Heavy Metal is 50 Years Old
This month sees the 50th anniversary of the release of Black Sabbath's eponymous debut (13/02/70) and the very first true metal album. Forget all the bullshit about Blue Cheer, Vanilla Fudge and all the other heavy psych bands that Sabbath-haters try to say were the originators of metal, although they certainly were influences. No, the tolling of that solitary church bell that introduces Black Sabbath was the genuine Big Bang moment that heralded the Dawn of the Metal Age. So, here's my list of best album from each of those fifty years. I'd really be interested to see where other's votes would go.
1970: Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971: Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
1972: Deep Purple - Machine Head
1973: Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
1974: Budgie - In for the Kill
1975: Black Sabbath - Sabotage
1976: Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
1977: Motörhead - Motörhead
1978: Judas Priest - Stained Class
1979: Motörhead - Overkill
1980: Angel Witch - Angel Witch
1981: Iron Maiden - Killers
1982: Witchfinder General - Death Penalty
1983: Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
1984: Bathory - Bathory
1985: Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion
1986: Slayer - Reign in Blood
1987: Sodom - Persecution Mania
1988: Saint Vitus - Mournful Cries
1989: Terrorizer - World Downfall
1990: Winter - Into Darkness
1991: Autopsy - Mental Funeral
1992: Darkthrone: A Blaze in the Northern Sky
1993: Rippikoulu - Musta seremonia
1994: Mayhem - De mysteriis dom Sathanas
1995: Ulver - Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
1996: Kvist - For kunsten maa vi evig vike
1997: Iced Earth - Days of Purgatory
1998: Solstice - New Dark Age
1999: Opeth - Still Life
2000: Immortal - Damned in Black
2001: Evoken - Quietus
2002: Reverend Bizarre - In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend
2003: Monolithe - Monolithe I
2004: Drudkh - Autumn Aurora
2005: Tyranny - Tides of Awakening
2006: Warning - Watching From a Distance
2007: Evoken - A Caress of the Void
2008: Winterfylleth - The Ghost of Heritage
2009: Spiritus Mortis - The God Behind the God
2010: Grand Magus - Hammer of the North
2011: Disma - Towards the Megalith
2012: Panopticon - Kentucky
2013: Windhand - Soma
2014: Saor - Aura
2015: Kauan - Sorni Nai
2016: Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä
2017: Vin de Mia Trix - Palimpsests
2018: Yith - Immemorial
2019: Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence
Yyyyeeeaaaahhhhh….. I love this shit so I'll be getting mine together. By the way.... "Kill 'Em All" was 1983. Not 1981.
Are we including live albums here Sonny?
1970: Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971: Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
1972: Deep Purple - Machine Head
1973: ZZ Top - Tres Hombres
1974: Deep Purple - Burn
1975: Black Sabbath - Sabotage
1976: Rainbow - Rising
1977: Judas Priest - Sin After Sin
1978: Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
1979: Motörhead - Overkill
1980: Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
1981: Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
1982: Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1983: Dio - Holy Diver
1984: Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985: Magnum - On a Storyteller's Night
1986: Metallica - Master of Puppets
1987: Candlemass - Nightfall
1988: Metallica - ...And Justice For All
1989: Torture - Storm Alert
1990: Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death
1991: Dark Angel - Time Does Not Heal
1992: W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol
1993: Savatage - Edge of Thorns
1994: Acid Bath - When the Kite String Pops
1995: Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings
1996: Corrosion of Conformity - Wiseblood
1997: Strapping Young Lad - City
1998: Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes
1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World
2000: Darkseed - Diving Into Darkness
2001: Manticora - Darkness With Tales to Tell
2002: Jerry Cantrell - Degradation Trip
2003: Overkill - Killbox 13
2004: Exodus - Tempo of the Damned
2005: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree
2006: Celtic Frost - Monotheist
2007: Machine Head - The Blackening
2008: Dark Empire - Humanity Dethroned
2009: Thy Catafalque - Roka Hasa Radio
2010: Overkill - Ironbound
2011: Powerwolf - Blood of the Saints
2012: Therion - Les Fleur du Mal
2013: Onslaught - VI
2014: Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
2015: Jorn Lande & Trond Holter - Dracula: Swing of Death
2016: Witherscape - The Northern Sanctuary
2017: Hulkoff - Kven
2018: Powerwolf - The Sacrament of Sin
2019: Beast in Black - From Hell With Love
Yyyyeeeaaaahhhhh….. I love this shit so I'll be getting mine together. By the way.... "Kill 'Em All" was 1983. Not 1981.
