I recently stumbled upon a list I made of my favorite metal albums from 2000-2009 that I sent Malicious Intent co-conspirator Vlad The Impaler back in 2009.

Honestly, it’s a little bizarre looking at this now. A lot of these I still consider very formative albums for my metal listening tastes, and I still have a personal relationship with a lot of these. What’s more on that last point is that I mentioned a lot of these albums in this post about how my personal relationship to metal has changed over the years. There will be more on that in my Top 10 of 2010s.

Top 10

  1. Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise by Emperor
  2. Black Seeds of Vengeance by Nile
  3. The Inalienable Dreamless by Discordance Axis
  4. Oceanic by ISIS
  5. Rock’n’Roll Killing Machine by Drowningman
  6. Miss Machine by Dillinger Escape Plan
  7. From Wisdom to Hate by Gorguts
  8. Blackwater Park by Opeth
  9. Prowler in the Yard by Pig Destroyer
  10. ISA by Enslaved

Honorable Mentions

Meanderthal, Torche
Human 2.0, Nasum
Ordo Ad Chao, Mayhem
Close to a World Below, Immolation
Jesu, Jesu
Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1 by Nachtmystium
Remission, Mastodon
Seminar II: The Holy Rites of Primitivism Regressionism, Old Man Gloom
Semniar III: Zozobra, Old Man Gloom
Traced In Air, Cynic
Fas-Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum by Deathspell Omega
Two Hunters, Wolves In The Throne Room
The Work Which Transforms God, Blut Aus Nord
OX, Coalesce

Here are some notes on the changes I would make if I were to make this list today:

  • Based on the staying power of these albums in my regular rotation and my continued fascination, The Inalienable Dreamless would probably be #1
  • I rarely listen to Black Seeds…, Prometheus..., and Oceanic these days, but based on how much I listened to them during that decade and how much they influenced me in a variety of ways, I would still put all of them in the top 5
  • I’m very surprised I put Rock’n’Roll Killing Machine as high as I did. I would definitely put it in my honorable mentions if I did this again, but not in my top 10
  • I was really huge on Enslaved for a few years. Not so much anymore
  • Initially, I was surprised I put Ordo ad Chao on here and not Grand Declaration of War, but then I remembered that Ordo ad Chao is what led me to listen to Grand Declaration of War again and actually fall in love with it. Ordo ad Chao still rips, though
  • I haven’t listened to Nachtmystium at all in years
  • Fas-Ite… would definitely be in my top 10 now — as would Human 2.0, Close to a World Below, and maybe Seminar II or III
  • Traced in Air?!