Let's face it, 2021 has been an EPIC year for music. Crossover bands emerged, supergroups were formed via video chat and email. Projects long put off were brought out of the mothballs. Some of the best bands in the land created new masterpieces. Beginners established themselves, challenging the old guard. Here, I have gathered the best of 2021 just from the reviews I was fortunate enough to write. This doesn't even cover the killer new discs that I didn't write about, such as TETRARCH and their amazing record, "Unstable," or the new EXODUS banger, "Persona Non Grata". Is it unfair to not give them their due? Probably, but 2021 had so much great new music I had to limit my choices somehow. So, without further ado, here are my best of 2021s!

Best Symphonic Metal:
Band: EPICA
Album: "Omega"

EPICA is a Dutch Symphonic Metal band and one of the best recognized in the genre. "Omega" is a grand tale, told over epic music that sets this band apart from the rest. The guitars and keyboards interact brilliantly, the drums and bass are such an integral part of the texture of the music it is impossible to separate the two. Then there are the vocals. Simone's soaring operatic tones are phenomenal and are offset by Mark's growls. Listen to the rest of the record because you are hooked now.

Best Hard Rock/Nu-Metal Album:
Band: EVANESCENCE
Album: "The Bitter Truth"

EVANESCENCE was a breakout artist in the early 2000s. Today, they are not only still as relevant and powerful as ever, but they have also only gotten better at their tradecraft. Speaking directly to their fans and getting right to the point, their lyrics embody life and how they view it. "Better Without You" talks about a breakup and realizing life is better without toxic people in it. They even entered the political realm a bit with the instant classic "Use My Voice." Never one to shy away from writing what they feel, just know that you will not be able to listen to this record and not wonder how events from your own life got on their disc. It takes a brilliant band to make their fans feel this much a part of the music. That connection is intimate and unbreakable. These are the lyrics and songs that bring a crowd of strangers together in communion for 90 minutes.

Best Thrash Metal:
Band: FLOTSAM & JETSAM
Album: "Blood in The Water"

FLOTSAM & JETSAM returned in 2021 with their fourteenth full-length record, "Blood in The Water". After all this time, they are still on top of the genre. They dominate the soundscape that is Thrash Metal. Their guitars are fast, furious and oh so precise. The rhythms are bombastic. The vocals are nothing short of amazing. Lyrically, they are still one of the best in the thrash realm. Want to feel anger, rage, fury? This will help. Want to burn off all those holiday calories? Just try and not headbang or air drum or mosh with the Christmas tree. You cannot sit still and listen to this beast of an album. Don't believe me? Once again, the masters have put out a record that redefines thrash metal. The standard is set, and the gauntlet has been thrown down. The rest of the crews need to step up their game if they want to challenge the reigning champs.

Best Classic Rock:
Band: GRETA VAN FLEET
Album: "The Battle at Garden's Gate"

GRETA VAN FLEET is a band heavily influenced by classic rock bands. Early in their career, they drew some comparisons to LED ZEPPELIN, and the listeners were right, but to call them a copycat is to do a disservice to everything GVF has become. There are other sounds and influences that are equally important. More than that, this is an original band that has revitalized a genre that is often relegated to those radio stations that live in a bygone era. GRETA VAN FLEET has made the old new again and brought it back to the forefront. With vocals that rival the greats and music that is as solid as anything written back in the 70s, they prove they are unique and capable of standing on their own. There may be comparisons in the future, but it will be people comparing new bands to GVF. Rock is NOT dead!

Best Power Metal:
Band: HELLOWEEN
Album: HELLOWEEN

Just in case there were any questions, they've been answered. HELLOWEEN is still part of the Big Four of Power Metal. Their eponymous 2021 release proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Shifting from the glory of epic tales of yesteryear to a futuristic voyage, they showed they can work in any age they want. Bringing back Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen to add another guitar and to bring them up to three masterful vocalists, the band has only made themselves bigger and badder than the rest of their brethren. For those who thought HELLOWEEN could not get any more epic, they have proven you wrong. The Deris/Kiske/Hansen vocal assault is nothing short of phenomenal. Having three distinctive voices with their own ranges and timbres allows for the music to get even more expansive.

Best NWOBHM:
Band: IRON MAIDEN
Album: "Senjutsu"

In September of 2021, IRON MAIDEN proved once again they are one of the best in the business, regardless of genre. On this, their seventeenth record, they pushed the barriers farther, expanding their repertoire with yet another killer offering. "Senjutsu" has a slightly different feel from some of their earlier work, and even fairly recent work, all while maintaining that classic IRON MAIDEN sound. The post-apocalyptic song "Writing on The Wall" (link below) is one of their boldest to date. The lyrical content, basically the book of Revelations, is more ambitious than even "The Rime of The Ancient Mariner" from Powerslave. Not as long, but still covering more territory. Three spectacular guitarists, Steve Harris on bass, Nicko McBrain on drums and the legendary Bruce Dickinson! how could this not be the best NWOBHM disc of the year?

