2019 was an amazing year for metal. So amazing, in fact, we decided to beef up our lists from 25 to 40. Along with our Top 40 album reveals, you'll hear the sounds of George not drinking beer, John breaking down vital statistics, Markisan describing satanic summer home rentals, Matt getting bitchy with Google pronunciation tech, and an under-the-weather Will using a rectal thermometer wrong. We also discuss our Top 5 Metal Album Covers of the Year and debut a brand new, year-end feature – The Jay Award – in honor of Jay spoiling our combined album rankings without apology or regret.

We made our lists. We checked them twice. This is the result. Episode 96 – The Top 40 Metal Albums of 2019. Merry Christmas!

Metalheads Podcast Combined Top 40:

40) 1349 - The Infernal Pathway
39) Novembers Doom - Nephilim Grove
38) Overkill - The Wings of War
37) The Moth Gatherer - Esoteric Oppression
36) Rotting Christ - The Heretics
35) Yellow Eyes - Rare Field Ceiling
34) Disillusion - The Liberation
33) Candlemass - The Door to Doom
32) False - Portent
31) Vanum - Ageless Fire
30) Krypts - Cadaver Circulation
29) Spirit Adrift - Divided by Darkness
28) Exhumed - Horror
27) Ordos - The End
26) Arctic Sleep - Kindred Spirits
25) Devin Townsend - Empath
24) Ashen Horde - Fallen Cathedrals
23) Ossuarium - Living Tomb
22) Pelican - Nighttime Stories
21) The Great Old Ones - Cosmicism
20) Waste of Space Orchestra - Syntheosis
19) Uhtcearu - Madness & Creation
18) Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
17) Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
16) Mortiferum - Disgorged from Psychotic Depths
15) Inter Arma - Sulphur English
14) Crowhurst - III
13) Lord Dying - Mysterium Tremendum
12) Possessed - Revelations of Oblivion
11) Immortal Bird - Thrive on Neglect
10) Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
9) Gatecreeper - Deserted
8) Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
7) Nile - Vile Nilotic Rites
6) Wilderun - Veil of Imagination
5) Vastum - Orificial Purge
4) Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
3) Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light
2) Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
1) Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance

George's Top 40 Albums of 2019

40) Memoriam - Requiem for Mankind
39) Waste of Space Orchestra - Syntheosis
38) Witch Vomit - Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave
37) Infant Annihilator - The Battle of Yaldabaoth
36) Gates to the Morning - Return to Earth
35) Takafumi Matsubara - Strange, Beautiful and Fast
34) Misery Index - Rituals of Power
33) Candlemass - The Door to Doom
32) Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Teufelsbücher
31) Sun of the Dying - The Earth Is Silent
30) Pandenomium - Monuments of Tragedy
29) Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
28) The Negative Bias - Narcissus Rising
27) Vltimas - Something Wicked Marches In
26) Basilysk - Emergence
25) Idle Hands - Mana
24) Mortiferum - Disgorged from Psychotic Depths
23) Cerebral Rot - Odious Descent into Decay
22) Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
21) Arctic Sleep - Kindred Spirits
20) Exhumed - Horror
19) Disillusion - The Liberation
18) Inter Arma - Sulphur English
17) Ashen Horde - Fallen Cathedrals
16) Spirit Adrift - Divided by Darkness
15) Uhtcearu - Madness & Creation
14) Lord Dying - Mysterium Tremendum
13) Gatecreeper - Deserted
12) Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light
11) Novembers Doom - Nephilim Grove
10) Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
9) Devin Townsend - Empath
8) Possessed - Revelations of Oblivion
7) Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
6) Vastum - Orificial Purge
5) Mephorash - Shem Ha Mephorash
4) Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
3) Wilderun - Veil of Imagination
2) Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
1) Nile - Vile Nilotic Rites

Jay's Top 40 Albums of 2019

40) Asagraum - Dawn of the Infinite Fire
39) Gatecreeper - Deserted
38) Coffin Rot - A Monument to the Dead
37) Memoriam - Requiem for Mankind
36) Stellar Master Elite - Hologram Temple
35) Wartroll - Frozen Hordes
34) Abbath - Outrider
33) Ashen Horde - Fallen Cathedrals
32) Krypts - Cadaver Circulation
31) Trollfest - Norwegian Fairytales
30) Gaahls Wyrd - Gastir - Ghosts Invited
29) Adrift - Pure
28) Hollywood Vampires - Rise
27) Pelican - Nighttime Stories
26) Entombed A.D. - Bowels of Earth
25) Vastum - Orificial Purge
24) Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light
23) Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
22) Hath - Of Rot and Ruin
21) Inter Arma - Sulphur English
20) Rotting Christ - The Heretics
19) Rammstein - Rammstein
18) Ordos - The End
17) Overkill - The Wings of War
16) Wormwitch - Heaven that Dwells Withing
15) Legion of the Damned - Slaves of the Shadow Realm
14) Immortal Bird - Thrive on Neglect
13) Exhumed - Horror
12) Slayer - Repentless Killogy
11) Vanden Plas - The Ghost Xperiment
10) Candlemass - The Door to Doom
9) Wilderun - Veil of Imagination
8) Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
7) 1349 - The Infernal Pathway
6) Nile - Vile Nilotic Rites
5) Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
4) Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
3) Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
2) Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
1) Possessed - Revelations of Oblivion

Will's Top 40 Albums of 2019

40) Legion of the Damned - Slaves to the Shadow Realm
39) Mizmor - Cairn
38) Slomatics - Canyons
37) Critical Defiance - Misconception
36) Exhumed - Horror
35) Wartroll - Frozen Hordes
34) Fetid - Steeping Corporeal Mess
33) Vltimas - Something Wicked Marches In
32) Candlemass - The Door to Doom
31) Slow - VI - Dantalion
30) Soulmass - The Weakness of Virtue
29) Saor - Forgotten Paths
28) Pelican - Nighttime Stories
27) Mayhem - Daemon
26) Nucleus - Entity
25) Sickdeer - Awake, Proceed
24) Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
23) Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
22) Immortal Bird - Thrive on Neglect
21) Basilysk - Emergence
20) Cerebral Rot - Odious Descent into Decay
19) Overkill - The Wings of War
18) Onirophagus - Endarkenment (Illumination Through Putrefaction)
17) Possessed - Revelations of Oblivion
16) Uhtcearu - Madness & Creation
15) Nile - Vile Nilotic Rites
14) Ossuarium - Living Tomb
13) Rotting Christ - The Heretics
12) Sacred Reich - Awakening
11) Krypts - Cadaver Circulation
10) Inter Arma - Sulphur English
9) Ordos - The End
8) Thronehammer - Usurper of the Oaken Throne
7) Mortiferum - Disgorged from Psychotic Depths
6) Hate - Auric Gates of Veles
5) Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
4) Vastum - Orificial Purge
3) Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
2) Funeral Fvkk - Carnal Confessions
1) Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light

John's Top 40 Albums of 2019

40) Target - Deep Water Flames
39) Uhtcearu - Madness & Creation
38) Hannes Grossmann - Apophenia
37) Weeping Sores - False Confession
36) Nightfell - A Sanity Deranged
35) Memoriam - Requiem for Mankind
34) Gates to the Morning - Return to Earth
33) Saor - Forgotten Paths
32) Soulmass - The Weakness of Virtue
31) Krypts - Cadaver Circulation
30) Ashen Horde - Fallen Cathedrals
29) Ossuarium - Living Tomb
28) Abigail Williams - Walk Beyond the Dark
27) Novembers Doom - Nephilim Grove
26) The Great Old Ones - Cosmicism
25) Mortiferum - Disgorged from Psychotic Depths
24) Glare of the Sun - Theia
23) Fen - The Dead Light
22) Epitaphe - I
21) Pelican - Nighttime Stories
20) Stormhaven - Liquid Imagery
19) In Mourning - Garden of Storms
18) Borknagar - True North
17) Gatecreeper - Deserted
16) Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light
15) Devin Townsend - Empath
14) Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
13) Disillusion - The Liberation
12) Spirit Adrift - Divided by Darkness
11) Alcest - Spiritual Instinct
10) Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
9) The Moth Gatherer - Esoteric Oppression
8) Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
7) Lord Dying - Mysterium Tremendum
6) Obsidian Tide - Pillars of Creation
5) Waste of Space Orchestra - Syntheosis
4) Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
3) Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
2) Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
1) Wilderun - Veil of Imagination

