2019 Metal & Hard Rock Albums

Lacuna Coil's ninth album, released on 11 October 2019, built around an idea of black souls that grew from losing people close to the band.

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.

The Darkness's sixth album, released in October 2019: their first concept album, a parable of the slow death and glorious rebirth of rock and roll.

An orchestral album billed to Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra, released in November 2019: no electric guitars, and a sequel to a Markus Heitz novel.

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

DragonForce's eighth album, from September 2019: part of it was recorded live on Herman Li's Twitch stream, with Epica's Coen Janssen on keyboards.

Opeth's thirteenth album, from September 2019, issued on the same day in two versions, one sung in Swedish and one in English.

Battle Beast's fifth album, from March 2019, the second written around Janne Bjorkroth after Anton Kabanen's departure.

The sixth album by Britain's Bring Me the Horizon, from January 2019: a long step away from metalcore into electronics and pop.

Rammstein's seventh album, from May 2019: their first in ten years, and certified diamond in Germany.

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

Diamond Head's eighth album, from May 2019, the second with Rasmus Bom Andersen singing.

The second Metalite album, their first for AFM Records and the first with Erica Ohlsson singing. Electronic texture and programmed rhythm move a step forward across its eleven songs, released on 25 October 2019. Marquee issued the Japanese edition on 20 November with "Riders of the Storm" added for twelve.

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.

Nucleus, released worldwide on 29 March 2019, gathers Anthem songs re-recorded with English lyrics throughout. It followed the band becoming the first Japanese act signed to the German label Nuclear Blast, and it is the record with which they began addressing an audience outside Japan.

The first album for Silver Lining Music: twelve songs including "Last Train to Tokyo", released worldwide and in Japan on 18 October 2019.

The album by BAND-MAIKO, the alter-ego project that swaps the maid conceit for a maiko one: seven songs layering Kyoto dialect and Japanese-instrument colour over the band’s usual hard rock.

A two-song single issued the same day as "glory", pairing the title track with "Smile".

A two-song single issued the same day as "Bubble", pairing the title track with "hide-and-seek".

The second album with Ronnie Romero singing. Alongside further early Gotthard songs it carries two new ones, "Queen of Hearts" and "Don't Get Me Wrong", and a cover of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom". AFM Records released it worldwide on 27 September 2019.

The twelfth studio album, released by Mighty Music on 22 November 2019. Eleven songs running from "Worlds Apart" to "Sail On".

The band's third full live album — a late-November 2017 show in Aalborg, Denmark, captured without Raven knowing a tape was running.

The first SINNER album with a permanent second voice, Giorgia Colleluori, alongside Mat Sinner. Ricky Warwick and Ronnie Romero guest on it, and Dennis Ward co-produced and mixed.

The major-label debut on avex, made by a line-up that had just gained guitarist AYUMI and drummer NATSUMI.

A sixteenth studio album that turned out to be the last before Ronnie Atkins' illness was made public.

BABYMETAL’s third album expands its universe through worldwide musical colors, major guests and a broad light-and-dark design.

A full-length that expands BAND-MAID’s expressive range, balancing wider melodies with hard-driving performances.

Moonglow revisits Avantasia’s metal-opera scale with deeper shading, polished melodies and a stronger sense of story.

Sliver & Gold captures Backyard Babies’ streetwise rock and roll without sanding away its rough edges.

From Hell with Love turns Beast in Black's heavy-metal riffs, eighties synthesizers and science-fiction drama into overwhelmingly catchy songs.

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.

Hexed places Children of Bodom’s slicing guitar work, high-speed keyboard exchanges and rough-edged vocals back at the front of the mix.

Rust keeps Crashdïet’s glam and sleaze-metal flash intact while bringing more weight and wounded atmosphere into the picture.

Forever Wild openly embraces the spirit of eighties arena rock and rebuilds it with contemporary weight.

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

Empath gathers the heaviness, pop instinct, ambience, extreme-metal intensity and humor of Devin Townsend’s work into one large emotional journey.

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

Paradigm is Eclipse at its most sharply focused: a melodic hard-rock record built from thick riffs, urgent rhythms and choruses that arrive quickly and decisively.

Dynamind joins Sabine Edelsbacher’s clear, expressive voice to Lanvall’s symphonic writing with unusual precision.

Line of Fire builds around Harry Hess’s rich voice and pursues the ideal texture of melodic rock and AOR.

M.E.T.A.L. is Freedom Call’s wholehearted celebration of melodic power metal and the joy of listening to it.

Frozen Crown’s second album joins sharp, melodic-death-inflected riffing to the lift of European power metal.

Into the Purgatory is Galneryus’s twelfth studio album and a strong restatement of the band’s core after its fifteenth anniversary.

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

I, the Mask reconnects In Flames’ melodic-death-metal sharpness with the modern heavy-rock sensibility the band has developed over time.

Kill or Get Killed unites Iron Savior’s science-fiction imagery, steel-edged riffing and heroic choruses into a single forward drive.

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.

After a long gap, Determinus brings Leverage back with the strength of Scandinavian melodic metal and the song-minded feeling of hard rock at the front.

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.

The Eighth Mountain reconnects Rhapsody of Fire’s fantasy scale with racing power metal through a strongly narrative design.

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.

Verkligheten spreads Soilwork’s melodic-death-metal attack and open hard-rock sense of melody across a double-album scale.

Talviyö finds Sonata Arctica exploring its present identity through melody, vocal expression and atmosphere rather than simply recreating early speed.

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

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

Renaissance Men is The Wildhearts’ studio return after a long gap, packing punk impulse, power-pop melody and heavy guitar into compact, high-density songs.

Flesh & Blood presents Whitesnake’s blues-rooted hard-rock language with a modern, tightly focused sound.

Resist takes Within Temptation’s dramatic foundation into a leaner, more electronic and pop-conscious sound world.

Blue Lightning has Yngwie Malmsteen facing the blues and classic-rock music at the roots of his style through a mix of covers and originals.