Lists: Our Top 20 Albums for 2020

31 December 2020 | 8:29 am | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

It's all in the title: our top 20 albums lists for the year that was 2020.

I don't need to remind anyone about the chaotic year that was 2020. You lived it, you endured it - we all did. Like all other years, however, 2020 was a huge year for music; a stunning 12 month period of stellar releases from many different genres and from countless different artists. If you don't think so, then I'm sorry to be the one to inform you that you're wrong, and that you need to expand your listening tastes and find new artists and bands to absorb. Now, if you are one such unfortunate individual, then hey, you're in luck! As myself and my main contributors for KYS this year have handily put together our own top 20 lists for you to pour over, discover, and judge. Enjoy! Show us what your top 20 list looked like, and we'll see you all in 2021. Be safe. 



Alex Sievers:

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

1. Dance Gavin Dance - 'Afterburner'

2. Code Orange - 'Underneath'

3. Loathe - 'I Let It In And It Took Everything'

4. Misery Signals - 'Ultraviolet'

5. Phoebe Bridgers - 'Punisher'

6. Enter Shikari - 'Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'

7. Deftones - 'Ohms'

8. Protest The Hero - 'Palimpsest'

9. Ulver - 'Flowers Of Evil'

10. Health - 'Disco 4'

11. Alpha Wolf - 'a quiet place to die'

12. Emmure - 'Hindsight'

13. Nothing - 'The Great Dismal'

14. Greg Puciato - 'Child Soldier: Creator Of God'

15. DVSR - 'West Technique'

16. Svalbard - 'When I Die, Will I Get Better?'

17. END - 'Splinters From An Ever-Changing Face'

19. Methwitch - 'Indwell'

20. Run The Jewels - 'RTJ 4'

Owen Morawitz:

Misery Signals - 'Ultraviolet'

Pallbearer - 'Forgotten Days'

Eternal Champion - 'Ravening Iron'

Killer Be Killed - 'Reluctant Hero'

Spirit Adrift - 'Enlightened In Eternity'

Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - 'Alfredo'

Svalbard - 'When I Die, Will I Get Better?'

Elder - 'Omens'

The Midnight - 'Monsters'

Drain - 'California Cursed'

Conway The Machine - 'From A King To A GOD'

Crust - '...And a Dirge Becomes An Anthem'

Kvelertak - 'Splid'

Skeletal Remains - 'The Entombment of Chaos'

Respire - 'Black Line'

Benny The Butcher - 'Burden of Proof'

Nothing - 'The Great Dismal'

Black Curse - 'Endless Wound'

Skeleton - S/T

Necrot - 'Mortal'

Hunter Hewgley:

1. Kingdom of Giants - 'Passenger'

2. The Acacia Strain - 'Slow Decay'

3. Mac Miller - 'Circles'

4. END - 'Splinters From An Everchanging Face'

5. Like Moths to Flames - 'No Eternity in Gold'

6. Code Orange - 'Underneath'

7. Loathe - 'I Let It In and It Took Everything'

8. Run The Jewels - 'RTJ4'

9. Justice For The Damned - 'Pain Is Power'

10. Dance Gavin Dance - 'Afterburner'

11. Alpha Wolf - 'A Quiet Place To Die'

12. Movements - 'No Good Left To Give'

13. GIVER - 'Sculpture of Violence'

14. Owen - 'The Avalanche'

15. Taylor Swift - 'Evermore'

16. Sharptooth - 'Transitional Forms'

17. Invent Animate - 'Greyview'

18. Within Destruction - 'Yokai'

19. August Burns Red - 'Guardians'

20. Surfaces - 'Horizons'

Meg Langley:

  1. Yours Truly - “Self Care”

  2. All Time Low - “Wake Up Sunshine”

  3. Rematch - “Do It All Again” (EP)

  4. Makari - “Continuum” (EP)

  5. Stand Atlantic - “Pink Elephant”

  6. Incase We Crash - “Soul Paint” (EP)

  7. Bloom - “In Passing” (EP)

  8. MisterWives - “SUPERBLOOM”

  9. YUNGBLUD - “weird!”

  10. Bearings - “Hello, It’s You”

  11. Young Culture - “Young Culture”

  12. From Ashes To New - “Panic”

  13. Spanish Love Songs - “Brave Faces Everyone”

  14. Knuckle Puck - “20/20”

  15. Midnight Skies - “Disconnect” (EP)

  16. Millington - “Beatdown Generation” (EP)

  17. Makeshift - “Remember The Feeling” (EP)

  18. When The Sun Sets - “Transparent” (EP)

  19. Give Me A Reason - “Vice Versa” (EP)

  20. A Dangerous Affair - “Bringing Out The Beast In Me” (EP)

Bill Peel:

Spectral Lore + Mare Cognitum – Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine

Charli XCX – how I’m feeling now

Backxwash – God Has Nothing to do With This Leave Him Out of It

Show Me a Dinosaur – Plantgazer

Respire – Black Line

Black Wing – No Moon

Liturgy – Origin of the Alimonies

Gaerea – Limbo

The Weeknd - After Hours

Wayfarer – A Romance with Violence

Sex Swing – Type II

IDLES – Ultra Mono

Ulcerate – Stare Into Death and be Still

Moor Jewelry – True Opera

Changeling – III

Run the Jewels – RTJ4

Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin kynsi

Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

Svalbard – When I Die, Will I Get Better?

Zeal & Ardor – Wake of a Nation