I have finally caved in and made a top 200 list. The main focus here is metal, so no Rush, no King Crimson, Deep Purple, or GY!BE are in the list, but I do still love those bands and others that could have qualified.
The list mostly contains albums, but some EPs, demos, splits, and compilations are also featured every now and then. I also tried to avoid including demos or EPs that were too short but there’s still a few of them.
Enjoy!

1.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

2.Windir - Arntor

3.Vektor - Terminal Redux

4.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

5.Sigh - Hangman's Hymn: Musikalische Exequien

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1.Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

2.Rammstein - Mutter

3.Godflesh - Streetcleaner

4.Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park

5.Ministry - ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ

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To me, an EP is a release of original music under 30m in length.

Score is an average of each EP's song ratings, full list located here (only new original songs included).

If you discovered any new EPs 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 500 Albums (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)

1.Nine Inch Nails - Broken

2.Galneryus - 絆

3.Insomnium - Songs Of The Dusk

4.As I Lay Dying - Decas

5.Necromantia - Ancient Pride

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1.Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

2.Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction

3.Running Wild - Pile Of Skulls

4.Alice In Chains - Dirt

5.Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

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While the order in each decade is purely personal preference, there are several rules for a song qualifying for the list. First off, the band has to be notable. I'm not going to define what that means, but I'm sure you'd agree all the bands in the list are notable. There are plenty of riffs from obscure bands I'd rather put, but I know my love for Tarby doesn't make him the greatest riff maker of the 21st century. Second, each artist can only appear once in a decade, this is to prevent the best riff makers from hogging the list and adding some variety, showing how metal has changed over time. Decades are measured by when the song was recorded, not released, and when it's unclear the beginning of recording is used. This is mainly because a lot of definitive early metal songs were released in 1970, but recorded in 1969. Third, the song itself has to be notable. Here are things that can qualify as being notable: the song was release as a single, has music video made for it, was released as a single, was the title track for an album (note that Crawl through Knives meets this criteria because it was the original title for Come Clarity, and there is no way in hell Come Clarity is getting best riff of the decade ), is included on a greatest hits compilation album, was nominated for a Grammy or musical award of similar caliber, was included as a track in a notable film or video game, was covered by a notable band, or has a Wikipedia page for some miscellaneous reason. Finally, the song needs to be metal. Misirlou gets the pass despite predating metal as it was probably the single most influential song on the development of metal, and while many of the other songs in the other songs are better classified as hard rock, I can find a source listing them as heavy metal.

1.

2.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

3.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

4.Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

5.Deep Purple - In Rock

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1.Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

2.The Gathering - Always...

3.Paradise Lost - Shades Of God

4.Alice In Chains - Dirt

5.Faith No More - Angel Dust

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IN NO ORDER

1.Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle

2.Nine Inch Nails - Broken

3.Kittie - Until The End

4.Primus - They Can't All Be Zingers

5.Slipknot - Slipknot

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Pure awesomeness! 1 album from each of my favorite metal/rock bands.

1.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

2.Danzig - Danzig 4

3.Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity

4.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

5.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

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Favorite releases from 1992

1.Demolition Hammer - Epidemic Of Violence

2.Kyuss - Blues For The Red Sun

3.Deicide - Legion

4.Obituary - The End Complete

5.Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade

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