An attempt to walk through almost 40 years of metal records, trying to pick one (and only one) record each year. The record that should be listened to at least once in life.
Some years are difficult because there are too many classics and in many situations the record that made it in the list is not my favorite by the band, but the one who had weaker competitors (and some of my favorite bands are not in the list too, for the same reason).
A weird experiment, but with a really interesting result (at least to me).

With the exeption of 1995 release, not featured on Spotify, you can listen to the complete list here: https://open.spotify.com/user/1167716698/playlist/2cGtE0GJSBAcRdD8INwbmE?si=3v6KVFCTSaiEdXt_qSQm4Q

Created by:

pdepmcp | 21.08.2018

	1.	AC/DC - Back In Black 1980 - A classic of hard rock, genre defining and evergreen.
	2.	Motörhead - No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith 1981 - A live that describes perfectly the power of the band and the bridge between hard rock and metal.
	3.	Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast 1982 - The first of the unforgettable releases by Iron Maiden. After 2 great albums, here comes the reason why they are still legends, after all this years.
	4.	Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind 1983 - My favorite Iron Maiden album of all times.
	5.	Metallica - Ride The Lightning 1984 - What previously was just a speed up of heavy metal is now the beginning of the thrash metal era.
	6.	Helloween - Walls Of Jericho 1985 - While the US is dominated by the new thrash mania, Germany combines the new fury with the class of heavy metal. Speed metal at its best. Still the record to compare to in the genre.
	7.	Slayer - Reign In Blood 1986 - The year of the sacred three thrash metal releases (with Master Of Puppets and Peace Sells). The ultimate piece of violence from 80s.
	8.	Anthrax - Among The Living 1987 - NY style pick on thrash. Still moshing since than.
	9.	Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son 1988 - The last unforgettable record by Iron Maiden, with some pop influences, but still rocking.
	10.	Carcass - Symphonies Of Sickness 1989 - Death metal has been a thing since some years, but this brutal (almost) grindcore record pushes the boundaries of putrefaction a lot of steps further.
	11.	Megadeth - Rust In Peace 1990 - After a bunch of great records comes the masterpiece by the main Metallica runners up. Where the follower go further the master...
	12.	Primus - Sailing The Seas Of Cheese 1991 - This can't be just a run to who plays it louder, we can't live without the groove.
	13.	Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power 1992 - It won't last, but the display is so bright and refreshing.
	14.	Carcass - Heartwork 1993 - Violence meets technique meets class. This death metal classic goes beyond genre definition and is the melting pot of all that metal was able to offer at that time.
	15.	Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse 1994 - The black flame has been lit. Emperor brings it up proudly to put Norway and Europe on fire.
	16.	Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane 1995 - Death metal get blackened in northern lands. The arson has begun.
	17.	Satyricon - Nemesis Divina 1996 - The real demonstration that black metal can be really crushing and go behind the boundaries of its cradle without loosing its nature.
	18.	Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk 1997 - The masterpiece by Emperor, a step further chaos and obscurity. The "must listen" for every dark soul.
	19.	The Sins Of Thy Beloved - Lake Of Sorrow 1998 - Beauty and the beast style reaches its top in this dark gothic-doom record, full of violins and sorrow.
	20.	Potentiam - Bálsýn 1999 - Black metal started its evolution in many directions. This mix of black, dark and doom sounds is the base of a lot of things to come in the following decades, but it's still a top release, despite the evolution of those sounds by many other bands.
	21.	Entombed - Uprising 2000 - Carcass did it before and it's a second attempt for Entombed as well. Death metal + Rock & Roll is just what we can call Death & Roll. Crushing.
	22.	Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down 2001 - Melancholic and desperate. Gothic metal with a soft rock touch a slightly emo bland and a lot of class. The peak of this kind of sound.
	23.	Agalloch - The Mantle 2002 - A bucolic pick of the black metal spirit, years before Alcest coming. The first interesting attempt to embrace the black spirit on the other side of the ocean.
	24.	Swallow The Sun - The Morning Never Came 2003 - The foundation of a very evolving career starts with a gothic spirit masked with doom style. Slow, deep, gloomy and embracing. The sound of a desperate heart.
	25.	Samael - Reign Of Light 2004 - Years after the evolution of Passage, a record that signed a revolution in middle european sound, Samael are back with a more mature release that brings them back to the top of blackened industrial gothic metal.
	26.	Sólstafir - Masterpiece Of Bitterness 2005 - The seeds planted by Potentiam a few years before now has grown in the most influential Icelandic band, that turns from an already original black metal sound, to a new contamination with post-rock, but still heavy as hell. Their more balanced release ever, where you can hear all the elements of their foundation and the shades of what was yet to come.
	27.	Mouth Of The Architect - The Ties That Blind 2006 - Post metal and sludge are a reality that shakes US. This is one of the most suffering release of the genre, in the years of major splendor.
	28.	Lacrimosa - Lichtjahre 2007 - After a descending period Lacrimosa came back in 2005 with a great record (Lichtgestalt) and this live is the definitive encyclopedia of gothic metal.
	29.	The Arson Project - Blood And Locusts 2008 - When an EP is worth a full length. Grindcore with a blasting metal production and a solid songwriting. After the sad Nasum departure a new life to this extreme kind of metal
	30.	Riverside - Anno Domini High Definition 2009 - A prog metal record where everything is done for the song and not for the ego of the players, with a heavy but clear production that make it stands in its own league.
	31.	Deathspell Omega - Paracletus 2010 - The end of a trilogy in the less brutal but more dissonant way. The peak of the so called french-sound of black metal.
	32.	Esoteric - Paragon Of Dissonance 2011 - the second double release in a raw, this time with a little more variety than before, will bring anyone in the depth of doom. There is no escape.
	33.	Kontinuum - Earth Blood Magic 2012 - Potentiam are on a iatus, but many of the members are here to bring on the evolution of the icelandic souds. The perfect successor of Years In The Shadows, and much more is yet to come.
	34.	Cult Of Luna - Vertikal 2013 - The most relevant post-something european band is back with one of its masterpieces, capable to pair the greatness of their unforgettable Salvation.
	35.	Nero Di Marte - Derivae 2014 - Is it an extreme form of progressive metal, a heavier lecture of alternative sounds or an homage to the most melodic side of Meshuggah? Whatever, it kicks asses.
	36.	Les Discrets - Live At Roadburn 2015 - Before turning their back to metal, Les Discrets release a live built upon their best works, with an heavier sounds that make you feel how metal it is, despite the gentle and bucolic feeling of each and every song.
	37.	Drudkh - Той, хто говорить з імлою (One Who Talks With The Fog) / Pyre Era, Black! [Split] 2016 - The second of three splits that mark the coming back to greatness of a cult band that revived the black flame mixing originality and tradition. Two songs worth much more than a full record of many other bands.
	38.	ROSK - Miasma 2017 - Post black metal is now either post metal and black metal at the same time. The melting that took about 15 years is now completed by these promising new comers.
	39.	Drudkh - Їм Часто Сниться Капіж (They Often See Dreams About The Spring) 2018 - After some astonishing EPs, Drudkh are back with a great release. Maybe they are not as great as they were in Autumn Aurora or Blood in Our Wells, but this They Often See Dreams About The Spring is way better than tons of contemporary black metal bands summed up.