2020 Top 10 Christian Metal and Rock Albums

[MetalPioneer]

With 2020 coming to an end, it's time to reflect on the best albums of the year. What are your top 10 Christian metal and rock albums of 2020? You can be creative if you like -- add album art, give an explanation or description -- it's up to you!

If you have less than 10, that's okay too!

2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, but there has also been some quality music released!

[MetalPioneer]

Here are my top 10 albums! I'm way behind on my physical copies of albums this year, so hopefully I can catch up soon.

Eric Clayton - A Thousand Scars
Favorite Track: “The Greatest of These”
For Fans of: Saviour Machine



The legend returns. I don’t know if we’ll get another Saviour Machine album, but Eric Clayton’s return is a triumphant one. Rock, gothic, and symphonic influences all blend with Eric’s signature operatic voice on A Thousand Scars to create a stunning musical vision. The lyrics are challenging, and a few tracks take some digesting, but if you’ve followed Saviour Machine’s career that should come as no surprise.


Stryper - Even the Devil Believes
Favorite Track: “Even the Devil Believes”
For Fans of: Saint, Sacred Warrior, Bride, Barren Cross



The Yellow and Black Attack is back! Stryper keeps it coming in 2020 with a generous helping of heavy metal. This is one of their strongest efforts in recent memory, and the title track is phenomenal. Hopefully, we will continue to get more music in the years to come.


Red - Declaration
Favorite Track: “The War We Made”
For Fans of: Breaking Benjamin, Pillar, Skillet



Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of Gone, so I was glad to see Red returning with some symphonic elements in their signature rock sound. Declaration is a solid album all around, although the first half of the record stands out.  


Bride - Here is Your God
Favorite Track: “Demon Seed”
For Fans of: Stryper, Saint, Bloodgood



Dale Thompson is involved in a lot of projects these days, so it is a pleasant surprise that Bride recorded another record.  Here is Your God has the signature, bombastic rock noise of their last few records, so if you enjoyed those, you should get jamming right now!


Adorned Graves - Being Towards a River
Favorite Track: “Rheingold”
For Fans of: Seventh Angel, Nomad Son, Deliverance, Tourniquet



Adorned Graves is one of the more unique Christian bands out there, blending elements of thrash and doom together ala Seventh Angel’s Lament for the Weary. Their sophomore album is as good as the first, with a progressive nod and guest musicians contributing on several tracks.


Everything in Slow Motion - Influence
Favorite Track: “Clementine”
For fans of: Hands, Sleeping Giant, Life in Your Way



Everything in Slow Motion formed out of the ashes of the melodic hardcore band Hands. Infusing their sound with elements of post rock, Phoenix was a breath of fresh air. Influence is the band’s sophomore record, and while it’s not quite as strong as the debut, crushing heaviness entwine with catchy undertones to bring the album to life.


Mantric - False Negative
Favorite Track: “The Towering Mountain”
For Fans of: Extol (later years), Devin Townsend, Darkwater



The Descent is one of my favorite progressive albums of all time (it was basically Extol’s The Blueprint Dives 2.0), but I was extremely disappointed in Mantric’s follow-up album Sin. False Negative falls somewhere in-between these two. If you like prog, be sure to check this one out.


Incarnate Deity – Theodicy
Favorite Track: “Valley of Dry Bones”
For Fans of: Pantokrator, A Hill to Die Upon, Sacrificium, Miseration



Incarnate Deity is a new band to the scene, and I am quite impressed. Their debut album Theodicy is an aggressive slab of death metal tinged with black and symphonic elements. Just make sure that if you look this band up, you don’t make the mistake that I did at first (there is another secular band by the same name).


Slaves Wages – Heaven or Hell
Favorite Track: “Doom”
For Fans of: ReinXeed, Harmony, Bride



Slaves Wages mixes elements of power metal, heavy metal, and thrash metal to create an engaging musical palette. There’s plenty to please any metal fan on this album – creative guitar hooks, catchy choruses, and even some death growls on one track. This band is a recent discovery for me, but I’m enjoying Heaven or Hell quite a bit.


August Burns Red – Guardians
Favorite Track: “Defender”
For Fans of: As I Lay Dying, The Devil Wears Prada, Oh, Sleeper  



ABR needs no introduction. As one of the mainstay metalcore bands across the years, they’ve cemented their place in metal history. Guardians is a worthy addition to their catalogue. You won’t find anything too surprising here, but ABR keeps their core sound from record to record, something that endears them to fans.

[Kerrick]

This year was a little sparse, though there were still some mighty good releases.  Here's basically everything I bought that was released in 2020.

