Today we regard many metal albums as "Classics". From albums released in the 70's, to albums released in the 2010's.

But let's talk from 2016 to now, what albums release on this timeline will be regarded as classics in the future?

Tomb Mold? Kanonenfieber? Paysage d'Hiver? Herzel?
I hear you!

Blood Incantation - Starspawn will probably be regarded as a classic. it's reached a wide audience, and effectively fueled a renewed interest in a facet of death metal that is now pretty fleshed out, being carried on by bands influenced by Blood Incantation.

Visigoth - The Conqueror's Oath may be regarded as a modern heavy metal classic. Every classic metal fan I know loved that record, it got great reviews and was generally very well received.

On a personal note I HOPE that the Wytch Hazel discs (especially the third album) will be looked at as classics. In terms of composition, doing the best with the bare essentials that band is truly unmatched. Hit song upon hit song.

Power Trip's Nightmare Logic was on that trajectory even before Riley passed away.

I think Exercises In Futility will be held in high regard for years to come.

Obsequiae's The Palms of Sorrowed Kings, if there's any justice in the world.

Spectral Would - A Diabolic Thirst

Vektor’s Terminal Redux is a no brained for me.

I want to nominate Stare into Death and Be Still by Ulcerate. Their entire discography up to that point has been flawless, really, and I can imagine that it will regarded as classic soon enough, but Stare into Death and Be Still is, IMO, their crowning achievement. I hope they prove me wrong and outdo themselves on their next release



When I clicked on the thread I had a few names in mind, including Blood Incantation. I think both Starspawn and Hidden History of the Human Race will most likely be regarded as classics.



Power Trip were (and hopefully will still be) renewing not only the thrash metal genre, but also crossover thrash, and with such an energetic, riff heavy, pounding style. The energy of that band live, and Riley's stage presence. Amazing! Manifest Decimation is also a killer record!



I hope it will I know it will on MA at least.



Agreed. Truly amazing tech thrash record. There is nothing quite like it, and even if Vektor have kept a pretty high standard of quality throughout their discography so far, nothing comes close to Terminal Redux in their discography. I don't know if they will ever be able to top it.

personally i think the best album of that time period is venenum's trance of death, but for widely regarded classics i'm mostly looking at blood incantation and power trip

I feel like Visigoth has already slid out of most people's minds by now, though.

Satan's reunion albums, on the other hand...

What defines a classic?

Most classics of the past are something that pretty much every metalhead on earth knows about.

Slayer "Reign In Blood", or Judas Priest "British Steel" or Black Sabbath "Black Sabbath" etc etc, stuff like that. EVERYONE knows about these.

Whatever is being released past the 2000s are never gonna have a broad cultural impact even a promille close to that.

I agree with a lot of the mentions: Vektor, Power Trip, Ulcerate, Mgla and Blood Incantation seem to be the spearheads of the genre for new generations. I'm not that much in some of those albums (never got interested in Power Trip and Ulcerate) but i see them talked everywhere.
Gojira's Magma also seems to have gained them some incredible amounts of attention, i'm sure that a lot of people will look back to it fondly even if the MA reception was mixed (and rightfully so)

I can also see Archspire at the forefront of some of the craziest tech-death to come. Their last two albums seem to have turned quite few heads and inspired a good number of people to sit down practice!

My personal ones are probably Voivod's The Wake, Malokarpatan's Nordkarpatenland, Blut Aus Nord's Hallucinogen, Havukruunu's impronunciable 2020 one, Butcher's 666 Goats Carry My Chariot... but i don't see them making many waves

While not an album I enjoy (I don't like that style of thrash) it's the first thing that came into my head. It's clear by now that it was not just accompanied by a hype train and is still highly regarded 7? years on.

The Wake, honestly - Target Earth proved that Voivod could pull it off with Mongrain, and then they made this and came into their own with him. It's absolutely faithful to the Voivod canon, but actually progresses their sound and goes new places with its own identity. The Sanguinary Impetus also at least approaches this (might be too early to tell), and I'd also say Sun Eater is at this status.

That is probably because there has been silence from their camp for the longest time. But taking the album on its own merits it does the deserve the "modern classic" moniker I think.

The reunion Satan albums are, of course, excellent and good mentions.

As for thrash - as this going beyond the thread assumptions - I think that Overkill's "Ironbound" are what people consider a modern thrash classic.

