Your #1 Metal Album vs. The Album That Best Describes You

Are they the same?  Or are they different?  You know, if you can decide on a number one.  If not, you can just talk about the album that you feel best describes you as a person, metal fan or whatever.

Ironically, I feel like the album that best describes me as a metal fan would be my number 2: V by Symphony X.  Much of metal I got into through hard rock radio before moving onto the more extreme stuff.  I wasn't into thrash at first, but prog and power metal were easy for me.  That, and I'm a huge fuckin' Meat Loaf fan, as well as a fan of other occasionally classical-infused rock bands like Queen and ELO.

Having said that, my number 1 is Ride the Lightning.  To me the album best describes METAL as a vibe and a new step forward for music on a vast range of extremities.  I admit, I wasn't as into this or Master of Puppets at first.  Thrash had to grow on me as I explored more of it.

Although my ultimate favorite album is Trivium's In Waves, I feel like there are some songs by Bullet for My Valentine that relate to me very well. When I have few dark struggles elsewhere, I feel the need to unleash my energy, and show that I don't wanna give up, yet I don't wanna hurt anyone, even when everything's too much to handle. This song provides a great example of that:

Slayer's "Reign In Blood" is my favourite metal album of all time but the release that best reflects my taste & preferences is Suffocation's "Pierced From Within" as I've always been most inclined towards the more brutal end of death metal & it simply doesn't come more professionally executed than that record. I'm generally more inclined towards death metal vocals where you can actually understand what they're saying & Frank Mullen makes the adjustment towards greater intelligibility on that particular release too.

Slayer's "Reign In Blood" is my favourite metal album of all time but the release that best reflects my taste & preferences is Suffocation's "Pierced From Within" as I've always been most inclined towards the more brutal end of death metal & it simply doesn't come more professionally executed than that record. I'm generally more inclined towards death metal vocals where you can actually understand what they're saying & Frank Mullen makes the adjustment towards greater intelligibility on that particular release too.

I actually feel that the better record is Pierced from Within.  It stays create and heavy through a longer runtime while a couple songs from Reign in Blood, while perfectly played, feel the same.  That's why my favorite Slayer is South of Heaven, and excellent bridge between the heavier and slightly less creative Reign in Blood to the more creative but slightly less heavy Seasons in the Abyss.  Of course, I feel that South of Heaven has greater creative prowess than Pierced from Within, which is also about on par with Seasons in the Abyss. 

My favorite Metal album is still (slightly boringly) Opeth's Blackwater Park but my gut says that Ne Obliviscaris' Portal Of I reflects what I get most excited about when checking out new albums. I like my complex melodies, extended song structures, progressive experimentation, a nice mix of clean and harsh vocals, don't mind a bit of cheesiness here and there, but still enjoy the harsh and brutal aspect of Metal when done well and with intention. A lot of those vague qualities carry over into what I enjoy about Power Metal or Atmospheric Black Metal as well. 

My favorite last time I listened to it is Hell - Curse and Chapter, while something that reflects more of what I listen to is Doom - Human Noise. Well-crafted technical, often veering into controlled chaos is more my forte than something that's just a perfectly crafted album of metal.

My favorite last time I listened to it is Hell - Curse and Chapter, while something that reflects more of what I listen to is Doom - Human Noise. Well-crafted technical, often veering into controlled chaos is more my forte than something that's just a perfectly crafted album of metal.

Different Hell than the one I've heard.  Classic heavy metal from the modern day is always welcome.