Heavy metal has dominated other decades, both commercially and stylistically, with the 1980s being its big decade thanks to the rise of hair metal and the birth of thrash. The '90s saw a major flowering of ideas with black metal, death metal and grindcore all emerging/maturing. The first decade of the new millennium, however, has seen an unprecedented growth in commercial and critical (!) success and in a machine-gun spray of variations, from highly experimental combinations of extreme metal (deathgrind), to a reaffirming of the ancient arts (modern power/fantasy metal). There is even a sort of hipsterization happening (post-metal). To some, this is a golden age of metal, seeing their beloved genre get the recognition it has traditionally been denied. For others, it appears as the unmistakable watering down of what they once held dear. Then there are people who really, really like Eyehategod. Anyway, here is our list of the best metal albums from the past decade. Have fun getting angry at it because Dillinger Escape Plan's Calculating Infinity isn't on here (it came out in 1999).
25. Hammers of MisfortuneThe Bastard (2001)
A three-act metal opera with recurring characters, three distinct vocalists and a fully conceived storyline, this years-in-the-making debut from San Francisco's premier fantasy metal unknowns is something of an oddity. The Bastard was recorded on an 8-track in a rehearsal space (doesn't sound like it) with a result that's unspeakably imaginative (think Maiden played by druids, with absolutely glorious vocals) and downright incredible. Listen to it several times through; you won't get bored. This is a form of metal that existed before time, but somehow Hammers came up with it all on their own.
24. ThronesSperm Whale (2000)
Ex-Melvin Joe Preston's one-man band is heavy music genius. Sperm Whale was made with a bass guitar, a drum machine and what sounds like a chorus of angels. Experimental to say the least, the album is marked by jarring shifts in structure and a theme that works perfectly. If you want to see God, listen to "Obolus."
23. KhanateClean Hands Go Foul (2009)
After a three-year hiatus, Khanate reunited for this final record, a return to the minimalist doom metal extremism that won them acclaim before they abruptly split up in 2006. The viciousness in Khanate's music is more implied than stated. The "silent" spaces between the microphone-frying drum-guitar crashes communicate as much to the listener as the so-called "action," and a sort of painful mind-journey to wherever Khanate decides to drag you emerges. Meanwhile, Alan Dubin's endlessly tortured screeching assures you that everything is not going to be all right.
22. Strapping Young LadSYL (2003)
Using the then-recent events of September 11, 2001, as fuel for their anger, Strapping Young Lad put together a more collaborative record, with grittier production and more of a thrash/death-metal song structuring than the band had been known for previously. The result is an open-throated blast of ferocious riffing and high-flying choruses that is kind of like what would happen if Megadeth covered Sepultura's Chaos A.D.. The group's tendencies toward industrialism are toned down, and the album is highlighted by the fantastic one-two-three punch of "Relentless," "Rape Song" and "Aftermath."
21. Lamb of GodSacrament (2006)
Lamb of God have been making a name for themselves on the mainstream metal radar since they first appeared as Burn the Priest in 1999. Twisting up elements of black and death metal with the power-grooves of metalcore, the group produces one menacing behemoth of guitar churn and vocal rasp. Sacrament is one of those albums where you can actually hear a band hitting its stride. In 2006, Lamb of God were easily the best metal band America had to offer the general public.
20. WrnlrdOneiromantical War (2008)
"One-man black metal band from Virginia" almost says it all, but Oneiromantical War doesn't stop at the oversaturated guitars and shadowy drums found in similar acts. Wrnlrd's pukage of winter guitarscapes and evil rites performed in torch-lit halls wanders deliberately, with varying levels of recording technique sophistication—sonic depictions of total war, funeral marches and witchcraft exist alongside deserted carnival sounds. What few vocals emerge from the depths are bestial grunts or double-tracked psychedelic prayers. Wrnlrd don't so much experiment as unleash.
19. NileBlack Seeds of Vengence (2000)
While it's kind of a bummer to learn Nile gleaned their knowledge of ancient Egypt from the History Channel and not while plundering tombs with Indiana Jones, the attraction of a band that name checks Nephran-Ka and Aat-Ankh-Es-En-Amenti is undeniable. Also, any band offering a song called "Chapter for Transforming into a Snake" clearly deserves special consideration. More importantly, Black Seeds of Vengeance is marked by truly weird chanting and undeniably exotic instrumentations (see "Black Flame" for one) perfectly woven into traditional—but high-quality—death-metal moves.
