I share the number one slot. Memoria Vetusta II is a masterpiece. I'm missing Fen and Altar of Plagues though.

Wow, wasn't expecting Slough Feg to be so high in the list.  After it was released there wasn't much talk about it so seeing it that high up caught me by surprise.

All in all, a fantastic list and the crazy thing is that there are likely several other albums that could've been included here.  Be'Lakor pops into my head right off the bat.

Surprised to see Immortal here after the less than stellar reviews

I`ve done my own top 20 and have 9 of these...notable  exceptions for me are Kreator, Candlemass, Nile, Obscura, Wodensthrone and God Dethroned. I also loved the new Slayer album but am aware it polarizred opinion.  There`s some stuff there I haven`t heard, some I have and didn`t share the same enthusiasm for ( The Chasm, Between the Buried and Me, Napalm Death ) but all goes to show how strong a year 2009 was.

kind of awkward insomnium dind't make it to the list, not to mention i was expecting top 10 for them, at least. also cannibal corpse, necroblaspheme, gorod, municipal waste should've been somewhere but i guess it would be too much extreme driven then. nevertheless good job. didn't believe addicted is such a good album :)) , i'll have to check it out

Been checking out some of this list that I hadn`t heard...The Ruins of Beverast is absolutely fantastic and Argus, whilst not the sort of thing I`d play often is pretty solid. Devin Townsend though...just not for me.

Since Nile released the best Death Metal album, I only miss them. But I do miss them very fucking much! Well, at least I saw 'em this year..

Got to admit but I'm disappointed with this list. Commercial value got to have been the decisive factor. Or perhaps X-mas church visit influenced too much? Loads of TRUE metal is missing and britneyspears-type melodies rule. Well, maybe I just had expectations in too high level cause of stellar top-100 list(s):)

What?! Where is the new Insomnium? Top 5 for sure.

Nile?

Other than that, a fine list, although I would have placed Giant Squid higher.

Almost as worst as last year list...

But the big question is, where is Nile if Immortal is on that list?

And Alice In Chains, though being a strong album, has never been reviewed here.

Gorod should have made this list too.

Blut aus Nord and Absu are probably the albums I prefer the most on that weak list.

I`m amazed by The Chasm being so high, didn`t remember it being very good and just gave it another shot...it`s still dull.

Not sure why people are calling it a weak list overall...I rate almost half of it very highly which is a pretty good ratio for someone else` s list. I don`t really think Porcupine Tree or Alice in Chains should be on a `metal` list though...especially when Kreator, Nile, Slayer, Augury, Wolves in the Throne Room, Funeral Mist and Municipal Waste aren`t!!

I dont think its a weak list at all, alot of stuff on there i have really enjoyed. Sadly i have'nt been able to get into the new Blut Aus Nord, then again im hardly a massive Black Metal fan so i didnt't get as excited as most of you when they announced a return to the traditional sound. From 1 to 25 there is only 5 albums that i dont particularly enjoy so it seems like a good list to me.

Kinda weak

Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect should have been something else.

While I like the new AIC album its not metal.

On the plus side, good to see some deserving albums here missed on most sites' lists...Chasm, Beverast, While Heaven Wept, Razor of Occam, etc.  On the negetive side, there are 4 or 5 non-metal albums on the list stealing spots where actual essential metal albums should be (destroyer 666, Katatonia and Insomnium come to mind, personally), but still a much better list than most other sites I've seen.

Well, for me its a weak list because only two of my favorite albums made the list (Alice In Chains play hard rock music, not metal).

And most of the other picks on that list have little to no appeal for me, but for The Ruins Of Beverast, which I completely missed.

All in all, I think that separate Top lists for different type of metal music would be much cleaver than putting everything in the same bag.

mst, what's on your list this year?

um...

BE'LAKOR

stone's reach was one of the best albums of the past few years. come on!!!

love man must die, such a great album.

seriously, though, everyone listen to be'lakor.

Fen and Altar of Plagues should certainly have made this list. Ah well, this makes me realize that I haven't listened to as much as I thought this year.

I have to agree wondering where Insomnium is on this list. Is the person that reviewed it the only one that really liked it?? It got a 10 didn't it? *sigh* oh well. A top 25 list isn't the end all of all things...Insomnium's got their credit.

I can think of a number of albums I think are waaay better than Alice in Chains' new one. This coming from someone who would call AIC one of their 10 favorite bands all time also...so call me stubborn or snobbish or whatever, but its' just not Alice in Chains. The new singer sounds like a homeless man's Layne Staley. He's good no doubt, but he sounds similar enough to what Cantrell can do that they should've just made a Cantrell solo album, or called it something else. It's a solid album totally, especially for a modern rock album, top 25 material it most certainly is not if you ask me.

opy666 - how is Katatonia considered metal now if Alice in Chains and Porcupine Tree are not?...which isn't saying anything bad about any of those, I like all of them a lot, but Katatonia is nothing more than atmospheric depressive rock now. Not a lot of metal going on there...

I don't get it at all when people say Katatonia don't play metal. At all.

Insomnium?  Coalesce?

The fuck?

Wondering where Isole, Insomnium, Chthonic, Epica, Ensiferum, Kylesa, Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Madder Mortem, Swallow the Sun, Týr, Wodensthrone, Amorphis and Kalisia are, but oh well, different people like different things.

It's related to metal totally, and you can talk about them like they're a metal band and compare them with metal and what not, but seriously...they're really not. The attitude and the atmosphere is I suppose, but they're really not. Kind of a borderline, like Tool or something, though i'm not comparing them to Tool at all, just sayin'...

Im quite suprised with End Game & Black Gives Way To Blue making it up there

Ulcerate, Anaal Nathrakh, Blut aus Nord, Absu, Drudkh, Megadeath... decent.

Ahab is a bit of a surprise in this list maybe I should listen it more

I think I will check out While Heaven Wept, Man Must Die and this Argus thing.

The rest doesn't bother me. Metal is wider than my music taste.

No Gorod? Only 4 of these albums made my top 25...

The 'Chasm' record is excellent but is totally hard to find...Waiting for a new pressing to actually own a copy.

How is this worked out?

Nile should have been on this for sure. Isole too.

Insomnium was better than Be'lakor, but i wouldn't have them on this list either.

The lack of love for Solstafir is appalling.

Jishwa -  your point is valid...I guess I just automatically classify them as Metal without thinking about it as a longtime fan of theirs...

i'm happy as long as Cobalt makes the list.

What is with metal review including Porcupine Tree on these lists?  Even if you wanted to call Fear of a Blank Planet metal, The Incident is one of the most mellow things they've done in years.  It's just not metal in any way.

Besides, it's not that great.

Megadeth definitely shouldn't be on anyone's list.  This seems like a classic case of people holding lower standards for established/legendary bands.  Endgame is mediocre at best, like everything else they've released this decade.

I'm surprised Nile didn't make the list. I thought a lot of the reviewers really liked the new album.

I'm amazed that only one staff member had "The Prophecy - Into the Light" on their list.  It was number 2 on my list until I heard "Embrace of Thorns - Atonement Ritual"  (which Nobody here has on their lists).  Best Doom and Black metal albums, respectively, of the year.

Another year in heavy metal...and what a year it was. It seems like every band on the planet released