I don’t recall having seen this pop up in this community. Give a rundown of your favorite albums. Top slot, top 3, top 5, 10… whatever’s easiest to you since I know it can be tough to narrow things down to a specific degree.

It’ll be interesting to see where everyone is coming from in this regard. Could create for a good opportunity to discuss albums, find people with similar tastes, argue that a different album from someone’s catalog is better, etc.

I’ll throw mine down in a separate comment once I get it figured out.

  • Phenomephrene@thebrainbin.orgOP
    11·
    5 months ago

    Alright, Top 13 for me, because 13 and this is what I could figure well enough and be satisfied with right now. Ordering subject to roughly change somewhere around fifth slot depending on what mood I’m in on any given day, but these are solid mainstays in my rotation (most of them for decades at this point). Doesn’t reflect how broad my interests go, but you can see that I gravitate a lot toward black metal, and I favor stuff that isn’t afraid to be its own thing. Weird is good. Non-metal albums removed though there are a couple in my top 10 if I weren’t being genre specific.

    1. Dødheimsgard - A Umbra Omega
    2. Ved Buens Ende - Written in Waters
    3. Murmuüre - Murmuüre
    4. Emptiness - Not For Music
    5. The Skaden - You Will Hope I Had Died
    6. Solefald - The Linear Scaffold
    7. Samael - Eternal
    8. At the Gates - The Red in the Sky is Ours
    9. Ulver - Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler
    10. Cryptopsy - None So Vile
    11. Summoning - Old Mornings Dawn
    12. Rotting Christ - Khronos
    13. Akercocke - Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone
  • foggy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    5 months ago

    1. Between The Buried and Me - Colors

    2. Mr. Bungle - California

    3. Opeth - Blackwater Park

    4. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia

    5. The Dear Hunter - Act III

    6. The Dear Hunter - Act II

    7. Eyedea & Abilities - First Born

    8. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet

    9. The Ocean - Pelagial

    10. Sleep Token - This Place Will Become Your Tomb

    Edit: I didn’t realize this was a metal community post. I just responded for my all time top 10.

    If I am focusing on metal, I remove dear hunter, porcupine tree, bungle, and sleep token.

    I add both Necrophagist albums, Nobembre’s ‘Everasia’, Animals as leaders self-titled, Opeth’s Still Life, and At The Gates slaughter of the soul…

    1. Between The Buried and Me - Colors (2007) [Progressive Metalcore]

    2. Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001) [Progressive Death Metal]

    3. Necrophagist - Epitaph (2004) [Technical Death Metal]

    4. Novembre - Everasia (2002) [Progressive Death/Doom Metal]

    5. Necrophagist - Onset of Putrefaction (1999) [Technical Death Metal]

    6. The Ocean - Pelagial (2013) [Progressive Metal]

    7. Animals as Leaders - Self-titled (2009) [Progressive Metal/Djent]

    8. Opeth - Still Life (1999) [Progressive Death Metal]

    9. At The Gates - Slaughter of the Soul (1995) [Melodic Death Metal]

    10. Darkest Hour - Deliver Us (2007) [Melodic Death Metal/Metalcore]

    • sinkingshipEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      I don’t know about the other artists, but why remove Mr Bungle? In my opinion they’re metal af!

      • foggy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        5 months ago

        California isn’t! Lol. I mean there’s heavy parts of air conditioned night are and goodbye sober day but all in all, it’s a pretty bright album.

        • sinkingshipEnglish
          3·
          5 months ago

          I see, you’re referring to that specific album. It’s just that extremely experimental including all kinds of sounds and styles that it seems very difficult to say what genre it is.

          Thank you for that small interaction, it lead me to change my last night’s plans, getting my headphones out and listen to Mr Bungle and other Mike Patton bands like FNM and Fantomas. Was a great night!

          In case you didn’t know, there are some badass recordings from earlier days or cut together tapes like this one.

          • foggy@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            5 months ago

            Check out Peeping Tom. That was a fun project, and more recent than the rest afaik.

