Megadeth
Released: July 14, 1992 Rust in Peace pushed Megadeth’s technical side about as far as it could go. The playing was rapid, tangled, and exact, with songs that could change direction three times before most bands reached the chorus. Trying to top it by becoming even more complicated was
Megadeth
Released: May 15, 2007 United Abominations leaves few dots for the listener to connect. Dave Mustaine names governments, wars, weapons, media outlets, and the United Nations, then tells you where he stands. The question is whether Megadeth’s music can remain unpredictable when the lyrics tell you exactly what to
Judas Priest
Released: May 13, 1988 How do you prove you’re still Judas Priest after Turbo? Ram It Down answers by turning everything up: faster tempos, higher screams, more solos, and enough metal in the lyrics to make the point impossible to miss. The title track begins with Rob Halford holding
Morbid Angel
Released: May 12, 1989 How does music this unruly leave such clear shapes behind? Altars of Madness rarely stays with one riff for long. Pete Sandoval jumps from blast beats to double-kick runs and sharp stops. Trey Azagthoth and Richard Brunelle stack tremolo lines, hard-picked patterns, and wild
Morbid Angel
Domination isn’t an album that begs for attention. It doesn’t explode—it envelops.
Testament
Released: May 10, 1988 Most of The New Order’s best-known songs were built to set a room off: “Into the Pit,” “Trial by Fire,” “Disciples of the Watch.” Yet Testament spends a surprising amount of its 39 minutes holding back the full band. Clean-guitar openings, two instrumentals,
LIK
Released: April 18, 2025 How much room does LIK have to move when the band’s identity depends on Stockholm death metal sounding unmistakably like Stockholm death metal? “Deceased” sets the terms immediately. Åkvik has described it as the Entombed song LIK had been trying to write for years, and
Amorphis
Released: April 19, 2013 Survival stories can turn cheap in a hurry. Once the damaged outsider discovers his strength, the story can start treating every scar as a price he needed to pay. On Circle, Amorphis follows a man cut off from the world who finds a way back through
Black Label Society
Released: April 8, 2014 Nobody came to a Black Label Society record wondering whether Zakk Wylde could play. By 2014, the solos, squeals, and bulldozer riffs were part of the deal. The interesting question on Catacombs of the Black Vatican is what happens when he gives the songs first, say.
venom
Released: March 27, 2006 Venom invited the comparison themselves. Twenty-four years after Black Metal, they reversed the words, put the goat back on the cover, and released Metal Black. Cronos had spent months rehearsing early Venom songs with guitarist Mykvs and drummer Antton before they began writing. Could they