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 ››

Stuff that got me hooked in the course of the years, from my very first blurred memories as a toddler to the present day.
Lots of catchy tunes, some cheese, very few flowers.
Songs that had a big impact on me and influenced my taste in music.
Stuff to let it all hang out, songs for campfire sing-alongs and soundtracks to slit your wrists to.
Love at first sight listen.

This is part II of II, covering the years since 2001.

Despite of the list's personal character, suggestions are very welcome.
After all I'm old and I may just have forgotten lots of stuff that did make my day.



Great albums that didn't make it on the list as they can only be enjoyed in their entirety, rather than by picking individual songs:

Thirdmoon - Sworn Enemy: Heaven (Death, 2004)
Defleshed - Reclaim The Beat (Death/Thrash, 2005)
Tyranny - Tides Of Awakening (Funeral Doom, 2005)
Mourning Beloveth - A Murderous Circus (Doom/Death, 2005)
Rotting Christ - Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy (Black, 2013)

1.Alastis - Unity

2.Diablerie - Seraphyde

3.Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia

4.Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise

5.Hollenthon - With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell

      View entire list ››

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

      View entire list ››

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 ››

1.Wintersun - Wintersun

2.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

3.Ensiferum - Ensiferum

4.Septicflesh - Communion

5.Insomnium - Above The Weeping World

      View entire list ››

1.Celtic Frost - Monotheist

2.Behemoth - Evangelion

3.Septicflesh - Communion

4.Behemoth - Demigod

5.Decapitated - Nihility

      View entire list ››

*** 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

      View entire list ››

1.Smothered - The Inevitable End

2.Cryptopsy - Cryptopsy

3.Lamb Of God - Sacrament

4.Lamb Of God - Wrath

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

      View entire list ››

My top list by far......
last update : 23/01/2019

1.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

2.Gojira - From Mars To Sirius

3.Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God

4.Amorphis - Silent Waters

5.Death - Symbolic

      View entire list ››

1.Amon Amarth - Deceiver Of The Gods

2.Amon Amarth - Versus The World

3.Battlelore - Evernight

4.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

5.Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh

      View entire list ››

1.Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh

2.Ayreon - The Human Equation

3.Iced Earth - The Glorious Burden

4.Exodus - Tempo Of The Damned

5.God Forbid - Gone Forever

      View entire list ››

1.Pain Of Salvation - "BE"

2.Cea Serin - Where Memories Combine

3.Orphaned Land - Mabool

4.Watch My Dying - Klausztrofónia

5.Ayreon - The Human Equation

      View entire list ››

1.Vital Remains - Icons Of Evil

2.Lost Soul - Immerse In Infinity

3.Nile - Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka

4.Dissenter - Apocalypse Of The Damned

5.Vader - Revelations

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Sove very good releases have been created without the inclusion of the vocalist that a band is famous for having; the one everyone thinks of when the group is mentioned. Sometimes these bands surprise us with a well-known replacement, a fill-in, or a remaining band member. These releases are more than worthy of listening to, liking, loving, or even (in some cases) proclaiming superiority over the regular line-up. This was put together quick, and will be tweaked and fine-tuned as time goes on.

1.The Crown - Crowned In Terror

2.Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh

3.Judas Priest - Jugulator

4.Pyramaze - Immortal

5.Black Sabbath - Born Again

      View entire list ››

While I know there are tons of albums to be listed in the death/gore/grind area of metal that could be included here, these are currently the most prominent to ME. They are listed in order of a toss up between relevance and personal preference.

1.Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated

2.Avulsed - Gorespattered Suicide

3.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

4.Gorerotted - Only Tools and Corpses

5.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

      View entire list ››