RJD's Best Metal Albums of 2016

11. Virus - "Memento Collider" (6/3/2016, Karisma)

10. Blood Ceremony - "Lord Of Misrule" (3/25/16, Rise Above)

9. Sumerlands - "Sumerlands" (9/16/16, Relapse)

8. Gorguts - "Pleiades' Dust" (5/13/16, Season Of Mist)

7. Opeth - "Sorceress" (9/30/16, Nuclear Blast/Moderbolaget)

6. Megadeth - "Dystopia" (1/22/2016, Universal)

5. Leprous - "Live At Rockefeller Music Hall" (11/25/2016, Inside Out)

4. Vektor - "Terminal Redux" (5/6/16, Earache)

3. The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Dissociation" (10/14/16, Party Smasher)

2. Nails - "You Will Never Be One Of Us" (6/17/16, Nuclear Blast)

1. Cobalt - "Slow Forever" (3/25/2016, Profound Lore)

Bombastic. Melodic. Breakneck. Catchy. Cacophonous. THIS is how I like my metal. Cobalt has created their masterstroke with all pieces involved. The most baddest ass of music is able to combine several elements of the past as well as multiple genres. One man wrecking crew Erik Wunder has done just that with equal parts Tool, Agalloch, Kvelertak and Anonymous-era Tomahawk in addition to other components of black metal, grindcore and folk. Following the exit of founding member/original singer Phil McSorley, Wunder brought in Charlie Fell (ex-Lord Mantis,) whose vocals mesh perfectly and add more diversity to these compositions. "Orc" vocals commonly overused in black metal are featured less and now mixed with punk and thrash style vox. Spanning over 80 minutes, this is the only double metal album worth it's weight in 2016 (eat your heart out Metallica.) Bang some heads and raise your horns! Metal album of the year!

RJD's Best Non-Metal Albums of 2016

6. David Bowie - "Blackstar" (1/8/16, Columbia)

5. Sturgill Simpson - "A Sailor's Guide To Earth" (4/15/16, Atlantic)

4. Matt Elliott - "The Calm Before" (3/4/16, Ici d'ailleurs)

3. Black Mountain - "IV" (4/1/16, Jagjaguar)

2. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - "Skeleton Tree" (9/9/16, Bad Seed)

1. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - "Nonagon Infinity" (4/29/16, ATO/Heavenly)

Arguably the most original band name in music, King Gizz has created the most original album in recent memory. Spanning 9 tracks (Nonagon... clever,) Stu Mackenzie, Michael Cavanagh and 5 other Aussies weave together an album that can play continuously on a loop for eternity (err, infinity.) Mixing elements of rock, psychedelia, electronic, metal and funk, this "lo-fi" trip brings to mind everything classic in music from the 60s, 70s and 90s (nothing against the 80s which brought us the brilliance of Danzig, Dio and Hall & Oates.) KG&TLW sound like men possessed riding through a fun house of kazoos, vibraphones and electric sitars. Enough reason to travel "Down Under" alone. Best Non-Metal Album of the Year!