutsu pushes Iron Maiden’s large-scale instincts further, layering riffs, melody, key changes and quiet space across extended songs.

The thirteenth L.A. Guns studio album, released by Frontiers Music on 12 November 2021. Marquee Incorporated issued the Japanese edition the same day as MICP-11659 with one bonus track. Eleven songs.

Labyrinth’s ninth album places its trademark melancholy melody and bright Italian power-metal guitar work inside more varied arrangements.

Above the Beyond carefully balances Leverage’s transparent Scandinavian melodic-metal character with thick hard-rock riffing.

Sunburst, released on 29 December 2021, marks the band's fortieth anniversary. It is their first double album and the first record issued on their own label, Katana Music; earMUSIC released it worldwide in 2022.

A four-song mini-album finished under the pandemic, and the most openly positive record the band has made.

A fan-voted best-of spanning 2017 to 2021, closing on "Nameless Warrior" — the last song the original line-up recorded.

Wolfgang Van Halen handles vocals, guitar, bass and drums on this debut, establishing a musical identity of his own.

The eighth studio album, a double record of fifteen songs. Its lead single "Pushing the Tides" was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 64th Grammy Awards.

The third Metalite album, released by AFM Records on 26 March 2021 and the second with Erica Ohlsson singing. Its eleven songs push the science-fiction themes further out. Marquee put the Japanese edition on sale two days earlier, on 24 March, with "Aftermath" added as a Japan-only bonus track for twelve.

Made with a varied group of guest vocalists, Immortal feels like a celebration of Michael Schenker’s long career.

Ministry's fifteenth album, out on 1 October 2021. It includes a reading of the Stooges' Search and Destroy.

An international early compilation collecting NEMOPHILA’s three independent singles plus an English version of “DISSENSION.”

NEMOPHILA’s debut album, rebuilding its early independent songs into a worldwide statement of the band’s “hellishly heavy, otherwise fluffy” sound.

Nestor’s debut openly celebrates eighties melodic rock, but it carries more warmth than a simple revival exercise.

Named after the phrase “And The Band Played On,” ATBPO reasserts Night Ranger’s arena-rock momentum and the strength of its seasoned ensemble.

Werewolves of Portland again shows Paul Gilbert using the guitar not merely as a vehicle for speed, but as a singing voice.

An eighth album that digs into werewolf legend country by country, with Jens Bogren and Joost van den Broek widening the band's sound another step.

Resurrection Day puts Rage’s twin-guitar lineup at the front, intensifying the mix of heavy riffs, speed and melodic guitar interplay.

Glory for Salvation expands the central pleasures of symphonic power metal on Rhapsody of Fire’s thirteenth album.

Built around Paul Shortino, Amir Derakh and Matt Thorne, Rough Cutt 3 arrives after a long gap with a sound that keeps traces of eighties L.A.

Lockdown 2020 is a covers album SAMMY HAGAR made remotely with friends during the restrictions of 2020, recasting each original in his positive sound.

Saxon's first covers album, released on 19 March 2021. It went to number one on the UK Rock & Metal chart.

Spiritbox's debut album, from September 2021, by the two members who left Iwrestledabearonce to form the band.

With Ronnie Romero as its new vocalist, Sunstorm move toward firmer, more powerful melodic metal while retaining the smoother AOR character of earlier work.

The Darkness's seventh album, released in November 2021: made across distances during the pandemic, and called good-time rock'n'roll by Justin Hawkins.

21st Century Love Songs gathers the Wildhearts’ punk impulse, hard-rock weight and power-pop melodic gift into one restless body of work.

TRiDENT’s first full album after the name change, establishing the trio’s restart, future-facing outlook and physical intensity across twelve tracks.

A three-track EP that imagines emerging above ground through forward motion, the clarity after rain and a quieter moment of reflection.

A five-track re-recording EP that rebuilds songs from the band’s earlier era as future-facing music for the three-member TRiDENT lineup.

