Special albums to say something about.
Sorry for my bad english and my nerdy opinions. Maybe this list has the potential to inspire. Or not. |
| 1 |  | Testament
The Gathering
First of all, the lineup of Testament for this record is amazing but the record itself is a love-hate-thing for me. It sadly feels a little bit heartless but it rocks so stone cold and razor sharp hard that it is a pleasure. The production (of the remaster) stands out as one of the most brutal one that i have ever heard in metal history. Don't know the original mix and only have heard good things about it. So why the remaster? Until today, i cannot decide how i should rank this album in the bands discography. |
| 2 |  | Amorphis
Tuonela
This album overall has not so much love but i adore everything about it. Tuonela is one of the most important metal records of my life. With this album i find love for different styles and genres in the world of heavy music. For my ears the musicianship is brilliant on Tuonela and there is no filler track. Also this record feels very evil and sinister with its theme and hidden growls. Divinity is standing out and everytime i listen to this record i can't wait for Greed to come as the hard hitting and creepy center track. It makes me think of walking through the underworld finally meeting the devil who will let me pass later. |
| 3 |  | Destruction
Release from Agony
I can understand everybody who dislikes Destrucion or says that they are not the best at their instruments and so on in comparison with other thrash bands. But there is Release From Agony in their back catalogue and every time i hear this album i ask myself if they had ghostwriters for it. It is such a complex and technical thrash record from front to back. It leaves my mouth open. Destruction never ever did such a thing again. And it comes out of nowhere back in the days right after really primitive records. |
| 4 |  | KISS
Revenge
You can say a lot about Kiss and not only good things. Off all their records Revenge stands out as a serious high quality hard rock album. This is Kiss without making a show. The songs groove like hell and shows all of the band members in top form. |
| 5 |  | Venom
Metal Black
I was ignoring this album for a long time which was failure. Obviously. The problem is that Metal Black is an album of the band Venom. It never was a good fit to their attitude und discography. Metal Black reminds me of Therapy? in a strange way. It is noisy, angry, primitive, compact and overall an ugly rough bastard of an record which i love to revisit often. |
| 6 |  | Entombed
Uprising
Just like Tuonela, this is one of the most important records for me. There are so many brilliant hard rocking riffs on it and the original production is among the most fucked up and best ones i have ever heard. It feels unfinished and broken on purpose and it fits perfect to the dirty rock'n'rollish vibe of that record. I can't recommend Uprising enough. |
| 7 |  | Therapy?
Suicide Pact - You First
What was that? After up to this date Therapys kind of polished and radio friendly alternative rock records this noisy and harsh beast came out with its destructive title and horrifying cover. Maybe this is the most evil and menacing sounding record in alternative rock music? Love all of it. This album don't give a fuck about what fans of Therapy? and all other people in the world wanna hear. Remarkable and in a way disturbing record. I adore the production. |
| 8 |  | Mayhem
Ordo ad Chao
The third super important record for me. I'm fascinated until today by the endless destructive and dark nature of this album. I love how complex it is and that it barely (or probably) couldn't be reproduced live on stage. Ordo Ad Chao is a piece of art which absorbs all dark human feelings and forces you to listen to them very carefully. |
| 9 |  | Aborted
Strychnine.213
Looking back this is a strange record, but i am absolutely loving it. When it was released, i didn't see the strangeness. I was into Slipknot and Hardcore and Strychnine.213 was the perfect powerhouse between different things i like in heavy music. It sounds highly energetic, chaotic with complex groove parts and its well-rounded nu metalish production is adorable. Reminds me of a Machine Head production. The nu metal core of this album is cleverly hidden behind its overloaded sound and hectic. |
| 10 |  | Machine Head
The Burning Red
I was so hyped for this record when it was released. Today the rap parts are terrible but the straight forward songwriting and the production (yes) still brings me back the euphoric feelings and memories of this time. It is still a good album for me. The artwork, the whole thing. But not this fucking rap parts. And ok, i would like to replace the Message In A Bottle cover. |
| 11 |  | Satyricon
The Age Of Nero
