| 5.0 classic |
| 3 (USA) The End is Begun |
| As I Lay Dying Frail Words Collapse |
| Carcass Heartwork |
| Carcass Swansong |
| Coheed and Cambria From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness |
| Corrosion of Conformity Blind |
| Death Symbolic |
| Death Angel Act III |
| Hypocrisy Hypocrisy |
| In Flames Colony |
| Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast |
| Iron Maiden Killers |
| Judas Priest Screaming for Vengeance |
| Lamb of God As the Palaces Burn |
| Machine Head Burn My Eyes |
| Megadeth Rust in Peace |
| Megadeth Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? |
| Mercenary The Hours That Remain |
| Metallica Master of Puppets |
| Metallica Kill 'Em All |
| Metallica Ride the Lightning |
| Napalm Death Fear, Emptiness, Despair |
| Overkill The Years of Decay |
| Pantera Vulgar Display of Power |
| Prong Cleansing |
| Queensryche Operation: Mindcrime |
| Rush Moving Pictures |
| Rush 2112 |
| Rush Signals |
| Rush Hemispheres |
| Sepultura Arise |
| Sepultura Beneath the Remains |
| Firmly cemented in the keyserfunk all-time top 10 metal albums. This is by definition a groundbreaking release in that it was born during the critical late 80s/early 90s period of metal -- just when grunge threatened to bore all headbangers to death. The impact of Beneath the Remains cannot be underestimated; it filled that crucial metal void by bridging the gap between the tired, dying thrash metal scene on life support (see increasingly irrelevant Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax releases) and the growing domestic and foreign death metal movement (see Florida-born Death and Morbid Angel and European juggernauts Carcass, Entombed, and many, many others). Every single track stands on its own as a classic; harsh, growling, and deathy yet accessible vocals are combined with the power of countless memorable thrash-like crushing riffs, hooks, tempo changes, and transitions as well as skillful yet melodic solos that send chills down the spine. I defy you to play air guitar or drums and keep up with these renegades. And fear not, despite being spawned from a little-known outfit from Brazil, the production values are more than solid -- the drums and rhythms sound tight and razor sharp, but they won't cut you too badly since they are encased in a warm yet rattling buzz of just enough bass to shake your speaker system OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER... |
| Slayer Decade of Aggression |
| Slayer South of Heaven |
| Testament The Ritual |
| The Cult Love |
| 4.5 superb |
| 3 (USA) Revisions |
| All That Remains Overcome |
| Allegaeon Fragments of Form and Function |
| This album gets better by the listen. I love me some Allegaeon. |
| Anterior This Age of Silence |
| As I Lay Dying An Ocean Between Us |
| Atreyu Lead Sails Paper Anchor |
| August Burns Red Constellations |
| Believer Transhuman |
| Byzantine ...And They Shall Take Up Serpents |
| Carcass Wake Up and Smell the Carcass |
| Coheed and Cambria No World for Tomorrow |
| Coheed and Cambria The Afterman: Ascension |
| Darkest Hour The Eternal Return |
| Dawnbringer Nucleus |
unique, heavy, and addictive. no gimmicks, no formulas, no filler, just some awesome heavy metal like it is
supposed to be played.
