Big Brave

Inter Arma, Huntsmen, BIG|BRAVE, Chelsea Wolfe & More Metal Bands' Top Albums of 2021


Here at Invisible Oranges, we’ve been posting tons of 2021 year-end lists from our staffers, contributors, and a couple musicians (including Krieg’s Neill Jameson and Noltem/Pyrithe’s John Kerr), and before the year wraps up, here are a handful of lists from other metal (and metal-adjacent and hardcore) musicians, including members of Inter Arma, Huntsmen, BIG|BRAVE, Amenra, Frail Body, Nadja, Chat Pile, Spirit Adrift, Bossk, Birds In Row, Earthless, Genocide Pact, Chelsea Wolfe, and more…

Mike Paparo (Inter Arma)

Plebeian Grandstand – Rien ne suffit
Stress Angel – Bursting Church
Emma Ruth Rundle – Engine of Hell
Antichrist Siege Machine – Purifying Blade
Succumb – XXI
Poison Ruïn – Poison Ruïn
Taqbir – Taqbir 7”
Wharflurch – Psychedelic Realms ov Hell
Crucifixion Bell – Eternal Grip of the Nocturnal Empire
Yautja – The Lurch

Mathieu Ball (BIG|BRAVE)

Patrick Shiroishi – Hidemi
Irreversible Entanglements – Open the Gates
MSC – What you Say of Power
Robert A.A. Lowe – Candyman (score)
Jerusalem in my Heart – Qalaq
Myriam Gendron – Ma Délire. Songs of love, lost and found
Floating Points and Pharaoh Sanders – Promises
Tim Hecker – The North Water (score)
Jessica Moss – Phosphenes
The Body – I’ve Seen All I Need to See
My Disco – Alter Schwede
Bill Orcutt and Chris Corsano – Made Out of Sound
Low – Hey What
Richard Dawson – Henki
The Bug – Fire

Ray Knipe (Huntsmen)

The Armed – Ultrapop
At the Gates – Nightmare of Being
Every Time I Die – Radical
Full of Hell – Garden of Burning Apparitions
Genghis Tron – Dream Weapon
Gojira – Fortitude
Iron Maiden – Senjutsu
Mastodon – Hushed and Grim
Red Fang – Arrows
Yautja – The Lurch

Marc Stranger-Najjar (Huntsmen)

Converge/Chelsea Wolfe – Bloodmoon: I
Renée Reed – S/T
Silk Sonic – An Evening With Silk Sonic
Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime
Deafheaven – Infinite Granite
MonoNeon – Supermane
Lingua Ignota – Sinner Get Ready
IDLES – Crawler
Sons of Kemet – Black to the Future
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – CARNAGE

Noteworthy Releases:
Matt Berry – The Blue Elephant
Khemmis – Deceiver
Yautja – The Lurch
The Armed – Ultrapop

Tim de Gieter (Amenra)

1 DeathByRomy – Songs For My Funeral
2 The Armed – Ultrapop
3 King Woman – Celestial Blues
4 Portrayal Of Guilt – We Are Always Alone
5 Knocked Loose – A Tear In The Fabric Of Life

Lowell Shaffer (Frail Body)

The Armed – Ultrapop
Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined
youth novel – S/T
hawak – nouc
Turnstile – Glow On
suffocate for fucks sake – Fyra
Lingua Ignota – Sinner Get Ready
Porter Robinson – Nurture
Downhaul – PROOF
Gojira – Fortitude

Nicholas Clemenson (Frail Body)

Sanguisabogg – Tortured Whole
Gojira – Fortitude
Fiddlehead – Between the Richness
200 Stab Wounds – Slave to the Scalpel
Turnstile – GLOW ON
The Armed – ULTRAPOP
Yautja – The Lurch
Full of Hell – Garden of Burning Apparitions
Regional Justice Center – Crime and Punishment
Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined

Nic Kuczynski (Frail Body)

Turnstile – Glow On
Krallice – Demonic Wealth
Beach House – Once Twice Melody
Monobody – Comma
Pains – Gnashing Among the Carnage
Torment and Glory – We Left a Note with an Apology
Emma Ruth Rundle – Engine of Hell
Fiddlehead – Between the Richness
Deafheaven – Infinite Granite
Past Forms – CTRL

