1. Paradise Lost - Gothic

2. Paradise Lost - Icon

3. Paradise Lost - Draconian Times

4. Paradise Lost - Shades Of God

5. Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol

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1. Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement

2. Pain of Salvation - Scarsick

3. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet

4. Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom

5. Sieges Even - Paramount

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From last.fm (27.07.12)

1. Dream Theater - Train Of Thought

2. Machine Head - Unto The Locust

3. Machine Head - The Blackening

4. Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

5. Machine Head - Through The Ashes Of Empires

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Now that was an excellent year, gems dropping from all corners, and I'm certain I still have a lot to discover! The amount of great stuff was indeed staggering.

Off with the ramblings, on with the albums:
- the first 7 albums are those I consider to be this year's ultimate best, but they're in alpha order as I couldn't make a preference order out of them

1. Alchemist - Tripsis

2. Dødheimsgard - Supervillain Outcast

3. Machine Head - The Blackening

4. Mekong Delta - Lurking Fear

5. Neurosis - Given To The Rising

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1. Therion - Gothic Kabbalah

2. Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

3. Nocturnal Rites - The 8th Sin

4. Paradise Lost - In Requiem

5. Mors Principium Est - Liberation = Termination

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My personal top 50 list.
(In no particular order)

1. Decrepit Birth - Polarity

2. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse

3. Blue Öyster Cult - Blue Öyster Cult

4. Joe Satriani - Time Machine

5. Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull

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1. Therion - Gothic Kabbalah

2. Shining - V - Halmstad

3. Dawn Of Tears - Descent

4. Hanging Garden - Inherit The Eden

5. Ghost Brigade - Guided By Fire

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Slow/Post/Depress/Funeral/Love/Gloom/Beauty/Sorrow/Obscure/Cold/Avantgarde/Atmospheric/Diferente...

1. A Forest Of Stars - Opportunistic Thieves Of Spring

2. Ablaze In Hatred - Deceptive Awareness

3. Agalloch - Pale Folklore

4. Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

5. Ahab - The Divinity Of Oceans

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This is a list in which I have included the top 30 albums of the decade that has just passed. Of course it's gonna change because I'm sure there is a lot I haven't listened to yet...

1. In Flames - Clayman

2. Moonspell - The Antidote

3. HIM - Love Metal

4. Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire And Demise

5. Nightwish - Once

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This is not a typical "Best of the decade" list. To be more precise, it's a list about the top 20 albums of each year of the last decade, in my perspective of course. In this way, a lot of good albeit overlooked albums can get some exposure, in addition to covering more ground at the same time.

1. 2009

2. Sybreed - The Pulse Of Awakening

3. Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

4. Porcupine Tree - The Incident

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1. Epica - The Divine Conspiracy

2. Moonspell - Under Satanæ

3. Therion - Gothic Kabbalah

4. Samael - Solar Soul

5. Amorphis - Silent Waters

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1. Rage - XIII

2. Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God

3. Disbelief - Navigator

4. Fields Of The Nephilim - Mourning Sun

5. Kalmah - The Black Waltz

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