Top 20 Extreme Metal Albums.
 

Yay, more lists!

I love Extreme Metal, as if you havn't noticed. The best Metal bands to me have a way of being incredibly heavy, yet still very musical and innovative at the same time.

To narrow the focus, "extreme" is Death, Black, and (some) Thrash metal and Grindcore. Also, if you want to include Doom and Sludge records, just make sure they qualify as extreme. Obviously this is where it will get tricky, as my definition of extreme could be completley different than yours. But, don't include something like "Master of Puppets", as wonderful and heavy as it is, it is far from Extreme Metal. In my opinion, the first Extreme Metal albums are Venom's "Black Metal" and Slayer's early albums. So things in that vein.

Note; I am omitting Metallica albums for this thread for two reasons. One is because I don't consider them Extreme Metal, though certainly one of the key influences on Extreme Metal. Two is the fact that if I was to include them, I would have to include thier first three records all of which I love unequivocally. Therefore, I wouldn't have as much room for the other many Metal records that have been damaging my ears all these years.

Here Goes:
1. Darkthrone-Transylvanian Hunger
2. Deicide-Legion
3. Napalm Death-Scum
4. Hellhammer-Demon Entrails
5. At The Gates-Slaughter of the Soul
6. Eyehategod-Dopesick
7. Death-Scream Bloody Gore
8. Terrorizer-Terrorizer
9. Gorgoroth-Pentagram
10. Mayhem-De Mysterriis Dom Santhanas
11. Beherit-Drawing Down the Moon
12. Morbid Angel-Domination
13. Darkthrone-Under a Funeral Moon
14. Cryptopsy-Blasphemy Made Flesh
15. Brutal Truth-Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses
16. Immortal-At the Heart of Winter
17. Death-Leprosy
18. Mercyful Fate-In the Shadows
19. Slayer-Reign in Blood
20. Gorgoroth-Incipit Satan

Good list, I'd throw some necrophagist on there for good measure.

Yeah good list, I'd throw some Burzum on there though.

do electric wizard count? in that case, dopethrone would definitely make it into my top 20

electric wizard rule.
I'm so bad at making these lists, so I won't.
Sorry.

However would Wolves in the Throneroom count?

Yeah, I'd definitely throw some WITR if I made a list. I don't really listen to much extreme metal though so I'm not gonna attempt.

I have a top 20 criticisms of Q magazine if anyone wants to read it.

I do.

They still write about britpop...

what about stalagg? sure its terrible but its pretty f'n xtreeeme

you see, i love burzum, and almost included "filosofem", but there's one thing about his music which will always keep him off my list of favorites; his vocals. the best black metal vocals will always sound like screaming, but upon closer listen are more like screeching whispers, suggesting all sorts of satanic things to you. burzum's vocals sadly to these ears fall into the realm of "pussy ass whiny bitch" vocals.

i was gonna say anal cunt "morbid florist", but they have that humorous free noise thing about them, i am pretty sure their music is 99 percent joke. so i kept it to metal bands who take thier shit dead serious, and end up still being pretty funny (case in point: immortal).

1. Beat Happening- Black Candy
2. Belle & Sebastian- If You're Feeling Sinister
3. The For Carnation- S/T
4. Daniel Johnston- Yip Jump Music
5. Beat Happening- Jamboree

that's all I can be bothered to do right now. They're dark super aggressive sounds burden my soul with so much evil I can only name 5 Extreme metal albums at once without going into a horrible transformation.

Nice to see Hellhammer on there,don't think that top 20 could be bettered,anyone heard the Iron Lung lp on Prank ?, looks intresting, Nick Blinko artwork on the cover!,not seen a bad review for it.

This is why I couldn't begin to make a list. All of my favorite "extreme metal" is on the fringes of something else too. The band that comes immediately to my mind is The Flying Luttenbachers who obviously are as much noise and free jazz (and for that matter punk) as metal. Yet I still think Weasel Walter takes his metal riffs further to the extreme than many a death metal act.

You may have seen me rep Weasel in a shitload of other threads; he's my absolute favorite contemporary musician. And he has amazing taste to boot.

But anyways, this thread is about tunes that would blatantly be referred to as "extreme metal", no confusion with noise, jazz, free improv, prog, or things of those types. this shouldnt be that hard to come up with for anyone who listen to metal.

In no order:

1. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger
2. Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse
3. Mayhem - Live in Leipzig
4. Fimbulwinter - Servants of Sorcery
5. Candlemass - Nightfall
6. Bathory - Bathory
7. Bathory - Hammerheart
8. Morbid - December Moon (though this is a demo)
9. Burzum - Filosofem
10. Weakling - Dead as Dreams
11. Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon
12. Krallice - Krallice
13. Mercyful Fate - Melissa/In the Beginning

Okay, I didn't quite make it to twenty. And my list is almost entirely black metal (the exceptions are Candlemass (doom) and Morbid (death)). But I'm planning to buy albums by Necrophagist and Death as soo as possible.

I don't really see why Mercyful Fate are extreme metal though. They sound quite similar to early Iron Maiden (twin guitars, great vocals (more like Paul Di'Anno than Bruce Dickenson)).

Something like this...although It's been a long time without listening to metal.

01 - Slayer - Reign in Blood
02 - Bathory - s/t
03 - Saint Vitus - V
04 - High On Fire - Surrounded by thieves
05 - Today is the day - In the eyes of god
06 - Immortal - Battles in the north
07 - Melvins - Bullhead
08 - Hellhammer - Tapes
09 - Godflesh - Selfless
10 - Sleep - Holy Mountain
11 - Burzum - Filosofem
12 - Celtic Frost - To Mega therion
13 - Monno - Error
14 - Voivod - Dimension Hatross
15 - Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
16 - Napalm Death - Scum
17 - Venom - Black Metal

how about some pig destoyer, cannibal corpse, east/west blast test?

what are you doing reading Q magazine enough to have at least 20 criticisms of it?!

make a list and you can have whatever the fuck you want on it.

i do love pig destroyer's "terrifyer" and "phantom limb" quite a bit though.

yeah, wolves in the throne room count. theyre extreme, but they are kind of i duno, "safe". i mean, they are the type of metal band that its ok for indie kids to like, i.e. isis. im looking for the more all out metal records for my personal list, the stuff that those bitchfork faithfuls all scoff at, even though its musically more relevant than whatever of montreal piece of shit record just came out and is guaranteed a spot on the bitchfork top 50. but, if you want to make a list, just whatever sounds extreme to you. by the way, wolves in the throneroom are really good.

why the fuck is no one making lists?

For all of the reasons we have all stated in various posts. Some feel your list is essentially theirs give or take a few bands. Others of us listen to stuff where metal is one side of a two or three-sided coin. I do think of the Melvins, Earth, and Thrones, and yes the Luttenbachers, as metal as well as extreme, but they clearly don't fit your definition, which is cool, but there it is. I don't think of them as just those things, but those things nonetheless.

It's not that I don't listen to more straight up metal, I love Motorhead and Sepultura (though my fave Sepultura is usually the weird experimental/world music crossover stuff, I can't help loving experimental shit, it's who I am) but they come off as pretty classic traditional next to the black/death stuff you list. When I want something more extreme, it just usually goes in the direction of bringing in other influences, like say how Waldteufel does, rather than getting thrashier and more satanic.

You're forgetting Dethklok.

because lists are boring and masturbatory and we've all got better things to do with our lives.

lists are "masturbatory", gimme a fuckin break. theyre fun, nothing more.

and though you don't have time to make lists you do have time to make snide ass remarks that aren't all that funny on a message board.

as much as i like metal, i still can't come up with 20.

"extreme"