Do you know this feeling when you stumble across a random word, and then suddenly that name pops up just about everywhere? That specific term haunting yours truly has long been "Portland, Oregon". It seems to me that every new discovery was founded in Portland, apparently every other album was mastered at Brad Boatright's Audiosiege Studio in Portland, and every single of my favorite bands had, at some point, performed on a stage somewhere in Portland.

In the 1980s, LA was undeniably the world's glam metal capital, alongside with San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal as a counter development. Then we witnessed the death metal boom of the early 90s, with Tampa, Florida as its global hotspot. Not to forget the New York punk and hardcore scene (NYHC), the rise of sludge metal from the swamps of New Orleans during the late 80s, grunge from Seattle gaining mainstream prominence in the early 90s...
Apparently, there has always been a tendency in the US towards rapidly developing, locally restricted music scenes, in whose environment a completely new style or genre could develop in order to have a lasting impact on the global musical landscape within a few years.

So I just had to find out if my mind was playing tricks on me or if Portland really is the current capital of the US for heavy music and extreme metal - hence this list.

Inclusion criteria:
featured on Metal Strom and
established in Portland or
a long-term creative phase in Portland or
still active and currently based in Portland
(that's why Leviathan is here but Lurker Of Chalice isn't)

Only one album (preferably the most recent full-length album) per band.

By the way, according to this article, Portland harbors the highest amount of active metal bands per capita in the US. Quite a surprise, isn't it?

While we are at it, what's your favorite Portland band?

1.Abhorrent Affliction - Forever Will He Reign

2.Acathexis - Acathexis

3.Ænigmatum - Deconsecrate

4.Ævangelist - Dream An Evil Dream III

5.Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere

      View entire list ››

This list is meant to be an extensive, but by no means exhaustive, collection of the greatest (modern) metal albums and eps. Running the gamut from avant-garde to trve norweigan black metal. *As someone who is young in age, my tastes tend to revolve around the period of the 80s to the present.* Although certain metal albums from before will certainly be featured, the period of the 60s-70s will be under-represented. I refer you to this excellent list to gain a better appreciation for some of the best metal from that period: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/freis/martin_popoffs_the_top_500_heavy_metal_albums_of_all_time/

All bands will be limited to one album unless they had a significant change in style (e.g. Amorphis and Katatonia). It goes without saying that as this is my personal list the genres that are included more than others expresses my bias and I am open to listening to any suggestions on additional albums to add. This list will be separated by letters as including them all in one list would make it overly long. Just to give you an idea: my personal collection is over 10,000 songs, most of them in the metal genre.

Most of the bands featured here have other great albums so if you like the album featured here be sure to peruse their other works. Artists whose names start with 'The' or A/An' will be included in whatever letter follows, e.g. ' A Forest of Stars' will be included in F. This list(s) contains the most well-known bands e.g. Opeth, to the most obscure e.g. Vanguard x Mortem.

The list(s) will be updated periodically. If you have trouble locating an album on this list or think I missed a particular album feel free to contact me, and share this list far and wide so that more people can benefit from the incredible array of musical experience metal has to offer.

You can find me on all of these other websites: https://my.bio/friedrich-ux

(Broke 10k songs!, onward to 20k...): https://imgur.com/a/PvgLCy3

1.Labyrinth - Return To Heaven Denied Pt. II

2.Lacrimas Profundere - Memorandum

3.Lacrimosa - Elodia

4.Lacuna Coil - Comalies

5.Lahmia - Resilience

      View entire list ››

Input:
10 years
20 decade lists
749 bands
973 albums

Output:
200 top albums from 2010-2019


FAQ

How are the points calculated?
Simple math.

Ranked top lists:
1st place = 150 pts.
2nd place = 149 pts.
...
100th place = 51 pts.
...
150th place = 1 pt.

Alphabetically sorted lists:
Each place = 100 pts.

Why just a Top 200?
Because 200 list entries are more than enough.

Is it by pure coincidence that the first four positions are occupied by bands with the initial letter "E"?
Yes.

Will your list be updated on a regular basis?
No.

Why is my favorite power metal abum not featured?
I don't know. Let's ask the list owners:

AgentOrange94 - Top 10 Albums Of The 10's
andreosokin - Top 25 Albums Of 2010s
ChapuLviz - Top 100 Grind List (2010-2019)
Chobo_jokeR - JokeR's Top Hunnid From 2010 - 2019
Desha - Me(tal) In The 2010s
Draugen - Top 100 of the 2010s
embracing - My Completely Subjective Top 10 Of The 2010-2019 Decade
Enemy of Reality (RIP) - 100 Album Guide To The Decade 2010-19
FullyOttoMatic - 50 Favorite Metal (And Metal-Adjacent) Albums Of The 2010's
Iron Men - A Decade Of Aggression
Kuroboshi - Top 100 Albums Of 2010-2019
Maco - 2010-2019 Top 100
musclassia - 150 Albums To Become An Adult To: 2010-2019
mz - Best Of 2010-2020 By Mz
Neachy - Neachy's Select: Top 100 Albums Of The 10s
nikarg - Old Nick's Top-101 Of The '10s
nonZero - My Top 50 Albums of the 2010s (deleted)
RaduP - You Know It's Technically 2011-2020, Right?
VIG (RIP) - VIG's Top 100 Of The 2010s
Zap - I Too Listened To Some Metal In The 2010's

1.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

2.Esoteric - Paragon Of Dissonance

3.Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole

4.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

5.Tribulation - The Formulas Of Death

      View entire list ››

I haven't used this website seriously in a long time, but I think it would be fun to catalog my favorite Metal releases from the past decade.

