OVERDRIVE BEST OF 2020 – THE ALBUMS THAT CARRIED US THROUGH THE LAST 12 MONTHS…
Posted on December 23, 2020 by Oran
What a year! None of us could have imagined the catastrophic outcome of Covid-19’s impact on the live entertainment industry.
Despite a huge amount of tours and albums being postponed, 2020 still delivered some absolute bangers. Here’s what we were listening to for the last 12 months…
ORAN O’BEIRNE
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020
- Mr Bungle – ‘The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny‘
- Jonathan Hultén – ‘Chants from Another Place‘
- Hjelvik – ‘Welcome to Hel‘
- Katakalyism – ‘Unconquered‘
- Pallbearer – ‘Forgotten Days‘
- Ulver – ‘Flowers of Evil‘
- Killer Be Killed – ‘Reluctant Hero‘
- Kvelertak – ‘Splid‘
- Bring Me the Horizon – ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’
- Skeletal Remains – ‘The Entombment of Chaos‘
HONORABLE MENTION
- Dance Gavin Dance – ‘Afterburner‘
- Demonic Death Judge – ‘The Trail’
- Sepultura – ‘Quadra’
- Carcass – ‘Despicable’ EP.
- Deftones – ‘Ohms’
- Code Orange – ‘Underneath’
- Lik – ‘Misanthropic Breed’
- Video Nasties – ‘Dominion’
- Hellripper – ‘The Affair of the Poisons’
- Gulch – ‘Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress’
BEST ALBUM ART OF 2020
Imperial Triumphant – ‘Alphaville‘
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF 2020
Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Ordinary Man‘
MOST ANTICIPATED LP’S FOR 2021
- Spiritbox
- Vio-Lence
- Anthrax
- Kerry King Project
- Ghost
ONE TO WATCH 2021
Spiritbox
STEVE DEMPSEY
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020
- Dead Lord – ‘Surrender‘
- We Sell The Dead – ‘Black Sleep‘
- Midnight – ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy‘
- Sorcerer – ‘Lamenting Of The Innocent’
- My Dying Bride – ‘Ghost Of Orion‘
- Paradise Lost – ‘Obsidian‘
- The Night Flight Orchestra – ‘Aeromantic‘
- Fates Warning – ‘Long Day Good Night‘
- Me And That Man – ‘New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1‘
- Nightwish -‘Human :||: Nature‘
HONORABLE MENTION
- Heathen – ‘Empire Of The Blind‘
- Archon Angel – ‘Fallen‘
- Katatonia – ‘City Burials‘
- Avandra – ‘Skylighting‘
- Napalm Death – ‘Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism‘
- Spirit Adrift – ‘Enlightened In Eternity‘
- High Spirits – ‘Hard To Stop‘
- Annihilator – ‘Ballistic, Sadistic‘
- Anti-Flag – ‘20/20 Vision‘
- Armored Saint – ‘Punching The Sky’
BEST ALBUM ART OF 2020
Eternal Champion – ‘Ravening Iron‘
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF 2020
Zeal & Ardor – ‘Wake Of A Nation‘
MOST ANTICIPATED LP’S FOR 2021
- Soen – ‘Imperial‘
- Evergrey – ‘Escape Of The Phoenix’
- Exodus – ‘Persona Non-Grata’
- Rob Zombie – ‘The Lunar Injection Kool-Aid Conspiracy’
- The Ruins Of Beverast – ‘The Thule Grimoires’
ONE TO WATCH 2021
Soen
EOIN LAWLOR
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020
- Ulver – ‘Flowers Of Evil’
- Malokarpatan – ‘Krupinské Ohne’
- Enslaved – ‘Utgard’
- Ihsahn – ‘Pharos’ EP
- Midnight – ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy’
- Sorcerer – ‘Lamenting Of The Innocent’
- Front – ‘Antichrist Militia’
- Freeways – ‘True Bearings’
- Occult Burial – ‘Burning Eerie Lore’
- Carach Angren – ‘Franckensteina Strataemontanus’
HONORABLE MENTION
- Paradise Lost – ‘Obsidian’
- Kawir – ‘Adrasteia’
- Ensnared – ‘Inimicus Generis Humani’
- Varde – ‘Fedraminne’
- Skald – ‘Viking Memories’
- Gama Bomb – ‘Sea Savage’
- Carcass – ‘Despicable EP’
- Ten Foot Wizard – ‘Get Out Of Your Mind’
- Mr Bungle – ‘The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo’
- Jazz Sabbath – ‘Jazz Sabbath’
BEST ALBUM ART OF 2020
Front – ‘Antichrist Militia’
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF 2020
Iron Maiden – ‘Nights Of The Dead‘
MOST ANTICIPATED LP’S FOR 2021
- Tribulation – Where The Gloom Becomes Sound
- Transilvania – Of Sleep And Death
- Green Lung
ONE TO WATCH
The return of live shows!