Back in the days with the release of this album i had felt into a long, deep and intense Satyricon phase. I totally felt in love with the sound and overall aestethics of Satyr and the band. It seemed strong, majestic and rock star arrogant. The songs were so clear, so tight and mighty, so heavy and straight forward. Loved it. It was the album trio Volcano, Now, Diabolical and The Age Of Nero which burned my ears. Until today, i cannot deceide which one of those three i like the most and my hype is gone. But this are great memories. The band and especially their album trio will forever have a special place in my heart. |
| 12 |  | Samael
Passage
I was really late discovering this band seriously and especially their Passage. This record immediately has had something special and strange for my ears. I didn't know how much i like it or not. Then i found out that their is a Remaster existing which seemed to be interesting for my ambivalence. The plan was that i could hear this album with a second perspective und it worked. Hearing the Remaster the first time was as disturbing as hearing the original was because it sounds so different to the original mix. The keys are heavy in the background now which changes some songs completely. With that Passage overall sounds more modern and heavy. But better? No. I don't want to decide that. It is sure that the charm of the original is totally lost and gone on the Remaster. Today i like both equally. Sometimes i want Passage to be heavy, sometimes i want it to sound finer and detailed. This fact makes this album something else in my record collection. |
| 13 |  | Ethereal Scourge
Judgement & Restoration
Back in 1997 this barely known album was my first one with growl vocals. When i was young i denied deep death growls as something too negative, disgusting, evil and forbidden. I surely was totally into heavy music like punk and hardcore with breakdowns, screams and shouts, but my metal had always been with clean vocals. I bought the Ethereal Scourge CD after i have read that they play 'heavy metal' and i hoped them to sound Metallica-like. Then the CD was spinning and i was shocked. This was not heavy metal. This was evil (christian! lol!) death metal. It happend anyways that i continue to listen to the CD and soon began to accept this kind of vocals. And after 'accepting' came 'beeing obsessed'. The door to the world of extreme metal genres was wide open. Today i hate clean vocals in metal and black metal is my favorite style of music. And Judgement & Restoration? Is still an awesome album to check out. It grooves like hell. Think of something like better Soulfy playing death metal. |
| 14 |  | Hopesfall
Magnetic North
What an interesting album. It came out as a comeback and there was big disappointment at first. All heaviness and a lot of the core trademarks of the previous Hopesfall records were gone. But then this grows so much on me like a rocket to the moon just at the right time. I had lost my passion for music a little bit and was bored out because of all the repetition. But i need music so much and this record brought my fire back. Until today Magnetic North is my favorite Glassjaw-feel-like record besides the Glassjaw records itself. This album should have much more fans! With the albums after this Hopesfall lost me again. |
| 15 |  | Silverchair
Neon Ballroom |
| 16 |  | Snapcase
Designs for Automotion
This is not the most popular Snapcase record but a very important one for me. With Designs for Automotion i discovered the genre of new school hardcore and was totally blown away by this kind of music. New school hardcore is a term that isn't used today. Snapcase took a lot of Refused on this record and they bring an sensational groove to every song. I think because of that Rage Against The Machine comes to my mind everytime i am listening to Designs for Automotion. |
| 17 |  | Grade
Headfirst Straight To Hell
When this came out then disliking it was the thing in the media. Because of its production. I can see that but i loved that strange sounding right on from the very first spin. It sounds impressively unique. And the music, too. This is Iron Maiden meets...Boysetsfire maybe or Glassjaw? It is insane music and i hever heard a similar record again in my life. That's a totally strange fact. Big credits to Grade for creating this. |
| 18 |  | Korn
Follow the Leader |
| 19 |  | Farmer Boys
Till The Cows Come Home |
| 20 |  | Die Aerzte
Planet Punk |
| 21 |  | Celtic Frost
Monotheist |
| 22 |  | Darkthrone
F.O.A.D. |
| 23 |  | Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy
Discovered this pretty late. Yes, a lot of the songs are similar in structure and midtempo but there ist an intense atmosphere and excellent guitar work on this. And it should be a record not only for death metal fans because of its dreamy atmosphere. With a little bit fantasy you could listen to this and think of the post rock genre went melodeath. Or is it shoegaze metal before that even exist? |
| 24 |  | Dark Fortress
Eidolon |
| 25 |  | Behemoth
Evangelion |
| 26 |  | Rotting Christ
Aealo |
| 27 |  | Watain
Lawless Darkness |
| 28 |  | Danzig
6:66 Satan's Child |
|
