No particular order

1.Graveworm - As The Angels Reach The Beauty

2.Graveworm - Scourge Of Malice

3.Dimmu Borgir - For All Tid

4.Dimmu Borgir - Stormblåst

5.Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

      View entire list ››

Suggestions are always welcome

1.Paradise Lost - Draconian Times

2.Theatre Of Tragedy - Velvet Darkness They Fear

3.Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

4.The Sins Of Thy Beloved - Lake Of Sorrow

5.Tristania - Widow's Weeds

      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 ››

If you are into doom, then you are already rotten. It's like drugs-it destroys you yet you want more. You reek of hatred and death. Your life is fucked up and there is no escape for you.
Here are some albums to help you along the dive into the abyss.

1.Colosseum - Chapter 1: Delirium

2.Shape Of Despair - Monotony Fields

3.Comatose Vigil - Fuimus, Non Sumus...

4.Swallow The Sun - Songs From The North I, II & III

5.Shape Of Despair - Written In My Scars

      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 ››

1.Afgrund - Vid Helvetets Grindar

2.After Forever - After Forever

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

5.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

      View entire list ››

All my favorite albums (rated 9 or 10), in cronological order.

1.Iotunn - Access All Worlds

2.Soen - Imperial

3.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

4.Soen - Lotus

5.Chapel Of Disease - ...And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye

      View entire list ››

An unordered list of records on the dark side.
Solitude, despair, sadness, melancholy. Just a bit of rage.
Cooked to introduce you to the dark side of a once sunny day,

1.Mouth Of The Architect - The Ties That Blind

2.Swallow The Sun - The Morning Never Came

3.The Sins Of Thy Beloved - Lake Of Sorrow

4.Potentiam - Bálsýn

5.Doom:VS - Dead Words Speak

      View entire list ››

1.Agalloch - Pale Folklore

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

4.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

5.Ahab - The Boats Of The Glen Carrig

      View entire list ››

1.Opeth - Still Life

2.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

3.Ayreon - The Human Equation

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

      View entire list ››

not in the most favorite or alphabetic Sort
Just there
few of the best things i did hear in my entire life include the sound of nature

1.Saturnus - Saturn In Ascension

2.Leprous - The Congregation

3.Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun

4.Saturnus - Veronika Decides To Die

5.Mastodon - Crack The Skye

      View entire list ››

Take a look at the Top Album lists of recent years and you'll notice an obvious trend. In 2005 the average rating of the top 25 albums is 8.76. Jump to 2014 and the average among the top 25 has dropped to 8.26. An almost linear decrease is observable for the 10 years in between.

I was curious to see what a Top 100 for 2000-2014 would look like if I factored the votes to account for the 'rating decline'. I hope you find it interesting.

1.Agalloch - The Mantle

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Blindead - Affliction XXIX II MXMVI

4.Aquilus - Griseus

5.Nevermore - Dead Heart In A Dead World

      View entire list ››

This list contains most beautiful, majestic and soul-touching releases I've ever experienced.
My most favorite genres are Black Metal, Post Metal, Shoegaze, Doom Metal, Ambient and Neo-Classical in general .

Albums are ranked by the year,I think this way is more useful.

I will keep expanding my list as i can.

1.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

2.Blut Aus Nord - Ultima Thulée

3.Deinonychus - The Silence Of December

4.Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta I - Fathers Of The Icy Age

5.Burzum - Filosofem

      View entire list ››

my 100 favorite metal albums of all times. Alphabetical order.

1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere

3.Ahab - The Giant

4.Alice In Chains - Dirt

5.Altar Of Plagues - Mammal

      View entire list ››

Note 1: This list will take time before it gets a definitive form (or it might take forever if good gothic metal albums will be released in the future).

Note 2: Another important feature is that this list will not take into consideration the Metalstorm way of labeling what is gothic metal and what isn't. Some albums have gothic metal elements yet they are not categorized as gothic metal. No hard feelings. I am also accepting suggestions as I might slip a couple of albums in the process.

1.Estatic Fear - A Sombre Dance

2.Tiamat - Wildhoney

3.The Sins Of Thy Beloved - Lake Of Sorrow

4.Tristania - Widow's Weeds

5.Theatre Of Tragedy - Velvet Darkness They Fear

      View entire list ››