2018 was the last year of my teens! Now admittedly, 19 is still a teenager on paper, but even by then, I felt far removed from the idiotic antics of 13 and 14. Typing that last sentence just days away from 26, I feel like I’m qualified for a Denny’s senior discount. Anyways, this was GREAT year for metal, especially traditional metal. When compiling this list, I couldn’t help but be reminded just how spoiled we were now 7 years ago. Hopefully this Top 10 does the same for you! Without further ado, here are our Top 10 Metal Albums of 2018!
10. Visigoth – Conqueror’s Oath
If the growing traditional metal underground couldn’t keep Visigoth’s name out of their mouth after the release of 2015’s The Revenant King, then lord knows Conqueror’s Oath would send them into full blown overdrive, and for good reason. The Salt Lake City revivalists further honed their ’80s USPM worship formula to craft an album that had the NWOTHM bunch in a chokehold that hasn’t let up since. I know this for certain after catching them at Milwaukee Metal Fest last year, during which their faithful legions chanted and sang along to songs like “Steel and Silver” and “Traitor’s Gate” in sheer jubilation. Indeed, there’s no power like US power!
9. Cardiac Arrest – A Parallel Dimension of Despair
Perhaps it’s my Windy City bias talking, but Cardiac Arrest absolutely slaughtered 2018 with their first undisputed masterpiece, A Parallel Dimension of Despair. These maniacs lurked about the underground for the better part of the ’00s and ’10s, treating those in the know to one healthy helping of gore-soaked death metal after the next. Come 2018, the band reached a new level, or rather a new dimension, or brutality with A Parallel Dimension of Despair. The musicianship was tighter, the riffs were deadlier, and the songs themselves packed an undisputable meat and potatoes punch. The band has been riding high ever since!
8. Oxygen Destroyer – Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death
Even though he’s been primarily used as a metaphor for environmental disaster, from Blue Öyster Cult to Sepultura, Godzilla has been a long-running lyrical trope of heavy metal. It was only a matter of time before a band would devote their existence to the atomic breathing monster and his universe of fellow kaiju. Enter Oxygen Destroyer. With their debut album, Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death, OD vaporized all who stood in their way into oblivion, unleashing an absolutely pulverizing collection of feral death-thrashers in the tradition of Kreator and Morbid Saint. They’ve been going strong ever since, to put it lightly.
7. Saxon – Thunderbolt
If history has proven anything, if a Saxon song has the word “thunder” in the title, chances are it’s gonna go hard. “Thunderbolt” is no exception to this rule, and all the more reason why the NWOBHM legends decided to brand their 2018 album as such. Like every 21st century Saxon album before it, Thunderbolt is yet another masterclass in British metal brilliance, leaving no stone of their storied career unturned. Perhaps most memorable of the bunch is “They Played Rock and Roll”: A tribute to their fallen brothers Motörhead.
6. Riot V- Armor of Light
A band of smiling human-seal hybrids with various weaponry in hand? That can only mean one thing: A new Riot album! Their second since the untimely passing of founder Mark Reale, Armor of Light continued the band’s winning streak with yet another explosive offering of Thundersteel tailored power metal. As if he hadn’t already done a well enough job handling the reigns on 2014’s Unleash the Fire, frontman Todd Michael Hall continued to assert dominance on this one, singing his heart out over the Don Van Stavern’s high octane hymns. And you thought these warriors couldn’t shine any brighter!
5. Deceased – Ghostly White
BOOOOOO!!! 2018 might’ve marked the beginning of the OSDM boom, but that meant nothing to Deceased, who’d been cranking out death metal from the grave since 1985. Although nearly a decade had passed since 2011’s Surreal Overdose, the veteran outfit returned as if no time had passed at all with another collection of ghastly bangers that fused the corpse-grinding death, face-melting thrash, and ancient traditionalism so close to founder King Fowley’s heart, as well as ours for that matter. Despite their decades-long run, Deceased remained creatively vital as ever, and like many of the bands on this list, still do to this day.
4. Satan – Cruel Magic
The only thing more surprising than Riot thriving without their founding member in tow? Satan making up for lost time, going through a full blown renaissance period in the ’10s. This was already explored in our 2013 and 2015 lists, regarding Life Sentence and Atom by Atom respectively. Come 2018, the band did a full blown ’93 Chicago Bulls, going for a metallic threepeat. Armed with their lethal twin guitar attack, through-provoking lyricism, and an honest to goodness classic metal production, Satan ruled supreme yet again in 2018.
3. Lucifer – Lucifer II
Anyone who subscribes to the belief that the sequel is never as good as the original must’ve never heard Lucifer II. Having already cemented themselves amongst the Decibel reading crowd with their 2015 Fleetwood Mac meets Black Sabbath debut, Lucifer II saw the band reinvigorated with a new lineup, letting their hair down and embracing a hedonistic Deep Purple meets Uriah Heep approach. The result? A collection of ’70s metal anthems that, had it not been for their ill fated moniker, might have just landed on mainstream rock radio. After all, this was the year of Greta Van Fleet.
2. Uriah Heep – Living the Dream
Speaking of Uriah Heep, I was as floored as anyone when nearly 50 years into their existence, the band released their finest album since 1982’s Abominog, Living the Dream. This isn’t to slight the Bernie Shaw fronted output before it, which is great in its own way. That said, Mick Box and the gang must’ve gone back and studied what made the David Byron (RIP) era, John Lawton (RIP) era, and Abominog era so brilliant, wrapping up all those musical cues into one explosive affair of heavy prog majesty, blazing Hammond organs and all! They truly were “Living the Dream”.
- Judas Priest – Firepower
We called for the Priest, and they answered! After Painkiller, it had been a rather rocky road for the Metal Gods. The less that’s said about the Ripper years, the better. 2005’s Angel of Retribution was a strong return to form, but didn’t pack the punch of those ’70s and ’80s masterpieces. Neither did the ill fated Nostradamus (2008) or uneven Redeemer of Souls (2015). That all changed come Firepower. Not only was the Priest back: They were back with a vengeance.
Armed with wunderkind guitarist/songwriter Richie Faulkner, superstar producer Andy Sneap, and old pal Tom Allom, Priest constructed not just their finest effort since Painkiller, or the best metal album of 2018, but the best metal album of the ’10s, period. Every song on Firepower kicks ass, showcasing all the tropes one would expect from a Priest album: Ripping solos, huge choruses, eardrum shattering shrieks, bulldozing double bass drumming, and so forth. If this was Priest’s final stand, they were going out on top. Thankfully, it wasn’t. Let’s hope for our sake and the sake of generations to follow that Priest keeps “Delivering the Goods” for years to come. The world needs them!
Honorable Mentions
- Deathhammer – Chained to Hell
- Gatekeeper – East of Sun
- Michael Schenker Fest – Resurrection
- Sunstorm – The Road to Hell
- Whipstriker – Merciless Artillery
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