Only Anathema album I have is A Natural Disaster but after this little write up I might check out this one.

It rips off Black Sabbath! Who cares! It's bloody brilliant. Unlike many so called 'stoner' bands (who I won't include in this list), EW's sound is certainly not the groove blues based sound that it so indicative of that genre. Instead EW go for the huge sludgy riffs that we all want to hear but lose the polished sound of similar bands that smacks of an easy cop out to me.

The production sounds like a guy has just stuck a mic on all the amps and recorded it ad hoc and didn't bother mixing the album, thus giving us a warts and all 'live' feel to the album.

It is certainly one of the heaviest albums I have ever heard and that raw quality is to be commended in this day and age of over-production. Once again I won't comment on every single track and instead advise you to just download the damn thing and have your head blown off!

Sure there are negatives. Many tracks are nothing more than a collection of riffs and song structure is not a forte but when all you want is riffs, riffs and more riffs then it fit's the bill admirably.

Think that the desert scene captures a raw sludgy sound in all it's glory? Pah! You haven't heard anything yet!

Dopethrone is one of my very favourite records. I didn't think you liked Electric Wizard though? Did your opinion on this band change over time, or did i just have it all wrong? Anyway, i pretty much agree with everything you said about it and for me, it's their best release to date. Come My Fanatics is a fantastic record but i feel that with this one it was produced a little more, albet very slightly and not enough to stray too far from their roots, the drums sounded more prolific which is one thing that annoyed me a little about CMF. Electric Wizard opened the door to stoner rock/doom metal for me and im yet to find a band or record that i actually prefer over this one.

I did comment on not liking Witchfinder General which shocked me too so maybe it was that? I readily admit to disliking a lot of stoner rock due to it's banality but EW are far and above that. I really did want to revisit St. Vitus Dance, a band from the early 80's who had a similar sound but I lost my copy years ago and cannot find a decent download. I'm not sure whether they would have made the 50 but I would love to hear the album again.

That Anathema record is another of the few that lasted from my days of metal, along with Natural Disaster and Alternative 4, which is much much much heavier. Judgement is the best of the crop though. I think it's generally overlooked because a lot of metal fans just want the heaviest, most intense experience and completely overlook beautiful albums such as this and Damnation by Opeth. At least, all the metal people I hung out with at school called it a *** album. Obviously that's just a bunch of idiots that overlook some of the best music of the only genre they listen to to uphold an image. Sad, if you ask me.

EDIT: And I can't believe that some noob actually posted in here saying he hopes you don't put up Slipknot. That's quite an insult, though I'm sure he doesn't know your musical tastes yet.

If I can get a link to #50 and #48 it'd be greatly appreciated. Those tracks were truly rad.

PM on way. Hope you like and respond in the thread :)

dopethrone, great choice. funeralopolis has one of the greatest riffs ever. only album i have by electric wizard though, any recommendations?

yeah I am also a big fan of Dopethrone, isn't it great that they're from Dorset? about as far removed from the desert as you can get
to CC i would recommend Come My Fanatics

I'm impressed with your list making skills, usually you get a terribly biased and one sided list bu you're covering a lot. Keep it up! I'm really curious if some of my favorite albums will be on here.