My 25 Favorite Death Metal Albums of All Time (as of 2025)

I have been here for 8 years and its been that same amount of time since I got really into metal and could consider myself a metalhead. I've heard lots of stuff which could still be considered a pretty "abysmal" amount compared to some but I certainly have listened to way more than the average Joe thats for sure.

In that time I've heard a bunch of subgenres but the one I have listened to the most is death metal and I certainly know quite a bit of death metal albums. I have juggled doing this idea several times and it's never worked out so now I am sending it and just selecting 25 albums. All subgenres of death metal are permissible so there could be melodic death metal, osdm, tech death, progressive death metal and even death doom, brutal death metal and dissonant death metal. This list is entirely subjective so you might disagree or think it's goofy but thats ok it's just my list. With that intro out of the way here are my 25 favorite death metal albums of all time.

Artificial Brain- Infared Horizon

We are starting off this list strong with perhaps one of my favorite dissonant death metal albums of all time. I gave no benefit of the doubt that I love Artificial Brain in my blog I did of my 25 favorite bands ever as I basically glazed the band but so far they haven't topped their sophomore record Infared Horizon. This came out in 2017 when I was still in high school and just getting into metal and very recently had ed good old MA but I gave this a listen and was hooked ever since. Sometimes like most dissonant death metal records you gotta be in the right headspace to listen to this album but when this album hits it hits. The music is super dissonant yet not a mess, there is a surprising amount of melody, the vocalist has some gnarly gutterals and the tone of the album just seems so dense and heavy yet it's not and in some ways could be seen as standard. This album is just so well composed and crafted and hearing it is like a journey in itself. I loved it then, I love it now and finally getting this album on cd after many years of desperately wanting it was one of the most satisfying moments I've ever had of getting a cd from the mailbox and bringing it home. The one guitarist Oleg Zalman has a YouTube channel and he has to be one of my favorite guitarist youtubers that I watch, he's incredible. While it probably isn't my number 1 favorite death metal album of all time it's certainly one of the more high picks on this list and one I'll probably be listening to towards the end of my life.

Paradise Lost- Lost Paradise

Despite having the tag "Metalcore Fanboy" on my profile and being one of the biggest nerds on melodic metalcore that you will ever meet, I am VERY fond of death doom. Its like a polar opposite to what I like but I absolutely eat up death doom like it's candy and even have juggled with the idea of making my own death doom band. I knew when I decided to make this blog that there was going to be at least 1 death doom album on it and I went with the most obvious and basic choice but I don't care. Lost Paradise was Paradise Lost's debut onto the metal scene and what a way to start. They went guns blazing and made the definitive death doom album like it was nothing. The tone is so heavy but mythicaly clean and dirty, the atmosphere is so superb and dreary that you cannot listen to this album happy and the vocals are so gnarly and epic and I think that the vocalist on this album did vocals in Bloodbath for a time to give you an idea. They even had Gothic elements in brief moments and I haven't even gotten to the riffs. The riffs are fantastic and I'm certain the song Rotten Misery is the blueprint for what death doom is, I bet not just me in my bedroom but tons of bands have ripped off that song and the riffs from it because of how perfect it is and how everyone most likely wishes they were the ones that wrote it. This is just such a masterclass album and it still pains me that I don't have a copy of this album because this would be one of those albums that I'd wear out way before a lot of other albums in my collection.

At the Gates- Slaughter of the Soul

I of course needed to make sure I include some melodic death metal on my list due also to how it's my second favorite genre of metal and once again I went with another basic pick but I don't care I love this album a ton. I know I have said previously that The Red in the Sky is Ours was my favorite by them but when I really sit down and think about it I just really love this way more. At the Gates really changed everything with this album as the tone, the bouncy alternate picked riffs and the more higher pitched vocals really made them stand out as no one was really doing that the the time and my favorite drum beat ever the d-beat for sure was something different at the time. I love the feel of this album and how the production is more raw but isn't "raw" raw as it doesn't sound like a black metal album but you can hear the vocalist spitting and all the small imperfections that normally get mixed out on an album. Its just an awesome album and the fact that it was the main inspiration behind melodic metalcore is still the best thing ever. Why I still don't have a copy is beyond me because it is a basic choice but Slaughter of the Soul is like among the greatest melodic death metal albums ever made.

