Metal Storm logo
Top lists


Order by:  Date | Popularity | Show all



Thumbs up: +2
Top 40 Power Metal Albums

Power Metal is a genre I've gotten into quite a bit over the past few years. I'd only really listened to Symphony X before, but discovered Blind Guardian, Wuthering Heights, Gamma Ray and others thanks to MS!

So here are my favourites of the genre with my rating, its sub-genre and release year:

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of power 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 25 EPs (also 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.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side
2.Wuthering Heights - Far From The Madding Crowd
3.Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free
4.Symphony X - The Odyssey
5.Symphony X - The Divine Wings Of Tragedy

      View entire list ››
Created by nonZero on 12.02.2024



Edguy Albums Ranked

1.Edguy - Hellfire Club
2.Edguy - Vain Glory Opera
3.Edguy - Mandrake
4.Edguy - Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown
5.Edguy - Savage Poetry

      View entire list ››
Created by majormalfunction on 14.11.2023



Thumbs up: +1
Essential Power Metal

1.Angra - Temple Of Shadows
2.Avantasia - The Metal Opera Part I
3.Avantasia - The Metal Opera Part II
4.Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond
5.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

      View entire list ››
Created by em6568 on 19.06.2023



Thumbs up: +4
Top Metal Albums Each Year I Have Been Alive 2001

A little list series where I list my top 20 favorite metal albums every year starting from the year I was born in.

2001 was pretty great year... for metal that is, one of the best in my opinion, this year was especially great for Symphonic metal, power metal and Folk metal. Also 2001 saw the release of a couple of the most Iconic albums in progressive metal history.

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park
2.System Of A Down - Toxicity
3.Rammstein - Mutter
4.Ensiferum - Ensiferum
5.Moonsorrow - Voimasta Ja Kunniasta

      View entire list ››
Created by Handala on 08.09.2022



Thumbs up: +1
1001 Metal Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

Welcome to what I consider the "1001 Metal Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" or in other words, a list of records of various genres in the arrays of Metal and Hard Rock that I deem essential or at least very recommended to listeners of hard and heavy music. This may be a very overwhelming list but I essentially try to collect all albums in the History of Metal that strike me as worthwhile. May this be a guideline for people that seek for an entrance to a particular genre or certain bands. In no means I am saying, that this list is indisputable by any means. I consider these my personal picks for albums that should be listened to by die-hard metal fans at least once. Hopefully you can discover some new music or relate with my picks. If I missed something that you would include in such a list, please tell me in the form of a comment. Enjoy! \,,/

1.High Tide - Sea Shanties
2.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
4.Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come
5.Josefus - Dead Man

      View entire list ››
Created by pandrstudios on 31.05.2022



TOP 50 POWER/HEAVY/HardRok 2k-2k9

1.Powerwolf - Bible Of The Beast
2.Iron Maiden - Brave New World
3.HammerFall - Renegade
4.HammerFall - Crimson Thunder
5.HammerFall - Threshold

      View entire list ››
Created by jeffster69 on 11.04.2022



Top 11 Favourite Metal Albums Of 2001

This is the year I basically started listening to music so I was torn between stuff I am somewhat loyal to because it was my gateway and the kind of stuff I listen to now from that year. I genuinely think this was one of the best years ever for Metal.

Congrats to Destruction who have gotten honourable mentions before but never actually made it onto the list until now.

1.Tool - Lateralus
2.System Of A Down - Toxicity
3.Sodom - M-16
4.Destruction - The Antichrist
5.Kreator - Violent Revolution

      View entire list ››
Created by blackwreath13 on 06.12.2021



Ultimate Collection Of Metal

The albums below is my definition of extreme metal music, regardless of their genre. Entire list is based only on my personal preferences in metal.
Rules:
1. One album per band
2. 305 groups/305 albums

1.In Flames - Clayman
2.Metallica - ...And Justice For All
3.Chimaira - Chimaira
4.Death - Symbolic
5.Testament - The New Order

      View entire list ››
Created by nikita_ducati on 18.10.2021



Thumbs up: +16
Andy's top ranked 10 Minutes+ songs 🤘🤘

All my favourite songs that are 10 minutes+

1.Rush - 2112
2.Deep Purple - In Rock
3.The Doors - The Doors
4.Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself
5.Rush - Hemispheres

      View entire list ››
Created by AndyMetalFreak on 23.08.2021



Top Favourite Power Metal Albums

Inc. Symphonic Metal.

1.Blind Guardian - At The Edge Of Time
2.Sabaton - The Art Of War
3.Unleash The Archers - Apex
4.Kamelot - The Black Halo
5.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

      View entire list ››
Created by blackwreath13 on 27.03.2021



Top 20 Of 2001

Must Listen: The First 9

1.System Of A Down - Toxicity
2.Opeth - Blackwater Park
3.Ark - Burn The Sun
4.Evergrey - In Search Of Truth
5.Angra - Rebirth

      View entire list ››
Created by Alex Avagianos on 01.02.2021



Thumbs up: +5
Top 100 (+5) Of 2000-2004

2005-2009 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=5838
2010-2014 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=5828
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 2000 to 2004, with at least 1 vote, were included.
The average expected rating (C) was determined by averaging all the Metal Storm ratings from 2000-2004.
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 +5.

C for 2000-2004 = 7.599
m = 30

Number of albums from each year in the list:
2000 - 15
2001 - 27
2002 - 14
2003 - 20
2004 - 29

Ratings are accurate as of 30/10/2023

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park
2.Agalloch - The Mantle
3.Tool - Lateralus
4.Wintersun - Wintersun
5.Ensiferum - Ensiferum

      View entire list ››
Created by Crys1s on 26.09.2019



Thumbs up: +6
Empowering Albums For Powerless Losers

This is a list of all the power metal albums I have listened to that are worth remembering. Like my other genre lists, this is not meant to be a definitive guide to power metal or a binding judgment on what power metal is or is not. The list exists purely for my own organizational purposes and may contain bands or albums that are not strictly True Knights of the Eternal Thundersword.

The first cluster includes my favorite albums in the genre (and a significant number of my all-time favorites); beyond that, they are listed by rating from 9/10 down to 6/10 and alphabetically within each bracket.

Last updated November 27, 2021.

1.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth
2.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side
3.Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond
4.Jag Panzer - Thane To The Throne
5.X Japan - Art Of Life

      View entire list ››
Created by ScreamingSteelUS on 19.09.2019



Thumbs up: +21
Top 500 Albums of All Time

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

      View entire list ››
Created by nonZero on 06.10.2018



Thumbs up: +2
A List Of Albums I Need To Stop Procrastinating For And Finally Give Them A Decent Listen

"I'll listen to this after I come back home"
I'm so sick of doing this.There are many,many albums that I KNOW will enjoy if I finally make time to listen too. This is more of a personal list,so I can keep track of what I need to hear.

1.Leaves' Eyes - Njord
2.Exodus - Pleasures Of The Flesh
3.Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons
4.Kreator - Coma Of Souls
5.Kreator - Violent Revolution

      View entire list ››
Created by me<3mertl on 19.08.2015