My personal 100 favorite metal albums(1 per band)
100 best metal albums (1 per band) also other album and tack recommendations. Attempted some sort of order to this list but its not really possible.
*Edit -dont know if i was on drugs or something putting the dark ride at 20 so i dropped it all the way to the bottom. which shot everything else up up one spot.
-also dunno why i had ultimate instinct as my Intestine Baalism album, so i changed it. Even though it is quite good i have repeat upon repeat listens of the other 2 albums.
_ i clearly got sloppy at the end of making this list too, illdisposed persefone and vinterland probably shouldnt be there but whatever ill leave em. |
| 100 |  | helloween
The Dark Ride
helloween have had many fine and not so fine moments, this is the former. While not as intense as much of the discography, its genuinely great.
check out the title track |
| 99 |  | augury
concealed
the lair of purity is a favorite track of mine |
| 98 |  | illdisposed
1 800 Vindication |
| 97 |  | vinterland
Welcome My Last Chapter |
| 96 |  | Soilwork
Natural Born Chaos
work checking out this band.
Some better songs from the early thrash days are "sadistic lullaby" "wings of domain" and "spirits of the future sun" |
| 95 |  | at the gates
Slaughter of the Soul |
| 94 |  | callenish circle
My Passion Your Pain |
| 93 |  | blut aus nord
Memoria Vetusta II - Dialogue With The Stars |
| 92 |  | Carcass
Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious |
| 91 |  | empyrium
Weiland |
| 90 |  | unexpect
In a Flesh Aquarium
must listen to unexpect song "Another Dissonant Chord(The shiver)",
"In Velvet coffins we slept" "Quantum symphony" also highly recommended. |
| 89 |  | Fleshgod Apocalypse
Agony |
| 88 |  | The Bled
Pass the Flask
this is hardcore |
| 87 |  | Persefone
Core |
| 86 |  | Eluveitie
Spirit
"of fire wind and wisdom" is my fav eluveitie song |
| 85 |  | Entombed
Left Hand Path |
| 84 |  | Cryptopsy
None So Vile
listen to phobophile |
| 83 |  | Mithras
Worlds Beyond the Veil
brutal, and plain weird |
| 82 |  | Circle Takes the Square
As the Roots Undo
more hardcore than metal, if anything. Damn fine |
| 81 |  | Lamb of God
Ashes of the Wake |
| 80 |  | Deathspell Omega
Paracletus |
| 79 |  | Burzum
Det som engang var |
| 78 |  | Gojira
From Mars to Sirius
one of the better bands around. "Where dragons dwell" is my favorite of this particular album
"l'enfant sauvage" and "gift of guilt" are other gojira standout songs |
| 77 |  | Children of Bodom
Something Wild
love the first 3 albums from this band |
| 76 |  | Forefather
Ours is the Kingdom
englands answer to Viking metal. |
| 75 |  | Andromeda
Extension of the Wish
prog shreddery that matches if not exceeds the genres greats.
"the words unspoken", "crescendo of thoughts", and the title track are some of my all time favorite songs |
| 74 |  | Green Carnation
Journey To The End Of The Night |
| 73 |  | The Ruins Of Beverast
Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite |
| 72 |  | In Flames
Clayman
the pinnacle of the bands prime. every song has value |
| 71 |  | Iced Earth
Something Wicked This Way Comes |
| 70 |  | Iron Maiden
The Number of the Beast
hallowed be thy fucking name |
| 69 |  | Metallica
Ride the Lightning |
| 68 |  | Kataklysm
Shadows and Dust
this band makes metal seem to easy |
| 67 |  | Manegarm
Vredens Tid
this is what the people want. |
| 66 |  | Anata
The Conductor's Departure
a couple of the better songs ever written on this album. |
| 65 |  | Katatonia
Brave Murder Day |
| 64 |  | All Shall Perish
Awaken the Dreamers
title track is legendary. all other albums worth a check. |
| 63 |  | Gardenian
Soulburner |
| 62 |  | Hypocrisy
Abducted
band put out a lot of good songs with tons of variety through their days.
speeddeath like "warpath"
doomy like "Deathrow(no regrets)" |
| 61 |  | Gods Tower
The Turns
belarussian doom in something semi near to the candlemass style but much more enjoyable. |
| 60 |  | Ensiferum
Iron |
| 59 |  | Wintersun
Wintersun |
| 58 |  | Kekal
Introduce Us to Immortality
a greatest hits album from early in the bands career. I chose it because I used to listed to this album all of the time, and it as my introduction to the band.