Cynic- Focus

This one barely constitutes as a death metal album but it's too incredible not to include. I will forever be thankful for Mr. Williams for suggesting this band because that first moment of hearing the song How Could I right after I got home from school changed me forever. I was so blown away by this album that I was certainly that Focus was definitely one of the best albums I've ever heard and it's still among my favorites today. It is very progressive metal element heavy and it barely counts as a death metal album like I said but everything about it is so well made and there isn't much out there I've heard thats as similar to it 32 years after it was first released, it literally feels like something mythical when I listen to it. Having this here definitely screams "poser" but I absolutely love this album to death and my cd of it is probably the sickest cd I have in my collection right now. This might perhaps be one of my favorite death metal albums and possibly even in my top 5 favorite albums of all time as it is truly a masterpiece and one of the most legendary albums out there to ever be made.

Hypocrisy- The Final Chapter

The cover of this album doesn't look really great but this album is truly awesome. Hypocrisy was looking to be at its end and Peter Tatgren thought that Hypocrisy would be no more and so they went all out making one last album as a supposed send-off and it was awesome. The riffs and growls were awesome, they singing was superb and there were tons of blackened elements and they just went all out on this album and to me it's incredible. I still listening to the final title track at the cafeteria table in high school and just being blown away by it and just listening to it on repeat all day. I definitely like Peter Tatgren more than Mikael Akerfelt and Dan Swano as they are all compared with each other and think he's an awesome musician considering the musical sorcery that had to probably occur to create this album. As we all know this ended up not being Hypocrisy's last album but it definitely feels like the end of a chapter because they became more of a melodic death metal band after this album and while they are still amazing none of the albums they make now are as great as this album was. It was just an awesome album and I hate that I missed out on scooping up a reissue copy of this album because it is another one of those that I'd consider a masterpiece.

Obscura- Diluvium

Obscura have stayed as one of my favorite bands in death metal since I got into death metal and most of it has to do with this album Diluvium. This album was the band trying to branch out their sound which they did by only sacrificing a little bit of their technicality for a bit more darkness and atmosphere to their riffs and the result is a masterpiece. That and with the stellar mixing and production this album just seems so unreal and I am still to this day grateful that this was one of my earlier introductions to death metal because I would've never had such a strong leap into death metal or have fallen in love so much with Obscura. I even was heavily inspired by the riffing of this album and they are still one of my big inspirations for the music that I still haven't wrote yet, the album has had that much of sn effect on me. To say I was beyond thrilled to open up a copy on Christmas Eve when playing Twas the Night Before Christmas was an understatement. While most would consider this their best album and while I would have done the same years ago, it has since become my 2nd favorite Obscura album even despite its influence on me as they have one other album that to me is just better but make no mistake, Diluvium is one of those albums that actually is deserving of the title of masterpiece.

Rivers of Nihil- Where Owls Know My Name

This is an album that needs no introduction as it took over the metal world by storm when it released all the way back in 2018 and I was certainly caught by its charm. This album is very atmospheric and is very clean in its production and use of tons of clean vocals but it always pulls me in and makes me feel all good when I put it on. It also has a fun concept as its the "Fall" album in their 4 season album arc and as such the album has the feeling of lots of nostalgia and emotion. The lyrics follow a man who is very proud of himself and so to be humbled he is forced to watch the world die and gets to experience the world all alone and empty and this is one of the only few death metal albums where I get really into the lyrical story of the album. This is my most played album on cd by far and it always comes on in the Fall since it is definitely perfect for that time. I love everything about it and I forgot to mention that there is a saxophone in this album and it is absolutely wonderful. They have way more albums and will most likely make even more but I am beyond certain that this album Where Owls Know My Name is a masterpiece and the bands magnus opus and it is as it seems permanently on my top 100 favorite albums of all time list. I just love this album to death because it is just that good to me and one of those I'd recommend to anybody to check out because it is for sure worth your time.

