As we roll into a brand spanking new year it’s a good time to reflect on the past 12 months of metal and see which records really stood out.
And it comes as no surprise that the heavy metal titans Iron Maiden came out on top in a Hammer readers poll. All 50 of our albums of the year (which you can read here) were eligible in the vote, and Maiden’s 16th studio album won by quite a large margin.
Track By Track: Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls
This should come as no surprise to avid metalheads as Maiden’s triumphant double-album rocketed to the #1 spot in over 40 countries around the world! If you’ve been on a recent year-long holiday to a massive rock on Jupiter, you really need to listen to this record.
But which other albums made it into the top bracket of 2015? Here’s the top 20 albums of the year, as voted for by Metal Hammer readers. You’ve gotta admit, it’s one hell of a playlist.
- Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls
- Ghost – Meliora
- Lamb Of God – VII: Sturm Und Drang
- Parkway Drive – Ire
- Clutch – Psychic Warfare
- Faith No More – Sol Invictus
- Slayer – Repentless
- Nightwish – Endless Forms Most Beautiful
- Marilyn Manson – The Pale Emperor
- While She Sleeps – Brainwashed
- Paradise Lost – The Plague Within
- Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction
- Bring Me The Horizon – That’s The Spirit
- Baroness – Purple
- Napalm Death – Apex Predator - Easy Meat
- Tremonti – Cauterize
- Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – Blossom
- Motörhead – Bad Magic
- Fear Factory – Genexus
- Deafheaven – New Bermuda
Which albums will make it into 2016’s list we wonder. Well here’s what we’re stoked for over the next 365 days…
