Ringing in 2020 with one last roundup of the 2010s. I’m sending this full Deep Dive to everyone on my email list. This newsletter has existed in some format for the entire decade. Last month, I switched to a paid subscription model, with loads more content and metrics every week (social media, streaming, video, etc.) and regular deep dives, like this one, into all sorts of subjects of relevance to the rock, metal, and punk industry. Make some time to discover some of the records you missed on this list.
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Top 50 Highest Rated Metal Albums of the 2010s
Aggregating the critical ratings and year end lists from every major publication…
01. BLOOD INCANTATION - Hidden History of the Human Race (2019)
02. EMPLOYED TO SERVE - Eternal Forward Motion (2019)
03. DEAFHEAVEN - Sunbather (2013)
04. SIGH - Heir to Despair (2018)
05. GORGUTS - Colored Sands (2013)
06. GORGUTS - Pleiades’ Dust (2016)
07. WHITECHAPEL - The Valley (2019)
08. SLEEP - The Sciences (2018)
09. BARONESS - Cold & Grey (2019)
10. BEHEMOTH - The Satanist (2014)
11. CONVERGE - All We Love We Leave Behind (2012)
12. THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER - Nightbringers (2017)
13. BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME - Automata II (2018)
14. VHÖL - Deeper Than Sky (2015)
15. MACHINE HEAD - Bloodstone & Diamonds (2014)
16. VOIVOD - The Wake (2018)
17. CARCASS - Surgical Steel (2013)
18. DEVIN TOWNSEND - Empath (2019)
19. DARKTHRONE - Old Star (2019)
20. ARCHITECTS - Holy Hell (2018)
21. ALCEST - Écailles de Lune (2010)
22. CONVERGE - The Dusk in Us (2017)
23. GOJIRA - Magma (2016)
24. DEAFHEAVEN - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (2018)
25. PALLBEARER - Heartless (2017)
26. VEKTOR - Terminal Redux (2016)
27. CODE ORANGE - Forever (2017)
28. SUNN O))) - Life Metal (2019)
29. YOB - Our Raw Heart (2018)
30. VOIVOD - Target Earth (2013)
31. PIG DESTROYER - Head Cage (2018)
32. SCOTT WALKER & SUNN O))) - Soused (2014)
33. HIGH ON FIRE - De Vermis Mysteriis (2012)
34. PALLBEARER - Foundations of Burden (2014)
35. SKELETONWITCH - Devouring Radiant Light (2018)
36. GOJIRA - L’Enfant Sauvage (2012)
37. TRIPTYKON - Melana Chasmata (2014)
38. GHOST - Meliora (2015)
39. THOU - Magus (2018)
40. BEHEMOTH - I Loved You at Your Darkest (2018)
41. KYLESA - Spiral Shadow (2010)
42. TRIBULATION - Down Below (2018)
43. LEVIATHAN - Scar Sighted (2015)
44. TOMB MOLD - Planetary Clairvoyance (2019)
45. SLIPKNOT - We Are Not Your Kind (2019)
46. WHILE SHE SLEEPS - So What? (2019)
47. PANOPTICON - Roads to the North (2014)
48. INTER ARMA - Sulphur English (2019)
49. PALLBEARER - Sorrow and Extinction (2012)
50. ZEAL AND ARDOR - Stranger Fruit (2018)
Highest Rated Punk Albums of the 2010s
01. PUP - Morbid Stuff (2019)
02. CREEPER - Eternity, In Your Arms (2017)
03. ROYAL HEADACHE - High (2015)
04. SWMRS - Berkeley’s On Fire (2019)
05. OFF! - First Four EPs (2010)
06. JEFF ROSENSTOCK - Worry (2016)
07. TITUS ANDRONICUS - The Most Lamentable Tragedy (2015)
08. FUCKED UP - David Comes to Life (2011)
09. SCREAMING FEMALES - All at Once (2018)
10. THE HOTELIER - Home, Like Noplace is There (2014)
11. OTOBOKE BEAVER - Itekoma Hits (2019)
12. GALLOWS - Gallows (2012)
13. MANNEQUIEN PUSSY - Patience (2019)
14. THE MENZINGERS - After the Party (2017)
15. KVELERTAK - Meir (2013)
16. SCREAMING FEMALES - Ugly (2012)
17. AGAINST ME! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014)
18. DOWNTOWN BOYS - Full Communism (2015)
19. COLISEUM - Sister Faith (2013) - *my personal favorite*
20. ALL PIGES MUST DIE - Nothing Violates This Nature (2013)
Highest Rated Rock Albums of the 2010s
01. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS - Skeleton Tree (2016)
02. PJ HARVEY - Let England Shake (2011)
03. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS - Lovely Creatures (2017)
04. ARCADE FIRE - The Suburbs (2010)
05. BLACK FOXES - REIðI (2018)
06. BLACK PEAKS - All That Divides (2018)
07. THE XCERTS - Hold on to Your Heart (2018)
08. TAME IMPALA - Lonerism (2012)
09. RADIOHEAD - A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
10. SLEATER-KINNEY - No Cities to Love (2015)
This review aggregation site is a great resource, btw.
Metal Grammy Winners (2010s)
JUDAS PRIEST (2010)
IRON MAIDEN (2011)
FOO FIGHTERS (2012)
HALESTORM (2013)
BLACK SABBATH (2014)
TENACIOUS D (2015)
GHOST (2016)
MEGADETH (2017)
MASTODON (2018)
HIGH ON FIRE (2019)
One last little bit of 2019…
Metallica came late to the Spotify party, but nevertheless generated over 1 billion streams just this year on the number one streaming platform, as verified below…