            I actually got to see Patton and Bungle perform My Ass Is On Fire very recently. They e been touring again if you weren’t aware!

            • sinkingshipEnglish
              2·
              5 months ago

              Thank you!

              I’ve been listening to Perping Tom before, so far they haven’t caught me as much as the heavier bands. However, today I started the first time listening actively to Mondo Cane and really like it.

              I guess they started touring after releasing The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny again?

              Anyway, this man is a powerhouse! I am very thankful that he dedicates his life for so, so many great projects!

  • pootsforjesus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    5 months ago

    Some faves off the dome:

    Unearth - The Oncoming Storm

    Unleash The Archers - Apex

    Strapping Young Lad - City

    Misery Signals - Mirrors

    Entheos - Time Will Take Us All

    Striker - Ultrapower

    Astronoid - Air

    Meshuggah - Chaosphere

    Shai Hulud - Misanthropy Pure

    • Phenomephrene@thebrainbin.orgOP
      4·
      5 months ago

      My first extreme metal haul was three CD’s I bought at Best Buy, and Chaosphere was one of them. That album is burned into my brain.

  • toomanypancakes@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    5 months ago

    I tend to listen to a lot of symphonic metal. I know some folks are turned off if the vocals aren’t harsh enough, so some of these are probably a total miss, but some of my favorite albums are:

    1. Delain - The Human Contradiction
    2. The Agonist - Lullabies for the Dormant Mind
    3. Within Temptation - The Unforgiving
    4. Opeth - Blackwater Park
    5. Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful
    6. Frantic Amber - Burning Insight
    7. Infected Rain - 86
    8. Dream Theater - Train of Thought
    9. Iron Maiden - Killers
    10. Epica - The Holographic Principle
    • Phenomephrene@thebrainbin.orgOP
      4·
      5 months ago

      I find a lot of times I’m more skirting around the edges of symphonic metal without landing dead center. I like female vocals a lot, so I get into stuff like Tristania and The Gathering pretty hard. And I like some stuff that’s more in the neoclassical darkwave spectrum like Autumn Tears, Rain Fell Within, Dargaard, etc. Elis is probably the most on the nose symphonic group that I enjoy a lot.

    • Metju@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      5 months ago

      Hoo boy, The Agonist… It’s unfortunate they disbanded, but yeah, Lullabies for the Dormant Mind is one of their better albums. Great pick 👍

  • Successful_Try543@feddit.orgEnglish
    6·
    5 months ago

    In alphabetical order:
    . Amon Amarth - Fate of Norns
    . Leaves Eyes - Vinland Saga
    . Manowar - Louder than Hell (and the epic Gods of War)
    . Metallica - Metallica (black album)
    . Moonsorrow - Voimasta ja Kunniasta
    . Nightwish - Wishmaster (Century Child, Oceanborn and Once are great too)
    . Sabaton - Art of War
    . System of a Down - Toxicity
    . Wintersun - Wintersun
    . Within Temptation - Mother Earth

    • Phenomephrene@thebrainbin.orgOP
      2·
      5 months ago

      The Wintersun self-titled has had surprising staying power for me. I wouldn’t consider it something that’s squarely in my wheelhouse, but I still love it after… damn, that album is 20 years old…

      • Successful_Try543@feddit.orgEnglish
        3·
        5 months ago

        The album is packed full of good songs, such as Starchild, Death and the Healing, and Sadness and Hate.

        but I still love it after… damn, that album is 20 years old…

        Obviously, we’re both getting old ;-)

  • Nate Cox@programming.devEnglish
    71·
    5 months ago

    Dream Theater — Metropolis Part 2 is the best metal album ever written and I’ll die on the hill.

    There are albums I like more, albums I definitely listen to more, but if we’re talking overall quality Metropolis pt 2 is an absolute masterpiece.

