Black Metal:
Kaeck- Stormkult
Album of the previous decade to me. This album is amazing in that unlike many bands it does not divorce the evil blasting energy of early black metal from darkly wrought esoteric melodies, creating the perfect concoction of warlike energy and sinister magic. Frenzied at times and introspective at others. An album that would have been a classic even amongst its peers in the second wave had it been released then.

Dead Hills- Purgatory
I doubt anyone will agree with this but this continues where classic Burzum left off, unlike most black metal today creates an experience, long form songs with complexity of layering, meticulously crafted songs that does not miss out on compelling individual melody

Sammath- Godless Arrogance
Savage and at times off the rails infernal blasting black metal like Zyklon-B, Niden Div. 187 etc. This beats war metal at its own game by keeping intensity but also being interesting from a musical standpoint.

Perverted Ceremony- Sabbat of Behezeal
Seemingly coming from that time in the very early 90's between the 'first' and 'second' waves of black metal offering a different glimpse into what could have been, elements of Beherit, Sarcofago, Samael, Demoncy and Darkthrone blend into a unique and expertly produced raw recording. Bass heavy atmospheres and sinister melodies this simultaneously shoves most 'raw' black metal and all Beherit clones into a box.

Morketida- Panphage Mysticism
Kinda on the fence about this one. I havent listened to it in a while. Its very very high quality in the style of the early Norwegians but im not sure it does enough ultimately, the atmosphere is good, the song are complete with no unnecessary elements.

Death Metal:
Mefitis- Emberdawn
The first four tracks are the strongest seen in some time, really like a true follow up to The Red in the Sky. After that the album gets more progressive like Emperor's Prometheus but done in a death/black metal way. The compositions are unmatched, the counterpoint comes straight out of classical music but they do not miss out on the raw power of the simple melodies of classic death metal either, though those are buried between waves of developmental variation.

Desecresy- Doom Skeptron
All of their albums are great, this one is not my personal favourite but I think its their best. Classic style Finn Death that expands on the more atmospheric parts of early death metal, as the title implies there are doomy sections. Its an album that feels like a journey which is rare for death metal. Lots of layering makes this album more complex than what it appears at first glance. A very complete feeling album much like Demigod's Slumber.

Thrash/Speed Metal:
Ripper- Experiment of Existence
Adding in more progressive death metal touches I prefer this one just a bit over their previous album. There is nothing stupid or gimmicky about this band unlike a lot of retro thrash, just early Sepultura, Kreator and Death coming together on a concept album.

Vektor - Terminal Redux

Excellent album for sure.
Classic? Nah, too much Revenant worship ('Prophecies of a Dying World' era) with slightly more Death ('Human' era) influences thrown in.
But very much an excellent but overlooked album which will surprise many older deathrashers which are looking for that "1991 vibe"

I thought Outer Isolation was stronger.

Antichrist - Forbidden World is a thrash masterwork. The Priest nods put it above 90% of anything else in the style.

Really ? Revenant? I've never thought about that, I do hear a bit of Revenant mainly in the vocals though, not so much in the songwriting or riffs. Thinking back I also hear some Massacra on this album and maybe Merciless? I think Ripper's the best speed/thrash since the 80's, certainly biased there, nothing else scratches the itch that they do.

Are you really listing albums you think will be regarded as classics? Or are you listing your favourite albums from the 2010's? It's not the same thing. Without much thinking I'd rather list stuff like:

Behemoth: The Satanist
Mgla: With hearts towards none
Deathspell Omega: Paracletus
Deafheaven: Sunbather
Ulcerate: The destroyers of all

Albums that in one way or another hit like a bomb. Perhaps establishing the popularity peak like "the satanist". Maybe establishing a sound like "sunbather". I love some of the albums I listed above, but certainly not all of them. However their influence, perhaps as classics, doesn't hinge on what I think of them but what kind of effect they had on the genre.

Do you want to share what you think that effect was along with your reasoning? Otherwise it's going to be a bunch of people making lists of what they think influenced the genre. Which is not very different from listing favorite albums.