Scar Symmetry- Holographic Universe

Some of you may know the musician Christian Alvestam. He is a musician thats in a ton of bands and projects and he has the Midas touch since everything he's in is just really good. Since I like his work so much it would be foolish to not have something he was apart of and what better way than to include the first thing I ever listened to from him and is without a doubt my favorite. This was my first introduction to Scar Symmetry and made it clear to me how good Scar Symmetry and Christian Alvestam are. This is like a progressive/melodic death metal album and it is still to this day unbeaten. The tone is so clean but the riffs and solos are so on point and Christian's vocal chops are also quite impressive, he has this super clean singing voice but can still deliver some pretty epic growls if need be at times. This album is pretty diverse in sound and has mainstream radio hits (that radios still won't play :angry: ), full out progressive metal epics and even a heavy belter song that plays out like a super epic djent song and my favorite track Quantumleaper. This album is super awesome and I just want to say that I'm not pretentious, Like that guy's video I reacted to but it is hard to deny how epic this album is and just talking about makes me want to put it in my cd player and have it play on the spot. It is by far the best Scar Symmetry album in my opinion and the best album Christian Alvestam made and will forever be one of my favorites.

Morbid Angel- Blessed Are the Sick

Morbid Angel are perhaps one of the most popular and influential death metal bands and as such it would be foolish not to have an album by them on here. Yet instead of picking their debut or Covenant or their other albums that are actually good or their death doomy Gateways to Annihilation I picked Blessed Are the Sick as my favorite Morbid Angel album. Why you ask? Its because I've listened to this album the most out of any of their albums and my inspiration from this album guitar wise cannot be understated. This was one of the very first few death metal albums I ever listened to and I was just drawn into the atmosphere, the feeling of the album and just how much more intense it was compared to what I was listening to at the time and how edgy it was with its themes and lyrics, definitely the perfect thing for an edgy and overly angry 16 year old kid. I just fell in love with it so much and while I feel weird trying to listen to it now younger me even tried to learn the guitar and I listened to this and Xasthur a lot in those times and wanted to create a new genre of metal I dubbed "depressive death metal" but I could never figure out how to combine the two subgenres together. Still I would say this is the definitive osdm album and was the final bridge between fully embracing their new sound and keeping the old more thrashy sound of their debut. Still to this day and awesome album despite being a goofy edgy album.

Black Crown Initiate- Selves We Cannot Forgive

Black Crown Initiate are a band that I have known not as long as a lot of other bands on this list but they have quickly cemented themselves in my 25 favorite bands of all time. It would only make since that I include at least one of their albums on this list and that will be Selves We Cannot Forgive. This was the first album I ever listened to by the band and I loved it so much that I bought it immediately after my first listen which never really happens. This is an amazing progressive death metal album that still has its heavy moments considering that they use 8 string guitars and actually write heavy riffs but also due to the vocal work of James Dorton, who appears in other bands and the metal rhythm game Metalblade: Hellsinger (which is the only reason I'd get that game) this album does get some gnarly moments and aside from learning their songs and the songs of Rivers of Nihil and Meshuggah, would be the only reasons why I'd buy an 8 string guitar. It also has a lot of beautiful clean sections and good clean vocals sung by the vocalist who did features on Where Owls Know My Name since the 2 bands practically come from the same place. This album has fun lyrics too and its always such an experience putting this album on because I love it so much. Some people might think I'm high for putting this above A Wreckage of Stars but I literally have always loved this album more than any of their others and its for sure among my favorite progressive death metal albums of all time for sure.

Ulcerate- Everything is Fire

Its low hanging fruit but the name of this album is on point as this whole album feels like literal fire. I guess normally Ulcerate doesn't do much for me as I have mixed opinions on their discography but when I heard this album it just clicked for me. The music was just so good and I found myself watching Oleg Zalman covers and looking at the tabs to one of the songs and trying to learn the more atmospheric riffs from one of the songs. Dissonant death metal is a tough genre for me to listen to sometimes but this album was one where that wasn't the case and had me in awe at just how good it is and why this album is on my ever-growing list of albums I need to add to my cd collection because at least for me, I can't really explain in words just how great I loved this album and that aside from Infared Horizon is definitely the best dissonant death metal album I've ever heard in my life.

