What is your Favourite Three Album Run?
I have been giving my Darkthrone CDs some intense listening over the last week or so and I have to say that their run of albums from A Blaze in the Northern Sky, through Under A Funeral Moon to Transilvanian Hunger must be my favourite consecutive three-album run from any band. There are others who come close of course. Opeth's trio of Still Life, Blackwater Park and Deliverance Death's Human, Individual Thought Patterns and Symbolic, along with Maiden's Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind and Powerslave make for strong competition, but Fenriz and Nocturno Culto still hold the Triple Crown for me.
So what's your favourite three album run? Must be consecutively released studio albums.
This one's an easy one for me. Slayer's run of "Reign in Blood" into "South of Heaven" into "Seasons in the Abyss" was comfortably the most life-changing run of metal albums in my life thus far.
All That Remains - The Fall of Ideals, Overcome, For We Are Many
I know EPs aren't included, but if they were:
Lorna Shore - Immortal, ...And I Return to Nothingness, Pain Remains
Trail of Tears - Bloodstained Endurance, Oscillation, Winds of Disdain
And the rare perfect 4-album marathon:
Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy, Karma, Epica, The Black Halo
This one's an easy one for me. Slayer's run of "Reign in Blood" into "South of Heaven" into "Seasons in the Abyss" was comfortably the most life-changing run of metal albums in my life thus far.
That's a good call too. You could even throw in Hell Awaits and make it four.
The longest, best run, however, must be Maiden from Killers to Somewhere in Time making five in all, although Sabbath from Paranoid to Sabotage were pretty good as well.
On a tangentially related topic, which album, in your opinions, towers over a band's discography. Obviously I am referring to bands with a fairly extensive number of studio albums (say six or more). I would suggest Diamond Head's "Lightning to the Nations" stands head and shoulders above the rest of their fairly mediocre discography.
One band that comes to my mind is Black Veil Brides. They start off strong with their metalcore debut We Stitch These Wounds then dwindle down to a mediocre attempt at reviving hard rock/glam metal. This doesn't count the equally perfect 10-year anniversary re-recording Re-Stitch These Wounds nor The Mourning, the latter showing their heavy/alt-metal sound at their best but is only an EP. There's another band I've discovered recently that would fall into the same category if it wasn't one album short of the minimum 6, which I'll talk about once it's added into the site...
Symphony X: Divine Wings, Twilight in Olympus, V (98, 100, 100)
Metallica: Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, And Justice for All (100, 97, 100)
One band that comes to my mind is Black Veil Brides. They start off strong with their metalcore debut We Stitch These Wounds then dwindle down to a mediocre attempt at reviving hard rock/glam metal. This doesn't count the equally perfect 10-year anniversary re-recording Re-Stitch These Wounds nor The Mourning, the latter showing their heavy/alt-metal sound at their best but is only an EP. There's another band I've discovered recently that would fall into the same category if it wasn't one album short of the minimum 6, which I'll talk about once it's added into the site...
INCOMING HIGHLY UNPOPULAR OPINION!!!!! That other band is... Falling in Reverse. I actually love their new album Popular Monster, despite all the hate the band and that album has received. I consider it the epitome of a modern alt-metal sound blended with metalcore, trap, and other genres. And it's a drastic improvement from their poor previous albums that are basically just pop-core. More info in my review here: https://metal.academy/reviews/36506/54163
Regarding the original question, I'd definitely second Maiden, but "Powerslave" through "Seventh Son..." is where it's at for me. Similar story goes for Death - "Leprosy" through "Human". I would also strongly consider Gorgoroth's first three.
On a tangentially related topic, which album, in your opinions, towers over a band's discography. Obviously I am referring to bands with a fairly extensive number of studio albums (say six or more). I would suggest Diamond Head's "Lightning to the Nations" stands head and shoulders above the rest of their fairly mediocre discography.
I don't necessarily dislike everything else the band has done, but I find the leap in quality rather significant:
Megadeth - Rust in Peace
Testament - The Legacy
Helloween - Walls of Jericho
Mayhem - De mysteriis dom Sathanas
Dark Funeral - The Secrets of the Black Arts
Setherial - Nord...
Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse
Cradle of Filth - The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
At the Gates - The Red in the Sky Is Ours
Paradise Lost - Gothic
Katatonia - Dance of December Souls
Theatre of Tragedy - Theatre of Tragedy
Nice call on Gorgoroth's first three, Karl. I am one of the few who also loves Destroyer as well, so that's a four album run!
Agreed, I love Destroyer too and I would suggest that it's the last classic Gorgoroth release. It's just that I love the earlier three even more!
I think Maiden's Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, Seventh Son and Metallica's Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, And Justice for All runs are my favourite
Death's Human, Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic, Morbid Angel's Altars of Madness, Blessed Are the Sick, Covenant, Domination, Opeth's Still Life, Blackwater Park, Deliverance and Slayer's Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss runs are also incredible.
I'm sure there's something I'm missing, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.
Let's see, first four Metallica albums, Sepultura with Schizophrenia through Arise, Drudkh from Autumn Auroa through Blood in Our Wells.
Ulcerate are still on a golden run on their last four albums.
Maiden for me would also match Ben's opinion and I would also go with that Opeth run too.
I would throw in Judas Priest from Sad Wings of Destiny through Stained Class.
Let's see, first four Metallica albums, Sepultura with Schizophrenia through Arise, Drudkh from Autumn Auroa through Blood in Our Wells.
Ulcerate are still on a golden run on their last four albums.
Maiden for me would also match Ben's opinion and I would also go with that Opeth run too.
I would throw in Judas Priest from Sad Wings of Destiny through Stained Class.
Good shout on Drudkh, Vinny.
Let's see, first four Metallica albums, Sepultura with Schizophrenia through Arise, Drudkh from Autumn Auroa through Blood in Our Wells.
Ulcerate are still on a golden run on their last four albums.
Maiden for me would also match Ben's opinion and I would also go with that Opeth run too.
I would throw in Judas Priest from Sad Wings of Destiny through Stained Class.
I considered that Sepultura run. I need to revisit Schizophrenia.