18. SighImaginary Sonicscape (2001)
"Bizarre," "weird," "different"—these words fail this Japanese experimental metal band's magnum opus. Sigh began as the only black-metal band in Japan in 1990, but by the release of this album in 2001, they had either become bored with the restrictions of metal or had lost their marbles altogether. While the beautiful Japanese folk/classical coda of opener "Corpsecry - Angelfall" is in contrast to the rest of the song, it's the subsequent straight-faced curveballs hummed at the listener's face that make this album the absolutely unique work that it is. Reggae breakdowns, saxophone solos and marimba interludes fit remarkably well with death-grunt vocals and in straight-up black-metal songs. "A Sunset Song" is the key track, but you want to start at the beginning.
17. System of a DownMesmerize (2005)
On "This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm on This Song," Serj Tankian may sing "There's nothing wrong with me/ There's something wrong with you" convincingly, but anyone who's heard System of a Down's frenetic metal-funk and hyper-wacko singer knows that there's definitely something wrong with every one of these guys.
16. SuffocationSouls to Deny (2004)
Following a six-year hiatus, Suffocation returned with Souls to Deny, which not only bears the distinction of being a classic death-metal album released in 2004 but also marks a significant leap in the parameters of the genre, lyrics-wise. Whereas death metal is traditionally concerned with the sawing off of extremities, what decomposing bodies taste like, etc., lower-than-low grunter Frank Mullen is more concerned with his own heartbreak and the oppression of the weak here. Don't worry, though; Souls to Deny still features the wall of guitar flutter and breakdown chug that makes death metal the enchanting genre of music it is.
15. Electric WizardDopethrone (2000)
The 2000 release of this uber-heavy British band uncoils all the tar-pit riffs and hazy negativity they made their name with back when stoner metal was something people talked about. Slower and heavier than all the rest, Electric Wizard took post-Sabbath sludge to ridiculous extremes. Awesome guitars and awesomer vocals.
14. ConvergeJane Doe (2001)
Named Record of the Year by Terrorizer when it appeared in 2001, Jane Doe is in many ways the definitive metalcore album, with mathematically sound half-riffs crammed in between walloping sheets of hardcore brutality, songs that come on like fits and a grindcore-level of attention to speed and brevity. Boston metalcore ninjas Converge assumed their place as pace-setters with this, their third album. "Concubine" and "Fault and Fracture" form a blistering opening salvo, but you don't want to miss the resurrection of true emo (think Antioch Arrow) that is "Distance and Meaning."
13. SleepDopesmoker (2003)
63-minute epic of no-tempo super metal and thundering guitar prayers relates the travels of a people called "The Weedian" and the quest of their "stoner caravan" in the "riff-filled land," where they encounter a document called "The Hasheeshian," "Weed-Priests" and the very holy "Smoke Covenant." Sleep were subsequently booted off London Records. For years, this was only available as the Jerusalem bootleg, until the good folks at Tee Pee Records remastered the piece and reinstated its original Dopesmoker title in 2003. Here is that totally mega cut as the band envisioned it.
12. Shadows FallThe War Within (2004)
This band may have come up in the New England metalcore scene and they might toss in an emo chorus now and then. But one listen to "The Power of I and I" (pronounced "one and I"—no reggae here) and it is clear these Springfield kids are more interested in the interwoven thrash of Metallica and Sepultura than in all those kids in the O.C. confusing everybody with metal riffs and melodic vocals. The War Within came out in 2004 and furthered the band's reputation as a "new" metal band worth paying attention to.
11. Cephalic CarnageExploiting Dysfunction (2000)
This 2000 tour de force from the grindcore samurais features approximately 1,000 topped-out stretches of outright heaviness on a level rarely attained in music, let alone committed to a recording. For proof, check the first 10 seconds of the album. From there Cephalic Carnage rein in and unleash cyclones of power and technical ability with, uh, extreme prejudice. Many lyrics about marijuana, sound clips from Goodfellas, brain-folding gear shifts and guitars so overly distorted they actually blot out the rest of the band will keep even the most A.D.D.-afflicted freak-metal fan busy.
