1.Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

2.Antimatter - Fear Of A Unique Identity

3.Sigh - In Somniphobia

4.Enslaved - RIITIIR

5.Katatonia - Dead End Kings

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This list is meant to be an extensive, but by no means exhaustive, collection of the greatest (modern) metal albums and eps. Running the gamut from avant-garde to trve norweigan black metal. *As someone who is young in age, my tastes tend to revolve around the period of the 80s to the present.* Although certain metal albums from before will certainly be featured, the period of the 60s-70s will be under-represented. I refer you to this excellent list to gain a better appreciation for some of the best metal from that period: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/freis/martin_popoffs_the_top_500_heavy_metal_albums_of_all_time/

1.Oak - Lone

2.Oath To Vanquish - Applied Schizophrenic Science

3.Oathbreaker - Rheia

4.Obake - Mutations

5.Obituary - Cause Of Death

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"CALENDAR MADE OF METAL"
January = Progressive Metal
Listening to as many albums as possible in said genre during said month and listing them here as I go. Suggestions welcome.

1.Rush - Caress Of Steel

2.Threshold - Wounded Land

3.Shadow Gallery - Carved In Stone

4.Porcupine Tree - Up The Downstair

5.Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways

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LATEST EDIT: December 12/2016- Added a whole bunch of progressive rock albums; processing earlier suggestions on the list.

Assembled below are some choice selections in alternative metal, prog rock, prog metal, jazz and avant-garde metal. I don't necessarily consider these styles to be my favourite (I do have a penchant for post-metal and cavernous death metal these days), but they have been the foundations of my taste for the last seven or eight years.

1.

2.Soundgarden - Down On The Upside

3.Rishloo - Living As Ghosts With Buildings As Teeth

4.Karnivool - Asymmetry

5.Blindead - Absence

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My other lists:
Tasty Stuff Not Currently Featured On MS
Most Talented Vocalists In Metal

"Which bands sound like Opeth?" It seems that perennial question has plagued fans and non-fans of the band alike since their inception. I have created this list in an effort to guide those hapless souls to the answer. Feast your eyes the exhaustive list of bands who take the word influence too literally (barring the obvious) for the better or...for you to decide. Enjoy and don't hesitate to recommend any bands fitting this description.

Links to all bands not currently featured on Metal Storm are provided below:
Adeia
Orion (IN)

1.Adeia - Serenity

2.Alley - Amphibious

3.Altesia - Paragon Circus

4.Aquilus - Griseus

5.Barren Earth - Curse Of The Red River

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in no particular order

1.At The Gates - At War With Reality

2.Eluveitie - Origins

3.Opeth - Pale Communion

4.Alestorm - Sunset On The Golden Age

5.Equilibrium - Erdentempel

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There are the albums that have impressed me. Alphabetical orders. Hope you enjoy this list.

1.Acatalepsy - Acatalepsy (EP)

2.Across Tundras - Dark Songs Of The Prairie

3.Aelter - Dusk Dawn/Follow You Beloved

4.A Forest Of Stars - The Corpse Of Rebirth

5.Ain Sof Aur - Atra Serpens

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1.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

2.Wodensthrone - Curse

3.Circus Maximus - Nine

4.Enslaved - RIITIIR

5.Threshold - March Of Progress

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1.Sabaton - Carolus Rex

2.Wintersun - Time I

3.Eluveitie - Helvetios

4.Kamelot - Silverthorn

5.Mors Principium Est - ...And Death Said Live

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1.Alcest - Les Voyages De L'âme

2.Borknagar - Urd

3.Katatonia - Dead End Kings

4.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

5.The Gathering - Disclosure

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2012 has been such a great year for metal releases. So in honor of that, here is my personal favourite Albums of 2012.

1.Indesinence - Vessels Of Light And Decay

2.Faal - The Clouds Are Burning

3.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

4.Enochian Theory - Life... And All It Entails

5.Eternal Deformity - The Beauty Of Chaos

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Because I reached the word limit on the previous list, and don't want to lose my quite excellent in-depth descriptions. Those without descriptions are from my other list.

1.Sylosis - Monolith

2.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

3.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

4.Abigail Williams - Becoming

5.Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Area 52

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Voila.

1.Saturnus - Saturn In Ascension

2.Blut Aus Nord - 777 - Cosmosophy

3.Dordeduh - Dar De Duh

4.Indesinence - Vessels Of Light And Decay

5.Enslaved - RIITIIR

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My tastes seem to have changed quite a bit since I originally made this list. I have since updated it to better reflect my opinions of 2012 in retrospect. A well rounded and impressive year for metal.

1.Indesinence - Vessels Of Light And Decay

2.Faal - The Clouds Are Burning

3.Agruss - Morok

4.Lord Mantis - Pervertor

5.Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry

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Other good lists with some melodic metal in them:
strade's - R'Vannith's - Unhealer's - Lkoturnindrin's

Will only add 7.5+ releases, so this won't be a gargantuan list... last year saw maybe forty or so releases I thought of as 7.5+'s, a lot of them rated only at the end of the year, and some not rated at all due to the extensiveness of pre-MSA listening sessions... if you want to stalk my "bad" ratings, they're all in my album votes.

1.Enochian Theory - Life... And All It Entails

2.Dissona - Dissona

3.Big Big Train - English Electric 1

4.Headspace - I Am Anonymous

5.Beyond The Bridge - The Old Man And The Spirit

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