The 10 Most Important Albums in Metal

Even if you haven't heard some of the albums on this list, it is guaranteed that the metal bands that you listen to were influenced by most of, if not all of, these albums. Jormungandr Metal Forum spent months researching many albums. We set up a ranking system which included criteria such as influence, innovation, timelessness, and riffs among others. There were many albums that just missed the cut. I've included a few of those albums as honorable mentions. If you don't own some of these albums, you are in for a treat. Go buy them and listen to them from start to finish, I guarantee you'll be blown away!

1 Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath (1970). If this album didn’t exist, this list wouldn’t exist. The tri-toned, eponymous title track, birthed the first angry, evil, and thunderous metal riff and changed music forever.

2 Paranoid, by Black Sabbath (1970). The riffs, melodies, and lyrics on this album led to just about every other sub-genre of metal.

3 Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden (1982). This album introduced melody to the world of metal with operatic vocals, twin lead guitar licks and unprecedented lead bass lines.

4 Master of Puppets by Metallica (1986). At the time, there was nothing close to this album as far as intricacy, production, complexity, and aggression. Without this album, many of the successful metal bands of today would not exist. Nearly flawless!

5 Kill ‘Em All by Metallica (1983). Low budget recording and all, this album influenced other up and coming metal bands to tighten up their act, speed up the tempo, darken the lyrics, and head bang. Props should go to Dave Mustaine for his mostly uncredited influence and contributions to this album.

6 British Steel by Judas Priest (1980). Although Priest’s previous albums were outstanding, this album created the "heavy" metal genre: Riffs, Solos, Aggresion, and scaring the hell out of your parents.

7 Blizzard of Ozz Ozzy Osbourne (1980). Along with British Steel, this album helped define Heavy Metal. Rhoads’ blistering, precisely played guitar solos, were unprecedented and are still influencing guitarists today.

8 Rust In Peace Megadeth (1990). Complex lyrical themes, intricate riffs, hyper-speed solos, and the pissed-off growl of Dave Mustaine’s vocal lines made this album the second greatest thrash album ever recorded. Props to Metallica for firing Dave, the world is better off with both Megadeth and Metallica.

9 Vulgar Display of Power Pantera (1992). Heavier than Metallica and more dangerous than any other metal band at the time. This album helped metal stay relevant through its near-demise in the ‘90’s.

10 Ace of Spades Motorhead (1980). One of the first bands to play metal riffs at fast speeds. This album was ugly, in a good way. The raw, unrelenting, in-your-face-metal helped launch the speed metal genre and ultimately thrash.

Some honorable mentions in no particular order: Slayer's Reign in Blood, Tool's Aenima, Dio's Holy Diver, Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime, Dream Theater's Images and Words, Judas Priest's Pain Killer and the Sad Wings of Destiny, Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind, Powerslave, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Pantera's Cowboys from Hell, Metallica's Ride the Lightening and St. Anger (just kidding on the latter), Motorhead's Overkill, Venom's Black Metal, Diamond Head's Lightning to the Nations, Opeth's Black Water Park and Deliverance, Blind Guardian's, Nightfall In Middle Earth.

Thanks to the Earl of Metal, Scott McPhie, Mook Farchings, Jason Smith, Boz, and Austin Lewis for special contributions and research.

Give me your top 10 but be prepared to back it up.

Peace, Love, and Riffs--

Jormungandr.

Best Metallica Songs

Jormungandr is in "Metallica-Mode" thanks to Metallica Guitar Hero. We've picked our top 10, tell us what you think and if you have a minute, give us your top 10:

10- the Shortest Straw

9- Bleeding Me

8- Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

7-Ride the Lightning

6- For Whom the Bell Tolls

5-Blackened

4-Creeping Death


3- Battery


2-Master of Puppets


1-One

Dimebag

I've never been a big Pantera fan. It was too heavy when I was growing up and not heavy enough when my I went through metal-maturation. After reading the latest Guitar World article written about Dimebag's influence on metal, I decided to listen to his music again.

I have a new appreciation for his genius. His tone is unique and powerful. It takes the tone from Metallica's "Justice" and bumps it up a notch. His Riffs are sometimes simple but they are always gritty. You get sucked into the simple head banging groove that his riffs create and then he'll bust out a lightning fast solo rivaling Zakk Wylde.