I think The White Goddess by Atlantean Kodex qualifies. Basically a flawless representation of their sound, and the sound of epic heavy doom.

My critique wasn't that it would be a list thread but that the focus might be wrong if people started to list their favourite instead of the might-be-classics. But here you go:

Behemoth: The Satanist
Might be the biggest death/black metal album of the 2010's by the band that really stood at the frontline of extreme music in general. They hit it so big that Nergal became famous (relative to extreme metal standards).

Mgla: With hearts towards none
Hugely influential and perhaps the biggest black metal album of the decade.

Deathspell Omega: Paracletus
Many consider this to be (part of) their magnum opus. They shaped the sound, and lyrical content, of black metal for a whole generation.

Deafheaven: Sunbather
What really peaked the popularity for the blackgaze genre. Achieved mainstream success and all that came with it.

Ulcerate: The destroyers of all
Shaped the sound of a new subgenre, dissonant death metal.

Hmm, dissonant death metal was already experimented by Atrocity in 1990 on their impressive Hallucinations (not to mention Immolation), so calling Ulcerate a band who invented a new sound/style, or dissonance in death metal in particular, is a tad of an exaggeration, to say the very least.

For extreme metal probably Deathspell Omega's Paracletus or any of those copycat disso albums everybody creams over these days. When it comes to the power metal side of things I wouldn't be surprised if all that meme streamer crap is considered classic at some point. Visigoth's debut for the retro revival grandpa whatever metal trend but I could see Eternal Champion's debut also being considered.

I think what's mostly popular in the mainstream will be up for consideration if it's viewed as a classic or not. As others have said The Satanist is a good choice as that album was massive in the mainstream and made Behemoth the face of extreme metal in some parts of the world. I find Lorna Shore to be dull but they are quite popular in the mainstream media for one reason or another and it wouldn't be farfetched to have their newest be considered a classic in the future.

There will always be precursors but if you say dissonant death metal and ask people which album they think is the most important for the genre which do you think they will mention? When Ulcerate released their album it spawned so many bands who were influenced by them. I'm sure there was dissonant death metal pre-Ulcerate (the most popular bands are rarely the very first instance of a certain sound) but they made it popular.

Edit: perhaps "genre-defining" is a good term to use?

Surely they had already accomplished that? I remember Demigod being huge in mainstream circles when it was released and at the time Behemoth were the golden boys of BM.

I really like Ulcerate (probably my favourite death metal band) but you are in the wrong in here. What shaped and made the so called "dissonant death metal" sub-genre more popular was clearly Gorguts - Obscura / Immolation - Close to a World Below.

As per the topic "classics of their genre" I have mixed feelings about the term. Are "classics of their genre" popular albums that people revere for no other reason than them being popular?


Behemoth during the Demigod era were a well known death metal band, nothing more. Behemoth with The Satanist became one of the biggest (if not the biggest) active black metal band in terms of mediatic repercussion. Which takes me back to my previous question, are "classics" just popular albums?

Fuck yes, everything about that record is flawlessly executed. Probably my fav thrash release since the 00s with Nekromantheon's stuff a close second.

Ghostlights and Moonglow by Avantasia seem like some of the more recent classic power metal records imo

I may be called a jaded cynic, but in my book, "classics" should not mean "inferior mimics of great music"

People have mentioned with Hearts Towards None, but I'd vote Exercises In Futility over that. A perfect black metal record to me.

The only other one that popped into my brain right away was Nightmare Logic by Power Trip. I feel like that is one of the best metal records of any subgenre in the last 20 years.

Keldian - Outbound: One of the few modern power metal-lite albums that's on the level of the 2000s classics. It doesn't rely on any surface gimmicks unlike many of the big names in power metal now. The music and lyrical themes are perfectly integrated, capturing the feeling of exploring space. At the same time, it has everything a power metal album needs, being catchy, upbeat and melodic. For an indie band with just two members, the quality is impressive.

I'd say Sauron, Aura Noir, and Vomitor are all contenders as well.

