100 METAL ALBUMS IN 100 DAYS

Some of you will recognize this thread from AP, but I'll restate my mission here.

Basically, through much research and discussion, I came up with the following list of 100 essential/classic metal albums. The reason I'm doing this is because prior to starting this experiment, I had only listened to about 8 or 9 of the 100 albums listed below. Never listened to a Slayer album all the way through. Or Rush (I know they're not metal). Or Death.

Now I'm halfway through this list. Every album I listen to is accompanied by a short blurb and a rating. Unfortunately, all my reviews were lost with the transition to the new site, but I still have the list and ratings. They are, up to this point, as follows:

1. Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain (8.5/10)
2. Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side (7.5)
3. Anthrax – Among the Living (8.5/10)
4-5.Atheist – Unquestionable Presence (9/10), Piece of Time (9/10)
6. At The Gates – Slaughter of the Soul (8/10)
7. Autopsy - Severed Survival (5/10)
8. Bathory – Under the Sign of the Black Mark (7.5/10)
9. Behemoth - The Satanist (8.5/10)
10-12. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (7.5/10), Master of Reality (7.5/10), Paranoid (8/10)
13. Blind Guardian – Nightfall in Middle-Earth (8.5/10)
14-15.Bolt Thrower - Those Once Loyal (8/10), In Battle There Is No Law (6.5/10)
16. Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (7/10)
17-18. Carcass - Heartwork (8/10), Necroticism (8.5/10)
19. Cattle Decapitation - Monolith of Humanity (7.5/10)
20. Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales (5/10)
21. Cryptopsy – None So Vile (7.5/10)
22. Cynic – Focus (9/10)
23. Dark Angel – Darkness Descends
24. Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky (8/10)
25. Dark Tranquility - Gallery (7.5/10)
26-28. Death – Human (8.5/10), Scream Bloody Gore (7.5/10), Symbolic (8.5/10)
29. Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine (8.5/10)
30. Diamond Head – Lightning to the Nations (7.5/10)
31. Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (4.5/10)
32. Dio – Holy Diver (8/10)
33. Dismember – Like an Ever Flowing Stream (6/10)
34. Dissection – Storm of the Light’s Bane (8.5/10)
35-36. Dream Theater – Images and Words (8.5/10), Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory (8/10)
37. Electric Wizard – Dopethrone (8/10)
38. Emperor – In the Nightside Eclipse (7.5/10)
39. Entombed – Left Hand Path (7.5/10)
40. Exodus – Bonded by Blood (7.5/10)
41. Fates Warning – Awaken the Guardian (7/10)
42. Godflesh - Streetcleaner (4/10)
43. Gorguts - Obscura (8/10)
44. Hammerfall - Legacy of Kings (7.5/10)
45. Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes (6/10)
46. Immortal – Pure Holocaust (7/10)
47. In Flames – The Jester Race (9/10)
48-49. Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast (7.5/10), Powerslave (8.5/10)
50-51. Judas Priest – Painkiller (8/10), Sad Wings of Destiny 7/10
52. Kamelot – The Black Halo (7/10)
53. King Diamond – Abigail (6.5/10)
54. Kreator – Pleasure to Kill (7.5/10)
55. Manilla Road – Crystal Logic (8/10)
56-57. Mastodon – Leviathan (8.5/10), Crack the Skye (8.5/10)
58. Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (7/10)
59-60. Megadeth – Rust in Peace (9.5/10), Countdown to Extinction (7.5/10)
61-62. Mercyful Fate – Don’t Break the Oath (8.5/10), Melissa
63-64. Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve (7.5/10), Obzen (7.5/10)
65. Metal Church – Metal Church (8/10)
66-68. Metallica – Kill ‘em All (8.5/10), Master of Puppets (8.5/10), Ride The Lightning (9/10)
69. Morbid Angel – Altars of Madness (9/10)
70-71. Motörhead – Ace of Spades (8/10), Overkill (7.5/10)
72. Napalm Death – Scum (6.5/10)
73. Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood (8.5/10)
74. Obituary - The End Complete (8/10)
75. Opeth – Blackwater Park (9/10)
76. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz (7.5/10)
77. Pentagram – Pentagram/Relentless (7.5/10)
78. Possessed – Seven Churches (6/10)
79. Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime (8/10)
80. Rainbow – Rising (8.5/10)
81. Repulsion – Horrified (5/10)
82-83. Rush - Moving Pictures, (8/10) 2112 (8.5/10)
84. Sepultura – Beneath the Remains (8/10)
85. Manowar - Kings of Metal (7.5/10)
86-88. Slayer – Hell Awaits (8/10), Reign in Blood (9/10), South of Heaven (7.5/10)
89-90. Sleep – Dopesmoker (8) Holy Mountain (8/10)
91. Sodom – Persecution Mania (7.5/10)
92. Suffocation – Effigy of the Forgotten (5.5/10)
93. Symphony X - The Odyssey (8/10)
94. Terrorizer – World Downfall (6/10)
95. Testament – The New Order (8/10)
96. Ulver - Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler (7.5/10)
97. Venom – Black Metal (7/10)
98. Voivod - Nothingface (7.5/10)
99. W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol (8/10)
100. Witchfinder General – Death Penalty (7/10)

I'll begin working my way through these just like before. Feel free to join me or add your thoughts about the list/ratings!

