2015 has sucked in almost every way for me and for a lot of people that I know, too. You could say it was full of Trials and Tribulation (that’ll be funny AFTER you see the top of my list). Fortunately, we were gifted a litany of top-shelf metal albums to get us through it without losing our minds. The following are the top 20 metal records that I subjected my children to while driving them all over L.A. I have to admit that there was so much great stuff this year that I sort of cheated here by including a very extensive “honorable mentions” category for all of the other albums that might have made the list had the year ended when they came out. All of them are excellent efforts that I know I’ll be listening to for years to come.

Check out the list and let me know what you think in the comments below because if I know metalheads (and believe me, I do) you’ll all have some very strong opinions about your own likes and dislikes. The best thing about other people’s year-end “best of” list is that I always discover a few absolute gems that got past me during the year. Last year, you, the readers, even turned me on to Ne Obliviscaris and Solstafir, two amazing bands that I was unfamiliar with and whose albums should have been on my list. It is my hope that no matter what your opinion of my personal list is, that it will inspire you to check out some artists or records that you haven’t yet discovered. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new favorite metal band contained herein.

Have a wonderful holiday season and rest up, because 2016 promises to be another pummeling year in extreme music. And be sure to stay tuned here at GoD because you know we’ll be doing our very best to keep you informed about all of it.

This week we lost a giant of the metal community. Bassist Frank Watkins was, for 20 years, a member of Tampa, Florida death metal pioneers Obituary. He had split from the band on bad terms in 2010, and more recently was a member of another groundbreaking band, Norwegian black metal titans Gorgoroth.

The 47-year-old Watkins had been battling cancer in recent years, but remained active musically right up to his passing. For a more lengthy look at his career, check out this article by our friends over at Blabbermouth.

Our massive Metal Monday Track for this week is the title track of Obituary’s second album, Cause of Death, which was released in 1990 and was Watkins’ first recording with the band. So, help us in celebrating the life of one of death metal’s founding fathers by blasting “Cause of Death.”

Infamous black metal battalion Gorgoroth is preparing to unleash it’s next Hellish vision upon the world on June 12th, 2015. It’s called Instinctus Bestialis and it is the ninth full-length record from the Norwegian legends. It will be the first album to feature new vocalist Atterigner and comes a full six years after Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt, the band’s most recent album of new material.

Check out the song, the album cover, and the track list below.

Gorgoroth hails from the mecca of black metal, Bergen, Norway, and takes its name from the plateau of darkness and evil in the Lord of the Rings.

Watch the video (NSFW) here below for Gorgoroth’s “Carving A Giant,” from the album Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam.

Since the band’s inception in 1992, it has been a lightning rod for controversy. As early as their first demos, their heavily Satanic imagery and lyrics led local parents to contact the local sheriff with their concerns. When they signed with Nuclear Blast, many fans cried foul at their alliance with the large mainstream metal label.

I am in the process of transitioning all of the columns from my personal blog over to Geeks Of Doom. I already started with Thrashback Thursday, so now it’s time for Black Metal Friday. For this column, I usually spotlight a band video or, more often, an audio link, since many black metal artists shy away from making videos.

For my first installment on GoD, I have decided to share with you all a fantastic and riveting documentary on Scandinavian black metal. Black Metal Satanica is a very thorough examination of the genre. For anyone interested in knowing more about the subject, this is an excellent place to start! Watch the full documentary here below.