Hooded Menace- The Tritonus Bell
High On Fire- Snakes For the Divine
Blind Guardian- At The Edge Of Time
Blind Guardian- The God Machine
Helloween- Helloween
Frozen Crown- Call of the North
Lovebites- Clockwork Immortality
Lovebites- Electric Pentragram
Lovebites- Judgement Day
Visigoth- Conqueror's Oath
Sumerlands- Dreamkiller
Tower- Shock To The System
Necrophobic- Dawn Of the Damned
Overkill- The Electric Age

I can't speak for Gorguts album Obscura since I only heard it once (maybe). My recollection of it was that it was more of a progressive and/or technical death metal album but I don't really know. The albums reputation is great though and based on that alone its probably a classic.

I disagree on Immolation however. I don't think they really do what Ulcerate came to do decades later. Apart from both being death metal I don't really see early (or later) Immolation as playing in the same sub-sub-genre ( ) as Ulcerate.



A classic album isn't "popular albums that people revere for no other reason than them being popular" per definition. However it is probably a byproduct of it being a classic. But it is really about the perception of large amounts of people. A classic album can't be an album people don't know about. It has to be something that broke through to many people in one way or another.

A classic album is something that might be genre defining. Black Sabbaths self titled could be mentioned here. It is rarely the first band which becomes the classic band but you could argue that the first band who makes it big usually ends up having a classic album (or more). Or it could be an album which is viewed as the peak of a genre. Perhaps Behemoths "the satanist" could fit here. I'm not sure if any black metal album, band or person in a band has had more mainstream breakthrough.

Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper seemed to get a surprising amount of attention for a funeral doom album. Maybe even warrants a mention for doom in general.

In atmospheric black, Paysage d'Hiver also seemed to make a sudden rise from obscurity. Im Wald will probably be remembered by many, though IMO it's probably not as close to "masterpiece" status as some of his earlier stuff. (I don't think I've given it as many proper listens as it needs, hence "probably.")

My way of gauging popularity is less than scientific; I just happen to notice things like forum mentions, interviews and reviews in various mid-level (?) publications, etc., as well as unexpected splashes on Amazon - Mirror Reaper has 100 customer ratings, Im Wald 68.

Also, The Ruins Of Beverast just miss the cutoff with Foulest... (2009).

Ayreon: The Source (2017)

I'd give this nomination to records that made massive waves when they came out. Whether it helped a new band burst onto the scene, redefinied/reshaped a genre, or simply catapulted a band to further stardom.

In that case, I'd nominate Exercises In Futility far above With Hearts Towards None, as that record absolutely made Mgla a more household name in black metal.

Some others I'd include, just thinking for a moment off the top of my head: EDIT: Nah, I totally fucking scrolled through iTunes LOL. Anywho might as well bold the titles to make this a bit more readable:

