fave metal album : metal church eponymous
black sabbath - master of reality

non metal- return to forever -where have i known you before
kate bush- the dreaming
crack the sky -eponymous

I second The Mantle. Even though a lot of it isn't even metal.

I agree this topic is nearly impossible to answer and will indeed change for nearly everyone at some point. Some of my favorites are

Behexen - By the Blessing of Satan - If I had to pick this is probably my favorite, it's great, raw, and very intense. Everything flows wells and the riffs are very well written.

Defeated Sanity - Psalms of the Moribund - Sick brutal death metal album at a time when most brutal death is extremely repetitive and boring blasting or even worse nothing but slams. Psalms mixes it all up very well, has that sick guitar tone and Jen's Staschels vocals cement this above their follow up Chapters of Repugnance

Behexen - From the Devil's Chalice - This whole album seems to be very underated, the songs have that ugly recording quality and almost have a trance like sound the way the riffs are written ala Transylvanian Hunger. It's what I would imagine if Burzum and Darkthrone were to collaborate on an album. The tilte track is easily one of the best songs ever recorded.

Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon - This album is just awesome for every reason.

This. It would be harder for me to say, like, my 10 favorite albums instead of just these two, because they are so obviously better than anything else, ever. However, I find it impossible to say which one is number 1, since, for me, they are both on the same level of [*insert the most exaggerated compliment you can possibly imagine*]. But yeah, in the end their perfection can be summed up in two words: John Arch.

All time favourite is Sad Wings of Destiny, nothing else will ever top this. The amount of people that seem to agree with me speaks volumes.

I've never been the biggest Slayer fan, but recently I have been spinning Show No Mercy almost daily. I like being proven wrong on first impressions.