Top 50 albums/EPs/whatever roughly in order. Reviews on the way

1.Merkabah (POL) - Million Miles

2.Ashenspire - Speak Not Of The Laudanum Quandry

3.Almyrkvi - Umbra

4.White Ward - Futility Report

5.Netra - Ingrats

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100 full length albums that I favor in approximate order of preference plus 10 non-LP releases at the end. Limited to metal albums and albums featured on the site.

1.Indesinence - Vessels Of Light And Decay

2.Mitochondrion - Parasignosis

3.Murmuüre - Murmuüre

4.Deathspell Omega - Paracletus

5.Ustalost - The Spoor Of Vipers

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Not really sure about the order at all 1 album per band.

1.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

2.Opeth - Still Life

3.Flesh Of The Stars - Mercy

4.Pallbearer - Heartless

5.SubRosa - For This We Fought The Battle Of Ages

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My HIGH ENERGY 2017 list.
Lots of prog.

No rating=haven't heard yet/not enough spins

★★★★★ - Masterpiece!
★★★★½ - Excellent!
★★★★☆ - Great!
★★★½☆ - Very Good!
★★★☆☆ - Enjoyable!
★★½☆☆ - OK, Nothing Special
★★☆☆☆ - Mediocre
★½☆☆☆ - Poor
★☆☆☆☆ - Don't Touch
½☆☆☆☆ - I Want My Money Back

1.This Social Coil - Pictures

2.Gone Is Gone - Echolocation

3.Hibernal - The Dark Of The City

4.Gotthard - Silver

5.Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day

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I began this decade in my final year of high school, in the early phases of my metal journey (Mastodon, Machine Head, Dream Theater, Pantera and Avenged Sevenfold were still recent discoveries). One Masters degree and one PhD later, I'm now a tax-paying Londonian, and have ploughed through what must be comfortably over 2000 new releases during the previous ten years. To commemorate the end of a turbulent decade, I've put together a list of the albums that have stuck with me throughout this decade - I wouldn't consider this to be a 'best albums' list, as there have been some truly ingenious works released in more avant-garde territories, but ultimately these are the albums that have ended up dominating my listening habits, or otherwise making a sufficient impression to make this list.

1.Sylosis - Monolith

2.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

3.Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud

4.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

5.Cult Of Luna - Vertikal

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2017 was a weird year for me. While I did construct, update and maintain this list in 2017, I was very limited in what I was exploring and listening to. I have viewed 2017 as probably the weakest year of the 10s but I'm currently trekking back through the year's releases and finding some things I had overlooked. 2021 redux.

1.Pallbearer - Heartless

2.Almyrkvi - Umbra

3.Tyrannosorceress - Shattering Light's Creation

4.Dodecahedron - Kwintessens

5.Amenra - Mass VI

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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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Welcome everybody to a little lesson on the history of Sludge & Stoner Metal. I'm Guib and today I have the immense pleasure to serve as your humble teacher.

Please take a seat and travel with me through time as we explore the very best of those two, often blurred, genres. The goal here is simple, I want to get you familiarized with the styles. I want you to understand where they come from through albums on a timeline and while we're at it get a sweet selection of great releases that you might not know and that, hopefully, will get you hooked to explore even more!

But this is a classroom and in my classroom there are a few rules. We want to keep this clean, clear and prevent having a 500+ albums mess. So here are the rules we'll follow throughout this lesson.

- - - - - The Rules - - - - -

1. We will settle for a maximum of 4 albums per year and they will be listed from oldest to newest. Makes it simple to navigate. Those releases will represent what I consider to be hallmarks of the genres for that year. Essentials if you want, yes? Of course, I'll sprinkle a bit of my personality here and there so you will find some unorthodox choices and some less known albums from time to time. It would be boring otherwise... and also why not?

2. We will begin the journey with Melvins' "Gluey Porch Treatments" released in 1987. Why? Because it is arguably the first album to be widely considered as Sludge.

3. The list will mostly feature studio albums. So no Demos & bare minimum when it comes to EPs if any at all. Thank you.

4. I am not going to include releases by Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Hawkwind, etc... I fully understand and recognize the influence older bands had on Stoner Rock, but this is not the list for them.

5. Lastly, not really a rule but more of a note. Considering that we're talking about Sludge & Stoner, it is inevitable that Doom, Post, Progressive, Grunge & Hardcore acts will be featured in this list. Those genres simply go together naturally and are often mixed so do not be alarmed!

- - - - - - - - - -

That is it, I hope you will all discover something to enjoy through my little history lesson. Also, do not hesitate to comment below if you agree or disagree with some of my picks. After all, this is a classroom and debate is invited as it can be fun and educative. As long everything's done respectfully, of course.

Enjoy & Have Fun... Class dismissed!

NOTE: I will now add my picks for best album of the year using this format (best of xxxx) in the chosen album's description.

- Guib -

- - - - - - - - - -

Guib's best Sludge/Stoner Album Picks

Best Of 2023:
Urne - A Feast On Sorrow

Best Of 2024 So Far:
O Zorn! - Vermillion Haze

- - - - - - - - - -

Last Update: April 27th, 2024

1.Melvins - Gluey Porch Treatments

2.Soundgarden - Ultramega OK

3.Oxbow - Fuckfest

4.Melvins - Ozma

5.Soundgarden - Louder Than Love

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----Updated every weeks----

I'm looking for all genres without exceptions, with currently little preferencies for Progressive, Death and Black metal! Listenning to every albums 2 or 3 times at less before including it in my list.
I specify my favourite songs in order of preferency

❤ = Amazing song!

1.Persefone - Aathma

2.Mastodon - Emperor Of Sand

3.Caligula's Horse - In Contact

4.Mutoid Man - War Moans

5.Ne Obliviscaris - Urn

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On the picture - John Cobbett - Hammers Of Misfortune, Vhöl, Ludicra, The Lord Weird Slough Feg

1.Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Hammers Of Misfortune - The August Engine

4.Mastodon - Remission

5.Opeth - Ghost Reveries

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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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Getting started on this later than usual

1.Persefone - Aathma

2.Schammasch - The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite

3.Au-Dessus - End Of Chapter

4.Heretoir - The Circle

5.Mastodon - Emperor Of Sand

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https://fullblackreviews.blogspot.com
My blog if you want to read some reviews.

1.Septicflesh - Codex Omega

2.Schammasch - The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite

3.Sun Of The Sleepless - To The Elements

4.Satyricon - Deep Calleth Upon Deep

5.Origin - Unparalleled Universe

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Last updated on 30.12.2017

1.Paradise Lost - Medusa

2.Kind Man - Kindness Ends

3.Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

4.Septicflesh - Codex Omega

5.Immolation - Atonement

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Welcome to my 2017 list. If you have any recommendations for albums, feel free to leave a message in the comments section. And of course, if you see anything on the list you like or you found something from the list you want to check out, give the list a thumbs up!

Each album on this list has been:

1.Incursed - Amalur

2.Cellador - Off The Grid

3.Trivium - The Sin And The Sentence

4.Ensiferum - Two Paths

5.Orden Ogan - Gunmen

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