10. NasumHelvete (2003)
Swedish grindcore masters Nasum expand the borders of their often-maligned genre here, firing off one- and two-minute blasts of fully formed and strangely melodic hybrids of death metal and hardcore at light-speed. Universally praised by metal magazines since it appeared in 2003, Helvete, which translates from Swedish as "hell," is an excellent place to start for newcomers to the long-standing band, as well as nonbelievers in grindcore itself. While the entire album is excellent for junior's bedtime, you want to play him "Just Another Hog," "Doombringer" and "We Curse You All" first.
9. Sun O)))Flight of the Behemoth (2002)
While Sunn O)))'s brilliance can really only be understood when the mountainous waves of guitar drone that make up their turgid pieces are permanently damaging your hearing in a live setting, Flight of the Behemoth marks the highly influential band's taffy-pulling finest moment on wax. They collaborated with Japanese electronic noise overlord Merzbow on tracks 3 and 4 here and reconfigured Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (the scarifying closer "FWTBT"). The glacial moan of feedback, while heavy and loud as all hell, serves to transfix the listener far more than it disturbs.
8. OpethBlackwater Park (2001)
As a testament to their originality, Opeth remain a highly revered black-metal band, even though they've been on a major label for years and their records sell in the millions. Blackwater Park marks one of the band's highest points: it blends brutality, melody and a baleful perspective into metal that is as much art as it is music.
7. IsisWavering Radiant (2009)
Synonymous with the atmospheric walls of sound and crushing departures of post-metal, Isis have outdone themselves with Wavering Radiant. With a focus on clean production, wistful ambient nuances shift in and out of heavy passages, while a mixture of steady vocals and pained, urgent growls help glue these seven beautifully crafted soundscapes into one cohesive journey—from the enlightening keys of opener "Hall of the Dead" to the distraught ending of "Threshold of Transformation." [Jen Guyre]
6. Soilent GreenA Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down (2001)
New Orleans' sludge-metal scholars rain mind-bending shifts in tempo and alien time signatures on the heads of their poor listeners. Keeping up with this schizoid approach to grindcore (termed "deathgrind") is a workout only the truly nerdy—or possibly the truly addicted—will have the courage to undertake. Usually when a band gets this technical (see: Dillinger Escape Plan), the intensity is lost in all the crazy math flying around. Not so with Soilent Green. This is as sludgy as the sludgiest sludge metal ever to rise from the sludge of Nola's heavy (sludge) metal underbelly.
5. High on FireBlessed Black Wings (2005)
Matt Pike proves himself a true auteur of all that is heavy with Blessed Black Wings—if the first druid metal minute of "To Cross the Bridge" doesn't prove that, then the thrumming, volcanic pillaging that ensues should do the trick. This is heavy metal made by a man who rarely wears a shirt, and he plays that way. Just the beginnings of these songs are better than most albums. Other over-the-top statements that can be made here are that the guitar solos all rule, the vocals are bloodthirstily monumental, you can't play it loud enough and ... you can't play it loud enough.
4. Darkest HourHidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (2003)
The third album from D.C. metalcore kids Darkest Hour marks a shift to pure melodic death metal more in line with the Gothenburg scene of Sweden (think At the Gates) than folks were used to hearing from American bands in 2003. The resultant commercial success pointed to the future of metalcore, namely melody, melody melody. Still, Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation is nothing like the watered-down emo metal that came after it. Crosshatched with machine-gunning guitars and hardcore yelps, the jaw-dropper breakdowns that come halfway through each song make the album a must-hear.
3. MastodonLeviathan (2004)
Voted 2004's Album of the Year in Kerrang!, Terrorizer and Revolver magazines, Leviathan is a concept album based on Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The Atlanta prog-metal band's critically acclaimed combination of sludge-metal punch and Thin Lizzy-harmonized guitar leads made just about every metal fan in America say "UHG2BFKM!" when the album appeared and promptly began embarrassing everyone else in '04. Its only failing is that you can't actually toss harpoons at sperm whales while listening to "Seabeast."