You know what, I have no idea why I put Kill 'em All down for '81. I actually meant to put my favourite Iron Maiden album, Killers. Must have had some sort of brain freeze (it happens as you get older, you know!!)
Are we including live albums here Sonny?
Hey man, it's your list, include whatever you want...
Great call for '74, Tymell. Burn is one hell of a track, certainly one of Purple's best and definitely the best album David Coverdale ever recorded.
Compiling a list like this it's great to see how Metal has ballooned in popularity and availability. Obviously for most of the 70's there are very few choices, especially for the early years, but as the time rolled by those choices become harder and harder. It's almost impossible to choose an absolute favourite from some years - 1986 for example, Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, Peace Sells, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Darkness Descends, Pleasure to Kill and In the Darkness (Paul Chain) - tough decision indeed.
Great call for '74, Tymell. Burn is one hell of a track, certainly one of Purple's best and definitely the best album David Coverdale ever recorded.
Compiling a list like this it's great to see how Metal has ballooned in popularity and availability. Obviously for most of the 70's there are very few choices, especially for the early years, but as the time rolled by those choices become harder and harder. It's almost impossible to choose an absolute favourite from some years - 1986 for example, Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, Peace Sells, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Darkness Descends, Pleasure to Kill and In the Darkness (Paul Chain) - tough decision indeed.
Cheers! Yeah, the 70s is definitely a lot less populated for metal. I do find it interesting that while the 80s is often most immediately thought of for metal (understandably, since that's when it really took off and a lot of defining releases came out), the numbers have generally only gone up since then, even within the oft-maligned 90s. There was a time when I looked at Metal-archives' data and you could see this trend, and on a smaller scale you can see it in a project I keep with aggregate review scores: the number of releases has generally only gone up over time (though in my own project, I am seeing more of a retraction in most recent years).
Here's my own best of each year list, containing albums from my own playlist (since 1990):
1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise
1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse
1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox
1993: Cynic - Focus
1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney
1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
1996: Edge of Sanity - Crimson
1997: In Flames - Whoracle
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World
2000: Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World
2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita
2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance
2003: Edge of Sanity - Crimson II
2004: Mastodon - Leviathan
2005: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree
2006: Persefone - Core
2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2008: All That Remains - Overcome
2009: August Burns Red - Constellations
2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)
2011: Trivium - In Waves
2012: Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
2013: Persefone - Spiritual Migration
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation
2017: Trivium - The Sin and the Sentence
2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
2019: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)
2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:
My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion
Lamb of God (self-titled album)
Here's my off the top of my head list. It really made me realise that I haven't listened to enough modern releases. I consider myself very experienced in most forms of metal from the early 80s to the mid-00s. Before and after that is much more patchy, with lots of gaps, so my current choices could easily be replaced in future. This was fun though.
1970. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
1972. Black Sabbath - Vol 4
1973. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
1974. Budgie - In for the Kill
1975. Black Sabbath - Sabotage
1976. Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
1977. Judas Priest - Sin After Sin
1978. Judas Priest - Stained Class
1979. Motörhead - Overkill
1980. Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations
1981. Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
1982. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1983. Mercyful Fate - Melissa
1984. Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985. Slayer - Hell Awaits
1986. Slayer - Reign in Blood
1987. Candlemass - Nightfall
1988. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
1989. Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness
1990. Deicide - Deicide
1991. Death - Human
1992. Ministry - Psalm 69
1993. My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans
1994. Burzum - Hvis lyset tar oss
1995. Ulver - Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
1996. Burzum - Filosofem
1997. Ocean Machine - Biomech
1998. Theatre of Tragedy - Aégis
1999. Summoning - Stronghold
2000. Shape of Despair - Shades Of…
2001. Opeth - Blackwater Park
2002. Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors
2003. Blut aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God
2004. Nehëmah - Requiem Tenebrae
2005. Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor
2006. Negură Bunget - OM
2007. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
2008. ColdWorld - Melancholie²
2009. Sun of the Blind - Skullreader
2010. Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
2011. Blut aus Nord - 777 - The Desanctification
2012. Blut aus Nord - 777 - Cosmosophy
2013. Summoning - Old Mornings Dawn
2014. Darkspace - Dark Space III I
2015. Shape of Despair - Monotony Fields
2016. Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale
2017. The Ruins of Beverast - Exuvia
2018. Horrendous - Idol
2019. Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence
1970: Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”
1971: Black Sabbath – “Master Of Reality”
1972: Black Sabbath – “Vol 4”
1973: Black Sabbath – “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
1974: Budgie – “In For The Kill”
1975: Black Sabbath – “Sabotage”
1976: Rainbow – “Rising”
1977: Quartz – “Quartz”
1978: Judas Priest – “Killing Machine”
1979: Judas Priest – “Unleashed In The East”
1980: Diamond Head – “Lightning To The Nations”
1981: Motorhead – “No Sleep Till Hammersmith”
1982: Ozzy Osbourne – “Speak Of The Devil”
1983: Slayer – “Show No Mercy”
1984: Metallica – “Ride The Lightning”
1985: Exodus – “Bonded By Blood”
1986: Slayer – “Reign In Blood”
1987: Bathory – “Under The Sign Of The Black Mark”
1988: Metallica – “…And Justice For All”
1989: Morbid Angel – “Altars Of Madness”
1990: Morbid Saint – “Spectrum Of Death”
1991: Death – “Human”
1992: Alice In Chains – “Dirt”
1993: diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral”
1994: Darkthrone – “Transilvanian Hunger”
1995: Suffocation – “Pierced From Within”
1996: Burzum – “Filosofem”
1997: Exodus – “Another Lesson In Violence”
1998: ISIS – “The Mosquito Control” E.P.