NORRIE KIVLEHAN
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020
- Carach Angren – ‘Franckensteina Strataemontanus’
- Panzerballett – ‘Planet-Z’
- Annihilator – ‘Ballistic, Sadistic’
- Imperial Triumphant – ‘Alphaville’
- Intronaut – ‘Fluid Existential Inversions’
- Dialogia – ‘Nostrum’
- Mr Bungle – ‘The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny’
- Ayreon – ‘Transitus’
- Oranssi Pazuzu – ‘Mestarin kynsi’
- Haken – ‘Virus’
HONORABLE MENTION
- Uada – ‘Djinn’
- Our Oceans – ‘While Time Disappears’
BEST ALBUM ART FOR 2020
Emma Ruth Rundle / Thou: ‘May Our Chambers Be Full’
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF 2020
Dark Fortress – ‘Spectres from the Old World’
MOST ANTICIPATED LP’S FOR 2021
- Hannes Grossman
- Cynic
- Devin Townsend – The Puzzle
ONE TO WATCH
Dürtbürd
BLÁTHÍN ECKHARDT
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020
- Oranssi Pazuzu – ‘Mestarin kynsi‘
- Emma Ruth Rundle, Thou – ‘May Our Chambers Be Full‘
- Hymn – ‘Breach Us‘ EP
- Kvelertak – ‘Splid‘
- Nordra – ‘Pylon III‘
- Anna Von Hausswollf – ‘All Thoughts Fly‘
- Jesse Draxler – ‘Reigning Cement‘
- Intronaut – ‘Fluid Existential Inversions‘
- IDLES – ‘Ultra Mono‘
- Liturgy – ‘Origin of the Alimonies‘
HONORABLE MENTION
- The Ocean Collective – ‘Phanerozoic II‘
- Havok – ‘V‘
- Spotlights – ‘We Are All Atomic EP‘
- False Gods – ‘No Symmetry… Only Disillusion‘
- Elder – ‘Omens‘
- Imperial Triumphant – ‘Alphaville‘
- svrm – ‘Zanepad’ EP
- Sightless Pit – ‘Grave of a Dog‘
- Hexer – ‘Realm of the Feathered Serpent‘
- Bohren & der Club of Gore – ‘Patchouli Blue‘
BEST ALBUM ART OF 2020
Anna Von Hausswollf- ‘All Thoughts Fly‘
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF 2020
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – ‘KG‘
MOST ANTICIPATED LP’S FOR 2021
- LLNN
- Lingua Ignota
- Haeresis
- Alexis Marshall
- Boris
ONES TO WATCH
LLNN
KERRI CLARKE
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020
- Me and That Man – ‘New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol1‘
- Jonathan Hultén – ‘Chants from Another Place‘
- Lorna Shore – Immortal
- UADA – Djinn
- Secrets of the Moon – Black House
- Katatonia – City Burials
- Code Orange – Underneath
- My Dying Bride – The Ghost of Orion
- Paradise Lost – Obsidian
- The Birthday Massacre – Diamonds
HONORABLE MENTION
- Ihsahn- ‘Telemark/Pharos‘
- Godthrymm – ‘Reflections‘
- Green Carnation – ‘Leaves of Yesteryear’
BEST ALBUM ART OF 2020
My Dying Bride – ‘The Ghost of Orion’
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF 2020
Ozzy Osborne – ‘Ordinary Man’
MOST ANTICIPATED LP’S FOR 2021
- Tribulation
- Ghost
- Lord of the Lost
ONE TO WATCH
Godthrymm
MARK LENNON
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020
- Paradise Lost – ‘Oblivion‘
- Ulver – ‘Flowers Of Evil‘
