This alphabetical list presents bands that took the inspiration for their name from literature (novels, poems, plays, comics). The list shows the debut album cover along with the information of the corresponding source of inspiration.

Please feel free to suggest more examples of metal/hard rock band names that are inspired by literature.


AUTHORS

1st Place (52 bands):
J.R.R.Tolkien

2nd Place (21 bands):
H.P.Lovecraft

3rd Place (10 bands):
W.Shakespeare

4th Place (7 bands):
E.A.Poe

5th Place (3 bands):
F.Herbert, R.E.Howard, C.A.Smith

6th Place (2 bands):
A.Huxley, J.W.v.Goethe, B.Kane, S.King, C.S.Lewis, H.Melville, K.Miura, M.Moorcock, J.K.Rowling, H.Van Alkmer, O.Wilde

7th Place (1 band):
R.Adams, J.P.Ahonen, D.Alighieri, L.F.Baum, E.C.Bertin, R.Bloch, E.Bronte, L.Carroll, L.Carter, L.Chase, C.Dickens, A.Diggle, M.Ende, S.Erikson, W.Faulkner, J.&W.Grimm, Homer, A.Jodorowsky, Kakifly, U.KLeGuin, H.W.Longfellow, G.R.R.Martin, A.Miller, P.Mills, J.Milton, D.Quinn, S.Rohmer, P.Rothfuss, Y.Sadamato, M.Sandemo, W.Scott, H.Sienkiewicz, D.Simmons, W.Smith, J.Steinbeck, B.Stoker, Suetonius, L.Uris, L.Weisberger, H.G.Wells, Q.Yuan


CATEGORY

1.) Novels (93 bands)
2.) Short Stories/Novellas (34 bands)
3.) Drama (11 bands),
Poems (11 bands),
Comics/Mangas (11 bands)
4.) Religious Texts (4 bands)
5.) Author Names (3 bands)
6.) Magazines (2 bands)
7.) Biographies (1 band), Essays (1 band), Reports (1 band),

1.A Dream Of Poe - The Mirror Of Deliverance

2.Abhoth - Abhoth

3.Abigail Williams - In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns

4.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

5.Alice In Chains - Facelift

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1.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

2.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

3.Darkthrone - Old Star

4.Darkthrone - Ravishing Grimness

5.Darkthrone - Panzerfaust

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To add fuel to the fire of the "they'll never top their first album" rhetoric, here are all my favorite full length debuts in alphabetical order. Full lengths, not EPs.

1.Acid Witch - Witchtanic Hellucinations

2.Aeternus - Beyond The Wandering Moon

3.Agruss - Morok

4.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

5.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

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Alphabetical Order. Categorized as OSBM based on the year of release and/or style of the music. Some minor gray area albums included.

1.Aeternus - Beyond The Wandering Moon

2.Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus

3.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

4.Autopsy - Mental Funeral

5.Baphomet - The Dead Shall Inherit

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

2.Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick

3.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

4.Metallica - Kill 'Em All

5.Slayer - Show No Mercy

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1.Possessed - Seven Churches

2.Sepultura - Morbid Visions

3.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

4.Death - Leprosy

5.Autopsy - Severed Survival

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3 caveats
1. Death metal album (not just debut from band that became death metal, like Carcass)
2. Released calendar year 1999 or earlier
3. By a band with more than 1 album (1-album wonder list is elsewhere)

Yes, there are a few bands conspicuous in their absence. For whatever reason, I just never really got into them.
I don't dislike them, but I don't regard them as highly as most folks do

EDIT - I stayed away from death/thrash combo albums, more for convenience's sake. So Malleus Maleficarum, Illusions, Seven Churches, Serpent Temptation, etc are not on this list, but they'll be on the next list I make (top 25 Brutal thrash/death-thrash albums)

1.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

2.Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence

3.Nocturnus - The Key

4.Sinister - Cross The Styx

5.Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes

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These are MY Top 250 Albums that are featured on Metal Storm in chronological order to celebrate 50 Years of Metal.

Some bands are featured on this list with more than one album, which means that they are perticulary amazing to me.

I listen to a wide spectrum of metal genres, which is why I tried to keep it diverse and not focus on one genre.

1.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

2.Deep Purple - In Rock

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

4.Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards

5.Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies

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My favorite old school death metal bands highlighted with my favorite album. All classic lineup with few exceptions of newer bands.

1.Autopsy - Mental Funeral

2.Impetigo - Horror Of The Zombies

3.Death - Leprosy

4.Obituary - Cause Of Death

5.Possessed - Seven Churches

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1.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

2.Iron Maiden - Killers

3.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

4.Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind

5.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

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1.Obituary - Cause Of Death

2.Deicide - Legion

3.Darkthrone - Soulside Journey

4.Baphomet - The Dead Shall Inherit

5.Morbid Angel - Covenant

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Aiming towards building a list of the best of straightforward, analog, murky Death Metal

1.Possessed - Seven Churches

2.Death Strike - Fuckin' Death

3.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

4.Entombed - Nihilist (1987-1989)

5.Sadus - Illusions / Chemical Exposure

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*** MAX 3 ALBUMS PER ARTIST!!! (Except Death) Also... While extra weight will be given to classic death metal albums, this list will also include exceptional examples of melodic death, death-grind, technical/progressive death, death-thrash, and blackened death. LPs ONLY. *** /\ UNDER CONSTRUCTION /\

1.Cryptopsy - None So Vile

2.Death - Symbolic

3.Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten

4.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

5.Death - Human

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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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1-5: Amazing Albums
6-10: Good Albums
11-13: "Meh..."
14-16: Shit

1.Darkthrone - Under A Funeral Moon

2.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

3.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

4.Darkthrone - Panzerfaust

5.Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance

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