A lot of bands have great debut albums. Obviously this list is just a fraction of all the great debut albums out there, but it's a start. I'll keep expanding this list continuously, so all suggestions are welcome (granted they are featured on MS). All the albums here are ranked according to genre and then alphabetically. If a certain album belongs to the (in your opinion) wrong genre, then definitely let me know.

1.

2.Aarni - Bathos

3.Arcturus - Aspera Hiems Symfonia

4.Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom

5.Sadness - Ames De Marbre

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This is a favorites list, not a guide or anything of that sort. It just highlights the albums that I've enjoyed listening to and spinned extensively since last November (When I got into this monolithic genre.) One entry for each band. The descriptions aren't necessarily descriptions of the music. I just wrote what came to my mind. I will update with new albums frequently.
EDIT: Got to 50 entries, so I guess I'll stop for now. I want more time to revisit these 50, get into the other albums of the bands listed below and delve into other genres of metal. I guess that taking a break from black metal (at least new stuff) will ensure that I won't get bored of it. It is likely that I'll continue this list by the half of July.

1.A Forest Of Stars - Opportunistic Thieves Of Spring

2.Addaura - Burning For The Ancient

3.Agalloch - Pale Folklore

4.Alcest - Écailles De Lune

5.Alda - : Tahoma :

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This list contains most beautiful, majestic and soul-touching releases I've ever experienced.
My most favorite genres are Black Metal, Post Metal, Shoegaze, Doom Metal, Ambient and Neo-Classical in general .

Albums are ranked by the year,I think this way is more useful.

I will keep expanding my list as i can.

1.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

2.Blut Aus Nord - Ultima Thulée

3.Deinonychus - The Silence Of December

4.Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta I - Fathers Of The Icy Age

5.Burzum - Filosofem

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- My TOP 75 from 90s (and 80s), 00s and 10s.
- Each TOP 75 ordered from my most favourite down.
- One album for every band in one TOP 75.
- Only full-lengths or EPs/demos with more than half an hour.

Description includes: Genre (traditional/true BM bands are labeled with their countries, e.g. Norwegian Black), year and my personal favourite song of the particular album with link.

Hall of Fame (bands in each time period): Agalloch, Blut Aus Nord, Enslaved, Immortal, Nokturnal Mortum, Summoning

1.

2.Windir - Arntor

3.Paysage d'Hiver - Paysage D'Hiver

4.Blut Aus Nord - Ultima Thulée

5.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

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Best Folkish albums I've heard so far...!! Please feel free to post your Suggestions!!

1.Agalloch - The Mantle

2.Ensiferum - Iron

3.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

4.Blackmore's Night - Under A Violet Moon

5.Blackmore's Night - Shadow Of The Moon

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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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In no particular order. Will be expanding as I listen to more albums. Only one album per band, be sure to check the rest of the discography by yourself.

1.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

2.System Of A Down - System Of A Down

3.Ulver - Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr I 5 Capitler

4.Anacrusis - Manic Impressions

5.Death - Symbolic

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1.Katatonia - Brave Murder Day

2.Swallow The Sun - The Morning Never Came

3.Insomnium - Above The Weeping World

4.Daylight Dies - Dismantling Devotion

5.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

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From my generation (well, sorta). In order of preference but subject to change.
Please excuse Concrete Blonde and King's X; neither is really metal, but I love them both!

1.Artillery - By Inheritance

2.Metal Church - Hanging In The Balance

3.Running Wild - Black Hand Inn

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Control Denied - The Fragile Art Of Existence

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What seems the most important albums for me in chronological order.
I wish I could carry the list year after year to see how my tastes changed and new findings.
I can help but notice that old albums immediately strike me, while in recent times most albums are good but nothing is groundbreaking. We have a tide of releases in the last decades, and standing above the other requires an impossible lot of talent.
Or is it my listen habbits that changed ? I felts I listened to the old albums albums for a lifetime while I'm only surface checking the new ones. Too little time, too little time to truly live...
Also the mixing technology, the sound is too flat nowadays and lack impact and personnality

1.Frank Zappa - Freak Out

2.The Who - Tommy

3.Frank Zappa - Uncle Meat

4.Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

5.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

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The MS top 200 is supposed to represent the absolute peak of metal music, the timeless classics. I have been listening to metal for about 6 years now and would consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the genre. Yet, I have barely heard half of what the top 200 has to offer. I am now on a quest to listen to it all and give an honest opinion on what I thought of it.
This list will show every album of the top 200 and if I've listened to it whether it's an all-time favourite of mine (+++), I really like it (++), I like it (+), it’s good (*), it’s not great (-), I really dislike it (--) or I hate it from the bottom of my heart (---). The same symbols will be used to characterize what I think my opinion of the albums I haven't heard yet will be, based on my knowledge of the bands and of the genre they play. (?) signifies that I have no idea of whether I'll enjoy it or not and (/) means that my opinion of the album is probably obsolete, and I need to listen to it again. A ★ means the album is in my own top 200.
Edit: The bottom of the top 200 has been changing a lot, with some stuff formerly in the list now closer to 240th, so this is now a top 250. I’m not sure I want to expand the list further down, but I’ll see whenever it’s completed if I feel like going for a top 300 or something like that.
Best discoveries so far: Wildhoney, Nightfall, Out Of Myself, Portal Of I, Autumn Aurora, Nemesis Divina, Abigail, V: Hävitetty, Sounds Of Pain.

1.

2.

3.W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol

4.Saturnus - Veronika Decides To Die

5.Ensiferum - Ensiferum

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My initial rendition was looking at the USBM scene. Next I opted to dive into where it arguably all began… Norway. My most recent exploration was into Switzerland’s scene. Rather than repeatedly coming up with a new list, I thought I would blow it all up and start anew. This list will serve as my comprehensive findings on a country by country basis. It will allow me to move on more quickly rather than having to keep a small select group of bands on my Apple Music search history. This is not intended to simply start laundry listing every single band from across the globe. I will note below which country I’m currently dabbling in. Feel free to suggest within the confines of countries already listened to and the one currently being explored. Check back to see what is the next to be explored.

Categorized by country
Organized alphabetically
One album per band

Currently listing: Switzerland
Currently investigating: Germany
On deck: Austria

1.

2.Aaskereia - Dort, Wo Das Alte Böse Ruht

3.Balnasar - Ein Kalter Nachtgedanke

4.Brocken Moon - Das Märchen Vom Schnee

5.Cold Earth - Your Misery, My Triumph

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(This list is a work in progress)

In this list I intend to compile all of my favorite interludes, intros, outros, short acoustic tracks, instrumentals, non-metal or otherwise atypical songs from the metal multiverse. Of course the definitions for each of the above are quite fluid, so you may personally disagree with my decision to consider one of these tracks as such.

Last updated on 23 June 2023.

1.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

2.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

3.Melechesh - Emissaries

4.Agalloch - The Mantle

5.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

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This is the list for my favorite albums. It will with no doubt change from time to time and some may disappear or move from a spot to another.

1.Agalloch - The Mantle

2.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

3.Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

4.For My Pain - Fallen

5.Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit

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Note: Tool intentionally ommitted because they don't consider themselves metal. Otherwise you'd see their first 4 albums in top 25.

Last updated: 27 March 2024.

1.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Opeth - Blackwater Park

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Lost Horizon - A Flame To The Ground Beneath

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