A lot of bands have great debut albums. Obviously this list is just a fraction of all the great debut albums out there, but it's a start. I'll keep expanding this list continuously, so all suggestions are welcome (granted they are featured on MS). All the albums here are ranked according to genre and then alphabetically. If a certain album belongs to the (in your opinion) wrong genre, then definitely let me know.

1.

2.Aarni - Bathos

3.Arcturus - Aspera Hiems Symfonia

4.Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom

5.Sadness - Ames De Marbre

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My choices of albums with strong forms of atmospheric sound in metal. Recommendations are welcome, though I won't add all as this will be towards personal taste.

1.A Forest Of Stars - A Shadowplay For Yesterdays

2.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

3.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

4.Akelei - De Zwaarte Van Het Doorstane

5.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

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More doom on the way: as of 14th June I'm slowly adding a few albums, hopefully to reach the 50 mark.

1.Candlemass - Nightfall

2.DoomSword - Let Battle Commence

3.Mourning Beloveth - The Sullen Sulcus

4.Skepticism - Lead And Aether

5.Shape Of Despair - Angels Of Distress

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Here are the most captivating atmospheres I've ever heard. Including metal and non-metal albums. Grouped according to genre and one album per band.

1.Division By Zero - Independent Harmony

2.Beyond Twilight - The Devil's Hall Of Fame

3.Riverside - Out Of Myself

4.Suspyre - When Time Fades...

5.Redemption - The Fullness Of Time

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1.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Katatonia - Discouraged Ones

4.My Dying Bride - The Angel And The Dark River

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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A list of the ultimate releases in gothic metal. Suggestions are welcome.

1.After Forever - Prison Of Desire

2.Artrosis - Ukryty Wymiar

3.Ava Inferi - Onyx

4.Avrigus - The Secret Kingdom

5.Before The Dawn - Deadlight

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This is a list of the doom albums I have listened to.

The list starts with a handful of what I'd call my favorite doom albums. The first few of those count among my favorite of all time, with Paranoid, Watching From A Distance, and Черно at present holding a perfect 10. This list does have a cutoff point, stretching from those 10s through some high 9s and all the way down to middling 6s. If I rated it below a 6, it does not appear on this list, and that's because I disliked the album.

Given how much music I listen to and how many lists I have going concurrently, I don't update this as I go; I let albums accumulate for a while and then do periodic overhauls, so the list won't change for months at a time.

Last updated October 17, 2021.

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Warning - Watching From A Distance

3.Kypck - Черно

4.Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

5.Heaven And Hell - The Devil You Know

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1.The Gathering - How To Measure A Planet?

2.Tiamat - Wildhoney

3.My Dying Bride - A Line Of Deathless Kings

4.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

5.Samael - Ceremony Of Opposites

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1.My Dying Bride - The Angel And The Dark River

2.Swallow The Sun - The Morning Never Came

3.Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

4.Novembers Doom - The Pale Haunt Departure

5.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

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1.Shylmagoghnar - Emergence

2.Galneryus - Angel Of Salvation

3.Blindead - Affliction XXIX II MXMVI

4.Batushka - Litourgiya

5.Leprous - Bilateral

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**Trigger warning**

Albums and EPs rated 8.6+ from 100+ votes which I've given an 8 or lower to.

I've listened to and rated every album on MS that meets this criteria (at time of most recent update) - some of them multiple times - so I feel I can give my honest opinion.

The purpose of this is to list and order the albums that I simply don't "get" and to try re-listening to them in the hope of understanding why they've received so many 9 and 10 votes.

Ordered by my rating then MS rating then number of votes.

Updated: 03-Jan-24

My other lists:
Top 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 25 EPs (also ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)

1.Anathema - Judgement

2.Paradise Lost - Draconian Times

3.Anathema - Alternative 4

4.Motörhead - Ace Of Spades

5.Motörhead - Overkill

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1.Swallow The Sun - The Morning Never Came

2.Forest Stream - Tears Of Mortal Solitude

3.Draconian - Where Lovers Mourn

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson II

5.Vital Remains - Dechristianize

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Overall year rating:
4/5

1.Virus - Carheart

2.Swallow The Sun - The Morning Never Came

3.Pantheïst - O Solitude

4.Forest Stream - Tears Of Mortal Solitude

5.Enslaved - Below The Lights

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If you are into doom, then you are already rotten. It's like drugs-it destroys you yet you want more. You reek of hatred and death. Your life is fucked up and there is no escape for you.
Here are some albums to help you along the dive into the abyss.

1.Colosseum - Chapter 1: Delirium

2.Shape Of Despair - Monotony Fields

3.Comatose Vigil - Fuimus, Non Sumus...

4.Swallow The Sun - Songs From The North I, II & III

5.Shape Of Despair - Written In My Scars

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1.Lost Horizon - A Flame To The Ground Beneath

2.Devin Townsend - Accelerated Evolution

3.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

4.Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild

5.Evergrey - Recreation Day

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