A new era of thrash metal: these albums are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year

The year 2016 saw albums from veteran thrash metal bands as well as from the new generation of thrash metal. We already listed albums celebrating their 50th, 40th, 30th, and 20th anniversaries, and now it’s time to take a look at which albums saw the light of day in 2016.

1.  Megadeth – “Dystopia”:

Megadeth totally surprised us with their 15th studio album. “Dystopia” managed to bring the band back to the vibe of “Countdown to Extinction” and “Youthanasia” by offering some solid thrash metal for the first time in a while, which probably even overshadowed Metallica‘s new album “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct”. Megadeth won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for this album, and as they took the stage to accept the award, Metallica‘s “Master of Puppets” began to play. One might assume that Dave Mustaine would have been furious about this, but he handled his acceptance speech with great class and professionalism.

2. Metallica – “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct”:

After the release of Metallica‘s “Death Magnetic”, fans had to wait eight years for the band’s 10th studio album. The band clearly made good use of their time working on their songs, as Metallica released a double album with a music video for each song. Metallica also received a Grammy nomination for the song “Hardwired” from the album, and the band performed at the Grammy Awards with Lady Gaga.

3. Anthrax – “For All Kings”: 

The third band from the legendary Big Four also released a new album when Anthrax‘s 11th LP, “For All Kings”, saw the light of day. The album continued strongly in the footsteps of 2011’s “Worship Music”, both musically and in terms of the cover art. “For All Kings” is also the first Anthrax album to feature Jonathan Donais on guitar, following Rob Caggiano’s move to Volbeat. “For All Kings” is Anthrax‘s latest album to date, but the band has been in the studio recently, so we can probably expect new material soon!

4. Lost Society – “Braindead”:

Known for their fast-paced thrash metal, Jyväskylä-based Lost Society released their most diverse album to date in 2016. Like their previous albums “Terror Hungry” and “Fast Loud Death”, this third full-length album featured fast-paced and furious thrash metal in the form of “Rage Me Up” and “Riot“, but there were also signs of maturity. Examples of this are “I Am The Antidote” and “Only (My) Death Is Certain,” which represent the band’s calmer but even heavier side.

5. Testament – “Brotherhood of the Snake”:

Testament still seems to be one of the hardest-hitting thrash metal bands around today, and the celebratory “Brotherhood of the Snake” offers no evidence to the contrary. The band’s 11th full-length album followed strongly in the footsteps of the previous album, “Dark Roots of Earth,” released in 2012, but why change a style that has proven successful? This fast-paced and aggressive album draws its name from the ancient concept of the secret society “Brotherhood of the Snake,” which refers to a civilization dating back thousands of years. The absolute highlights of the album are the title track, “The Pale King,” and “Seven Seals,” which represents the more melodic side of “Brotherhood of the Snake.”

6. Gojira – “Magma”:

Gojira, France’s gift to the metal world, recorded their sixth studio album, “Magma”, at the band’s own studio in New York. The recording was overshadowed by the unexpected death of drummer Mario Duplantier and vocalist-guitarist Joseph Duplantier’s mother, which is clearly reflected in the album’s atmosphere of grief and longing. The singles “Stranded” and “Silvera” have been released from “Magma”.

7. Volbeat – “Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie”: 

Volbeat‘s sixth studio album, “Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie”, continued in the lighter vein set by “Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies”, but still offered strong hits such as “Seal the Deal” and “For Evigt,” which received heavy radio play in Finland as well. “Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie” is the first Volbeat album on which Anders Kjølholm no longer played bass, with Rob Caggiano, who moved from Anthrax to Volbeat, taking over the bass duties. The album also includes a couple of covers – Georgia Satellites‘ “Battleship Chains” and Teenage Bottlerocket‘s “Rebound” – as well as guest appearances: Danko Jones lends his vocals to the song “Black Rose.” In addition, the song “The Loa’s Crossroad” features bagpipes, because why not?

8. Moonsorrow – “Jumalten Aika”:

Released on April Fools’ Day, “Jumalten Aika” is the latest album from Moonsorrow, the leading name in Finnish pagan metal. Released in 2016, the band’s seventh full-length album offers five tracks of epic pagan-tinged black metal. The album features Jonne Järvelä, known from Korpiklaani, who lends his voice to the song “Ruttolehto sis. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa.” The same song was performed live in all its glory with Järvelä at last summer’s Hellsinki Metal Festival.

9. Fleshgod Apocalypse – “King”:

Italian symphonic death metal pioneers Fleshgod Apocalypse, who also performed at last summer’s Kaaos Festival, blew minds with their fourth full-length album. The grandly titled “King” is a concept album in which each song represents a member of the king’s court, starting with the most important one, the king himself. “King” was also the last album to feature Tommaso Riccardo on vocals. The best tracks on the album are “In Aeternum,” “The Fool,” and “Cold as Perfection,” which have retained their place in our personal playlists even after ten years.

