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 ››

Had an enormous amount of free time for the holidays so decided to do something I’ve been wanting to do. I like lists and rankings, if you’re looking at this, you probably do too. This is a work in progress as I sort through my catalogue.

1.The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic

2.Rina Sawayama - Sawayama

3.Gonin-ish - 死人賛歌

4.Caligula's Horse - Rise Radiant

5.Respire - Black Line

      View entire list ››

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Sylosis - Monolith

3.Sylosis - A Sign Of Things To Come

4.Sylosis - Cycle Of Suffering

5.Sylosis - Dormant Heart

      View entire list ››

TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2020 3 YEARS LATER

1.Code Orange - Underneath

2.Napalm Death - Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism

3.AC/DC - Power Up

4.Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment

5.Polaris - The Death Of Me

      View entire list ››

Pretty much everything I’ve listened to this year, let me know what I’ve missed and what you’ve found and cheers to 2024 being even better 🍻

Check out my seven favorite album covers that I’ve looked at so many times this year, they’re fucking awesome:















Here’s a link to some of my favorite songs from the year, max 2 per album: Best Songs of 2023

1.Silent Planet - Superbloom

2.Sermon - Of Golden Verse

3.Voice Of Baceprot - Retas

4.Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree - Aion

5.TesseracT - War Of Being

      View entire list ››

Top 50 ranking of 2020 from my collection. Only 8 & above

Opinion my own, so bow to it

Album count: 161
Average rating: 7.13

1.Myrkur - Folkesange

2.Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi

3.Dark Buddha Rising - Mathreyata

4.Ihsahn - Telemark

5.Ulver - Flowers Of Evil

      View entire list ››

1.Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment

2.Orbit Culture - Nija

3.Make Them Die Slowly - The Bodycount Continues

4.Within The Ruins - Black Heart

5.Code Orange - Underneath

      View entire list ››

Subjective list | Top albums of 2020

1.Mare Cognitum - Wanderers: Astrology Of The Nine [Collaboration]

2.Countless Skies - Glow

3.Caligula's Horse - Rise Radiant

4.Bell Witch - Stygian Bough: Volume I [Collaboration]

5.Katatonia - City Burials

      View entire list ››

All write-in votes from Metal Storm Awards 2020

1.

2.

3.Amaranthe - Manifest

4.Avatar - Hunter Gatherer

5.El Lobo En Tu Puerta - Santana Bendita

      View entire list ››

Using MSA's to organize my listening from 2020.

1.Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment

2.The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic

3.Envy - The Fallen Crimson

4.Igorrr - Spirituality And Distortion

5.Paradise Lost - Obsidian

      View entire list ››

No particular order.

1.Dark Tranquillity - Moment

2.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

3.Havukruunu - Uinuos Syömein Sota

4.Wolfheart - Wolves Of Karelia

5.Sylosis - Cycle Of Suffering

      View entire list ››

Another end to a year, another list to make.

Like always I've added the specific genre/subgenre so you can easily pick out the albums that might be of interest to you.

I know some of you like statistics, so I put in a bit of extra effort to add some numbers:

- 317 albums
- Total points given: 2366,1
- Average Score: 7,46/10

- Albums with a score of 7 or above: 79,11%
- Albums with a score of 8 or above: 36,39%
- Albums with a score of 9 or above: 1,27%

- Albums with a score below 5: 2,53%

- Nationalities: 35

- USA: 73 - (23,10%)
- Germany: 31 - (9,81%)
- Sweden: 28 - (8,86%)
- UK: 25 - (7,91%)
- Finland: 18 - (5,70%)
- Greece: 18 - (5,70%)
- Brazil: 10 - (3,16%)
- France: 10 - (3,16%)
- Poland: 10 - (3,16%)
- Italy: 9 - (2,85%)
- Spain: 9 - (2,85%)
- Canada: 8 - (2,53%)
- Belgium: 6 - (1,90%)
- Norway: 6 - (1,90%)
- Russia: 6 - (1,90%)
- The Netherlands: 6 - (1,90%)
- Australia: 5 - (1,58%)
- Denmark: 5 - (1,58%)
- Czech Republic: 4 - (1,27%)
- Mexico: 4 - (1,27%)
- Colombia: 3 - (0,95%)
- Switzerland: 3 - (0,95%)
- Argentina: 2 - (0,63%)
- Austria: 2 - (0,63%)
- Chile: 2 - (0,63%)
- Japan: 2 - (0,63%)
- Portugal: 2 - (0,63%)
- Puerto Rico: 2 - (0,63%)
- Slovakia: 2 - (0,63%)
- Costa Rica: 1 - (0,32%)
- Egypt: 1 - (0,32%)
- Estonia: 1 - (0,32%)
- Ethiopia: 1 - (0,32%)
- Israel: 1 - (0,32%)
- Peru: 1 - (0,32%)

1.Paradise Lost - Obsidian

2.IAH - III

3.Asian Death Crustacean - Baikal

4.Dawnwalker - Ages

5.Necrophobic - Dawn Of The Damned

      View entire list ››

I don't think these are necessarily the best 30 albums of this year, but they're the ones that have I guess endured in my psyche and inspiried revisits more than most others. I was tempted to do a top 50, but after around #26 or so, I found myself confronted with about 50 albums that could've conceivably made it in, most of which I hadn't relistened to enough to rank above the others with confidence.

1.Psychonaut - Unfold The God Man

2.Elder - Omens

3.Enslaved - Utgard

4.Regarde Les Hommes Tomber - Ascension

5.Pure Reason Revolution - Eupnea

      View entire list ››

While the year 2020 may have been a write off in many ways, the albums that have been released this year have been very strong. In honour of 2020, these are my 20 favourite metal albums to have been released during this hellscape, I mean, year.

1.Testament - Titans Of Creation

2.LIK - Misanthropic Breed

3.Fires In The Distance - Echoes From Deep November

4.Bleed From Within - Fracture

5.Bury Tomorrow - Cannibal

      View entire list ››

This year it was hard to make the list but here it is, with 3 bonuses

1.Gaerea - Limbo

2.Black Crown Initiate - Violent Portraits Of Doomed Escape

3.Mors Principium Est - Seven

4.Demons & Wizards - III

5....And Oceans - Cosmic World Mother

      View entire list ››