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

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1.Shining - VII - Född Förlorare

2.Machine Head - Unto The Locust

3.Vildhjarta - Måsstaden

4.Leprous - Bilateral

5.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

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1.Machine Head - Unto The Locust

2.Shining - VII - Född Förlorare

3.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

4.Septicflesh - The Great Mass

5.Beyond Creation - The Aura

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1.Machine Head - Unto The Locust

2.Vildhjarta - Måsstaden

3.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

4.Shining - VII - Född Förlorare

5.Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us

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I know this is a bit late, but whatever...

1.Insomnium - One For Sorrow

2.Septicflesh - The Great Mass

3.Machine Head - Unto The Locust

4.Opeth - Heritage

5.Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage

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Albums from 2011 That I managed to listen and know very well. Best to worst

1.Protest The Hero - Scurrilous

2.Ouroboros - Glorification Of A Myth

3.Revocation - Chaos Of Forms

4.The Human Abstract - Digital Veil

5.Leprous - Bilateral

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The 20 albums that made 2011! Not "Metal Storm Friendly" so you'll find some Hardcore and Rock albums as well.

1.Times Of Grace - The Hymn Of A Broken Man

2.Machine Head - Unto The Locust

3.The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual

4.Born Of Osiris - The Discovery

5.Anterior - Echoes Of The Fallen

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1.Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

2.Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs

3.Insomnium - One For Sorrow

4.Ouroboros - Glorification Of A Myth

5.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

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My top 20 albums of the year, roughly in order.

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Anterior - Echoes Of The Fallen

3.Born Of Osiris - The Discovery

4.The Human Abstract - Digital Veil

5.Beyond Creation - The Aura

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Purely subjective list based on personal preferences for the year, unrelated to mass opinion of an album or a band's abilities (e.g. Trivium, Oranssi Pazuzu) - many albums lined up to listen to so will increase in size. Also, not entirely in order, middle order mainly just an approximation.

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Protest The Hero - Scurrilous

3.Infestus - E x I s t

4.Amorphis - The Beginning Of Times

5.Ouroboros - Glorification Of A Myth

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Pending listen: Vektor, Blut Aus Nord, Iron Savior, Aenaon

By the end of the year, this will be my top 50.

1.Insomnium - One For Sorrow

2.Thy Catafalque - Rengeteg

3.Woods Of Desolation - Torn Beyond Reason

4.Septicflesh - The Great Mass

5.Draconian - A Rose For The Apocalypse

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Ordered best to worst. This is entirely my opinion.

1.Insomnium - One For Sorrow

2.Graveyard - Hisingen Blues

3.Havok - Time Is Up

4.Toxic Holocaust - Conjure And Command

5.Deafheaven - Roads To Judah

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1.The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual

2.Protest The Hero - Scurrilous

3.Abysmal Dawn - Leveling The Plane Of Existence

4.Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination

5.Decapitated - Carnival Is Forever

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1.Septicflesh - The Great Mass

2.Insomnium - One For Sorrow

3.Ouroboros - Glorification Of A Myth

4.Vreid - V

5.Havok - Time Is Up

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Instead of making an arbitrarily long list of all the albums I enjoyed in 2011 I decided to only list my top 5 albums that were constantly repeating in my head all year (and still do).

1.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

2.Textures - Dualism

3.Born Of Osiris - The Discovery

4.Leprous - Bilateral

5.The Human Abstract - Digital Veil

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