Coming off a year in which many acts held their albums due to the pandemic, 2021 gave us one of the strongest years for new albums in recent history. Rock and metal both thrived throughout the year, with a mix of top acts showing why they've had such staying power and newcomers stepping up to the plate and taking their place in forwarding the genre's future.
In metal, we saw Architects, Gojira, Every Time I Die and Archspire deliver inspired work that continued to push boundaries, a hot selling standout record from Iron Maiden and the long awaited returns of Helloween, Exodus and Fear Factory. Plus acts such as Spiritbox, Sleep Token and SeeYouSpaceCowboy gave us plenty of hope for the future.
