2017 Metal & Hard Rock Albums

A five-track mini-album that compresses Fuki’s commanding vocals and the Gacharic Spin players’ virtuosity into a heavier, sharper modern loud-rock attack.

A key album that clarifies BAND-MAID’s hard-rock direction while connecting musicianship with catchy songwriting.

The Rise of Chaos delivers Accept’s steel-hard riffs and large choruses with present-day weight.

Unlimited Diffusion expands Aldious’ ornate twin guitars, speed and clear vocal character into a more colorful melodic-metal setting.

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

For the Demented centers Annihilator on thrash-metal sharpness while layering Jeff Waters’ intricate guitar work and uneasy melody around it.

Will to Power keeps Arch Enemy’s melodic-death-metal attack intact while widening the contrast between harsh force, vocal melody and arrangement.

Retrolution presents Axxis’ positive melodic hard rock in an especially colorful production.

Berserker is Beast in Black’s explosive debut, fusing power-metal velocity, flashy synthesizer color and eighties-style pop melody in one sweep.

Ruff Justice tightens the flash of eighties glam and sleaze metal into a modern frame.

Infinite finds Deep Purple drawing on blues, hard rock and improvisational chemistry with both calmness and fire.

Six delivers the pleasures of traditional heavy metal in a direct burst of thick riffs and large choruses.

Monumentum packs Eclipse’s modern hard-rock precision and melodic-rock-sized hooks into a very concentrated form.

The Great Momentum layers Edenbridge’s symphonic grandeur over the forward force of firm guitar riffs.

Walk the Earth crystallizes the mix Europe have developed since their reunion: the weight of seventies hard rock and a distinctly Scandinavian sense of melody.

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

Immortals shapes mythic storytelling into Firewind’s fast power metal and dramatic melody.

Ultimate Sacrifice concentrates Galneryus’ fast guitar, flowing keyboards and expansive vocal style into power metal with high tension.

Silver carries Gotthard’s warm melody, blues-tinted guitar and approachable hard-rock instinct with calm confidence.

Into the Great Unknown expands H.E.A.T’s big-chorus melodic rock through a broader soundstage and modern production detail.

United by HAREM SCAREM: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Reforged – Riding on Fire revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

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

Architecture of a God weaves progressive development and classically colored guitar into Labyrinth’s power-metal drive.

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

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

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

PumpKings revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

The Awakening presents Millenium’s polished AOR and melodic-rock appeal through warm keyboards and open, lifting vocals.

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

Feed the Machine pushes Nickelback’s thicker guitars and heavier rhythms to the front, showing a more aggressive side of the band.

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

Phoenix refines Nocturnal Rites’ Scandinavian melodic-metal strengths through hard riffs, clear vocal lines and thick, uplifting choruses.

Headstrong naturally joins Pink Cream 69’s polished melodic-hard-rock side with a more weighty guitar push.

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

Seasons of the Black places Rage’s power-metal speed and thrash sharpness inside a darker tonal world.

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.

The self-titled Striker record joins the band’s speed-metal sharpness with approachable hard-rock hooks in a very concentrated form.

Nightbringers packs The Black Dahlia Murder’s melodic-death-metal velocity and horror-like unease into a very dense form.

Tokyo Motor Fist is a debut that joins the bright instincts of melodic rock with a slightly rougher hard-rock push.

The Sin and the Sentence integrates Trivium’s thrash sharpness, metalcore aggression and melodic chorus work at a high level of tension.

Louder Harder Faster brings Warrant’s instinct for catchy hard rock into a thicker guitar sound and a more forceful rhythmic frame.