Guaporense top 100 albums (2019 edition)

Tools    





31. Iron Savior - Dark Assault (2001)



Iron Savior is the world's most underrated band. They are just great all around and yet they only have about 40 thousand followers on Spotify! This must be corrected! Everybody should listen to more Iron Savior as they are basically a more evolved version of Judas Priest and feature some of the most amazing guitar work from continental Europe.



30. Black Sabbath - Tyr (1990)



Like Bathory on the same year, Black Sabbath decided to shift gears and move into a new direction after Headless Cross, a more "scandinavian" direction: yes, they did a Viking Metal album. In this album Black Sabbath achieved the peak of their artistic expression after 20 years of constant evolution. Simply massively and "dommy" epicness in grand scale as the band achieved a higher level from their simplistic (but obviously massively important) beginnings.

Yes, this is the best album Black Sabbath ever made. It is also different from the typical simplistic "one-riff one-song" compositional style they employed for most of their albums, instead the degree of melodic complexity here is higher, it sounds closer to "modern metal" after Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, but still being clearly Sabbath with their "dommy" monster-riffs approach.




Not much discussion here so I'll chip in. It's kinda hard to comment a list like this because 1) it's your personal opinion and 2) there's so many albums already. Anyways here's some of my opinions about your opinions.

I'm very happy about Bathory making your list even though my personal favorites are still missing at this point (them being Hammerheart and Blood Fire Death). Massively influential band (or person) and a proof that vision and desire are more important than technical skill.

I'm not a huge thrash metal fan. I have some favorites like Slayer, Metallica, Sabbat and Skyclad (if you can count them as thrash) but in general I mostly value it only as a transition from traditional metal to extreme metal. I've heard majority of the thrash albums on your list this far but in some cases I haven't listened to them in years.

I also don't think there's more clear "debut being the best" trend in thrash than in any other genre. Only clearly best debut that comes to mind is Annihilator's Alice in Hell; otherwise I actually prefer non-debuts from my favorites.

Helloween is influential for sure but I'm not really into German brand of power metal (their debut is their best album but it's more like speed metal). My taste in power metal is leaning more towards Southern Europe (Italy and Spain) and some bands that are little different from the norm like Sabaton or (old) Manowar.

About death metal. I used to listen quite a bit DM but as years go by more and more of it has started to sound dull. There are exceptions though and you've already mentioned one of them, Morbid Angel. Blessed Are the Sick is one of my absolute favorites and the album that converted me into harsh vocals. Altars of Madness isn't much worse (though it's kinda debatable whether it's their debut or not, Abominations of Desolation was recorded 3 years earlier but wasn't published until 1991 and it's also very good). I'd really need to give Death a proper chance though.

Albums on your list that could make my top-100: Holy Diver, The Eye, Altars of Madness, De Mysteriis dom Sathanas, Conspiracy, Heaven and Hell, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, South of Heaven, Ride the Lightning.

And then short comments on few individual bands/albums.

Black Sabbath: You seem to love Tony Martin era. I think those albums are somewhat good but wouldn't count them among my favorites. They don't sound like Black Sabbath anymore to me.

Elvellon: Biggest surprise on the list to me. Never heard of them before and gave them a spin after their list entry. I'm sorry but to me they sound completely generic example of the genre and couple of weeks later I don't remember anything of that album.

King Diamond: We like the same albums. Of my three favorites by him only Abigail hasn't showed up. Those three are absolute killers.

Emperor: Their debut is good but I disagree about the later albums. All of them are good.

Virgin Steele: I've listened Invictus couple of times and while it's OK it's far too long. Also it's way too blatant Manowar ripoff to really impress me.
__________________



@pahaK, thanks for your opinions. I think you might be pleased with some entries of the rest of this list.

Elvellon to me sounds very much like an improved version of Nightwish. Since I enjoy the genre of symphonic metal I decided to include it on this list.

Regarding Black Sabbath, well it is a band that has evolved a lot over time. Their early albums have this jazzy sound that gradually gave away to a purer traditional heavy metal style as metal itself solidified in its own style. I am a fan of Black Sabbath's 3 eras but perhaps a bigger fan of the Tony Martin era (I love 3 albums by him, while from Dio I only really love 1, Heaven and Hell, with Ozzy I really like Master of Reality, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and Sabotage). I didn't include more Black Sabbath, because, well, I need space for the other bands.



29. Virgin Steele - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part 2



Virgin Steele is one of the world's most underrated bands IMO. In fact, according to my Last FM profile, Virgin Steele is the 4th most played artist there. I think that is because of their melancholic traditional metal style which really resonated with me, especially back in those depressing days of my grad school. Their style is also quite unique since they sound nothing like other bands tagged as "power metal".



