Top 400 Metal Albums
The first heavy metal album I heard was Black Sabbath's Master Of Reality. I was about nine years old, and while I had already been exposed to some punk and hard rock, Black Sabbath sounded far more scary. The low, rumbling minor chords were different from anything I'd heard, though by 1978, there was plenty of metal available, but not so easily to a little kid. It wasn't until 1982 that I really started listening to metal. MTV was starting to play a few metal videos, including Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills." Then I discovered a college radio station called WSUP 90.5, from University of Wisconsin, Platteville, that played everything from Sabbath to Deep Purple, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Motörhead, Dio, and New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Saxon, Iron Maiden, Angel Witch and others. While my initial reaction to metal was that it sounded too hard and fast, I quickly got over that aesthetic issue, and it became addictive. At the same time, however, I began exploring pre-punk, punk and post-punk on another college station, KUNI. So I never became completely immersed in metal culture. I listened to my friend's Iron Maiden albums for a couple years before I got some of my own. I was a fairweather metal fan, my interest ebbing and flowing in relation to whether any landmark albums were released that year. In the mid-eighties, my interest outside of Iron Maiden was minimal, until I heard Metallica's Ride the Lightning, Master Of Puppets and Megadeth's Peace Sells.... I was aware of Slayer's Reign In Blood, which actually freaked me out enough that I didn't really get into them until college a couple years later.
In college I focused my radio show on post-punk and indie rock. But I had a roommate who listened to Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. After being disappointed by Metallica's ...And Justice For All, I needed to scratch my metal itch, and began hanging out with the metalheads when they did their radio shows. The studio hazy with weed smoke, these really smart guys, most of them accomplished musicians themselves, would listen to this dense, super fast, ultra complex music and deconstruct their structure, and try to figure out what effects pedals and drum equipment were being used. Slayer, Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Bolt Thrower and Sepultura became my new favorite metal bands. I realized that metal wasn't necessarily something I needed to outgrow with age. Metal was evolving and maturing with the rest of us.
Despite my renewed allegiance to metal, it was easy to get out of the loop at times. And I continue to be guilty of overlooking great metal albums at the time they come out, and underrating albums that deserve more serious attention. At the end of the year I tend to hurriedly try to catch up on metal releases from the whole year, and inevitably miss some good ones. My rock lists and all-time top 500 list has not sufficiently reflected the best metal albums, and I've spent the last couple months correcting that. Inspired by the need to review the new Rough Guide To Heavy Metal, great new albums by Mastodon and Opeth and a mind-melting live Mastodon show at a small club, I've listened exclusively to metal for the past eight weeks. I've made repeated visits to Metal Haven, possibly the only metal specialty shop in the Midwest, located conveniently a block from my place. My listening habits depend on varying moods, but I found that in sticking to metal, there's enough variety that a true full-time metalhead can pretty much get the whole emotional and musical range they could ever want, whether it be super aggressive death metal, hypnotic doom metal, complex progressive metal, or even cheesy love ballads.
As I listened to albums for the first time and relistened to others for the 20th time, I slowly compiled my own all-time metal list. It's in no way definitive or comprehensive. It's simply my favorites that I've heard. In order to simplify things, I've left out a few bands and subgenres that I don't think are really metal. The most contentious choice is Led Zeppelin, which I explained in the main article featured this month. Robert Plant agrees that the first Led Zeppelin album is more ethereal than metal. While Led Zeppelin II comes close in that half the songs nearly fit the criteria of metal, Black Sabbath is the first truly metal album from start to finish. Also excluded are Blue Cheer, Blue Oyster Cult, Hawkwind, Rush, Queen, UFO, Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Melvins, Monster Magnet, Boris, Earth, Godflesh, Scorn, Tool, System of a Down, later albums by Katatonia and Anathema, Isis and Jehu. With the exception of Motley Crue and Ratt, there is no glam metal simply because it just didn't make my top 400. No Nu Metal made the list because I hate it. Korn, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot's dumb, self-pitying lyrics are not stupid in a entertaining way. They're just annoying. That's my own bias, but judging from the several metal polls I've seen, most people share it.
Meanwhile, I included some albums that might toe the line. AC/DC is a no-brainer. In addition to Led Zeppelin, a couple other bands qualified as metal for only one album. The Cult's Electric is at least a step above the AC/DC pilfering job done by Krokus. The indie noise-rock band Today Is The Day only sounds metal to my ears on In The Eyes Of God, which happens to be the only album featuring Brann Dailor, who would later form Mastodon.
