1.Thy Catafalque - Rengeteg

2.Leprous - Bilateral

3.Pain Of Salvation - Road Salt Two

4.Aquilus - Griseus

5.Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

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1.AC/DC - Back In Black

2.AC/DC - High Voltage

3.AC/DC - Highway To Hell

4.Accept - Blood Of The Nations

5.Allen/Lande - The Showdown

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2008 might've been my first proper taste of metal, with the acquisition of albums from the likes of Metallica, Megadeth, Black Sabbath and that most grandiose of gateway bands, DragonForce. 2009 might've seen me expanding my palette, with Iron Maiden, Alice In Chains, Avenged Sevenfold, and more entering my world, and Guns N' Roses triumphantly re-entering it. But 2010 was when I delved into more 'intense' stuff with Machine Head, In Flames, and most notably of all, Sylosis, and saw my relationship with metal shift from ever-increasing interest into full-blown love affair. To commemorate this 5-year anniversary, and because I love making lists, I decided to do a retrospective of the best albums and songs that have been released during this time period, and give brief tributes to them. Yay music!

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Sylosis - Monolith

3.Protest The Hero - Volition

4.Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR

5.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

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This is a list of my favourite debut albums.
I'm sure there are some years that will have multiple great debut albums but I'm limiting to only putting one band per year.
The ones that I put in the list is (in my opinion) the best debut album of that year, while the rest are put in honourable mentions.

1.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

2.AC/DC - T.N.T.

3.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

4.Venom - Welcome To Hell

5.Witchfinder General - Death Penalty

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1.Kobra And The Lotus - Kobra And The Lotus

2.Sinner - Danger Zone

3.Danzig - Danzig

4.Iced Earth - Dystopia

5.Pretty Maids - Pandemonium

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1.Insomnium - One For Sorrow

2.Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

3.Symphony X - Iconoclast

4.Concerto Moon - Savior Never Cry

5.Brymir - Breathe Fire To The Sun

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I have listened like 70-80 metal albums released in 2011 until 20 August 2012 and this is my top list of them. Couple of other quite good albums simply didn't make it into selection of 20, it was a bit challenging to select only 20 pieces. But would be pointless to list nearly all or all of them on the other hand...

1.Nightwish - Imaginaerum

2.Moonsorrow - Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa

3.Alestorm - Back Through Time

4.Peste Noire - L'Ordure A L'etat Pur

5.Darkal - Here Comes The Darkness

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Looking at this list I realise that 2011 was a better metal year than I remembered it to be. Interesting year with a lot of surprises. The Shining album is in my opinion awesome, one of their best. Power Quest released their best album since "Wings of Forever". Amon Amarth keep on surprising me with solid releases (and I thought I was over them years ago). Opeth's "Heritage" was way better than my expectations. Amebix gave me some of the best tracks of '11. Overall, a really good year.

1.Shining - VII - Född Förlorare

2.Lifelover - Sjukdom

3.Aquilus - Griseus

4.An Autumn For Crippled Children - Everything

5.Öxxö Xööx - Rëvëürt

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Here it is! Yet another unimaginative list of albums released in 2011!

1.MurkRat - Drudging The Mire

2.Woods Of Desolation - Torn Beyond Reason

3.Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage

4.Esoteric - Paragon Of Dissonance

5.SubRosa - No Help For The Mighty Ones

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If you're like me and can't sit still with just one or two genres, perhaps you'll find some ideas in this list. I kept the variety with genres, but also by including all worthy bands from unknown newcomers all the way up to big names. Basically, everything I liked this year.

Since there are so many genres here, don't get too worked up about specific rating and placement. They're generally in order, but more importantly they're all amazing.

1.Silent Stream Of Godless Elegy - Návaz

2.Fair To Midland - Arrows & Anchors

3.Autumn - Cold Comfort

4.Shadowside - Inner Monster Out

5.40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room

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I usually do not like this kind of list because everybody has different tastes and nobody can match completely the taste of somebody else.
Anyway here comes my Top 21 Metal Albums of 2011. Why 21? because it sounds better for 2011...
I did not listen to everything in 2011, I will certainly discover some new good albums of 2011 in the next few months of 2012. But as I have started now, let s go for this Top 21 Metal Albums of 2011!

1.Septicflesh - The Great Mass

2.Visions Of Atlantis - Delta

3.Belphegor - Blood Magick Necromance

4.Peste Noire - L'Ordure à L'état Pur

5.Red Descending - Kingdoms

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My top 10 albums of the year 2011.

1.Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

2.Dreamshade - What Silence Hides

3.Brymir - Breathe Fire To The Sun

4.Týr - The Lay Of Thrym

5.Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising

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Well it seems to be the popular thing to do (creating a 2011 faves list) so why shouldn't I jump on the bandwagon too...

Alphabetically of course...although if I was going to put one at the top it would be Archspire (it's unfortunate I haven't seen it on many lists)...

1.Abysmal Dawn - Leveling The Plane Of Existence

2.After Oblivion - Vultures

3.Archspire - All Shall Align

4.Before The Dawn - Deathstar Rising

5.Beyond Creation - The Aura

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Purely subjective list based on personal preferences for the year, unrelated to mass opinion of an album or a band's abilities (e.g. Trivium, Oranssi Pazuzu) - many albums lined up to listen to so will increase in size. Also, not entirely in order, middle order mainly just an approximation.

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Protest The Hero - Scurrilous

3.Infestus - E x I s t

4.Amorphis - The Beginning Of Times

5.Ouroboros - Glorification Of A Myth

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These are the bands that have spent the most time coming through my speakers (or will have by the end of the year). In other words: TOP PICKS for 2011, listed in no particular order and updated but not finished...

1.Scar Symmetry - The Unseen Empire

2.Pagan's Mind - Heavenly Ecstasy

3.Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

4.Heavenwood - Abyss Masterpiece

5.Havok - Time Is Up

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