The lists of our favourite albums of 2016 will definitely come in the next few weeks. However, for the time being, I wanted to turn back the clock to 2011 and share with you a list of my favourite albums that turned 5 years old this year, and I would like to do this before the year is over.
Now you're probably asking, why 2011? Well, that year was quite an eventful and memorable year for me. I had a whole slew of new experiences in my life then that were just amazing, but we won't get into those. The only negative part about it was that I lost my grandfather on my dad's side in May of that year. 2011 was also the year I started writing album reviews. It all started on Facebook just for pleasure in the latter part of the year and that led to me joining Metal Master Kingdom a few months later.
Down below are my ten favourite albums that were released in 2011.
Now you're probably asking, why 2011? Well, that year was quite an eventful and memorable year for me. I had a whole slew of new experiences in my life then that were just amazing, but we won't get into those. The only negative part about it was that I lost my grandfather on my dad's side in May of that year. 2011 was also the year I started writing album reviews. It all started on Facebook just for pleasure in the latter part of the year and that led to me joining Metal Master Kingdom a few months later.
Down below are my ten favourite albums that were released in 2011.

10. DESTRUCTION - Day Of Reckoning
This was the album that made me fall in love with Destruction. I was aware of Destruction prior to this album coming out, but upon hearing Day Of Reckoning, I had to hear more. The blistering production with the insanity of the drums and the brutal riffs make this album an absolute monster. Of course, the guest appearance of Ol Drake from Evile makes the album even more awesome where he lends his warp-speed shredding to a few tracks. Tracks like "The Price", "Hate Is My Fuel", "Day Of Reckoning" and "Destroyer Or Creator" just crush. This is definitely one of Destruction's best albums.
This was the album that made me fall in love with Destruction. I was aware of Destruction prior to this album coming out, but upon hearing Day Of Reckoning, I had to hear more. The blistering production with the insanity of the drums and the brutal riffs make this album an absolute monster. Of course, the guest appearance of Ol Drake from Evile makes the album even more awesome where he lends his warp-speed shredding to a few tracks. Tracks like "The Price", "Hate Is My Fuel", "Day Of Reckoning" and "Destroyer Or Creator" just crush. This is definitely one of Destruction's best albums.

09. UNEARTH - Darkness In The Light
I discovered Unearth shortly after I started embracing the metalcore genre which was when I had just started my freshman year of high school in 2006. It was around that time that I was starting to embrace bands with screaming vocals, and Unearth was one of the first of those bands I got into, even though the very first band of that type I embraced was Trivium. Unearth released some killer albums, but I would have to say Darkness In The Light is their masterpiece. People will argue that and say III: In The Eyes Of Fire is their best and that's a great album no doubt, but Darkness In The Light does it for me, with songs like "Ruination Of The Lost, "Shadows In The Light", "Eyes Of Black", "Arise The War Cry" and "Overcome", just great and well-crafted songs.
I discovered Unearth shortly after I started embracing the metalcore genre which was when I had just started my freshman year of high school in 2006. It was around that time that I was starting to embrace bands with screaming vocals, and Unearth was one of the first of those bands I got into, even though the very first band of that type I embraced was Trivium. Unearth released some killer albums, but I would have to say Darkness In The Light is their masterpiece. People will argue that and say III: In The Eyes Of Fire is their best and that's a great album no doubt, but Darkness In The Light does it for me, with songs like "Ruination Of The Lost, "Shadows In The Light", "Eyes Of Black", "Arise The War Cry" and "Overcome", just great and well-crafted songs.

08. MACHINE HEAD - Unto The Locust
I think for 2011, this is a no-brainer. Machine Head's Unto The Locust is without a doubt one of their heaviest and well-written albums. From a fan perspective, it was really difficult for me and pretty much all Machine Head fans worldwide to see how they were going to top The Blackening, but I believe that Unto The Locust beats that album by a notch. From the great thrashers like "I Am Hell" and "This Is The End" to the epic heavy-hitters like "Locust" and "Darkness Within", I couldn't find a weak link on this album. It's perfect. I put Unto The Locust as one of the top 3 best Machine Head albums of all time with The Blackening and the latest album Bloodstone & Diamonds.
I think for 2011, this is a no-brainer. Machine Head's Unto The Locust is without a doubt one of their heaviest and well-written albums. From a fan perspective, it was really difficult for me and pretty much all Machine Head fans worldwide to see how they were going to top The Blackening, but I believe that Unto The Locust beats that album by a notch. From the great thrashers like "I Am Hell" and "This Is The End" to the epic heavy-hitters like "Locust" and "Darkness Within", I couldn't find a weak link on this album. It's perfect. I put Unto The Locust as one of the top 3 best Machine Head albums of all time with The Blackening and the latest album Bloodstone & Diamonds.

