Thankfully, a remastered version fixes this.

Overall, the album is almost a masterpiece, hindered only by its cheap production values. Finally, Thomas Walling and Thomas Miller each provide a perfectly timed rhythm section for the rest of the band to play/sing over. Michael Pinnella writes amazing keyboard solos which frequently switch back to Romeo’s shredding guitar ones. Russel Allen’s vocals gloriously switch from clean to gritty like the sudden eruption of a volcano. Michael Romeo is both a phenomenal rhythm and lead guitarist, which might be best illustrated by Twilight in Olympus’ opening track, “Smoke and Mirrors”. While many albums easily could have made the list, Horror Show is the best for many reasons: the drums are the best ever on an Iced Earth record, the rhythm riffs are incredibly catchy and original, Barlow’s vocal range is out of this world, and the guitar solos - never a selling point for Iced Earth before - are utterly enjoyable and melodic.īefore Symphony X embraced more of their progressive roots, they were an interesting hybrid of progressive and neoclassical metal. Between the unique concept albums, intricate songwriting, and tight musicianship from each member of the band, every record illustrates how this American power/thrash metal band was able to rise from the metal underground. Let’s continue where we left off last time.Įvery album that Iced Earth releases is a massive undertaking that needs to be commended. If you disagree with any of my choices, feel free to state your own! Finally, each band will only get one album choice so that other bands get a chance to shine. To be as objective as possible, I’ll be including a few albums that aren’t my personal taste, yet I recognize to be excellent works of music. Not the ten most revolutionary albums, but the ten albums that will stand the test of time (assuming they haven’t already done so). This list will cover what I consider to be the ten most essential metal albums of all time. A link to the previous article will be included below if you’re interested in my picks for 20–11.

I’ll be listing twenty albums as I feel that ten wouldn’t do the genre justice, though this has been split into two articles due to the massive length. These are albums that have helped shape me into the person I am today, ones that I still listen to frequently, ones that have gotten me through some of the hardships that I’ve faced in life. That said, I thought I owed it to the metal community to compile what I thought were the twenty best metal albums of all time. With hundreds of excellent metal albums out there - some of which are yet to be heard by metal fans worldwide - narrowing down the twenty essential albums for any metal fan is a massive undertaking that’s bound to disappoint numerous people. Out of every genre of music, you’d struggle to find one with as many diverse sub-genres as metal.

Forgotten metal masterpieces