A Top 100 Death Metal Albums List by Rexorcist

Likes: 1

Genre: Death Metal

This list is based on my personal genre tree

* Death Metal
** Black Death Metal
** Brutal Death Metal
*** Slam Death Metal
** Deathcore
** Deathgrind
** Death 'N' Roll
** Melodic Death Metal
** Prog Death Metal
** Symphonic Death Metal
** Tech Death Metal
*** Dissonant Death Metal

NOT COUNTED BUT POSSIBLY FEATURED: Death Doom Metal

1
The Great Mass

100 / Greece

Symphonic DM

Septicflesh continue their obsessive journey into the incurably diverse world of metal by strengthening their brutality, scariness and heaviness while incorporating a stronger sense of genre-balance. There's much of what we found on previous albums like Mystic Places of Dawn and Communion in surprising places, and once again this keeps the band's presence strong as it did with their debut. The growth can be seen, and as a result I consider this the greatest death metal album I've ever heard.

2
Formulas Fatal to the Flesh

100 / USA

DM

Morbid Angel finally broke the boundaries of the genre they helped pioneer without faltering. The weirdness of F in this album might turn off those who like the general brutality of A and C, but this is the album where that experimentation on D was seriously fleshed out without sacrificing any of the heaviness of earlier albums.

3
Communion

100 / Greece

Symphonic DM, DM

Septicflesh's most famous album boasts both a return to the form of the ever diverse debut, Mystic Places at Dawn, while forging what would become their signature style. The pioneers of symphonic death metal take their sound into new worlds with a stronger sense of balance and a recalling of their incredibly diverse presence. This would only later be dethroned in this vein by their next album, The Great Mass.

4
In Their Darkened Shrines

100 / USA

Brutal DM, Tech DM

This is more than just a brutal death album. Most brutal bands just want to thrash their way through a whole album with some techical stuff to feel accomplished. This is a ghostly, complex, doomy and consistent journey with a vibe that feels more ghostly than deathly, one that recreates the horror of ghosts of ancient spirits haunting for thousands of years.

5
Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism

100 / ENG

Deathgrind

This is Napalm Death's most diverse and catchiest album so far. After so many repetitive albums focusing on brutality, they finally made an album that covers the various types of albums they've done in the past, be it grind, deathgrind or death metal, with some weirder genres like industrial or metalcore attached. Because of this, this fast and furious album keeps the listener guessing.

6
Symbolic
4.4
4.4

100 / USA

Tech DM

The creators of the genre finally focus on mature songwriting and diversity, bring out out the best of all of Death's multiple sides, incorporating a little thrash into the influence and justifying the lighter sound in comparison to earlier blast albums.

7
Crimson II

100 / Sweden

Melodic DM, Prog DM

The first Crimson was a very cool album with some excellent riffs and a crazy and weird story, but this ups the ante on the melody and weirdness.

8
Colored Sands

100 / Canada

Tech DM, Dissonant DM

More consistant and dissonant than Obscura, Gorguts finally tames their love of the avant-garde and utilizes it in a very heavy and emotional way, drowning the listener deep into the bowels of a sandstorm of dissonance and unpredictability.

9
Primordial

100 / USA

Deathcore, Melodic DM

In their Halo-inspired years, Shadow of Intent had a stronger taste for the neoclassical and thematic approach, and it shows with a perfect flow as the epic moments and the death moments work together flawlessly.

10
Claustrophobic Dysentery

100

Black DM, Bestial Black Metal

Cabinet perfected the art of bestial black metal by switching it up from the black and death that combine for the genre while keeping weird sound effects intact, justifying the near-complete lack of melody as a monotone symbol broken by a perfect flow of weirdness and atmosphere.

11
Deprive

100 / USA

Slam DM

This brostep artist recreated slam by giving into Lovecraftian vibes, combining various outsider genres with a perfect flow to create something modern and celebratory of horror and metal in general.

12
Unquestionable Presence

100 / ENG

Tech DM, Prog DM

Unqestionable Presence is extremely unpredictable and maniacal, incorporating previously unwelcome jazz elements to heavy effect. This album is unlike anything I've ever heard.

13
Eternity of Shaog

99 / France

Black DM, Black Metal

Eternity of Shaog is yet another celebration of the capabilities of extreme metal, going over a number of extreme genres with a beautiful balance of atmosphere and melody, and an almost perfect flow.

14
Mystic Places of Dawn

98.5 / Greece

DM

Septicflesh's debut is a challenge to consistency and conventionality. It's constantly testing the flow of the album with genre after genre while delivering a magical exploration of everything that makes metal great. Exceptional delivery and a perfectly guttural vocalist make this a death essential.