07. SAXON - Call To Arms
I was already in the process of embracing Saxon on Into The Labyrinth, but it was when Call To Arms came out that I really became a Saxon fan and had to hear more. The opening track "Hammer Of The Gods" was the tipping point for that. Biff Byford and company have been following the same formula pretty much since Rock The Nations, but it continues to work like a charm. I would definitely put Call To Arms up there with Denim & Leather, Wheels Of Steel, Dogs Of War, Lionheart and the album's two successors: Sacrifice and Battering Ram as one of the band's best records ever. Tracks like "Hammer Of The Gods", "Mists Of Avalon", "Chasing The Bullet", "Afterburner" and "Surviving Against The Odds" all contain captivating hooks that will hook any listener.
I was already in the process of embracing Saxon on Into The Labyrinth, but it was when Call To Arms came out that I really became a Saxon fan and had to hear more. The opening track "Hammer Of The Gods" was the tipping point for that. Biff Byford and company have been following the same formula pretty much since Rock The Nations, but it continues to work like a charm. I would definitely put Call To Arms up there with Denim & Leather, Wheels Of Steel, Dogs Of War, Lionheart and the album's two successors: Sacrifice and Battering Ram as one of the band's best records ever. Tracks like "Hammer Of The Gods", "Mists Of Avalon", "Chasing The Bullet", "Afterburner" and "Surviving Against The Odds" all contain captivating hooks that will hook any listener.

06. WARBRINGER - Worlds Torn Asunder
As far as the New Wave of Thrash goes, Warbringer are undoubtedly one of the kings of the movement along with Evile, Havok and Savage Messiah. The band's third album Worlds Torn Asunder is where I became a fan. Right from note one of the raging opener "Living Weapon", this album contains pure thrash magic with some of the band's best written material. Packed with rampaging riffs, fierce vocals and pounding drums, it contains everything that a thrash fan searches for in a thrash album. If someone was just discovering Warbringer and they asked me what album they should start with, I would certainly say Worlds Torn Asunder, then go back and check out the previous two records: War Without End and Waking Into Nightmares, and the follow-up IV: Empires Collapse. They're all good records, but they don't come close Worlds Torn Asunder. My opinion.
As far as the New Wave of Thrash goes, Warbringer are undoubtedly one of the kings of the movement along with Evile, Havok and Savage Messiah. The band's third album Worlds Torn Asunder is where I became a fan. Right from note one of the raging opener "Living Weapon", this album contains pure thrash magic with some of the band's best written material. Packed with rampaging riffs, fierce vocals and pounding drums, it contains everything that a thrash fan searches for in a thrash album. If someone was just discovering Warbringer and they asked me what album they should start with, I would certainly say Worlds Torn Asunder, then go back and check out the previous two records: War Without End and Waking Into Nightmares, and the follow-up IV: Empires Collapse. They're all good records, but they don't come close Worlds Torn Asunder. My opinion.

05. ONSLAUGHT - Sounds Of Violence
"This is the sound of violence, The power and the pain. This is the sound of violence. In the realm of the insane!" What a criminally underrated band Onslaught is. I started listening to them on the Killing Peace record and when Sounds Of Violence came out, it went to another level of brutality, especially in the production. With Jacob Hansen behind the desk for this record, he gave the record a higher level of punch, and his production style is very identifiable because every album he produces, he adds the same production to them. Nige Rockett's riffs are destructive and Sy Keeler's voice is just menacing. It was also the Sounds Of Violence tour that the band toured North America for the first time in their career and I was fortunate enough to see that show. If you haven't heard Onslaught before, you don't know what you're missing. Start with Sounds Of Violence and then check out the other albums.
"This is the sound of violence, The power and the pain. This is the sound of violence. In the realm of the insane!" What a criminally underrated band Onslaught is. I started listening to them on the Killing Peace record and when Sounds Of Violence came out, it went to another level of brutality, especially in the production. With Jacob Hansen behind the desk for this record, he gave the record a higher level of punch, and his production style is very identifiable because every album he produces, he adds the same production to them. Nige Rockett's riffs are destructive and Sy Keeler's voice is just menacing. It was also the Sounds Of Violence tour that the band toured North America for the first time in their career and I was fortunate enough to see that show. If you haven't heard Onslaught before, you don't know what you're missing. Start with Sounds Of Violence and then check out the other albums.