Best Gothic Blues:
Band: LEDFOOT
Album: "Black Valley"

LEDFOOT is one of my surprise loves this year. The haunting vocals and melodies really drew me in. With nothing but a 12-string acoustic guitar and a stomp box, LEDFOOT creates ambiance and emotion. The tones he gets from his guitar and voice are enigmatic and ethereal. He's never in a hurry, the pace is always slow and smooth. This is acoustic doom/sludge blues rock. If that sounds like a weird way to describe something, it is, but it works really well. I had no idea this existed before hearing this record, now I'm glad I know. I highly recommend this record if you need to sit and brood, think things over and just feel. Much of the music is dark and foreboding. You will feel this music, and the lyrics. They will make you think, feel, and maybe even hurt some. Embrace the pain and let this album help you cope.

Best Progressive Metal:
Band: LOST SYMPHONY
Album: "Chapter III"

LOST SYMPHONY is a Progressive/Power Metal supergroup that uses a lot of guest appearances to create a massive wall of sound in every song they play. From the late, great Oli Herbert to shred masters Alex Skolnick and Angel Vivaldi, they lay waste to the ordinary. The compositions are complex. The tones are beautiful. The phrases are eloquent without a single word spoken. The guitars may be the highlight of these songs, but there is so much more to them. The rhythms are excellent and the addition of strings and keys that rival the guitars in ability make this one of the most well-rounded instrumental records ever written. This is modern classical with a metal twist. I'm sure BEETHOVEN, WAGNER, GRIEG and all their compatriots are smiling down and applauding, thanking the metal gods for allowing their musical influences to live on through these new artists!

Best Heavy Metal:
Band: MASTODN
Album: "Hushed and Grim"

MASTODON have released the best NWOAHM album for 2021. "Hushed And Grim" is an epic tale that journeys through loss and grief and death. They use a lot of guest musicians, including Kim Thayil of SOUNDGARDEN fame and Troy Sanders's grandmother on french horn. Is it any surprise this is a record of massive proportion? There are two discs because one could not contain all of this. MASTODON is a larger-than-life type of band that just know how to fill a soundscape. They have a presence that is enormous yet can be strangely intimate. They manage to connect the music and the lyrics better than many bands. They can make a musical piece feel just like the emotion the lyrics are trying to convey, adding an immense depth to the overall sonic experience.

Best Power Symphonic Metal:
Band: PHANTOM ELITE
Album: "Titanium"

PHANTOM ELITE is a new multinational band that crosses between Power, Progressive and Symphonic metals with grace and dignity. Relative newcomers to the scene, they quickly established their themselves with a heavy sound. The music is well-written and complex, lending itself to lots of instrumentation, making for a huge wall of sound. The interplay between the keys and guitars is absolutely stunning. The layered vocals are heavenly. Everything is heavy, not as theatrical as some of the symphonic metal out there these days. That heaviness is a welcome shift, adding more shredding to the guitar/keyboard combinations. Listening to this record gives me a warm fuzzy feeling throughout my brain just knowing that some symphonic style metal is not venturing towards cinematic, but is heading straight to the heart of metal.

Best Debut Album:
Band: PLUSH
Album: PLUSH

PLUSH is a band that just burst onto the scene this year. Firmly entrenched in the Hard Rock realm, they hit the stage this year in support of EVANESCENCE and HALESTORM on the west coast and will be opening for the inimitable SEVENDUST for their year end run of shows. Getting these tours as a new band is a huge accomplishment and something the group should absolutely be incredibly proud of. The record is like a timeline of a breakup from the initial connection to the acceptance that the relationship is over. The listener geos on a painful journey but gets to the end and realizes they've moved on from whatever they needed to get over. This record is therapeutic, even eye opening. From start to finish, this is the record you not only hear, you feel., you relate to. This is that rare disc you want to memorize for those times when you need to drag yourself out of that funk and just keep moving forward.

Best Album of 2021:
Band: SEVEN SPIRES
Album: "Gods Of Debauchery"

SEVEN SPIRES is a Boston, Massachusetts based four-piece band that defies all conventional norms. Their vocalist is amazing. She belts, whispers, growls, and croons like no other. She also orchestrates the record and layers in tons of additional vocals to create something so far beyond epic it deserves a category of its' own. The drummer is incredible. Whether he's using blast beats or polyrhythms, he is powering this machine with power and finesse. The bassist is otherworldly. Six string or upright, he plays both with equal talent. Watching his playthrough videos, I'm amazed at some of the positions he molds his hand into to hit all the notes he needs to hit. Then, there is the guitarist. His playing is sublime, eloquent, nuanced and beyond comparison. His fill work over those incredible riffs, the solos, everything, it's just phenomenal. As a band, they are the most exciting I have heard in the past ten years. They topped my Spotify playlist this year. I bought the vinyl, the banner, the coffee mug and all three CDs for my car. I cannot get enough of them. I have tickets to their New Years Eve album release party in Boston. The last band I was this into was SAVATAGE in the 1980s and 1990s and SEVENDUST in the 2000s. The amount of talent this band displays is stunning. Oh, and this is also the third album in a trilogy telling the tale of an immortal being. SEVEN SPIRES has three incredible records under their collective belts. I can only pray the future holds more of the same. There were a lot of great records released in 2021, but this one stood out above all the rest for me. No question about it.