My Favorite Albums of the Decade (2010 - 2019)

This decade has been an important one in the development of my music taste.
At the beginning of the decade I was still somewhat in my closed off metal bubble, and even in that, my subgenres were quite limited, with power and thrash being at the forefront of what I was into.
As the decade started to roll on, first, I began to broaden my metal spectrum more, thanks in part to attending my first metal festivals like Bloodstock and Damnation.
I also started to grow more of an interest in the prog genre, and from there went on a journey of discovery as I began to explore a lot more different types of music, I would go through lists like Rolling Stones 500 greatest albums or 1001 albums to hear before you die, and really tried to hone into what worked for me and what didn't, and why.
And so my metal bubble had finally burst and I become way more open to exploring music from all over.

Having said that, alot of that music I was exploring was much older, and when it actually comes to music from this decade, it is still my main love of metal that has served to have the biggest impact on me. As one thing I did discover in my new found openness, was that i actually don't like a lot of modern day stuff outside of metal and prog, especially stuff that touches into the mainstream. It just doesn't really connect with me.

I did however still listen to a lot of great albums this decade and found a lot of my current favorite bands, so I've really tried to narrow this list down to the albums that have stuck with me the most and really defined what I was into this decade. They are in no numbered order, but instead kind of  chronicled by their year of release starting in 2010 and on up to 2019. here we go.

Rhapsody of Fire - Frozen Tears of Angels/The Cold Embrace of Fear – A Dark Romantic Symphony/From Chaos to Eternity (2010-2011)

So I'm actually kicking this off with two albums and an EP which all form part of the The Dark Secret Saga started in 2004's  Symphony of the Enchanted Lands II. I would definitely edge towards From Chaos to Eternity as my fave, but since they're all great and linked together, I wanted to include them all.
One thing that certainly got solidified this decade is my love for symphonic meta and in particular symphonic power metal with Rhapsody of Fire being one of the top bands that do it.
these were the last three releases made with founding guitarist Luca Turilli before he decide to split ofF and do his own Rhapsody projects. And whilst I have really enjoyed the output on both Turilli's and Starpoli's side, this last lot of music they did together is still my favorite out of it all.
this is some straight up great bombastic symphonic metal that features some stellar guitar work from Turilli who I think is one of the best guitarists that utilize the neoclassical style, some darker elements which includes Fabio doing some harsh vocals, which I think was a first for him. And then of course, you've got narration from the legend that is Christopher Lee, which is certainly an added bonus to the storytelling side of things.
Highlight tracks: From Chaos to Eternity, Reign of Terror, On our way to Ainor, the Ancient Fires of Har-Kuun

Evile - Five Serpent's Teeth (2011)

After Evile's straight up classic thrash style debut album, their 2007 follow-up Infected Nations, saw them  try to develop and tap into their own sound with very mixed results.
With this third album released in 2011 though they finally cracked it and found the sound that worked best for them. It's still very reminiscent of old school thrash like early Metallica and stuff, but they really managed to make it work and produced an album of killer tracks that really help cement them as one of the best  modern thrash metal bands. It also features a lovely slower, lighter track in amongst it all called In Memoriam, that serves as a tribute to their original bass player Mike Alexander who sadly passed away three years prior.
Evile would continue with this same developed sound on their great 2013 follow-up Skull. But events in the following years have really stalled the band from releasing anything more , though they seem to now be getting back on track and hopefully we'll see a new album in 2020, which I'm very much looking forward too.
Highlight Tracks: Cult, Eternal Empire,

Nightwish - Imaginaerum (2011)

 This album marks an important turning point for me, not just in me continually developing my interest in symphonic metal, but also my interest in female fronted bands.

For some reason, and I'm still not entirely sure why, but younger me really wasn't into any female fronted bands and I tended to stay away from them.
I, of course knew who Nightwish were before this album, with their song Nemo playing around the airwaves in the mid-noughties. But fast forward to 2011, and listening to this awesome album unlocked something in me, and any strange bias I had towards female fronted bands was suddenly gone. Imaginerium is a dark fairytale epic, that evokes different moods and takes you on a excellent symphonic metal journey.

