Limiting my picks to one album per band (otherwise it would have been a much larger list), here are my top 50 favorite metal albums of all time including my favorite track for each album:

1.Stratovarius - Episode

2.Angra - Angels Cry

3.Helloween - Better Than Raw

4.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

5.Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark

      View entire list ››

1.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

2.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson II

3.The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium

4.Windir - Likferd

5.Opeth - Damnation

      View entire list ››

The purpose of this list is not to find and record which albums are the best but to define Dark Metal. We will try to specify which albums are the definitive examples of Dark Metal. "Dark Metal" is what we would call a "post-subgenre". An album that's not quite Black, not quite Death, sometimes a little Doom or Gothic, other times just Melodic or Symphonic or even "Atmospheric", anything that could fall somewhere in between some or all of these categories, that could probably be a "Dark Metal" album, as long as the tone is somewhat dark.

1.Rotting Christ - Sanctus Diavolos

2.Celtic Frost - Monotheist

3.Nightfall - At Night We Prey

4.Septicflesh - Sumerian Daemons

5.Behemoth - I Loved You At Your Darkest

      View entire list ››

Stuff that got me hooked in the course of the years, from my very first blurred memories as a toddler to the present day.
Lots of catchy tunes, some cheese, very few flowers.
Songs that had a big impact on me and influenced my taste in music.
Stuff to let it all hang out, songs for campfire sing-alongs and soundtracks to slit your wrists to.
Love at first sight listen.

This is part II of II, covering the years since 2001.

Despite of the list's personal character, suggestions are very welcome.
After all I'm old and I may just have forgotten lots of stuff that did make my day.



Great albums that didn't make it on the list as they can only be enjoyed in their entirety, rather than by picking individual songs:

Thirdmoon - Sworn Enemy: Heaven (Death, 2004)
Defleshed - Reclaim The Beat (Death/Thrash, 2005)
Tyranny - Tides Of Awakening (Funeral Doom, 2005)
Mourning Beloveth - A Murderous Circus (Doom/Death, 2005)
Rotting Christ - Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy (Black, 2013)

1.Alastis - Unity

2.Diablerie - Seraphyde

3.Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia

4.Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise

5.Hollenthon - With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell

      View entire list ››

1.Cradle Of Filth - Damnation And A Day

2.Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon

3.Katatonia - Viva Emptiness

4.The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium

5.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

      View entire list ››

1.Dimmu Borgir - Stormblåst

2.Cradle Of Filth - Dusk... And Her Embrace

3.Gorgoroth - Under The Sign Of Hell

4.Burzum - Det Som Engang Var

5.Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss

      View entire list ››

This is not a list over my favourite albums, although some of them on the list of course are. These are albums that formed me, had a huge impact on me and defined my musical taste. Without some of these releases I probably wouldn't even be the person that I am today.

1.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

2.Iron Maiden - Rock In Rio

3.Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death

4.Iron Maiden - Killers

5.Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time

      View entire list ››

1.Amon Amarth - Versus The World

2.Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death

3.Arch Enemy - Anthems Of Rebellion

4.Cradle Of Filth - Damnation And A Day

5.Stratovarius - Elements Part I

      View entire list ››

1.Cradle Of Filth - Dusk... And Her Embrace

2.Cradle Of Filth - Cruelty And The Beast

3.Cradle Of Filth - Midian

4.Cradle Of Filth - The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh

5.Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder

      View entire list ››

1.The Gathering - Souvenirs

2.Epica - The Phantom Agony

3.Draconian - Where Lovers Mourn

4.Tiamat - Prey

5.Illnath - Cast Into Fields Of Evil Pleasure

      View entire list ››

1.Cradle Of Filth - V Empire

2.Cradle Of Filth - Dusk... And Her Embrace

3.Cradle Of Filth - Midian

4.Cradle Of Filth - Cruelty And The Beast

5.Cradle Of Filth - Nymphetamine

      View entire list ››

I'll probably never get a thumb up for this list as there are a lot of controversial albums on it. 2003 is on the other hand maybe the best metal year so far in my opinion. It was here I really started listening to metal and nothing else. The top 4 has had a huge impact on me as a metalhead.

1.Cradle Of Filth - Damnation And A Day

2.Children Of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll

3.Norther - Mirror Of Madness

4.Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death

5.Illnath - Cast Into Fields Of Evil Pleasure

      View entire list ››