A three-track EP that turns confinement and survival into low-end weight, urgent speed and a determined wake-up call.

Trivium’s tenth album integrates thrash sharpness, metalcore aggression and progressive structure at high density.

Turnstile's third studio album, from August 2021, named album of the year by Spin for melting hardcore's borders.

Across a large sixteen-song running order, U.D.O. deliver traditional German heavy metal straight on.

W.E.T.’s fourth album brings the strengths of Jeff Scott Soto, Erik Martensson and Robert Säll into one focused band sound.

Parabellum expands Yngwie Malmsteen’s neoclassical-metal language into an even denser guitar orchestra.

With Brian Johnson, Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams back in the fold, Power Up returns AC/DC to thick rhythm guitar, a straight beat and shouted vocals.

Evoke 2010-2020 is the ALDIOUS decade-anniversary project, recasting the band's earlier songs with its current lineup, twin guitars and clear vocals.

Evoke II 2010-2020, the companion to Evoke 2010-2020, marks ten years of ALDIOUS by recasting its songs and familiar material in today's sound.

Manifest pushes Amaranthe’s defining three-vocal approach into bolder electronic detail and metal momentum.

Ballistic, Sadistic condenses the speed, odd turns and black humor associated with Jeff Waters’ Annihilator.

Explosive!! -studio jam- is credited to Anthem featuring Graham Bonnet and was released in 2020. It grew out of a friendship of more than twenty years: eight songs recorded in Tokyo, drawn in roughly equal measure from Anthem's own catalogue and from Bonnet's.

Cell-0 places the sound of the cello itself at the center, with Apocalyptica working without a featured vocalist.

BABYMETAL’s first best-of collection, tracing ten years of transformation from early shock to global-scale metal spectacle.

Three tracks — the title song, "Don't be long" and an 89-second version — and the band's last single for Nippon Crown.

The third album, named after the genre tag the band invented for itself. A European tour ended about a week after its release when the pandemic closed everything down, and "Dark Side" came out of that.

Released for the band’s twenty-fifth anniversary, Expansion reinforces BLINDMAN’s identity as a melodic and emotional hard-rock band with a stronger sense of ensemble.

As its title suggests, Bon Jovi’s fifteenth album is closely tied to the atmosphere of 2020.

Code Orange's fourth studio album, from March 2020, built around glitches and noise as much as around riffs.

Moment gathers Dark Tranquillity’s core language—sharp guitars, cold keyboards and an introspective lyrical atmosphere—into a fluid melodic-death-metal record.

Continuing its collaboration with producer Bob Ezrin, Deep Purple’s twenty-first album balances hard-rock weight with a relaxed sense of play.

Deftones' ninth studio album, from September 2020, and their first with producer Terry Date in seventeen years.

Alter Echo develops Dizzy Mizz Lizzy’s alternative-rock edge into more detailed, narrative-minded structures.

The Dark Delight sharpens Dynazty’s modern melodic-metal momentum into a harder and more dramatic form.

Fates Warning’s thirteenth album uses progressive-metal complexity not as a display case, but as a way to trace time and shifting emotion.

On its self-titled ninth album, Firewind organize the elements that make the band immediately recognizable.

F8 builds on Five Finger Death Punch’s huge riffs and modern-metal groove while placing emotions beyond anger at the front.

FM’s twelfth album refines the space between AOR and hard rock around Steve Overland’s smooth, powerful voice.

#13 by GOTTHARD: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

H.E.A.T II revives the energy of eighties arena rock with modern punch and speed.

HAGANE’s debut EP, condensing clear melody, speed and technical guitar work into a concise first statement.

Change the World brings together Harem Scarem’s strengths—smart chord movement, muscular guitar and unforgettable choruses—with a high level of finish.

The eighth album and the third for Nuclear Blast: twelve songs that never let the tempo or the pressure drop.

Skycrest drives Iron Savior’s long-running space-age imagery and straightforward power metal with renewed heat.

Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) gathers Jeff Scott Soto’s experience across AOR, melodic rock and hard rock into one solo record.

