The Top 20 Metal Albums of 2013

As always, 2013 saw an awesome spectacle of heavy music. We don’t want to say “metal” specifically, because a lot of what we found really stood out was thinking outside the traditional “heavy metal” box. We were also flat-out astounded by some of the new bands to crawl from the murky depths in 2013. Beastmilk, Concrete Cross, and Obliterations, are all bands we expect huge things from in the future. It’s always hard to pick twenty standouts, and 2013 was no different. Still, after everything, these are the records that we continue to play day in and day out. These are Crave’s Top 20 Heavy Music Albums For 2013.

20 Best Metal Albums of 2013

20. Kylesa - Ultraviolet

Label: Season Of Mist

An acid trip on record, Ultraviolet is heavy when it needs to be, dreamy when it has to be, and psychedelic throughout.
19. Voivod - Target Earth

Label: Century Media Records

Voivod prove their penchant for writing excellent math-metal.
18. Amon Amarth - Deceiver Of The Gods

Label: Metalblade Records

Epic, grandiose metal outlining the battle between Norse gods? How is this album not on EVERYBODY’S list?
17. Carcass - Surgical Steel

Label: Nuclear Blast

The classic band returns with a solid album that reminds us why we loved Carcass in the first place.
16. Doomriders - Grand Blood

Label: Deathwish

Grand Blood is a challenging record from a band who is always growing as songwriters, and pushing themselves as musicians. Vocally this is easily Nate Newton’s best, and most personal, performance to date.
15. Exhumed - Necrocracy

Label: Relapse Records

The term “creative death metal record” is not one uttered frequently.
14. Motorhead - Aftershock

Label: UDR GmBH

Motorhead have written the same album for over thirty years and they continue to crush the nuts of any other band out there. Aftershock is no different.
13. Gorguts - Colored Sands

Label: Season Of Mist

Death, band issues and other problems have held Gorguts back from a new release since 2001. Thankfully, Colored Sands frames the band in top form, with a new angle on songwriting that is both ugly and beautiful at the same time.
12. Year Of No Light - Tocsin

Label: yearofnolight.bandcamp.com

The second release in 2013 from Year Of No Light, Tocsin is another mind-blowing epic of guitar dynamics built on massive soundscapes. This is the first time I have ever had two albums from one artist make my top list.
11. Mouth Of The Architect - Dawning

Label: Translation Loss

Dawning is infectious simply by how ambitious it is. The growls are fine; the clean vocals are hard to take. When they do click, Dawning becomes genius. If they don’t, it’s maddening to listen to. That level of dedication to conflict alone makes Dawning worth checking out.
10. Rotting Christ - Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy

Label: Peaceville Records

Kata ton Daimona Eaytoy incorporates everything from bag pipes, to Incan and Mayan music. Black Metal must keep expanding to stay relevant. Rotting Christ understands this.
9. Suffocation - Pinnacle Of Bedlam

Label: Nuclear Blast

There is little mercy throughout Pinnacle Of Bedlam, just song after song of growling vocals, pummeling drums and jackhammer riffs. This record is for those who want their Death Metal delivered like a swift blow to the head.
8. Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance

Label: Peaceville Records

At times clean and epic, sounding like a Game Of Thrones cry to war. Then, on a dime, The Underground Resistance is immersed in screeching gutter vocals, and riffs that are as catchy as they are brutal.
7. Immolation - Kingdom Of Conspiracy

Label: Nuclear Blast

With Kingdom of Conspiracy, Immolation takes their incredibly brutal death metal and weaves some solid songwriting into it. Imagine a really enjoyable kick to the nuts.
6. Concrete Cross - S/T

Label: Man In Decline Records

Everything on this album is built for short, focused blasts of power. Concrete Cross has no wasted motion in their attack. They are a force to be reckoned with, and their album is a skull-crushing debut.
5. Year Of No Light - Vampyre

Label: yearofnolight.bandcamp.com

Originally planned as a soundtrack to the sixties art-horror film Vampyre, Year Of No Light has created something so staggeringly emotional, so balanced between darkness and light, strength and frailty, you can’t help but be astonished by Vampyre.
4. Obliterations - S/T

Label: Obliterations.bandcamp.com

The bastard child of Black Sabbath and Black Flag. What else do you need to know?
3. Corrections House - Last City Zero

Label: Neurot Recordings

The searing guitar blitz of Scott Kelley (Neurosis), the poetic insanity of Mike Williams (Eyehategod) and the musical massacre of Bruce Lamont (Yakuza) and Sanford Parker (Minsk) form with Minister Of Propaganda Seward Fairbury to create something wholly original.
2. Nails - Abandon All Life

Label: Southern Lord Records

Abandon All Life is an album that unleashes a purity of rage, and a commitment to devastation. This is a seventeen-minute bastard of vitriolic unpleasantry.
1. Beastmilk - Climax

Label: Svart Records

This is not just the best heavy album of 2013; it’s the best overall album, period. A post-rock, goth, punk, metal hybrid of great songwriting. Climax blows the rest away.