JDS

 

Kind of an odd choice of albums to check out but always glad to see others expand into more heavy music

 

It really is all over the place. Today I listened to Slayer, Dio, and Death lol. Any suggestions?

 

Well obviously Paranoid is the one I'd say is considered an absolute classic alongside the Metallica albums listed here. You have most likely heard about a third of the album without even trying to when considering the kind of widespread play that War Pigs, Paranoid, and Iron Man got/still get. You didn't seem to be really hot on Master of Reality, so maybe it still won't connect, but you can't go on without giving that one a shot.

 

Isis the band. Deafheaven. Altar of plagues.

 

Based on some of your ratings, I'd say you're a prime candidate for some Pallbearer and Baroness as well.

 

Entombed "Hollowman," Kreator "Terrible Certainty," Cult of Luna "Vertikal," Cathedral "Soul Sacrifice" & "The Ethereal Mirror."
I'm glad you have "Nothingface" listed.

 

Definitely already familiar with the first two (Isis is god-like), but I'll give the last one a look. Despite the original list, I'm always adding more.

 

Between the Buried and Me - Colors, The Great Misdirect, The Parallax II: Future Sequence, and Coma Ecliptic
Anything by Mastodon

 

I've got two Mastodon albums on there. BTBAM is one of my favorite bands, consequently I've listened to all of their albums numerous times so I left them off. Great suggestions though!

 

Really cool Idea. I have listened to a lot of these but there are a few I have missed. I will check them out. So, thanks for the recs!

 

DAY 50 (I think)



Slayer - Reign in Blood (1986)

Since I'm halfway through this list, I figured I'd just select an album instead of using the randomizer. I was short on time and heard that this album was like 30 minutes long so I gave it a go. It was exactly what I was looking for - a quick and aggressive punch to the face.

The first thing I thought was "Why don't I know these songs on guitar?" Seriously, all those years of not even knowing how to play Raining Blood? What wasted time. I love the ridiculous high-pitched wails. The solos are nuts (or probably were for the time). People talk about the dark side of thrash...I've missed out on so much.

Sure, it might start to sound a little same-y after awhile, but it definitely scratched that need for fast and aggressive music. A very fun listen.

Overall: 9/10

Favorite songs: all of them are great, but I like "Jesus Saves" and "Postmortem" especially.


DAY 51



Dio - Holy Diver (1983)

This right here is just some good goddamn heavy metal. It got me pumped very quickly (while sitting at my desk at home with my dog working on spreadsheets). The first track is so fast - Dio was yelling at me to stand and shout and then were was a crazy solo right up in my face. I literally felt empowered, like I was in a Rocky movie. Probably shouldn't listen to this album and drive at the same time. I love the intro riff to "Straight Through the Heart" as well as how prominent the bass is throughout the album. I'm an eternal supporter of good bass playing. All in all, a very fun album. Also the art is tight as hell.

Side note: in high school my friend would always play the riffs to "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow In The Dark" in guitar class and before long I learned them as well. I learned those songs ten years ago without ever hearing a Dio song, and listening to this album all these years later and hearing the actual songs made me realize how memorable this music is. It's for winners.

Overall: 8.5/10

Favorite songs: ALL OF THEM

 

Have you heard Altar of Plagues new band? Wife. It is really good!
Also, the first band Agolloch, is possibly one of my favorite American black metal bands. Listen to any other black metal bands? Also, if you like ISIS, check out Rosetta. They are pretty much right along the same lines.
Also check out Chrome Waves and Cnoc an Tursa.

 

thank you. someone else that will talk about Rosetta around here. it's insane bc so many on ap were into post metal

 

No problem! I own pretty much everything they have ever put out. Including their split with Junius. Junius is another amazing band as well.

 

Rosetta is cool

 

Also can't talk about post metal without mentioning Russian Circles, obviously

 

Of course.

Definitely. How about Pelican?

 

I'm down with Pelican. And Intronaut, but that's more on the prog side. You guys listen to the ex-Isis band member's new band with Chino from Deftones?

 

Palms! I actually really like it despite a lot of people not really feeling it. I pretty much am a huge Chino fan (Crosses, Team Sleep).

 

Maybe not really post-metal, but Devin Townsend's Ocean Machine: Biomech might be my favorite atmospheric metal album. Everything from the on-point instrumentation to the magnificent production makes that album a winner

 

That was the DT album I chose for this list, and it was a fantastic first experience.

 

DAY 52 (I'm going so slow)



Death - Symbolic (1995)

This will only be my second Death album (after Human), but both listening experiences have been amazing. I've heard that these guys upped the progressive elements on their later albums, and the difference between even Human and this album is noticeable. I'd have to say that my favorite part are the vocals. They sound angrier, and are very clear. The riffs are sicker. The solos are great, and not just technical wankery. The cleaner/ambient passages that show up every so often are an awesome parallel to the constant onslaught of death metal. There's no filler on this album!

Overall: 8.5

Favorite songs: "Zero Tolerance" "Crystal Mountain"

 

Awesome! If you're interested in hearing more by him, City by Strapping Young Lad was released around the same time, and it's a solid next step in understanding his discography. It showcases his extreme metal/industrial metal side and it's brootal as all hell.

 

I can't for the life of me get into Death as it stands right now. Maybe one day I will, and I certainly hope so, I'd hate to go the rest of my life not seeing what everybody else does without question in that band.