If 2018 was a big year for heavy metal, 2019 has been gigantic. Roughly six months in and the sheer quantity and quality of records to emerge so far has been staggering. Whether, it’s been long awaited albums from some of metal’s biggest names—Dream Theater, Darkthrone, and Amon Amarth are a few among many—or scintillating debuts or follow-ups from bright, burgeoning talents—Spirit Adrift and Heart of a Coward, for example—this year has already been a treasure trove of excellent metal.
The writers at Metal Injection came together to pool our favorites into individual lists of five albums in alphabetical order. These lists only account for metal albums that will be officially released by the end of June. However, there are a lot of brilliant albums due to release in the final six months of this year which are sure to show up in our official lists in December. For now, take a look through each writer’s list (in alphabetical order as well) and be sure to let us know what you’ve been a fan of so far this year!