Bands listed alphabetically, One album per band (With the exception of Carcass and Napalm Death who appear in the Grind and Death Metal sections). Some bands may not be pure old school (Death / Thrash, Doom Death / Death Doom and early Brutal / Technical Death Included) I have also Included some of the more extreme Thrash releases that pre-dated the genre but undoubtedly help pave the way for things to come, I included these as I wish to give a general summary of the way Death Metal began and evolved throughout the 80's and 90's.

1.

2.Abhorrence - Abhorrence [EP]

3.Acrostichon - Engraved In Black

4.Adramelech - PsychoStasia

5.Afflicted - Prodigal Sun

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A list of my favourite death metal albums of all time, one listing per band, hopefully you may discover some new bands/albums from this list. They're not in any exact order but my real favourites are there in the top 5. Death metal ftw!

1.Cryptopsy - None So Vile

2.Decapitated - Winds Of Creation

3.Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten

4.Death - Spiritual Healing

5.Vital Remains - Dechristianize

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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

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*** MAX 3 ALBUMS PER ARTIST!!! (Except Death) Also... While extra weight will be given to classic death metal albums, this list will also include exceptional examples of melodic death, death-grind, technical/progressive death, death-thrash, and blackened death. LPs ONLY. *** /\ UNDER CONSTRUCTION /\

1.Cryptopsy - None So Vile

2.Death - Symbolic

3.Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten

4.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

5.Death - Human

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This is an alphabetical list of metal songs and albums that inspired the names of other artists.

While comparable lists often focus on the band name and explain its origin, this list turns the point of view and presents the influential albums and songs that were the basis for the inspiration of other artists and therefore highlights their general impact.

Please feel free to suggest more (MS listed) metal/hard rock examples.

SUMMARY
BANDS THAT INFLUENCED SEVERAL OTHER ARTIST NAMES WITH THEIR WORK

1st Place (14):
Black Sabbath

2nd Place (7):
Judas Priest

3rd Place (4):
Morbid Angel, Venom

4th Place (3):
Celtic Frost, Metallica

5th Place (2):
Cynic, Darkthrone, Deftones, Dio, Iron Maiden, Kreator, Motörhead



SUMMARY
ALBUMS THAT INFLUENCED THE NAMES OF SEVERAL OTHER ARTISTS

1st Place (3):
Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath),
Ride The Lightning (Metallica), Altars Of Madness (Morbid Angel), Welcome To Hell (Venom)

2nd Place (2):
Paranoid (Black Sabbath), Master Of Reality (Black Sabbath), Mob Rules (Black Sabbath), To Mega Therion (Celtic Frost), Focus (Cynic), Sin After Sin (Judas Priest), Stained Class (Judas Priest), Pleasure To Kill (Kreator)

1.Amebix - No Sanctuary: The Spiderleg Recordings

2.Anathema - Alternative 4

3.Arch Enemy - Black Earth

4.Architects - Ruin

5.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

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What seems the most important albums for me in chronological order.
I wish I could carry the list year after year to see how my tastes changed and new findings.
I can help but notice that old albums immediately strike me, while in recent times most albums are good but nothing is groundbreaking. We have a tide of releases in the last decades, and standing above the other requires an impossible lot of talent.
Or is it my listen habbits that changed ? I felts I listened to the old albums albums for a lifetime while I'm only surface checking the new ones. Too little time, too little time to truly live...
Also the mixing technology, the sound is too flat nowadays and lack impact and personnality

1.Frank Zappa - Freak Out

2.The Who - Tommy

3.Frank Zappa - Uncle Meat

4.Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

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

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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

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Here's a little list displaying my personal favorite death metal albums, based on the same idea as my heavy metal list, thus stressing the raw and the genuine. For me death metal has to be crushing, then coloured with atmosphere. Some of my choices may seem exotic, considering the list overall, but it's what broadens it. Rules : one album per band, the order isn't strict (still bottom albums are weaker than their predecessors). Many good tbdm bands are lacking, mostly because of their unfitting sound. If you think some kick-ass piece are missing, don't hesitate to suggest them. Enjoy.

1.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

2.Suffocation - Pierced From Within

3.Cynic - Focus

4.Septicflesh - Εσοπτρον

5.Death - Symbolic

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This is a guide list to some of the greatest voices in the history of rock & metal music, ranked in alphabetical order, by singer's name. I know that there are many more great singers/vocalists out there and that some really good singers were left out of this list.

The criteria by which the following singers were selected are:
1. Anything regarding the voice and the vocal performance (voice quality, technique, range, originality, creativity, etc.)
2. Influence - effect (if a singer has been an influence on other singers or a musical genre)
3. My personal taste

The form of the list is "Band - Trademark Album For The Singer"
"Name of the singer" (Bands he/she has joined)

1.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

2.Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

3.Watchtower - Control And Resistance

4.Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies

5.Evanescence - Fallen

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The only one. No order particularly, except the order I thought of them in.

1.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

2.Vader - Litany

3.Monstrosity - Millennium

4.Malevolent Creation - Retribution

5.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

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1.Cannibal Corpse - Torture

2.Cannibal Corpse - The Wretched Spawn

3.Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated

4.Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst

5.Cannibal Corpse - Butchered At Birth

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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

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1.Cryptopsy - None So Vile

2.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson II

3.Deicide - Deicide

4.Bolt Thrower - Realm Of Chaos

5.Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding

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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

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Recommendation for begginers to listen brutal death
Best Albums of Best Bands !
In Modern Brutal, Grindcore scene

1.Cryptopsy - None So Vile

2.Kataklysm - Shadows & Dust

3.Exhumed - Gore Metal

4.Brutal Truth - Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses

5.Krisiun - AssassiNation

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