The seventeenth album, out on 10 April 2020: thirteen tracks built on changing his own style to suit each song.

By choosing a self-title for its tenth album, Lamb of God reasserts the band’s core.

Loathe's second studio album, from February 2020, pulling shoegaze texture into metalcore.

Electric Pentagram shows Lovebites’ unity as a five-piece through both speed and drama.

The first single cut from Electric Pentagram, with two previously unreleased songs and an orchestral version alongside the title track.

Tokyo Jukebox 3, the third installment of MARTY FRIEDMAN's cover series, adds newer songs to his guitar takes on Japanese pop and anime.

Metal Division does exactly what its title promises: it puts fundamental heavy-metal elements directly in front of the listener.

Napalm Death's sixteenth studio album, out in September 2020 after the longest gap between albums in their history.

Human. :||: Nature. is Nightwish's ninth album, a two-disc story of humanity and nature that pairs a set of songs with an orchestral suite.

Oranssi Pazuzu's fifth album, from April 2020, and the record their psychedelic black metal is best known for.

Outrage's thirteenth album, out on 15 April 2020. Jay Ruston mixed it, and it closes with two tributes to the NWOBHM.

Ordinary Man, Ozzy Osbourne’s first studio album in nearly a decade, places his enduring defiance beside direct thoughts about age and mortality.

Pallbearer's fourth studio album, from October 2020 and their first full-length for Nuclear Blast.

Paradise Lost's sixteenth studio album, from May 2020 and the last with Waltteri Vayrynen on drums.

Perfect Plan’s second album polishes the appeal of Scandinavian melodic rock in a very direct way.

Cowboy Man is Peyton Parrish’s debut, mixing country earthiness, post-grunge directness and metal weight into one songwriting world.

Pride of Lions' sixth studio album, out on 9 October 2020. Jim Peterik steered its twelve songs deliberately towards straight AOR, and Marquee issued the Japanese edition on 14 October as MICP-11578.

Metal Commando lives up to its title by committing fully to traditional heavy metal’s forward drive.

Wings of Rage connects the forward drive of German metal with Rage’s particular sense of melancholy.

The fourteenth album, and the first studio record with Mike Heller. Gallagher pitched it as the album Raven would have made straight after 1982's Wiped Out.

Rise brings together the personalities of Deen Castronovo, Doug Aldrich and Jack Blades with no wasted motion in service of melodic rock.

Royal Hunt’s Dystopia is a concept work that uses detailed keyboard arrangements, thick guitar and several guest vocalists to dramatize an oppressive future vision.

Sepultura's fifteenth studio album, from February 2020, built on the number four and divided into four sections.

A studio album released in 2020.

Testament’s thirteenth album retains thrash metal’s cutting edge while adding the weight and ease of a long career.

Verminous pours the speed of melodic death metal into a dense world that suggests horror and fantasy literature.

Lions, Tokyo Motor Fist's second album, sets Ted Poley's likable voice and Steve Brown's bright guitar to eighties-style melodic hard rock.

Trivium’s ninth album tightly connects thrash sharpness, metalcore aggression and progressive movement, even within compact songs.

We Are One is an unusual collaboration between U.D.O. and the German Armed Forces Concert Band, directly combining heavy-metal riffs with full wind-band arrangements.

Ulcerate's sixth studio album, from April 2020 and the first they released on Debemur Morti Productions.

An original EP put into national distribution on 29 April 2020, its three songs built around Takiyashahime, the figure held to be the daughter of Taira no Masakado. The CD adds instrumental versions of all three for six tracks; the streaming release carries the three sung songs alone. The title track got a music video and "Tetsuou" a lyric video.

The third album, distributed by Disk Union on 29 July 2020. Six of its nine songs were given official films, more than any other Unlucky Morpheus record, and at Toyosu PIT the following year the band played all nine of them almost in album order.

2020 is Adrian Vandenberg’s first Vandenberg studio album in roughly thirty-five years.