1.Empyrium - Songs Of Moors And Misty Fields

2.Saturnus - Paradise Belongs To You

3.Radiohead - OK Computer

4.Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

5.Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernale

      View entire list ››

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 19th, 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

      View entire list ››

I've always been a fan of melodic death metal, having listened to bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates in my first few years of getting into metal around 2005-2008. Now, thanks to MS, I've gotten into many more amazing bands such as Wintersun, Insomnium and Scar Symmetry and it has become one of my favourite sub-genres.

So here are my favourites of the genre with my rating, its sub-genre and release year:

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of melodic death 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 25 EPs (also 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.Wintersun - Time I

2.Wintersun - Wintersun

3.Insomnium - Winter's Gate

4.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

5.The Haunted - The Haunted Made Me Do It

      View entire list ››

Instrumental tracks on albums of vocal groups are often seen as filler material or as a possibility to show musical skills.
In contrast, the title track is often considered to be the central and defining part of an album, suggesting that the corresponding lyrics may contain important key information to the understanding of the album. Therefore, it may seem surprising that several albums of vocal groups exhibit an instrumental as title track.

This alphabetical list presents albums by vocal groups where the title track is an instrumental. This concerns purely instrumental songs but may also include songs where melody lines without lyrics are vocalised.

Please feel free to suggest more examples of unusual title tracks by regular vocal groups that are purely instrumental or where the lead singer does not sing lyrics.

1.Absu - Tara

2.Afflicted - Prodigal Sun

3.Afterbirth - Four Dimensional Flesh

4.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

5.Angel Dust - Into The Dark Past

      View entire list ››

My favorite metal albums sorted alphabetically by band name and chronological by release date.

1.Æther Realm - Tarot

2.Acid Witch - Witchtanic Hellucinations

3.Allegaeon - Proponent For Sentience

4.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

5.Amorphis - Silent Waters

      View entire list ››

The most difficult way to create the title for an album may be to try something that is clever and/or funny.

Likewise, making a list of these titles is also not easy as it would be a very subjective task. In order to apply at least some objective criteria, the resulting (alphabetical) list consists of album titles that contain a pun or pun-related word play ( - possibly even independent of how well these titles worked).

Puns (or pun-related word play examples) rely on (1) the different possible meanings of a word or (2) the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.
In addition, this list contains numbers in titles that (3) contribute to the sound of the corresponding word or (4) that fit optically to the written word.

Please feel free to suggest more examples of such album titles for this list, if they fit to one of the criteria 1 – 4 (in order to keep the list in shape).
Still, it would also be interesting, if you could share other clever and/or funny album or song titles in the comments.

1.Acid Witch - Witchtanic Hellucinations

2.Afflicted - Prodigal Sun

3.Alestorm - Seventh Rum Of A Seventh Rum

4.Anthrax - Attack Of The Killer B's

5.Alice Cooper - The Beast Of Alice Cooper

      View entire list ››

This is an alphabetical list dedicated for the celebration of great instrumental songs that have been included by vocal groups as original contribution to an album. Therefore, this list does not include instrumental-based groups like Apocalyptica, songs that have a significant part with spoken words / human voices or instrumental versions of vocal songs or other bonus material.

Please feel free to suggest more of your favorite songs for this list !

1.Accept - Objection Overruled

2.Anathema - Judgement

3.Arch Enemy - War Eternal

4.Arch Enemy - Will To Power

5.As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us

      View entire list ››

I feel like my overall favorites list is getting too long. I'm splitting it up by rating.

1.Thy Catafalque - Meta

2.Sepulcros - Vazio

3.Kassad - Faces Turn Away

4.Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings

5.Xanthochroid - Of Erthe And Axen: Act I

      View entire list ››

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

2.Sentenced - Amok

3.Paradise Lost - Draconian Times

4.Anathema - Alternative 4

5.Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding

      View entire list ››

Welcome to what I consider the "1001 Metal Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" or in other words, a list of records of various genres in the arrays of Metal and Hard Rock that I deem essential or at least very recommended to listeners of hard and heavy music. This may be a very overwhelming list but I essentially try to collect all albums in the History of Metal that strike me as worthwhile. May this be a guideline for people that seek for an entrance to a particular genre or certain bands. In no means I am saying, that this list is indisputable by any means. I consider these my personal picks for albums that should be listened to by die-hard metal fans at least once. Hopefully you can discover some new music or relate with my picks. If I missed something that you would include in such a list, please tell me in the form of a comment. Enjoy! \,,/

1.High Tide - Sea Shanties

2.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

4.Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come

5.Josefus - Dead Man

      View entire list ››

1.Nokturnal Mortum - Goat Horns

2.Summoning - Dol Guldur

3.Bruce Dickinson - Accident Of Birth

4.Metallica - Re-Load

5.In Flames - Whoracle

      View entire list ››

(This list is a work in progress)

In this list I intend to compile all of my favorite interludes, intros, outros, short acoustic tracks, instrumentals, non-metal or otherwise atypical songs from the metal multiverse. Of course the definitions for each of the above are quite fluid, so you may personally disagree with my decision to consider one of these tracks as such.

Last updated on 23 June 2023.

1.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

2.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

3.Melechesh - Emissaries

4.Agalloch - The Mantle

5.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

      View entire list ››

Ratings go from:

WORSHIP ❤️❤️❤️: Absolute greatness, a mindblowing album.
LOVE ❤️❤️🖤: Amazing release with very few flaws.
LIKE ❤️🖤🖤: Enjoyable but far from perfect.
DISLIKE 💔: Not very good or maybe not fitting my tastes.

I've decided to stop rating albums with a numerical value as I tend to feel uncomfortable with that. This list has a minimalistic, subjective and visceral approach, based purely on sensations and personal tastes. Mainly for personal use and doesn't pretend to be a serious ranking, but emerges from the need to remember which bands and albums I enjoyed and the ones I disliked. I constantly revisit new releases so first impressions may change over time. It usually takes 8-10 spins for me to get completely sure of a rating.

1.Æther Realm - Tarot

2.Abhoria - Abhoria

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agrypnie - Metamorphosis

5.Allegaeon - Fragments Of Form And Function

      View entire list ››

1.In Flames - Clayman

2.In Flames - Soundtrack To Your Escape

3.In Flames - Reroute To Remain

4.In Flames - Colony

5.In Flames - Whoracle

      View entire list ››

Must Have: The First 12

1.Bruce Dickinson - Accident Of Birth

2.Conception - Flow

3.Symphony X - The Divine Wings Of Tragedy

4.Megadeth - Cryptic Writings

5.Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade Of Gray

      View entire list ››