10. Heaven Shall Burn – “Wanderer”:

Heaven Shall Burn‘s eighth full-length album seamlessly combined metalicore and melodic death metal with profound existential questions. The album, released in 2016, also features some heavyweight guest appearances, with Cannibal Corpse‘s George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher appearing on the track “Prey to God” and Sólstafir’s Aðalbjörn Tryggvason appearing on the band’s cover of My Dying Bride‘s “The Cry of Mankind.” In addition to the My Dying Bride cover, the album also features Heaven Shall Burn‘s version of Sodom‘s “Agent Orange,” which is only included on the deluxe version of “Wanderer.” The deluxe version also included a bonus disc titled “Too Good to Steal From,” which compiled other covers performed by the band.

11. Death Angel – “The Evil Divide”:

Long-running thrash metal band Death Angel has always seemed to be overshadowed by the legendary “Big Four” – and this also seemed to be the case with the band’s eighth album, released in the same year that three of the four giants released new music. However, “The Evil Divide” offered modern thrash metal with strong melodies while maintaining its aggressiveness. The absolute highlights of the album are “The Moth,” “Lost,” and “Hatred United / United Hate,” which features a guest appearance by Sepultura‘s Andreas Kisser.

12. Devin Townsend Project – “Transcendence”:

Devin Townsend seems to be constantly churning out new music, with songs coming off the assembly line. A prime example of this is “Stars” from Transcendence, which originated on Toontrack’s livestream. Townsend took part in a challenge to create a complete song in less than two hours. “Transcendence” ended up being the last full-length album by the Devin Townsend Project.

13. Stam1na – “Elokuutio”:

Stam1na‘s seventh album was once again backed by a strong team: Janne Joutsenniemi, who produced the album “Raja”, served as producer and sound engineer, and this time Jens Bogren from Fascination Street Studios in Sweden served as mixer and mastering engineer. Since releasing just the album might be boring, Stam1na also released an app that lets you dive into extra material – because the physical album cover alone wasn’t enough. In addition, there is a 360-degree music video for the song “Kuudet Raamit,” in which the viewer can choose their own viewing angle.

14. Insomnium – “Winter’s Gate”:

Insomnium, the pride of Finnish melodic death metal, decided to offer something completely different on their seventh studio album. Strongly inspired by Edge of Sanity’s album Crimson, Insomnium worked on a 40-minute song called “Winter’s Gate”, based on singer-bassist Niilo Sevänen’s dark Viking-themed short story Talven portti (The Gate of Winter). The piece is divided into seven parts, but forms a coherent and epic whole.

15. Omnium Gatherum – “Grey Heavens”:

Omnium Gatherum also released their seventh studio album, entitled “Grey Heavens.” This album serves as a continuation of “Beyond”, released three years earlier, offering even more progressive melodic death metal than its predecessor. The singles “Frontiers“, “The Pit“, and “Skyline” were released from “Grey Heavens”.

16. Amon Amarth – “Jomsviking”:

Although Swedish Viking metal band Amon Amarth had already educated metalheads with lyrics drawn from Scandinavian mythology, Jomsviking is the band’s first concept album. Released in 2016, “Jomsviking” tells the story of a protagonist who joins the legendary Viking warrior group, the Jomsvikings. The album includes the concert favorite “Raise Your Horns” and “A Dream That Cannot Be,” featuring metal queen Doro Pesch.

17. Equilibrium – “Armageddon”:

Equilibrium, purveyors of German epic folk metal, followed up their fifth studio album, released a couple of years earlier, with “Erdentempel,” combining massive soundscapes with catchy melodies. Like its predecessor, “Armageddon” features both German and English lyrics, giving the album an international dimension. The absolute highlights of this album are “Heimat“, “Born to Be Epic“, and “Rise Again“.

18. Abbath – “Abbath”:

After Immortal and Abbath parted ways, Abbath released his first solo album. The album, titled “Abbath”, features black metal that is strongly reminiscent of Immortal. The new songs also included a couple of covers: Judas Priest‘s “Riding on the Wind” and Immortal’s “Nebular Ravens Winter” – if the latter can be called a cover in this context.

19. Dark Funeral – “Where Shadows Forever Reign”:

After seven years of silence, Dark Funeral, the pride of Swedish black metal, released their sixth studio album. The grandly titled “Where Shadows Forever Reign” is the first album with new singer Heljarmadr – and he certainly did not disappoint with his performance! At the same time, however, it was drummer Dominator’s last recording with the band. “Where Shadows Forever Reign” has been praised from many quarters, and rightly so: when the guitar intro to “Unchain My Soul” kicks in, cold shivers run through your body.

20. Avenged Sevenfold – “The Stage”:

In the age of social media, when information floods in from all directions and marketing seems essential, Avenged Sevenfold decided to release their seventh album in 2016 as a complete surprise. “The Stage” offered a slightly more experimental approach to the band’s music, bringing out even progressive elements and offering more multidimensional works alongside basic radio hits, such as the title track “The Stage” and the 15-minute closing track “Exist.” With this album, the band managed to impress and even win over listeners who usually can’t stand Avenged Sevenfold.