2. Pig DestroyerProwler in the Yard (2001)
Boasting cover art that sets the bar for grotesquery (two words: hacksaw, arm) and one of the more upsetting openings in extreme music ("Jennifer," a voice synthesizer similar to the DECtalk DTC01 Stephen Hawking uses, details a twisted sexual encounter between two cheerleaders), Prowler in the Yard is the curb job death-grind debut of Virginian sickos Pig Destroyer. With 22 tracks that run between 16 seconds and almost a full 2 minutes, the album has all the chunk-ity chug moshes and animal-man screeching anybody who has something seriously wrong with them could ask for.
1. EyehategodConfederacy of Ruined Lives (2000)
Eyehategod returned after a four-year break to record their fourth album of original material. The identification of the band members' mental disorders in the liner notes dispelled any notion that they had gotten their act together. If anything, the lapse gave Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton an opportunity to add a slew of new, grumbling, boogie-metal riffs to the already mind-boggling count in the band's repertoire. The reworked "Southern Discomfort"—retitled "Jack Ass in the Will of God"—is one of their filthiest, sludgiest, pukiest moments ever, except for ".001%," which is just wrong.
Portions of album content provided by All Music Guide © 2011 All Media Guide, LLC ® 1999-2011 Rhapsody International Inc.
All I have to say is.... Bloodbath"the fathomless mastery" S.Y.L "Alien" Hate Eternal "I, Monarch" I just dont understand why some of these "metal bands" got on this list but thats one persons opinion. Its all good and theres no anger here, especially "St Anger"
one question: WHERE IS AVENGED SEVENFOLD?
I second Monkey. Where is Avenged Sevenfold???? They have evolved musically soooo much this decade!
did the guy who make this list have pigtails, where is cannibal corpse
Avenged Sevnfold?????Metalica????Were are they !!!!!they are the two worlds greatest Hevy Metal Bands in the world,(besides Lamb of god and Systeme of a down)
This list was frakkin' pathetic. The only bands that I recognized were System of A Down and Avenged Sevenfold, and I havn't listened to System of A Down at all. Where was "The Subliminal Verses" by Slipknot? I was sure that would be at the very least in the Top 10. It's a goddamn work of art if you ask me! And where was Disturbed with "The Sickness"? That was a New Millenium masterpiece!
I think you made a mistake. The Sword's Age of Winters is supposed to be in the top 5.
To anyone who believes Slipknot and Disturbed belong on any "best of" list (especially best of decade) need to be drawn and quartered. The only thing those bands added to the genre is bullshit.
Where is Linkin Park? Metalica?
just pathetic...but for a few exceptions (isis-wavering radiant could have been no.1 and the quite clever leviathan from mastodon)this list is just a lame reference to metal bands of this decade... where is the magnificent fas-ite maledicti in ignem aeternum from deathspell omega?? where is om from negura bunget?? where is this godless emdeavour from nevermore?? where is tool?? mayhem??? and pls people...cut that shit with linkin park and metallica...metallica just lost their touch and linkin park?? are we serious here???? why not vote britney's spears last hit as the utter masterpiece of evil black metal music??? get serious....
First of all Isis' Wavering Radiant wasn't even there best album of the decade, Oceanic was. Same with Pig Destroyer's album, Phantom Limb was better. Second,the reason you're not seeing A7X, Linkin Park, Disturbed, etc, is because they are not real metal its shitty nu-metal. Metallica is not on here because they haven't made anything good in a damn long time. Electric Wizards' Dopethrone, Converge's Jane Doe, Opeth's Blackwater Park, and Mastodon's Leviathan are the only albums on here that might even consider a top 25 warrant. This list needed Isa by Enslaved, Fuck the Universe by Craft, The Gathering Witness by Primordial, Axe to Fall by Converge, Last Fair Deal Gone Down by Katatonia, Miss Machine by Dillinger Escape Plan, there is a bunch more but I'll just stop there.
Where's Meshuggah's "ObZen" and more importantly Necrophagist's "Epitaph"....the list was better than i expectred, but still, obviously compiled too swiftly. Dillinger Escape Plan, Neurosis, Black Dahlia Murder, com on: System of a Down? Sigh? Sleep's Dopesmoker was practically a re-release from the 90's? WTF?
And to reiterate my fellow klansmen, Linkin Park, Disturbed, and all that utter crap is a different genre. Metallica hasn't produced anything solid for nearly two decades.
The whole list is pathetic.I haven't even heard of most of those albums.I knew this was a bad decade,but it wasn't that bad.
