Members were asked to list their favorite metal albums in various genres, up to 30 albums per genre. Points were then given to releases based on their ranking in each list. For instance, each #1 pick received 30 points, each #2 pick received 29 points, and so on. Points were then manually counted, and albums were ranked according to these points. Based on these rankings, a master list is created in the vein of the classical music lists linked above.
Some observations from the project:
- 213 death metal releases, 203 heavy metal releases, and 154 black metal releases were submitted as favorites. In a sense, this hints at an impressive catalogue for metal.
- Both death metal and black metal boasted a #1 frontrunner with a significant lead over the rest of the albums in terms of points. While other variables are at play (Mayhem or Jag Panzer having only one major acclaimed full-length album each versus several from Darkthrone or Iron Maiden, for instance), this shows that each genre has major milestones of historical significance.
- Black metal had notably fewer artists listed amongst the top ranked bands, demonstrating that black metal history has generally been defined by a small elite, particularly that of Scandinavia, in contrast to a wide variety of death metal bands.
Without further ado, here are the top recommended lists completed thus far:
Top 25 Recommended Heavy Metal Albums:
1. Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction
2. Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath
3. Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny
4. Cirith Ungol - King Of The Dead
5. Manilla Road - Crystal Logic
6. Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality
7. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
8. Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian
9. Mercyful Fate - Melissa
10. Riot - Thundersteel
11. Judas Priest - Stained Class
12. Satan - Court In The Act
13. Fates Warning - The Spectre Within
14. Angel Witch - Angel Witch
15. Omen - Battle Cry
16. Helstar - Nosferatu
17. Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations
18. Mercyful Fate - Mercyful Fate
19. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
20. King Diamond - Abigail
21. Cloven Hoof - A Sultan's Ransom
22. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
23. Pagan Altar - Mythical & Magical
24. Brocas Helm - Black Death
25. Adramelch - Irae Melanox
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Top 25 Recommended Death Metal Albums:
1. Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness
2. Demilich - Nespithe
3. Incantation - Onward To Golgotha
4. Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream
5. Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes
6. Possessed - Seven Churches
7. Immolation - Close To A World Below
8. Incantation - Mortal Throne Of Nazarene
9. Deicide - Legion
10. Gorguts - Obscura
11. Disembowelment - Transcendence Into The Peripheral
12. Immolation - Here In After
13. At The Gates - The Red In The Sky Is Ours
14. Septic Flesh - Mystic Places Of Dawn
15. Autopsy - Mental Funeral
16. Morbid Angel - Blessed Are The Sick
17. Atheist - Unquestionable Presence
18. Massacra - Final Holocaust
19. Autopsy - Severed Survival
20. Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris
21. Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence
22. Bolt Thrower - Realm Of Chaos
23. Entombed - Clandestine
24. Molested - Blod-Draum
25. Dead Congregation - Graves Of The Archangels
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Top 25 Recommended Black Metal Albums:
1. Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
2. Darkthrone - Under A Funeral Moon
3. Blasphemy - Fallen Angel Of Doom
4. Master's Hammer - Ritual
5. Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky
6. Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark
7. Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract
8. Bathory - Blood Fire Death
9. Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun
10. Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
11. Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse
12. Immortal - Pure Holocaust
13. Beherit - Drawing Down The Moon
14. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger
15. Sarcofago - INRI
16. Bathory - The Return......
17. Darkthrone - Panzerfaust
18. Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales
19. Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi
20. Gorgoroth - Antichrist
21. Dissection - The Somberlain
22. Gorgoroth - Pentagram
23. Mortuary Drape - All The Witches Dance
24. Burzum - Det Som En Gang Var
25. Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion
