This is the top 50 of my favourite 100 albums of 2000-2009.

1.Warning - Watching From A Distance

2.Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale

3.Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

4.Process Of Guilt - Erosion

5.Negură Bunget - OM

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My favorite BM records. Recommendation are more than welcomed.

1.777Babalon - Eschatological Beast Of The Revelation

2.Advent Sorrow - As All Light Leaves Her

3.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

4.Agruss - Morok

5.Aion - Verses Of Perdition

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A list of bands who have released just one album. Feel free to recommend!

Edit: If the band released their debut album between 2014-present and they haven't split, they are not viable.

1.ABACABB - Survivalist

2.Abstrakt Algebra - Abstrakt Algebra

3.Abydos - The Little Boy's Heavy Mental Shadow Opera About The Inhabitants Of His Diary

4.Abyssmal Sorrow - Lament

5.Age Of Silence - Acceleration

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I've been listening to Metal since 2005 and it has become my biggest passion in life.

Rarely a day goes by where I don't listen to it in one form or another. The bands I listened to in my teens inspired me to pick up the guitar (and later drums) and start making music of my own.

So here are the albums that have stood out and made the largest impact on me. To be as transparent as possible, I've labelled albums as 'nostalgia bias' where my memories of the album give it an advantage over others.

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here. There are a ton of albums that I've rated 9/10 in the 'TBR' tab that may never make it to this list, be sure to check those out.)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of metal, be sure to give this list a thumbs-up and leave a comment so more people can find these amazing bands!

My other lists:
Top 25 EPs (ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
Top 200 Overrated Albums (trigger warning)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)

Genre-Specific:
Top 50 Black Metal Albums
Top 50 Melodic Death Metal Albums
Top 45 Thrash Metal Albums
Top 40 Power Metal Albums
Top 30 Doom Metal Albums
Top 30 Heavy Metal Albums

1.Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Opeth - Still Life

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***Limit 2 albums per artist***

1.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

2.Burzum - Filosofem

3.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

4.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

5.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

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This list aims to be the counterpart to the Metal Storm Top 200 Albums (plus a few extras).

If you discover a new band or already like any of the ones here, please give this list a thumbs up and/or leave a comment so we can get these overlooked gems in front of more people.

Criteria:
• High-quality musicianship (9-10/10 IMO)
• 1 album per band

Ordered by number of votes then MS rating.

As these are albums with a low number of votes, the rating is likely to change frequently. I will update this list as often as I can.

Updated: 29-Jan-24

My other lists:
Top 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 25 EPs (also ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overrated Albums (trigger warning)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)

1.Solipsist - The Human Equation

2.Ayahuasca - Beneath The Mind

3.Cryptomnesia - Primordial Oddity

4.Element (USA) - The Energy

5.Telepathy - 12 Areas

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My favourite black metal albums listed and ranked, all varieties within the black metal genre.

1.Summoning - Oath Bound

2.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

3.Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

4.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

5.Mgła - Exercises In Futility

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Similar to the previous QUC list.

May sound against rational thinking, but I highly suggest you to try out the non-MS featured bands at the end of the list. Most of them are high quality stuff.

YouTube links included again, so go on and listen to some awesomeness

1.Mörk Gryning - Tusen År Har Gått...

2.Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun

3.Vinterland - Welcome My Last Chapter

4.Damned Spirits' Dance - Weird Constellations

5.In Vain - The Latter Rain

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Metal albums of all things techy, futuristic, distorted, synthetic and artificial of the industrial nature.
Includes some single tracks and full albums from YouTube.
Recommendations/suggestions are welcome and one album per band.

1.2 Times Terror - Equals One Sudden Death

2....And Oceans - Allotropic/Metamorphic Genesis Of Dismorphism (A.M.G.O.D.)

3.Aborym - With No Human Intervention

4.Atrophia Red Sun - Twisted Logic

5.Black Comedy - Instigator

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1.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

2.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

3.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

4.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

5.Satyricon - Nemesis Divina

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As is the case with my other lists, this is for my own organizational purposes and is designed purely to help me keep track of all the many black metal bands and albums that I enjoy, since I can't keep all of this information in my head. It has no other benefit whatsoever and will likely result in tantrums should anyone else see it. I'm aware that I haven't listened to every black metal album that I should have. I only went down to the 6s on this list, so it's possible that I have listened to your favorite black metal album that you desperately need to suggest and I thought it was terrible. There are a lot of heinously incompetent black metal bands out there.

On the off-chance that you've found this and actually care about what I think (you shouldn't), be advised that my favorites come first. Some are favorites in the general sense; some are favorites within black metal. The first few of those are in some order and not so much after that.

Because this is for my own purposes and not intended to be a definitive list of pure black metal, there are some black metal-adjacent bands, or albums by black metal bands that may not themselves be black metal. That's why you'll find so much Sigh clogging up the top of the list. I prefer to keep whole discographies together on one list. I used to include Primordial, Forefather, and other such bands, but a while back I created a list for folk and I decided that those artists would fit better there.

I update these lists very infrequently. This was last updated December 7, 2022.

1.Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

2.Sigh - Graveward

3.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

4.Sigh - Heir To Despair

5.The Meads Of Asphodel - The Murder Of Jesus The Jew

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Some of the best metal albums ever released have been by bands that only had one full length release.
List is (and probably always will be) a constant work-in-progress.
If you know of a "one-and-done" metal band/album that isn't on my list, feel free to recommend

1.Weakling - Dead As Dreams

2.Caladan Brood - Echoes Of Battle

3.Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris

4.Timeghoul - 1992-1994 Discography

5.Thorns - Thorns

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An ongoing list for personal use as well as for reference for beginners (& veterans alike). This is solely my personal opinion and taste (Death & Prog mostly but do give every genre a try). Basically will include albums I've rated 8 & above. Sorted by year since I'll need a Venn diagram to sort by genre (seriously MS please make it happen if possible). Will feature multiple releases per year (obviously) and per band (since if a band is putting out better albums it deserves more recognition). Keeping the metal faith alive from India

1.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

2.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

4.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

5.Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself

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Yeah... a very conventional idea for a list, but i couldn't resist in the end finally making this one.
A list of my personal favorites from the blackest metal of them all.
Ordered by personal preferences and updated periodically with only one album/ep/demo per band.
Please enjoy, you might also find some of your likings in here. ^^
...and if not, it can't be helped.

1.Summoning - Stronghold

2.Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness

3.Midnight Odyssey - Firmament

4.Eismalsott - Best Before: Spring

5.Dornenreich - Bitter Ist's Dem Tod Zu Dienen

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These are albums that I'm currently enjoying. They may be classics that I'm revisiting or new gems I've recently discovered. (Ordered alphabetically)

- A star (⭐️) denotes a new discovery that I find exceptionally special!
- A flame (🔥) denotes an album that I've heard before, enjoyed, and am revisiting this month!

1.Adramelech - PsychoStasia

2.Afsky - Om Hundrede År

3.Anaal Nathrakh - The Codex Necro

4.Bloody Panda - Summon

5.Count Raven - High On Infinity

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