I have a lot to credit this album for and it remains to this day my favorite Nightwish album. I know Tarja's tenure is the more preferable era of the band, but Anette Olzon's is the one that has connected me the most thus far.
Highlight Tracks: Storytime, Ghost River, Scaretale

Hell - Human Remains/Curse And Chapter (2011/2013)

Hell were a band that started in the 80s and split before they could record their debut album due to their record label going bankrupt, leading to the lead vocalist David Halliday committing suicide. Over 20 years later, the remaining members got back together and with a little help, finally released their debut album in 2011 and then followed it up with a second release in 2013.
It's darn shame that it took those circumstances for this music to be produced, but both these albums are awesome and made Hell one of my favorite bands, especially with their fantastic live performances too.
Hell play a brand of  heavy metal mixed with tinges of other metal subgenres  a very theatrical twist. The lead singer they got on board David Bower, who is brother of the guitarist, is a trained actor that really adds a dramatic flair to his vocals which makes him stand out more than a typical singer and really adds value the music. .Each song on both albums manage to seamlessly flows into the next too, that just makes for two great listening experiences.
Highlight Tracks: On Earth as it is in Hell, Plague & Fyre, Darkhangel, Something Wicked this Way Comes

Sabaton - Carolus Rex (2012)

Admittedly my interest in Sabaton has really waned over years, but there's no denying that I loved this album when it first came out and it's arguably the definitive power metal album of the decade, the one that would be easily put onto beginner's guide to power metal list. Not only does it still remain the band's finest work, but it is the album that started their big rise into becoming one of the biggest power metal bands going today. The success they've had as a modern power metal band is really rare, but also very nice to see and I may not be as onto him as I once was, but they can still produce some real good stuff.

Highlights: Carolus Rex, Lifetime of War

Haken - The Mountain (2013)

 After showing a lot of promise with previous albums, this is the album where Haken really broke through Their brand of prog comes together beatiufully and incorporates quite a wide mix of influences and elements.. There are times when the music is grandiose and  bold, and other times where it is much more somber and light, all of which have lyrics that deal with the trials and tribulations of life. .

Overall though this is a great prog album and certainly one of the landmark releases in this decade for the genre.
Highlight Tracks: Pareidolia, Cockroach King

Leproous - Coal (2013)

Both this album and the album above, always end up interwined in my mind, thinking of one, just makes me think of the other. It's probably because I saw them on tour together in support of these albums, so the albums have remained linked in my mind, plus they're my favorites of either band so far and released the same year, so that probably has a lot to do  with it too.
Although funnily enough, unlike The Mountain, this not an album I loved right off the bat, but slowly grew fondly of. There were just certain bits that stuck with me that i found myself coming back to it, and so it turned into an album that appreciation really developed for.

Evolving the sound from their previous record, this is a heavy brand of prog that has a bit of a cold dark vibe to it that i really dig, especially with Einar Solberg's fantastic vocals, he can really get up in the high range and at times his voice has a certain haunting quality to it.
I do still think the album has a few weak points though and honestly there are a lot of albums from this decade I haven't talked about that I think are better, but the strong points here are super strong, and the fact that this album has stuck with me so much, really gives it much more of a resonance than all the others, despite its flaws.
Highlight Tracks: Coal, Chronic

Epica - Quantum Enigma (2014)

 This was the first Epica album i ever listened to, and right off the bat, it turned the band into one of my favorites and this album for me is still currently their best.
Their brand of symphonic metal really connected with me right away. There's some really heavy elements including growls, some big bombastic elements, progressive tinges, and then you've got Simone Simon's beautiful operatic voice that is a real cherry on top of it all.
It really is just a great combo of things I like, and this album is them doing it at their finest.
Highlight Tracks: Essence of Silence, Unchain Utopia

Sonata Arctica - Pariah's Child (2014)

Sonata Arctica have certainly served to be an important band for me this decade. In 2011, I went to go seem then live in what would be the first concert that I ever attended by myself, no friends or family, just me. At the time I wouldn't even say they were a favorite of mine, but that concert and subsequent re-listens of their stuff, certainly developed them into one of my top bands.

Then in 2014, they released this corker of an album, which might well be my overall favorite album of theirs.
Each song has it's own little story, whether it's just a young couple living in the moment cruising in a car, or the magnificent near 10 minute closing track Larger than Life, about an old actor who let his career consume him, all of its delivered in that distinct power metal style they have, with a couple other elements added in the mix also. Pretty much everything just clicks for me here, and i love it.
Highlights: Blood, What Did You Do in The War, Dad?, Larger than Life

Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase (2015)

I had known about Steven Wilson and in particular, his band Porcupine Tree prior to this decade, and at first, I thought that his music wasn't really for me. Then as my taste developed, I started to enjoy his music somewhat, and then this album came out and it really made me into a fan of his. You are sure to find this in many album of the decade lists concerning prog, and for good reason.

