"Very good" or above. The top 20 are the best of the year. Everything else ranges from 8 to 9.5 on a "10" scale.

1.Afterbirth - In But Not Of

2.Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite

3.Godthrymm - Distortions

4.Fvnerals - Let The Earth Be Silent

5.Notturno - Inside

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Hey Folks! It’s me… Again!

I’m coming back once more to explore the depths of a genre that arguably did not begin where you all thought it did! Yeah yeah… Alright, maybe Left Hand Path, Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious, Like An Ever Flowing Stream & The Red In The Sky Is Ours aren’t exactly the sound you would expect, but they were certainly a sign of something incredible that was about to happen. The birth of Melodic Death Metal!

Most of you, them, us… Would agree that Melodic Death metal really appeared in the form of Carcass’s 1993 album Heartwork. Even though some shades of what would become staples of the genre were heard before, this one would truly be the first album to be called as such. Mixing OSDM with more classic heavy metal styled riffs & melodies, our beloved genre (along with Thrash) would become for a lot of our teenage selves, a gateway into the more extreme bowels of metal’s subgenres. I would argue that it’s an almost obligatory step in the grand metalhead’s journey. Ah, how amazing it was to first taste the somewhat delicate sound of melodeath before rattling our ears with the obscenities & nonsensical wankery of grindcore, brutal tech-death, dissonant death and post metal… Rrrrright.

As you have become accustomed to by now, I will attempt to honour the genre by listing the absolute best Melodic Death metal albums to be ever released throughout the years. And I will do so starting with a few albums that are arguably not Melodic Death metal… Because I can and I did, hah! F*ck you! Along the way, you might stumble upon some strange & unorthodox choices mixing a plethora of other genres as well and that’s ok. Truly. Take it easy, don’t hyperventilate over it and just go with the flow. The main goal here is to help people who don’t know much about melodeath discover it and where it came from. I also want to push forward some less known jewels amongst highly praised landmarks of the style and sprinkle a bit of my personality along the way because that’s always fun. The albums will be ordered in years of release and there will be no other restriction or specific rules.

I hope you have a blast going through my list and that it brings you joy and a slight tingle on your nostalgia strings. Though, if it pisses you off, if I forgot your absolute favourite album of all goddamn time or if you think I’m an idiot, well… Just remember that I’m right, always and forever, thank you. Regardless It will be a pleasure for me to hear your recommendations or discuss anything related to melodeath below. Cheers & have fun!

-Guib-

Note: Albums with a 🇨🇦 are from my country (Canada) and albums with a ★ are my personal favourites.

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Last Updated: April 27th, 2024

1.Entombed - Left Hand Path

2.Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious

3.Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream

4.At The Gates - The Red In The Sky Is Ours

5.Carcass - Heartwork

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Not totally clean, and I had to cut some categories to stay in the 1000 lines limit.

1.

2.Avatar - Dance Devil Dance

3.Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream...

4.Code Orange - The Above

5.Death Dealer Union - Initiation

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1.Fires In The Distance - Air Not Meant For Us

2.Insomnium - Anno 1696

3.Fen - Monuments To Absence

4.Godflesh - Purge

5.Incantation - Unholy Deification

      View entire list ››

I do like last year, from my each monthly lists I rank last 5 albums here from best to worst.

1.Chris Boltendahl's Steelhammer - Reborn In Flames

2.Spirit Adrift - Ghost At The Gallows

3.Ironsword - Underground

4.Velvet Viper - Nothing Compares To Metal

5.Vandenberg - Sin

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Here it goes, one month left to end of the year

1.From North - Raven Banner

2.Stormlord - The EPic Of War

3.Shylmagoghnar - Convergence

4.Night Crowned - Tales

5.Temple Balls - Avalanche

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1.Panopticon - The Rime Of Memory

2.Dream Unending - Starpath

3.Night Crowned - Tales

4.Cruciamentum - Obsidian Refractions

5.Suffocation - Hymns From The Apocrypha

      View entire list ››

I reckon 735 albums in the first 6 months of this year is a 6-month record I will never match, but let's see how many I get through in Q3 and Q4

1.Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree - Aion

2.Meridian Sun - The Curse

3.The Gorge - Mechanical Fiction

4.Earthside - Let The Truth Speak

5.Wayfarer - American Gothic

      View entire list ››

Here is my top 50 for 2023! Only LPs, no re-recording (looking at you brilliant Paradise Lost, Kauan and Cavalera), that I rated 8 and above.

My biggest year yet in number of album I've given an ear to. Strangely, a tough one for the top 10. A lot a great records. I could have easily add 20 more, but first year I can't really see clear winners (imo of course). So I've mostly gone for comfort with Saturnus, Panopticon and Enslaved, knowing full well I've heard better from them in the past. Still, they genuinely caught my preference. The top spot goes to the biggest "surprise" for me, more than anything else. I did not expect to be that taken by the eerie and glacial atmosphere of Wolvennest DPTL, but I could not stop going back to it again and again.

Album count: 987 (!)
Average rating: 6.37

1.Wolvennest - The Dark Path To The Light

2.Saturnus - The Storm Within

3.Panopticon - The Rime Of Memory

4.Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite

5.Enslaved - Heimdal

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1.Amorphis - Queen Of Time - Live At Tavastia 2021

2.Riverside - ID.Entity

3.Ne Obliviscaris - Exul

4.Finsterforst - Jenseits

5.Paradise Lost - Icon 30

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The list has gone back to it's original format: my favorites of the year regrouped and ordered by release date (now earliest at the top). The ranked list thing didn't work out for me in the end.

1.Ahab - The Coral Tombs

2.Beyond The Black - Beyond The Black

3.Crom - The Era Of Darkness

4.Haxprocess - The Caverns Of Duat

5.Obituary - Dying Of Everything

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1.Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite

2.Thy Art Is Murder - Godlike

3.Humanity's Last Breath - Ashen

4.Structural - Decrowned

5.Insomnium - Anno 1696

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2023 here we go. My target for the year is 100+ albums, at a rule of 2 albums a week minimum.

1.Nospūn - Opus

2.Periphery - Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre

3.Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden

4.Crow Black Sky - Sidereal Light: Volume Two

5.Against Myself - Tides Of Insanity

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1.Wayfarer - American Gothic

2.Blackbraid - Blackbraid II

3.Labyrinthus Stellarum - Tales Of The Void

4.Moonlight Sorcery - Horned Lord Of The Thorned Castle

5.Shylmagoghnar - Convergence

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