Ranger: "Knights of Darkness"

Bust open your trashiest beer and put on this thrashing masterpiece

The artwork says it all: Black background, painted chrome-style logo, four black figures in front of a night time cityscape, and a small sticker with the words "skull splitting metal" around a fanged skull. Knights of Darkness is one of those records you love to bust out and show your friends for a night of binge drinking, air guitaring and shouting to the sound of shredding riffs and high-pitched screams, straight from Finland in a classic 80s speed metal style with no shenanigans.

Vesterian: "Anthems for the Coming War Age"

In league with the gods of war

US black metal band Vesterian has existed in some form since 1994 where they started out as Centurion. Once they changed their name to Vesterian in 1997, several demos ensued before the release of their first actual album came out in 2013 through Glorious North Productions. Anthems for the Coming War Age is as tumultuous as the fractured past of the band, mirroring the revolving door lineup through the years in cacophonous black metal eruptions.

Flower Travellin Band: "Satori"

Cult heavy-psych from Japan

The mighty Saxon once asked "where were you in '79 when the dam began to burst", but let us turn back time a little further and leave self-referential question for some other time. Let us tune in to early 1971. In England, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath had already released their second album, and Led Zeppelin was still gaining momentum through their first three albums. In the US, The 13th Floor Elevators and the first incarnation of Iron Butterfly had already come and gone, and so had the guitar legend Jimi Hendrix.

Nordland: "The True Cult of the Earth"

Another shot of British black metal

There are countless examples where a band's second effort falls short of the first. Often, the first album is the result of pent up inspiration and ambition, where the sophomore album in many cases seems like an effort driven by necessity or expectation rather than the will to create. Upon Nordland's mighty - and highly recommendable - 2012 album of the same name, the British band stands before a gruelling task in creating something that even comes close to the debut.

Written in Torment: "Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes"

Triumphant black metal from Harrogate

The fact that Written in Torment - an anti-Christian black metal band - hails from a town as scenic and picturesque as Harrogate, England, is testament to the fact that you can find even the most extreme genres in all places, unlikely though they may be. Mike Hardisty, working under the name Leviathan, created the band in 2003 and has since recorded a few releases more or less on his own. From The Uncreation EP in 2006, it wouldn't be until 2013 that the world would once again be exposed to Written in Torment's vile doctrines.

Hobbs' Angel of Death: "Heaven Bled"

Hobbs' Angel of Death makes a return, but not so much a return to form

What year is it!? The Stranger Things series inspired by classic Spielberg and the like is a huge hit, while synthwave artists are spreading their neon glow all over the world, and Hobbs' Angel of Death - Australia's prodigal thrash metal son - has returned with the first album in over 20 years!

Master Fury: "Circles of Hell"

Obscure heavyweights on CD for the first time

No doubt the US played an essential role in the rise of thrash metal in the 80s. While bands like Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, Testament, Overkill, Flotsam & Jetsam, Forbidden and more are usually the first that come to mind, hidden gems like Holocross, Heretic, Powerlord and Master Fury must not be forgotten.