As the New Year is upon us we reflect on the past year. A lot has happened in 2015 at home and abroad. The Confederate Flag being removed from government institutions, police shootings of unarmed civilians, terrorist attacks around the world, Bill Cosby's a rapist, a lot of negative stuff, well not the flag thing, that's a good thing. We also lost some people this year. Early on we lost the amazingly talented, influential, trail blazer Kathrine Ludwig. She meant so much to so many people and she will sorely be missed. Then as the year wound down we lost 2/3 of the original Mötorhead line up. First Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor and then on December 28th the metal world and the music world in general lost the unforgettable and amazing Lemmy Kilmister. What a bummer to end the year.

It wasn't all bad, we got to listen to lots of great music. Some newer bands making waves and some seasoned veterans still churning out quality music. We took all the staff's picks, threw them into the Rank-a-Tron 3000 and these are the results that it spit out. Enjoy our list, individual list will be soon to follow. Happy New Year! May 2016 bring us a whole new slew of great albums to debate over. Until then here's the MetalBite Top 20 of 2015. Cheers.

20. Caligula's Horse - Bloom (Inside Out)

19. Beardfish - +4626-COMFORTZONE (Inside Out)

18. Enslaved - In Times (Nuclear Blast)

17. Firespawn - Shadow Realms (Century Media)

16. Iron Maiden - Book Of Souls (Parlophone)

15. Sylosis - Dormant Heart (Nuclear Blast)

14. Sarpanitum - Blessed Be My Brothers (Willowtip)

13. Lost Soul - Atlantis: The New Beginning (Apostasy)

12. Mötorhead - Bad Magic (UDR)

11. My Dying Bride - Feel The Misery (Peaceville)

10. Arcane - Known/Learned (Sensory)

This brilliant progressive minded album came out earlier in the year. It combines epic pieces on the first side with softer numbers on the second side. The use of dynamics on this album and the vocal performance are noteworthy.

9. Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction (Metal Blade)

Cattle Decapitation started their career as a grind core band with some death metal thrown in and an ordinary one at that. However, over the last several albums, especially the last 2, Cattle Decapitation have reinvented themselves. They are now a progressive death metal band with hints of grind core and an extraodinary one at that. 'The Anthropocene Extinction' sees the band pushing even further into the progressive realm without abandoning any of the death metal brutality.

8. Satan - Atom By Atom (Listenable)

The good old days never happened. You’ve just forgotten that the world was always awful.Satan’s newest album is a firm reminder of that enduring fact, and that’s why they still rock just as furiously as they did in 1983. "Atom by Atom" splits open with furious riffs, martial drumming, and choruses that you’ll be singing amid the daily drudgery. The black magic is still there. It’s too loud AND they’re too old. Shut up and listen to it.

7. Solefald - World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud (Indie)

These Norweirdos are at again. Since their inception, Solefald have pushed the envelope, if not tearing it up completely. 'World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud' offers 8 tracks of progressive, avant-garde black metal with some of the best lyrical content of the bands career. Beatle-esque song structures and electronic enhancements only add to the over all appeal of this album. With their 8th full-length, Solefald continues challenge listeners with it's off beat brand of metal.

6. The Maledict - Dread (self-released)

The Maledict’s debut studio album is a crushing death metal weaving between funereal waltzes.

5. Nile - What Should Not Be Unearthed (Nuclear Blast)

Nile continue to be a force in extreme metal. Nile goes with the "if it ain't broke don't fix it philosophy. Churning out slabs of death metal goodness with the inhuman drumming of George Kollias. What Nile unearthed on their eighth full-length is another platter of devastating death metal that with crush you with the weight of it's heaviness.

4. Sulphur Aeon - Gateway To The Antisphere (Ván)

This album combines the sounds of The Chasm and Behemoth. It has a crushing flair and an outstanding drum performance. This is one of the tightest death metal releases of the year.

3. Paradise Lost - The Plague Within (Century Media)

The masters of gloom return with a vengeance. This album gains the added growled vocals for further musical nuance and dynamics. At this point, Paradise Lost are masters of their craft.

2. A Forest Of Stars - Beware The Sword You Cannot See (Lupus Lounge)

Our #2 album of the 2015 is the #1 album of 1895. The Gentlemen's Club returns with their 4th platter of Victorian inspired psychedelic black metal. They continue to further their sound and become one of the more original acts in metal today. Songs like "Drawing Down the Rain", "A Blaze of Hammers" and the brilliant 6 part anthem "Pawn on the Universal Chessboard" suffocate you with dissonant chaos before freeing you with beautiful melodies, all while the charismatic Mister Curse spins his yarns with a truly original vocal approach. If you don't think this is one of the best albums of the year then "fuck you and the worm you rode in on."

1. Arcturus - Arcturian (Prophecy)

This years best album comes from Norway's space pirates. It's been 10 years since their last release, which was average at best and many of us missing Garm. Apparently it had the band missing him too because they seemed a little lost. This time around they found what they were looking for. ICS Vortex gives a vocal performance for the ages. He's so good on this album it I'll have you saying "Garm who?". Seriously, it's that good. Songs like "The Arcturian Sign" and "Angst" show you his range, while the absolutely brilliant "Crashland" is one of the best metal songs recorded in it's 45 year history. 'Arcturian' is simply one of the strongest comeback albums ever and is more than deserving to be the best album of 2015.

That's all folks! In 365 days we'll do it all over again, well 366 since it's a leap year. As you can see by the lateness of our list, that extra day will come in handy. Here's to a awesome 2015 and an even better 2016.

In case you wonder how we came up with this order here are our individual lists.