Like any subjective list, its main value is not derived from bickering about specific ranking orders (though I'm always up for debating), but getting turned on to albums you may not be familiar with. I'm always open to recommendations, as none of my lists are static. Rock on \m/
-- A.S. Van Dorston
- Slayer - Reign In Blood (American) 86
- Metallica - Master of Puppets (Elektra) 86
- Slayer - South Of Heaven (American) 88
- Metallica - Ride The Lightning (Elektra) 84
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid (WB) 70
- Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss (American) 90
- Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind (EMI) 83
- Motörhead - Ace Of Spades (Roadracer) 80
- Mastodon - Blood Mountain (Reprise) 06
9+
- Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 (WB) 72
- Black Sabbath - Sabotage (WB) 75
- Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast (Capitol) 82
- Judas Priest - Stained Class (Columbia) 78
- Black Sabbath (WB) 70
- Mastodon - Leviathan (Relapse) 04
- Opeth - Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner) 05
- Opeth - Blackwater Park (Koch) 01
- Napalm Death - From Enslavement To Obliteration (Combat) 88
- Kreator - Terrible Certainty (Noise/Sanctuary) 88
- Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath (Roadrunner) 84
- Iron Maiden (Capitol) 80
- AC/DC - Highway To Hell (Atco) 79
- Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality (WB) 71
- Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny (Columbia) 76
- AC/DC - High Voltage (Epic) 76
- The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Traveller (Dragonheart) 03
- The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Twilight Of The Idols (Dragonheart) 99
- Orphaned Land - Mabool - The Story of the Three Sons of Seven (Century Media) 04
- Megadeth - Rust In Peace (Capitol) 90
- Motörhead - Overkill (EMI) 79
- Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? (Capitol) 86
- The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Down Among The Deadmen (Dragonheart) 00
- Raven - All For One (Neat) 83
- Mastodon - Remission (Relapse) 02
- Iron Maiden - Killers (Capitol) 81
- Raven - Rock Till You Drop (Roadrunner) 81
- Kreator - Pleasure To Kill (Noise/Sanctuary) 86
- Celtic Frost - Into The Pandemonium (Noise) 87
- Possessed - Seven Churches (Relativity) 85
- Cynic - Focus (Roadrunner) 93
- Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve (Nuclear Blast) 95
- Motörhead - Bomber (Bronze) 79
- AC/DC - Back In Black (WB) 80
- AC/DC - Let There Be Rock (Atco) 77
- Entombed - Wolverine Blues (Sony) 94
- More - Blood & Thunder (Atlantic) 82
- Metallica - Kill 'Em All (Megaforce) 83
- Venom - Black Metal (Neat/Combat) 82
- Sepultura - Chaos A.D. (Roadrunner) 93
- Loudness - Law Of Devil's Land (Columbia Japan) 83
- Judas Priest - Killing Machine/Hell Bent For Leather (Columbia) 79
- Van Halen (WB) 78
- Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (WB) 73
- Dio - Holy Diver (Reprise) 83
- Raven - Wiped Out (Roadrunner) 82
- Bathory - Blood Fire Death (Maze/Kraze) 88
- Overdrive - Swords and Axes (Metal for Muthas) 84
- Angel Witch (Castle) 80
- Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell (WB) 80
- Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape (Century Media) 01
- Enslaved * Ruun (Candlelight) 06
- Hammers Of Misfortune - The Bastard (Tumult) 01
- Dio - The Last In Line (WB) 84
- Voivod - Nothingface (Mechanic) 89
- The Haunted - Made Me Do It (Earache) 00
- AC/DC - Powerage (Epic) 78
- Prong - Cleansing (Epic) 91
- Electric Wizard - Dopethrone (Rise Above) 01
- Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion (Noise) 85
- Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark (New Renaissance/Black Mark) 86
- Enslaved - Isa (Candlelight) 05
- Opeth - Deliverance (Koch) 02
- Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz (Jet) 80
- The Darkness - Permission To Land (Must Destroy) 03
- Enslaved - Below The Lights (End) 03
- Enslaved - Monumension (Osmose) 01
