Here's my AotY for each year from 1970, with a runner up (or two) following.
Pink Floyd and Yes aren't here, King Crimson is, so I'll include King Crimson

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Deep Purple - In Rock

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

4.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

5.Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards

      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 ››

Top 50 of albums I rated 8 and above.

Album count: 222
Average rating: 6.96

1.Ahab - The Divinity Of Oceans

2.Insomnium - Across The Dark

3.Fen - The Malediction Fields

4.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

5.Isis - Wavering Radiant

      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 ››

1.Nokturnal Mortum - Голос сталі

2.Megadeth - Endgame

3.Heaven And Hell - The Devil You Know

4.Amorphis - Skyforger

5.Mastodon - Crack The Skye

      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 ››

Welcome everybody to a little lesson on the history of Sludge & Stoner Metal. I'm Guib and today I have the immense pleasure to serve as your humble teacher.

Please take a seat and travel with me through time as we explore the very best of those two, often blurred, genres. The goal here is simple, I want to get you familiarized with the styles. I want you to understand where they come from through albums on a timeline and while we're at it get a sweet selection of great releases that you might not know and that, hopefully, will get you hooked to explore even more!

But this is a classroom and in my classroom there are a few rules. We want to keep this clean, clear and prevent having a 500+ albums mess. So here are the rules we'll follow throughout this lesson.

- - - - - The Rules - - - - -

1. We will settle for a maximum of 4 albums per year and they will be listed from oldest to newest. Makes it simple to navigate. Those releases will represent what I consider to be hallmarks of the genres for that year. Essentials if you want, yes? Of course, I'll sprinkle a bit of my personality here and there so you will find some unorthodox choices and some less known albums from time to time. It would be boring otherwise... and also why not?

2. We will begin the journey with Melvins' "Gluey Porch Treatments" released in 1987. Why? Because it is arguably the first album to be widely considered as Sludge.

3. The list will mostly feature studio albums. So no Demos & bare minimum when it comes to EPs if any at all. Thank you.

4. I am not going to include releases by Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Hawkwind, etc... I fully understand and recognize the influence older bands had on Stoner Rock, but this is not the list for them.

5. Lastly, not really a rule but more of a note. Considering that we're talking about Sludge & Stoner, it is inevitable that Doom, Post, Progressive, Grunge & Hardcore acts will be featured in this list. Those genres simply go together naturally and are often mixed so do not be alarmed!

- - - - - - - - - -

That is it, I hope you will all discover something to enjoy through my little history lesson. Also, do not hesitate to comment below if you agree or disagree with some of my picks. After all, this is a classroom and debate is invited as it can be fun and educative. As long everything's done respectfully, of course.

Enjoy & Have Fun... Class dismissed!

NOTE: I will now add my picks for best album of the year using this format (best of xxxx) in the chosen album's description.

- Guib -

- - - - - - - - - -

Guib's best Sludge/Stoner Album Picks

Best Of 2023:
Urne - A Feast On Sorrow

Best Of 2024 So Far:
O Zorn! - Vermillion Haze

- - - - - - - - - -

Last Update: April 16th, 2024

1.Melvins - Gluey Porch Treatments

2.Soundgarden - Ultramega OK

3.Oxbow - Fuckfest

4.Melvins - Ozma

5.Soundgarden - Louder Than Love

      View entire list ››

1.Mastodon - Crack The Skye

2.Mastodon - Leviathan

3.Mastodon - Blood Mountain

4.Mastodon - The Hunter

5.Mastodon - Remission

      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 ››

These are albums that I'm currently enjoying. They may be classics that I'm revisiting or new gems I've recently discovered. (Ordered alphabetically)

- A star (⭐️) denotes a new discovery that I find exceptionally special!
- A flame (🔥) denotes an album that I've heard before, enjoyed, and am revisiting this month!

1.Allfather - A Violent Truth

2.Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud

3.Anvil - Metal On Metal

4.Artrosis - Hidden Dimension

5.Azaghal - Immortalized In Luciferian Blood

      View entire list ››

This is a list of progressive metal albums (in alphabetical order) based on their artwork. It includes iconic cover art from classic albums as well as fascinating work from more recent releases.
There is a saying that "you should not judge a book by its cover", which is of course also true in the case of music albums. However, the artwork can complement the production and give a visual introduction to the musical theme and atmosphere. More than for any other kind of music, this may be true for metal.

(Updated 30.01.2023)

1.Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud

2.Deadsoul Tribe - The January Tree

3.Death - Symbolic

4.Disillusion - Ayam

5.Dordeduh - Har

      View entire list ››

1.Agalloch - Pale Folklore

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

4.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

5.Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God

      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.

2009 was one of the best, a lot of great release came out that year especially within black, Progressive and Death metal. Had to make some rough cuts so honorable mentions goes to: Róka Hasa Rádió by Thy Catafalque, Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us by Paradise Lost, Evangelion by Behemoth, Liebe Ist Für Alle Da by Rammstein, Axe To Fall by Converge, The Great Misdirect by Between The Buried And Me, Endgame by Megadeth, Time Waits For No Slave by Napalm Death and In The Constellation Of The Black Widow by Anaal Nathrakh, over all a fantastic year.

1.Leprous - Tall Poppy Syndrome

2.Devin Townsend - Addicted

3.Diablo Swing Orchestra - Sing-Along Songs For The Damned & Delirious

4.Abandon - The Dead End

5.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

      View entire list ››

Subject to change from time to time. (Currently in a remaking process)

1.Avenged Sevenfold - Waking The Fallen

2.Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier

3.Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil

4.Opeth - Still Life

5.Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel

      View entire list ››

I started listening to metal music when I was a teenager, somewhere around the end of the 90's. After all these years, I thought it was high time to compose my personal top list of metal albums. What you see here is the absolute best of the best ... according to my taste.

To compile this list I have put all albums that I have given a 10/10 here on MS. Then I have put all these albums in a Ranking Engine (https://www.pubmeeple.com/ranking-engine) where they were put head to head and I had to choose which I liked more. The list below is what came out of this exercise.

1.Opeth - Deliverance

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

4.Edge Of Sanity - Purgatory Afterglow

5.Cobalt - Eater Of Birds

      View entire list ››