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 ››

Top 50 of 2006

Only LPs

Album count: 180
Average rating: 7.09

1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Celtic Frost - Monotheist

3.Saturnus - Veronika Decides To Die

4.Summoning - Oath Bound

5.Enslaved - Ruun

      View entire list ››

Happy New Year guys! I think aside from the wars, crime, violence, pathology, terror, disease, droughts and famines, this one hasn't been that bad.

1.Facelift Deformation - Dominating The Extermination

2.Vulvodynia - Psychosadistic Design

3.Inquisition - Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer

4.Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas

5.Extermination Dismemberment - Dehumanization Protocol

      View entire list ››

My personal picks for albums that makes my mind wander. Also a good list for anyone getting into metal.

1.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

2.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

3.Budgie - Never Turn Your Back On A Friend

4.Children Of Bodom - Something Wild

5.Dark Tranquillity - Character

      View entire list ››

Insomnium is possibly my favourite melodeath band of all time. I certainly think they're the most consistently great when it comes to albums. I'd rate all of their Albums between an 8-10 easily. Saying all of that, this makes these guys an insanely hard band to rank. I think this ranking could change a lot on here. I certainly change my mind IRL which is my favourite. Disclaimer: I love every single album on this damn list...

1.Insomnium - Winter's Gate

2.Insomnium - Shadows Of The Dying Sun

3.Insomnium - Heart Like A Grave

4.Insomnium - Above The Weeping World

5.Insomnium - One For Sorrow

      View entire list ››

Bands in my daily listening rotation. Albums chosen are my favorite by the respective band in most cases 🤘

1.200 Stab Wounds - Slave To The Scalpel

2.A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms

3.Abbath - Abbath

4.Acid Witch - Rot Among Us

5.Æther Realm - Tarot

      View entire list ››

Almost all album titles fall in one of two categories: The album shares the title with one of its songs (the title track) or, alternatively, the album title is independent from the songs (no title track).

However, there are examples of songs that have a central link to the album title without sharing the same name. In these cases, certain lyrics from the song were chosen as the album title.

This (alphabetical) list shows the names of these “hidden title tracks” and the central lyrics that gave the name to the corresponding album.

Please feel free to suggest more of your favorite metal/hard rock examples of these “hidden title tracks”.

1.40 Watt Sun - Wider Than The Sky

2.A Forest Of Stars - A Shadowplay For Yesterdays

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agalloch - The Mantle

5.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

      View entire list ››

The MS top 200 is supposed to represent the absolute peak of metal music, the timeless classics. I have been listening to metal for about 6 years now and would consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the genre. Yet, I have barely heard half of what the top 200 has to offer. I am now on a quest to listen to it all and give an honest opinion on what I thought of it.
This list will show every album of the top 200 and if I've listened to it whether it's an all-time favourite of mine (+++), I really like it (++), I like it (+), it’s good (*), it’s not great (-), I really dislike it (--) or I hate it from the bottom of my heart (---). The same symbols will be used to characterize what I think my opinion of the albums I haven't heard yet will be, based on my knowledge of the bands and of the genre they play. (?) signifies that I have no idea of whether I'll enjoy it or not and (/) means that my opinion of the album is probably obsolete, and I need to listen to it again. A ★ means the album is in my own top 200.
Edit: The bottom of the top 200 has been changing a lot, with some stuff formerly in the list now closer to 240th, so this is now a top 250. I’m not sure I want to expand the list further down, but I’ll see whenever it’s completed if I feel like going for a top 300 or something like that.
Best discoveries so far: Wildhoney, Nightfall, Out Of Myself, Portal Of I, Autumn Aurora, Nemesis Divina, Abigail, V: Hävitetty, Sounds Of Pain.

1.

2.

3.W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol

4.Saturnus - Veronika Decides To Die

5.Ensiferum - Ensiferum

      View entire list ››

These are albums that I'm currently enjoying. They may be classics that I'm revisiting or new gems I've recently discovered. (Ordered alphabetically)

- A star (⭐️) denotes a new discovery that I find exceptionally special!
- A flame (🔥) denotes an album that I've heard before, enjoyed, and am revisiting this month!

1.Adramelech - PsychoStasia

2.Afsky - Om Hundrede År

3.Anaal Nathrakh - The Codex Necro

4.Bloody Panda - Summon

5.Count Raven - High On Infinity

      View entire list ››

This list shows only my preferences in metal. These albums are not necessarily the best of the bands written by, but I return to them again and again. In my opinion, all this masterpieces confirm the variety and greatness of metal music.
Rules:
1. One album per band.
2. Ordered from highest position (top) to lowest (bottom).
3. No heavy, power, doom, gothic, sludge/stoner albums.

1.Children Of Bodom - Follow The Reaper

2.Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia

3.In Flames - Clayman

4.Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos

5.Gojira - From Mars To Sirius

      View entire list ››

A little list series where I list my top 20 favorite metal albums every year starting from the year I was born in.

2006 was okay there was a couple of great release, a really good year for Doom metal , but not as amazing as the year before but still a good one

My favorite non metal albums of 2006

1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Summoning - Oath Bound

3.Draconian - The Burning Halo

4.Opera Magna - El Ultimo Caballero

5.Insomnium - Above The Weeping World

      View entire list ››

1.Opeth - Ghost Reveries

2.Riverside - Second Life Syndrome

3.Pain Of Salvation - Remedy Lane

4.Moonsorrow - Verisäkeet

5.Opeth - Blackwater Park

      View entire list ››

Music I listen to in an English-styled park in Warsaw, where nature grew in such a way that a controlled wilderness was achieved. Some songs match certain seasons better than others! This music goes well with the wonderful fantasy-themed imagination I've been gifted through my autism.

1.Agalloch - The Mantle

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

4.Wintersun - Wintersun

5.Summoning - Stronghold

      View entire list ››

1.Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance

2.Saturnus - Veronika Decides To Die

3.Insomnium - Above The Weeping World

4.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

5.The Mars Volta - Amputechture

      View entire list ››