My top 75 favourite albums of all time (initially it was a top 20 list, and after that top 50). Only 1 album per band. The list is in alphabetical order, so it doesn't represent explicitly which album is my absolute favourite (I don't have one). All albums on this list have earned at least a 9/10 rating. Albums with a star (★) have received a 10/10 rating from me. I've added genres and my favourite songs.

1.After Forever - Decipher

2.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

3.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

4.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

5.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

      View entire list ››

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

      View entire list ››

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

      View entire list ››

- My TOP 75 from 90s (and 80s), 00s and 10s.
- Each TOP 75 ordered from my most favourite down.
- One album for every band in one TOP 75.
- Only full-lengths or EPs/demos with more than half an hour.

Description includes: Genre (traditional/true BM bands are labeled with their countries, e.g. Norwegian Black), year and my personal favourite song of the particular album with link.

Hall of Fame (bands in each time period): Agalloch, Blut Aus Nord, Enslaved, Immortal, Nokturnal Mortum, Summoning

1.

2.Windir - Arntor

3.Paysage d'Hiver - Paysage D'Hiver

4.Blut Aus Nord - Ultima Thulée

5.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

      View entire list ››

I'm bored very easily, and that's why I decided to do some stats about metal storm's top 20 of each year and the top 200. I don't know why I did that, but if you love stats like I do it might interest you. All of the data I collected is from November the 7th 2020.
Updated on August the 3rd 2023

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.Deep Purple - The Book Of Taliesyn

      View entire list ››

Take a look at the Top Album lists of recent years and you'll notice an obvious trend. In 2005 the average rating of the top 25 albums is 8.76. Jump to 2014 and the average among the top 25 has dropped to 8.26. An almost linear decrease is observable for the 10 years in between.

I was curious to see what a Top 100 for 2000-2014 would look like if I factored the votes to account for the 'rating decline'. I hope you find it interesting.

1.Agalloch - The Mantle

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Blindead - Affliction XXIX II MXMVI

4.Aquilus - Griseus

5.Nevermore - Dead Heart In A Dead World

      View entire list ››

1.Persefone - Spiritual Migration

2.Amorphis - Circle

3.Nero Di Marte - Nero Di Marte

4.Riverside - Shrine Of New Generation Slaves

5.The Ocean - Pelagial

      View entire list ››

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

      View entire list ››

These are the albums I've enjoyed so far this year to which I've given an approximate rating and organised in a rough order of preference. As the year progresses I'll add some descriptions to them as well. EP's are also included.

Recent additions: Armory, Russian Circles, Ulver, Tad Morose, SubRosa, Almah, Blood Bright Star, Autumnblaze, Ayreon, Chthonic, Darkestrah, God Is An Astronaut, Képzelt Város, Lodz, Månegarm, Obscure Sphinx, Caligula's Horse, Sky Architect, Keldian, Monster Magnet

1.Vulture Industries - The Tower

2.The Moth Gatherer - A Bright Celestial Light

3.Walrus - Walrus

4.Clutch - Earth Rocker

5.Oranssi Pazuzu - Valonielu

      View entire list ››

All Studio releases including Full lengths, EPs, Collaborations and Splits.

Support the artist.

Lascaille's Shroud | Youtube

TOP ALBUM ARTWORKS OF 2013

1.Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)

2.Gris - À L'Âme Enflammée, L'Äme Constellée...

3.Shade Empire - Omega Arcane

4.Obliteration - Black Death Horizon

5.Dream Death - Somnium Excessum

      View entire list ››

Input:
10 years
20 decade lists
749 bands
973 albums

Output:
200 top albums from 2010-2019


FAQ

How are the points calculated?
Simple math.

Ranked top lists:
1st place = 150 pts.
2nd place = 149 pts.
...
100th place = 51 pts.
...
150th place = 1 pt.

Alphabetically sorted lists:
Each place = 100 pts.

Why just a Top 200?
Because 200 list entries are more than enough.

Is it by pure coincidence that the first four positions are occupied by bands with the initial letter "E"?
Yes.

Will your list be updated on a regular basis?
No.