1999: Neurosis – “Times Of Grace”
2000: Immolation – “Close To A World Below”
2001: Green Carnation – “Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness”
2002: ISIS – “Oceanic”
2003: Boris – “Boris At Last -Feedbacker-“
2004: ISIS – “Panopticon”
2005: Deathspell Omega – “Kenose” E.P.
2006: Celtic Frost – “Monotheist”
2007: Wolves In The Throne Room – “Two Hunters”
2008: Opeth – “Watershed”
2009: Alice In Chains – “Black Gives Way To Blue”
2010: Hate – “Erebos”
2011: Esoteric – “Paragon Of Dissonance”
2012: Gaza – “No Absolutes In Human Suffering”
2013: Suffocation – “Pinnacle Of Bedlam”
I'm not going to attempt to go further than 2013 as I haven't listened to enough modern metal to do it justice.
Not a lot of surprises for me, although I never imagined that you’d like Green Carnation that much, especially as you generally don’t like single track albums.
That Hate album is seriously underrated!
1990: Morbid Saint – “Spectrum Of Death”
2006: Celtic Frost – “Monotheist”
2009: Alice In Chains – “Black Gives Way To Blue”
Always pleased to see fellow lovers of Morbid Saint and Monotheist, and Alice in Chains' epic comeback!
Mention of This Godless Endeavor also reminds me what a difficult year 2005 is for me to narrow down, there are so many of my favourites there. This Godless Endeavor, Catch Thirtythree, Kreator's Enemy of God, Draconian's Arcane Rain Fell, Strapping Young Lad's Alien, Kamelot's The Black Halo...
Better revised version of my 1990+ best of each year metal list (including albums I've previously forgotten about and bands I've just started listening to):
1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise
1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse
1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox
1993: My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans
1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney
1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
1996: Edge of Sanity - Crimson
1997: In Flames - Whoracle
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World
2000: Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World
2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita
2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance
2003: Edge of Sanity - Crimson II
2004: Mastodon - Leviathan
2005: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor
2006: Persefone - Core
2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2008: Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls
2009: August Burns Red - Constellations
2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)
2011: Trivium - In Waves
2012: Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
2013: The Ocean - Pelagial
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux
2017: Trivium - The Sin and the Sentence
2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
2019: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)
2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:
My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion
August Burns Red - Guardians
Lamb of God (self-titled album)
1970 - Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971 - Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
1972 - Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
1973 - Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
1974 - Budgie - In for the Kill
1975 - Scorpions - In Trance
1976 - Rainbow - Rising
1977 - Judas Priest - Sin After Sin
1978 - Judas Priest - Stained Class
1979 - Scorpions - Lovedrive
1980 - Scorpions - Animal Magnetism
1981 - Iron Maiden - Killers
1982 - Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1983 - Slayer - Show No Mercy
1984 - Metal Church - Metal Church
1985 - Slayer - Hell Awaits
1986 - Slayer - Reign in Blood
1987 - Sepultura - Schizophrenia
1988 - Slayer - South of Heaven
1989 - Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
1990 - Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
1991 - Sepultura - Arise
1992 - Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox
1993 - Edge of Sanity - The Spectral Sorrows
1994 - Slayer - Divine Intervention
1995 - Anathema - The Silent Enigma
1996 - Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
1997 - Vader - Black to the Blind
1998 - Slayer - Diabolus un Musica
1999 - Opeth - Still Life
2000 - In Flames - Clayman
2001 - Kamelot - Karma
2002 - In Flames - Reroute to Remain
2003 - Swallow the Sun - The Morning Never Came
2004 - Mar de Grises - The Tatterdemalion Express
2005 - Swallow the Sun - Ghosts of Loss
2006 - DOOM:VS - Empire of the Fallen
2007 - Swallow the Sun - Hope
2008 - DOOM:VS - Dead Words Speak
2009 - Slayer - World Painted Blood
2010 - Mar de Grises - Streams Inwards
2011 - 40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
2012 - Swallow the Sun - Emerald Forest and the Blackbird
2013 - When Nothing Remains - Thy Dark Serenity
2014 - DOOM:VS - Earthless
2015 - Swallow the Sun - Songs from the North
2016 - Veiled in Scarlet - Reborn
2017 - Septicflesh - Codex Omega
2018 - Veiled in Scarlet - Atonement
2019 - Swallow the Sun - When a Shadow is Forced into the Light
2020 - So far Sepultura, really looking forward to My Dying Bride and Katatonia.