  • Classy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    Random albums that come to mind:

    Hatebreed — Concrete Confessional or Supremacy
    Pantera — Vulgar Display of Power
    Alice in Chains — Dirt (yes I group it in with metal)
    Gorguts — Obscura
    Cannibal Corpse — Torture
    Deftones — Diamond Eyes
    GODFLESH — A World Lit Only By Fire
    Godsmack — debut or Oracle
    Lamb of God — Ashes of the Wake
    Mayhem — Daemon
    Chimaira — Impossibility of Reason
    Nine Inch Nails — anything before Bad Witch tbh
    Type O Negative — October Rust

  • Technus@lemmy.zipEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    I grew up downloading songs a la carte and now I use services like Spotify and YouTube Music, so I never paid much attention to albums as a whole.

    But there’s a couple of standouts for me, albums I have listened all the way through multiple times, and they’re both from Iron Maiden:

    • Rock in Rio live, 2001

    Most of my life, I thought concerts were stupid because I’d only been to ones at like, the county fair, with shitty country music from amateur cover artists on blown out speakers and surrounded by drunk and rowdy rednecks.

    This is the album that convinced me that live shows were worth seeing. In my opinion, this is the gold standard for live albums. I’ve never seen any other band with so many in their discography, and it makes me wish that other bands released more. But it makes sense: Iron Maiden has always been a show band first, and a studio band second.

    The crowd has the perfect amount of presence in the mix. Someome took the time to make sure you can always hear them, adjusting the levels so that they never drown out the band and vice versa. And you can feel how large the audience is. And they’re total putty in Bruce’s experienced hands.

    It inspires a real sense of community that I’ve come to crave from live shows, even as an introvert, and it helped kick off a life-long addiction.

    • Brave New World, 2000

    I think we can all agree that almost every album has a weak track or two. One that’s just boring or doesn’t fit with the rest, that seems just kind of thrown in.

    Not this album.

    This album heralded the triumphant return of lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith after 7 and 10 years, respectively.

    It’s the first album with the full-bodied, punchy Iron Maiden sound that I’ve come to love. Instead of firing Janick Gers to make room for Smith, they just said “fuck it, let’s have three guitarists,” and it fucking works. And they still have the same lineup almost a quarter century later.

    Not every song is iconic, but they’re all enjoyable, and several of them would end up being staples of their setlists going forward. (They also played many of them at Rock in Rio as part of the supporting tour.)

    It’s not explicitly a concept album, but it very nearly works as one. And the album art is actually really fucking cool (Iron Maiden’s album art is admittedly hit or miss cough Dance of Death cough).

  • sillyhatsonly@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    Hard to narrow down favorites because my feelings change often, but these 5 have been in rotation most often lately (in no particular order)

    And I’ll say that I don’t necessarily think these are the best albums ever… I don’t think I could ever make up my mind about that! Looking forward to seeing everyone else’s picks.

  • Mezmer1zed@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    1/2 both Acid Bath albums

    3 Burning Witch - Crippled Lucifer

    4/5 Khanate - Khanate/Things Viral

    6-9 Black Sabbath - first 4 albums

    10 Gorguts - Obscura

        • Phenomephrene@thebrainbin.orgOP
          2·
          5 months ago

          Right on. I feel like with them it’s one of those deals where there is no wrong answer. Both albums are so good it makes complete sense why someone might like either one over the other. I go for Paegan… myself, but When the Kite String Pops is still pinnacle level stuff.

          • Mezmer1zed@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            5 months ago

            Agreed. As far as I am concerned, both perfect albums, or as close as anything can get. WTKSP has my favorite tone/vibe, but Grave Flower is my favorite song. Like you said, no wrong answer. Except maybe not digging Acid Bath.

  • ZC3rr0r@lemmy.caEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    I can’t really or an order to them as they’re all favorites of mine, but there’s a top 10:

    Iron Maiden - Somewhere in time

    Life of Agony - River runs red

    At the gates - Slaughter of the soul

    In Flames - Colony

    Sentenced - Down

    Black Sabbath - Master of reality

    Iced Earth - Alive in Athens (I know this is cheating as it’s basically a best of album, but so what)

    Kyuss - Welcome to sky valley

    Queensryche - Operation mindcrime

    Death - The sound of perseverance

    Honestly though, I could put together a top “whatever” and still have too little space to place all the entries.

