I actually had to sit down and really think about this for a good half hour, so I'd say it's a good topic. I'm not going to attempt an actual ranking or anything as I think that would probably take me like an entire day to narrow down, so here's my top 6 in no particular order.
Master of Reality, Black Sabbath
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Yeah, I'm a little basic, Sabbath is one of my favourite bands of all time. Every song on this album is fucking fire, without exception. I mean come on, Children of the Grave, Lord of This World, Solitude and Into The Void; what else do you need. You can say the same about a bunch of their other albums, but this one is special to me even compared to Paranoid or their debut. It's the first album they downtuned on (to C#) so it just sounds so much heavier and darker, and created the whole schtick they then became known for. It's kinda funny, as after downtuning on Master of Reality here a lot of people seem to think they always downtuned in some sort of retroactive revision; I can't tell you how many tabs I still find for their first two albums that claim they're in C Standard (which they've never used, first of all) or how many times I've heard people say that IRL. Anyway, my personal favourite Sabbath album; Lord of This World is such a fucking slapper, dude.
Damnation, Opeth
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An entirely acoustic clean album, and something I will never forget listening to the first time. Again, every song on this album is fire. Windowpane, My Time of Need and Death Whispered A Lullaby are my top 3. Opeth had some serious musical chops, and any time I hear someone try and say '
mEtAl MusIcIaNs DoN'T kNoW mUsIc' I show them this album among some choice others. Some great, haunting songs on this, basically. It's a disservice to yourself to not listen to this album at least once.
The Way of All Flesh,
Gojira
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This is one of the heaviest godamn albums I've ever heard, man. This and From Mars to Sirius are
nearly tied for Gojira representation, but Way of All Flesh edges it out just ever so slightly. It's got some of the nastiest, grooviest riffs ever recorded by some hippie Frenchmen, Gojira's usual strange musical stylings with pick scrapes and discordant notes thrown in, and some absolute perfection in metal vocals. Art of Dying, Vacuity, Esoteric Surgery and Toxic Garbage Island are the real standouts to me, but every song is amazing.
Crack the Skye, Mastodon
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Mastodon's masterpiece, to me at least. This is progressive metal at it's finest, using some very interesting elements combined with only the finest of catchy riffs. There's some seriously great melodies thrown in, some country style chicken picking on Quintessence, very specific and odd time signatures, and it's still heavy and interesting to listen to, unlike some of their later albums. It's also a very tight album, with only 7 songs and a crisp 50 minute run time. The title track, Oblivion, and The Czar are my personal favourite songs, but every song on this is fantastic.
Sonic Excess in It's Purest Form, Crowbar
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This is the other heaviest godamn album I've ever listened to. This album just crushes you in all the best ways, like a sludge metal album should. It's brutal, but there's just enough layers to it to bring you back up a bit before the next chef's kiss riff hits you that much harder. Repulsive in It's Splendid Beauty, Lasting Dose (
holy shit, Lasting Dose), Thru the Ashes, and Empty Room are my song recommendations. If you like just a huge wall of sound absolutely running you over, there's not many better choices to me.
Danzig III: How the Gods Kill
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I'm down bad with Danzig, and this is their best to me. It's dark, just a little moody and grandiose and cheesy; the Danzig classic. It's a little more progressive compared to their first two albums, but not so much like their next two where it was hard to even kind of approach. It's got some bluesy riffing, some of Danzig's best vocal work, and even a few actually impressive arrangements. The title track, Bodies, Sistinas, and Godless are my picks here.