one complaint though: I wish they wouldn't have ended "All I See" right in the middle of just a kick ass
galloping guitar solo/interlude. Just cuts right off at 2:53. Bummer! |
| Death The Sound of Perseverance |
| Death Individual Thought Patterns |
| Death Human |
| Death Angel Relentless Retribution |
Amazing as it is to believe, the old dudes comprising Death Angel just released what I consider to be their
best album ever. I was absolutely shocked when I threw it in the cd player and heard it in all its thrash
awesomeness. As far as the traditional thrash kings go, I think the new Slayer is fairly ordinary, the new
Overkill is pretty good, the new Megadeth is bit better, the newest Metallica a cut above Mustaine's output,
and the new Exodus a great album above all the former. However, I put this effort at the top of the pile. I
realize how ridiculous/insane this reads, but I honestly haven't heard such great signature riffs, wicked
solos, and angry purposeful vocals since the 80s /90s thrash heyday. No shit. Pick it up and you'll hear
what I mean. Death Angel? Really? Oh, and one last thing: the vocals sound nothing like Overkill... |
| Entombed Clandestine |
| Entombed Wolverine Blues |
| Forbidden Omega Wave |
| Wow this is just awesome thrash. Superb production really brings out the power of the riffs, etc. LOVE IT. |
| Gojira The Way of All Flesh |
| In Flames Reroute to Remain |
| In Flames Whoracle |
| Iron Maiden Live After Death |
| Iron Maiden Brave New World |
| Iron Maiden Live After Death (DVD) |
| Judas Priest British Steel |
| Judas Priest Defenders of the Faith |
| Judas Priest Turbo |
| Lamb of God Ashes of the Wake |
| Machine Head The Blackening |
| Megadeth Countdown to Extinction |
| Megadeth Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! |
| Megadeth So Far, So Good... So What! |
| Mercenary 11 Dreams |
| Mercenary Architect of Lies |
| Mercenary Metamorphosis |
| I absolutely love the direction the band took with this album. Exactly what I hoped these guys would sound like with the new lineup and time passing. Still hitting on all cylinders with a heavy rhythm based attack, still bringing melodic choruses, still sprinkling in plenty of catchy hooks and soaring solos. This is simply a unique band with a special sound. Not sure how anyone could say it is derivative. |
| Metallica ...And Justice for All |
| Misery Index Heirs to Thievery |
| Say what you want about staleness of the grind/death core movement, but these guys somehow continue to find really wicked rhythms and grooves that elude legions of pretenders. Listening to it over and over and it pumps me up every time. Nice work. |
| Misery Signals Mirrors |
| Napalm Death Diatribes |
| Napalm Death Time Waits for No Slave |
| Nightrage A New Disease Is Born |
| Overkill Horrorscope |
| Pantera Far Beyond Driven |
| Queensryche Greatest Hits |
| Ratt Invasion of Your Privacy |
| Rush Permanent Waves |
| Rush Exit...Stage Left |
| Rush Grace Under Pressure |
| Rush A Show of Hands |
| Sepultura Chaos A.D. |
| Shadows Fall The War Within |
| Shadows Fall Seeking the Way: Greatest Hits |
| Slayer Seasons in the Abyss |
| Slayer Reign in Blood |
| Testament The Gathering |
| Testament The Legacy |
| The Absence Riders of the Plague |
| The Cult Sonic Temple |
| The Devil Wears Prada With Roots Above and Branches Below |
| The Sorrow Blessings From a Blackened Sky |
| Metalcore = yes. Great metalcore = absolutely. A freight train of aggressive riffage pummelling your skull with reckless abandon = no doubt. I really disagree these guys represent the typical "core" sound out there right now. They play with a remarkable focus/purpose that is lacking these days. The Sorrow's two albums just keep rolling round and round in my iPod. |
| The Sorrow Origin of the Storm |
| The bottom line is if you don't like metalcore you won't like this album -- don't even bother checking them out. But if you like that style of metal (and I can take it or leave it), Origin of the Storm is a must have. Amazing production values really bring out a non-stop barrage of ridiculously heavy and pummeling riffs -- but with a really unique touch of melody and emotion not often heard in traditional metalcore circles. These guys have a really great feel for their craft -- demonstrated on this and their previous effort, Blessings From a Blackened Sky...I am very impressed. |
| The Sword Warp Riders |
| Times of Grace The Hymn of a Broken Man |
| Trivium Ascendancy |
| Unearth The Oncoming Storm |
| Unearth III: In the Eyes of Fire |