Matt's Top 40 Albums of 2019

40) Idle Hands - Mana
39) Pelican - Nighttime Stories
38) Second to Sun - Legacy
37) Windswept - The Onlooker
36) Herod - Sombre Dessein
35) Shabti - Trembling and Shorn
34) Nile - Vile Nilotic Rites
33) 1349 - The Infernal Pathway
32) Downfall of Gaia - Ethic of Radical Finitude
31) Misery Index - Rituals of Power
30) Mo'ynoq - Dreaming in a Dead Language
29) Altarage - The Approaching Roar
28) Ashbringer - Absolution
27) Uhtcearu - Madness & Creation
26) The Moth Gatherer - Esoteric Oppression
25) Ashen Horde - Fallen Cathedrals
24) S‚ver - They Came With Sunlight
23) The Ember, The Ash - Consciousness Torn from the Void
22) Superstition - The Anatomy of Unholy Transformation
21) Visceral Disgorge - Slithering Evisceration
20) Saor - Forgotten Paths
19) Ossuarium - Living Tomb
18) False - Portent
17) Immortal Bird - Thrive on Neglect
16) Gatecreeper - Deserted
15) The Great Old Ones - Cosmicism
14) Dead to a Dying World - Elegy
13) Waste of Space Orchestra - Syntheosis
12) Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
11) Serpent Column - Mirror in Darkness
10) Kaleikr - Heart of Lead
9) Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
8) Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light
7) Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
6) Vanum - Ageless Fire
5) Vastum - Orificial Purge
4) Yellow Eyes - Rare Field Ceiling
3) Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
2) Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
1) Crowhurst - III

Markisan's Top 40 Albums of 2019

40) Ashen Horde - Fallen Cathedrals
39) Candlemass - The Door to Doom
38) Mizmor - Cairn
37) Krypts - Cadaver Circulation
36) Alcest - Spiritual Instinct
35) Mortiferum - Disgorged from Psychotic Depths
34) Critical Defiance - Misconception
33) Gravefields - Embrace the Void
32) Harrowed - Chaotic Nonentity
31) Creeping Death - Wretched Illusions
30) Vukari - Aevum
29) Yellow Eyes - Rare Field Ceiling
28) Pelican - Nighttime Stories
27) Nile - Vile Nilotic Rites
26) Ghosts of Glaciers - The Greatest Burden
25) Haunter - Sacramental Death Qualia
24) Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
23) Vanum - Ageless Fire
22) Eternal Storm - Come the Tide
21) Lord Dying - Mysterium Tremendum
20) Wilderun - Veil of Imagination
19) Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
18) Cranial - Alternate Endings
17) The Great Old Ones - Cosmicism
16) Inculter - Fatal Visions
15) Adrift - Pure
14) Vacivus - Annihilism
13) Immortal Bird - Thrive on Neglect
12) False - Portent
11) Gatecreeper - Deserted
10) Falls of Rauros - Patterns in Mythology
9) Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
8) Weeping Sores - False Confession
7) Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
6) Arctic Sleep - Kindred Spirits
5) Vastum - Orificial Purge
4) Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light
3) Crowhurst - III
2) Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
1) Atlantean Kodex - The Course of Empire