The band would go on to release many more albums, some phenomenal.
My other faves
-1000 thoughts of violence
- the habit of fire
-acidity
-audible minority |
| 57 |  | The Chasm
The Spell of Retribution |
| 56 |  | Vader
Welcome to the Morbid Reich |
| 55 |  | Nile
In Their Darkened Shrines |
| 54 |  | Dark Tranquillity
The Gallery |
| 53 |  | Amorphis
Elegy
one of a kind. great band |
| 52 |  | Scorpions
In Trance
old school scorpions, an era many do not know exist. The songs "top of the bill", "In trance", "they need a million" and "well burn the sky" are definitely some of my favorites. |
| 51 |  | Testament
The Legacy
the song "The Legacy" off the album souls of black is also one of the best ever written. |
| 50 |  | Martyr
Warp Zone
riffs and musical talent galore. Love "carpe Diem" and the recap "Realms of Reverie" |
| 49 |  | Lost Horizon
A Flame To The Ground Beneath |
| 48 |  | HammerFall
Glory to the Brave |
| 47 |  | Meshuggah
Destroy Erase Improve |
| 46 |  | Wolves in the Throne Room
Two Hunters |
| 45 |  | Drudkh
Blood In Our Wells |
| 44 |  | Edge of Sanity
Crimson
crimson 2 maybe even better, but it borrows many riffs from the original so it gets the nod |
| 43 |  | Rapture
Futile
"someone i (dont) know"
feels |
| 42 |  | Mors Principium Est
The Unborn |
| 41 |  | Falkenbach
...Magni Blandinn Ok Megintiri... |
| 40 |  | Sybreed
Antares
band blurs the lines between djent, industrial, numetal and melodic death. More people should really have heard of this band.
I highly recommend this album and its predecessor Slave Design. The newer albums have good songs but also have bad songs mixed in |
| 39 |  | windir
Likferd
windir songs that will blow your head off "fagning" ,"journey to the end", "svartesmeden og lundamyrstrollet", "saknet" |
| 38 |  | Summoning
Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame |
| 37 |  | Borknagar
The Olden Domain
real good band, usually only a few good songs per album though. |
| 36 |  | Intestine Baalism
Banquet in the Darkness
melodic death the way it was meant to be done. Heavy, evil, great guitar riffs and solos. |
| 35 |  | Manticora
Hyperion
a heavy brand of power metal that never receive the deserved attention.
other enjoyable manticora songs
-enigma, dragons mist, forever carousel, dynasty of fear |
| 34 |  | In The Woods...
Omnio
I'm not going to try to describe this. listen for yourself
track 1 is priceless |
| 33 |  | Nightwish
Wishmaster
yeah I like nightwish |
| 32 |  | Necrophagist
Epitaph
technical wizardry. |
| 31 |  | Haggard
Awaking The Centuries
a symphony orchestra with drums and death vox. |
| 30 |  | Cynic
focus
a difficult listen, but a landmark album |
| 29 |  | Sceptic
Pathetic Being
another very overlooked album. Some of the finest guitar solos the world has ever seen, so fine I am able to look past the shit drum sound and shit vocals |
| 28 |  | Moonlyght
Progressive Darkness
I have long felt this was probably the most overlooked album in metal history, but somehow didn't listen to the follow up more than once. I still enjoy listening to this after a decade.
note I just discovered they released a 3rd album over a year ago |
| 27 |  | Amon Amarth
Once Sent from the Golden Hall
by far my favorite AA album and the rest are pretty fdamn good. Most fans of the band have probably never even heard this record and they are missing out big time. |
| 26 |  | Emperor
Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
a fucking masterpiece. Copied but never matched.
everything this band ever put out deserves your attention |
| 25 |  | Demons and Wizards
Demons & Wizards
blind guardian/ iced earth supergroup. and somehow a criminally underrated album, every song is great. |
| 24 |  | Insomnium
Above the Weeping World
those damn finns are too good.
choice cut - "drawn to black"
rest of the disco not far behind |
| 23 |  | Kalmah
Swamplord
whole discography was great.
basic finnish melodic death well executed.
some other great kalmah songs "ready for salvation", "one from the stands" they will return" "Outremer", "the trapper" |
| 22 |  | Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire
deviating from the metal to an extent here, but this band needs or I guess needed to be heard.
