*** READ ME *** This list is about the greatest metal albums of all-time, from all sub-genres and all countries. You won't see bands like Deep Purple, Rush, BOC, Zeppelin, etc., nor will you see bands like Tool, Rage ATM, Melvins and Soundgarden. While I love many of those bands, my definition of metal does not include them.

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

4.Death - Symbolic

5.Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath

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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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1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Amon Amarth - Once Sent From The Golden Hall

3.Amorphis - Queen Of Time

4.Angizia - Das Schachbrett Des Trommelbuben Zacharias

5.Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors

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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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These are my top 100 favorite albums - they are the reason why I love metal!
Enjoy!
Format: Band | Album | (genre, release year, country) What I like about the album; Favorite songs
Statistics:
Genre:
Death: 28
Black: 20
Thrash: 19
Heavy: 15
Progressive: 9
Power: 4
Doom: 4
Symphonic: 1
Years with most album favorites:
1995: 8
1996: 7
1990: 7
1984: 5
Countries with most album favorites:
USA: 35
Sweden: 20
UK: 16
Norway: 6

----Last Update: June 15, 2022----

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

3.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

4.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

5.Death - Spiritual Healing

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1.Behemoth - Evangelion

2.Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery

3.Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream

4.Grave - Into The Grave

5.Behemoth - Demigod

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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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This list is the best album of every year that is represented in my current collection. Some years were really hard to choose as there were many deserving albums, others I had one or very few to choose from. The quality of albums drops off pretty severely after 1992 in my opinion. Its a shame the list isn't more diverse, but hey, I likes what I likes. I am however always buying music from many different years so expect this list to change. **Last Update 09/03/11**

1.Septicflesh - The Great Mass

2.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

3.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

4.Septicflesh - Communion

5.Symphony X - Paradise Lost

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These Are Albums that give metal a good name, and create metalheads who live for little else. Originality, Raw talent, Brilliant atmosphere, Brutality with a great technical aspect, and just plain ass kicking.

1.Lux Occulta - The Mother And The Enemy

2.Borknagar - The Archaic Course

3.Ancient - Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends

4.Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernale

5.Bloodbath - Resurrection Through Carnage

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This is a list of some of the very first albums that got me into metal. And before you look, yes, A7X and DragonForce are on the list, deal with it, it happened, I still listen to plenty of great bands!

1.Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil

2.In Flames - Come Clarity

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

5.DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage

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Updated 14.4.2024

My rather personal and improvised take on the subject matter. The list is pretty wage, I'll be updating it a lot and the order might vary a little depending on some things, but they're all great and awesome records no matter what. If there are some great records missing, that doesn't necessarily mean I consider them bad, maybe I just forgot about them or just haven't listened to them enough to consider them personal favourites.

Limited to metal and rock albums found on Metal Storm. Most of them (at least 90%) are anyway, so doesn't matter. The absent ones are mostly more pop and synth oriented stuff and some really obscure jazz and fusion albums.

1.Marillion - Marbles

2.Anathema - Weather Systems

3.Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time

4.Moonsorrow - Voimasta Ja Kunniasta

5.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

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These are 36 of the my favorite Melodeath albums in no particular order. This will hopefully serve as a starting point for someone new to the style. If one of your favorites isn't on here, it's because this is my favorites list, not yours. Feel free to make recommendations, however.

1.Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

2.The Absence - Riders Of The Plague

3.Darkane - Expanding Senses

4.Insomnium - Since The Day It All Came Down

5.Luna Mortis - The Absence

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1.All time & genre (including Non-Metal on MS)
2.Only studio albums & EPs
3.I DON'T modify this list. So, this list is THE FINAL edition and based on my selection on 1 April 2017. (Modified on 12 February 2022)
4.The genre is primary one.
Last modified on 1 April 2017

...NOTICE: I'm reselecting albums & EPs for "The Timeless Ver2". This will be a bit more stringently selected than "ver1".

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

3.Krallice - Diotima

4.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

5.Deathspell Omega - Kénôse

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Moves up and down depending on mood, but top 25-30 usually the same in varying order

1.Sylosis - Conclusion Of An Age

2.Machine Head - The Blackening

3.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

4.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

5.In Flames - The Jester Race

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This is a top 30 of my favorite albums of all time. You'll probably notice that I'm quite a big fan of thrash metal, as it's pretty dominated by that genre. A lot of the albums though, are albums that made me a headbanger for life, Pretty Maids and the Malmsteen record for instance.
Hope you like my taste and all that crap. If not, fuck it.

1.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

2.Artillery - By Inheritance

3.Michael Jackson - Bad

4.Judas Priest - Painkiller

5.Metallica - Kill 'Em All

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