My Personal Top 10 Favorite Metal Albums

Greetings Metal for the Masses community!

This post is kind of a celebration for me because this sub has led me to some of the most spectacular music I've heard, and lots of it I've heard for a long time before even talking in this community. I THINK I am ready to make the ultimate personal top 10 albums list. But then again, favorites are almost impossible to pick.

I previously made a top 10 list (now deleted) but I realized I left out a ton of stuff that should have been mentioned. Truthfully, this list I am posting at the moment might be more true to myself.

On top of my top 10 list, these are some honorable mentions to start off with:

- Slayer - Reign In Blood - awesome riffs. Don't need to discuss this one tbh its super popular.

- In Flames - The Jester Race - Used to be top 10. This is like the vocal brutality of death metal having a child with NWOBHM type soaring riffs and melodies. Its got this super nice medieval vibe to it.

- Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness - Also used to be top 10. I think its still some of the best old-school death metal. The riffwork and song structures here are nothing short of subliminal.

- Emperor - Into The Nightside Eclipse - It pains me so much to leave this out the top 10, its breathtaking, cosmic, theatrical, and so amazing in every way but I just don't listen to it quite as much.

- Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark - Crunchy, gnarly cavernous black metal. And for that category, I love this album. It has everything from the dense thrashy 1st wave black metal to the more epic battle anthem type songs that Bathory would later be known for.

- Electric Wizard - Dopethrone - Obviously we at the MetalForTheMasses sub worship this album, and for good reason.

Okay HERE WE GO. Top 10. This list is in no particular order.

1. Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane - Easy pick. Super theatric, embellished and majestic. Its got a black metal melodic edge with that signature Gotenburg sound and I honestly think this is one of the best metal albums made. There's no shortage of amazing riffs too that spiral to envelop you in a wintry blizzard of death. The whole sound and production quality of this album I am in love with, its absolutely perfect to me.

2. Enslaved - Frost - Last time, I placed the wonderfully prog 'Below The Lights' on the list. But this one has become a favorite instead. Its like wandering a frozen tundra with runic pagan secrets, and its super immersive. I have fond memories of listening to this on snowy days and the overall tone of the album sounds so hollow and misty. The drums genuinely sound like empty frozen shards of ice being slammed onto.

3. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger - I could have picked any of the unholy trinity Darkthrone records or even Panzerfaust, but this one has always stuck out to me. It has that harrowing, hypnotizing type black metal trance that never fails to pull me into blissful black metal darkness. It's got those buzzsaw tremolo riffs that rip through you like a freezing wind, but it also has a strange calming sense.

4. Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise - This one is so underated and unknown. This is black metal fueled by paranoia and the otherworldly. This is such a consciousness-shaking journey down a spiral taking you somewhere else, almost sounding beyond this world - a world I can only describe as an insanely dark and psychedelic dystopia. Listen to it if you haven't its so unique and world-bending.

5. Opeth - Blackwater Park - An album that has been with me for a long time, and changed the way I see music as a whole. It's just lush, atmospheric and beautiful. Filled to the brim with that beauty and the beast duality. It's a masterpiece in dwelling in melancholic music that eventually build up tension to a crushing release. The only prog metal album I can regularly listen to.

6. Cryptopsy - None So Vile - Probably my favorite death metal album. Its so techinical and brutal but also retains clear melody and memorable hooks. Everything is so evil and frantic and demonic. 'Graves of the Fathers' might actually be my favorite death metal song. It's a perfectly calculated storm of chaos.

7. Death - Scream Bloody Gore - I really like a lot of other Death albums too, but the debut has this truly vile and special feel to it that the increased complexity of later albums don't quite hold. Maybe I just love dummy caveman death metal but this one is not only monumentally important to death metal but also a personal favorite of mine. The riffwork is very cool but the quality that sets this one apart is Chuck's vocals alternating between banshee cries and a raspy growling demon.

8. Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops - Such a perfect sludge metal album. I love the bluesy, groovy vibes juxtaposed to absolutely insane and demented lyrics and themes. It's got these oozy tempo changes, amazing squeling vocals and super creative songwriting. This one is very important to me personally and I love every song on here.

9. Cough - Ritual Abuse - When it comes to extreme doom metal, this one stands out to me. It's probably a bit under the radar but its got maximum heaviness, reverb, distortion and feedback and agaonizing vocals - everything to make it sound as hopeless, bitter and occult evil as possible. This one mixes stoner and sludge styles to create something that seems like any ordinary slow sludgey doom metal album, but has a quality that is truly unique. Its got both that epic evil wizard singing and tortured madman wails.

10. Alice In Chains - Dirt - Perfect album front to back. The subject matter is so profound and dark but its also got so many groovy tunes. Its melancholic and amazing, and such a beautiful emotional release from the depths of heartbreak, addiction and sorrow. This is one of my favorite bands near and dear to me. I don't even know if this is metal, but I am not here to entertain that debate.

Alright i really gotta take a shit bye.