Decibel Says These Are the 40 Best Metal Albums of 2019

2019 End of Year Listmania hath commencedth! Kicking things off, as per usual, is Decibel, who have unveiled their list of the year’s forty best metal albums ahead of their January 2020 issue, which will contain all the accompanying write-ups and such.

You can check out the list below, although… has there ever been a year with less suspense than 2019? This is metal’s answer to the year Return of the King swept the Oscars. Clearly, Slipknot’s We R Not Ur Kind and Tool’s Fear In Ock U Lum will occupy the top two spots on every single list this season. The only question is, who will put which album as #1 and who will put which album as #2. Sure, it’s the very definition of a Sophie’s choice, but still, you know they’re not gonna come along and put, like, I dunno, Blood Incantation at #1.

So where did Slipknot and Tool land on Decibel‘s list, and what else made the cut? Read on to find out…

40. Devil Master, Satan Spits on Children of Light
39. Smoulder, Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring
38. Nocturnus AD, Paradox
37. Elizabeth Colour Wheel, Nocebo
36. Misery Index, Rituals of Power
35. Vastum, Orificial Purge
34. Candlemass, The Door To Doom
33. Toxic Holocaust, Primal Future: 2019
32. Abbath, Outstrider
31. Cerebral Rot, Odious Descent Into Decay
30. Baroness, Gold & Grey
29. Misþyrming, Algleymi
28. Magic Circle, Departed Souls
27. Schammasch, Hearts of No Light
26. Opeth, In Cauda Venenum
25. No One Knows What the Dead Think, No One Knows What the Dead Think
24. Inter Arma, Sulphur English
23. Falls of Rauros, Patterns in Mythology
22. Die Choking, IV
21. Idle Hands, Mana
20. Cattle Decapitation, Death Atlas
19. Funereal Presence, Achatius
18. Darkthrone, Old Star
17. Haunt, If Icarus Could Fly
16. Obsequiae, The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
15. Venom Prison, Samsara
14. Devin Townsend, Empath
13. Mizmor, Cairn
12. Mayhem, Daemon
11. Full of Hell, Weeping Choir
10. False, Portent
9. Sacred Reich, Awakening
8. Spirit Adrift, Divided by Darkness
7. Blut aus Nord, Hallucinogen
6. Possessed, Revelations of Oblivion
5. Tomb Mold, Planetary Clairvoyance
4. Crypt Sermon, The Ruins of Fading Light
3. Gatecreeper, Deserted
2. Lingua Ignota, Caligula
1. Blood Incantation, Hidden History of the Human Race