I'm not going to run out and buy the entire Pantera catalogue but I do believe that Dimegbag and his crew belong in the upper tier of metal royalty.

King's X: The heaviest band you've never listened to!

Few bands have the musical prowess of King's X. With a unique style that is both melodic and thunderous at the same time, there are many reasons to purchase some King's X cds. I'd start with Dogman, which to me, is one of the heaviest albums ever recorded. The song Pillow will make you crap your pants--literally. Another cd to cut your teeth on is King's X self-titled. You might remember the song "Black Flag" which received some radio and mtv play. The real gems on the album are the "Ooh song" and "What I know about Love". Both of them feature Dough Pinnicks 8 and 12 string bass playing which add to the heaviness. Ty Tabor's guitar tone and parts are exquisite.

Okay, enough blabber, go out and buy some King's X. You'll be happy you did.

Fresh New Bands to Check Out

After a month of searching, Jormungandr has found four bands that you should check out.
1. Bison BC. Sounds like Mastodon without the craziness.
2. Samothrace. Sounds like Black Sabbath swimming in cold tar.
3. Sweet Cobra Sounds. like the Sword and High on Fire had a baby.
4. Intronaut. Sounds like a mix between Yes' Close to the Edge and Metallica's And Justice for All.

Go out and buy these albums!

Opeth Show and Metal T-Shirts

Jormungandr and the Earl of Metal made a trip to Seattle to see Opeth with guests High on Fire. The show was unbelievable. High on Fire's set was solid. Pike knows how to get the crowd into his show and his guitar work is unmatched in today's scene. The large crowd at Seatlle,s Showbox was pumped and energetic which added to the anticipation of the night. Opeth played a killer set with only a few boring or what I call, "Lets-go-buy-a-t-shirt" moments. The rifs were thunderous, the vocals were both bludgeoning and melodic, and the band was as tight as any band I've ever seen (I'd put them up with Rush and Dream Theater). I could go on and on about this band. The audience went crazy for the new songs off of Watershed, "the Lotus Eater" and "Heir Apparent". Its good times when a band that has put out 10 albums is still producing albums that their fans appreciate. I wouldn't have minded if they would have played the entire album.

The only unfortunate part about the show was the hour long wait outside in the wind with a bunch of metalheads. However, this started a conversation about concert t-shirts that might be useful for anyone attending a metal show in the future.
Jormungandr and the Earl started to compile a list of t-shirts that we saw people wearing at the concert. We started rating the appropriateness of the shirts. We looked at how new the shirt looked, the Metal Poser factor, the "I have no clue what good metal really is" factor, the true metal historian, true fan, the don't wear the shirt of the band factor, and a few other things. Here is a list of a few of the shirts that we spotted and how MetalShow appropriate they are:

Mastodon--9/10
Still a fairly underground band. With an almost "un-listenable" quality which is cool. The Earl of Metal scored this lower because he thinks they are "mainstream" now. However, I run the blog and have the last word.

Ramones--2/10
I spotted this t-shirt being sold at Target and Wal-mart, enough said.

Black Sabbath-- 4/10
Shiny and new. Obviously a poser shirt. Much cooler than the Ramones though.

Dimmu Borgir-- 1/10
Please.

Rush-- 9/10
Did I mention that they are my favorite band? -1 for the cheese factor.

Opeth-- 7/10
You don't wear the shirt of the band you are seeing, however, it does show support and puts money into Opeth's pockets.

Weedeater--10/10
They are an underground fuzzy metal band that is in it for the music. The dude that bought this shirt must have gone to their show, well done.

St. Anger--6/10
Started off as a "zero" but after everyone beat up the guy wearing it just to show their ill-will for the album, the shirt was blood stained and torn--very metal!

Black Dahlia--4/10
They have some good tunes but are a bit trendy and "bubblegumetal".

Burzum--11/10
Worn by some teenager. The fact that he knows who Burzum is, boggles the mind. For those of you who are blessed enough NOT to know who Burzum is, they are a murdering, church burning, black metal band from Norway.


"Enemies of Metal, your death is our reward."

Watershed

The new Opeth will be out in less than a month! Go to youtube to see the video for Porcelin Heart and to listen to the Lotus Eater. Don't spoil this event by illegaly downloading the album!

Give me your thoughts about Watershed and long live Opeth!