I don't know, I if Voivod keeps releasing solid material in the 2020's I think they might stick. The Wake is a truly amazing record too, and with Target Earth released before it, Voivod have been on a steady uphill trajectory for almost a decade now. Sure they are older now, so they don't release quite as much music as before, but I think they might just be going through a second golden age



Mongrain was in Martyr before that, as you probably know, and he did some amazing guitar work with them. He was the best choice to fill in some pretty big shoes, and he's been pulling it off very well!

I feel like something from Idle Hands/Unto Others is going to hit classic status. I can imagine something from Khemmis reaching it as well, I can already hear influence from albums like Hunted in newer bands. Atlantean Kodex is another one that feels like a no brainer; I imagine The White Goddess will probably be their classic but The Course of Empire is definitely my personal pick.

I was going to mention Atlantean Kodex as well, the last two albums definitely seem like they will be regarded as classics among fans of epic heavy metal.

I think Crypt Sermon's most recent album The Ruins of Fading Light will be seen as a classic epic doom metal album in the decades to come. They're a fairly young band so they have time to write more great albums too. One could also make an argument for some of Spirit Adrift's recent material, Divided by Darkness in particular.

I think Tribulation have already written a few records that will achieve classic status. Children of the Night is a no-brainer but I think Where the Gloom Becomes Sound will be up there as well.

For death metal, I think Tomb Mold's Planetary Clairvoyance, Skeletal Remains' The Entombment of Chaos and Spectral Voice's Eroded Corridors of Unbeing will all be seen as classics down the line.

For thrash Enforced's Kill Grid, Nekromantheon's Visions of Trismegistos, Steel Bearing Hand's Slay In Hell and Craven Idol's Forked Tongues are all in with a shout.

I think The White Goddess, moreso then The Course of Empire, will achieve that classic status. TWG made more waves and seems to have reached a broader public.



I think this is a very real possibility. Somehow these guys seem to be just as good doing gothic metal as they were good at making death metal. If they kept releasing massive death metal records like The Horror, I think they would also have reached classic status.



I have my doubts about Tomb Mold, not so much because I don't like that album, but some (a lot of?) people seem to think of them as "another one of these osdm revival/cavernous death metal bands who don't bring anything new to the table". That's not what I think, but I don't know if I would necessarly consider them classics as much as most recent releases by Ulcerate or Blood Incantation.



I have yet to really dig into Steal Bearing Hand's discography and that album specifically, but they were on my to-listen list. I will make sure to give Slay in Hell a proper listen soon

Got a feeling Megadeth's "Dystopia" could be regarded as a classic in the future. The Threat Is Real and Dystopia are pretty well known songs even to non-Megadeth fans.

Great idea for a thread; excellent to pick-up some gems as well as to try and understand what most people consider a classic to be.

I think the most obvious ones have been picked already (Vektor, Ulcerate, Blood Incantation, Mgła, Visigoth, Idle Hands, etc...) and now from the top of my head I could mention Hyperion's debut Seraphical Euphony and Sulphur Aeon's The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos (although all their 3 albums are great).
While these releases might not have set the community ablaze in a way Terminal Redux did, they were nonetheless very well received to overwhelmingly positive reviews and the sheer quality of those bands and records is undeniable. I reckon if not classics in the general sense, they will at least become hidden gems in their respective fields.

I think "Starspawn", "Nightmare Logic" and "The Wake" are locked in. All three are excellent records and they push their chosen style forward.
A true classic needs to do both, and doing the latter gets harder with each passing year.

"Planetary Clairvoyance" might be a good enough record, but doesn't push the genre forward enough.
"Lunarterial" pushes the genre forward, but probably isn't a good enough record.
"Terminal Redux" might lose some shine over the years because many people (myself included) prefer "Outer Isolation".

It is worth remembering that many classics are not massive records in their own time. Something like "Nespithe" was ultra-obscure until the late 90s (at the earliest). "Far Away from the Sun" was considered a second-rate Dissection-clone at the time. Both are rightly considered classics today.
On that note I'd add Mefitis into the mix. It is too early to say whether either "Emberdawn" or "Offscourings" will be classics, but I am certain that this band will release at least one classic before they call it quits.

Yeah, I don't really agree with this idea that a classic album needs to push the genre forward. Most albums that are designated as classics aren't groundbreaking in the sense that they create entirely new sounds or styles of music. For example, Nightmare Logic doesn't really do anything new that crossover thrash bands in the 1980s didn't do before. A lot of the appeal of that album lies in the songwriting, but Power Trip weren't creating any new paradigms, just writing catchy, memorable crossover thrash and they're not the only band ever to have done that. The production on the album is certainly modernized, but they didn't really innovate with Nightmare Logic. That doesn't mean it can't be viewed as a classic album, though.

