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 ››

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

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This is my top albums (only with those where I gave 8 or more). I will update the list now and then

1.Slipknot - Iowa

2.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

3.Opeth - Ghost Reveries

4.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

5.Slipknot - Slipknot

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As with the others, gonna update as I go through my collection. This is really just for my own organizational purposes.

1.Brutus (BEL) - Unison Life

2.Chat Pile - God's Country

3.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

4.Xaon - The Lethean

5.Helms Alee - Keep This Be The Way

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1.Disillusion - Ayam

2.Aenaon - Mnemosyne

3.Wilderun - Epigone

4.Ghost - Impera

5.Panzerfaust - The Suns Of Perdition - Chapter III: The Astral Drain

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1.Avatarium - Death, Where Is Your Sting

2.Belphegor - The Devils

3.Cabal - Magno Interitus

4.Sedimentum - Suppuration Morphogénésiaque

5.Kalmah - Kalmah

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1.White Ward - False Light

2.Gaerea - Mirage

3.Dream Unending - Song Of Salvation

4.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

5.Voivod - Synchro Anarchy

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1.Disembowelment - Transcendence Into The Peripheral

2.Weakling - Dead As Dreams

3.Greylotus - Dawnfall

4.John Petrucci - An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess [Collaboration]

5.John Petrucci - Suspended Animation

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Taken around 8:30 pm GMT
There was no write-in for djent so I voted for one.
Not totally clean (trolls in last categories are kept for fun),
Thanks to the person who curated most of the write-is since yesterday, it really reduced the work to do!

PS : I cleaned the list listening to The Testament by Seventh Wonder, so I was particularly unhappy to see it in the biggest letdowns at the end

1.

2.A.A. Williams - As The Moon Rests

3.Disturbed - Divisive

4.Dog Fashion Disco - Cult Classic

5.Fleshwater - We're Not Here To Be Loved

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1.Dream Unending - Song Of Salvation

2.Humanotone - A Flourishing Fall In A Grain Of Sand

3.Midnight - Let There Be Witchery

4.Konvent - Call Down The Sun

5.Xandria - The Wonders Still Awaiting

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1.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

2.White Ward - False Light

3.Gaerea - Mirage

4.Disillusion - Ayam

5.The Halo Effect - Days Of The Lost

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1.Immolation - Acts Of God

2.Bloodbath - Survival Of The Sickest

3.Strigoi - Viscera

4.Konvent - Call Down The Sun

5.Souldrainer - Departure

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My very subjective ranking of all heard metal and metal-adjacent albums 2022.

1.Mamaleek - Diner Coffee

2.Wilderun - Epigone

3.Disillusion - Ayam

4.Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture

5.Cavernlight - As I Cast Ruin Upon The Lens That Reveals My Every Flaw

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Every category (Best, Very Good...) in no particular order...

1.

2.

3.Disillusion - Ayam

4.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

5.Aenaon - Mnemosyne

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Better late than never! I tried to be thorough and listened to anything I thought I might be remotely interested in order to create this list.

1.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

2.Blind Guardian - The God Machine

3.Wilderun - Epigone

4.Brymir - Voices In The Sky

5.Immolation - Acts Of God

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