- Tiamat - Wildhoney (Century Media) 94
- Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse (Century Black) 94
- Tygers Of Pan Tang - Spellbound (MCA) 81
- Entombed - Uprising (Threeman) 00
- Entombed - To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth (Music for Nations) 97
- Kreator - Extreme Agression (Epic) 89
- Opeth - Still Life (Peaceville/Snapper) 99
- Orphaned Land - El Nora Alila (Holy Records) 96
- Judas Priest - Sin After Sin (Columbia) 77
- Rainbow - Rising (Polydor) 76
- Manowar - Hail To England (Music for Nations) 84
- Trouble - Psalm 9 (Metal Blade) 84
- Manowar - Battle Hymns (Liberty) 82
- Finntroll - Ur Jordens Djup (Century Media) 07
- Slough Feg - Hardworlder (Cruz Del Sur) 07
- Neurosis - Through Silver In Blood (Relapse) 96
- Slayer - Hell Awaits (Metal Blade) 85
- Neurosis - Times Of Grace (Relapse) 99
- Riot - Fire Down Under (Fire Sign/Metal Bldade) 81
- Sigh - Hangman's Hymn: Musikalische Exequien (The End) 07
- Enslaved - Mardraum (Necropolis) 00
- Anvil - Metal On Metal (Attic) 82
- Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse (Century Media) 98
- At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul (Earache) 95
- Girlschool - Demolition (Bronze/Sanctuary) 80
- Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman (Jet) 81
- Accept - Restless And Wild (Portrait/Steamhammer) 83
- Death - Sound Of Perseverence (Nuclear Blast) 98
- Girlschool - Hit & Run (Stiff/Sanctuary) 81
- Anvil - Forged In Fire (Attic) 83
- Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk (Century Media) 97
- Entombed - Clandestine (Earache) 91
- Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards (Mercury) 72
- Napalm Death - Scum (Earache) 87
- Today Is The Day - In The Eyes Of God (Relapse) 99
- Sepultura - Beneath The Remains (Roadrunner) 89
- Atheist - Unquestionable Presence (Metal Blade) 91
- Uriah Heep - Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble (Mercury) 70
- Sepultura - Arise (Roadrunner) 91
- Destruction - Release From Agony (Profile/Steamhammer) 88
- Anthrax - Among The Living (Megaforce) 87
- Morbid Angel - Blessed Are The Sick (Combat) 91
- Death Angel - Act III (Geffen Goldline) 90
- Metal Church (Elektra) 85
- Sodom - Persecution Mania (Roadrunner/Steamhammer) 87
- Motörhead (Roadracer) 77
- In Flames - Jester Race (Nuclear Blast) 95
9
- Slayer - Christ Illusion (American) 06
- Dark Tranquility - The Gallery (Osmose) 95
- Slayer - Show No Mercy (Metal Blade) 83
- The Meads Of Asphodel - Exhuming The Grave Of Yeshua (Supernal) 03
- Loudness - Disillusion (Music For Nations) 84
- Hammers Of Misfortune - The August Engine (Cruz del Sur) 03
- Armored Saint - March Of The Saint (Chrysalis) 84
- Van Halen - Fair Warning (WB) 81
- Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness (Earache) 89
- Mercyful Fate - Melissa (Megaforce) 83
- Alcatrazz - No Parole From Rock 'n' Roll (Grand Slamm) 83
- Slough Feg - Atavaism (Cruz Del Sur) 05
- Meshuggah - Nothing (Nuclear Blast) 02
- Savatage - Sirens (Metal Blade) 83
- Voivod - Angel Rat (Mechanic) 91
- Anthrax - Spreading The Disease (Megaforce) 85
- Testament - The Legacy (Atlantic) 87
- Opeth - Morningrise (Century Media) 96
- Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power (Atco) 92
- Manowar - Into Glory Ride (Music for Nations) 83
- Voivod - Dimension Hatross (FAD) 88
- Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal to the Flesh (Earache) 98
- Sodom - Agent Orange (Roadracer/Steamhammer) 89
- Exodus - Fabulous Disaster (Combat) 89
- Coroner - Mental Vortex (Noise) 91
- Lamb Of God - As The Palaces Burn (Prosthetic) 03
- Opeth - Orchid (Century Media) 95
- Nile - Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka (Relapse) 98
- Iron Maiden - Powerslave (Capitol) 84
- Burst - Origo (Relapse) 06
- Poison The Well - You Come Before You (Trustkill) 03
- Immortal - Battles In The North (Osmose) 95
- Scorpions - Lovedrive (Mercury) 79
- Exodus - Bonded By Blood (Combat) 85
- Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side (EMI) 95
- Nachtmystium - Instinct: Decay (Southern Lord) 06
- Blind Guardian - A Twist In The Myth (Nuclear Blast) 06
- Prong - Prove You Wrong (Epic) 91
- Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt. 1 (RCA) 87
- King Diamond - Abigail (Roadrunner) 87
- Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (Polydor) 78
- Riot - Narita (Capitol) 79
- Riot - Rock City (Fire Sign/Metal Blade) 77
- Blind Guardian - Tales From the Twilight World (EMI) 90
- Accept - Balls To The Wall (Portrait) 84
- King Diamond - Them (Roadrunner) 88
- Testament - The New Order (Megaforce) 88
- Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force (Polydor) 84
- Morbid Angel - Covenant (Giant) 93
- Tank - Filth Hounds Of Hades (Action Music) 82
- Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane (NBA) 96
- Death - Human (Combat) 91
- Death - Individual Thought Patterns (Combat) 93
- Atheist - Piece Of Time (Metal Blade) 89
- Anvil - Forged In Fire (Attic) 83
- Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding (Metal Blade) 94
- Bolt Thrower - Warmaster (Combat) 91
- Behemoth - Demigod (Regain) 04
- Witchfinder General - Death Penalty (Heavy Metal) 82
- Budgie - Never Turn Your Back On A Friend (MCA/Roadracer) 73
- Lamb Of God - Ashes of the Wake (Epic) 04
- Bathory - The Return... (Black Mark) 85
- Entombed - Morning Star (Music for the Nations) 01
- Motörhead - Bastards (Steamhammer) 01
- Bolt Thrower - Realm Of Chaos (Combat) 89
- Korpiklaani - Tervaskanto (Napalm) 07
- Pig Destoyer - Terrifyer (Relapse) 04
- The Haunted (Earache) 98
- Budgie (MCA/Roadracer) 71
- Meshuggah - Chaosphere (Nuclear Blast) 98
- Soilent Green - A Deleted Symphony For the Beaten Down (Relapse) 01
- Entombed - Left Hand Path (Earache) 90
- Prong - Beg To Differ (Epic) 90
- Meshuggah - Catch Thirty-Three (Nuclear Blast) 05
- Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (Century Media) 97
- Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime (EMI) 88
- Big Business - Here Come The Waterworks (Hydra Head) 07
- Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works (Wea/Relapse) 07
- Neurosis - Given to the Rising (Neurot) 07
- High On Fire - Death Is This Communion (Relapse) 07
- In Flames - Reroute To Remain (Nuclear Blast) 02
- Kreator - Violent Revolution (Steamhammer/SPV) 01
- Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon (Nuclear Blast) 03
- Exhumed - Anatomy Is Destiny (Relapse) 03
- Children Of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll (Century Media) 03
- Naglfar - Sheol (Century Media) 03
- Motörhead - Orgasmatron (Castle) 86
- Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction (Capitol) 92
- Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (Geffen) 87
- The Cult - Electric (Sire) 87
- Metallica (Elektra) 91
- Judas Priest - British Steel (Columbia) 80
- Hellhammer - Apocalyptic Raids (Noise) 84
- Heavy Load - Metal Conquest (Thunderload) 81
- Heavy Load - Death Or Glory (Thunderload) 82
- Grim Reaper - See You In Hell (Spittfire) 84
- Samson - Shock Tactics (Grand Slamm) 81
- Budgie - In For The Kill! (MCA) 74
- Stygian Shore - The Shore Will Arise (Shadow Kingdom) 89
- Kiss (Casablanca/Mercury) 74
- Prong - Rude Awakening (Epic) 96
- Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law (Carrere) 80
- Saxon - Wheels of Steel (Carrere) 80
- Coroner - No More Color (Noise) 89
- Opeth - Damnation (Koch) 03
- Neurosis - Enemy Of The Sun (Alternative Tentacles) 94
- Earthless - Rhythms From a Cosmic Sky (Tee Pee) 07
- Middian - Age Eternal (Metal Blade) 07
- Turisas - The Varangian Way (EMI) 07
- Baroness - Red Album (3D) 07
- Yakuza - Transmutations (Prosthetic/Red) 07
- The Meads Of Asphodel - The Excommunication Of Christ (Supernal) 01
- The Sword - Age Of Winters (Kemado) 06
- Iron Maiden * A Matter of Life and Death (Sanctuary) 06
- Napalm Death - Fear Emptiness Despair (Sony) 94
- Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil (Motley/Beyond) 83
- Tank - This Means War (Music For Nations) 83
- Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations (Metal Blade) 79
- Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself (Mercury) 71
- Metal Church - Human Factor (Epic) 91
- Metal Church - Blessing In Disguise (Elektra) 89
- Loudness - Thunder In The East (Atlantic/Wounded Bird) 85
- Twisted Sister - Under The Blade (Secret) 82
- Scorpions - Blackout (Mercury) 82
- Accept - Metal Heart (Portrait) 85
- Cult Of Luna - Salvation (Earache) 04
- Bolt Thrower - For Victory (Earache) 95
- Motörhead - Sacrifice (CMC) 95
- Black Sabbath - Mob Rules (WB) 81
- Motörhead - 1916 (Sony) 91
- Dethklok - The Dethalbum (Williams Street) 07
- Motörhead - Overnight Sensation (CMC) 96
- Tank - Power Of The Hunter (This Record/Repertoire) 82
- Early Man - Closing In (Matador) 05
- Motörhead - We Are Motörhead (CMC) 00
- Van Halen - Women And Children First (WB) 80
- Motörhead - Another Perfect Day (Roadrunner) 83
- Kiss - Dressed To Kill (Casablanca/Mercury) 75
- Queensryche - Empire (EMI) 90
- Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines (Relapse) 02
- Dimension Zero - Silent Night Fever (Century Media) 02
- Bloodbath - Resurrection Through Carnage (Century Media) 02
- Carcass - Symphonies Of Sickness (Earache) 89
- Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters (Southern Lord) 07
- Wolfpack Unleashed - Anthems of Resistance (Napalm) 07
- Pharoah Overlord - The Battle of the Axehammer (Riot Season) 07
- Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb (Relapse) 07
- 3 Inches of Blood - Fire Up The Blades (Roadrunner) 07
- Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics (The Music Cartel) 99
- Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine (Relapse) 04
- Converge - You Fail Me (Epitaph) 04
- AC/DC - For Those About To Rock... (Epic) 81
- Nile - Black Seeds Of Vengeance (Relapse) 00
- Angel City - Dark Room (Epic) 80
- High on Fire - Blessed Black Wings (Relapse) 05
- Cursed - Two (Goodfellow) 05
- Caïna - Mourner (Profound Lore) 07
- Watain - Sworn to the Dark (Season of the Mist) 07
- Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream (Nuclear Blast) 91
- Immolation - Harnessing Ruin (Olympic) 05
- Lazarus - The Onslaught (CD Baby) 07
- The Hellacopters - Payin' The Dues (Sub Pop) 99
- Trouble - The Skull (Metal Blade) 85
- Quartz - Deleted (Jet) 77
- Fist - Fleet Street (A&M) 81
- Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity (Relapse) 99
- Nuclear Assault - Handle With Care (Combat) 89
9-
- S.O.D. - Speak English Or Die (Megaforce) 85
- Hammers Of Misfortune - The Locust Years (Cruz del Sur) 06
- Bible Of The Devil - Diabolic Procession (Raw Deth) 06
- Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance (Columbia) 82
- Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Century Media) 94
- Yngwie Malmsteen - Trilogy (Polydor) 86
- Enslaved - Blodhemn (Osmose) 99
- AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Albert Productions) 76
- Black Sabbath - Born Again (WB) 83
- Bloody Panda - Pheromone (Level Plane) 06
- Fear Factory - Demanufacture (Roadrunner) 95
- Twisted Sister - You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (Atlantic) 83
- Van Halen II (WB) 79
- Nevermore - The Politics Of Ecstasy (Century Media) 96
- Hanoi Rocks - Self-Destruction Blues (Lick) 83
- AC/DC - Flick Of The Switch (Atco) 83
- Accept - Breaker (Universal/Brain) 81
- Chateaux - Chained And Desperate (Ebony) 83
- Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh (Century Media) 05
- Anaal Nathrakh - Domine Non Es Dignus (Season Mist America) 04
- Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales (Metal Blade) 84
- Terrorizer - World Downfall (Combat) 89
- Soilent Green - Sewn Mouth Secrets (Relapse) 98
- Old Man's Child - In Defiance Of Existence (Century Media) 03
- Grimfist - Ghouls Of Grandeur (Candlelight) 03
- Arch Enemy - Anthems Of Rebellion (Century Media) 03
- Entombed - Inferno (Koch) 03
- Converge * No Heroes (Epitaph) 06
- The Gates Of Slumber * The Awakening (Final Chapter) 06
