Hey Folks! It’s me… Again!

I’m coming back once more to explore the depths of a genre that arguably did not begin where you all thought it did! Yeah yeah… Alright, maybe Left Hand Path, Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious, Like An Ever Flowing Stream & The Red In The Sky Is Ours aren’t exactly the sound you would expect, but they were certainly a sign of something incredible that was about to happen. The birth of Melodic Death Metal!

Most of you, them, us… Would agree that Melodic Death metal really appeared in the form of Carcass’s 1993 album Heartwork. Even though some shades of what would become staples of the genre were heard before, this one would truly be the first album to be called as such. Mixing OSDM with more classic heavy metal styled riffs & melodies, our beloved genre (along with Thrash) would become for a lot of our teenage selves, a gateway into the more extreme bowels of metal’s subgenres. I would argue that it’s an almost obligatory step in the grand metalhead’s journey. Ah, how amazing it was to first taste the somewhat delicate sound of melodeath before rattling our ears with the obscenities & nonsensical wankery of grindcore, brutal tech-death, dissonant death and post metal… Rrrrright.

As you have become accustomed to by now, I will attempt to honour the genre by listing the absolute best Melodic Death metal albums to be ever released throughout the years. And I will do so starting with a few albums that are arguably not Melodic Death metal… Because I can and I did, hah! F*ck you! Along the way, you might stumble upon some strange & unorthodox choices mixing a plethora of other genres as well and that’s ok. Truly. Take it easy, don’t hyperventilate over it and just go with the flow. The main goal here is to help people who don’t know much about melodeath discover it and where it came from. I also want to push forward some less known jewels amongst highly praised landmarks of the style and sprinkle a bit of my personality along the way because that’s always fun. The albums will be ordered in years of release and there will be no other restriction or specific rules.

I hope you have a blast going through my list and that it brings you joy and a slight tingle on your nostalgia strings. Though, if it pisses you off, if I forgot your absolute favourite album of all goddamn time or if you think I’m an idiot, well… Just remember that I’m right, always and forever, thank you. Regardless It will be a pleasure for me to hear your recommendations or discuss anything related to melodeath below. Cheers & have fun!

-Guib-

Note: Albums with a 🇨🇦 are from my country (Canada) and albums with a ★ are my personal favourites.

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Last Updated: April 19th, 2024

1.Entombed - Left Hand Path

2.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

3.Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream

4.At The Gates - The Red In The Sky Is Ours

5.Carcass - Heartwork

      View entire list ››

In progress top 100 albums in no order yet

1.Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies

2.Porcupine Tree - In Absentia

3.Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Dream Theater - Images And Words

      View entire list ››

My top prog albums. The list will be regularly updated.

1.Opeth - Ghost Reveries

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

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

4.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

5.Gojira - Magma

      View entire list ››

Instrumental tracks on albums of vocal groups are often seen as filler material or as a possibility to show musical skills.
In contrast, the title track is often considered to be the central and defining part of an album, suggesting that the corresponding lyrics may contain important key information to the understanding of the album. Therefore, it may seem surprising that several albums of vocal groups exhibit an instrumental as title track.

This alphabetical list presents albums by vocal groups where the title track is an instrumental. This concerns purely instrumental songs but may also include songs where melody lines without lyrics are vocalised.

Please feel free to suggest more examples of unusual title tracks by regular vocal groups that are purely instrumental or where the lead singer does not sing lyrics.

1.Absu - Tara

2.Afflicted - Prodigal Sun

3.Afterbirth - Four Dimensional Flesh

4.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

5.Angel Dust - Into The Dark Past

      View entire list ››

Merry Christmas, my fellow metalheads!

I present to you my top 50 most frequently listened-to albums of the year 2023, ordered by number of full listens.

In other words, here are the albums that I've been most obsessively addicted to over the past year!

Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!

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Last year's edition: F3ynman's Top 50 Most Frequently Listened-to Albums Of 2022

1.Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

2.Japanische Kampfhörspiele - Welt Ohne Werbung

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Necrovation - Storm The Void / Starving Grave

5.Vitriolic Sage - 梦路

      View entire list ››

My favorite metal albums sorted alphabetically by band name and chronological by release date.

1.Æther Realm - Tarot

2.Acid Witch - Witchtanic Hellucinations

3.Allegaeon - Proponent For Sentience

4.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

5.Amorphis - Silent Waters

      View entire list ››

My personal picks for albums that makes my mind wander. Also a good list for anyone getting into metal.

1.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

2.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

3.Budgie - Never Turn Your Back On A Friend

4.Children Of Bodom - Something Wild

5.Dark Tranquillity - Character

      View entire list ››

Here’s my list of best finnish metal albums of all time. Hopefully you can find some more music you like based on this list. I have listed only one album per band. Most of these bands have a lot more good music outside this list with the exception of perhaps of Whispered and Omnium Gatherum. What are the top finnish metal albums for you!?

1.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

2.Mokoma - Kuoleman Laulukunnaat

3.Kotiteollisuus - Kuolleen Kukan Nimi

4.Nightwish - Century Child

5.Insomnium - In The Halls Of Awaiting

      View entire list ››

Alphabetical Order. Categorized as OSBM based on the year of release and/or style of the music. Some minor gray area albums included.

1.Aeternus - Beyond The Wandering Moon

2.Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus

3.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

4.Autopsy - Mental Funeral

5.Baphomet - The Dead Shall Inherit

      View entire list ››

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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These are the albums with the highest possible rates in my personal list. Sometimes it was an emotional decision made after one single spin, but mostly these actually are my favorite albums. Also, I was wondering what genre would be most represented.

PS. The image was selected intentionally to piss you off. Still, I do consider Diabolus In Musica to be an almost perfect album

1.1833 AD - My Dark Symphony

2.1914 - The Blind Leading The Blind

3.Akhlys - Melinoë

4.Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus

5.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

      View entire list ››

i like it

1.Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade

2.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

3.Bolt Thrower - Warmaster

4.Bolt Thrower - Realm Of Chaos

5.Bolt Thrower - Mercenary

      View entire list ››

1.Malevolent Creation - The Ten Commandments

2.Malevolent Creation - Retribution

3.Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence

4.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

5.Death - Leprosy

      View entire list ››

1.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

2.Empyrium - Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields

3.Saturnus - Paradise Belongs To You

4.Opeth - Still Life

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

      View entire list ››

1.Metallica - Metallica

2.Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II

3.Judas Priest - Painkiller

4.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

5.Dream Theater - Images And Words

      View entire list ››