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
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 2010 to 2014, with at least 1 vote, were included.
The average expected rating (C) was determined by averaging all the Metal Storm ratings from 2010-2014.
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 2010-2014 = 7.478
m = 20

Number of albums from each year in the list:
2010 - 24
2011 - 28
2012 - 16
2013 - 22
2014 - 12

Ratings are accurate as of 30/10/2023

1.Gallowbraid - Ashen Eidolon

2.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

3.Aquilus - Griseus

4.Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

5.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

      View entire list ››

1.Deafheaven - Sunbather

2.Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal

3.Gorguts - Colored Sands

4.Ghost - Infestissumam

5.The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer

      View entire list ››

A lot of music reminds me of water, so here are the most prominent ones. An actual water theme is often in place, but not mandatory.

List artwork by Susanna Majuri

1.Slow (USA) - Unsleep

2.

3.Bell Witch - Four Phantoms

4.

5.Gojira - From Mars To Sirius

      View entire list ››

1.Between The Buried And Me - Automata I

2.Between The Buried And Me - Coma Ecliptic

3.Mono - Transcendental [Split]

4.The Ocean - Aeolian

5.The Ocean - Anthropocentric

      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 ››

Well, here I put my personal top with which to me have been the best albums of 2013. They are not all they are, but if they all are.

1.Ulcerate - Vermis

2.The Ocean - Pelagial

3.The Black Dahlia Murder - Everblack

4.Wormed - Exodromos

5.Rivers Of Nihil - The Conscious Seed Of Light

      View entire list ››

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

      View entire list ››

1.Rob Zombie - Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor

2.Monster Magnet - Last Patrol

3.Atrocity - Okkult

4.Finntroll - Blodsvept

5.Voivod - Target Earth

      View entire list ››

2008 might've been my first proper taste of metal, with the acquisition of albums from the likes of Metallica, Megadeth, Black Sabbath and that most grandiose of gateway bands, DragonForce. 2009 might've seen me expanding my palette, with Iron Maiden, Alice In Chains, Avenged Sevenfold, and more entering my world, and Guns N' Roses triumphantly re-entering it. But 2010 was when I delved into more 'intense' stuff with Machine Head, In Flames, and most notably of all, Sylosis, and saw my relationship with metal shift from ever-increasing interest into full-blown love affair. To commemorate this 5-year anniversary, and because I love making lists, I decided to do a retrospective of the best albums and songs that have been released during this time period, and give brief tributes to them. Yay music!

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Sylosis - Monolith

3.Protest The Hero - Volition

4.Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR

5.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

      View entire list ››

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Meshuggah - I

3.Kayo Dot - Hubardo

4.Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects - Sol Niger Within

5.Between The Buried And Me - Colors

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1.Persefone - Spiritual Migration

2.Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)

3.Caladan Brood - Echoes Of Battle

4.Leprous - Coal

5.The Ocean - Pelagial

      View entire list ››

What can I say, my 2013 likes!

--- Under construction ---

1.Persefone - Spiritual Migration

2.In Vain - Ænigma

3.Ayreon - The Theory Of Everything

4.Witherscape - The Inheritance

5.Caligula's Horse - The Tide, The Thief & River's End

      View entire list ››

Hello and welcome to my first ever top albums list. While I've been listening to metal for over 15 years I've never compiled an actual year end list. The reason for this is because I feel my current favorites to be ever changing dependent on mood, season and situational. But the reason I feel it's necessary is because I want to spread the joy of music. I see many people jaded on music, well if this list is any indication music is alive and doing some amazing things. I've encountered so many lists this year and honestly can't say there's anything close to my list. Whole brilliant albums left off of list after list, but it is all opinion. Other albums held up in high regard that just made me shake my head or perplex me. Even reading many lists gets annoying do to slideshows or advertisement overload or no explanations, I've made this as easy to browse as I could. This is a celebration of the music of 2013. Doing this list was fun yet stressful for me. To me a list isn't a versus or better than. It's just a personal list, still I want to make the numbers carry weight and importance.
Enjoy, comment below and spread the word

1.In Vain - Ænigma

2.Soilwork - The Living Infinite

3.Amorphis - Circle

4.Obscure Sphinx - Void Mother

5.Haken - The Mountain

      View entire list ››

1.Letlive. - The Blackest Beatiful

2.Clutch - Earth Rocker

3.Protest The Hero - Volition

4.Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

5.Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

      View entire list ››

1.Haken - The Mountain

2.The Ocean - Pelagial

3.New Keepers Of The Water Towers - The Cosmic Child

4.Persefone - Spiritual Migration

5.Leprous - Coal

      View entire list ››