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List by @riffiter

Essential metal albums

From Sabbath's invention to modern extremity: 20 albums that map metal's whole family tree, in chronological order.

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  1. 1Paranoid coverParanoidBlack Sabbath · 19701970 · the riff that started the genre
  2. 2British Steel coverBritish SteelJudas Priest · 19801980 · metal sheds its blues skin
  3. 3Ace of Spades coverAce of SpadesMotörhead · 19801980 · punk speed, metal weight
  4. 4The Number of the Beast coverThe Number of the BeastIron Maiden · 19821982 · the NWOBHM's crowning run begins
  5. 5Master of Puppets coverMaster of PuppetsMetallica · 19861986 · thrash's masterpiece
  6. 6Reign in Blood coverReign in BloodSlayer · 19861986 · extremity's gold standard
  7. 7Altars of Madness coverAltars of MadnessMorbid Angel · 19891989 · death metal takes shape
  8. 8Rust in Peace coverRust in PeaceMegadeth · 19901990 · thrash at its most technical
  9. 9Vulgar Display of Power coverVulgar Display of PowerPantera · 19921992 · groove metal's defining snarl
  10. 10Chaos A.D. coverChaos A.D.Sepultura · 19931993 · Brazilian metal goes global
  11. 11In the Nightside Eclipse coverIn the Nightside EclipseEmperor · 19941994 · symphonic black metal's founding text
  12. 12Korn coverKornKorn · 19941994 · nu metal starts here
  13. 13Symbolic coverSymbolicDeath · 19951995 · death metal learns melody and philosophy
  14. 14Slipknot coverSlipknotSlipknot · 19991999 · nine masks, pure aggression
  15. 15Lateralus coverLateralusTool · 20012001 · prog metal as sacred geometry
  16. 16Toxicity coverToxicitySystem of a Down · 20022001 · frantic, political, unrepeatable
  17. 17Mutter coverMutterRammstein · 20012001 · industrial metal's stadium era
  18. 18Blackwater Park coverBlackwater ParkOpeth · 20012001 · death metal meets prog elegance
  19. 19Leviathan coverLeviathanMastodon · 20042004 · sludge metal reads Moby-Dick
  20. 20From Mars to Sirius coverFrom Mars to SiriusGojira · 20052005 · modern metal's ecological epic