The Beatles blow most, if not all, of these bands out of the water.
I do not consider any of this metal (with exceptions of Mastodon, System of a Down, Opeth to name a few). Metal is not about gut wrenching grows and detuned guitars whose sound can be replicated with a few rubber bands. Khanate, Sperm Whale and many others, who ever the hell they are, is just a bad acid trip. Metal used to be about anger and angst. If a song makes me feel as if I am stuck in the middle of a Saw movie, I consider it garbage.
How is it that 'metal' has become synonymous with death metal? What classification would bands like Megadeth, Metallica or Five Finger Death Punch fall into now? I've always been a huge metal fan, but this movement towards everything being about guttural 'singing', gore and hatred really doesn't define the genre of metal, does it? I mean really, as much as I love hard driving guitar lines and hearing a master hammer on the drums, I also enjoy being able to actually understand or relate to the lyrics...
disregarding the fact that Tool should have been #1, they're not even on the list!?
I second that Tim!!
Well, I do agree w/ a few of these, like LOG, Shadows Fall, Opeth, High on Fire, and Mastodon (and the SYL pick should've been "Alien"), but the bulk of this list either sucks, or no one's ever heard of! I am familiar w/ quite a # of bands out there, but I've never heard of "Wrnlrd" from anywhere, and I just sampled it and it's utter BS! I can see this making the top 25 worst albums, but best, c'mon, the production is worse than 98% of the black metal from the early '90s! What about Dimmu Borgir's "In Sorte Diaboli", Immortal's "All Shall Fall", Soilwork's "Natural Born Chaos", Nightwish's "Once", Susperia's "Unlimited", or Avenged Sevenfold's "City of Evil" (to those that say A7X isn't metal or is nu-metal, you're a moron, they're a damn good band that makes damn good music, and they're 100% metal (w/ no "nu"))? This list could've been better.
Not a bad list at all, good selections for death, sludge, doom, avant-garde, and progressive metal. The best compliment I can give this list is that it pisses off the mainstream metal kids, bitching about the exclusion of Metallica, A7X, Five Finger Deathpunch, Slipknot, Dimmu Borgir, etc...
I really don't understand how Tool's Lateralus (2001) didn't make the list, although i can appreciate the diversity here.
seeing Converge, Darkest Hour, High on Fire, and Mastodon make the list pleasantly pleased me, although i would debate the inclusion of Sleep because a) it's a re-issue, and b) it seems like giving another nod to matt pike (HoF).
As for Nile, i would have picked Annihilation of the Wicked, and Pig Destroyer's Phantom Limb was the best metal they've put out, imho. To cover the grind genre, I'd rather have put Cattle Decapitation's Humanure. I would have also put Animosity's "Animal" or "Empires" on here, too, but not too many would agree with that, and Meshuggah's obZen also merits recognition, as does Gojira's "The Way of All Flesh".
Megadeth's output of the decade, although arguably better than Metallica's, also fails to really drive home much innovation, deflating the chances for inclusion in a "best of" list. for a thrash nominee, i'd offer Municipal Waste's "Hazardous Mutation", for its influence in re-igniting thrash with a loving reincarnation of thrash, the unabashedness of which proved to be moderately successful (think of the "Thrashing Like a Maniac" compilation).
I'd also like to add Behemoth's "Demigod", Gengis Tron's "Board Up the House", and Arsis' "A Celebration of Guilt" for consideration of addition to the list.
Also, Mesmerize/Hypnotize is technically one album, according to the band.
if you haven't heard at least 10 bands on this list, then you are a terribly uninformed metalhead. none of the commerical cats could even come close to half of these bands.
the 2000's were a time for RAW fucking sound, not the studio 'make this digitally perfect" bullshit like every lame ass band listed in the comments.
not the most perfect selections. check out the earlier works from isis. new album was soft. shame boris didn't even make the list!!!
BORIS = BEST BAND OF THE 2000's!!!
