United States Metal & Hard Rock Albums of the 2020s - Page 3

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

A studio album released in 2022.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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".

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.