The goats. The near perfect albums that never get old. Some are full of catchy bangers I'm always humming, and some are so full to the brim of details that I still haven't even uncovered them all.

A brief outline of my ratings:
8.5-9.0 = An excellent album with a few mild drawbacks (Weak song, slightly irritating vocals, odd flow)
9.0-9.5 = Perfect albums that haven't quite warranted the time-earnt 9.5+.
9.5-9.9 = Perfect albums that have stood the test of time, ranked by preference.
10 = I don't expect to hear another album like these, ever.

(I use 'perfect' lightly as it makes no sense for a man-made creation to be flawless. 'Perfect' is simply a term to outline how high a level of enjoyment is, specifically the level of enjoyment when minor faults become insignificant.)

(I evaluate albums outside of metal vastly differently to the ones here, which explains the lack of representation of my other favourite genres. Blue Sky Mining is an exception due to being structured very similarly to my optimal metal album. I may add some picks from other genres down the line.)


STATS:
I know y'all don't look at my lists, so these are purely for my own interest.

-Decades
'10s: 36
'20s: 22
'00s: 7
'90s: 2

-Genres (By best fit or most prominent)
Prog: 35
Death: 11
Power: 9
Symphonic: 4
Black: 3
Contemporary: 2
Folk: 1
Doom: 1
Rock: 1

1.Devin Townsend - Empath

2.Memories Of Old - The Zeramin Game

3.Wintersun - Time I

4.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

5.Persefone - Aathma

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"CALENDAR MADE OF METAL"
January = Progressive Metal
Listening to as many albums as possible in said genre during said month and listing them here as I go. Suggestions welcome.

1.Rush - Caress Of Steel

2.Threshold - Wounded Land

3.Shadow Gallery - Carved In Stone

4.Porcupine Tree - Up The Downstair

5.Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways

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Just for my favorite
2016.09.16

1.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

2.Symphony X - The Divine Wings Of Tragedy

3.Pain Of Salvation - Remedy Lane

4.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

5.Circus Maximus - The 1st Chapter

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My personal favorite studio albums of 2010

1.Haken - Aquarius

2.Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy

3.Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare

4.James LaBrie - Static Impulse

5.Grand Magus - Hammer Of The North

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1.

2.Fates Warning - The Spectre Within

3.Slauter Xstoyes - Winter Kill

4.Watch Tower - Energetic Disassembly

5.Trilogy - Life On Earth

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2008 might've been my first proper taste of metal, with the acquisition of albums from the likes of Metallica, Megadeth, Black Sabbath and that most grandiose of gateway bands, DragonForce. 2009 might've seen me expanding my palette, with Iron Maiden, Alice In Chains, Avenged Sevenfold, and more entering my world, and Guns N' Roses triumphantly re-entering it. But 2010 was when I delved into more 'intense' stuff with Machine Head, In Flames, and most notably of all, Sylosis, and saw my relationship with metal shift from ever-increasing interest into full-blown love affair. To commemorate this 5-year anniversary, and because I love making lists, I decided to do a retrospective of the best albums and songs that have been released during this time period, and give brief tributes to them. Yay music!

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Sylosis - Monolith

3.Protest The Hero - Volition

4.Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR

5.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

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1.Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra

2.Wuthering Heights - Salt

3.Accept - Blood Of The Nations

4.Volbeat - Beyond Hell/Above Heaven

5.Above Symmetry - Ripples

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1.Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR

2.Mekong Delta - Wanderer On The Edge Of Time

3.The Ocean - Anthropocentric

4.Pain Of Salvation - Road Salt One

5.Pin-Up Went Down - 342

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1.Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here

2.Pain Of Salvation - Road Salt One

3.Butterfly Temple - Земля

4.Ihsahn - After

5.Star One - Victims Of The Modern Age

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There's some outstanding releases from this year. Overall not that special though.

1.Watain - Lawless Darkness

2.Dråpsnatt - Hymner Till Undergången

3.Equilibrium - Rekreatur

4.Ghost - Opus Eponymous

5.An Autumn For Crippled Children - Lost

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This list isn't really in a set order except the first five, which really were just far and away my top 5. Then everything up to Aspera (or Above Symmetry as they are now called...I will keep it as Aspera for the list purposes tho, since that is who they were when the album was released) is the next tier. Everything after that is kinda in shambles. I tried to keep it to top 25 like my other lists, but there were some on the fringe of making this list, so feel free to check out my album votes for the near misses.

1.Alcest - Écailles De Lune

2.In Mourning - Monolith

3.Barren Earth - Curse Of The Red River

4.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

5.Mar De Grises - Streams Inwards

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1.Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

2.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

3.Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit

4.Alcest - Écailles De Lune

5.Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier

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