Blood Incantation - Starspawn (they went from "who the fuck is this?" to practically the whole death metal scene not being able to shut up about them - and for good reason)
Ihsahn - After (one of the most defining moments of Ihsahn's solo career, cementing it as a solid entity that is now completely separate from Emperor's work, and a phenomenal and unique record in itself)
Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper (landmark for the genre, iconic/infamous in its extreme length as well as the emotional backstory behind the record and posthumous appearance from Adrian)
Power Trip - Nightmare Logic (an already growing band became a huge sensation overnight)
Deafheaven - Sunbather (see Power Trip)
Behemoth - The Satanist (a huge return to form that ended up being one of their most popular records in years, making them huger than they already were)
Deathspell Omega - Paracletus (reformed and redefined the whole black metal genre, influencing the birth of a shitload of black metal bands all over the world who took direct inspiration from the record and wished they could be as good)
Judas Priest - Firepower (see Behemoth. A band so late in their career putting out a record universally beloved by their entire fanbase after a few that weren't as widely praised)
The Ruins Of Beverast - Blood Vaults (this one's more of a maybe, and I like Exuvia better, but Blood Vaults was the start of them playing live, and between the artwork and the thundering power of songs like Daemon and Malefica, they started to make themselves known to more folks outside of the deep underground)
Batushka - Litourgiya (see Blood Incantation. Now more infamous becomes of the whole multiple-Batushkas fiasco that followed, but even before that happened this album still turned everyone's heads as soon as it came out, and in the midst of the controversy this album is considered the one that 'started it all' for them)
Caladan Brood - Echoes Of Battle (see Batushka. Pretty sure that fans of this genre of black metal already consider it a classic, even though it's technically only 10 years old now)
Cattle Decapitation - Monolith Of Inhumanity (completed the redefining of their sound that started on The Harvest Floor, and made them a modern death metal sensation)
Gorguts - Colored Sands (one of the best comeback albums in metal history?)
Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit (while not part of the beginning trio of albums, still hailed as one of their best)
Obsequiae - Aria Of Vernal Tombs (see Power Trip, mixed with similar sentiment of Blood Incantation - though admittedly this is a maybe)
Pallbearer - Foundations Of Burden (see Power Trip and Deafheaven - personally not a Pallbearer fan, but they exploded in popularity with this record)
Sargeist - Let The Devil In (considered their best at the time, huge boost their popularity, and it seems like it's still considered 'the one to beat' for them)
Spawn Of Possession - Incurso (overall a landmark for the tech-death genre as a whole)
Taake - Noregs Vaapen (already seems to have achieved "classic" status in black metal circles. Great songs and some of the most famous moments of Taake's career *cough* banjo solo *cough*)
Yob - Clearing The Path To Ascend (truly stunning record that felt iconic as soon as it came out)
Primitive Man - Scorn ("what the fuck is THAT???" - took the heavier side of doom to its most extreme and decrepit, and even amongst the more despicable doom bands, not many sound quite like Primitive Man. They just exploded onto the scene like Batushka did)

EDIT 2: Trying to adjust the formatting to make this post less of an eyesore.

I don't want to sound like an asshole or anything but Immolation were Ulcerate's biggest influence. They based their whole career on this song:


I mean, it's just weird that you seem to really be into the so called dissonant "death metal" or whatever, yet every message you post you ignore the two bands that started it all.



Behemoth are not genre defining and they're definitely not the peak of black metal. Which leaves us with just "popular".

Any thrash post without Manifest Decimation and/or Nightmare Logic can be dismissed. Ironbound too.

Also Godflesh- A World Lit Only By Fire will be on the comeback classics list.

To me In Solitude's Sister is a masterpiece. Place it in whatever genre you like.

Man a lot of the ones in here are pretty bad to me, so just goes to show you it's hard to really say what'll be classic if you end up diverging on some tastes. The Satanist is a bunch of overcooked lifeless shit, Vektor is boring noodling with no feeling and Batushka is just dry as sandpaper. Oh well.

And a lot of these things come down to people just listing favorites.

I do think Atlantean Kodex's White Goddess will be up there - clear, concise and epic. Pharaoh's Bury the Light has some of the best songwriting and playing out there, and both Sacred Outcry albums seem to have really got a storm behind them. Comebacks from Arch/Matheos and Psychotic Waltz I'd hope would be up there too, as both are absolutely flawless to me. And Howie Bentley's work since 2010 has got to be up there.

We should be able to separate being influenced by and actually being in the front of the dissonant death metal genre. Immolation probably is a huge influence on Ulcerate but it doesn't mean they belong to the same subgenre of death metal. At least to my ears Ulcerate took it one or two steps further than Immolation. I see Ulcerate, and the album "the destroyers of all" in particular, as the major album of this kind of death metal subgenre. After it's release there just popped up so many bands imitating or taking inspiration from it. In a way I feel the same as with "sunbather". The respective subgenre clearly existed before the albums but these two releases were so influential, and spawned so many new bands, that they are to be considered as contenders for classic albums.

But as people have said before, a certain amount of time needs to pass before we can judge whether and album is a classic or not. Only time will tell.



As I said I never listened to Gorguts but judging from the song you posted I can see the inspiration. Sounds to me to be a little bit more on the technical side and not focusing as much on the atmosphere. Regardless I keep seeing Gorguts "obscura" mentioned as important to death metal in general so I'd rate it as a classic from reputation alone. Not fitting this thread though since it was released in 1998.