You've got some traditional prog tropes mixed in with a few other styles that Steven really makes work in his own way, and a few songs even carry a bit of emotional heft which really make them stick out. Proivding broad and really great listening experience that is at times uplifting and other times heartbreaking.

Highlights: Three Years Older, Routine

Vektor - Terminal Redux (2016)

I was very close to including their 2011 album here too, since that is also one of the best thrash metal albums of the decade, but it's this album, which due to unfortunate events that followed, may well end up being their last, which certainly stuck with me the most.
Vektor play a unique brand of Blackened thrash metal that really stands out. The high shrieking vocals did take some getting used to, but the musicianship is just spot on, with many great riffs and  things going on. There's even a few lighter bits here and there amongst it's full on cosmic thrash assault, and it's all linked by a story that follows an astronaut isolated in space who discovers the key to immortality and wants to bring ti humanity without considering the consequences.
It's a real shame about the drama that has surrounded the band  since this release, as their output really showcased them to be on of the best modern thrash bands going today.
Highlights: LCD, Collapse, Recharging the Void

Pain of Salvation - In the Passing Light of Day (2017) 

 While I definitely had a bit of a mixed opinion  towards the Road Salt albums that they released at the beginning of the decade, I certainly took no issue in liking this album a lot  when it was first released. Pain of Salvation in some ways do have a kind of  distinct style, but they're not afraid to experiment with different elements here and there, so you're not always sure what you're fully gonna get with each release, which of course, keeps things nice and interesting.

With this album, there's a return to much heavier approach to many of the songs, which is always very welcome, although there are of course still a couple of great very light, laid back tracks here as well. So it is very much a style they've commonly utilised before, but they still keep very interesting and enjoyable with the way they structure and pull it off
It's just another one of those albums, that after first listening, saw me coming back to tracks on it quite often, much like most of the albums on this list, really. But I do think this album does stand among some of their finest releases.
Highlights: Meaningless, Reasons

Beast in Black - Berserker/From Hell with Love(2017-2019)

I only heard both these albums for the first time a couple of months ago, and was shocked by how much  I enjoyed them. There's nothing really standout about Beast in Black, they play a typical kind of bombastic power metal, in fact, they were founded by the former guitarist of Battle Beast, and sound in a lot of ways like them. And yet, there's something so incredibly infectious about their music, that I just kept re-listening to tracks over and over again.
Now, It's rare enough for me to re-listen to songs off an album right away as it is, but to repeat them multiple times in a short span of time? Exceedingly rare.

Both both these albums though, equally contain songs that made me want to put them on repeat, so that is far and away a huge success in my eyes. Plus the band is themed around the manga Berserk, which is certainly an added bonus.
Highlights: Blind and Frozen, Sweet True Lies, From Hell with Love, Born Again

Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit

Who knew that mixing negro spirituals with black metal would sound this good? Zeal & Ardor manage to pull it off though and even moreso with their second album, where it all just blends and flows together so fantastically, making for a very compelling listening experience. Certainly one of more more unique bands going today, and also fantastic live.
Highlights: Servants, Row Row

 

King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard - Infest the Rats' Nest

Speaking of unique bands. The first time I came across these was when I saw this album listed as psychedelic stoner thrash metal. A genre combo I had not really come across before.

What I didn't realise though, was that this band were in fact primarily a psychedelic rock band that liked to delve and play about with different genres, and they actually released an album prior to Infest the Rats' Nest, this exact same year which is the complete opposite and delves into the blues genre.

So they are certainly an interesting band to follow, and this is their heaviest album to date and it absolutely rules. I'm not even that big into stoner metal, but they managed to absolutely nail it, providing an all out s 34 minute stoner thrash attack that is excellent and leaves a lasting impact.
Highlights: Self-Immolate, Perihelion, Hell
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Dream Theater - Distance Over Time (2019)

It's no secret that Dream Theater are one of my all time favorite bands and this decade marked an important turning point for the band, as at that very start of it, founder and drummer Mike Portnoy surprisingly decided to leave.

The band however, managed to find a good replacement in Mike Mangini and carried on as well as they could. Now, I've really enjoyed their output with Mangini so far, but it is their latest album that has stood out to me the most.

It has the same excellent musicianship that you'd expect, but there is also hints of emotional depth here which I didn't really find much of in their other albums from this decade.

