Consequence of Sound: 75 Best Metal Albums of All Time (2025)

~ Release group award

Release groups

#	Year	Title	Artist	Type	Rating	Releases
1	1970	Paranoid	Black Sabbath	Album	4.7	71
2	1986	Master of Puppets	Metallica	Album	4.6	74
3	1986	Reign in Blood	Slayer	Album	4.35	37
4	1990	Painkiller	Judas Priest	Album	4.55	19
5	1990	Rust in Peace	Megadeth	Album	4.3	31
6	1982	The Number of the Beast	Iron Maiden	Album	4.45	50
7	1992	Vulgar Display of Power	Pantera	Album	4.15	18
8	2001	Toxicity	System of a Down	Album	4.4	40
9	1995	Symbolic	Death	Album	4.2	18
10	2001	Lateralus	Tool	Album	4.6	14
11	1970	Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath	Album	4.5	51
12	1980	Ace of Spades	Motörhead	Album	3.8	31
13	1992	Rage Against the Machine	Rage Against the Machine	Album	4.45	40
14	1984	Ride the Lightning	Metallica	Album	4.65	60
15	1992	Dirt	Alice in Chains	Album	4.2	19
16	2013	Sunbather	Deafheaven	Album	3.5	6
17	1994	De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas	Mayhem	Album	4.7	17
18	2001	Iowa	Slipknot	Album	4.25	17
19	1983	Holy Diver	Dio	Album	4.55	33
20	1994	Korn	Korn	Album	3.95	14
21	1999	Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory	Dream Theater	Album	4.55	10
22	1980	Blizzard of Ozz	Ozzy Osbourne	Album	4.15	28
23	1997	Around the Fur	Deftones	Album	4.05	23
24	1983	Shout at the Devil	Mötley Crüe	Album	3.75	26
25	2001	Jane Doe	Converge	Album	4	13
26	1988	South of Heaven	Slayer	Album	4.35	26
27	1980	British Steel	Judas Priest	Album	4.05	31
28	2004	Leviathan	Mastodon	Album	4.05	11
29	1992	ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (aka Psalm 69)	Ministry	Album	4.15	16
30	1993	Chaos A.D.	Sepultura	Album	4.3	19
31	2005	From Mars to Sirius	Gojira	Album	4.25	9
32	2001	Blackwater Park	Opeth	Album	4.5	21
33	1996	Jerusalem (52 minute version)	Sleep	Album	4.3	7
33	2003	Dopesmoker (63 minute version)	Sleep	Album	3.5	14
34	1991	Metallica (“The Black Album”)	Metallica	Album	4.1	58
35	1995	Slaughter of the Soul	At the Gates	Album	4.1	18
36	1971	Master of Reality	Black Sabbath	Album	4.6	46
37	1987	Among the Living	Anthrax	Album	3.75	22
38	1988	Operation: Mindcrime	Queensrÿche	Album	4.55	26
39	2014	The Satanist	Behemoth	Album	4.3	16
40	1987	Abigail	King Diamond	Album	4.4	15
41	1986	Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?	Megadeth	Album	4.2	30
42	1988	Vivid	Living Colour	Album	3.35	16
43	1983	Pyromania	Def Leppard	Album	4	38
44	1988	Danzig	Danzig	Album	3.75	19
45	1992	Tomb of the Mutilated	Cannibal Corpse	Album	3.75	9
46	1982	Black Metal	Venom	Album	4.05	18
47	2000	Dopethrone	Electric Wizard	Album	4.5	12
48	2004	Ashes of the Wake	Lamb of God	Album	4.5	15
49	2003	boris at last –feedbacker–	boris	Album	4.85	7
50	1995	Destroy Erase Improve	Meshuggah	Album		11
51	1986	Epicus Doomicus Metallicus	Candlemass	Album	4.45	24
52	1993	Heartwork	Carcass	Album	4.4	25
53	1985	Bonded by Blood	Exodus	Album	4.4	14
54	2009	Monoliths & Dimensions	Sunn O)))	Album	3.5	6
55	1999	Slipknot	Slipknot	Album	4.3	37
56	1992	Meantime	Helmet	Album	4	11
57	2001	Wages of Sin	Arch Enemy	Album	4	11
58	2013	Sempiternal	Bring Me the Horizon	Album	4	13
59	1993	Bloody Kisses	Type O Negative	Album	4.15	20
60	1989	Nothingface	Voivod	Album	4.2	12
61	2003	Fallen	Evanescence	Album	4	40
62	2002	Alive or Just Breathing	Killswitch Engage	Album	2.75	11
63	1984	Morbid Tales	Celtic Frost	Album	4	12
64	1981	Killers	Iron Maiden	Album	4.1	35
65	1999	Calculating Infinity	The Dillinger Escape Plan	Album	3.85	6
66	1988	From Enslavement to Obliteration	Napalm Death	Album	3.65	12
67	1980	Demolition	Girlschool	Album	3	4
68	1993	Houdini	Melvins	Album	3.9	10
69	2000	Celestial	Isis	Album	4.2	16
70	2007	Colors	Between the Buried and Me	Album	3.65	4
71	1994	When the Kite String Pops	Acid Bath	Album	4.5	4
72	1992	A Blaze in the Northern Sky	Darkthrone	Album	4.1	14
73	1990	Seasons in the Abyss	Slayer	Single		5
74	2011	Atma	YOB	Album	3	6
75	1993	Focus	Cynic	Album	4.65	16

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Consequence of Sound: 75 Best Metal Albums of All Time (2025)

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