Fan poll: 5 greatest metal albums of all time

Nebulous and far-reaching, metal was born out of snarling ‘60s-era rock that saw bands cranking up their amps and spitting out their lyrics with a little more oomph. The genre has since evolved and devolved into diverse subgroups and sounds under the heavy metal brand. Thrash, groove, death, doom, glam, and more — headbangers and metalheads now come in all forms, passionate about the bold, subversive bands that represent the potency of metal best.

With metal’s embodiment of the primal, hyper-masculine side of rock, the seminal bands that carved out a sound in the name of vitality and rage, created a lifestyle that transcended the songs onstage. The albums that shaped the genre into the high-wattage constellation it is now, not only required feverish power and sheer instrumental mastery, but the ability to push the genre forward into unexplored territory.  From landmark releases, ‘80s thrash and glam metal pioneers, ‘90s nü-metal and extreme metal ragers, right up to modern groundbreaking acts that continue to define what metal can be, we asked fans what the best metal albums were of all time. 

Read more: Every Metallica album ranked: From worst to best

With passion, analysis, and intensity, our readers came through with their picks and didn’t hold back. Below are the top five fan picks ranked accordingly.

5. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath, the eponymous debut album by English heavy-metal outfit Black Sabbath in 1970, is widely regarded as the album that started it all. Before Sabbath, there were plenty of rockers that played heavy: Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Deep Purple, but the sound that Sabbath stumbled upon in the early ’70s was angrier and darker than anything that had come before, ratifying heavy metal as we know it today. The band, which had started as a blues group in ‘68, drew inspiration from giallo horror movies, hoping to deliver the same disturbing experience through a rock sound. The slow, haunting title track “Black Sabbath,” ominous and brooding, set the tone for their entire career and a genre that followed.

4. Vulgar Display of Power – Pantera

Cowboys from Hell redefined Pantera as a thrashing, groove-metal force, shedding the crimped wigs and flamboyant costumes from their glam rock days. But Vulgar Display of Power is where they hit their stride — raw, pulverizing, and insanely hostile — Pantera’s aggressively thick-sounding, post-hardcore power metal with aggressive choruses and solos would help pave the way for alternative metal acts like Korn and Tool.

3. South of Heaven – Slayer

Following the colossal release of Reign in Blood, Slayer was faced with the daunting question of what to do next… With Reign in Blood solidifying the band as the most ferociously fast-paced thrash outfit, Slayer knew they had to bring complexity and thoughtfulness to their next project. They decided to slow everything down, a risky move for a band that had just established a loyal following in the world of thrash metal. But South of Heaven delivered a diverse and evil record that experimented with tempo, harmony, and songwriting. The ominous riffs, morbid hooks, and blood-boiling solos on tracks like “Angel of Death” and “Mandatory Sucidie,” proved that Slayer was more than just speed and stamina.

2. Master of Puppets – Metallica

More than a savage heavy metal record, Master of Puppets is a cornerstone for an entire subculture – the moment where one of the genre’s biggest band really found their sound. With the frequency of the rock guitar riff dwindling within metal acts at the time, Metallica reintroduced the melodic riff on this record, so irresistibly catchy you had to sing along. Most notably, the album’s opener “Battery,” a nearly five-minute-long energy zap, widely regarded as the apex of the thrash genre.

1. Rust in Peace – Megadeth

Rust in Peace, the fourth studio album by thrash metal band Megadeth, is an airtight, rhythmic masterpiece. No other band from thrash’s first wave combined skillful songwriting with merciless instrumentalism as creatively or expertly as Megadeth did on Rust in Peace. Centered around politics, nuclear warfare, religion, UFOs, and drug and alcohol addiction, Rust in Peace matched the turbulent subject matter with bloodthirsty songwriting with sheer instrumental insanity.