2016 in Heavy Metal Music: The Best and Worst of the Year

Looking back on 2016, it’s been a pretty great year for heavy metal music. From the release of some long-awaited albums to the discovery of some incredible new talent, there’s been a lot to love.

Of course, not everything has been perfect. There have been some lackluster releases and some disappointing live shows. But overall, it’s been a pretty great year for metalheads.

Here’s a look at the best and worst of 2016 in heavy metal music.

The Best of 2016

2016 was a great year for heavy metal music. We saw the return of some great bands, the emergence of some new talents, and some incredible albums. Let’s take a look at the best of 2016 in heavy metal music.

Best Albums

There were some great metal albums released in 2016, and it was hard to narrow it down to just a few. But here are our picks for the best of the best:

1) Ghostbusters Soundtrack by Elle King
2) Absolute Zero by Blue Oyster Cult
3) To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
4) Dethalbum III by Dethklok
5) Meliora by Ghost
6) That’s the Spirit by Bring Me the Horizon
7) VII: Sturm und Drang by Lamb of God
8) Enigma: Omni by Ihsahn
9) Autopsy by Death Grips
10) Firepower by Judas Priest

Best Songs

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to look back at the best (and worst) that 2016 had to offer in heavy metal music. From callbacks to the classic sounds of metal’s golden era, to progressive epics, to extreme technicality, there was plenty of sonic variety this year — and these 10 songs represent some of the very best the genre had to offer.

Best Tours

2016 was a huge year for heavy metal music, with some great tours going on throughout the world. Here are some of the best that metalheads had to offer.

– Metallica’s WorldWired Tour: One of the biggest metal bands in the world went on a massive world tour in support of their album Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, and it was everything fans could hope for. Full of energy and hits, the tour was a great way to see one of metal’s titans in action.

– Ghost’s The Black To The Future Tour: Ghost might be one of the hottest bands in metal right now, and they proved it with their 2016 tour. Mixing theatrics, great songs, and a fantastic stage show, this was a tour not to be missed.

– Slayer’s Repentless Tour: Slayer is one of the most iconic metal bands around, and they went all out on their 2016 tour. With intense live shows and a setlist full of classics, this was a perfect way to catch up with one of thrash metal’s legends.

The Worst of 2016

It was a terrible year for heavy metal music. Many bands put out lackluster albums, and even some of the bands that we thought would be great disappointed us. We saw a lot of bands breaking up, too. It was just a really bad year for metal.

Worst Albums

2016 was not a great year for metal music. There were some good albums released, but overall it was a pretty weak year. The worst offender was the new Metallica album, which was complete garbage. Other bad albums included new releases from Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. The only good thing about these albums is that they were so bad that they might actually be considered comedy albums.

Worst Songs

This was a tough year for heavy metal music, with a lot of great bands releasing subpar material. Here are the 10 worst songs of 2016:

1. “A Question of Heaven” – Iced Earth
2. “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown” – Volbeat
3. “Doors to Nowhere” – Megadeth
4. “Evil’s Rising” – Powerwolf
5. “Gift” – Metallica
6. “Hate by Design” – Trivium
7. “Judas” – Blue Stahli
8. ” KILL4ME ” Marilyn Manson
9 . ” Snakeskin Boots ” Five Finger Death Punch
10 . ” Spit Out the Bone ” Metallica

Worst Tours

As predicted, quite a few tours under-performed this year. It wasn’t all doom and gloom as there were some great package tours, but many of the headlining bands failed to deliver. Here are some of the worst tours of 2016.

The worst tour of 2016 has to be Metallica’s WorldWired Tour. The band’s shows were plagued by technical problems, resulting in cancelled shows and disappointing sets. Metallica fans are used to the band’s chaotic live show, but this tour was a step too far.

Slayer’s farewell tour was also a huge disappointment. The band seemed uninterested in playing their set, resulting in a performance that lacked energy and passion. It was clear that Slayer was just going through the motions on this tour.

Megadeth’s Dystopia World Tour was also a let-down. The band’s setlist was uninspired, and they failed to replicate the energy and excitement of their previous tours. This was a lackluster end to Megadeth’s Dystopia album cycle.

Other disappointing tours include Avenged Sevenfold’s The Stage World Tour, Alice Cooper’s Raise the Dead Tour, and Korn’s The Serenity of Summer Tour.