Sure! I never said a classic album had to be genre defining, the peak and popular at the same time. I think Behemoth is peak black metal in terms of popularity and mainstream media coverage. I can't think of any other band who's gotten more press except Mayhem or Burzum (and in those cases it's not because of the music). And remember it doesn't matter what you or I think of a release. It can be a classic even if we don't like it.



That's how I judge it as well.

Imperial Circus Dead Decadence: their 2 most recent albums, they turned what was once a sterile as fuck genre (melodeath) into something spectacular without throwing away the genre's identity, while keeping their trademark unusual instrumentation and songwriting approach. Add Vermilion D Alice Syndrome's most recent album to the list for the same reasons

An abstract illusion: their debut in 2016 pretty much showed how atmospheric and progressive death metal can still be refreshing even after countless years of Opeth ripoffs plaguing the genre

Iapetus' The Body Cosmic: take what AAI did and make it grandiose and maximalist

Slagmaur - Thill Smitts Terror is definitely a contender, what a masterpiece. I won't mention Mgla, since other members have already done that, but the other moniker by the Polish duo named Kriegsmaschine. "Enemy of Man" is really stunning, sometimes I even prefer that to Mgla famous couple of albums.

Amestigon’s Thier should be considered a modern black metal classic.

Add to this Lunar Aurora’s Hoagascht

Hell, it shouldn't even mean superior mimics of great music.

Classics have got to be original. Think of what you consider classics from the 80s and 90s and how they established entire genres and subgenres. That needs to be the benchmark.

By this definition there's been nothing "classic" in metal since the mid 90s. Reverend Bizarre made some of the best doom records of all time, and the genre was well over 30 years old at that point. They didn't particularly add anything ground breaking, the music was simply on point and put together very well.

Then maybe that's something worth reflecting on. The idea that there must be classics in each decade is absurd.

I'm happy to enjoy new albums I think are great without the need to deem them classics. Are you?

This kind of comes across as you crapping on the suggestions here and criticizing that people are just listing favourites, and then you follow up by naming albums you like, for reasons that very much boil down to catering to your personal tastes and are very much subjective. The White Goddess is clear, concise and epic? Great - so are a lot of other records. What if I hypothetically said that the Pharaoh record blew ass and was overindulgent bullshit? I'm not shutting your suggestions down as frankly I don't really care, nor is that even the point (and I do like The White Goddess, but The Course Of Empire is much better IMO and I haven't even listened to that Pharaoh record, so I can't judge for sure). The point is this is very much the pot calling the kettle black.

My list was pretty gargantuan, I realize (and I added a little edit note because LOL I definitely did NOT think of that 'off the top of my head' - I totally scrolled through iTunes because I was bored ), but I also included Pallbearer - among other albums I'm not foaming at the mouth over - because despite not being a fan of Pallbearer at all, I'm not oblivious to the impact that record made (and I TRIED with that band. Even saw them. Maybe it was their shitty sound, but I actually liked them less than I did before the show). But I don't think classic albums are immune to the occasional people who don't like them. Take Iron Maiden in the recent 80s poll for instance - their whole 80s run is generally considered classic, but not every person liked every album, as was evident by some comments.



Generally how I think of it as well. If the record is more obscure in following, that's where the term 'cult classic' comes into play, as it's not widely known but its fans are fucking DEVOTED to it. I'd likely put Lykathea Aflame's Elvenefris in that sort of category, but that's a much older record at this point.

I also think age plays a factor in this sort of status, as lots of albums make waves when they first come out and then are barely talked about in a few years. So perhaps it's better to rethink this as "what albums from the 2010s are destined to BECOME classics in later years?"

I'm partial to all of Overkill's recent output (more than the 80s/Horrorscope stuff, if I'm honest), so I feel like everyone needs to at least check out Ironbound and The Electric Age as modern thrash classics.

Can truly a band achieve "classic" status when everything in metal has already been said and done prior to the last 25 years?