'Exercises in futility' by Mgla. Although they had already defined their style earlier, especially on the previous 'With hearts toward none', this was the record that really pushed them into the global spotlight and basically launched the third wave of black metal, inspiring countless bands and taking the subgenre down a whole new path (ok, they weren't the only ones playing like that at that point, but they were by far the most widely known).
EDIT: Sorry, just saw the 2016 thing. Still, only four years later, close enough?

An album needs to prove it reached an unexpectedly wide audience and have had a noticeable impact on the genre for it to be considered a classic. Bands like Blood Incantation, Deathspell Omega, Mgla, and Deafheaven have done that. Visigoth have not.

Conqueror's Oath is one of my favorite albums of all time, but Visigoth have a tiny audience and have had zero impact on the scene as a whole. They're incredible at what they do, but their sound is just too niche and they've never broken out of the tiny trad metal scene. They hardly even play in their own country anymore because their sound is more popular in Europe. On top of that, they haven't even had to do a second run of the vinyl and it's been four years since the release! For comparison, the last Blood Incantation album was beginning its second pressing before the album was even released.

As always, Rate Your Music is a great resource for gathering data and seeing what non-forum users think about these sorts of topics: https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/al ... s/g:metal/

I think they fitted a niche, they sound like Power Trip rather than sounding like any band from the past. That's enough for me.

I don't think 'a classic' necessarily has to push things too much, it just has to sound distinctive.
I'd consider a record like "Into the Grave" to be a classic. It isn't particularly innovative, but it was heavier and more crushing than its competitors.

I think what helps "Nightmare Logic" by Power Trip stand out from the pack a bit is that it sounds like a mixture of thrash metal and contemporary hardcore as opposed to a mixture of thrash metal and 80s-style hardcore. Most crossover is the latter. No, it isn't super innovative, but there weren't a whole lot of bands doing it (and doing it as well as them). Now you've got quite a few bands following in their wake (see: Drain/Mindforce/Dead Heat).

That's kind of an arbitrary standard, though. Which discussions like this always are, to be fair, because this stuff is subjective. I'd say the same thing about Tomb Mold that you're saying about Power Trip. While you can recognize which bands they're pulling influences from, their sound is ultimately it's own thing IMO, and albums like Planetary Clairvoyance don't really sound like a carbon copy of older OSDM bands to me.

Other titles that haven't been mentioned.

Judas Priest - Firepower
We don't get that much high caliber classic heavy metal albums nowadays. This one should be remembered and listened at lot in the foreseeable future.

Hooded Menace - The Tritonus Bell
It's still early to tell, but I have the feeling this one got all the ingredients to please to a lot a people. A very well made and memorable album. I was not very familiar with them before this release and I'm now going back through their albums since this one and Ossuarium are so good. They just need some word of mouth and more touring.

Sepultura - Quadra
The reception have been great. Many people dig it and consider it a return to the big leagues for the band. It will be hard to top for them.

A few years older :
Testament - Dark Roots Of The Earth
Enforcer - From Beyond
In Solitude - Sister

I also agree about most prior suggestions. It seems clear that Blood Incantation and Power Trip will be remembered.
Regarding Tribulation, it's one of my favorite bands of the decade. I started following them with The Horror. I have the feeling their popularity reached a relatively low peak after Children Of The Night. Similar to Enforcer or Visigoth, more recent "melodic" bands might be struggling a bit to reach a big audience in North America. Can't really explain it.

I don't think Tribulation's popularity has actually reached it's peak yet. People seem to forget that they got big enough to open arena shows for Ghost in Europe and that was back in 2019. If anything they were on an upward trajectory, and I think without the current situation making touring a nightmare they would be huge right now on the live circuit. Especially with the new album getting so much positive attention.

I think bands like Visigoth are stuck in a bit of a niche right now, but that could change depending on how popular trad metal gets in the next few years. I think if you're looking for a traditional heavy metal to break through it's more likely to be a band like Spirit Adrift that has IMO has a much wider appeal and has also garnered a lot of critical acclaim.

Nobody has mentioned Haunt yet.