1.Devin Townsend - Empath

2.Darkspace - Dark Space III I

3.Kayo Dot - Hubardo

4.Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

5.Deftones - Koi No Yokan

      View entire list ››

Descriptions will probably be added/edited a few times as I always write this stuff pretty quickly and sometimes can't find the right words to describe somehting so abstract as music. A lot of my taste just boils down to "sounds interesting" or "catchy". So yeah. Most of this will have overlaps with other lists I made because I have very narrow taste.

1.Gnaw Their Tongues - L'Arrivée De La Terne Mort Triomphante

2.

3.Murmuüre - Murmuüre

4.

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

      View entire list ››

To explain the title, there is no year 0, regardless of what Ghost may tell you. Thus, the first decade was years 1-10, instead of 0-9. So then it would be 11-20, and so on. But I know that would imply that Paranoid is a 60s album, which we cannot have.

So now that all the cool kids are doing it, here is my top 100 albums of the "decade", most of it might be a bit too mainsteam, most of it you'll find on others' lists, and so on. Restricted to one album per artist/band (including collabs), ordered alphabetically.

1.Abyssal - Antikatastaseis

2.Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere

3.Akhlys - The Dreaming I

4.Alcest - Écailles De Lune

5.Altar Of Plagues - Teethed Glory & Injury

      View entire list ››

Top 100 albums of 2010-2019

1.40 Watt Sun - Wider Than The Sky

2.Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

3.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

4.Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry

5.Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole

      View entire list ››

Self explanatory. Favorite metal albums from this current decade. It's probably going to be mostly black, doom, and drone related type albums, as that's mostly what I listen to, but not entirely. Full streams provided when available.

Hopefully this'll be something to return to nostalgically when I'm 40 and we can access the Internet neurologically while we sleep.

1.

2.Ihsahn - After

3.The Body - All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood

4.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

5.Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones

      View entire list ››

1.Jinjer - Cloud Factory

2.Sylosis - Dormant Heart

3.Trials - This Ruined World

4.Baroness - Purple

5.Thy Catafalque - Sgùrr

      View entire list ››

In no particular order.

I originally made a top 15 but there is just too much music to do that shit anymore.

1.Tribulation - The Children Of The Night

2.Abigail Williams - The Accuser

3.Prurient - Frozen Niagara Falls

4.Deafheaven - New Bermuda

5.Imperial Triumphant - Abyssal Gods

      View entire list ››

1.Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.

2.Senegal Grindcore Mafia - Hay Daño En Casa

3.Leviathan - Scar Sighted

4.Ahab - The Boats Of The Glen Carrig

5.A Forest Of Stars - Beware The Sword You Cannot See

      View entire list ››

Words are for dummies. So are arbitrary lists. This is the crap I played a lot and liked a lot. My tastes are shit.

1.Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud

2.Nylithia - Hyperthrash

3.Beaten To Death - Unplugged

4.Cain's Offering - Stormcrow

5.Glaciation - Sur Les Falaises De Marbre

      View entire list ››

Honestly if you expect something different in this list from the other 2015 lists,you will be very disappointed... Honestly,the only reason I'm doing this is because I want to keep record of my favorites from this year should this topic ever come up.
Anyway,great year for black metal,not that great for anything that is not black metal

1.Leviathan - Scar Sighted

2.Myrkur - M

3.Lamb Of God - VII: Sturm Und Drang

4.Dekadent - Veritas

5.Ghost Bath - Moonlover

      View entire list ››

"I'll listen to this after I come back home"
I'm so sick of doing this.There are many,many albums that I KNOW will enjoy if I finally make time to listen too. This is more of a personal list,so I can keep track of what I need to hear.

1.Leaves' Eyes - Njord

2.Exodus - Pleasures Of The Flesh

3.Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons

4.Kreator - Coma Of Souls

5.Kreator - Violent Revolution

      View entire list ››

Every album to catch my ear during 2015, rated, with plenty of non-metal for those of you who like to branch out and see what the whole world of music has to offer. Variety'll always be a virtue.

Numerous focused listens needed before rating.
Updates will (hopefully) be constant.

New Update: In order to promote exploration into albums you may not know, I've decided to include "Standout Track" segments for any album which has a track I feel you all MUST listen to. Hopefully these can help hook people with albums they're not familiar with, because chances are they instantaneously hooked me.

1.Death Grips - The Powers That B

2.Leprous - The Congregation

3.Clarence Clarity - No Now

4.Björk - Vulnicura

5.Envy - Atheist's Cornea

      View entire list ››