Gah! I forgot Boris you're right! I almost want to switch out Dopesmoker for Flood and re-post. I knew I was forgetting somebody. Amplifier Worship and Absolutego both came out in the '90s though so no go and I don't trust their later stuff as much. And to Daniel: Gojira was on the original list, btw and as far as the Dopesmoker inclusion goes, it's true Matt Pike is represented by High On Fire here but Al Cisneros wasn't and, to quote him (referring to Tony Iommi), "his riffology is irrefutable." Thanks for all the comments -- positive and negative -- and for reading. I promise I will check out Tool's Lateralus album if everybody else listens to Hammers of Misfortune.
I must be waaaaaaaaay outta the metal loop now I've never heard most of these albums. I know a lotta of the names but that's it.
WTF DUDE???? NO SLAYER???
slayer put out two kick-ass albums God Hates Us All in 2001 and Christ Illusion in 2006
thats BULLSHIT
Slayer is one of the most metal bands of all time and it wasnt even concidered??? your list sucks!
and what about Dimmu Borgir's In Sorte Diaboli
where the hell does that stand????
pig destroyer's prowler in the yard should have been number one, with cephalic carnage's exploiting disfunction second. necrophagist's epitaph should be up there somewhere. and converge's jane doe is the list's classic. you wanna be able to "hear" the lyrics? get some hannah montana.
Dude, I actually like this list. Khanate? Pig Destroyer and Eyehategod as number one and 2? Fuck yeah! Opeth? Sunn O))))?/
Man everyone who doesn't know should give up already
I like most of the albums on this list that everyone's comments seems to hate. Especially Sunn O))), Khanate, Eye Hate God, High on Fire, Sleep, Electric Wizard, Pig Destroyer, Nile, Thrones. Thrones sperm whale is a game changer though maybe not able to be pinned to the genre "metal'. Overall pretty good list except System of a Down being pedestrian and insufferable. I would have added Harvey Milk, Black Cobra and Orthrelm but that's just my opinion. Thanks for yours. Don't bother listening to Tool.
I wish Uroboros made this list, but I'm not going to join the trolls yelling that your list sucks. I like the choice of Mezmerize a lot, by the way; it's a great album, one of my favorite of the decade overall.
Really, no top "blank" of metal is going to please the majority of metal fans, but I think you did ok here. I think Mastodon should have been #1, and I think they really could have had 3 albums up here but I understand 1 per band. Blackwater Park was amazing, and I love that you had High On Fire and Electric Wizard up there too.
I wouldn't have included System of a Down. If you insisted on having them in there, at least use Toxicity. Gojira is a big ommission. I would have included either "From Mars to Sirius" or "The Way of all Flesh". Also, SYL's Alien should have been the representative. The Sword would have been a good pick to have up there as well, but I'm not gonna kill you for that.
The most glaring ommission is "In the Arms of God" by Corrosion of Conformity. I would put that in the top 10, it's southern sludgy metal with great drumming by Stanton Moore.
I tht they wud definitely include BFMV,A7X,As I Lay Dying....they are metalcore and they desrv to b on d list bcuz of their evolution and their style of metallic presentation..!! fuck metallica and FUCK linkin park
I listened to quite a bit of this list, and I have to say most of it is a little too trashy/growly/stoner for me. I really like a handful of em though.
It's nice to see a personal list with some new recommendations instead of a grab bag of the 1,000 bands I hear on the radio with the music philosophy of "Let's flip a coin to see which power chord we play and try really hard to sound like Layne Staley."
Opeth should have had more albums on here. At least Ghost Reveries. That album is amazing. In fact the entire list should just be Opeth albums repeated over and over again.
Why is Tool not on this list? Blasphemy.
The seven fold is at Rhapsody dude all I what to know is why can't that that we=sold-our-soul-for-rock-nroll album will not play and wheres is Wizard man
mail and or be back somewhere untill I find that it if it has to be ozzy website or the Great Black Sabbath.it on an a ozzy osbourne album Rock on
Sad selection as was to be expected...some good bands a lot of crap and some styles completely ignored no THERION, Nightwish, Moonspell, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir etc etc System of a down as metal???
Listen to the albums before you diss. It's not just what music you like based on your bias but the creativity behind them. I like thrash that tears it up or alt with catchy riffs as much as the next person but even I have to admit the creativity and originality of certain albums on this list. Yes metal is broadly defined. Like rock is. *Gasp* Music is supposed to be art as well? (~A~) duh
Pig Destroyer - Prowler in the Yard... best album ever.
