United States Metal & Hard Rock Albums of the 2010s

Warpaint puts Buckcherry’s blues-stained hard-rock weight and Josh Todd’s exposed vocal delivery at the front.

Face the Music gathers Burning Rain’s bluesy pull, classic hard-rock riff weight and melodic vocal focus into a balanced, mature statement.

Humanicide shows Death Angel preserving the sharp identity of Bay Area thrash while making its arrangements and weight even more exacting.

Distance over Time returns Dream Theater to a tighter, more concentrated form of progressive metal after the expansive scale of its previous project.

Life brings Hardline’s polished melodic-hard-rock craft into songs that carry both brightness and melancholy.

Atonement brings together the elements Killswitch Engage do best—heavy riffs, urgent screams and clean vocals that reach for relief—in an especially emotional form.

The Nothing turns Korn’s long-developed sense of uneasy groove and emotional exposure into one of its heaviest sound worlds.

The twelfth L.A. Guns studio album and the second after the reunion, released by Frontiers Music in 2019. King Records' Metal Frontier imprint issued the Japanese edition on 13 March as KICP-1974 with a Japan-only bonus track.

Overkill's nineteenth album, released in February 2019: the first with drummer Jason Bittner, and number five in Germany, their best chart placing there.

Behold Electric Guitar finds Paul Gilbert treating extraordinary technique as part of the music rather than the point of it.

The Verdict condenses Queensrÿche’s hard-metal drive and progressive-rock shading into a notably focused set of songs.

Hollywood Cowboys brings Quiet Riot’s positive, hook-driven hard-rock instinct into a present-day band setting.

Space Between is the first studio album by Sammy Hagar & The Circle, joining hard-rock drive and blues warmth to songs that take stock of life.

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

Heavy Metal Rules puts Steel Panther’s love of eighties glam metal, excessive humor and surprisingly solid musicianship directly out front.

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

Shock keeps Tesla’s bluesy hard-rock framework while adding a more compact, contemporary push.

Tool's fifth studio album, released on 30 August 2019 after a thirteen-year wait; it topped the Billboard 200, and "7empest" won a Grammy.

Victim of the New Disease shifts All That Remains back toward a heavier metalcore center after the broader reach of Madness.

In Our Wake retains Atreyu’s sharp riffs and breakdowns while putting the force of the choruses in clear view.

Despite its title, Grimmest Hits is not a compilation but Black Label Society’s tenth studio record, packed with the band’s heaviest strengths.

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

Evolution keeps Disturbed’s hard-edged riffs and David Draiman’s commanding voice intact while giving more space to inward-looking, melodic material.

And Justice for None puts Five Finger Death Punch’s heavy groove and radio-sized choruses in especially direct form.

When Legends Rise builds on Sully Erna’s low, powerful voice and Godsmack’s heavy riffs while expanding the melodic range of the band’s seventh album.

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.

The sixteenth album, a trio record with Chad Smith and Glenn Hughes, released on 12 January 2018.

The Shadow Theory combines Kamelot’s symphonic scale with modern guitar hardness around themes of fear and inner duality.

Catharsis gathers Machine Head’s anger, social gaze and personal feeling in its most expansive form.

Damned If You Do shows the stability of Metal Church in the Mike Howe reunion era through traditional heavy-metal form.

Ministry's fourteenth album, out on 9 March 2018, and one of the records their own biography names.

Armor of Light finds Riot V making the Riot legacy of speed metal, twin guitars and melody even more secure after the loss of Mark Reale.

Attention Attention shapes Shinedown’s heavy rock into a concept record about moving from self-destruction and isolation toward recovery.

Living the Dream deepens Slash’s bond with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators through open, riff-led hard rock.

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

A studio album released in 2018.

The Road to Hell places Joe Lynn Turner’s convincing vocal at the center of Sunstorm’s move into heavier guitar territory.

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

Reidolized (The Soundtrack to the Crimson Idol) revisits the songs of W.A.S.P.'s classic The Crimson Idol with the current band and modern production.

Madness retains All That Remains’ metalcore edge while reaching toward wider melody and a more modern-rock texture.

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

Synthesis reimagines Evanescence’s earlier songs through orchestra and electronic texture, while also adding new material.

Great White's thirteenth studio album, released on 2 June 2017, reunited the band with Michael Wagener, producer of its first EP and debut album.

Greta Van Fleet's eight-song double EP of 10 November 2017: the four songs of that April's debut EP, Black Smoke Rising, joined by four new recordings, namely the originals "Edge of Darkness" and "Talk on the Street" and covers of Sam Cooke and Fairport Convention. It won Best Rock Album at the 61st Grammy Awards, and its first Japanese edition, an SHM-CD, came out in August 2024.

Retribution places Jeff Scott Soto’s soulful vocal power in a heavier, more modern rock setting.

The eleventh L.A. Guns studio album, and the first Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns made together again. King Records' Metal Frontier imprint issued the Japanese edition on 4 October 2017 as KICP-1858 with a Japan-only bonus track; that same month the band returned to Japan for Loud Park 17.

One More Light shifts Linkin Park away from guitar-heavy aggression toward electronic pop and R&B-leaning rhythm.

Wall of Sound places Marty Friedman’s individual melodic sense and emotion-speaking guitar tone at the front of an instrumental record.

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.

Defying Gravity brings Mr. Big’s virtuosity and singable melody together with striking ease.

Don't Let Up presents Night Ranger’s melodic hard-rock character with freshness rather than nostalgia.

Overkill's eighteenth album, released in February 2017: the first mixed by Andy Sneap, with a cover painted by Travis Smith.

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

Pride of Lions' fifth studio album, from 2017. Marquee issued the Japanese edition on 25 January 2017 as MICP-11331 — the first of the band's records to be released in Japan by Marquee rather than King Records.

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

Road Rage puts Quiet Riot’s familiar strengths in the foreground: direct riffs, bouncing beats and choruses built to be sung back.

Light in the Dark beautifully links Revolution Saints’ AOR smoothness with a firm hard-rock core.

Lower the Bar sees Steel Panther recreating the language of eighties glam metal through exaggeration and humor.

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