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

2016 was pretty solid year for metal, a couple of masterpieces in melodic death metal and power metal, black metal keep going strong and some old acts returning stronger than ever.


My favorite non metal albums of 2016

1. ★
By David Bowie (Art rock)


2. Atrocity Exhibition
By Danny Brown (Experimental Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop)


3. Runaljod – Ragnarok
By Wardruna (Dark Folk, Neo-Pagan Folk)


4.Blonde
By Frank Ocean (R&B, Neo-Soul, Ambient Pop)


5. Act V: Hymns With the Devil in Confessional
By The Dear Hunter (Progressive Rock, Rock Opera)



My favorite movie from 2016

1. Insomnium - Winter's Gate

2. Eternal Champion - The Armor Of Ire

3. Trees Of Eternity - Hour Of The Nightingale

4. La Torture Des Ténèbres - Civilization Is The Tomb Of Our Noble Gods

5. Demon Bitch - Hellfriends

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1. Masterplan - Masterplan

2. Avantasia - Angel Of Babylon

3. Avantasia - The Wicked Symphony

4. Avantasia - Ghostlights

5. Ark - Burn The Sun

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1. Megadeth - Rust In Peace

2. Disforia - The Age Of Ether

3. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

4. Ayreon - The Theory Of Everything

5. Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud

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1. Avantasia - Ghostlights

2. Iced Earth - Incorruptible

3. Kamelot - The Shadow Theory

4. Soilwork - The Ride Majestic

5. Jorn Lande & Trond Holter - Dracula: Swing Of Death

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Here's my list of symphonic metal albums from the bands that I know of, this list is defined by the terms of "atmospheric/bombastic sounding". This is my first time of making list on this site, so some of this might not make any sense as I'm still a bit confused myself as well, and I don't really prefer to see these in particular orders.

1. Nightwish - Dark Passion Play

2. Within Temptation - The Silent Force

3. Epica - The Divine Conspiracy

4. Xandria - Neverworld's End

5. Nightwish - Once

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Ratings go from:

WORSHIP ❤️❤️❤️: Absolute greatness, a mindblowing album.
LOVE ❤️❤️🖤: Amazing release with very few flaws.
LIKE ❤️🖤🖤: Enjoyable but far from perfect.
DISLIKE 💔: Not very good or maybe not fitting my tastes.

I've decided to stop rating albums with a numerical value as I tend to feel uncomfortable with that. This list has a minimalistic, subjective and visceral approach, based purely on sensations and personal tastes. Mainly for personal use and doesn't pretend to be a serious ranking, but emerges from the need to remember which bands and albums I enjoyed and the ones I disliked. I constantly revisit new releases so first impressions may change over time. It usually takes 8-10 spins for me to get completely sure of a rating.

1. Æther Realm - Tarot

2. Abhoria - Abhoria

3. Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4. Agrypnie - Metamorphosis

5. Allegaeon - Fragments Of Form And Function

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1. Avantasia - Angel Of Babylon

2. Avantasia - The Wicked Symphony

3. Avantasia - Ghostlights

4. Avantasia - The Metal Opera Part I

5. Avantasia - The Metal Opera Part II

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1. Avantasia - Ghostlights

2. Myrath - Legacy

3. Volbeat - Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie

4. Dynazty - Titanic Mass

5. Dark Tranquillity - Atoma

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I tried to make my top 10 with a simple rule : only one album per group.
In the real list i had 2 evergrey's and 2 avantasia's but finally i found it better just to throw 1 of each group.

1. Avantasia - Ghostlights

2. Blind Guardian - Beyond The Red Mirror

3. Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken

4. Dark Moor - Ancestral Romance

5. Nightwish - Imaginaerum

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The Metal Opera II was a very important album in my early metal years. Still remebering listening to it on repeat and it was the first time I heard Bob Catley, David Defeis, Rob Rock among others. I somehow never liked the first metal opera nearly as much and the Scarecrow trilogy was a big letdown (except for some songs). On the last three albums Toby have redeemed the name for me.

1. Avantasia - The Metal Opera Part II

2. Avantasia - The Mystery of Time

3. Avantasia - Ghostlights

4. Avantasia - Moonglow

5. Avantasia - The Metal Opera Part I

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These are MY Top 250 Albums that are featured on Metal Storm in chronological order to celebrate 50 Years of Metal.

Some bands are featured on this list with more than one album, which means that they are perticulary amazing to me.

I listen to a wide spectrum of metal genres, which is why I tried to keep it diverse and not focus on one genre.

1. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

2. Deep Purple - In Rock

3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

4. Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards

5. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies

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1. Rhapsody Of Fire - From Chaos To Eternity

2. Blind Guardian - At The Edge Of Time

3. Symphony X - Iconoclast

4. Powerwolf - The Sacrament Of Sin

5. Iced Earth - Dystopia

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This is a list of all the power metal albums I have listened to that are worth remembering. Like my other genre lists, this is not meant to be a definitive guide to power metal or a binding judgment on what power metal is or is not. The list exists purely for my own organizational purposes and may contain bands or albums that are not strictly True Knights of the Eternal Thundersword.

The first cluster includes my favorite albums in the genre (and a significant number of my all-time favorites); beyond that, they are listed by rating from 9/10 down to 6/10 and alphabetically within each bracket.

Last updated November 27, 2021.

1. Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

2. Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

3. Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond

4. Jag Panzer - Thane To The Throne

5. X Japan - Art Of Life

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Better never than late, right? Order is not particular.

1. Vektor - Terminal Redux

2. Dark Tranquillity - Atoma

3. Insomnium - Winter's Gate

4. UADA - Devoid of Light

5. Be'lakor - Vessels

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1. Netherbird - The Grander Voyage

2. Novembre - URSA

3. Ordog - The Grand Wall

4. Pretty Maids - Kingmaker

5. Primal Fear - Rulebreaker

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