| Wovenwar Wovenwar |
| 4.0 excellent |
| 10 Years The Autumn Effect |
| Adversary Singularity |
| All That Remains The Fall of Ideals |
| All That Remains ...For We Are Many |
| Anthrax Spreading the Disease |
| Anthrax State of Euphoria |
| Arch Enemy Doomsday Machine |
| As I Lay Dying Shadows Are Security |
| As I Lay Dying Awakened |
| Atreyu A Death-Grip on Yesterday |
| August Burns Red Messengers |
| Before The Dawn Deathstar Rising |
| Between the Buried and Me The Parallax II: Future Sequence |
| Born of Osiris The Discovery |
| Byzantine Byzantine |
| WELCOME BACK BOYS! Figured they were gone for good after Oblivion...This is a really great comeback album that is flying under the radar with a similar but also different approach to their previous output. The clean vocals are cleaner, the harsh vocals not as harsh, and there are more creative interludes. Make no mistake though, these guys still do a great job of hammering you with steady diet of super heavy thrash riffs, tempo changes, and ripping solos. Psyched. |
| Caliban The Undying Darkness |
| Caliban Say Hello to Tragedy |
| Carcass Surgical Steel |
| Charred Walls of the Damned Charred Walls of the Damned |
| Richard Christy's "superband" plays an aggressive, heavy, and melodic brand of hybrid metal that causes involuntary head banging and regular repeat plays. The best characteristics of several genres are present and accounted for. CWOTD deftly leaves no stone unturned in their approach to bringing the soaring vocals and lyrics of power metal, the intricate rhythms interwoven with wicked double-bass drumming of progressive/technical death metal, and the lead guitar work (to include blistering solos) and choruses of traditional thrash. Really an excellent release. |
| Chimaira The Age of Hell |
| Dark Tranquillity Fiction |
| Darkest Hour Deliver Us |
| Darkest Hour The Human Romance |
| Decapitated Blood Mantra |
| Decrepit Birth Polarity |
| Dream Theater Black Clouds and Silver Linings |
| Entombed Morning Star |
| Entombed Serpent Saints: The Ten Amendments |
| Evergreen Terrace Almost Home |
| Evocation Apocalyptic |
| Agreed. A really nice modern touch to the heyday melodeath coming from ATG/Gothenburg. |
| Exodus Exhibit B: The Human Condition |
| Gojira From Mars to Sirius |
| In Flames Clayman |
| Into Eternity The Scattering of Ashes |
| Iron Maiden Somewhere in Time |
| Iron Maiden Seventh Son of a Seventh Son |
| Kalmah For the Revolution |
| Kalmah 12 Gauge |
| Kataklysm Waiting for the End to Come |
| Killswitch Engage The End of Heartache |
| Killswitch Engage As Daylight Dies |
| Lamb of God Sacrament |
| Machine Head Through the Ashes of Empires |
| Malefice Dawn Of Reprisal |
| Megadeth Youthanasia |
| Meshuggah Destroy Erase Improve |
| Meshuggah obZen |
| Meshuggah Koloss |
| Metallica Live Shit: Binge & Purge |
| Metallica Garage Inc. |
| Metallica Death Magnetic |
| Misery Signals Of Malice and the Magnum Heart |
| Misery Signals Controller |
| Misery Signals Absent Light |
| Napalm Death Inside the Torn Apart |
| Napalm Death Words from the Exit Wound |
| Napalm Death Order of the Leech |
| Neaera Let The Tempest Come |
| Neaera Armamentarium |
| Nightrage Wearing a Martyr's Crown |
| Nightrage Insidious |
Nightrage has remained refreshingly faithful to the Gothenburg melodic death metal sound over the years,
which can't be said of most of their contemporaries, and this album is no different. Heavy, laden with heavy
yet flexible slabs of rhythm guitar riffage, and enhanced with melodic lead guitar wizardry. Great replay
value as well.
I just downgraded to a 4 based on the not-so-hot clean vocals that don't always fit within the song
structures nor are executed very well. Kind of cheesy IMHO. |
| Prong Rude Awakening |
| Protest the Hero Scurrilous |
| Psycroptic The Inherited Repression |
| Queensryche Empire |
| Rush Hold Your Fire |
| Scar Symmetry Holographic Universe |
| Scar Symmetry The Unseen Empire |
| Sepultura Schizophrenia |
| Shadows Fall Fallout From The War |
| Shadows Fall Of One Blood [Reissue] |
| Soilwork The Panic Broadcast |
| Soilwork The Living Infinite |
| Sylosis Conclusion of an Age |
| Testament First Strike Still Deadly |
| Testament The Formation of Damnation |
| The Absence Enemy Unbound |
| The Cult Electric |
| The Devil Wears Prada Dead Throne |
| The Faceless Planetary Duality |
| The Faceless Autotheism |
| The Haunted Unseen |
| The Sorrow The Sorrow |
| Threat Signal Under Reprisal |
| Threat Signal Vigilance |
| Unearth The March |
| Woe Of Tyrants Kingdom of Might |