04. MEGADETH - Thirteen
Lucky album #13. Some people would say that Thirteen and Super Collider were the weaker links of Megadeth's albums of the recent years, but I'm pretty sure that if every Megadeth fan had to pick one of these two, many would gravitate towards Thirteen, With a tight schedule to record the album, it's no wonder that the record didn't exactly meet the expectations people had after the release of Endgame two years prior. I will say that some of the lyrical content comes across as corny, but aside from these minor flaws, Thirteen is a great record and I really enjoyed it. I still love to put it on from time to time. There's a number of great memorable songs on here like "Sudden Death", "Public Enemy No. 1", "Guns, Drugs & Money", "Never Dead", "Fast Lane" and "Deadly Nightshade".
Note: When I started writing album reviews on Facebook in 2011, this was the first album I reviewed.
Lucky album #13. Some people would say that Thirteen and Super Collider were the weaker links of Megadeth's albums of the recent years, but I'm pretty sure that if every Megadeth fan had to pick one of these two, many would gravitate towards Thirteen, With a tight schedule to record the album, it's no wonder that the record didn't exactly meet the expectations people had after the release of Endgame two years prior. I will say that some of the lyrical content comes across as corny, but aside from these minor flaws, Thirteen is a great record and I really enjoyed it. I still love to put it on from time to time. There's a number of great memorable songs on here like "Sudden Death", "Public Enemy No. 1", "Guns, Drugs & Money", "Never Dead", "Fast Lane" and "Deadly Nightshade".
Note: When I started writing album reviews on Facebook in 2011, this was the first album I reviewed.

03. TRIVIUM - In Waves
Any Trivium fan will attest to the fact that In Waves is a great album, but it was also a very transitional album because it was the first record with a new drummer (Nick Augusto) for the most part, but there was a shift in their songwriting. They went back to the style found on Ascendancy. The title track alone has already become a classic Trivium song, and is a big moment in the live set. The crowd erupts when they explode into the track. However, tracks like "Watch The World Burn", "Inception Of The End", "Dusk Dismantled", "Caustic Are The Ties That Bind", "Built To Fall", "Chaos Reigns" and "Of All These Yesterdays" are amazing and well-crafted songs. Some people love the record, some people hate it. It took me a while to get into the title track when the song first came out. To this day, I don't put the song as one of my top 10 favourite Trivium songs of all time, but I have an appreciation for it. The album itself is definitely nowhere near the ranks of superiority of Ascendancy, The Crusade and Shogun, but In Waves is a fantastic, well-written and focused metal record with energy, melody, intricacy, simplicity and aggression, every element that a Trivium fan loves.
Any Trivium fan will attest to the fact that In Waves is a great album, but it was also a very transitional album because it was the first record with a new drummer (Nick Augusto) for the most part, but there was a shift in their songwriting. They went back to the style found on Ascendancy. The title track alone has already become a classic Trivium song, and is a big moment in the live set. The crowd erupts when they explode into the track. However, tracks like "Watch The World Burn", "Inception Of The End", "Dusk Dismantled", "Caustic Are The Ties That Bind", "Built To Fall", "Chaos Reigns" and "Of All These Yesterdays" are amazing and well-crafted songs. Some people love the record, some people hate it. It took me a while to get into the title track when the song first came out. To this day, I don't put the song as one of my top 10 favourite Trivium songs of all time, but I have an appreciation for it. The album itself is definitely nowhere near the ranks of superiority of Ascendancy, The Crusade and Shogun, but In Waves is a fantastic, well-written and focused metal record with energy, melody, intricacy, simplicity and aggression, every element that a Trivium fan loves.

