Only the 9s or 10s / 10 are here. Roughly ordered in time.

1.Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit

2.Kingcrow - Phlegethon

3.Crippled Black Phoenix - I, Vigilante

4.Igorrr - Nostril

5.Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones

      View entire list ››

To me, an EP is a release of original music under 30m in length.

Score is an average of each EP's song ratings, full list located here (only new original songs included).

If you discovered any new EPs 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 500 Albums (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)

1.Nine Inch Nails - Broken

2.Galneryus - 絆

3.Insomnium - Songs Of The Dusk

4.As I Lay Dying - Decas

5.Necromantia - Ancient Pride

      View entire list ››

2000-2004 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=5844
2005-2009 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=5838
2015-2019 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6722

I sure do love this site and it's rating system, it makes finding great music so easy and, even more importantly, when an album is overlooked for a while but starts getting a buzz a few months later, boom, there it appears in the top 20.

All that being said, I still wish there was some way to get a weighted ranking that not only takes the rating of the album into account, but also the number of votes that were cast. For example, an album with a rating of 8.8 and 1000 votes would rank higher than an album with a rating of 8.9 and 20 votes. So, I scraped all the albums on the site with at least 1 vote into a database. Then, taking a leaf out of IMDb's book, I used Bayesian estimation (like the IMDb's Top 250) to calculate a weighted rating for each album based on its Metal Storm rating and the number of votes it had received.

The formula for calculating the Top 100 Albums gives a true Bayesian estimate:
Bayes rating (BR) = ( C × m + R × N ) ÷ ( m + N ) where:
C = average expected rating given...
m = minimum number of votes
R = average rating for the album = (Metal Storm rating)
N = number of votes for the album = (votes)

The way the Bayesian estimator works is that all albums in the database are given and additional m fake votes with an average rating of C, irrespective of how many true votes it already has. Then a new weighted rating is calculated...
If the album has no true votes ( N = 0 ), then BR = ( C × m + R × 0 ) ÷ ( m + 0) = C × m ÷ m = C (the average expected rating).
If the album has a number of true votes equal to the minimum ( N = m ), then BR = ( C × m + R × m ) ÷ ( m + m ) = ( C + R ) × m ÷ 2m = ( C + R ) ÷ 2 (halfway between the two ratings).
If the album has a very large number of true votes ( N >> m ), then BR = ( C × m + R × N ) ÷ ( m + N ) ≈ R × N ÷ N = R (the Metal Storm rating).
This means that the Bayes rating will never equal the Metal Storm rating but will approach it as the true votes grow arbitrarily large.

Now that the maths bit is out of the way, here was my methodology:
Only Studio and EP album types, from the years 2010 to 2014, with at least 1 vote, were included.
The average expected rating (C) was determined by averaging all the Metal Storm ratings from 2010-2014.
The minimum number of votes (m) was determined by calculating the 75th percentile of the votes, rounded to the nearest 10.
I also decided that if an album's Bayes rating was within 0.005 of #100, it would be included too; hence the +2.

C for 2010-2014 = 7.478
m = 20

Number of albums from each year in the list:
2010 - 24
2011 - 28
2012 - 16
2013 - 22
2014 - 12

Ratings are accurate as of 30/10/2023

1.Gallowbraid - Ashen Eidolon

2.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

3.Aquilus - Griseus

4.Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

5.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

      View entire list ››

1.Ulver - A Quick Fix Of Melancholy

2.Dream Theater - A Change Of Seasons

3.Cradle Of Filth - Vempire

4.Vader - The Art Of War

5.Darkestrah - Khagan

      View entire list ››

These are my picks of "must haves" of 2011 for those who enjoy progressive, technical, djent, and/or experimental metal and hybrids thereof. Derived from over 50 2011 metal releases I purchased and many more that I heard but did not buy. Maybe you missed a masterpiece that I've identified here -- I know I've found a few from others' lists!

1.Leprous - Bilateral

2.TesseracT - One

3.Unexpect - Fables Of The Sleepless Empire

4.Cynthesis - DeEvolution

5.Blotted Science - The Animation Of Entomology

      View entire list ››

Albums from 2011 That I managed to listen and know very well. Best to worst

1.Protest The Hero - Scurrilous

2.Ouroboros - Glorification Of A Myth

3.Revocation - Chaos Of Forms

4.The Human Abstract - Digital Veil

5.Leprous - Bilateral

      View entire list ››

This is retrospective ranking of the albums I listened to in 2011. The list is a work-in-progress and the order is likely to change.

10 - Godly Album. Will likely listen to at least once a week for a decade.
9 - Fantastic Album. Will be a classic I remember even in senility.
8 - Great Album. Will recommend to friends.

1.Obscura - Omnivium

2.SubRosa - No Help For The Mighty Ones

3.Paul Wardingham - Assimilate Regenerate

4.Blotted Science - The Animation Of Entomology

5.Protest The Hero - Scurrilous

      View entire list ››

Well it seems to be the popular thing to do (creating a 2011 faves list) so why shouldn't I jump on the bandwagon too...

Alphabetically of course...although if I was going to put one at the top it would be Archspire (it's unfortunate I haven't seen it on many lists)...

1.Abysmal Dawn - Leveling The Plane Of Existence

2.After Oblivion - Vultures

3.Archspire - All Shall Align

4.Before The Dawn - Deathstar Rising

5.Beyond Creation - The Aura

      View entire list ››

Purely subjective list based on personal preferences for the year, unrelated to mass opinion of an album or a band's abilities (e.g. Trivium, Oranssi Pazuzu) - many albums lined up to listen to so will increase in size. Also, not entirely in order, middle order mainly just an approximation.

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Protest The Hero - Scurrilous

3.Infestus - E x I s t

4.Amorphis - The Beginning Of Times

5.Ouroboros - Glorification Of A Myth

      View entire list ››

It remains to add bands that haven't released album and add personal comments.

1.Symphony X - Iconoclast

2.Iced Earth - Dystopia

3.Vektor - Outer Isolation

4.Megadeth - Th1rt3en

5.Warbringer - Worlds Torn Asunder

      View entire list ››

1.Primordial - Redemption At The Puritan's Hand

2.Moonsorrow - Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa

3.Septicflesh - The Great Mass

4.Obscura - Omnivium

5.MaYaN - Quarterpast

      View entire list ››