Why is my favorite power metal abum not featured?
I don't know. Let's ask the list owners:

AgentOrange94 - Top 10 Albums Of The 10's
andreosokin - Top 25 Albums Of 2010s
ChapuLviz - Top 100 Grind List (2010-2019)
Chobo_jokeR - JokeR's Top Hunnid From 2010 - 2019
Desha - Me(tal) In The 2010s
Draugen - Top 100 of the 2010s
embracing - My Completely Subjective Top 10 Of The 2010-2019 Decade
Enemy of Reality (RIP) - 100 Album Guide To The Decade 2010-19
FullyOttoMatic - 50 Favorite Metal (And Metal-Adjacent) Albums Of The 2010's
Iron Men - A Decade Of Aggression
Kuroboshi - Top 100 Albums Of 2010-2019
Maco - 2010-2019 Top 100
musclassia - 150 Albums To Become An Adult To: 2010-2019
mz - Best Of 2010-2020 By Mz
Neachy - Neachy's Select: Top 100 Albums Of The 10s
nikarg - Old Nick's Top-101 Of The '10s
nonZero - My Top 50 Albums of the 2010s (deleted)
RaduP - You Know It's Technically 2011-2020, Right?
VIG (RIP) - VIG's Top 100 Of The 2010s
Zap - I Too Listened To Some Metal In The 2010's

1.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

2.Esoteric - Paragon Of Dissonance

3.Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole

4.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

5.Tribulation - The Formulas Of Death

      View entire list ››

All my favourite songs ranked in order best down.

1.Rush - 2112

2.Deep Purple - In Rock

3.Jethro Tull - Aqualung

4.Rainbow - Rising

5.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

      View entire list ››

This alphabetical list presents bands that took the inspiration for their name from literature (novels, poems, plays, comics). The list shows the debut album cover along with the information of the corresponding source of inspiration.

Please feel free to suggest more examples of metal/hard rock band names that are inspired by literature.


AUTHORS

1st Place (52 bands):
J.R.R.Tolkien

2nd Place (21 bands):
H.P.Lovecraft

3rd Place (10 bands):
W.Shakespeare

4th Place (7 bands):
E.A.Poe

5th Place (3 bands):
F.Herbert, R.E.Howard, C.A.Smith

6th Place (2 bands):
A.Huxley, J.W.v.Goethe, B.Kane, S.King, C.S.Lewis, H.Melville, K.Miura, M.Moorcock, J.K.Rowling, H.Van Alkmer, O.Wilde

7th Place (1 band):
R.Adams, J.P.Ahonen, D.Alighieri, L.F.Baum, E.C.Bertin, R.Bloch, E.Bronte, L.Carroll, L.Carter, L.Chase, C.Dickens, A.Diggle, M.Ende, S.Erikson, W.Faulkner, J.&W.Grimm, Homer, A.Jodorowsky, Kakifly, U.KLeGuin, H.W.Longfellow, G.R.R.Martin, A.Miller, P.Mills, J.Milton, D.Quinn, S.Rohmer, P.Rothfuss, Y.Sadamato, M.Sandemo, W.Scott, H.Sienkiewicz, D.Simmons, W.Smith, J.Steinbeck, B.Stoker, Suetonius, L.Uris, L.Weisberger, H.G.Wells, Q.Yuan


CATEGORY

1.) Novels (93 bands)
2.) Short Stories/Novellas (34 bands)
3.) Drama (11 bands),
Poems (11 bands),
Comics/Mangas (11 bands)
4.) Religious Texts (4 bands)
5.) Author Names (3 bands)
6.) Magazines (2 bands)
7.) Biographies (1 band), Essays (1 band), Reports (1 band),

1.A Dream Of Poe - The Mirror Of Deliverance

2.Abhoth - Abhoth

3.Abigail Williams - In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns

4.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

5.Alice In Chains - Facelift

      View entire list ››

1.Haken - The Mountain

2.The Ocean - Pelagial

3.Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)

4.Deafheaven - Sunbather

5.Leprous - Coal

      View entire list ››

My favourite black metal albums listed and ranked, all varieties within the black metal genre.

1.Summoning - Oath Bound

2.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

3.Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

4.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

5.Mgła - Exercises In Futility

      View entire list ››