Not quite sure what's going on with this thread now but I want to do a top ten anyway. I'm keeping it one album per artist.
10. Ulver - Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
The peak of their black metal era. The perfect blend of atmospheric black metal and dark folk.
9. Sabbat - Dreamweaver
The English band not the Japanese band. Has some mind-bending lyrics inspired by Wyrdism and paganism and some great riffs courtesy of Andy Sneap. Thinking man's thrash metal.
8. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
A progressive metal masterpiece that I haven't grown tired of after nine years. This is Opeth at the peak of their game.
7. Slayer - Reign in Blood
The first metal album to both genuinely frighten me and make me think "this is friggin' badass!" You can read a review of it in my journal
here.
6. Death - Human
I had a tough time deciding on a Death album. This album is the perfect introduction to death metal. It's relatively accessible in terms of the genre yet has amazing depth. This is the band at their most focused and best.
5. Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
The best thing to come out of Norwegian black metal. It took the genre into a more adventurous and atmospheric territory with long compositions and some dark ambient electronica. Read my journal review
here.
4. The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand
Residing at the meeting points of drone, doom metal and shoegaze. Probably the heaviest album in my music collection. Not solely in terms of crushing, speaker-destroying guitars, but also in terms of soul-sucking emotion.
3. Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics...
The choice between this and Dopethrone was tight, but I just love the guitar sound on this album. It's like being pinned to the ground by some invisible force as the sky above you turns red.
2. Bathory - Blood Fire Death
How do you know whether you love extreme metal or not? Listen to this album, turn the volume up so loud your ears start to itch and you will soon find out.
1. Iron Maiden - Live After Death
I could have gone with Powerslave but I decided to go with the live album they recorded during the Powerslave tour. To me this album represents Maiden at their 80's peak and is a damn perfect slice of heavy metal. Then there's that artwork. Just look at it. Iron ****ing Maiden.