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Tales from the Jugular

Staff Decade End Awards for 2010-2019!
Our First-Ever Decade End Favorites Edition!

By: Maximum Metal Staff
Published: Saturday, January 18, 2020
We've gathered up our thoughts on the hard rock/metal releases of 2019! Even if you really don't give a damn what any of our opinions are, there are so many releases put out in this age of do-it-yourself creation that you may see names you missed, older bands you forgot existed or unknowns to look up and sample. It's all about getting the word out and supporting the music!

FRANK HILL
Album of the Decade - Metal/Hard Rock
Unleash the Archers - Apex
'Apex' ticked all of the right Power and Traditional checkboxes for me this year. Within its 10 tracks, there are fast-paced power wind-ups, chest-thumpers, contemplative numbers, Maiden gallopers, and addictive choruses all wrapped up in a cohesive story with thoughtful characterization. If you spend some time and climb into it, you'll hear beyond the genre conventions and into UtA's subtleties of superior musicianship from intricate drum rhythms and unexpected guitar chords to vocals that range from soft passages to all-out screams. All of 'Apex' is delicately connected with tracks that are standalone and supportive of the whole. It is at times introverted and extroverted. From glory to pathos to anxiety to triumph, each song brings its own emotional quality to the dark and appealing narrative. There are songs on here that will be covered by other bands in the years to come. There is potential to further expand and worldbuild the storyline. Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Primal Fear, Mercenary, Amaranthe) handled the production of 'Apex' giving it the polish it deserves. 'Apex' is power, passion, and vocals that sing us up to the sky and beyond.

Best of the Decade - Metal/Hard Rock
Monster Truck - Sittin' Heavy
Audrey Horne: Youngblood
Honeymoon Disease - The Transcendence
Hardcore Superstar - Split Your Lip
Unleash the Archers - Time Stands Still
Overkill - Ironbound
Volbeat - Beyond Hell Above Heaven
Grand Magus - Hammer of the North
Underride - Distorted Nation
Danko Jones - Fire Music
Crimson Shadows - Kings Among Men

Album of the Decade - Non-Metal
Old Crow Medicine Show - Remedy

Best of the Decade - Non-Metal
Turnpike Troubadours - The Turnpike Troubadours
Jason Isbell - Southeastern, Something More Than Free
Johnny Cash - Out Among the Stars
Hellbound Glory - Old Highs New Lows
Robert Ellis - The Lights from the Chemical Plant

ERIC COMPTON
Metal/Hard Rock Album of the Decade
Iced Earth - Plagues of Babylon

Best of the Decade - Metal/Hard Rock
Corrosion of Conformity - No Cross No Crown
Lady Beast - Vicious Breed
Unleash the Archers - Apex
Metallica - Hardwired...to Self-Destruct
Volbeat - Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie
Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
Iced Earth - Plagues of Babylon
In Flames - Siren Charms
Rise Against - End Game
Deceased - Surreal Overdose

Album of the Decade - Non-Metal
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound

Best of the Decade - Non-Metal (no particular order)
Ian Noe - Between the Country
Corb Lund - Cabin Fever
Chris Knight - Little Victories, Almost Daylight
Old Crow Medicine Show - Remedy, Carry Me Back, Volunteer
Corb Lund - Things That Can't Be Undone
Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material, Golden Hour
Turnpike Troubadours - ST, A Long Way from Your Heart
Jason Isbell - Southeastern,Something More Than Free,The Nashville Sound

TROY COLE
Metal/Hard Rock Albums of the Decade (alpha order)

Amon Amarth - Jomsviking
Amorphis - Under The Red CLoud
Anthrax - Worship Music
Ashes of Ares - Well of Souls
Black Sabbath - 13
Bloody Hammers - S/T
Corrosion of Conformity - No cross No crown
Creeping Death - Wretched Illusions
Crobot - Motherbrain
Exhorder - Mourn the Southern Skies
Gojira - Magma
Grand Magus - Hammer of the North
Green Death - Hallowmass
Iced Earth - Plagues of Babylon
Iced Earth - Incorruptible
Megadeth - Endgame
Megadeth - Dystopia
Metal Church - Damned if You Do
Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy
Night Demon - Curse of the Damned
Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
Parkway Drive - Reverence
Queensryche - The Verdict
Rival Sons - Hallow Bones
Rival Sons - Feral Roots
Rob Zombie - The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy
Sanctuary - The Year the Sun Died
Testament - Brotherhood of the Snake

DAVID LOVELESS
Metal Albums of the Decade

Evoken - Atra Mors (2012)
Dirge - Lost Empyrean (2018)
Gigan - Undulating Waves Of Rainbiotic Iridescence (2017)
Car Bomb - Meta (2016)
Ion Dissonance - Cursed (2010)
MGLA - Age Of Excuse (2019)
Dirge - Hyperion (2014)
Textures - Dualism (2011)
Tesseract - Polaris (2015)
Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory And Injury (2013)

BRAD CAPLAN
Metal/Hard Rock Albums of the Decade in chronological order. A great decade for Metal and Hard Rock!

Alter Bridge - III
Volbeat - Beyond Hell/Above Heaven
Foo Fighters - Wasted Light
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage
Devin Townsend - Epicloud
Dream Theater - Dream Theater
Black Label Society - Catacombs of the Black Vatican
Iron Maiden - Book of Souls
Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Slash/Myles Kennedy - World in Fire
Metallica - Hardwired...To Self Destruct
Volbeat - Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie
Amorphis - Queen of Time
Judas Priest - Firepower
Rival Sons - Feral Roots
Alter Bridge - Walk the Sky
Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
While She Sleeps - So What
Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind

NATE TURPIN
Metal Albums of the Decade

1. Terra Tenebrosa - The Reverses (2016)
2. Godflesh - Post Self (2017)
3. Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailor (2014)
4. Lantlos - .neon (2010)
5. Bethlehem - Bethlehem (2016)
6. Contrastic - Jarmo (2014)
7. Plebeian Grandstand - False Highs, True Lows (2016)
8. Neocaesar - 11:11 (2017)


















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