Buy this album, if you're not into grindcore it'll take a few listens to appreciate but it's worth it. Classic
Exactly. Metal is now an incredibly broad genre, including epic guitar and orchestral works like Symphony X, progressive metal (which on its own is ridiculously varied, from Dream Theater to Dir en grey to Mastodon), and doom metal (which is a lot slower-paced than most other subgenres).
On an unrelated note, I love #17 (which is one of my top albums of the decade in general due to the volume of awesome pieces).
You know, I'm all for supporting the "special needs" crowd, but let's let them throw the discus to make them feel special, not compile lists about the "best metal albums of the decade".
Seriously, System of a Down, but no ZAO?
How dare you, Rhapsody, how dare you?
Not a bad list at all if you ask me, High on Fire, Sleep and Electric Wizard, 3 of my favourite bands, there was never gonna be any competition on that. And Sunn 0))) HELL ALIVE MAN freakin awesome, Mastodon too...
wrong Lamb of God album though... Ashes of the Wake without a doubt
A really solid list overall; you can never fault a "best of" list for having Sleep and High on Fire, not to mention Pig Destroyer.
I will say though, that the inclusion of Lamb of God and System of a Down is kind of a head-scratcher. If you're going to have a Lamb of God album at all, please please PLEASE make it "As the Palaces Burn" or "Ashes of the Wake". Better yet, kick them off the list entirely and enter instead The Sword's "Age of Winters". Bar-setting doom/thrash album.
Not the best list i've ever seen,would have had Opeth's Ghost Reveries and Crack the Skye by Mastodon on their,but the exclusion of Gojira surprised me!I'm not usually into hippy death metal,but saw them live at a few festivels around Europe and they really impressed me!As to people whining Avenge Sevenfold and Linkin Park should be on the list iask you this question-Do you really think they have any place on a list where genuine metal icons are acknowledged?I mean i've seen Linkin Park twice supporting Metallica(whose fan base has been polluted by preppy bastards) and still they were bottled off stage on both occasions!
wow need even a mention of these albums
Deftones, White Pony
The Mars Volta, Frances The Mute
Unearth, The Oncoming Storm
Machine Head, The Blackening
Chimaira, Chimaira
Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf
Iron Maiden, Brave New World
Killswitch Engage, Alive or Just Breathing
Between the Buried and Me, Alaska
Wow. This list is a joke on so many levels and reveals how little is known about metal by so many corporations associated with music (MTV anyone?) I could name endless albums that are missing but let's start with a few classics:
Nevermore, Dead Heart In A Dead World
Iced Earth, Horror Show
Iron Maiden, Brave New World
Death Angel, Killing Season
Exodus, Tempo Of The Damned
Paradise Lost, Paradise Lost
Celtic Frost, Monotheist
Cavalera Conspiracy, Inflikted
Circle II Circle, Burden of Truth
Morgana Lefay, Grand Materia
Metallica are Awesome.
End of.
Metallica should've been on here.
And what about Death Cult Armageddon?
DCA in my opinion is an amazing, powerful & extraordnary record. It is one of the most beautiful & creative black metal albums i have heard. Why isnt it in there? =\
And Highest Hopes by Nightwish?? Dont see it...
Any Dimmu/Metallica etc fans here?
I'd love to msn you :)
Im glad Lamb of God, Sigh, SOAD(Bad album choice though, toxicity is much better), Converge and Opeth are here but were is Dillinger Escape Plan's Ire Works, Diablo Swing Orchestras "The Butchers Ballroom", Dream Theater's Octavirium and Avenged Sevenfold's "City of Evil" (call it "not metulz" and "emo" as much as you want but the truth is that that album is one of the best of the decade and it blended everything thats great in Metal, listen to "The Wicked End" and "Blinded in Chains" and you'll see what i mean) and also Shadows Fall?!?! Are you Kidding me?!?!?!
iron maiden: dance of death
I like this list... I like it very very much.
Wtf! Where is Trivium?? Chimaira? Children of bodom? Slayer? Metallica?
You actually put METAL artists on this list :") I can't believe it.
+Death to Mallcore+
Love EYEHATEGOD
and how is Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed metal.
Those are bands people are trying to forget exist.
You need to eliminate Lamb of God and put in some Agalloch.
where's DISTURBED?!!!
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Byron Injeeli