Melodic hardcore at its finest, a Canadian treasure to be certain |
| 21 |  | Sonata Arctica
Ecliptica
one of the more enjoyable albums ever written. Great catchy melodies at high tempo from start to finish. A keyboard and guitar duel.
other good sonata albums
-winterhearts guild
-silence
other good songs
-paid in full
-in black and white
-caleb |
| 20 |  | Nokturnal Mortum
Lunar Poetry
obscure black metal demo from the Ukraine. Nokturnal Mortum have truly had better moments but if I had to pick one album that ever actually creeped me out it was probably this one. Well maybe some deathspell omega or blut aus nord..
rest of the disography is good, an obscure early track I love to death is "autumn opposition" |
| 19 |  | Isis
Oceanic
spaced out greatness. I'd argue a genre was launched with this beast, but I sure others would argue back.
rest of the albums are also worthwhile |
| 18 |  | Moonsorrow
Verisäkeet
epic Viking metal. Definitely not the only good moonsorrow album |
| 17 |  | Into Eternity
Buried in Oblivion
melodic death/ prog blend. The only truly great into eternity album. The earlier ones I really like but are raw, the later are too overproduced, and happy or poppy or something for my taste but have their moments. |
| 16 |  | Mercenary
11 Dreams
hardly a legenday album. But a melodic death/ prog mix done to perfection. Again points awarded for the distinctive sound. |
| 15 |  | Opeth
My Arms, Your Hearse
could really have picked any album here, don't really have a favorite opeth album., but if I had to choose...
Opeth greatest hits
"bleak","deliverance","when" 'twilight is my robe","apostle in triumph""april ethereal""beneath the mire" |
| 14 |  | Symphony X
The Odyssey
musicianship of the highest order. Power/prog |
| 13 |  | Primordial
The Gathering Wilderness
again a very unique band. Pagan metal from Ireland with a great vocalist. "coffin ships" is a banger.
Other primordial SONGS not on tis album I fucking LOVE.
"dark song""gods to the godless" |
| 12 |  | Arcturus
The Sham Mirrors
some kind of dark carnival music. Fantasic music and vocals. Rest of the catalog is great, I especially like the earlier black metal record aspera hiems syfonia |
| 11 |  | Dream Theater
Images and Words
fantastic band, I also really liked the EP A change of seasons released around the same time, as well as metropolis pt 2., hell, the rest of the catalog is worth a listen as well.
"metropolis pt 1" is one of the all time hits of all time |
| 10 |  | Ulver
Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
okay this album and band again are not for everyone, but this is truly my type of music. |
| 9 |  | Bathory
Blood Fire Death
'tis a fine day to DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE
legendary band, I personally prefer this album and the following 2 "hammerheart, Twilight of the gods", but I'm sure a lot of others prefer the earlier of later stuff. |
| 8 |  | Orphaned Land
The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR
Israeli prog metal,
just listen to it.
Mabool was also a phenomenal album, the earlier stuff wasnt shabby either |
| 7 |  | Anathema
Eternity
bleak
brilliant band. melodic doom early. Post rock or whatever later, all good.
the first half of this album slays, the back half nearly matches. other good early doom anathema songs "sleepless" "sleep in sanity" "restless oblivion" |
| 6 |  | Agalloch
The Mantle
unique melodic blackened folk. phenomenal songwriting.
Other great agalloch albums
-marrow of the spirit
-ashes against the grain |
| 5 |  | Death
Symbolic
very unique tech death album, great riffs and solos.
Listen to DEATH. |
| 4 |  | Therion
Lemuria
symphonic opera metal. Again I've got to imagine a lot of people cant stand this band but they are one of my favorites.
Other Therion albums to check out :
-ALL ( even the early death metal years, and espescially the transitional years {lepaca kliffoth})well maybe less so the stuff after this album |
| 3 |  | Avantasia
The Metal Opera
nearly flawless power metal album. With collaboration from many of the genres legends
breaking away, the tower, and farewell are great tracks, so are the rest. |
| 2 |  | Stratovarius
Episode
not most peoples favorite stratovarius album, but theres great shred/speed tracks like "father time", "will the sun rise",and "speed of light" plus epics like "season of change", and "night time eclipse"
Other Stratovarius albums I like
-destiny
-elements pt. 1
-visions |
| 1 |  | Enslaved
Monumension
Epic and bizarre. Viking hyms and thrash ragers mixed with bizarre spaced out black metal. A lot of people dislike this album, but for me its almost perfect.
Other enslaved albums to check out:
-vikingligr veldi
-Below the lights
-Isa |
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