Christina Michelle (Gouge Away)

Glitterer – Life is Not a Lesson
Mannequin Pussy – Perfect
Metz – Live at the Opera House
Shame – Drunk Tank Pink
Soul Glo – DisN*gga, Vol. 1 & 2
Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
Turnstile – Glow On
Scowl – How Flowers Grow
Spirit of the Beehive – Entertainment, Death
Yves Tumor – The Asymptotical World EP

Mick Ford (Gouge Away)

Andy Stott – Never The Right Time
DJ Seinfeld – Mirrors
Floating Points, Pharaoh Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises
Squid – Bright Green Field
black midi – Cavalcade
Durand Jones & The Indications – Private Space
Aaron Frazer – Introducing…
Lone – Always Inside Your Head
Park Hye Jin – Before I Die
Altin Gun – Yöl

Tommy Cantwell (Gouge Away)

Turnstile – Glow On
Mannequin Pussy – Perfect
Soul Glo – DisN*gga Vol 1 & 2
Fiddlehead – Between the Richness
Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
Courtney Barnett – Things Take Time, Take Time
Spirit of the Beehive – Entertainment, Death
Slow Fire Pistol – Rabbit Town Blues
Glitterer – Life Is Not A Lesson
Alice Phoebe Lou – GLOW

Dylan Downey (Gouge Away)

Vanishing Twin – Ookii Gekkou
Westside Gunn – Hitler Wears Hermès 8
Antichrist Siege Machine – Purifying Blade
Stress Angel – Bursting Church
MSC – What You Say Of Power
Andy Stott – Never the Right Time
Hailu Mergia – Tezeta
Ovlov – Buds
Chubby & the Gang – The Mutts Nuts
Pharoah Sanders/Floating Points – Promises

Aidan Baker (Nadja)

BIG|BRAVE – Vital
The Bug – Blue Versions
Gnod – La Mort Du Sens
The Grasshopper Lies Heavy – A Cult That Worships A God of Death
Knoll – Interstice
Midwife – Luminol
MJ Guider – Temporary Requiem
Moor Mother – Black Encyclopedia of The Air
Pupil Slicer – Mirrors
Tunic – Quitter

Luther Manhole (Chat Pile)

Kayo Dot – Moss Grew On The Swords
Black Dresses – Forever In Your Heart
Turnstile – Glow On
Sleigh Bells – Texis
Diskord – Degenerations
Bruiser Wolf – Dope Game Stupid
Our Place Of Worship Is Silence – Disavowed
Portrayal Of Guilt – Christfucker
Rxk Nephew – Slitherman Activated
Meat Computer/Kirblagoop – Meat Computer

Jay Gambit (Executioner’s Mask)

10. Lucy Dacus – Home Video
9. slowthai – TYRON
8. Antichrist Siege Machine – Purifying Blade
7. Snail Mail – Valentine
6. Grouper – Shade
5. Tirzah – Colourgrade
4. Wiki – Half God
3. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra – Promises
2. aya – im hole
1. The War On Drugs – I Don’t Live Here Anymore

Luca Cimarusti (Annihilus, Luggage)

1. Kowloon Walled City – Piecework
2. Turnstile – Glow On
3. Portrayal of Guilt – Christfucker
4. Mortiferum – Preserved in Torment
5. Tomahawk – Tonic Immobility
6. Meat Wave – Volcano Park
7. FACS – Present Tense
8. BIG|BRAVE – Vital
9. Wolves in the Throne Room – Primordial Arcana
10. Ryley Walker – Course in Fable

