Listmania: Metal Noise Top #5 EPs of 2020!

If you weren’t as excited by our top #5 singles of 2020 on Boxing Day as you were by pouring Bailey’s on your cornflakes on Christmas Day then perhaps our top #5 EP releases of 2020 tickles your fancy. Or maybe not. Who knows. The rules of the game are simple. No bands that features on the top #5 singles will feature on the top #5 EPs so you aren’t going to get bored by the run away winners in every category going on into yawn time during the acceptance speeches. What the f*** are we talking about? No idea.

The 27 minutes of Melodic Death Metal that is “Through Endless Darkness” by Solemnity that appeared in June is an absolute masterpiece and a real labour of love as it was four long years in the making. The band combine the crushing weight and ferocity of Death Metal with the dynamics and grandeur of Orchestral music and we can’t speak highly enough of it.

From June back to May and “Age Of Fire” by From Eden To Exile, a Groove Metal monster that is the gift which just keeps giving. After a wealth of line up changes the EP offers a fresh start for the band and with producer and engineer Neil Hudson of Initiate Audio and Media (Krysthla, Siderian, Sharkteeth Grinder) to assist them they created their finest work. Lyrical themes that paint an ominous picture of a not-so-distant desolate future are the order of the day and this order is served flaming hot.

Staying in May and female fronted Progressive Tech-Metallers Sertraline  dropped the brilliance that is “Clouded Minds & Silver Lines” for our listening pleasure. Punchy DJent rhythms permeated by mesmerizing lead guitars and frontwoman Lizzy Parry playing both beauty and the beast with some incredible vocal range and some seriously deep and meaningful lyrics to dive into should you so wish. Who could ask for more?

There was a time when we didn’t think that Eighteen Visions would return especially after the tragic passing of bassist Mick “MickDeth” Morris in 2013 so to have them resurface in 2017 with an incredible record in “XVIII” and then to go one step further with “Inferno” in 2020 is nothing short of jaw dropping. A self release and a concept record inspired by Italian poet Dante Alighieri‘s 14th century masterwork The Divine Comedy, released without fanfare, it’s simply f***ing amazing. We recommend it.

Last but by no means least has to be “Enervation” by Windchimes, a record that quite literally will have you saying “what the f*** have I just heard?!“. The band used the writing and recording process for their self produced debut EP as a therapeutic release of negative energy and each song is the unhinged work of mad men who have no stylistic boundaries what so ever and are as avant-garde as they come. If you’re after something that really stirs the senses like a deeply evil horror film, it’s this one all the way.