02. EVILE - Five Serpent's Teeth
Evile have been one of my favourite bands ever since I started listening to them in 2010. Enter The Grave, Infected Nations and Skull are all amazing albums, but I think that Five Serpent's Teeth is their most diversified album, and it's without a doubt one of the best albums of 2011, but it's also a transitional album for the band. Only about two weeks after the release of Infected Nations in 2009, their original bassist Mike Alexander passed away while the band was on tour in Sweden with Amon Amarth. He was only 32 years old (R.I.P Mike). They welcomed in new bassist Joel Graham and moved forward, and this is Joel's first album with the band. There's a plethora of great songs on here like the title track, "In Dreams Of Terror", "Cult", "Eternal Empire", "Origin Of Oblivion", "Centurion", "Long Live New Flesh" and the album's ballad "In Memoriam", which is one of the band's best songs. It was written in tribute to Mike and is about loss. For me, like I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I lost my grandfather in 2011, so "In Memoriam" hits home for me. I get chills every time I listen to it.
Evile have been one of my favourite bands ever since I started listening to them in 2010. Enter The Grave, Infected Nations and Skull are all amazing albums, but I think that Five Serpent's Teeth is their most diversified album, and it's without a doubt one of the best albums of 2011, but it's also a transitional album for the band. Only about two weeks after the release of Infected Nations in 2009, their original bassist Mike Alexander passed away while the band was on tour in Sweden with Amon Amarth. He was only 32 years old (R.I.P Mike). They welcomed in new bassist Joel Graham and moved forward, and this is Joel's first album with the band. There's a plethora of great songs on here like the title track, "In Dreams Of Terror", "Cult", "Eternal Empire", "Origin Of Oblivion", "Centurion", "Long Live New Flesh" and the album's ballad "In Memoriam", which is one of the band's best songs. It was written in tribute to Mike and is about loss. For me, like I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I lost my grandfather in 2011, so "In Memoriam" hits home for me. I get chills every time I listen to it.

01. ANTHRAX - Worship Music
When I was in high school, I didn't care much for Anthrax, except that I liked a couple of songs, but in my senior year, when the Big Four shows were first announced, I started taking Anthrax a bit more seriously and took a much bigger liking to them. I dug into their catalog and couldn't believe what I was missing out on. I listened to Among The Living, Spreading The Disease and all the classics and became an Anthrax fan. Fast forward to 2011, Worship Music was announced for release and it was released on the day I turned 19 (Sep 13, 2011). The three-year writing period for the album from 2008-2011 definitely served its purpose. With everything that was going on for the band, both good and bad, like the changing of singers until they finally reunited with Joey Belladonna, the Big Four shows and constant touring, the band had a ton of time to filter the new material to the point where the songs turned out as some of the best they've ever written. This is also the band's best produced album with humungous punch in the guitars, bass and drums. Every song is awesome, but "Earth On Hell", "The Devil You Know", "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't", "In The End", "I'm Alive" and "Revolution Screams" are definitely the album's best tracks.
When I was in high school, I didn't care much for Anthrax, except that I liked a couple of songs, but in my senior year, when the Big Four shows were first announced, I started taking Anthrax a bit more seriously and took a much bigger liking to them. I dug into their catalog and couldn't believe what I was missing out on. I listened to Among The Living, Spreading The Disease and all the classics and became an Anthrax fan. Fast forward to 2011, Worship Music was announced for release and it was released on the day I turned 19 (Sep 13, 2011). The three-year writing period for the album from 2008-2011 definitely served its purpose. With everything that was going on for the band, both good and bad, like the changing of singers until they finally reunited with Joey Belladonna, the Big Four shows and constant touring, the band had a ton of time to filter the new material to the point where the songs turned out as some of the best they've ever written. This is also the band's best produced album with humungous punch in the guitars, bass and drums. Every song is awesome, but "Earth On Hell", "The Devil You Know", "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't", "In The End", "I'm Alive" and "Revolution Screams" are definitely the album's best tracks.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS (No Order)
Thank you very much for reading. Look for our Top 10 Albums of 2016 lists to be posted during the coming weeks. What are YOUR favourite albums from 2011?