2018 Metal & Hard Rock Albums

An early six-track EP that captures teenage urgency, envy, time pressure, ghosts and a return to zero through raw metalcore and fresh melody.

An early release that documents the origin of BAND-MAID’s maid concept and rock-band direction.

A decisive hard-rock statement whose title mirrors BAND-MAID’s ambition to reach audiences beyond Japan.

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

Helix sharpens Amaranthe’s meeting point of modern metal, electronic rock and pop.

Queen of Time expands Amorphis’s blend of melodic death metal, progressive shape and Finnish shadow into its most cinematic scale to date.

Ømni gathers Angra’s fast metal, Brazilian rhythmic identity, classical harmony and progressive construction inside a science-fiction narrative.

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

Monster Hero delivers Axxis’ long-running melodic hard-rock pleasure with direct energy.

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

Reach for the Sky turns Blindman’s live-bred unity as a newer lineup into a precise tenth studio album.

Origins moves Dark Moor away from the science-fiction focus of its predecessor toward Celtic lore and images of nature.

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

Firesign brings Dynazty’s neoclassical guitar work, speed and extremely catchy melody into a modern, high-impact production.

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

Atomic Generation joins FM’s polished British melodic-rock identity to a blues-tinted hard-rock feel with effortless confidence.

The Fallen King presents Frozen Crown’s speed, twin-guitar drive and fantasy atmosphere in vivid form from the start.

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.

Groundbreaker is a melodic-rock project built around Steve Overland’s voice, with Robert Säll and Alessandro Del Vecchio among the key creative figures.

You Can’t Kill My Rock ’n Roll makes Hardcore Superstar’s streetwise hard rock sound even tougher.

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

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

Fourteen gently draws on the warmth and touch of melancholy that Last Autumn’s Dream do so well in Scandinavian melodic rock.

Secret Treasures is a useful way to hear LAST AUTUMN'S DREAM from a different angle within the 2018 catalogue.

Clockwork Immortality expands the speed-metal and power-metal strengths Lovebites showed on their debut into a larger scale.

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.

Second Coming connects Pretty Maids singer Ronnie Atkins’ powerful voice with Eclipse frontman Erik Mårtensson’s modern writing and production instincts.

All Rise shows Perfect Plan’s deep love for eighties-style melodic rock with the weight of modern production.

Apocalypse pursues the pleasures of traditional power metal with complete commitment around Ralf Scheepers’ fierce high voice and Mat Sinner’s heavy bass.

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.

Cast in Stone gathers Royal Hunt’s symphonic keyboards, progressive movement and powerful choruses into a focused fourteenth album.

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.

Play to Win brings Striker’s speed-metal attack and eighties hard-rock chorus sense into one of the band’s most buoyant balances.

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

Prisma adds a little shadow and modern texture to the bright melodic rock The Poodles do so well.

XIII introduces TNT with new vocalist Baol Bardot Bulsara and shows the outline of a fresh lineup around Ronni Le Tekrø’s distinctive guitar.

Tunguska turns the scale suggested by the 1908 Tunguska event into Treat’s own high-energy melodic hard rock.

Steelfactory finds U.D.O. returning to direct, heavy metal with a strong sense of performing unity.

Reidolized (The Soundtrack to the Crimson Idol) revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording

Earthrage joins the identities of Jeff Scott Soto, Erik Mårtensson and Robert Säll in a heavier, more polished third W.E.T.