Manowar: Kings of Metal
In 1988 Manowar pushed its vision of epic, warlike, unabashed metal to the very edge. Kings of Metal may be the most…
8/10 September 20, 2026
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Section
Reviews
Anathema: Judgement
With Judgement, released in 1999 on Music for Nations, Anathema completes a transformation begun on Alternative 4. The Liverpool band, once a…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Dismember: Like an Ever Flowing Stream
Released in 1991, Dismember’s debut arrived in the immediate wake of Entombed and confirmed that Stockholm was truly the epicenter of a…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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1349: Hellfire
Released in 2005, Hellfire sees Norway’s 1349 drive their chaotic, incandescent black metal to a peak of intensity. The band, which counts…
8/10 September 20, 2026
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Overkill: The Years of Decay
The fourth album by New York’s Overkill, The Years of Decay (1989), is often held to be the peak of their early…
8/10 September 20, 2026
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Melvins: Houdini
With Houdini, released in 1993, the Melvins delivered their first album on a major label, Atlantic Records, at the height of the…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Bad Religion: Suffer
Released in 1988, Suffer is the record that put Bad Religion back on the map and quietly rewrote the rules of Californian…
9/10 September 20, 2026
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Stratovarius: Visions
Released in 1997, Visions is one of the most emblematic albums by the Finnish band Stratovarius. It embodies the peak of the…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Dio: Holy Diver
After leaving Black Sabbath, Ronnie James Dio launched his own band in 1983 and landed a masterstroke on the first try. Holy…
9.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Cathedral: Forest of Equilibrium
When Lee Dorrian walked away from Napalm Death, a name synonymous with the most extreme grindcore, few expected him to deliver one…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Entombed: Left Hand Path
When this debut landed on Earache in 1990, Sweden had no globally recognized extreme scene to speak of. Entombed, risen from the…
9/10 September 20, 2026
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Gorgoroth: Antichrist
The second album by Norway’s Gorgoroth, Antichrist appeared in 1996 and stands as a model of raw, no-frills black metal. Short, sharp…
8/10 September 20, 2026
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Exodus: Bonded by Blood
Exodus’s first album, Bonded by Blood, stands among the founding documents of San Francisco Bay Area thrash. Recorded in 1984 but released…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Down: NOLA
Down’s first album, NOLA, released in 1995, gathers several major figures of the Southern scene within a project that became a cult…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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NOFX: Punk in Drublic
Released in 1994 on Epitaph, Punk in Drublic is NOFX’s fifth album and one of the most emblematic records of California melodic…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Angra: Holy Land
The second album by the Brazilian band Angra, Holy Land, released in 1996, is an ambitious work that blends power metal, classical…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Tool: Lateralus
Released in 2001, Lateralus is Tool’s third studio album and arguably the one where the California quartet fully embraces its progressive ambition.…
9.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Accept: Balls to the Wall
In 1983 Accept cut the record that would carry German heavy metal far beyond its borders. The fifth album from the Solingen…
8.5/10 September 20, 2026
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Discharge: Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing
Released in 1982, Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing is Discharge’s first studio album and one of the most influential records ever…
9/10 September 20, 2026
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Trouble: Psalm 9
The debut album by America’s Trouble, Psalm 9 (1984), is one of the founding acts of doom metal in the United States.…
8/10 September 20, 2026
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Obituary: Cause of Death
Obituary’s second album, Cause of Death, confirmed in 1990 the Florida band’s standing among the great names of death metal. More accomplished…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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Marduk: Panzer Division Marduk
Released in 1999, Panzer Division Marduk is arguably the most extreme and most concentrated record by Sweden’s Marduk. In barely thirty minutes,…
8/10 September 19, 2026
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Testament: The Legacy
Testament’s first album, The Legacy (1987), is one of the great debuts of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash scene. Arriving after…
8/10 September 19, 2026
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Crowbar: Crowbar
Crowbar’s second album, this self titled record from 1993, cements the place of Kirk Windstein’s band in the New Orleans sludge landscape.…
8/10 September 19, 2026
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Rancid: …And Out Come the Wolves
Released in 1995 on Epitaph, …And Out Come the Wolves is Rancid’s third album and the peak of the Berkeley band’s path.…
9/10 September 19, 2026
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Sabaton: Carolus Rex
With Carolus Rex, released in 2012, the Swedish band Sabaton takes on a subject as ambitious as it is unusual for them:…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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Fates Warning: Awaken the Guardian
Released in 1986, Awaken the Guardian is the third album by the American band Fates Warning and the last with original singer…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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Ministry: Psalm 69
Often referred to as Psalm 69, whose full title is « KEFALHXQ », this 1992 record is Ministry’s most famous album. Led by Al…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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Helmet: Meantime
The second album from New York band Helmet, Meantime, released in 1992, imposes a pared-down and cerebral vision of alternative metal. Led…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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Motörhead: Ace of Spades
Motorhead’s fourth studio album, Ace of Spades (1980), is the record that made the English trio a legend. Produced by Vic Maile,…
9/10 September 19, 2026
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The Exploited: Punks Not Dead
Released in 1981, Punks Not Dead is The Exploited’s debut album and one of the most famous rallying cries in British punk.…
8/10 September 19, 2026
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Soulfly: Soulfly
The debut album of the project founded by Max Cavalera after his departure from Sepultura, Soulfly, released in 1998, extends and transforms…
8/10 September 19, 2026
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Saint Vitus: Born Too Late
The third album by America’s Saint Vitus, Born Too Late (1986), marks a major turning point: the arrival of singer Scott Wino…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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Necrophagist: Epitaph
Nine years after Onset of Putrefaction, Muhammed Suicmez rebuilt Necrophagist around a top-tier lineup and delivered, in 2004, a record that would…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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Deicide: Deicide
Deicide’s self-titled debut, released in 1990, immediately established the Florida band as one of the most radical and provocative acts in death…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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Satyricon: Nemesis Divina
Released in 1996, Nemesis Divina is Satyricon’s third album and one of the great records of the second Norwegian wave. The duo…
8.5/10 September 19, 2026
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