10 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal EPs Of 2017

How come it’s the long-playing records that always get all the love in the end-of-year lists, when making an EP can actually be infinitely harder for a band?

Not only does an EP often mean that the band that made it is one heavily buried in the underground, desperately searching for a label to call home, but, from a musical perspective, extended plays are just hard work, man!

Think about it: somehow, in a disc half the length of the average LP, you have to pack just as much awesomeness, wowing audiences while also not showing your best hand straight up so that you can hopefully lure them back when it is time for your album to come out.

It’s a ridiculously difficult balance to get exactly right, but the ten heavy bands on this list undoubtedly did just that in 2017. So, as we’ve already performed an enormous run-down of the best rock/metal albums of the year, it’s only fair to do the same with the past twelve months’ more punchy discs, too.

As always, a top ten isn’t going to cover every awesome release that this year has seen. If your favourite extended play hasn’t made the cut here, you can always have a look at our July “10 Best Heavy Metal EP’s of 2017 So Far” list, too.

In March 2017, Mastodon’s long-awaited seventh album Emperor of Sand hit store shelves worldwide. Coming almost three years after the psychedelic metallers’ prior effort, Once More ‘Round the Sun (2014), the album quickly became Mastodon’s fastest-selling by a massive margin and received critical and fan acclaim from the outset, while also integrating post-grunge-like melodies into the band’s style to reach a whole new audience.

Then, the shock of the century came a little over six months down the line when the team of Brent Hinds, Troy Sanders, Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor capitalised upon their momentum with a surprise EP: Cold Dark Place. Boasting three songs from the Once More ‘Round the Sun sessions and one outtake from Emperor of Sand, Cold Dark Place didn’t quite have the same impact or accessibility as its immediate, full-length predecessor, but replaced those aspects with an increased focus on soul and emotive diversity. After all, the EP’s acoustic title track feels lightyears away from the clapping rock n’ roll of “Toe to Toes”.

As a result, Cold Dark Place is more a release for the Mastodon completionists: ones that are die-hard enough to crave yet more sludgy goodness after the masterpiece that was Emperor of Sand.