20 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2018 (So Far)

We’re halfway through and the black metal is still running wild!

While most other blackened discs on this list earn their stripes by either defying or experimenting with their style, resulting in progressive epics like Harakiri for the Sky’s Arson, Watain land the number ten spot here by rediscovering the roots of their subgenre. Instead of wasting their time with artsy interludes and emotional sophistication, these Swedish hellraisers return black metal to the halcyon days of Burzum and Mayhem: a time in which dissonant roars and quick yet haunting guitar strumming rang out ominously from the malevolent forests of Scandinavia.

Watain return Satan to the forefront of black metal music on Trident Wolf Eclipse, roaring out the antitheistic hymn “Nuclear Alchemy” to begin proceedings. Lyrics like “Fire at will / Arsonists of Lucifer” set the tone for a record that soars by at only 35 minutes in length, but packs all the time that it has with the most unhallowed of brutality.

Trident Wolf Eclipse is pure audial evil, tapping into the most primal and carnal pleasures of extreme metal. Its delicious darkness earns it its places in the top ten of this list, and also the upper echelon of 2018’s satanic musical sorcery.