15
Human
4.1
4.3

98 / USA

Tech DM, DM

Take every compliment I have for Coroner's No More Color and apply it to death metal, and you get Human, an album that really does bear the themes of its name in a lyrical and technical way. Once their simpler songs were failing, they needed to change things around. Instead of gory shit and religious commentary, they took their lyrical and music skills forward into the experimental and the introspective, keeping their sense of madness strong at the same time.

16
Covenant

100 / USA

DM

This is the first album where Morbid Angel really begin thinking wild. This album fixes the lack of heaviness and slowness of Blessed Are the Sick and even untilizes those aspects while molding it with A's brutality and some otherworldly psych guitars.

17
Butcher the Weak

98 / USA

Slam DM, Brutal DM

Quite possibly the heaviest album I've ever heard, this rerecording of the 2005 album is like the polar opposite of it at the same time. It's constantly surprising, displays constant new tricks from each member of the band, including the singer, and perfectly polished in its heaviness to the point that you can hear everything that's going on.

18
Individual Thought Patterns

98 / USA

Tech DM, Prog DM

Death cranked up the progginess, technicality, heaviness and lyrical themes of Human, so this album beats Human in a number of ways. Unfortunately, they completely forgot the diversity aspect, so while each song is briulliant in their own ways, this album is more repetitive and less inventive than Human as a whole. So, brilliant, but slightly worse than Human.

19
Altars of Madness

98 / USA

DEATH METAL

Morbid Angel's debut beats Death's first three albums at literally everything, especially the raw and maniacal riffage. Becuase of this, Morbid Angel proved early on that they could out-death Death themselves. This is probably their most brutal album, which is why its their most beloved.

20
Stare Into Death and Be Still

97 / New Zealand

Tech DM, Dissonant DM

Not brutal, but just as terrifying and soul crushing as a brutal album, Ulcerate's best album takes the horror sand technicality of death metal to impressive levels without ever faltering.

21
Close to a World Below

97 / USA

DM

Immolation's style evolves into a hellish and monstrous display of both terror and despair. Monotonous but clever and atmospheric.

22
Human Waste

97 / USA

Brutal DM, Tech DM, DM

This short and sweet album is the band's loudest and one of their most technical. And because it's so short, the album rarely runs the risk of monotony.

23
The Sea of Tragic Beasts

97 / USA

Deathcore, Prog DM, Progcore

This is a finely tuned blend of death, prog and punk. Any maniacal traits stemming from all three genres work together perfectly.

24
Obscura

97 / Canada

Avant-Garde Metal, Tech DM, Dissonant DM

More than proud to be weird, Obscura skillfully handled the art of the avant-garde on the first try, although it's a little much.

25
Unholy Cult

97 / USA

DM

Unholy Cult sees the band steering into grittier and darker sounds with less reverb and despair, and more fear and horror. As such, this album almost rivals Close to a World Below.

26
The Sanguinary Impetus

97 / Germany

Tech DM, Brutal DM

Although all the songs sound the same, the album constantly gets better thanks to its special and masterful trait of unpredictability and craziness.

27
None So Vile

97 / Canada

Brutal DM, Tech DM

Thanks to their own special personality and love of deathly vibes and technicality, Cryptopsy set a name for themselves apart from the pioneers of the subgenre, creating a classic that's heavier than most albums on Earth.

28
Codex Omega

95 / Greece

Symphonic DM

Codex Omega might not boast Septicflesh's explorative capacity to its fullest extent, but the rhythmic and symphonic approaches are still at full force. We have a more even flow here that focuses on Septicflesh's compositional skills and proves they're just as good at that as ever.

29
Those Once Loyal

97 / ENG

DM

Although not very unique stylistically, Bolt Thrower improve their technical prowess to deliver their strongest sense of themes, melody and anger.

30
Gateways to Annihilation

99 / USA

DM

This doomier and somewhat psychedelic death album proves that Morbid Angel can master the art of slow-crushing slowness by mingling it with the speed of previous albums and maintaining the influence, and the album gets weirder and more psychedelic in the second half which makes up for a slight lack of variety in side A.

31
Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses

96 / USA

Deathgrind

Very diverse and waild for a deathgrind album, this album displays 90's badassery with total seriousness and perfectly delivers its political anger through excellent musicianship and a perfect sonic recreation of anger.

32
Crimson

96 / Sweden

Melodic DM, Prog DM

This freaky story boasts amazing riffs and melodies and a unique vibe which continues a string of improvements over EoS works.

33
The Jester Race

96 / Sweden

Melodic DM

The Jester Race is one of the catchiest and most intriguing melodeath albums out there.

34
Elegy

96 / Finland

Prog Metal, Melodic DM

Even though it needs to be heavier, Elegy perfects the skills Amorphis showed on Tales from the Thousand Lakes and displays everything with one of the best balances between flow and diversity I've ever heard.

35
Pierced From Within

96 / USA

Brutal DM, Tech DM

Suffocation once again redefines heaviness by blasting at full force with increased technicality as well.