  • Noo@jlai.luEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    Not in order and from the top of my head.

    • Paul Chain, Park Of Reason
    • Devin Townsend, Ocean Machine: Biomech
    • Korn, Issues
    • Type O Negative, Bloody Kisses
    • Arcturus, The Shame Mirror
    • pootsforjesus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      Ocean Machine is such a clutch album. One of my favorite non-SYL Townsend albums, along with Punky Brüster.

    • Classy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      Fuck yeah, not enough Type O fans out there. Bloody Kisses and October Rust battle it out in my mind for top position

      • ZC3rr0r@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        5 months ago

        What about World coming down or Life is killing me? I find the album’s that document the band and Peter’s struggles easier to connect with at an emotional level than the previous - admittedly great - albums where it sometimes felt like the band was intentionally parodying the goth scene.

    • Phenomephrene@thebrainbin.orgOP
      2·
      5 months ago

      Love that Arcturus album. Probably my favorite of theirs, though Aspera Heims… has my favorite guitar solo of all time on it, so I waffle on that sometimes.

      • Noo@jlai.luEnglish
        2·
        5 months ago

        Yes that’s a strong contestant for me as well :)

  • SwordInStone@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    I don’t usually listen to whole albums, but let’s see what looking though my spotify yields:

    1. d’Artagnan - Felsenfest
    2. Scooter - God save the rave (ik, not metal)
    3. Nightwish - Imaginaerum
    4. Saltatio Mortis- Brot und Spiele (anything by them)
    5. Disforia - The Age of Aether
    6. Mandowar - Hellboys from cow
    7. Electroc Callboy - Tekkno
    8. Powerwolf - Blood of the saints
    9. Beast in Black - Dark connection (any of their 3 albums is great)
    10. Dream Evil - Dragonslayer
    11. Gloryhammer- Return to the kingdom of Fife
    12. Lord of the lost - Judas
    13. Demons & Wizards - Touched by the Crimson King
    14. Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth
    15. Leaves’ Eyes - Symphonies of the Night
    16. Edguy - Hellfire Club
    17. Alestorm - Curse of the crystal coconut
    18. Visions of Atlantis - Pirates
    19. Ye Banished Privateers - Legend of Libertalia
    20. Van Canto - Voices of Fire
    21. In Extremo - Quid pro quo
    22. Feuerschwanz - Das Elfte Gebot
    23. Avantasia - Moonglow
    24. Nanowar of Steel - Stairway to Valhalla
    25. Brothers of Metal - Emblas Saga

    Yeah, I think that’s enough :)

  • nyctre@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    5 months ago

    Recent favourites, in no particular order:

    Prog or adjacent : The ocean - Pelagial

    Kglw - petrodragonic apocalypse (was my album of the year last year and one of the most fun albums I’ve heard in a long time. Felt like listening to painkiller or master of puppets for the first time. Legit top 10 all time album for me, I think)

    Katatonia - the fall of hearts

    Haken - affinity

    Pain of salvation - in the passing light of day (or remedy lane or perfect element)

    Soen - Lotus

    Opeth - Ghost reveries (or any of the preceding albums, really)

    Leprous - the congregation

    Mastodon - crack the skye (or leviathan or emperor of sand)

    Doom and adjacent: Warning - watching from a distance

    Yob - our raw heart

    My dying bride - feel the misery

    Anathema - judgement

    High on fire - death is this communion

    Bongripper - Satan worshipping doom

    Black and adjacent: Agalloch - the mountain

    Negură bunget - virstele pamintilui (or OM)

    Blackbraid - Blackbraid I or II

    Bucovina - Sub stele (folk metal, really)

    Power metal and such:

    Dragony - viribus unitis

    Blind Guardian - nightfall in middle earth (altho most of their stuff is awesome)

    Adamantis - Far flung realm

    Sellsword - unto the breach

    Ominous Glory - the elven dream

    And maaaaany more that would take me ages to list. If anyone vibes with any of the lists and wants more, hit me up, would be happy to talk more.