BOB COCK’S TOP FIFTEEN METAL ALBUMS OF 2011

So call it old age or what have you, but this writer fell out of “check” with “the scene” around June or so (as far as new stuff coming out), and was also astonished to see that Uriah Heep put out another album unbeknownst to him. Plus, a lot of the albums that made my list are traditionalist or power metal. Yikes.

Then there’s the plethora of stuff in the “I’ll get to it eventually” folder of my PC that did not get got to. And then there are the ones I just plain forgot about.

But, hopefully, the important thing isn’t missing a few releases here or there in our quest to be in touch even as aging metalheads. Hopefully, the important thing is still supporting the scene at shows, by buying merch or even continuing to purchase those pieces of plastic and vinyl they manufacture.

And so:

15. Diamond Plate, Generation Why? (Earache)
14. Iced Earth, Dystopia (Century Media)
13. Cauldron, Burning Fortune  (Earache)
12. Kvelertak, Kvelertak (for us North Americans) (Indie/The End)
11. KEN Mode, Venerable (Profound Lore)
10. Ghost, Opus Eponymous (again for us North Americans) (Metal Blade/Rise Above)
9. Wolf, Legions Of Bastards (Century Media/Prosthetic)
8. Mastodon, The Hunter (Reprise/Warner Bros.)
7. The Black Dahlia Murder, Ritual (Metal Blade)
6. Revocation, Chaos of Forms (Relapse)
5. Riot,  Immortal Soul (Steamhammer/SPV)
4. Megadeth,  Th1rt3en (Roadrunner)
3. Moonsorrow, Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa (Spinefarm)
2. Skull Fist, Head of the Pack (NoiseArt)

1. Frozen, 3 (self-released)

-BC