The year 2020 was a devastating one for not only the music industry, but the entire world. While we’re very much still in the thick of a pandemic, 2021 brings with it new hope, thanks to a vaccine rollout and a new administration in the White House. The new year also promises a plethora of highly anticipated metal and hard rock albums. The albums expected to be released are a combination of works that would have surfaced in 2020 had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic and LPs that had been planned for this year, regardless. It’s fair to say that albums by Mastodon, Megadeth, Evanescence, Gojira, Ministry, The Pretty Reckless, and others would have all arrived in 2020 had those bands been able to tour in support of their latest efforts. Instead, those bands join such noteworthy artists as...