28. Mercyful Fate - Melissa (1983)



This is one of those essential albums in metal. It is like, if you are going to do a top favorite metal albums list them this obvious classic must be in there Why is that? Well, this is the real deal, pure unadulterated heavy metal in the classical sense. Both Mercyful Fate and King Diamond are absolutely essential for understanding metal and this is certainly one of their landmark albums.

By the way, the cover art really rocks.



27. Judas Priest - Stained Class (1978)



Despite its poor production this is an absolute classic that redefined heavy metal. While Black Sabbath's early albums are regarded as the founding albums of the genre it was Judas Priest's three early albums (Sad Wings, Sin After Sin and Stained Class) that really helped to create a more distinct sound for the genre differentiating it from blues and rock. The basic riff work of Stained Class, in particular, really provided foundations for speed and thrash metal.



26. Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind (1983)



PIece of MInd is the album where Iron Maiden really became "Iron Maiden", exhibiting a tremendous sequence of iconic songs one after another, it is certainly a masterpiece. It's legendary status is a fully justified one.



25. Bathory - Hammerheart (1990)



This is pure magic. Bathory's best (IMO) and a triumph of Viking metal, being the album that defined the whole genre. Packs a lot of great super-heavy riffs as well from Bathory's black metal "phase". Unforgettable experience.



24. Kamelot - Epica (2003)



Kamelot's Epica is FLOWER METAL AND PROUD! Yep, this is it bois! The flower metal album of the century (so far). A triumph of melody and catchiness, it is the best pop music ever as it easily tops Celine Dion!

By the way, the cover is a perfect reflection of the music underneath.



23. Slayer - Hell Awaits (1985)



I was thinking about my favorite Slayer album, sometimes I think it is South of Heaven, other time I considered Show no Mercy, but looking back there can be only ONE which is Hell Awaits, Slayer's masterpiece IMO as it perfectly expresses pure EVIL and the compositions inside the album are amazing and rather complex! Essential and Slayer's true masterpiece instead of the popular Reign in Blood (which still is a great record featuring great production IMO, I would have included it in this top 100 if I didn't have so many other Slayer albums).



22. Helloween*- Dark Ride (2000)



The Dark Ride is Helloween at the peak of their powers as a mature band.

What a great album indeed, I actually listened to it while writing down this list and I was shocked by how much I actually loved it. Its atmosphere is just, I don't know any better words, special.



21. Mercyful Fate - Don’t Break the Oath (1984)



With Mercyful Fate this is indeed their masterpiece, although Melissa comes very close, this one has a certain "magic" that pushed it a bit higher in my favorite lists, the absolute peak of the band. Later own they would reform but the magic of their early output was completely lost.



20. Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East(1979)



Unleashed in the East as perhaps when Judas Priest became Judas Priest and heavy metal became a well established musical genre, being that this album is a synthesis of pure heavy metal played live, aggressively and with decent production. Actually, what this album is when Judas Priest's classic songs got their first decent production job and they sound like screaming heavy metal indeed: this album is not just a metal album, this album IS Heavy Metal.



A system of cells interlinked
Just catching up after not getting back around to this list for a while. More great choices have appeared, and I look forward the the rest of the Top 20!
__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



19. Blind Guardian - Imaginations of the Other Side (1995)



Simply the ultimate power metal album. Essentially perfect: amazing immersive atmosphere combined with bursts of tremendous aggression. Among the best of the best and most memorable albums, I have ever listened too.



18. Slayer - Haunting the Chapel (1984)



If Imaginations from Other Side is the ultimate in power metal this is the ultimate in thrash. Slayer's EP Hauting the Chapel has only 3 songs but each song is of godly quality: perhaps the world's first example of an extreme metal release (although Judas Priest's Dissident Aggressor from 1977 might be regarded as the first extreme metal song). Chemical Warfare is legendary as it annihilates everything on its path: an absolute masterpiece of the genre as it almost transcends thrash metal with higher levels of melody and aggression at the same time!



17. Helloween - Better than Raw (1998)



Better than Raw is perhaps the album that I listened to the most (according to LastFM which is set to tracks some of my listening devices/apps since 2008 it was the second most listened album). While Imaginations from the Other Side is the ultimate power metal album this one, although often categorized as power metal, is actually closer to being a straight heavy metal album with a lot of progressive elements (which often sound similar to power), it has a lot of heaviness as well, sounding way heavier than typical Iron Maiden/Judas Priest heavy metal and closer to extreme metal territory. And the cover absolutely rocks, best cover ever!



16. Wintersun - Time I (2012)



Now this is what EPIC is supposed to sound like. Wintersun basically took melodic death metal and infused it with neoclassical symphonic metal to create this kind of beast. It is indeed magnificent and worthy of each of the 8 years that Jari has spent producing it: 3 songs took 8 years to be recorded into an album indeed But it was completely worth it!