1.Windir - Arntor

2.Amon Amarth - Versus The World

3.Burzum - Filosofem

4.Moonsorrow - V: Hävitetty

5.Sentenced - The Cold White Light

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The following is a list of favorites that will steal your mind from this mortal realm; albums that will take you on an indelible journey.

1.Abyssal - Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

4.Alcest - Écailles De Lune

5.Arkona - Гой, Роде, Гой!

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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.Amon Amarth - Once Sent From The Golden Hall

3.Amorphis - Queen Of Time

4.Angizia - Das Schachbrett Des Trommelbuben Zacharias

5.Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors

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It is a common concept that many albums share the title with one of their songs, the title track.
However, there are a few examples of songs that have not been included in the album of the same name but on a different release by the group.

Please feel free to suggest more Metal/Hard Rock examples for these "misplaced title tracks".

1.AC/DC - High Voltage (Australia)

2.AC/DC - If You Want Blood You've Got It

3.Arch Enemy - Black Earth

4.At The Gates - Gardens Of Grief

5.Azaghal - Omega

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Updated 14.4.2024

My rather personal and improvised take on the subject matter. The list is pretty wage, I'll be updating it a lot and the order might vary a little depending on some things, but they're all great and awesome records no matter what. If there are some great records missing, that doesn't necessarily mean I consider them bad, maybe I just forgot about them or just haven't listened to them enough to consider them personal favourites.

Limited to metal and rock albums found on Metal Storm. Most of them (at least 90%) are anyway, so doesn't matter. The absent ones are mostly more pop and synth oriented stuff and some really obscure jazz and fusion albums.

1.Marillion - Marbles

2.Anathema - Weather Systems

3.Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time

4.Moonsorrow - Voimasta Ja Kunniasta

5.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

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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

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An ever-growing list of albums/EPs that were just fun to listen to. They had something unique, were experimental/strange and/or had interestingly/efficiently lined up vocals and/or instruments that are too hard to forget easily. Naturally, quite a few of them will be avant-garde, but anything else goes that stand out in their subgenre more than others.

1....? - ...!

2.!T.O.O.H.! - Order And Punishment (Řád A Trest)

3.6:33 - Deadly Scenes

4.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

5.Age Of Silence - Acceleration

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One album per band

1.Moonsorrow - V: Hävitetty

2.Gris - Il Était Une Forêt...

3.Katatonia - Dance Of December Souls

4.Bethlehem - Dark Metal

5.Summoning - Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame

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1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

3.Green Carnation - Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness

4.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

5.Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet

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Just a list containing some of my favorite folk metal albums of all time. Note: this list is unordered.

1.Wintersun - Wintersun

2.Equilibrium - Sagas

3.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

4.Moonsorrow - V: Hävitetty

5.Agalloch - The Mantle

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

2007 was a really good one, possibly my favorite of the 2000's until now, a lot of great release in Progressive metal, Black metal and Doom metal had a really strong comeback that year, overall a really great year for metal

1.Devin Townsend - Ziltoid The Omniscient

2.Epica - The Divine Conspiracy

3.Ensiferum - Victory Songs

4.Symphony X - Paradise Lost

5.Moonsorrow - V: Hävitetty

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1.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

2.Olympos Mons - Medievil

3.Ensiferum - Victory Songs

4.Derdian - New Era Pt. 2 - War Of The Gods

5.Silent Force - Walk The Earth

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1.Epica - The Divine Conspiracy

2.Moonspell - Under Satanæ

3.Therion - Gothic Kabbalah

4.Samael - Solar Soul

5.Amorphis - Silent Waters

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This my best of 2007 list, enjoy!

1.Between The Buried And Me - Colors

2.The Ocean - Precambrian

3.Warning - Watching From A Distance

4.Amorphis - Silent Waters

5.Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

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