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 ››

Wanna know what I headbang to on the regular? The releases that have seen countless re-spins... Well, this is a very simple list and something you've probably seen a lot of other MS users do in the past. Basically, I'm just going to list what are essential metal albums for me, my all time gems & masterpieces (very subjective and some are also in there due to nostalgia and sentimental value).

There's no particular ''Genre'' that I'll be covering and I will also try to limit myself to two albums per band and a few of my favorite tracks or highlights per album. Of course everything in this list is just my opinion, meaning that I'm not saying these albums are all masterpieces or whatnot, it's just my personal favorites. I hope most of you will agree with me and those few who don't, well... it's okay to be wrong, the next step is acceptance

🇨🇦 = From Canada, My Country!

Last Updated: April 15th, 2024

1.Absu - The Third Storm Of Cythrául

2.AC/DC - High Voltage

3.Alestorm - Black Sails At Midnight

4.Alien Weaponry - Tū

5.Amon Amarth - Fate Of Norns

      View entire list ››

Right... Let's get this out of the way from the get-go. Alternative metal is hard to define. I guess that comes from it always wanting to experiment, explore and fuse heavy metal with non-metal music genres. It also makes it an ever changing and growing genre.

Also, before you guys flood me, yes my list contains a lot of Industrial & Nu Metal bands, as well as other genre.. As far as I'm concerned, my picks all fit quite well in the scope of an alternative metal list. Don't you agree? Wait... You disagree? Well, let's agree to disagree and move on.

As for the list itself, I'm going to try and list through time what I (me, myself & moi) consider as essential alternative albums. I will also limit myself to a maximum of 4 releases each year to prevent a messy list, which often makes it a difficult decision, especially in the early 2000's. So yes, it is possible your personal favourite won't be featured. You can tell me all about it in the comments below and we can discuss it, even argue it.

Now, have fun, enjoy my list and let me know what you think or would personally put in your favourite alt-metal list!

-Guib-

EDIT: I will now add my pick for best album of each year using the (best of xxxx) in the chosen album's description.

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Guib's Best Alternative Metal Album Picks

Best Of 2022
Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die

Best Of 2023
Mutoid Man - Mutants

Best of 2024 So Far
...tbd

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Last Updated: March 27th, 2024

1.Living Colour - Vivid

2.Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking

3.Faith No More - The Real Thing

4.Godflesh - Streetcleaner

5.L7 - Smell The Magic

      View entire list ››

1.Bleed From Within - Fracture

2.Shadow Of Intent - Elegy

3.Kardashev - Liminal Rite

4.Orbit Culture - Nija

5.Imminence - Turn The Light On

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1.Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind

2.Belzebubs - Pantheon Of The Nightside Gods

3.Grima - Will Of The Primordial

4.Vorna - Sateet Palata Saavat

5.Insomnium - Heart Like A Grave

      View entire list ››

I am still lurking around. Trying to get back into the swing of it. Recs are always welcome.
Rating scale 1 thru 5. Arrows indicate trending.

1.A Secret Revealed - Sacrifices

2.A Swarm Of The Sun - The Woods

3.Alcest - Spiritual Instinct

4.Astronoid - Astronoid

5.Autism - Have You Found Peace

      View entire list ››

In 2018 I decided to listen to as many albums as possible, and succeeded in finding new interesting stuff. But it took much effort, and in the end I think I wasn't really smart in my choices, so this year I'll try to do the same with higher creteria. Hopefully the list will grow without losing tightness like it did back then. I'm watching every new entry to MS database, and these are the few albums which caught my attention. - I mean, I'm pretty jaded so these are the only releases I've been able to sit through without complaining.

1.Sabbath Assembly - A Letter Of Red

2.Helium Horse Fly - Hollowed

3.Lingua Ignota - Caligula

4.Health - Vol.4 :: Slaves Of Fear

5.Bent Knee - You Know What They Mean

      View entire list ››

An ongoing list for personal use as well as for reference for beginners (& veterans alike). This is solely my personal opinion and taste (Death & Prog mostly but do give every genre a try). Basically will include albums I've rated 8 & above. Sorted by year since I'll need a Venn diagram to sort by genre (seriously MS please make it happen if possible). Will feature multiple releases per year (obviously) and per band (since if a band is putting out better albums it deserves more recognition). Keeping the metal faith alive from India

1.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

2.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

4.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

5.Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself

      View entire list ››

1.Babymetal - Metal Galaxy

2.Cave In - Final Transmission

3.Mother Of Millions - Artifacts

4.Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind

5.Soen - Lotus

      View entire list ››

One band, one album in alphabetical order. No EPs, demos, etc.
Favourite album: Mgła - With Hearts Toward None
Favourite song: Schammasch - "Above The Stars Of God"

1.1914 - The Blind Leading The Blind

2.Abbath - Abbath

3.Accept - Blood Of The Nations

4.Aenaon - Hypnosophy

5.Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit

      View entire list ››

It may have been a slow start to 2019, but May and June have started to kick things into high gear. I recently decided to start collecting vinyl, which has lead me to start a list. It's been a couple years since I've done one, so I figured I'm due. Enjoy.

1.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

2.Haunter - Sacramental Death Qualia

3.Schammasch - Hearts Of No Light

4.Blood Incantation - Hidden History Of The Human Race

5.Cult Of Luna - A Dawn To Fear

      View entire list ››

Cos Radu won't leave me alone

1.Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree - Grandmother

2.Dreadnought - Emergence

3.Methadone Skies - Different Layers Of Fear

4.A Secret Revealed - Sacrifices

5.Cartographs - Wilt & Blossom

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This is very simple, I took the ratings for a bunch of alternative metal albums on MS and ranked them accordingly

To qualify:
The album must have been released when the band was labelled as "Alternative Metal" by MS. So for example the three most recent Gojira albums count, but early Gojira does not.

The band must have more than 10 fans on MS

Therefore this is not a reflection of my opinions, rather a reflection of numbers so if you wanna get mad, get mad at the numbers, not me. And remember that this really isn't that serious

1.Mass Hysteria - Contraddiction

2.Tool - Lateralus

3.The Butterfly Effect - IV

4.Tool - Ænima

5.Mass Hysteria - Le Bien-Être Et La Paix

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I will most likely look back at this decade as the dark ages of popular music. A time where mainstream music was largely dominated by talentless pop/hip hop music with less memorable songs than the previous decade. However, that doesn't mean that metal music followed the same path. While it was largely dominated by metalcore during the beginning of the decade, I started to grow to love more music in this decade for metal music than I initially did during the beginning of the decade. This was the decade where I became a metalhead, where I became who I am today and started expanding my horizons musically and learn to appreciate a lot of metal music released during this decade and that will be something I will look back at fondly. As the 2010's comes to a close, I decided to make a list of the top 50 metal albums of the decade that I would consider the best. NOTE: this list might change if I discover more music from this decade that I thought are amazing.

1.Trees Of Eternity - Hour Of The Nightingale

2.Kauan - Sorni Nai

3.Angellore - La Litanie Des Cendres

4.Les Discrets - Ariettes Oubliées...

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

      View entire list ››

All my favorite albums (rated 9 or 10), in cronological order.

1.Iotunn - Access All Worlds

2.Soen - Imperial

3.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

4.Soen - Lotus

5.Chapel Of Disease - ...And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye

      View entire list ››