Last updated on 11 April 2024.

1.Dream Theater - Images And Words

2.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

3.Wintersun - Wintersun

4.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

5.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

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Note: Tool intentionally ommitted because they don't consider themselves metal. Otherwise you'd see their first 4 albums in top 25.

Last updated: 27 March 2024.

1.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Opeth - Blackwater Park

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Lost Horizon - A Flame To The Ground Beneath

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

Honourable mentions:
Crimson Glory - Transcendence (Power/Prog)
Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What? (Thrash)
Pestilence - Malleus Maleficarum (Death/Thrash)
Manowar - Kings Of Metal (Power)
Exodus - Fabulous Disaster (Thrash)
Saint Vitus - Mournful Cries (Doom)

1.Death - Leprosy

2.Slayer - South Of Heaven

3.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

4.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

5.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

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These are my favorite opening songs of all time. When I listened to them, I was instantly hooked! Whether it starts with a slow instrumental build-up or an aggressive assault of riffs, these openers set the tone for the rest of their respective albums. Enjoy!

1.Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance

2.Judas Priest - Painkiller

3.Summoning - Minas Morgul

4.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

5.Testament - The Legacy

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Albums with the most epic cover art!

1.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

2.Rainbow - Rising

3.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

4.Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

5.Necrophobic - Mark Of The Necrogram

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These are my top 100 favorite albums - they are the reason why I love metal!
Enjoy!
Format: Band | Album | (genre, release year, country) What I like about the album; Favorite songs
Statistics:
Genre:
Death: 28
Black: 20
Thrash: 19
Heavy: 15
Progressive: 9
Power: 4
Doom: 4
Symphonic: 1
Years with most album favorites:
1995: 8
1996: 7
1990: 7
1984: 5
Countries with most album favorites:
USA: 35
Sweden: 20
UK: 16
Norway: 6

----Last Update: June 15, 2022----

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

3.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

4.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

5.Death - Spiritual Healing

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1.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

2.Manowar - Kings Of Metal

3.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

4.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

5.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

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An ongoing list for personal use as well as for reference for beginners (& veterans alike). This is solely my personal opinion and taste (Death & Prog mostly but do give every genre a try). Basically will include albums I've rated 8 & above. Sorted by year since I'll need a Venn diagram to sort by genre (seriously MS please make it happen if possible). Will feature multiple releases per year (obviously) and per band (since if a band is putting out better albums it deserves more recognition). Keeping the metal faith alive from India

1.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

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

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

4.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

5.Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself

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1.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

2.King Diamond - "Them"

3.Death - Leprosy

4.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

5.Running Wild - Port Royal

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1.Slayer - Reign In Blood

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Exodus - Bonded By Blood

5.Flotsam & Jetsam - No Place For Disgrace

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Thrash may not be my favorite metal subgenre but it's one of them. There have always been thrash albums I always get back to with great pleasure and I am usually happy when thrash veterans get back with great music.
I say not a thrasher because I am stuck in the past, as it's easily to be seen in the list, new bands have not impressed me much, especially when they predictably wear their influences on their sleeves.

1.Kreator - Terrible Certainty

2.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

3.Slayer - South Of Heaven

4.Annihilator - Never, Neverland

5.Death Angel - Act III

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Erm... sorry Dave... >.>

1.Slayer - Reign In Blood

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Kreator - Pleasure To Kill

4.Power Trip - Nightmare Logic

5.Sodom - M-16

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1.Slayer - Reign In Blood

2.Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

3.Slayer - South Of Heaven

4.Slayer - Show No Mercy

5.Slayer - Hell Awaits

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I've been listening to Metal since 2005 and it has become my biggest passion in life.

Rarely a day goes by where I don't listen to it in one form or another. The bands I listened to in my teens inspired me to pick up the guitar (and later drums) and start making music of my own.

So here are the albums that have stood out and made the largest impact on me. To be as transparent as possible, I've labelled albums as 'nostalgia bias' where my memories of the album give it an advantage over others.

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here. There are a ton of albums that I've rated 9/10 in the 'TBR' tab that may never make it to this list, be sure to check those out.)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of 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 25 EPs (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)

Genre-Specific:
Top 50 Black Metal Albums
Top 50 Melodic Death Metal Albums
Top 45 Thrash Metal Albums
Top 40 Power Metal Albums
Top 30 Doom Metal Albums
Top 30 Heavy Metal Albums

1.Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Opeth - Still Life

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1.Slayer - Reign In Blood

2.Slayer - Hell Awaits

3.Slayer - South Of Heaven

4.Slayer - Show No Mercy

5.Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

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