1.Death - Spiritual Healing

2.Slayer - Reign In Blood

3.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

4.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

5.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

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1.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

2.Satyricon - Nemesis Divina

3.Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

4.Ulver - Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr I 5 Capitler

5.Dissection - The Somberlain

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1.Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

2.Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction

3.Running Wild - Pile Of Skulls

4.Alice In Chains - Dirt

5.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

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1.Burzum - Filosofem

2.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

3.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

4.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

5.Marduk - Rom 5:12

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1.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

2.Iron Maiden - Killers

3.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

4.Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind

5.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

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1.Paradise Lost - Gothic

2.Tiamat - Wildhoney

3.Dissection - The Somberlain

4.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

5.Deicide - Deicide

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1.Paradise Lost - Gothic

2.Tiamat - Wildhoney

3.Dissection - The Somberlain

4.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

5.Deicide - Deicide

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Main criterias:
How much I love it(obviously)
Songwritting
Importance and originality
Consistency and diversity (consistency is more importance, but diversity can make a difference)

1.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

2.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

3.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

4.Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus

5.Slayer - Haunting The Chapel

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Simple ranking of all my favorite albums. Favorite song from the album in the notes. Sure to change/expand as I learn and explore more within metal.
2023: This was starting to get too long so I split it into separate lists for albums at each ranking 10 to 7. This list will no longer be updated.
10: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6891
9: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=7213
8: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=7512
7: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=8058

1.Madder Mortem - Eight Ways

2.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

3.Ayreon - 01011001

4.Ulcerate - The Destroyers Of All

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

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1-5: Amazing Albums
6-10: Good Albums
11-13: "Meh..."
14-16: Shit

1.Darkthrone - Under A Funeral Moon

2.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

3.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

4.Darkthrone - Panzerfaust

5.Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance

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For many, some of the more extreme types of metal can be challenging to penetrate. I'll admit that my first time listening to Burzum was nearly the equivalent of listening to a buzz-saw. But over time, I found my ears became acclimated, so to speak. All of the beauty and subtlety within became more and more apparent. Now I find listening to Darkthrone to be little different from listening to Vivaldi. Okay, maybe that is an overstatement, but you get the idea. The point of this list to help those looking for a more gradual path from unkvlt to kvlt, if you will. IHopefully it provides some assistance. The top represents some of the more mainstream, well-produced (but still solid) releases, while working your way down results in a stripping away of sound quality, melody, and radio-friendly content. The list ends with a mixture of gritty second wave and mentally challenging avant guarde stuff. This is far from comprehensive, so feel free to hit the forums for some deeper cuts. I also welcome thoughts on reordering as this was no easy task for one set of ears.

1.Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon

2.Melechesh - Enki

3.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

4.Immortal - All Shall Fall

5.Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

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1.Judas Priest - British Steel

2.Venom - Welcome To Hell

3.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

4.Slayer - Show No Mercy

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

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10 essential Black Metal albums, that every self-respecting Black Metal fan should own. Well, that's my opinion.

1.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

2.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

3.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

4.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

5.Ulver - Nattens Madrigal - Aatte Hymne Til Ulven I Manden

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1.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

2.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

3.Master's Hammer - Ritual

4.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

5.Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism

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1.The Bug - London Zoo

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Sarcófago - I.N.R.I.

4.Cheshyre - Cheshyre

5.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

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