These are the best prog metal albums.

1.Symphony X - The Odyssey

2.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

3.Blood Incantation - Hidden History Of The Human Race

4.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

5.Atavistia - Cosmic Warfare

      View entire list ››

1.Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day

2.Enslaved - E

3.Ne Obliviscaris - Urn

4.Kauan - Kaiho

5.Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

      View entire list ››

1.System Of A Down - Toxicity

2.Soen - Lotus

3.Tool - Lateralus

4.Faith No More - The Real Thing

5.Tool - Ænima

      View entire list ››

1.Shylmagoghnar - Emergence

2.Galneryus - Angel Of Salvation

3.Blindead - Affliction XXIX II MXMVI

4.Batushka - Litourgiya

5.Leprous - Bilateral

      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
2010-2014 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=5828

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 grows 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 2015 to 2019, with at least 1 vote, were included.
The average expected rating (C) was determined by averaging all the Metal Storm ratings from 2015-2019.
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 2015-2019 = 7.422
m = 20

Number of albums from each year in the list:
2015 - 31
2016 - 24
2017 - 18
2018 - 12
2019 - 17

Ratings are accurate as of 30/10/2023

1.Mgła - Exercises In Futility

2.Insomnium - Winter's Gate

3.Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud

4.Vektor - Terminal Redux

5.Trees Of Eternity - Hour Of The Nightingale

      View entire list ››

1.Adagio - Life

2.Anathema - The Optimist

3.Annihilator - For The Demented

4.Anubis Gate - Covered In Black

5.Accept - The Rise Of Chaos

      View entire list ››

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

      View entire list ››

This list is meant to be an extensive, but by no means exhaustive, collection of the greatest (modern) metal albums and eps. Running the gamut from avant-garde to trve norweigan black metal. *As someone who is young in age, my tastes tend to revolve around the period of the 80s to the present.* Although certain metal albums from before will certainly be featured, the period of the 60s-70s will be under-represented. I refer you to this excellent list to gain a better appreciation for some of the best metal from that period: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/freis/martin_popoffs_the_top_500_heavy_metal_albums_of_all_time/

1.Cacophony - Speed Metal Symphony

2.Cadaveria - In Your Blood

3.Caïna - Mourner

4.Caïnan Dawn - F.O.H.A.T.

5.Cain's Offering - Stormcrow

      View entire list ››

1.Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day

2.Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pacifisticuffs

3.Bent Knee - Land Animal

4.Leprous - Malina

5.Septicflesh - Codex Omega

      View entire list ››

1.Soen - Lykaia

2.The Faceless - In Becoming A Ghost

3.Ne Obliviscaris - Urn

4.Persefone - Aathma

5.Leprous - Malina

      View entire list ››

My personal Top 50 of a fantastic Year. As you can see the major part of this list is kind of proggy, concluded with some heavier stuff and a few Rock Albums. There may be some more creative or boundary breaking releases left out, but these are the works that exited and convoyed me throughout 2017.
Please enjoy, suggestions are appreciated.

1.Mastodon - Emperor Of Sand

2.The Night Flight Orchestra - Amber Galactic

3.Soen - Lykaia

4.Voyager - Ghost Mile

5.Dodecahedron - Kwintessens

      View entire list ››

1.Venenum - Trance Of Death

2.Archspire - Relentless Mutation

3.Converge - The Dusk In Us

4.The Ruins Of Beverast - Exuvia

5.Caligula's Horse - In Contact

      View entire list ››

1.Akercocke - Renaissance In Extremis

2.Leprous - Malina

3.Decapitated - Anticult

4.Archspire - Relentless Mutation

5.Wolves In The Throne Room - Thrice Woven

      View entire list ››

1.Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day

2.Ne Obliviscaris - Urn

3.Voyager - Ghost Mile

4.Persefone - Aathma

5.Ulver - The Assassination Of Julius Caesar

      View entire list ››

1.Caligula's Horse - In Contact

2.Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day

3.Sólstafir - Berdreyminn

4.Fen - Winter

5.Vintersorg - Till Fjälls Del II

      View entire list ››