Best Metal Albums (a recent list)

15. Lamb Of God - "Ashes Of The Wake" (2004)

New Wave Of American Heavy Metal combine old school thrash and metalcore influences.
Highlight tracks: Blood Of The Scribe, Laid To Rest

14. Baroness - "Red Album" (2007)

Independent metal with Southern rock grooves.
Highlight tracks: The Birthing, Rays On Pinion

13. Dream Theater - "Train Of Thought" (2003)

Heavy progressive rock with nuances of Rush and King Crimson. Complex time signatures with unbelievable guitar and drum work.
Highlight tracks: As I Am, In The Name Of God

12. High On Fire - "Snakes Of The Divine" (2010)

Leaders of the "Stoner Metal" sub-genre. The title track is among the best metal songs ever written.
Highlight tracks: Snakes Of The Divine, Fire, Flood & Plague

11. Nevermore - "This Godless Endeavor" (2005)

More progressive metal. Opeth's lead guitarist/singer, Mikael Akerfeldt, commented on this being his favorite album of 2005.
Highlight tracks: This Godless Endeavor, Born

10. Iced Earth - "The Glorious Burden" (2004)

Taking cue from NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. This album debuts Judas Priest's replacement vocalist, Tim "Ripper" Owens, for the then departed Rob Halford.
Highlight tracks: The Reckoning (Don't Tread On Me), Gettysburg


9. Wolf - "Black Wings" (2002)

Tracks that seem to have been taken directly from an Iron Maiden lost songs vault. Wolf is a Swedish metal group with riffs that rival those Maiden released in the 80s.
Highlight tracks: Genocide, Venom


8. Trivium - "Ascendancy" (2005)

Written when lead singer/guitarist Matt Heafy was only 18. Ascendancy skillfully blends metalcore and thrash. Clean vocals and 'Cookie Monster' growls can be heard throughout.
Highlight tracks: Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr, A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation


7. The Sword - "Warp Riders" (2010)

The Texas metalers third outing takes hooks from such local influences as ZZ Top and Pantera. Southern rock meets thrash in perfect harmony.
Highlight tracks: Lawless Lands, Tres Brujas


6. Megadeth - "United Abominations" (2007)

Dave Mustaine and Co. continue to thrash and this release is their 2000 decades crowning achievement. The blistering guitar solo on Burnt Ice is worth the price of the album itself.
Highlight tracks: Burnt Ice, Blessed Are The Dead


5. Dimmu Borgir - "Death Cult Armageddon" (2003)

Death metal meets John Williams. The album was recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Strings have never sounded this brutal.
Highlight tracks: Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse, Cataclysm Children


4. 3 Inches Of Blood - "Fire Up The Blades" (2008)

Cam Pipes lives up to his name with vocals that would make Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio cry. Songs about swords, sorcery and Middle Earth. This is metal.
Highlight tracks: The Hydra's Teeth, The Goatriders Horde


3. Iron Maiden - "Brave New World" (2000)

It's Iron Maiden and it hasn't been this good since 1984.
Highlight tracks: The Wicker Man, Brave New World


2. Mastodon - "Blood Mountain" (2006)

A concept album about a man in search of the Crystal Skull to place atop of Blood Mountain in order to remove the reptile brain to achieve the next step of human evolution while being warned by a clairvoyant, one-eyed Sasquatch. I cannot make this stuff up. It's awesome.
Highlight tracks: Capillarian Crest, Sleeping Giant


1. Opeth - "Ghost Reveries" (2005)

Metal album of the last decade! Flawless. Arguments do not apply.
Highlight tracks: Reverie/Harlequin Forest, Ghost Of Perdition