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 ››

I've always been a fan of melodic death metal, having listened to bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates in my first few years of getting into metal around 2005-2008. Now, thanks to MS, I've gotten into many more amazing bands such as Wintersun, Insomnium and Scar Symmetry and it has become one of my favourite sub-genres.

So here are my favourites of the genre with my rating, its sub-genre and release year:

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of melodic death 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 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 25 EPs (also 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)

1.Wintersun - Time I

2.Wintersun - Wintersun

3.Insomnium - Winter's Gate

4.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

5.The Haunted - The Haunted Made Me Do It

      View entire list ››

1.Incantation - Onward To Golgotha

2.Pestilence - Consuming Impulse

3.Atheist - Unquestionable Presence

4.Demilich - Nespithe

5.Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes

      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

      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 ››

This is an alphabetical list dedicated for the celebration of great instrumental songs that have been included by vocal groups as original contribution to an album. Therefore, this list does not include instrumental-based groups like Apocalyptica, songs that have a significant part with spoken words / human voices or instrumental versions of vocal songs or other bonus material.

Please feel free to suggest more of your favorite songs for this list !

1.Accept - Objection Overruled

2.Anathema - Judgement

3.Arch Enemy - War Eternal

4.Arch Enemy - Will To Power

5.As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us

      View entire list ››

This list is my top 100 played albums ordered by the number of "scrobbles" since 2013 according to last.fm, if you also have a last.fm account, don't hesitate to follow me.
My last.fm user: daniloescolin

1.Slayer - Reign In Blood

2.W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P.

3.W.A.S.P. - The Headless Children

4.Kreator - Enemy Of God

5.Iced Earth - The Dark Saga

      View entire list ››

1.Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten

2.Entombed - Left Hand Path

3.Death - Human

4.Terrorizer - World Downfall

5.Sepultura - Beneath The Remains

      View entire list ››

1.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

2.Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

3.Slayer - Reign In Blood

4.Pantera - Far Beyond Driven

5.Strapping Young Lad - City

      View entire list ››

This list shows only my preferences in metal. These albums are not necessarily the best of the bands written by, but I return to them again and again. In my opinion, all this masterpieces confirm the variety and greatness of metal music.
Rules:
1. One album per band.
2. Ordered from highest position (top) to lowest (bottom).
3. No heavy, power, doom, gothic, sludge/stoner albums.

1.Children Of Bodom - Follow The Reaper

2.Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia

3.In Flames - Clayman

4.Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos

5.Gojira - From Mars To Sirius

      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 ››

A little list series where I list my top 20 favorite metal albums every year starting from the year I was born in.

1995 was amazing, great Black metal albums, Iconic power metal releases, Death second best album and one of the best years for gothic metal. I had to make some rough cuts, so as honorable mentions: Stormcrowfleet by Skepticism, De Profundis by Vader, Destroy Erase Improve by Meshuggah, Ночь Короче Дня by Aria and Orchid by Opeth, 95 was a great year for metal🤘🤘


My favorite non metal albums of 1995

1. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
By The Smashing Pumpkins (Alternative Rock, Dream Pop, Grunge)



2. Post
By Björk (Art Pop, Electronic)



3. Brown Sugar
By D'Angelo (Neo Soul, Contemporary R&B)



4. Wowee Zowee
By Pavement (Indie Rock, Noise Rock)



5. Liquid Swords
By Genius/GZA (East coast hip hop, Hardcore hip hop)




My favorite movie from 1995

1.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

2.Death - Symbolic

3.Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free

4.The Gathering - Mandylion

5.Paradise Lost - Draconian Times

      View entire list ››

This is a list of all the death metal albums I have listened to that I thought were at all worth remembering. Like my other genre lists, this is just a record of my own listening experience that I use for personal organization, not a definitive account of the best or all of the death metal out there; there will probably be albums or bands that are not death metal in the strictest sense. You'll find some OSDM, melodeath, tech death, death-doom, maybe a bit of deathcore, I don't know. Maybe some non-death metal albums by death metal bands that I put in here just because.

1.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

2.Death - Symbolic

3.At The Gates - With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness

4.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

5.Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side

      View entire list ››

(This list is a work in progress)

In this list I intend to compile all of my favorite interludes, intros, outros, short acoustic tracks, instrumentals, non-metal or otherwise atypical songs from the metal multiverse. Of course the definitions for each of the above are quite fluid, so you may personally disagree with my decision to consider one of these tracks as such.

Last updated on 23 June 2023.

1.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

2.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

3.Melechesh - Emissaries

4.Agalloch - The Mantle

5.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

      View entire list ››

1.All time & genre (including Non-Metal on MS)
2.Only studio albums & EPs
3.The genre is primary one.
4.Only ESPECIALLY favorite (a bit more stringently than ver1 and rating 10 is not enough)
5.The order: A to Z (initial of band's name), next release date
6.Black Wisdom, an album of Russian band Grey Heaven Fall, is deleted. When the situation gets better, I will repost.
Last modified on 3 March 2022

1.Akhlys - The Dreaming I

2.Altar Of Plagues - Mammal

3.Angra - Temple Of Shadows

4.Anthrax - Among The Living

5.Arkha Sva - Gloria Satanae

      View entire list ››