While the order in each decade is purely personal preference, there are several rules for a song qualifying for the list. First off, the band has to be notable. I'm not going to define what that means, but I'm sure you'd agree all the bands in the list are notable. There are plenty of riffs from obscure bands I'd rather put, but I know my love for Tarby doesn't make him the greatest riff maker of the 21st century. Second, each artist can only appear once in a decade, this is to prevent the best riff makers from hogging the list and adding some variety, showing how metal has changed over time. Decades are measured by when the song was recorded, not released, and when it's unclear the beginning of recording is used. This is mainly because a lot of definitive early metal songs were released in 1970, but recorded in 1969. Third, the song itself has to be notable. Here are things that can qualify as being notable: the song was release as a single, has music video made for it, was released as a single, was the title track for an album (note that Crawl through Knives meets this criteria because it was the original title for Come Clarity, and there is no way in hell Come Clarity is getting best riff of the decade ), is included on a greatest hits compilation album, was nominated for a Grammy or musical award of similar caliber, was included as a track in a notable film or video game, was covered by a notable band, or has a Wikipedia page for some miscellaneous reason. Finally, the song needs to be metal. Misirlou gets the pass despite predating metal as it was probably the single most influential song on the development of metal, and while many of the other songs in the other songs are better classified as hard rock, I can find a source listing them as heavy metal.

1.

2.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

3.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

4.Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

5.Deep Purple - In Rock

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Just a list of my favorite albums, mostly Black or Death Metal !

There are some albums/bands I would love to put in this list, but they are not on MS.

1.1349 - Liberation

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Amon Amarth - Versus The World

4.Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God

5.Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising

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1.Paradise Lost - Gothic

2.Tiamat - Wildhoney

3.Dissection - The Somberlain

4.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

5.Deicide - Deicide

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1.Paradise Lost - Gothic

2.Tiamat - Wildhoney

3.Dissection - The Somberlain

4.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

5.Deicide - Deicide

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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

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As is the case with my other lists, this is for my own organizational purposes and is designed purely to help me keep track of all the many black metal bands and albums that I enjoy, since I can't keep all of this information in my head. It has no other benefit whatsoever and will likely result in tantrums should anyone else see it. I'm aware that I haven't listened to every black metal album that I should have. I only went down to the 6s on this list, so it's possible that I have listened to your favorite black metal album that you desperately need to suggest and I thought it was terrible. There are a lot of heinously incompetent black metal bands out there.

On the off-chance that you've found this and actually care about what I think (you shouldn't), be advised that my favorites come first. Some are favorites in the general sense; some are favorites within black metal. The first few of those are in some order and not so much after that.

Because this is for my own purposes and not intended to be a definitive list of pure black metal, there are some black metal-adjacent bands, or albums by black metal bands that may not themselves be black metal. That's why you'll find so much Sigh clogging up the top of the list. I prefer to keep whole discographies together on one list. I used to include Primordial, Forefather, and other such bands, but a while back I created a list for folk and I decided that those artists would fit better there.

I update these lists very infrequently. This was last updated December 7, 2022.

1.Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

2.Sigh - Graveward

3.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

4.Sigh - Heir To Despair

5.The Meads Of Asphodel - The Murder Of Jesus The Jew

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SPOILER ALERT: This is mostly just black metal.
****Alphabetical Order

1.Abigor - Nachthymnen (From The Twilight Kingdom)

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

4.Arckanum - Fran Marder

5.Arckanum - Antikosmos

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For many, some of the more extreme types of metal can be challenging to penetrate. I'll admit that my first time listening to Burzum was nearly the equivalent of listening to a buzz-saw. But over time, I found my ears became acclimated, so to speak. All of the beauty and subtlety within became more and more apparent. Now I find listening to Darkthrone to be little different from listening to Vivaldi. Okay, maybe that is an overstatement, but you get the idea. The point of this list to help those looking for a more gradual path from unkvlt to kvlt, if you will. IHopefully it provides some assistance. The top represents some of the more mainstream, well-produced (but still solid) releases, while working your way down results in a stripping away of sound quality, melody, and radio-friendly content. The list ends with a mixture of gritty second wave and mentally challenging avant guarde stuff. This is far from comprehensive, so feel free to hit the forums for some deeper cuts. I also welcome thoughts on reordering as this was no easy task for one set of ears.

1.Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon

2.Melechesh - Enki

3.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

4.Immortal - All Shall Fall

5.Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

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These are the Must-Do's of Black and Death Metal. This list was made in no particular order.

1.Ruins - Spun Forth As Dark Nets

2.Origin - Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas

3.Odious Mortem - Cryptic Implosion

4.Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding

5.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

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10 essential Black Metal albums, that every self-respecting Black Metal fan should own. Well, that's my opinion.

1.Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

2.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

3.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

4.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

5.Ulver - Nattens Madrigal - Aatte Hymne Til Ulven I Manden

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1.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

2.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

3.Master's Hammer - Ritual

4.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

5.Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism

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1.The Bug - London Zoo

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Sarcófago - I.N.R.I.

4.Cheshyre - Cheshyre

5.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

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- My TOP 75 from 90s (and 80s), 00s and 10s.
- Each TOP 75 ordered from my most favourite down.
- One album for every band in one TOP 75.
- Only full-lengths or EPs/demos with more than half an hour.

Description includes: Genre (traditional/true BM bands are labeled with their countries, e.g. Norwegian Black), year and my personal favourite song of the particular album with link.

Hall of Fame (bands in each time period): Agalloch, Blut Aus Nord, Enslaved, Immortal, Nokturnal Mortum, Summoning

1.

2.Windir - Arntor

3.Paysage d'Hiver - Paysage D'Hiver

4.Blut Aus Nord - Ultima Thulée

5.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

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1.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

2.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

3.Mayhem - Chimera

4.The Ruins Of Beverast - Rain Upon The Impure

5.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

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1.Converge - Jane Doe

2.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Faith No More - Angel Dust

5.Slayer - South Of Heaven

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