It's been a good last six months — at least, if you like your music heavy, dark, headbangable and/or just plain fucked up. Below, we've compiled our favorite jams from the year so far, spanning rockstar-assisted industrial hardcore, NWOBHM icons' pyrotechnic return to form, a Deftones' surging comic-book–inspired solo cut, raging hip-hop from a metal-loving split-personality rapper, Māori thrash made by a trio of Kiwi teens, and everything in between. Blast our Spotify playlist below (check out more of our playlists here), and if you haven't already, dig into our list of the 25 Best Albums of 2018 So Far.
50 Best Songs of 2018 So Far
Blast our Spotify playlist of the last 6 month's finest heavy, dark, headbangable or just plain fucked-up cuts
20 Greatest Comebacks in Heavy-Music History
These artists shook the world by rising from the ashes
25 Essential Thrash Albums
From Anthrax to Voivod
20 Essential Nu-Metal Albums
Linkin Park, Korn, Slipknot and beyond
15 Essential Grunge Albums
From Alice in Chains to Temple of the Dog
Hail to the Kings: M. Shadows Interviews Hetfield and Ulrich
Avenged Sevenfold singer gains audience with Metallica's founding duo in classic story
How Lamb of God Came Back After Randy Blythe's Arrest and Imprisonment
From Prague's Pankrác Prison to LOG's 'VII: Sturm und Drang'
Florida Death Metal's Gory Rise, Groundbreaking Reign: The Definitive Oral History
Deicide, Death, Morbid Angel and more tell the story of one of heavy music's most game-changing movements
Injuries, Pressure, Ciphers: Inside Alice in Chains' 'The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here'
How Seattle rock giants proved the comeback was real with one of their heaviest records