I'm (sorta) back. *The Finishing Touches* OKAY, so obviously not as much stuff from the last half of the year as the first. Sorry guys, but that first six months nearly killed me. Some stuff as a result will be missing, but major stuff not present is stuff I probably didn't care for. Alrighty then, enough with the "stuff"...

1.Bound By Entrails - The Stars Bode You Farewell

2.Royal Thunder - CVI

3.Akphaezya - Anthology IV: The Tragedy Of Nerak

4.Dissona - Dissona

5.Anhedonist - Netherwards

      View entire list ››

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 ››

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

      View entire list ››

1.Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

2.Amiensus - Restoration

3.Mors Principium Est - ...And Death Said Live

4.Deftones - Koi No Yokan

5.Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

      View entire list ››

2012 has been such a great year for metal releases. So in honor of that, here is my personal favourite Albums of 2012.

1.Indesinence - Vessels Of Light And Decay

2.Faal - The Clouds Are Burning

3.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

4.Enochian Theory - Life... And All It Entails

5.Eternal Deformity - The Beauty Of Chaos

      View entire list ››

You know the drill...

1.Enslaved - RIITIIR

2.Saturnus - Saturn In Ascension

3.Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma

4.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

5.Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas

      View entire list ››

Troy had the right idea doing this at the start instead of waiting so here we go...

However my list is in alphabetic order...

1.Abnormality - Contaminating The Hive Mind

2.Abominable Putridity - The Anomalies Of Artificial Origin

3.Aborted - Global Flatline

4.Aeon - Aeons Black

5.After Oblivion - Stamina

      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 ››

Note: Tool intentionally ommitted because they don't consider themselves metal. Otherwise you'd see their first 4 albums in top 25.

Last updated: 27 March 2024.

1.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Opeth - Blackwater Park

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Lost Horizon - A Flame To The Ground Beneath

      View entire list ››

Welcome to Lkoturnindrin's obligatory rating system of 2012. There will be only one voice of reason, mine. And since I have loads of albums to review, that will be all.

Re-edits in process

1.Christian Mistress - Possession

2.Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata

3.High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

4.Pharaoh - Bury The Light

5.Ram-Zet - Freaks In Wonderland

      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 ››

1.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

2.Ihsahn - Eremita

3.Bilocate - Summoning The Bygones

4.Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage

5.Abnormality - Contaminating The Hive Mind

      View entire list ››

1 album per band per subgenre
work in progress, updating as I go through the song-by-song ratings on RateYourMusic.com
I will typically update my black metal faves - https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6924
and my death metal faves - https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6298
prior to updating this one

1.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

2.King Diamond - Abigail

3.Voivod - Dimension Hatröss

4.Mastodon - Crack The Skye

5.Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris

      View entire list ››

Last updated on 11 April 2024.

1.Dream Theater - Images And Words

2.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

3.Wintersun - Wintersun

4.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

5.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

      View entire list ››

jesus this is out of date, gotta take some time and update this....

1.Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris

2.Immolation - Close To A World Below

3.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

4.Cryptopsy - None So Vile

5.Suffocation - Pierced From Within

      View entire list ››