- Deftones – ‘Ohms‘
- Killer Be Killed – ‘Reluctant Hero‘
- Dead Lord – ‘Surrender‘
- Pallbearer – ‘Forgotten Days‘
- Jonathan Hultén – ‘Chants from Another Place‘
- Midnight – ‘Rebirth By Blasphemy‘
- The Grief – ‘Horizons Fall‘
- Henrik Palm – ‘Poverty Metal‘
HONOURABLE MENTION
- Carcass – Despicable EP
- My Dying Bride – The Ghost of Orion
- Mr Bungle – The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
- Kirk Windstein – Dream in Motion
- Anaal Nathrakh – Endarkenment
- Skeletal Remains – The Entombment of Chaos
- Spirit Adrift – Enlightened in Eternity
- Wayfarer – A Romance with Violence
- Trivium – What the Dead men say
- Ulcerate – Stare into Death and be Still
BEST ALBUM ART OF 2020
Pallbearer – ‘Forgotten Days’
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF 2020
Corey Taylor – ‘CMFT’
MOST ANTICIPATED LP’S FOR 2021
- Tribulation – ‘Where the Gloom Becomes Sound’
- Mastodon
- Baroness
- Green Lung
- Ghost
ONE TO WATCH
Tribulation
Photo -Ester Segarra
SHAUN MARTIN
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020
- Hatebreed – ‘Weight of the False Self’
- Alpha Wolf – ‘A Quiet Place to Die’
- Killer Be Killed – ‘Reluctant Hero’
- Deftones – ‘Ohms’
- Sepultura – ‘Quadra’
- Onslaught – ‘Generation Antichrist’
- Warbringer – ‘Weapons of Tomorrow’
- Testament – ‘Titans of Creation’
- Ensiferum – ‘Thalassic’
- AC/DC – ‘Power Up’
HONOURABLE MENTION
- Armored Saint – ‘Punching the Sky’
- Raging Speedhorn – ‘Hard to Kill’
- Iron Savior – ‘Skycrest’
- Avatar – ‘Hunter Gatherer’
- Annihilator – ‘Ballistic, Sadistic’
- Sylosis – ‘Cycle of Suffering’
- Psycroptic – ‘The Watcher of All’
- Primal Fear – ‘Metal Commando’
- Carcass – ‘Despicable’
- Gama Bomb – ‘Sea Savage’
BEST ALBUM ART OF 2020
Thanatos – ‘Violent Death Rituals’
MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUM OF 2020
Metallica – ‘S&M2′
MOST ANTICIPATED LP’S FOR 2021
- Arch Enemy
- Rob Zombie
- Suicidal Tendencies
- Kerry King Project
- Iron Maiden (Covers album)
ONE TO WATCH
Defecto
There you have it! Another year has gone and what a year it was. Our small selection is a testament to the resilience of artists and creative people all over the world who are currently going through a very difficult time but still managing to produce some outstanding new music.
We hope that you enjoy our lists and discover some new music that will help you through these tough times. Please remember to support your local venues and record stores and of course, the musicians.
We have a lot planned for 2021 and can’t wait to share our news, reviews, exclusive interviews and much more with you. Have a great Christmas and New Year.
See you in 2021!
Please click here if you wish to support us. Thanks in advance.
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2020
