 | Blog author: Alex Irwin Where do I begin with 2020? Well first off, this has been the worst start to a new decade that I've ever witnessed, hell it's worse than the whole surrounding hysteria around the Y2K bug, which never happened to the magnitude that the movies had depicted. But 2020 got off to a bad start with the death of Neil Peart. |
Even though Rush had broken up 2 years prior, he died as a result of a 3.5 year battle with glioblastoma, the same aggressive brain cancer that claimed the life of Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie 3 years ago. Then 2 months later, the Covid pandemic came in full swing and fucked everything up, not just the world going into lockdown, but the cancellation of festivals including Wacken Open Air, which as unsurprising an announcement it was, it still left me heartbroken and I've since not recovered from it as I lost my smile in the process because it had the most stacked lineup I've ever seen in my life, including Venom and Mercyful Fate, whom I was looking forward to seeing both, but I will have to wait.
I will say amidst the horseshit of 2020 there were a few silver linings for me personally. 1.) My Dad having successful surgery to remove a carcinogenic polyp from his colon. 2.) Getting not one, but two raises at work. 3.) Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump in the US presidential election, thus putting an end to 4 years of an autocratic wannabe freakshow south of the border. 4.) Some awesome albums that were released this year that at least kept me from going into full blown insanity as the feelings I've developed as a result of the pandemic are bitterness, cynicism, and hostility towards rat-lickers, feeling anti-social and impatient.
The albums definitely helped me through the year and all I can hope is that next year will be an improvement, and these albums will translate into hearing them being played live in front of a rabid audience that's waiting to release a lot of pent up anger and/or rage, whether it be in the pit to the point where they bust themselves open or headbangers like me who will bang our heads until we break our necks, or scream our lungs out and blow our vocal chords out. I will also say this year has seen a number of deaths, but the ones that me hardest were Neil Peart, Eddie Van Halen, and Sean Connery since I grew up with the James Bond franchise. Here are my albums in descending order.
I will say amidst the horseshit of 2020 there were a few silver linings for me personally. 1.) My Dad having successful surgery to remove a carcinogenic polyp from his colon. 2.) Getting not one, but two raises at work. 3.) Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump in the US presidential election, thus putting an end to 4 years of an autocratic wannabe freakshow south of the border. 4.) Some awesome albums that were released this year that at least kept me from going into full blown insanity as the feelings I've developed as a result of the pandemic are bitterness, cynicism, and hostility towards rat-lickers, feeling anti-social and impatient.
The albums definitely helped me through the year and all I can hope is that next year will be an improvement, and these albums will translate into hearing them being played live in front of a rabid audience that's waiting to release a lot of pent up anger and/or rage, whether it be in the pit to the point where they bust themselves open or headbangers like me who will bang our heads until we break our necks, or scream our lungs out and blow our vocal chords out. I will also say this year has seen a number of deaths, but the ones that me hardest were Neil Peart, Eddie Van Halen, and Sean Connery since I grew up with the James Bond franchise. Here are my albums in descending order.
| 10. HAVOK V | 09. GRAVE DIGGER Fields Of Blood | 08. NAPALM DEATH Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism |
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| 07. VADER Solitude In Madness | 06. AC/DC Power Up | 05. UNLEASH THE ARCHERS Abyss |
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| 04. WARBRINGER Weapons Of Tomorrow | 03. SODOM Genesis XIX | 02. TESTAMENT Titans Of Creation |
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MY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
01. ANNIHILATOR
Ballistic, Sadistic
HONOURABLE MENTIONS (No Order)
| OZZY OSBOURNE Ordinary Man | PARADISE LOST Obsidian | BODY COUNT Carnivore |
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| MY DYING BRIDE The Ghost Of Orion | ENSIFERUM Thalassic |
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There's my list of 2020 folks. I will end off by saying even with the silver linings, it wasn't enough to remove this black cloud of misery and depression hanging above my head, so I look forward to 2020 being dead and gone in a vat of molten steel like the T-1000 falling in after being blown from a grenade as a great big "fuck you" to 2020. Let's hope 2021 will be an improvement. Horns up!
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