Do you know this feeling when you stumble across a random word, and then suddenly that name pops up just about everywhere? That specific term haunting yours truly has long been "Portland, Oregon". It seems to me that every new discovery was founded in Portland, apparently every other album was mastered at Brad Boatright's Audiosiege Studio in Portland, and every single of my favorite bands had, at some point, performed on a stage somewhere in Portland.

In the 1980s, LA was undeniably the world's glam metal capital, alongside with San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal as a counter development. Then we witnessed the death metal boom of the early 90s, with Tampa, Florida as its global hotspot. Not to forget the New York punk and hardcore scene (NYHC), the rise of sludge metal from the swamps of New Orleans during the late 80s, grunge from Seattle gaining mainstream prominence in the early 90s...
Apparently, there has always been a tendency in the US towards rapidly developing, locally restricted music scenes, in whose environment a completely new style or genre could develop in order to have a lasting impact on the global musical landscape within a few years.

So I just had to find out if my mind was playing tricks on me or if Portland really is the current capital of the US for heavy music and extreme metal - hence this list.

Inclusion criteria:
featured on Metal Strom and
established in Portland or
a long-term creative phase in Portland or
still active and currently based in Portland
(that's why Leviathan is here but Lurker Of Chalice isn't)

Only one album (preferably the most recent full-length album) per band.

By the way, according to this article, Portland harbors the highest amount of active metal bands per capita in the US. Quite a surprise, isn't it?

While we are at it, what's your favorite Portland band?

1.Abhorrent Affliction - Forever Will He Reign

2.Acathexis - Acathexis

3.Ænigmatum - Deconsecrate

4.Ævangelist - Dream An Evil Dream III

5.Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere

      View entire list ››

1.Abyssus - Into The Abyss

2.Acephalix - Decreation

3.Ascended Dead - Abhorrent Manifestation

4.Auroch - From Forgotten Worlds

5.Auroch - Taman Shud

      View entire list ››

1.Waste Of Space Orchestra - Syntheosis

2.Stellar Master Elite - Hologram Temple

3.Mephorash - Shem Ha Mephorash

4.Nile - Vile Nilotic Rites

5.Strigoi - Abandon All Faith

      View entire list ››

"CALENDAR MADE OF METAL"
October = Death Metal
Listening to as many albums as possible in said genre during said month and listing them here as I go. Suggestions welcome.

1.Asphyx - Last One On Earth

2.Creeping Death - Wretched Illusions

3.Fetid - Steeping Corporeal Mess

4.Coffin Rot - A Monument To The Dead

5.Obituary - Cause Of Death

      View entire list ››

This is a work in progress. Not official until around January 1, 2020. Most of these albums were listened to in August as I lost interest during March. I did not really listen to anything between then to the beginning of August. I've missed out on a lot but I'm hoping to come across that hidden gem few know about. Anyways, enjoy the list. I've checked a few lists on here and they may or may not have been influential. My ratings go as high as 100.0%. You have to at least get a 60.1% to make it on this list.

1.Pensées Nocturnes - Grand Guignol Orchestra

2.Inculter - Fatal Visions

3.Ossuarium - Living Tomb

4.Anti-Hero - Rolling Thunder

5.Suffering Hour - Dwell

      View entire list ››

It may have been a slow start to 2019, but May and June have started to kick things into high gear. I recently decided to start collecting vinyl, which has lead me to start a list. It's been a couple years since I've done one, so I figured I'm due. Enjoy.

1.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

2.Haunter - Sacramental Death Qualia

3.Schammasch - Hearts Of No Light

4.Blood Incantation - Hidden History Of The Human Race

5.Cult Of Luna - A Dawn To Fear

      View entire list ››

1.Blood Incantation - Hidden History Of The Human Race

2.Wormlust - Kosmískur Hryllingur [Collaboration]

3.Abyssal - A Beacon In The Husk

4.Misery Index - Rituals Of Power

5.Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen

      View entire list ››

1.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

2.Wormlust - Kosmískur Hryllingur [Collaboration]

3.Decoherence - Ekpyrosis

4.Kwade Droes - Onder De Toren

5.Abyssal - A Beacon In The Husk

      View entire list ››

1.Knocked Loose - A Different Shade Of Blue

2.Tanith - In Another Time

3.Coffin Rot - A Monument To The Dead

4.Spirit Adrift - Divided By Darkness

5.Magic Circle - Departed Souls

      View entire list ››