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

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1.Afgrund - Vid Helvetets Grindar

2.After Forever - After Forever

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

5.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

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1.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

2.Rammstein - Mutter

3.Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

4.The Gathering - Mandylion

5.Alice In Chains - Dirt

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1.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

2.Epica - Design Your Universe

3.While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose

4.Katatonia - Night Is The New Day

5.Týr - By The Light Of The Northern Star

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This serves as a memory note, pretty much.

1.Insomnium - Above The Weeping World

2.Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud

3.Ghost Brigade - IV - One With The Storm

4.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

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I'll be introducing some albums people can possibly relate to, either because of the music, or the lyrics that people find more personal than others. Also included are my personal favorites.

1.40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room

2.Abandon - The Dead End

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Antimatter - Fear Of A Unique Identity

5.Agalloch - The Mantle

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Lately I have found that I am really, really into melodeath and doom/melancholic metal albums. I enjoy other genres, but after a while I keep reverting back to a small list of masterpieces.

This is a list of these albums. They somehow keep finding their way back into my CD player. As it happens, they (mostly) fit in the following genres:

1.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

2.Katatonia - Dead End Kings

3.Amorphis - The Beginning Of Times

4.Before The Dawn - Deathstar Rising

5.Insomnium - Across The Dark

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Some of my favourite stuff I have scratched it up to one pile. One album per band, no order, just chaos.

1.Eibon - Entering Darkness

2.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

3.Mar De Grises - Draining The Waterheart

4.Ankhagram - Where Are You Now

5.Anorexia Nervosa - New Obscurantis Order

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Here is my very straight forward top list of albums released in 2009.

1.Bloody Panda - Summon

2.Mono - Hymn To The Immortal Wind

3.Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist

4.Ahab - The Divinity Of Oceans

5.Isole - Silent Ruins

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A little list of albums that have been kicking my ass as of late. Some albums on this list may appear to be "odd" choices, but "crushing" in this context does not necessarily mean heavy. It could be referring to the emotional intensity of the release or the literal heavy pounding sound. Hope you enjoy.

Note (1): More to be added as I see fit.
Note (2): These albums are in no specific order, I have just been adding them as I see fit.

1.Esoteric - The Pernicious Enigma

2.Ahab - The Divinity Of Oceans

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Warning - Watching From A Distance

5.Ulcerate - The Destroyers Of All

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Only a "20 best" list for this quite good year - or well, 'quite good year' for prog at least.

The first four are arranged in preference order, then th sixteen order are in alphabetical order.

Beware: this is a consolidated - but not definitive - version, it might see some changes in the newt few months.

1.Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition

2.Kalisia - Cybion

3.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

4.Sólstafir - Köld

5.Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs

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1.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

2.In Vain - Mantra

3.Russian Circles - Geneva

4.Callisto - Providence

5.Long Distance Calling - Avoid The Light

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1.Katatonia - Night Is The New Day

2.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

3.Insomnium - Across The Dark

4.Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition

5.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

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My favorite and most enjoyed album's of the decade 2000-2009. Roughly in order, but not exactly.

You can kinda tell from this list that I joined Metalstorm in 2009. I started discovering far more music thanks to this site, hence the number of '09 releases featured. I'm slowly starting to pick back through the top lists of previous years, so I expect more pre-'09 releases will be added to this list.

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Vektor - Black Future

3.Between The Buried And Me - The Great Misdirect

4.SikTh - Death Of A Dead Day

5.Protest The Hero - Fortress

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Overall year rating:
3,5/5

1.Process Of Guilt - Erosion

2.Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen Puhuu

3.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

4.Exivious - Exivious

5.Fen - The Malediction Fields

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