36
Melancholy

96 / USA

Deathcore

Melancholy sees the band taking a more common route towards deathcore, but their technical prowess and their songwriting abilities still outmatch the majority of the bands in the scene.

37
Annihilation of the Wicked

95 / USA

Tech DM, Brutal DM

Annihilation of the wicked trades their Egyptian identity for an excess of brutality and technicality that's fresh and frighteningly powerful.

38
Whoracle
4.0
3.5

95 / Sweden

Melodic DM

Whoracle is a continuation of everything that made The Jester Race so great with only the slightest drop in quality.

39
Procession to the Infraworld

95 / Mexico

DM

The Chasm is a celebration of metal for its mostly consistent way of handling a number of extreme genres all at once.

40
Primordial Malignity

95 / Canada

DM

41
Purgatory Afterglow

95 / Sweden

Melodic DM

42
From Wisdom to Hate

95 / Canada

Tech DM, Dissonant DM

43
Lifeblood

95 / Canada

Deathcore

44
Here in After

95 / USA

DM

45
Everything Is Fire

95 / New Zealand

Tech DM, Dissonant DM

46
Cause of Death

95 / USA

DM

47
Absolute Hope, Absolute Hell

95 / USA

Prog DM, Deathcore, Progcore

48
Sleeper

95 / USA

Slam DM

49
E.P.

95 / USA

Bestial Black Metal, Black DM

50
Clandestine

95 / Sweden

DM

52
Mentally Murdered

95 / ENG

Deathgrind, Grindcore, DM

53
Consuming Impulse

95 / Netherlands

DM

54
Domination

94.5 / USA

DM

55
The Erosion of Sanity

95 / Canada

Tech DM

56
Heartwork
3.7
3.4

94 / ENG

Melodic DM

57
Black Seeds of Vengeance

93 / USA

Brutal DM, Tech DM

58
Time Waits for No Slave

93 / ENG

Deathgrind, Grindcore, DM

59
Effigy of the Forgotten

93 / USA

Brutal DM

60
Misery Index

93 / USA

Deathgrind

61
The Gallery

93 / Sweden

Melodic DM

62
Testimony of the Ancients

93 / Netherlands

Tech DM

63
Winter's Gate

93 / Finland

Melodic DM

64
Burial
5.0
0.0

92.5 / Norway

Prog Metal, Prog DM

65
The Code Is Red... Long Live the Code

92.5 / ENG

Deathgrind, Grindcore

66
0.00 Apocalypse

92.5 / Russia

Brutal DM

67
From Mars to Sirius

92.5 / France

DM, Prog DM

68
Left Hand Path

92 / Sweden

DM

69
Pleiades' Dust

92 / Canada

Tech DM, Dissonant DM

70
The Destroyers of All

92 / New Zealand

Tech DM, Atmo-Sludge Metal, Dissonant DM

71
Infernus Sinfonica MMXIX

92.5 / Greece

Symphonic DM, DM

72
Enemy of the Music Business

92 / ENG

Deathgrind

73
Elements

92 / USA

Tech DM, Prog DM

74
Reclaimer

92 / USA

Deathcore, Melodic DM

75
Blessed Are the Sick

92 / USA

DM

76
The Phobos / Deimos Suite

92 / Mexico

Tech DM, Brutal DM

77
Endless Wound

92 / USA

Black DM

78
Acts of God

92 / USA

DM

79
Fast-Slow Demolition

92 / Russia

Brutal DM, Avant-Garde Metal

80
Above the Weeping World

92 / Finland

Melodic DM

81
Black Earth Child

92 / USA

Slam DM

82
Grievous

92 / Australia

Black DM, Dissonant DM

83
Cutting the Throat of God

91 / ENG

Tech DM, Dissonant DM

84
The IVth Crusade

91 / ENG

DM

85
Colony
4.0
3.8

91 / Sweden

Melodic DM

86
...For Victory

91 / ENG

DM

87
The Great Collapse

91 / USA

Deathcore

88
Dawn of Possession

91 / USA

DM

89
Anticapital

91 / USA

Deathgrind, Grindcore

90
Chapters of Repugnance

91 / Germany

Brutal DM, Tech DM

91
Gravenous Hour

91 / Russia

Brutal DM

92
Imperative Imperceptible Impulse

91 / Italy

Tech DM, Avant-Garde Metal, Dissonant DM

93
Malleus Maleficarum

91 / Netherlands

DM, Thrash Metal

94
Blasphemy Made Flesh

91 / Canada

Brutal DM, Tech DM

95
Leprosy
4.3
4.2

90 / USA

DM

96
Planetary Clairvoyance

95 / Canada

DM

97
World Downfall

90 / USA

Deathgrind

98
The Satanist

90 / Poland

Black DM

99
Piece of Time

90 / USA

Tech DM

100
Wolverine Blues

90 / Sweden

DM, Death 'N' Roll