I've been listening to Metal since 2005 and it has become my biggest passion in life.

Rarely a day goes by where I don't listen to it in one form or another. The bands I listened to in my teens inspired me to pick up the guitar (and later drums) and start making music of my own.

So here are the albums that have stood out and made the largest impact on me. To be as transparent as possible, I've labelled albums as 'nostalgia bias' where my memories of the album give it an advantage over others.

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here. There are a ton of albums that I've rated 9/10 in the 'TBR' tab that may never make it to this list, be sure to check those out.)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of metal, be sure to give this list a thumbs-up and leave a comment so more people can find these amazing bands!

My other lists:
Top 25 EPs (ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
Top 200 Overrated Albums (trigger warning)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)

Genre-Specific:
Top 50 Black Metal Albums
Top 50 Melodic Death Metal Albums
Top 45 Thrash Metal Albums
Top 40 Power Metal Albums
Top 30 Doom Metal Albums
Top 30 Heavy Metal Albums

1.Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Opeth - Still Life

      View entire list ››

Take a look at the Top Album lists of recent years and you'll notice an obvious trend. In 2005 the average rating of the top 25 albums is 8.76. Jump to 2014 and the average among the top 25 has dropped to 8.26. An almost linear decrease is observable for the 10 years in between.

I was curious to see what a Top 100 for 2000-2014 would look like if I factored the votes to account for the 'rating decline'. I hope you find it interesting.

1.Agalloch - The Mantle

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Blindead - Affliction XXIX II MXMVI

4.Aquilus - Griseus

5.Nevermore - Dead Heart In A Dead World

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Sometimes, samples can improve the atmosphere of a song just as much as the instruments (or even more). This is a compilationn of some of my favorite samples in metal. I'm trying to keep it one album per band but exceptions are just fine. Oh yeah, I forgot something: I'm not gonna be too specific about where these samples are. It's way more interesting to discover them on your own!

Recommendations are welcome! Just don't get upset if I don't like them. D:
Please write band AND album.

Rec's awaiting evaluation:
N.K.V.D. - Vlast
Will Haven - Voir Dire
The Monolith Deathcult - Trivmvirate
Necrophagia - Deathtrip 69
Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre
Ævangelist - De Masticatione Mortuorum In Tumulis
Fantômas - Delirium Cordia
Metallica - Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, ...And Justice For All
Deicide - Legion
Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre
Tool - Lateralus, Ænima
Impaled - Mondo Medicale
Queens Of The Stone Age - Queens Of The Stone Age
Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
Heathen - Victims Of Deception
Fear Factory - Demanufacture
White Zombie
Strapping Young Lad - City
Static-X - Wisconsin Death Trip
Nailbomb - Point Blank
Impetigo - Horror Of The Zombies
Lamb Of God - Ashes Of The Wake
Buzz*Oven - ...At A Loss
Toxik - Think This
Hell - Human Remains
Machine Head - Burn My Eyes
Bolt Thrower - Mercenary
The Ruins Of Beverast - Unlock The Shrine, Foulest Semen Of A Sheltered Elite
Agalloch - Faustian Echoes
Alrakis - Alpha Eri
Blacklodge - Solarkult

1.Aborted - Goremageddon: The Saw And The Carnage Done

2.Abruptum - Potestates Apocalypsis

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agalloch - The Mantle

5.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

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Only 1 album per band;
Rating:
1.-8.: 10
9.-32.: 9
33.-50.: 8

1.Subway To Sally - Herzblut

2.Skyclad - The Silent Whales Of Lunar Sea

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Empyrium - Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields

5.Vicious Crusade - Forbidden Tunes

      View entire list ››

1.Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

2.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

3.Doom:VS - Dead Words Speak

4.Empyrium - Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields

5.Agalloch - The Mantle

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These are the albums which I like the most. Since I have not listened to a lot of albums( let's say, max 400 for me), it would be pretentious to make a list of my 100 favorite albums, so I keep this list short.

1.Tool - Lateralus

2.Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale

3.Lurker Of Chalice - Lurker Of Chalice

4.Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven

5.Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God

      View entire list ››

Alphabetical order.
Limited to 2 albums per band

Top 5 of non-metal:
Pink Floyd-The Wall
King Crimson-In The Court Of The Crimson King
Godspeed You! Black Emperor-Yanqui U.X.O
Comus-First Utterance
Explosions In The Sky-The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place

1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Anaal Nathrakh - In The Constellation Of The Black Widow

4.Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas

5.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

      View entire list ››

Some albums are really good. Many of these are good all the way around. And, in many cases, there is a single song that stands out, sometimes it's the last song on the album. This is a list of those songs.

For a more in depth look at this, I've codified each into a given category:
Type 1 - 'The long song at the end.' Often the title track. These have a tendency to be most well written and dynamic pieces on the album.

1.!T.O.O.H.! - Order And Punishment (Řád A Trest)

2.Abigail Williams - Becoming

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Amon Amarth - Versus The World

5.Anekdoten - Vemod

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I updated the list, so there are now 100 entries, and I consider 100 to be to little. These are albums I listen to regularly, and some I listened to frantically for a while.

1.Rapture - Songs For The Withering

2.System Of A Down - Toxicity

3.Warning - Watching From A Distance

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson II

5.Converge - Jane Doe

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An entirely subjective list of my all-time favourite metal albums, well lets better say albums/genres featured on MS, since not all here is precisely metal.
Objective quality is not a criteria here, just how much I like the album. Ordered by preference, top down.

1.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

2.Opeth - Morningrise

3.Estatic Fear - Somnium Obmutum

4.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

5.Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

      View entire list ››

Almost all album titles fall in one of two categories: The album shares the title with one of its songs (the title track) or, alternatively, the album title is independent from the songs (no title track).

However, there are examples of songs that have a central link to the album title without sharing the same name. In these cases, certain lyrics from the song were chosen as the album title.

This (alphabetical) list shows the names of these “hidden title tracks” and the central lyrics that gave the name to the corresponding album.

Please feel free to suggest more of your favorite metal/hard rock examples of these “hidden title tracks”.

1.40 Watt Sun - Wider Than The Sky

2.A Forest Of Stars - A Shadowplay For Yesterdays

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agalloch - The Mantle

5.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

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My favourite black metal albums listed and ranked, all varieties within the black metal genre.

1.Summoning - Oath Bound

2.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

3.Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

4.Bathory - Hammerheart

5.Mgła - Exercises In Futility

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I'll be introducing some albums people can possibly relate to, either because of the music, or the lyrics that people find more personal than others. Also included are my personal favorites.

1.40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room

2.Abandon - The Dead End

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Antimatter - Fear Of A Unique Identity

5.Agalloch - The Mantle

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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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All my favourite songs ranked in order best down.

1.Rush - 2112

2.Deep Purple - In Rock

3.Jethro Tull - Aqualung

4.Rainbow - Rising

5.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

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