*** READ ME *** This list is about the greatest metal albums of all-time, from all sub-genres and all countries. You won't see bands like Deep Purple, Rush, BOC, Zeppelin, etc., nor will you see bands like Tool, Rage ATM, Melvins and Soundgarden. While I love many of those bands, my definition of metal does not include them.

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

4.Death - Symbolic

5.Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath

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I havnt been into metal all that long...so this is a good chuck of the metal albums i own...though ive heard many, many more....these are all albums ive spent a lot of time with (or soon will). I tried to stay away from multiple albums by an artist, but a few exceptions were made hehe.

1.!T.O.O.H.! - Order And Punishment (Řád A Trest)

2.3 Inches Of Blood - Here Waits Thy Doom

3.Absu - Tara

4.ADX - Division Blindée

5.Agalloch - The Mantle

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1.Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

2.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

3.Doom:VS - Dead Words Speak

4.Empyrium - Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields

5.Agalloch - The Mantle

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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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1.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Katatonia - Discouraged Ones

4.My Dying Bride - The Angel And The Dark River

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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Updating this as of 20th Nov 2012

1.Madder Mortem - All Flesh Is Grass

2.Paradise Lost - Icon

3.The Gathering - Mandylion

4.Tiamat - Wildhoney

5.Throes Of Dawn - Quicksilver Clouds

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An entirely subjective list of my all-time favourite metal albums, well lets better say albums/genres featured on MS, since not all here is precisely metal.
Objective quality is not a criteria here, just how much I like the album. Ordered by preference, top down.

1.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

2.Opeth - Morningrise

3.Estatic Fear - Somnium Obmutum

4.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

5.Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

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This list includes many records from many doom sub genres, some of these albums could fall under black or death metal, but the complete emotion expressed within these records, in my opinion, place them within the doom genre.

1.Evoken - Antithesis Of Light

2.The Ruins Of Beverast - Blood Vaults (The Blazing Gospel Of Heinrich Kramer)

3.Ataraxie - L'Être Et La Nausée

4.Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale

5.Urna - Sepulcrum

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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

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All my favourite songs ranked in order best down.

1.Rush - 2112

2.Deep Purple - In Rock

3.Jethro Tull - Aqualung

4.Rainbow - Rising

5.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

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This is a list of the doom albums I have listened to.

The list starts with a handful of what I'd call my favorite doom albums. The first few of those count among my favorite of all time, with Paranoid, Watching From A Distance, and Черно at present holding a perfect 10. This list does have a cutoff point, stretching from those 10s through some high 9s and all the way down to middling 6s. If I rated it below a 6, it does not appear on this list, and that's because I disliked the album.

Given how much music I listen to and how many lists I have going concurrently, I don't update this as I go; I let albums accumulate for a while and then do periodic overhauls, so the list won't change for months at a time.

Last updated October 17, 2021.

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Warning - Watching From A Distance

3.Kypck - Черно

4.Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

5.Heaven And Hell - The Devil You Know

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1.Saturnus - Paradise Belongs To You

2.Katatonia - Dance Of December Souls

3.Virgin Black - Elegant...And Dying

4.My Dying Bride - The Angel And The Dark River

5.Empyrium - A Wintersunset...

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1.Estatic Fear - Somnium Obmutum

2.Theatre Of Tragedy - Theatre Of Tragedy

3.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

4.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

5.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

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My ranking of all My Dying Bride's studio albums. Turn Loose The Swans and Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light are the two best albums for me. I basically like every album a lot, except for For Lies I Sire. It's not bad obviously, but it was a disappointment for me, hence why it's below 34.788%... Complete. The last album being a very experimental/strange album, but it still contains a few great songs. I included ratings as well as the best (in my opinion of course) songs of each album.

1.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

2.My Dying Bride - Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light

3.My Dying Bride - The Angel And The Dark River

4.My Dying Bride - The Dreadful Hours

5.My Dying Bride - The Light At The End Of The World

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1.All time & genre (including Non-Metal on MS)
2.Only studio albums & EPs
3.I DON'T modify this list. So, this list is THE FINAL edition and based on my selection on 1 April 2017. (Modified on 12 February 2022)
4.The genre is primary one.
Last modified on 1 April 2017

...NOTICE: I'm reselecting albums & EPs for "The Timeless Ver2". This will be a bit more stringently selected than "ver1".

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

3.Krallice - Diotima

4.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

5.Deathspell Omega - Kénôse

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