In alphabetical order.

1.

2.Afterbirth - Four Dimensional Flesh

3.Behold The Arctopus - Hapeleptic Overtrove

4.Boris - 2R0I2P0 [Collaboration]

5.Creature (FRA) - Ex Cathedra

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1.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

2.The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic

3.Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi

4.Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment

5.Lunatic Soul - Through Shaded Woods

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All write-in votes from Metal Storm Awards 2020

1.

2.

3.Amaranthe - Manifest

4.Avatar - Hunter Gatherer

5.El Lobo En Tu Puerta - Santana Bendita

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It is interesting to see how the passing of time affects taste, preferences, and lists of this type. I'm writing these lists as a means to share the music I like, and by now it has become a tradition, albeit one which very few people read on a regular basis, if at all, but one which I have no intention of giving up. I published my first yearly list back in 2007. At first, I would publish them on last.FM and myspace (yes, I am that old), then I moved to Facebook, migrated to Tumblr, think I even tried Instagram, but I was never satisfied with any of those as a platform to share my annual and other lists and scribblings with others. Some years ago I started sharing my lists on the metal storm, thanks to their quite useful tool called lists, which is made for exactly that reason. When I added my lists to the metal storm, I reworked them and expanded a bit, adding some sort of a template, from my old lists that I still had saved up at various places. Besides a top ten and honorable mentions, there are few other sub-categories, which are basically just my way of telling people that I really loved that album, and that they should really fuckin'listen to it. The fact that I think that anyone besides myself is actually that much interested in my annual top lists or best (mostly) metal albums speaks more about me, I guess.

1.Havukruunu - Uinuos Syömein Sota

2.Myrkur - Folkesange

3.Ensiferum - Thalassic

4.Thy Catafalque - Naiv

5.Sojourner - Premonitions

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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

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I don't think these are necessarily the best 30 albums of this year, but they're the ones that have I guess endured in my psyche and inspiried revisits more than most others. I was tempted to do a top 50, but after around #26 or so, I found myself confronted with about 50 albums that could've conceivably made it in, most of which I hadn't relistened to enough to rank above the others with confidence.

1.Psychonaut - Unfold The God Man

2.Elder - Omens

3.Enslaved - Utgard

4.Regarde Les Hommes Tomber - Ascension

5.Pure Reason Revolution - Eupnea

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1.Inquisition - Black Mass For A Mass Grave

2.The Ruins of Beverast / Almyrkvi - Split

3.Katla. - Allt Þetta Helvítis Myrkur

4.Sodom - Genesis XIX

5.Lunatic Soul - Through Shaded Woods

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updated, but still more bands to consider

1.Spectral Lore - Wanderers: Astrology Of The Nine [Collaboration]

2.Lunatic Soul - Through Shaded Woods

3.Abigor - Totschläger (A Saintslayer's Songbook)

4.Enslaved - Utgard

5.Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo

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1.Haken - Virus

2.Caligula's Horse - Rise Radiant

3.The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic

4.Dark Tranquillity - Moment

5.Lunatic Soul - Through Shaded Woods

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1.Abysmal Dawn - Phylogenesis

2.AC/DC - Power Up

3.August Burns Red - Guardians

4.Ayreon - Transitus

5.Beneath The Massacre - Fearmonger

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Just about finished the first half of the year without losing too much to the character limit; I have learnt to make these list descriptions increasingly pithy

1.Enslaved - Utgard

2.Wills Dissolve - Echoes

3.Wayfarer - A Romance With Violence

4.Aversio Humanitatis - Behold The Silent Dwellers

5.Lucid Planet - Lucid Planet II

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1.Psychonaut - Unfold The God Man

2.Orbit Culture - Nija

3.Havukruunu - Uinuos Syömein Sota

4.Bring Me The Horizon - Post Human: Survival Horror

5.Paradise Lost - Obsidian

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Seems like there's a limit on how many albums this site accepts on one list. Gonna have to cut out the last ones while adding new albums for the rest of the year.

1.Havukruunu - Uinuos Syömein Sota

2.Orbit Culture - Nija

3.Wolfheart - Wolves Of Karelia

4.Stormruler - Under The Burning Eclipse

5.Frozen Dreams - The Eclipse Of Eternity

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Good sh!t. Or not so good.

1.Lotus Thief - Oresteia

2.Sons Of Apollo - MMXX

3.Serious Black - Suite 226

4.Sylosis - Cycle Of Suffering

5.Archon Angel - Fallen

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