There are not a lot of albums out there that are true masterpieces. But I'd like to create a list of albums that earn that title in my opinion. At the moment I can only think of 6 titles.

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Negură Bunget - OM

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse

5.Opeth - Still Life

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More like Best to less-best and one dud. My full reviews of each album are available under my same name at metal archives. Feel free to message me with what you think. My full reviews below:
Mardraum
Blodhemn
Isa
Frost
RUUN
Axioma
VV
In Times
RIITIIR
Monumension
Eld
BTL
Vertebrae

1.Enslaved - Mardraum - Beyond The Within

2.Enslaved - Blodhemn

3.Enslaved - Isa

4.Enslaved - Frost

5.Enslaved - Ruun

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Well, I can't afford every album I want so I'm going off of my August 2013 count of about 700 albums. First time I've ever done this so it may be quite scattered.

This is personal and not like a Rust in Peace, then Black Sabbath, then Painkiller type of list. Time to destroy.

1.Stratovarius - Visions

2.Opeth - Ghost Reveries

3.Yes - Close to the Edge

4.Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

5.Ayreon - 01011001

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Some albums are really good. Many of these are good all the way around. And, in many cases, there is a single song that stands out, sometimes it's the last song on the album. This is a list of those songs.

For a more in depth look at this, I've codified each into a given category:
Type 1 - 'The long song at the end.' Often the title track. These have a tendency to be most well written and dynamic pieces on the album.

1.!T.O.O.H.! - Order And Punishment (Řád A Trest)

2.Abigail Williams - Becoming

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Amon Amarth - Versus The World

5.Anekdoten - Vemod

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I must admit this is one of my favorite bands. I really like every Enslaved Album, from first to last, but some of them are better than others.

1.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

2.Enslaved - Isa

3.Enslaved - Below The Lights

4.Enslaved - In Times

5.Enslaved - Frost

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Updated version of the list previously published here. You'll notice that the comments are a bit different for sure, as is the order:
1 to 3: best of the year (in preference order)
4 to 25: other great stuff (alphabetical order)

And then there were some average (sometimes bad, sometimes good) albums that didn't make it in this list, but they featured some of the most awesome songs of the year. Like Voices Of The Fallen by Battlelore, Dylath-Leen's Frozen Reflect On A Broken Mirror, and particularly Iced Earth's Come What May...

1.Textures - Silhouettes

2.Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale

3.Burst - Lazarus Bird

4.ADX - Division Blindée

5.Cynic - Traced In Air

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Enslaved's career can be distributed in five different eras:

The first era consists of the first three albums, namely Vikingligr Veldi (1994), Frost (1994) and Eld (1997). All these albums are important releases in Viking Metal's history and they have defined some musical aspects for the whole genre.

1.Enslaved - Isa

2.Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi

3.Enslaved - Eld

4.Enslaved - Blodhemn

5.Enslaved - Frost

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1.Testament - The Formation Of Damnation

2.Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder

3.Hollenthon - Opus Magnum

4.Sabaton - The Art Of War

5.Opeth - Watershed

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Personally I find Black Metal to be a very difficult genre to get into, hence the meager length of my list which contains all the albums I've really enjoyed to date, in no order. Recommendations are most welcome, nay required!

Note: Be sure to let me know if any of these aren't actually Black Metal

1.Potentiam - Bálsýn

2.Grabnebelfürsten - Dynastie Oder Wie Man Herrschaft Definert

3.Deathspell Omega - Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice

4.Sigh - Hangman's Hymn- Musikalische Exequien

5.Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

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My personal top 50 list.
(In no particular order)

1.Decrepit Birth - Polarity

2.Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse

3.Blue Öyster Cult - Blue Öyster Cult

4.Joe Satriani - Time Machine

5.Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull

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This is a list in which I have included the top 30 albums of the decade that has just passed. Of course it's gonna change because I'm sure there is a lot I haven't listened to yet...

1.In Flames - Clayman

2.Moonspell - The Antidote

3.HIM - Love Metal

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

5.Nightwish - Once

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UPDATED Apr. 2012! Like the title says (covers '00 - '09). In numbered order by personal preference. May change as I find new releases.

1.Anubis Gate - The Detached

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Kamelot - The Black Halo

4.Warning - Watching From A Distance

5.Gojira - The Way Of All Flesh

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These are 20 albums I have been listening to lately. Will be updated occasionally.

1.Rush - Counter Parts

2.Darkwater - Where Stories End

3.Enslaved - Vertebrae

4.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

5.Judas Priest - Painkiller

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1.Draconian - Turning Season Within

2.Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder

3.Moonspell - Night Eternal

4.Therion - Live Gothic

5.Heavenwood - Redemption

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Here are my top 25 albums for 2008

1.Equilibrium - Sagas

2.Protest The Hero - Fortress

3.Mirrorthrone - Gangrene

4.Opeth - Watershed

5.Oceans Of Sadness - The Arrogance Of Ignorance

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