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.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Alcest - Les Voyages De L'âme

3.Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God

4.Amorphis - Skyforger

5.At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul

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Metal albums that blow me away every time I hear them. Loosely ordered... list gets less organized as it goes on. My favorite song from each album is included.

1.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

2.Faith No More - Angel Dust

3.Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

4.Tool - Ænima

5.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

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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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1.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

2.Iron Maiden - Killers

3.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

4.Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind

5.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

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1.Agent Steel - Unstoppable Force

2.Annihilator - Alice In Hell

3.Anthrax - Among The Living

4.Artillery - By Inheritance

5.Baphomet - The Dead Shall Inherit

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1.Paradise Lost - Gothic

2.Tiamat - Wildhoney

3.Dissection - The Somberlain

4.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

5.Deicide - Deicide

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1.Paradise Lost - Gothic

2.Tiamat - Wildhoney

3.Dissection - The Somberlain

4.Bolt Thrower - ...For Victory

5.Deicide - Deicide

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1.AC/DC - Back In Black

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

4.Dio - Holy Diver

5.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

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Just a list of classic thrash albums I really enjoy, since thrash has had such a good year this year. They are in no particular order.

1.Annihilator - Alice In Hell

2.Anthrax - Among The Living

3.Anthrax - Spreading The Disease

4.Artillery - By Inheritance

5.Assassin - The Upcoming Terror

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Like my other genre-based lists, this exists purely for my own organizational purposes and not to provide a definitive statement about or guidebook to the thrash genre. I've folded some speed metal and other occasional outliers into this list, maybe a few not-so-thrash albums by otherwise-thrash bands, since they're close enough and I wasn't going to make a separate list.

1.Slayer - Reign In Blood

2.Gama Bomb - Citizen Brain

3.Cross Examination - Menace II Sobriety

4.Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

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1.Death - Symbolic

2.Slayer - Reign In Blood

3.Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power

4.Carcass - Heartwork

5.Overkill - The Years Of Decay

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My personal rankings of Slayer's studio albums.

1.Slayer - Reign In Blood

2.Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

3.Slayer - South Of Heaven

4.Slayer - Christ Illusion

5.Slayer - Hell Awaits

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1.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

2.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

3.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

4.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

5.Kreator - Hordes Of Chaos

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