1.Obituary - Slowly We Rot

2.Entombed - Left Hand Path

3.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

4.Asphyx - The Rack

5.Cannibal Corpse - Eaten Back To Life

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Updated 11/14/18

1.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

2.Morbid Saint - Spectrum Of Death

3.Obituary - Cause Of Death

4.Nocturnus AD - The Key

5.Atheist - Piece Of Time

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1.Cannibal Corpse - Torture

2.Cannibal Corpse - The Wretched Spawn

3.Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated

4.Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst

5.Cannibal Corpse - Butchered At Birth

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3 caveats
1. Death metal album (not just debut from band that became death metal, like Carcass)
2. Released calendar year 1999 or earlier
3. By a band with more than 1 album (1-album wonder list is elsewhere)

Yes, there are a few bands conspicuous in their absence. For whatever reason, I just never really got into them.
I don't dislike them, but I don't regard them as highly as most folks do

EDIT - I stayed away from death/thrash combo albums, more for convenience's sake. So Malleus Maleficarum, Illusions, Seven Churches, Serpent Temptation, etc are not on this list, but they'll be on the next list I make (top 25 Brutal thrash/death-thrash albums)

1.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

2.Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence

3.Nocturnus - The Key

4.Sinister - Cross The Styx

5.Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes

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This is a list of all the death metal albums I have listened to that I thought were at all worth remembering. Like my other genre lists, this is just a record of my own listening experience that I use for personal organization, not a definitive account of the best or all of the death metal out there; there will probably be albums or bands that are not death metal in the strictest sense. You'll find some OSDM, melodeath, tech death, death-doom, maybe a bit of deathcore, I don't know. Maybe some non-death metal albums by death metal bands that I put in here just because.

1.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

2.Death - Symbolic

3.At The Gates - With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness

4.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

5.Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side

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

2.Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick

3.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

4.Metallica - Kill 'Em All

5.Slayer - Show No Mercy

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Plus my top three favourite tracks from each release. \m/

Honourable mentions:
Sacred Reich - The American Way (Thrash)
Artillery - By Inheritance (Thrash)
Death - Spiritual Healing (Death)
Kreator - Coma Of Souls (Thrash)
Death Angel - Act III (Thrash)

Non-Metal mentions:
Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park (Industrial)

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

3.Obituary - Cause Of Death

4.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

5.Forbidden - Twisted Into Form

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It is very hard to understate how much Scott Burns' talents have given to the world of metal music. He might disagree about the following statements, but his work defined one of the most admired and revered eras of death and thrash metal, vastly influencing the sonic imprint that was to be copied for generations to come, and his skills were far and beyond just the engineering.

1.Agent Steel - Unstoppable Force

2.Whiplash - Ticket To Mayhem

3.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

4.Death - Leprosy

5.Terrorizer - World Downfall

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1.Nile - Annihilation Of The Wicked

2.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

3.Behemoth - The Satanist

4.Obituary - Cause Of Death

5.Death - Leprosy

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The best death metal albums pre 2000, in alphabetical order.
Work in progress.

1.Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus

2.Amorphis - Privilege Of Evil

3.Asphyx - The Rack

4.Asphyx - Last One On Earth

5.Asphyx - Embrace The Death

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1.Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated

2.Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst

3.Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding

4.Cannibal Corpse - Eaten Back To Life

5.Cannibal Corpse - Kill

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SPOILER ALERT!!!

Tomb Of The Mutilated is not number 1!!! Haha it's just my favourite album art.

I think my most controversial rankings on this thing will probably be TOTM and BAB. Sorry but the Barnes era is super overrated. Specifically Butchered At Birth. The production on that thing isn't good and it just isn't the classic album people claim it to be. I still enjoy every Cannibal Corpse album and have no album rated below a 7. Easily one of the most consistent metal bands in general.

1.Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding

2.Cannibal Corpse - Kill

3.Cannibal Corpse - Torture

4.Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated

5.Cannibal Corpse - Violence Unimagined

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1.Ossian - A Rock Katonái

2.Pokolgép - Koncertlemez

3.Sanctuary - Into The Mirror Black

4.Iron Maiden - No Prayer For The Dying

5.Judas Priest - Painkiller

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1.Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated

2.Death - Leprosy

3.Nile - Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka

4.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

5.Decapitated - Winds Of Creation

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i like it

1.Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade

2.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

3.Bolt Thrower - Warmaster

4.Bolt Thrower - Realm Of Chaos

5.Bolt Thrower - Mercenary

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