Hey guys! If you know me, you know I like metal, and since Saints Row IV has NO FUCKING METAL IN IT, I thought I'd compose my list of top 10 metal albums. Seriously, fuck Saints Row 4. No Opeth, no Deftones or Dream Theater, all we get is a shitty fucking In Flames track from one of the shittiest fucking In Flames albums. Someone mod a metal station in! Anyway, as a fuck you to those assholes, here are my top 10 favourite metal albums. Because hey, why not?

10. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Iced Earth  

Fuck yeah Iced Earth! I like this more than Dark Saga. Sue me. Either way, Iced Earth are fucking magicians, because they got me to like a power metal album. Well, it's power metal mixed with thrash and prog, but eh. It's some of the only Power Metal I like, so yeah. Also, listen to that song above and try not to headbang! 

9. Portal of I - Ne Obliviscaris

 Being an album that only came out last year says a lot. I fucking adore this album. It didn't leave my car radio for nearly two months! I change cd's like everytime I get in the car just about usually, so that is a massive feat. This album is just beautifully epic, amazingly complex, and heavy as fuck. The violin could be a gimmick, but it's not. It's a necessary part of the music, and it's wonderful. Also, one of their songs is being studied in selected universities! How awesome is that?!

 8. Viva Emptiness - Katatonia

 I fucking adore Katatonia. Picking ONE album was damn near impossible, as there are practically two Katatonia's. There's the Deathy Doom Katatonia, and the atmospheric rock Katatonia. I don't honestly know which I prefer. Both are amazing. In the end, I had to go for the album I've listened to the most, and it had to be Viva Emptiness, because it's the heaviest of their "Rock" albums. I'd say alternate metal more than anything but no one seems to agree with me, because metalheads are snobby cunts.

7. Ruun - Enslaved

This seems to be no one else's favourite Enslaved album. Wtf? This album is amazing! For me it marks the first time they went truly prog. They always had prog elements, but this is the first prog element. Enslaved are THE band that got me into Black Metal, and I am eternally greatful foe that. These guys are awesome! 

6. Ride The Lightening - Metallica

 Better than Master of Puppets. SO MUCH BETTER THAN MASTER OF PUPPETS! Master of Puppets is a fucking masterpiece, don't get me wrong, but this album is PHENOMENAL! Holy shit this album is good. It's more consistent than MoP, it's heavier, and even a bit more diverse IMO. 

5. Focus - Cynic

 Cynic is my second favourite band. That's due to a combination of their two albums and two ep's. They've changed styles, and both are wonderful. They were tech death, now they're prog rock, and I would have put their second album, but I actually have a hard time calling that a metal album. Fucking amazing though. This is tech death at it's strongest though, merging metal, jazz, and electronica into one ball of awesomeness!

 4. Lateralus - Tool

 I've seen debates about whether Tool is prog or just alt metal, and I usually respond with these words: ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED? Tool is proggier than half the shit that "earns" that label. Listen to all of the shit going on in the song above and tell me that isn't fucking prog. Seriously you self important cunt, grow the fuck up and realise just because they came out in the 90's and were popular doesn't mean it wasn't prog. Tool are amazing. They have a command of the ambient, they make shifting time signatures and world music mixed with metal and psychodelia and they make it seem both accessible and effortless. That's amazing. So shut the fuck up. 

3. Powerslave - Iron Maiden

 Best opening song on a metal album. Aces High is fucking beautiful. Also, Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one hell of a way to close an album. Fuck it, this album is perfect. What more can I say? This is the best Iron Maiden album ever. It's a metric fuckton better than Number of the Beast anyway. God... I just love this album. You know you do too!

2. Still Life - Opeth

 Opeth is the best extreme metal band out. I don't care what you say. Every metalhead in the world loves them, except the ones who won't accept anything that's popular. They are the Iron Maiden of progressive/extreme metal - Even if you don't like them, you fucking respect them! Without this and the next band on the list, I would not be able to listen to "harsh" vocals. No black metal, no death, nothing. These bands opened up doorways for me. I think it's because the clean singing is SO good, and the music is so beautiful and intricate that at first you just ignore the growling. Then you start to listen to it, and it's produced so well that it doesn't sound grating. Anyway, this is my favourite of their albums because... well it just is. I can't tell you why, I just connect with this one more, and really, almost every opeth album is fucking perfect so just take your pick.

Leaving Your Body Map - Maudlin of the Well

 Showing you one song off this album is a disservice. You need to hear the whole thing to truly appreciate it. They merge damn near every genre (apart from rap and country... everything else is fair game), from folk to jazz, to indie pop, to just about every kind of metal. They're simply wonderful. Calling them a metal band is hard, because doing that almost rules out half of their songs, but... well, this is my all time favourite album of all time! This is going to sound cliche, but it just seems to capture everything I feel and love about music and just go nuts with it. It's melancholic, it's joyful, it's angry, it's peaceful, it's abarasive, it's haunting, and most of all it's amazing. It all somehow fits together in a way that no other Avant Garde metal band can. This is musical perfection right here.

 So what did you think? Have any comments about my favourites? What are your favourites? Why are they your favourites? Let me know below!