Better revised version of my 1990+ best of each year metal list (after the easier part of my Horde Clan Challenge strategy, and splitting them into groups similar to the Clan Challenges and different versions of RuneScape):
Classic oldies:
1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise
1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse
1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox
1993: My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans
1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney
1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
1996: Edge of Sanity - Crimson
1997: In Flames - Whoracle
Old-school but newer:
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World
2000: In Flames - Clayman
2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita
2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance
2003: Edge of Sanity - Crimson II
2004: Mastodon - Leviathan
2005: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor
Higher original quality:
2006: Persefone - Core
2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2008: Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls
2009: August Burns Red - Constellations
2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)
2011: Trivium - In Waves
2012: Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
2013: The Ocean - Pelagial
New and improved:
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux
2017: Septicflesh - Codex Omega
2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
2019: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)
2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:
My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion
August Burns Red - Guardians
Lamb of God (self-titled album)
My adjusted list after revisiting Pig Destroyer's "Natasha" E.P. this morning:
1970: Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”
1971: Black Sabbath – “Master Of Reality”
1972: Black Sabbath – “Vol 4”
1973: Black Sabbath – “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
1974: Budgie – “In For The Kill”
1975: Black Sabbath – “Sabotage”
1976: Rainbow – “Rising”
1977: Quartz – “Quartz”
1978: Judas Priest – “Killing Machine”
1979: Judas Priest – “Unleashed In The East”
1980: Diamond Head – “Lightning To The Nations”
1981: Motorhead – “No Sleep Till Hammersmith”
1982: Ozzy Osbourne – “Speak Of The Devil”
1983: Slayer – “Show No Mercy”
1984: Metallica – “Ride The Lightning”
1985: Exodus – “Bonded By Blood”
1986: Slayer – “Reign In Blood”
1987: Bathory – “Under The Sign Of The Black Mark”
1988: Metallica – “…And Justice For All”
1989: Morbid Angel – “Altars Of Madness”
1990: Morbid Saint – “Spectrum Of Death”
1991: Death – “Human”
1992: Alice In Chains – “Dirt”
1993: diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral”
1994: Darkthrone – “Transilvanian Hunger”
1995: Suffocation – “Pierced From Within”
1996: Burzum – “Filosofem”
1997: Exodus – “Another Lesson In Violence”
1998: ISIS – “The Mosquito Control” E.P.
1999: Neurosis – “Times Of Grace”
2000: Immolation – “Close To A World Below”
2001: Green Carnation – “Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness”
2002: ISIS – “Oceanic”
2003: Boris – “Boris At Last -Feedbacker-“
2004: ISIS – “Panopticon”
2005: Deathspell Omega – “Kenose” E.P.
2006: Celtic Frost – “Monotheist”
2007: Wolves In The Throne Room – “Two Hunters”
2008: Pig Destroyer - "Natasha” E.P.
