Greetings fellow metalheads!

2021 is officially gone which means I can do the summary for the last month of the year. I'm quite confident that I've gathered all releases which either put smiles on all faces (or Abbath-style frown, which still counts as a smile) or disturbed all non-metalhead relatives gathered for end-of-year celebrations, looking at you as if you've just left a boot stamp on youngest relative's advent calendar right after stepping in dog shit. No matter whether the whole family at the table was interested in these or describing them as noise, headbanging around the Christmas tree or arguing if the vinyls should be played backwards to hear the message from the hellish overlord - all these events seem more interesting if I imagine them with the releases below playing in the background. And there's one important reason why you should check the playlists below - Spotify doesn't have a feature (yet) to play them backwards, so I guess your souls are safe.

If you like toys which come with batteries included, GOTY versions of games with all DLCs and boxes with all seasons of your favourite series AKA the full package - you should check out albums released in December. We have Dessiderium, Malignant Altar, Phrenelith, Ofermod, Pyrexia, Pantheist, Unanimated, Cadaveric Fumes, Ethereal Shroud, Volbeat, Mental Devastation, Dormant Ordeal (one of my favourites) and Aquilus - all recommended by MetalBite's eggheads. I would definitely add Otargos to the recommendations, it really knocked my Christmas socks off. Check out all of those artists accompanied by quite few other brave bands who were hoping to get listeners' attention during their hectic preparations for Saturnalia, by just pressing play below:

But maybe instead of one big present you prefer few smaller ones? Of course we got you covered, the only requirement being that you had to be nice, not naughty. The nice metalheads got the following in December: Barús, Dead War, Gore Brigade, Gorr, Imperishable (proper old-school Stockholm death metal from Gothenburg, another Christmas-socks-off-knocker), Lethian Dreams, Malacoda, Murder Van, Rat King, Sorcerer (covering 4 metal classics), Stabbing, Superlynx, Under the Church and Wizards of Hazards. Just reading these bandnames and imagining them as carollers should put you in holiday-ish mood, so pour some mulled wine and click play below:

Some people prefer little treats as presents or go through trial period before full subscription - that's what we have singles for. And looking at the list below I can already feel excitement about 2022 when bigger releases arrive. We have Abysmal Dawn, Amorphis, Arch Enemy, Atlases, BAEST (after just releasing full album in 2021? Crazy!), Deserted Fear, German thrash metal legends Destruction, Fit for an Autopsy, Frantic Amber (very excited about this one, too), The Gathering, HammerFall, Hegeroth, Hellfrost and Fire (Dave Ingram!!!), Immolation, Kaamos Warriors, Kvaen (black metal with Jeff Loomis as guest? Hell yeah!) brilliant track from Lucifer's Child (split with Mystifier coming out in March), Napalm Death (EP out in Feb), Spite, Sylosis, Voivod and Worm Shepherd. 2022? My ears are ready...:

Now the section called "one gift for him/one gift for her". Or "him/him". Or "her/her". Or for people who just enjoy watching really flexible gymnasts. Anyways, here are the two splits from December - Thorn/Wharflurch "Myxophobia" and Noxis/Cavern Womb "Communion of Corrupted Minds":

We also have something for people who like a puppy, a kitten or a bunny for a present, generally anything that is alive. December gave us full shows from Behemoth, Epica, Sabaton and Shores of Null, together with live singles from Accept and Kreator. Now who can say no to a little, cute, fluffy thing? Or big, loud, hairy one, covered in leather, spikes and corpsepaint? Either way, click play below, because you know you can't say no to any of them:

Now let's move on to presents which come with a comment "Back in my days...", presents from older relatives, who want you get something practical, something that was already tested and confirmed as good (socks, sweater or for example new iPhone) or just old metalheads introducing youngsters into the world of metal (I would have written 'metalverse', but it's been taken by DC already, dammit). The re-released material in December came from Abiotic, Amoriello, As I Lay Dying, Belphegor, Dead (death/grind from Germany), Distant (instrumental version of 'Aeons of Oblivion'), Green Carnation, Nuclear Assault, October Tide, Sunrise ('Equilibria' - instrumental), and Warrior Within. You can listen to them all by just pressing play below:

Have fun listening to all that stuff, don't forget to keep an eye on our profile, add it to your favourites and support the artists you enjoy listening to the most. Buy their merch and then look at happy faces of all who got it as presents. Or terrified faces. Or disgusted. Doesn't matter, as long as you buy the merch and then burn all receipts and delete all info on how they can return it. And at MetalBite we're in gift-giving mood all year long, so expect more ideas for presents next month!

Happy New Year and mosh responsibly \m/