Mark’s List:

20. Nile – In Their Darkened Shrines (Relapse)
Karl Sanders’ masterpiece is the perfect soundtrack to releasing spirits from a cursed Egyptian tomb.
Check Out: Execration Text

19. Iron Maiden – Brave New World (EMI/ Sony)
Bruce and Adrian are back… well, Jannick is still there, but still, this Maiden album makes us forget the previous four and brings us back to 1986.
Check Out: The Fallen Angel

18. Killswitch Engage – The End of the Heartache (Roadrunner)
Hello Howard Jones, pleased to meet you, your band rules… and so does this album.
Check Out: Rose of Sharyn

17. Strapping Young Lad – Alien (Century Media)
Devin and the boys melt faces on an album that stands up to the legendary City.
Check Out: Zen

16. Skeletonwitch – Beyond the Permafrost (Prosthetic)
Thrash came back in a big way in the 00’s, and these guys lead the way.
Check Out: Upon Wings of Black

15. Opeth – Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner)
The proggiest of the Opeth releases was also one of the best.  Swedish metal meets George Harrison’s Maharishi.
Check Out: The Baying of the Hounds

14. Slayer – Christ Illusion (American)
Another return from some big names, this time it’s Lombardo and Rubin and voila!, Slayer makes their most inspired record in years.
Check Out: Skeleton Christ

13. Gojira – From Mars to Sirius (Prosthetic)
France’s metal titans give us one of the heaviest-sounding onslaughts in recent memory.  An open array of serenity and punishment.
Check Out: Flying Whales

12. Meshuggah – Nothing (Nuclear Blast)
The only album meant to be recorded with 8-string guitars. So heavy and hypnotic it’s made for the atmosphere of a different planet.
Check Out: Glints Collide

11. System of a Down – Toxicity (American)
An odd little metal band that turned into a huge, hard rock juggernaut after this combination of focused song writing, great production and heavy manic.
Check Out: Prison Song

10. Mastodon – Remission (Relapse)
Their first full-length release and the introduction for many to Mastodon.  The album that woke up the metal world in 2002.
Check Out: March of the Fire Ants

9. Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake (Epic)
The album catches Lamb of God and the Adler brothers at their hungriest, right on the cusp of becoming one of the biggest bands in heavy music.
Check Out: The Faded Line

8. Baroness – The Red Album (Relapse)
A genius mixture of metal’s fury and indie-rock’s fuzz dragged through the sludge of the Georgia swamplands. John Baizley becomes a new metal hero.
Check Out: Isak

7. Cynic – Traced in Air (Season of Mist)
We waited for 15 years after Focus, and Paul Masvidal did not disappoint us.  An incredible journey of musicianship, virtuosity and elite song-writing.
Check Out: The Space for This

6. Opeth – Deliverance (Music for Nations)
The title track contains one of the best riffs of all time.  Wreath and Master’s Apprentices provide some bone-chilling moments.
Check Out: Deliverance

5. The Sword – Age of Winters (Kemado)
A hipster delight, but also a headbanging, weed-smoking, stoner-metal classic.  The raw power of every riff conjures the ghost of Iommi (wait, he’s not dead!)
Check Out: Iron Swan

4. QOTSA – Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)
Another popular release that includes perfect song after perfect song.  Dave Grohl leaves his mark, and his curse on future Josh Homme projects.
Check Out: Song for the Dead

3. Immortal – Sons of Northern Darkness (Nuclear Blast)
One of the best black metal albums of all time. Abbath creates an avalanche of riffs and mayhem.
Check Out: One By One

2. Opeth – Blackwater Park (Music for Nations)
Many consider this the breakout album for Opeth.  A collection of the band’s finest moments and some of the best metal songs of all time.
Check Out: The Drapery Falls

1. Mastodon – Leviathan (Relapse)
Mastodon’s perfect metal album and one of the best releases ever.  A true classic from the first notes of track 1.
Check Out: every song

Justin’s List:

20. Candiria – 300 Percent Density (Century Media)
Normally, shit this eclectic is reserved for prog snobs… it’s a shame they’re too busy sucking off Dream Theatre to appreciate the real deal.
Check Out: 300 Percent Density

19. Killswitch Engage – The End of Heartache (Roadrunner)
This album raised the bar previously set by Alive or Just Breathing. A feat every other modern metalcore band (including Killswitch themselves) have yet to surpass.
Check Out: Rose of Sharyn

18. Starkweather – Croatoan (Candlelight/Hypertension)
Ready for something completely new and exciting? Check out these old-timers.
Check Out: Slither

17. Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire (Prosthetic)
As I’ve said before… this is “Metal” personified.
Check Out: Repulsive Salvation

16. Immortal – Sons of Northern Darkness (Nuclear Blast)
Black Metal’s finest hour?
Check Out: One By One

15. Slayer – Christ Illusion (American)
Kerry King + Tom Araya + Jeff Hanneman – Paul Bostaph + Dave Lombardo = ‘Nuff Said.
Check Out: Flesh Storm

14. Baroness – The Red Album (Relapse)
Eclectic, yet cohesive. Heavy, yet poetic. Artsy, yet fucking awesome.
Check Out: Wanderlust

13. Type O Negative – Dead Again (SPV)
Absolutely epic songwriting from “The Drab Four”.
Check Out: The Profit of Doom

12. Craft – Fuck the Universe (Carnal/Southern Lord)
Black Metal’s finest hour.
Check Out: Thorn In the Planet’s Side

11. Mastodon – Remission (Relapse)
Riffs beyond your wettest dream. A game changer for sure.
Check Out: Mother Puncher

10. Torche – Meanderthal (Hydra Head/Robotic Empire)
The prefect blend of heavy and poppy. I assume this album is perfect for cruising for metal chicks on a hot summer evening.
Check Out: Healer

9. Cave In – Jupiter (Hydra Head)
The biggest 180 in the history of hardcore. But Cave In are certainly a better band for having taken the risk.
Check Out: Big Riff

8. Opeth – Deliverance (Music for Nations)
One listen to the title track and you’ll know why it’s on this list.
Check Out: Deliverance

7. Isis – Oceanic (Ipecac)
This album single-handidly turned the word “Neurosis” into “Neurisis”. Stock in metalgaze shoots through the roof.
Check Out: The Beginning and the End

6. Jesu – Jesu (Hydra Head)
Justin Broadrick shows the metal community there’s more to life than Godflesh. Much more.
Check Out: Friends are Evil

5. Converge – Jane Doe (Equal Vision/Deathwish)
Converge’s defining record… Jane Doe also happens to be the defining record for 98% of hardcore bands since.
Check Out: Concubine

4. Meshuggah – Nothing (Nuclear Blast)
Is there such a thing as “too heavy”? It turns out the answer is no.
Check Out: Straws Pulled at Random

3. Pelican – Australiasia (Hydra Head)
The perfect mix of skull-crushingly heavy and heart-breakingly emotional. The soundtrack to “flying” dreams.
Check Out: GW

2. Hopesfall – The Satellite Years (Trustkill)
An awesome post-hardcore band doing everything in their power to sound like Hum. Hey… it’s all green to me!
Check Out: A Man Exits

1. Mastodon – Leviathan (Relapse)
The metal equivalent of Dark Side of the Moon. Instant Classic. Period.
Check Out: every song