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Here they are: our aggregated and top picks for 2021. Be sure to listen to all of them.

With varied picks from black, death, and beyond, Writer Brandon Nurick’s best albums of 2021 is likely to have a record or two you haven’t heard yet.

With a heavy focus on black metal but crucial picks from other areas, writer Cheryl Carter highlights her favorite albums of the year.

With four full-lengths and a heaping of EPs since forming in 2020, Old Nick’s delightfully off-kilter black metal has been a highlight of COVID-era black metal. Read an interview with Abysmal Specter.

Two Portland-based shirt and hoodie shops go the distance and create officially licensed merch for differing parts of the underground. Read interviews with both Labyrinth Tower and Earth in Sound.

Senior Editor Jon Rosenthal shares his favorite picks from 2020.

Ted Nubel offers up his doom-laden picks for 2020.

In this edition, Ted Nubel dissects the new (and super entertaining) ghost-hunting simulator “Phasmophobia” with the help of three especially horror-filled heavy albums — streams, game review, and analysis inside.

Five of us teamed up to reflect on last month’s spew of releases — from gnarly death metal to lo-fi black metal, we scoured the realms for our favorites.

Seven killer records from the seventh month of the year — here’s the staff’s favorite records for July 2020.