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.Afgrund - Vid Helvetets Grindar

2.After Forever - After Forever

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

5.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

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1.Wintersun - Wintersun

2.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

3.Ensiferum - Ensiferum

4.Septicflesh - Communion

5.Insomnium - Above The Weeping World

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My top 100 Albums, sorted in descending order of favorites. Pretty rough list, I may update if I become un-lazy sometime. One album per band only. Some explanation and description provided for those who aspire to waste as much time on this site as I do.

1.Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris

2.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

3.Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

4.Opeth - Still Life

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

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Only Awesome Albums (OAA)

1.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

2.Machine Head - The Blackening

3.Omnium Gatherum - The Redshift

4.Viikate - Marraskuun Lauluja I

5.Viikate - Marraskuun Lauluja II

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1.Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

2.Opeth - Ghost Reveries

3.Epica - Consign To Oblivion

4.Demons And Wizards - Touched By The Crimson King

5.Arch Enemy - Doomsday Machine

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Here is my provisional favorite-metal-albums-of-all-time-list! Enjoy!
The first 10 albums are in pretty accurate order. However, after that, it becomes harder and harder to separate the albums clearly. Thus, you can say that I enjoy album x on the list as much as the others in the interval of (x-5) to (x+5). For example album 37 would be as much enjoyed as 32, 33, 34, ..., 42, or something like that.

1.Cult Of Luna - Somewhere Along The Highway

2.Disillusion - Back To Times Of Splendor

3.Grand Alchemist - Intervening Coma-Celebration

4.Opeth - Blackwater Park

5.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

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1.Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

2.Sentenced - The Funeral Album

3.Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

4.Novembers Doom - The Pale Haunt Departure

5.Opeth - Ghost Reveries

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1.Timeless Miracle - Into The Enchanted Chamber

2.Sieges Even - The Art Of Navigating By The Stars

3.Kamelot - The Black Halo

4.Sabaton - Primo Victoria

5.Galneryus - Advance To The Fall

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1.Death - Symbolic

2.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

3.Desultory - Bitterness

4.Morgoth - Cursed

5.Death - Human

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***Currently working through suggestions and adding some spacey non-metal things when they cross my mind***
As a lover of all things sci-fi I find metal to be the most accommodating of genres when it comes to themes of space/aliens. This is a list of those albums which use this theme and/or evoke an overall 'spacey' atmosphere and which I find particularly intriguing and enjoyable. No order for now and a work in progress (recommendations most welcome) Last Updated: 9th April 2014

1.Atoma - Skylight

2.Ayreon - The Universal Migrator Part I: The Dream Sequencer

3.Dol Ammad - Star Tales

4.Star One - Space Metal

5.Pagan's Mind - Enigmatic : Calling

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These are 36 of the my favorite Melodeath albums in no particular order. This will hopefully serve as a starting point for someone new to the style. If one of your favorites isn't on here, it's because this is my favorites list, not yours. Feel free to make recommendations, however.

1.Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

2.The Absence - Riders Of The Plague

3.Darkane - Expanding Senses

4.Insomnium - Since The Day It All Came Down

5.Luna Mortis - The Absence

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1.Reverend Bizarre - II: Crush The Insects

2.Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

3.Trivium - Ascendancy

4.Annihilator - Schizo Deluxe

5.Cathedral - The Garden Of Unearthly Delights

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I think the title is self explanitory. Not in order of preference as it would change daily and I can't be arsed changing it around all the time!:) it's a bit of a mixture of all the stuff I like so I'm reasonably sure alot of the picks won't be everyones cup of piss.

1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

3.Arsis - A Celebration Of Guilt

4.Be'lakor - Stone's Reach

5.Between The Buried And Me - Colors

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I havnt been into metal all that long...so this is a good chuck of the metal albums i own...though ive heard many, many more....these are all albums ive spent a lot of time with (or soon will). I tried to stay away from multiple albums by an artist, but a few exceptions were made hehe.

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

2.3 Inches Of Blood - Here Waits Thy Doom

3.Absu - Tara

4.ADX - Division Blindée

5.Agalloch - The Mantle

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