And so rather than just listening to it, thinking it was great and moving on, it had much more of an effect on me and compelled me back towards it. So yeah, I'd say this is their best with Mangini so far.
Highlights: Barstool Warrior, At Wit's End

Nearly every Galneryus album released this decade (2010 - 2017)

I'm not sure how to describe my connection to Galneryus, most people may see them as just another power metal band. But I think what makes them stick out is the little nuances, particularly when it comes to Syu's stellar guitar work, which i think has always been the band's biggest draw.
They're one of the bands that just seem be on my wavelength, where nearly everything just seems to kind of connect with me. Which is why I'd say it's difficult for me to really pin down one album as almost every one of them this decade has had the same kind of impact on me.
If you had to really push me for a fave though, then it'd probably be between Under the Force of Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice, but there's much of the output that I have loved from this decade, one which also proved to be turning point for them as it was their first with new singer Masatoshi Ono, who has more than proved his worth and even in one song had  managed to make me tear up..

Galneryus released seven albums this decade and six of them are at the very least great, it's only their latest one that I've actually found to be a weak point, but even that is still solid.

Overall though I personally think Galneryus has produced some of the finest power metal this decade, now I'm just waiting for the day when I can finally see them live.
Highlights:Destiny, Bash Out, Angel of Salvation, Enemy of Injustice, No Escape, Rain of Tears, Force of Courage, Wings of Justice, Brutal Spiral of Emotions

 As I mentioned there were a lot of great albums I heard this decade, so here's a boatload of other albums  that I've also  really liked.

Ancient Bards - The Alliance of Kings (2010)
Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time (2010)

Death Angel - Relentless Retribution (2010)

Therion - Sitra Ahra (2010)

Alestorm - Back Through Time (2011)

Ancient Bards - Souless Child (2011)

Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011)

Opeth - Heritage (2011)

Powerwolf - Blood of the Saints (2011)

 Redemption - the Mortal Coil (2011)

Machine Head - Unto the Locust (2011)

Vektor - Outer Isolation (2011)

Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Ame (2012)

Anathema - Weather Systems (2012)

Big Big Train - English Electric (Part One) (2012)

Epic - Requiem for the Indifferent (2012)

Kreator - Phantom Antichrist (2012)

Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Ascending to Infinity (2012)

Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol (2012)

Testament - Dark Roots of Earth (2012)

Wintersun - Time I (2012)

Aeon Zen - Enigma (2013)

Avantasia - The Mystery of Time (2013)

Ayreon - The Theory of Everything (2013)

Death Angel - Dream Calls for Blood (2013)

Dream Theater - Dream Theater (2013)

Evile - Skull (2013)

Gama Bomb - Terror Tapes (2013)

Gloryhammer - Tales from the Kingdom of Fife (2013)

Oliva - Raise the Curtain (2013)

Orphaned Land - All is One (2013)

Anicent Bards - A New Dawn Ending (2014)

Dragonforce - Maximum Overload (2014)

Eluveitie - Origins (2014)

Grand Magus - Triumph and Steel (2014)

Killer be Killed - Killer be Killer (2014)

Machinae Supremacy - Phantom Shadow (2014)

Nightingale - Retribution (2014)

Opeth - Pale Communion (2014)

Triosphere - The Heart of the Matter (2014)

Vanden Plas - Chronicles of the Immortal - Netherwold (2014)

Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror (2015)

Cain's Offering - Stormcrow (2015)

Enforcer - From Beyond (2015)

Ensiferum - One Man Army (2015)

Leprous - The Congregation (2015)

Orden Ogan - Ravenhead (2015)

Paradise Lost - The Plague Within (2015)

Slayer - Repentless (2015)

Stratovarius - Eternal (2015)

Death Angel - The Evil Divide (2015)

 Epica - The Holographic Principle (2016)

Insomnium - Winter's Gate (2016)

Sonata Arctica - The Ninth Hour (2016)

Testament - Brotherhood of the Snake (2016)

Watchtower - Concepts of Math: Book One (2016)

Arch Enemy - Will to Power (2017)

Ayreon - The Source (2017)

Orden Ogan - Gunmen (2017)

Sorcerer - the Crowning of the Fire King (2017)

Trivium - the Sin and the Sentence (2017)

Unleash the Archers - Apex (2017)

Scars on Broadway - Dictator (2018)

Ghost - Prequelle (2018)

White Wizzard - Infernal Overdrive (2018)

Avantasia - Moonglow (2019)

Gloryhammer - Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex (2019)

Rhapsody of Fire - The Eighth Mountain (2019)

And here's a Spotify playlist of songs I've really liked: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4A1mLjhHIenA9XzGxdVGBs?si=80HuYB9tS5aij5k2QJOrgw