2009: Alice In Chains – “Black Gives Way To Blue”
2010: Hate – “Erebos”
2011: Esoteric – “Paragon Of Dissonance”
2012: Gaza – “No Absolutes In Human Suffering”
2013: Suffocation – “Pinnacle Of Bedlam”
Update on my list (it's been a couple months):
Classic oldies:
1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise
1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse
1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox
1993: My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans
1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney
1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
1996: Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
1997: In Flames - Whoracle
Old-school but newer:
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: Nevermore - Dreaming Neon Black
2000: In Flames - Clayman
2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita
2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance
2003: Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation
2004: Mastodon - Leviathan
2005: Protest the Hero - Kezia
Higher original quality:
2006: Persefone - Core
2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2008: In Mourning - Shrouded Divine
2009: August Burns Red - Constellations
2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)
2011: Trivium - In Waves
2012: Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
2013: Persefone - Spiritual Migration
New and improved:
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux
2017: Septicflesh - Codex Omega
2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
2019: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)
2020 (so far): My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion
2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:
Trivium - What the Dead Men Say
Katatonia - City Burials
Lamb of God (self-titled album)
Paradise Lost - Obsidian
Make Them Suffer - How to Survive a Funeral
Update on my list (it's been a couple months):
Classic oldies:
1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise
1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse
1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox
1993: My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans
1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney
1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
1996: Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
1997: In Flames - Whoracle
Old-school but newer:
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: Nevermore - Dreaming Neon Black
2000: In Flames - Clayman
2001: Converge - Jane Doe
2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance
2003: Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation
2004: Converge - You Fail Me
2005: Trivium - Ascendancy
Higher original quality:
2006: Persefone - Core
2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2008: In Mourning - Shrouded Divine
2009: Revocation - Existence is Futile
2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)
2011: Trivium - In Waves
2012: Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
2013: The Ocean - Pelagial
New and improved:
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux
2017: Septicflesh - Codex Omega
2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
2019: Lord - Fallen Idols
2020 (first half): Trivium - What the Dead Men Say
2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:
Avatar - Hunter Gatherer
Amaranthe - Manifest
Draconian - Under a Godless Veil
Here's my revised list:
1970: Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”
1971: Black Sabbath – “Master Of Reality”
1972: Black Sabbath – “Vol 4”
1973: Black Sabbath – “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
1974: Budgie – “In For The Kill”
1975: Black Sabbath – “Sabotage”
1976: Rainbow – “Rising”
1977: Quartz – “Quartz”
1978: Judas Priest – “Killing Machine”
1979: Judas Priest – “Unleashed In The East”
1980: Diamond Head – “Lightning To The Nations”
1981: Motorhead – “No Sleep Till Hammersmith”
1982: Ozzy Osbourne – “Speak Of The Devil”
1983: Slayer – “Show No Mercy”
1984: Metallica – “Ride The Lightning”
1985: Exodus – “Bonded By Blood”
1986: Slayer – “Reign In Blood”
1987: Bathory – “Under The Sign Of The Black Mark”
1988: Metallica – “…And Justice For All”
1989: Morbid Angel – “Altars Of Madness”
1990: Slayer - "Seasons In The Abyss"
1991: Death – “Human”
1992: Alice In Chains – “Dirt”
1993: diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral”
1994: Darkthrone – “Transilvanian Hunger”
1995: Suffocation – “Pierced From Within”
1996: Burzum – “Filosofem”
1997: Exodus – “Another Lesson In Violence”
1998: ISIS – “The Mosquito Control” E.P.
1999: Neurosis – “Times Of Grace”
2000: Immolation – “Close To A World Below”
2001: Green Carnation – “Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness”
2002: ISIS – “Oceanic”
2003: Boris – “Boris At Last -Feedbacker-“
2004: ISIS – “Panopticon”
2005: Deathspell Omega – “Kenose” E.P.
2006: Celtic Frost – “Monotheist”
2007: Wolves In The Throne Room – “Two Hunters”
2008: Pig Destroyer - "Natasha" E.P.
2009: Alice In Chains – “Black Gives Way To Blue”
2010: Hate – “Erebos”
2011: Esoteric – “Paragon Of Dissonance”
2012: Gaza – “No Absolutes In Human Suffering”
2013: Suffocation – “Pinnacle Of Bedlam”
Update on my list (it's been a couple months):
Classic oldies:
1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise
1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse
1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox
1993: Sentenced - North From Here
1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney
1995: My Dying Bride - The Angel and the Dark River
1996: Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
1997: In Flames - Whoracle
Old-school but newer:
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity
2000: In Flames - Clayman
2001: Opeth - Blackwater Park
2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance
2003: Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation
2004: Officium Triste - Reason
2005: Trivium - Ascendancy
Higher original quality:
2006: Persefone - Core
2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2008: Protest the Hero - Fortress
2009: August Burns Red - Constellations
2010: Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy
2011: Trivium - In Waves
2012: Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
2013: The Ocean - Pelagial
New and improved:
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux
2017: Septicflesh - Codex Omega
2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
2019: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)
2020 (first half): Trivium - What the Dead Men Say
2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:
Avatar - Hunter Gatherer
The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic I Cenozoic
Amaranthe - Manifest
Draconian - Under a Godless Veil
Another list thread that I know I don’t have the time or patience to complete but now that I know it is here I will lose half a day over the weekend trying to contribute without missing key and obvious releases. No rest for the wicked.