1.Volbeat - Lola Montez

2.Evergrey - The Aftermath

3.Nightingale - Forevermore

4.Soilwork - Father And Son, Watching The World Go Down

5.Primal Fear - Born With A Broken Heart

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The goats. The near perfect albums that never get old. Some are full of catchy bangers I'm always humming, and some are so full to the brim of details that I still haven't even uncovered them all.

A brief outline of my ratings:
8.5-9.0 = An excellent album with a few mild drawbacks (Weak song, slightly irritating vocals, odd flow)
9.0-9.5 = Perfect albums that haven't quite warranted the time-earnt 9.5+.
9.5-9.9 = Perfect albums that have stood the test of time, ranked by preference.
10 = I don't expect to hear another album like these, ever.

(I use 'perfect' lightly as it makes no sense for a man-made creation to be flawless. 'Perfect' is simply a term to outline how high a level of enjoyment is, specifically the level of enjoyment when minor faults become insignificant.)

(I evaluate albums outside of metal vastly differently to the ones here, which explains the lack of representation of my other favourite genres. Blue Sky Mining is an exception due to being structured very similarly to my optimal metal album. I may add some picks from other genres down the line.)


STATS:
I know y'all don't look at my lists, so these are purely for my own interest.

-Decades
'10s: 36
'20s: 22
'00s: 7
'90s: 2

-Genres (By best fit or most prominent)
Prog: 35
Death: 11
Power: 9
Symphonic: 4
Black: 3
Contemporary: 2
Folk: 1
Doom: 1
Rock: 1

1.Devin Townsend - Empath

2.Memories Of Old - The Zeramin Game

3.Wintersun - Time I

4.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

5.Persefone - Aathma

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Must Listen: The First 3

1.Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken

2.Primal Fear - Delivering The Black

3.Nightingale - Retribution

4.Voyager - V

5.Dynazty - Renatus

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My personal favorite studio albums of 2014

1.Ghost Brigade - IV - One With The Storm

2.Epica - The Quantum Enigma

3.Primordial - Where Greater Men Have Fallen

4.Sólstafir - Ótta

5.Shylmagoghnar - Emergence

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1.Seven Impale - City The Sun

2.Gazpacho - Demon

3.The Pineapple Thief - Magnolia

4.Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun

5.Amplifier - Mystoria

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1.

2.Fates Warning - The Spectre Within

3.Slauter Xstoyes - Winter Kill

4.Watch Tower - Energetic Disassembly

5.Trilogy - Life On Earth

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A very heavy year for progressive metal and for the first time in 10 years, an unknown band to me takes the crown.

1.Need - Orvam: A Song For Home

2.Vanden Plas - Chronicles Of The Immortals: Netherworld (Path 1)

3.RPWL - Wanted

4.Scar Symmetry - The Singularity (Phase I - Neohumanity)

5.Anubis Gate - Horizons

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1.Freak Kitchen - Cooking With Pagans

2.Threshold - For The Journey

3.Serdce - Timelessness

4.Lux Occulta - Kołysanki

5.Freedom Call - Beyond

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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

      View entire list ››

Suggestions For The Eclectic Metalhead - 2014 Edition. I spent over half of 2014 NOT absorbing new metal, and thus spent the rest of the year catching up. I'm pretty certain I missed many great albums, as well as missing a few entire genres, so know that this isn't an exhaustive list (and why it is only 30 instead of 50). These albums all easily rate an 8 or higher and are my favorite and most recommended albums. If your tastes are equally varied, please recommend me your favorites in return!

1.Evenoire - Herons

2.Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken

3.Wayfarer - Children Of The Iron Age

4.November-7 - Awaraxid 7mg

5.Sivyj Yar - From The Dead Villages' Darkness

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These are my favourite albums of 2014. You can find this list, together with some sentences about the albums, in my blog

http://forsakenatthegates.blogspot.se/

1.Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun

2.Teramaze - Esoteric Symbolism

3.Anubis Gate - Horizons

4.Delain - The Human Contradiction

5.Vanden Plas - Chronicles Of The Immortals: Netherworld (Path 1)

      View entire list ››

My top 20 albums for the year 2014, in no particular order

1.Vanden Plas - Chronicles Of The Immortals: Netherworld (Path 1)

2.Anubis Gate - Horizons

3.Brainstorm - Firesoul

4.Primordial - Where Greater Men Have Fallen

5.Threshold - For The Journey

      View entire list ››

One of the most anticipated activities in MS is to decide which are
the outstanding albums of the year. In this list, some favorites are presented for this coveted award.

1.Soen - Tellurian

2.Aenaon - Extance

3.Triptykon - Melana Chasmata

4.Morbus Chron - Sweven

5.Animals As Leaders - The Joy Of Motion

      View entire list ››

Cos, y'know, same shiz different year. Ran out of space again so will post final album opinions in comments.

1.Infestus - The Reflecting Void

2.Dirge - Hyperion

3.Nero Di Marte - Derivae

4.Steve Rothery - The Ghosts Of Pripyat

5.Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere

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Sort of stumbled upon Anubis Gate. Not too often do you see the bassist as lead singer/frontman of the band. It's hard to place the specific sound of the band since they're a blend of power and progressive metal. They're a great band that I would highly recommend checking out.

1.Anubis Gate - Anubis Gate

2.Anubis Gate - Andromeda Unchained

3.Anubis Gate - Horizons

4.Anubis Gate - The Detached

5.Anubis Gate - A Perfect Forever

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