Chelsea Wolfe

Lindy Fay-Hella & Dei Farne – Hildring
Alessandro Cortini – Scuro Chiaro
Full of Hell – Garden of Burning Apparitions
Gatecreeper – An Unexpected Reality
Backxwash – I Lie Here Buried With My Rings and My Dresses
Wardruna – Kvitravn
Low – HEY WHAT
Divide And Dissolve – Gas Lit
Emma Ruth Rundle – Engine of Hell
Eartheater – Phoenix – La Petite Mort Edition
King Woman – Celestial Blues
Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime
Wolves in the Throne Room – Primordial Arcana
Deafheaven – Infinite Granite
Moor Mother – Black Encyclopedia of the Air
Lingua Ignota – Sinner Get Ready
Blackwater Holylight – Silence/Motion
Aurat – Khaar
Lea Thomas – Hummingbird
The Armed – Ultrapop
Lorn – “YO2 _ RUSTLIN” (single)

Nate Garrett (Spirit Adrift)

The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings
Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell remaster
Black Sabbath – The Mob Rules remaster
Black Sabbath – Sabotage remaster
Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined
Duel – In Carne Persona
Frozen Soul – Crypt of Ice
Genghis Tron – Dream Weapon
Turnstile – Glow On
Worm – Foreverglade

Read Nate’s commentary on each pick HERE.

Connor Donegan (Genocide Pact)

Dream Unending – Tide Turns Eternal
Gauze – 言いたかねえけど目糞鼻糞
Skourge – Hardcore Up Your Ass
Antichrist Siege Machine – Purifying Blade
Mortiferum – Preserved In Torment
Turnstile – “Mystery”
Kim Petras – “Future Starts Now”
Kanye West – “Come To Life”
The Russell Westbrook trade
Cedarland Restaurant in Dearborn Michigan

Read Connor’s commentary on each pick HERE.

Tom Begley (Bossk)

Dvne – Etemen Aenka
Green Lung – Black Harvest
Outlander – Sundowning/Unconditional
Bossk – Migration
Sleep Token – This Place Will Become Your Tomb
Maybeshewill – No Feeling Is Final
Urne – Serpent & Spirit
40 Watt Sun – “The Spaces In Between”
Blanket – Modern Escapism
Devil Sold His Soul – Loss

Read Tom’s commentary on each pick HERE.

Quentin Sauvé (Birds In Row)

Samia – The Baby Reimagined
Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
Ben Howard – Collections From The Whiteout
Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks Of God
Lucy Dacus – Home Video
Leon Bridges – Gold-Diggers Sound
The First Ever Podcast
Mini Trees – Always In Motion
Heavy Heart – Closer
Every Time I Die – Radical
Emma Ruth Rundle – Engine Of Hell

Read Quentin’s commentary on each pick HERE.

Mike Eginton (Earthless)

John Coltrane – A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe – Candyman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Mistreater – Hell’s Fire
Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime
Can – Live in Stuttgart 1975
Curtis Amy & Dupree Bolton – Katanga
Mythic Sunship – Wildfire

Read Mike’s commentary on each pick HERE.

Michael Berdan (Uniform)

1. The Bug – Fire / Kevin Richard Martin – Return To Solaris
2. JFK – Avalanche Zone
3. Gauntlet Ring – Upon The Wings Of The Black Eagle
4. Space Afrika – Honest Labour
5. Templer – Myths And Consequences
6. Gauze – 言いたかねえけど目糞鼻糞
7. Slow White Fall – Flesh In The Modern Age
8. Serration – Rites Of Flesh
9. Sigillum S – Coalescence Of Time: Other Conjectures On Future
10. Microcorps – XMIT

Read Michael’s commentary on each pick HERE.

Spencer Chamberlain (Underoath)

Tyler, the Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost
Sir Sly – The Rise and Fall of Loverboy
Turnstile – Glow On
Chiiild – Hope for Sale
Gojira – Fortitude

Read Spencer’s commentary on each pick HERE.

Hazing Over

1. ZelooperZ – Van Goghs Left Ear
2. Turnstile – Glow On
3. PinkPantheress – to hell with it
4. Dean Blunt – Black Metal 2
5. Sanguisugabogg – Tortured Whole
6. Porter Robinson – Nurture
7. Regional Justice Center – Crime and Punishment
8. Illiterates – S/T
9. Gatecreeper – An Unexpected Reality
10. Baby Keem – The Melodic Blue

Read Hazing Over’s commentary on each pick HERE.

More Best of 2021 lists here.