The choice of the albums was made according to aesthetic criteria, taking into account only the musical merits of the recordings. Neither the popularity among the fans nor the commercial success (or unsuccess) of the albums were taken into account in the selection.

1.Anacrusis - Screams And Whispers

2.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

3.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

4.Pantera - Cowboys From Hell

5.Death - Symbolic

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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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1.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

2.Judas Priest - Painkiller

3.Summoning - Minas Morgul

4.Windir - 1184

5.Moonsorrow - Voimasta Ja Kunniasta

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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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Sequnces are not important this albums are essential for this genre

1.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

2.In Flames - The Jester Race

3.Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery

4.Amon Amarth - Versus The World

5.Carcass - Heartwork

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1.Atheist - Unquestionable Presence

2.Carcass - Heartwork

3.Abramelin - Abramelin

4.Sepultura - Arise

5.Nocturnus - The Key

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A beginner's guide to genuine blasting. Call it Gothenburg, call it extreme power - whatever, it's always enjoyable.

Now ranked for even more win.

1.Wintersun - Wintersun

2.Children Of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll

3.Kalmah - Seventh Swamphony

4.Kalmah - 12 Gauge

5.Blood Stain Child - Idolator

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I love instrumentals (songs without vocals)!
One doesn't need words to convey a message and evoke emotions. Instrumentals also show how metal is very closely related to classical music!
These are my favorite instrumental songs. (There are some songs that contain a few spoken words. These I denote with *)
Suggestions are appreciated! Enjoy!

1.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Summoning - Minas Morgul

4.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

5.Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance

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1.Dark Tranquillity - Character

2.Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

3.Dark Tranquillity - Damage Done

4.Dark Tranquillity - We Are The Void

5.Dark Tranquillity - Haven

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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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All my favorite albums (rated 9 or 10), in cronological order.

1.Iotunn - Access All Worlds

2.Soen - Imperial

3.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

4.Soen - Lotus

5.Chapel Of Disease - ...And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye

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Here's a little list displaying my personal favorite death metal albums, based on the same idea as my heavy metal list, thus stressing the raw and the genuine. For me death metal has to be crushing, then coloured with atmosphere. Some of my choices may seem exotic, considering the list overall, but it's what broadens it. Rules : one album per band, the order isn't strict (still bottom albums are weaker than their predecessors). Many good tbdm bands are lacking, mostly because of their unfitting sound. If you think some kick-ass piece are missing, don't hesitate to suggest them. Enjoy.

1.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

2.Suffocation - Pierced From Within

3.Cynic - Focus

4.Septicflesh - Εσοπτρον

5.Death - Symbolic

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Weird name for the list, couldn't think of a better to describe the list. So I've selected the best album of every year since I was born. Will edit when needed.

1.Motörhead - 1916

2.Dream Theater - Images And Words

3.Motörhead - Bastards

4.Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss

5.Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery

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Ratings go from:

WORSHIP ❤️❤️❤️: Absolute greatness, a mindblowing album.
LOVE ❤️❤️🖤: Amazing release with very few flaws.
LIKE ❤️🖤🖤: Enjoyable but far from perfect.
DISLIKE 💔: Not very good or maybe not fitting my tastes.

I've decided to stop rating albums with a numerical value as I tend to feel uncomfortable with that. This list has a minimalistic, subjective and visceral approach, based purely on sensations and personal tastes. Mainly for personal use and doesn't pretend to be a serious ranking, but emerges from the need to remember which bands and albums I enjoyed and the ones I disliked. I constantly revisit new releases so first impressions may change over time. It usually takes 8-10 spins for me to get completely sure of a rating.

1.Æther Realm - Tarot

2.Abhoria - Abhoria

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agrypnie - Metamorphosis

5.Allegaeon - Fragments Of Form And Function

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I've always been a fan of melodic death metal, having listened to bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates in my first few years of getting into metal around 2005-2008. Now, thanks to MS, I've gotten into many more amazing bands such as Wintersun, Insomnium and Scar Symmetry and it has become one of my favourite sub-genres.

So here are my favourites of the genre with my rating, its sub-genre and release year:

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of melodic death 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 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 25 EPs (also 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)

1.Wintersun - Time I

2.Wintersun - Wintersun

3.Insomnium - Winter's Gate

4.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

5.The Haunted - The Haunted Made Me Do It

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