Top 10 Hard Rock Albums of 2018

Last year was a lackluster year for new rock and left my list pretty diverse as I scrounged for 10 list-worthy albums.  This year it was a lot harder narrowing it down to my top 10 and figuring out the order.  The top two were a no brainer, but some surprises made the top 5 and some that I was highly anticipating didn't even make the cut.  That's a good problem to have if you are a rock fan!  Check out my top picks and then sink your teeth into the honorable mention category.  Let me know if you think I left something out.

1. Judas Priest - Firepower
2. Nonpoint - X
3. Tremonti - A Dying Machine
4. Devour the Day - Signals
5. Bad Wolves - Disobey
6. Slash - Living the Dream
7. Senses Fail - If There Is Light, It Will Find You
8. Palisades - Erase the Pain
9. Breaking Benjamin - Ember
10. Greta Van Fleet - Anthem of the Peaceful Army

Approaching their 50th anniversary, Judas Priest show that they've still got it.  They put out a killer album that shows their vintage sound on some songs along with some more modern metal interpretations within the 14 tracks of Firepower. Read more about my thoughts here.  Nonpoint continue to deliver some of the best alternative metal music of the new millenium and are also establishing their dominance with their 10th studio album.  My review of X-Deluxe.

Tremonti continues to be one of the most prolific hard rock guitarists and with his fourth solo album he delivers the goods again.  It may be his most dynamic solo effort to date with some driving songs (Bringer of War), some shredding solos (A Lot Like Sin, Desolation), and some more pop-oriented anthems (Trust, The First the Last).  One of the things I've noticed is that although his singing range is limited, the choruses have gotten bigger and make you want to sing along (From the Sky).  The drumming also impressed me on this album.  About the only thing I didn't like was the album closer which is an instrumental of mostly ambient noise.

Devour the Day is made up of a few former members of Egypt Central and a former drummer of Bury Your Dead. They are signed to Razor & Tie Records which has had an impressive list of artists and some of the best hard rock bands in recent years. The album, Signals, is the third release from Devour the Day and it just sounds to me like a fresh take on hard rock that is desperately needed these days. There's melody, there's meaningful lyrics, and there's tight musicianship in their songs. The vocals are mostly clean singing (so you can actually understand them), but there are enough screams and breakdowns that you can still release some pent-up crazy.  I hear interesting components reminiscent of of everything from Helmet to Trust Company to Pantera in their songs on this disc. Definitely check it out.

Bad Wolves is a supergroup with vocalist Tommy Vext (ex-Snot), drummer John Boecklin (ex-DevilDriver), lead guitarist Doc Coyle (ex-God Forbid), rhythm guitarist Chris Cain (ex-Bury Your Dead) and bassist Kyle Konkiel (ex-In This Moment, ex-Scar the Martyr, Vimic). They are managed by Zoltan Bathory of Five Finger Death Punch. They live up to the supergroup moniker by blending sounds influenced by punk, industrial, thrash, nu-metal, and even the Cranberries. Their cover of Zombie was supposed to feature Delores O'Riordan before her tragic death. The album delivers a lot more than that one song. If you like the crossover sound, it also features a song with Diamante. I saw them open for 5FDP and Breaking Benjamin and was really impressed with their live performance.

I previously reviewed Slash's latest album here and Breaking Benjamin's Ember here.


Honorable Mentions
AFI - The Missing Man - EP
Alice In Chains - Rainier Fog
All That Remains - Victim of the New Disease
Architects - Holy Hell
Atreyu - In Our Wake
Beartooth - Disease
Black Label Society - Grimmest Hits
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Dee Snider - For the Love of Metal
Disturbed - Evolution
Escape the Fate - I Am Human
Fever 333 - Made An America
Five Finger Death Punch - And Justice For None (Deluxe)
From Ashes to New - The Future
Ghost - Prequelle
Godsmack - When Legends Rise
Halestorm - Vicious
High on Fire - Electric Messiah
Ice Nine Kills - The Silver Scream
Immerse - Suffer
Jungle Rot - Jungle Rot
Light the Torch - Revival (Vocalist Howard Jones' new band)
Monster Truck - True Rockers
Ocean - Phenerozoic I: Palaeozoic
P.O.D. - Circles
Red Sun Rising - Thread

Saxon - Thunderbolt

Sevendust - All I See Is War

Sleep - The Sciences

Smashing Pumpkins - Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1

Soulfly - Ritual

Turnstile - Time & Space