Christian albums:
Warpriest - Warpriest (AOTY for me, all others listed alphabetically)
Adorned Graves - Being Towards A River
The Arbiter - My Messenger
Chase The Sun - Chase The Sun
Faustian Slip - Black Abyss
Implacable - These Dark and Shadow Ways
Jernlov - Crucified
Wytch Hazel - III: Pentacost

Christian EPs:
Apostisy - Allies Of A Fallen Empire
Cloth - Axis Mundi
Daygraves - Silver
Daygraves / Within Thy Wounds - Nocturns (split)
Death Therapy - Dance Therapy Part I: Pre-Apocalyptic Cyber Funk For Late Stage Humanoids
Diatheke - Magnify
Irgalom - The Path Of The Wind
Signum Regis - Flag Of Hope

Christian Singles*:
Daygraves - The Final Empire
Death Therapy - Reject
Melech - HELIG
Project Aegis - And The Rest Is A Mystery
Ritual Servant - Into The Swine
Warpriest - The Black Plague
Warpriest - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Wytch Hazel - Auld Lang Syne

Secular:
Ikarian - Into The Haze
My Silent Wake - damnum per saeculorum

*I'm not doing singles from upcoming albums (i.e. Pantokrator - Wedlock) but only songs that AFAIK will only ever be released as just that - a single.  Also, sorry for anyone who doesn't have adblocker but now you're probably gonna start seeing ads for "Christian singles in your area" lol.

[MetalPioneer]

I agree that this year was a bit lacking for Christian rock and metal. There are some albums on your list that I haven't listened to, so I will have to check them out. Both Pantokrator and Dalit will end up going on 2021, which is fine by me. I'm expecting both to be amazing albums. I listened to the Warpriest album and it just didn't click for me. I'll have to give it another spin and see if I like it more this time.

These are my top 10 secular metal albums of 2020:

1. Paradise Lost - Obsidian
2. Haunt - Mind Freeze
3. Necrot - Mortal
4. Warbringer - Weapons of Tomorrow
5. Skeleton - Skeleton
6. Haunt - Flashback
7. Code Orange - Underneath
8. Tombs - Under Sullen Skies
9. My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion
10. Wayfarer - A Romance With Violence

Hard to choose only 10, but those would probably be it.

I wouldn't put My Silent Wake's Damnun Per Saeculorum on there, since it isn't really metal at all, but I agree that it's a phenomenal album.

[Kerrick]

Right on!  I do recommend giving the Warpriest another good listen or two.  I'm a total sucker for doom and the Christian scene is so sparse in that realm that any Christian doom album is gonna pretty much automatically be super high on my list by default haha.  Also, I've been bugging Robert about this album for literally years so I do feel somewhat personally invested.  But regardless of my personal biases, I do think that it's objectively a very good album.  It's got a little more of an epic feel to it than I was expecting, based off of the previously released Warpriest singles and such - which I really dig.

[MetalPioneer]

So, I listened to what was available on Spotify.

The Arbiter was pretty good. There were some moments that reminded me of Paramaecium. They just need to work on getting better production.

Faustian Slip was very strange. There were some decent guitar parts, but I also feel like the vocalist was very inconsistent. Not something I'll return to.

Wytch Hazel is awesome! I know you've posted about them before, but I don't think I ever actually listened to them. Do you know where the band's name comes from?

[Kerrick]

Cool!

I'm glad you enjoyed The Arbiter.  Gergely seems to improve with each release so The Arbiter and Irgalom are definitely projects to keep an eye on.  It's so nice to have some new doom/death in the Christian scene - and with good, biblical lyrics to boot.

As for Faustian Slip... I hear ya.  It's a little all-over-the-place.  I actually like their Song Of Ruth EP a bit more than the full-length.  That being said, I can appreciate that he's doing something a little different and will be excited to see what he makes next.

And yes, Wytch Hazel is indeed awesome!  I think I remember reading in an interview that they just liked the name and it seemed to fit the music.  I don't think there's much more to it than that... but I can't recall.

[MetalPioneer]

This is off topic, but have you heard the band Pallbearer, Kerrick? I'm thoroughly enjoying their latest album. They are a secular band, but there's nothing too bad about the lyrics from what I can tell. They play some nice doom metal. I really wish there were more Christian bands in this particular style.

[Kerrick]

I remember checking them out when they first hit the scene and really dug their sound but for some reason I had in my mind that they had some anti-Christian (or at least particularly un-Christian) lyrics?  But maybe I'm mistaken and should give 'em another shot!  I recall thinking they were comparable in sound to Warning/40 Watt Sun in their ultra-melodic, swooning type of doom.  Have I mentioned them to you before?  You might like those bands too.  (I'd recommend Warning's 2nd album and 40WS's first.)

[MetalPioneer]

I honestly haven't looked in great depth at the lyrics from their earlier albums, so I'm not sure on that point. Those bands sound familiar, but I'm not sure if I've listened to them or not. I'll have to check them out.

[Kerrick]

Yeah it could've been in an interview or something too, it was a long time ago.  Let me know if you do any more digging and what you find out!

I'm also curious what you think of those other bands I mentioned.  Cheers!

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