- Motörhead * Kiss Of Death (Sanctuary) 06
- Battle Of Mice - A Day Of Nights (Neurot) 06
- Cult Of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway (Earache) 06
- Occult - Rage To Revenge (Painkiller) 02
- Y&T - Earthshaker (A&M) 81
- Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death (Columbia) 03
- Uriah Heep - The Magician's Birthday (Mercury) 72
- Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (Capitol) 88
- W.A.S.P. - The Last Command (Capitol) 85
- Converge - No Heroes (Epitaph) 06
- Venom - Welcome To Hell (Neat/Combat) 81
- Highway Chile - Storybook Heroes (21) 83
- Saxon - Denim And Leather (Carrere) 81
- Celtic Frost - Monotheist (Century Media) 06
- Vanden Plas - Christ O (Inside Out) 06
- In Flames - Clayman (Nuclear Blast) 00
- Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor (Century Media) 05
- Yngwie Malmsteen - Marching Out (Polydor) 85
- Venom - At War With Satan (Neat/Combat) 83
- Cannibal Corpse - Vile (Metal Blade) 96
- Esoteric - Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum (Season of Mist) 04
- Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love (Beyond/Elektra) 81
- Diamond Head - Death and Progress (Metal Blade) 83
- Quartz - Stand Up And Fight (MCA) 80
- Angel City - Face To Face (Epic) 80
- Savatage - The Dungeons Are Calling (Metal Blade) 85
- Deep Purple - In Rock (WB) 70
- Budgie - Squawk (MCA/Roadrunner) 72
- In Flames - Colony (Nuclear Blast) 99
- Deep Purple - Machine Head (WB) 72
- Bathory (Black Mark) 84
- Ozzy Osbourne - Speak Of The Devil (Jet) 82
- Pentagram - Day Of Reckoning (Peaceville/Snapper) 87
- Motörhead - Hammered (Sanctuary) 02
- Motörhead - Iron Fist (Castle) 82
- In Flames - Whoracle (Nuclear Blast) 97
- Motörhead - March Or Die (Sony) 92
- Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry (Polydor) 81
- Electric Wizard - Let Us Prey (Rise Above/The Music Cartel) 02
- Diamond Head - Borrowed Time (MCA) 82
- Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption (Earache) 90
- Big Business - Head For The Shallow (Hydra Head) 05
- Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges (Century Media) 99
- Venom - Possessed (Neat/Combat) 85
- Scorpions - In Trance (RCA) 75
- Bal-Sagath - The Cthonic Chronicles (Candlelight) 06
- Lamb Of God * Sacrament (Epic) 06
- Krokus - Headhunter (Arista) 83
- Shadows Fall - Threads Of Life (Roadrunner) 07
- W.A.S.P. (Capitol) 84
- Cannibal Corpse - Butchered At Birth (Metal Blade) 91
- Tygers Of Pan Tang - Wild Cat (MCA) 80
- Napalm Death - The Code Is Red...Long Live The Code (Century Media) 05
- Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness (Metal Blade) 05
- Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (Metal Magic) 90
- Death - Symbolic (Roadrunner) 95
- Dio - Dream Evil (Reprise) 87
- Slayer - God Hates Us All (American/Columbia) 01
- Trouble - Run To The Light (Metal Blade) 87
- Ulver - Shadows of the Sun (The End) 07
- Death - Leprosy (Combat) 88
- Death - Screaming Bloody Gore (Combat) 87
- Iced Earth - The Dark Saga (Century Media) 96
- Judas Priest - Painkiller (Columbia) 90
- Ratt - Out Of The Cellar (Atlantic) 84
- Motörhead - Rock 'N' Roll (Castle) 87
- Exciter - Violence and Force (Music For Nations) 84
- Carcass - Reek Of Putrefaction (Earache) 88
- Kiss - Love Gun (Casablanca/Mercury) 77
- Kiss - Hotter Than Hell (Casablanca/Mercury) 74
8+
- Megadeth - Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good (Combat) 85
- Anthrax - Fistful of Metal (Megaforce) 84
- Voivod - Killing Technology (Noise) 87
- Exciter - Long Live The Loud (Music For Nations) 85
- Warlock - Burning the Witches (Mercury) 84
- Scorpions - Virgin Killer (RCA) 76
- Pentagram - Relentless (Peacevill/Snapper) 85
- Orphaned Land - Sahara (Holy Land) 94
- Metallica - ...And Justice For All (Elektra) 88
- Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac (Enigma) 83
- Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction (Metal Blade) 84
- Kiss - Destroyer (Casablanca) 76
10-