Just discovered Visigoth thanks to this thread. Great stuff

Shouldn't we have in consideration it was much easier in a way to release a so called classic in the 80's and 90's than it is nowadays? I mean... correct me if I not making much sense here, but it was easier to standout back then because there were way lesser bands, therefore there is less competition, I would say. These days you can have a one-man bedroom atmoblack awesome record that could be a classic (or at least a great album) if released during the peak of BM' second wave, and yet today it's barely a blip in the radar. Also, I reckon it was way easier to be original, and albums that are trailblazers tend to be remembered as groundbreaking; for instance, see what Gorguts did with Obscura and the disso-progeny it spawned.
My point is, we might have to rethink what a classic is, as I don't think it's fair for bands of today to compete with the godfathers of days past in terms of exposure, influence, sales and recognition.

Thats so far off the mark its hilarious.

It was certainly not easier to release 'a classic' at any point in the past nor was it 'easier' to be original.

You would not believe how often this gets talked about by label bosses, A&R folk etc... Its WAY easier for bands these days, within a couple of clicks of a mouse you can own your own recording studio, design your own artwork, do your own publicity, distribute your own material. The problem therein is the quality of the bands. To put it in somewhat unforgiving terms, 99% of bands dont put enough work in, and these days theres a endless amount of bands doing just that. You can add to that endless distractions, (Ive lost count of the amount of times ive had to ask people to put down their phones, even in recording studios or important band meeting), short attention spans (Ive known a guitarist from a successful established band who spends days getting HIS tone 'just' perfect, while younger guitarists turn up and tell the engineer they want to sound like Mr x from band z....)

I could go on, but theres basically a lot of factors that come together to create a 'classic' album, bands putting in the work being the main point, sadly these days most bands are not putting in the work.

Stormkeep - Tales of Othertime: despite not being exactly something that sounds new, it retains all the charm of 90s melodic black metal and i think it may be responsible for a resurgence in the subgenre.

Myrkur - Folkesange: not really metal, but we've been witnessing a few projects of female artists trying their own stuff and so far, Myrkur with this album made a smart move out of the black metalish area she was in. These folk projects with simple yet effective song structures which very much resemble lullabies, may very well start a trend.

Atramentus - Stygian: it's already a funeral doom classic.

Amenra - Mass VI: may very well be considered in the future as the pinnacle in post metal. A Solitary Reign is one the best songs ever in metal.

Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper: it's already consider a funeral doom classic as well

Katatonia - The Fall Of Hearts: i have no doubt it will be considered a Katatonia classic alongside Brave Murder Day and The Great Cold Distance

Vektor - Terminal Redux: prog thrash godly album

Tribulation - The Children of the Night: i doubt they'll ever top this album. It's magnificent. A much better version of Ghost.

Sulphur Aeon - Gateway to the Antisphere: when this band truly becomes huge, this album will conquer it's rightful place among the pantheon of masterful death metal.

Behemoth - The Satanist: already is considered a sort of classic. Behemoth refreshing their sound to remain relevant and influencing a whole new generation of fans.

I'll stop here.

Haunt is an odd case. I like Burst Into Flame and Mind Freeze a lot but they're generally known as the band with too many albums so it's hard to imagine any particular album achieving a classic status.

I think Glacier's recent album will stand the test of time, so to speak. It's definitely better than their already-cult-classic demo material.

Some of these mentioned are mentioned so far but I think:

Blood Incantation - Starspawn
Vektor - Terminal Redux
Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
Batushka - Litourgiya
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Dead Congregation - Promulgation of the Fall
Ihsahn - After
Panopticon - Autumn Eternal
Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi

But if a classic could not compare to today's standards is it still considered a classic? There seems to be an assumption in your post that there are classics that don't hold up today, which there might be but I can't say I'm well versed enough in the classics to have a real opinion since the large majority of them just aren't my thing.

I can't imagine them getting any more popular than they are right now. And in a just world, we'd be calling Formulas of Death their classic album instead of their watered-down gothy stuff. That's one of the most groundbreaking death metal albums of all time.


I'd mostly agree with those, but swap in HHOTHR instead of Starspawn, Kentucky instead Autumn Eternal, and remove Ihsahn.

Yeah you're probably right about Ihsahn. In regards to Blood Incantation I actually like HHOTHR a little more, but I think they're pretty comparable in terms of quality. If you can choose 2 by one band I'd say both of them then, though I just picked Starspawn since it was earlier. I really like Panopticon but for some reason everything pre - Roads to the North just doesn't do it for me. With that in mind honestly Roads to the North vs Autumn Eternal kind of seems like the same as the Blood Incantation situation (for me) where they are comparable in quality but I like Autumn Eternal more - but for some reason this time I picked the later release.