[Lil' Lavery]

While I'm bored, my top 10 favorite metal albums:

10. Dreaming Neon Black - Nevermore
Nevermore's most complete album, this concept album offers an unique and powerful blend of progressive, acoustic, and thrash sounds. Warrel Dane's vocals are spectacular, and Loomis pumps out some amazing solos.
9. Skydancer - Dark Tranquillity
DT's first full album, and their only with Anders Friden still on vocals. This album was the heaviest of the Gothenburg bands, almost bordering on black metal in some aspects, but it's one of the key early Melodic Death metal albums. Amazing melodies drive the songs, and occasional female vocals provide contrast to the dark sounds.
8. Seasons in the Abyss - Slayer
Slayer's fifth album is my favorite. Their heavy riffing thrash sound is re-united with dark lyrics and songs that explore communism, war, and Ed Gein. Their haunting vocals provide an excellent layer over the crunchy guitar work from Hanneman and King.
7. Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates
Along with the early work from In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates established the Gothenburg melodeath scene. Slaughter was their signature album, and one of the genre's classics. They worked the boundary between melodic death and thrash metal, creating a unique and powerful sound.
6. Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath's second album, it is one of the iconic albums in not only metal, but all of rock. Sabbath's blend of blues and hard rock with distorted guitar work created the metal sound, and nothing epitomizes their sound better than this album. "War Pigs", "Iron Man", and "Paranoid" are all classics, and have been covered by just about everyone.
5. System of a Down - System of a Down
While I'm not a huge fan of Nü Metal, this is an exception. Where KoЯn's Follow the Leader was the first pinnacle album of the sub-genre, SOAD's self-titled debut is the best of Nü metal. Every song is spectacular, with System's unique sound reverberating through-out. This is, by far, their heaviest and darkest album.
4. Ashes of the Wake - Lamb of God
The breakthrough album for Lamb of God has proven to be their most durable to my listening habits. The crux of their development, it still carries themes from New American Gospel, but expands upon the direction suggested by As the Palaces Burn. The blending of the thrash, progressive, groove, and metalcore styles forms a sound that's never boring, with relentless riffs that keep you going from beginning to end.
3. Blackwater Park - Opeth
Opeth's magnum opus, this is the symbol of their signature sound. It expanded on their previous release, Still Life, incorporating the blend of light and dark sounds, alternating between death metal riffs and softer acoustic passages. This blending of opposites forms one of the greatest progressive albums of all time.
2. Master of Puppets - Metallica
The Cliff Burton years of Metallica peaked with this album, the legendary album that inspired generations of metal-heads to come. Battery opens strong, and the album doesn't relent afterwards, with brilliant riffs and solos in virtually every song. This is truly the finest of thrash.
1. Jester Race/Black Ash Inheritance - In Flames
This is as close to a perfect album as it gets. Jester Race flows perfectly, balancing layered guitar tracks to form something beyond extraordinary. The instrumental tracks and acoustic sections balance well the hard melodies and themes. The Black Ash Inheritance EP adds more length and some extraordinary songs to the collection, including a live performance of Behind Space. There is literally only one moment (a specific scream) I don't like on the entire album.

I'd suggest anyone to pick up any of these albums if you haven't already.