Alkaloid- Liquid Anatomy

I first came across this album from the US Season of Mist store and it caught my eye with its more gooey and fleshy album art but instead of finding an average death metal album I found a top tier progressive death metal album. This album is like an hour long and is full of some absolutely beautiful and progressive sections and I still going out in the snow when I first listened to this for the first time cleaning dog poop and staying out a little bit longer to soak up the most rhe album had to offer at the perfect time. The album is softer than most but it does have its few heavier moments more akin to Morbid Angel and it is another masterpiece album in my book. I don't own this album but I definitely need too because this album is awesome and is certainly among the best death metal albums I ever heard. Most people would say their first album was better but to me Liquid Anatomy is much better and should be in the discussions for best death metal albums because it is for real absolutely amazing.

Quo Vadis- Defiant Imagination

This one is incredibly underrated but it is such an amazing album that I wish it was known more. This is a tech death album in e standard tuning and came out before the huge wave of Canadian tech death we have now and even now it still sounds so good. In some ways it sounds ahead of its time and even has fretless bass from Steve DiGiorgio which is like icing on the cake. I will be forever grateful for the Internet for introducing me to this album because it is absolutely awesome and one of those that I hate is so underrated because it should probably be way more beloved. If you have never heard of it I suggest you do because it is just so so good.

Monotheist- Scourge

Christian death metal sounds like an oxymoron but it exists and while a lot of it is terrible there are some great Christian death metal albums out there such as this one. I came across this album not thinking much of it expecting something terrible but I instead was met by a really good death metal album. This album had really good production and great music with a very melodic tone and even has some slams in it too. Of all things as well Christian Alvestam even does a guest appearance on this album too and its just a great Christian death metal album I can actually return to and revisit. I missed out on getting a copy on Bandcamp because they sold out and I took too long to decide on getting it but I will certainly pick up a copy somehow because this was a Christian death metal album that was actually super awesome and not like the norm.

Obscura- Akroasis

I said that Diluvium is my second favorite Obscura album and Akroasis is my favorite. Most would probably say Diluvium is the best but Akroasis to me is just peak Obscura. The riffs are phenomenal, the technicality is on point, and there's just so much atmosphere which is brought to life by the cleaner production. I used to not always be obsessed with this album but when it clicked it clicked and this might be my favorite death metal album or at least top 5. I just absolutely love it beyond belief and getting a cd of it for Christmas was certainly a gift I was thrilled to receive. Not sure like I said if its unpopular or not but Akroasis is my favorite Obscura album and perhaps even my favorite death metal album of all time because of just how good and how well crafted it is.

Neuraxis- Asylon

Neuraxis are a band I don't see mentioned often which is a shame because they should be more well know. They make awesome death metal but Asylon is by far in my opinion their best. I don't know what it is but this is like a super groovy yet super technical album that is just loaded to the brim with riffs that I don't even know how the band plays like that. This whole album is a riff fest and I hate that I don't have the skill nor determination to be able to learn songs from this album because it is really that unreal. This band is super underrated and I actually get a little pissed off that they are talked about less than other bands because they are certainly better than most. Asylon is definitely their best and I would reccomend it 110% through and through because it is such a banger of an album.

Lykathea Aflame- Elvenefris

Lykathea Aflame are a band that I never would've known of unless their logo wasn't one of the logos in that guess the metal logo game I had in high school. It took me forever to listen to them though but it was all good in the end because I love Elvenefris. This was their only album they made and I've long accepted that I will never have a copy of this album but at least I can listen to it through the internet. This album I would say falls somewhat in the vein of brutal death metal but it sounds so unique because the band plays in some major scale because the music is heavy but it sounds so happy and so are the lyrics. The lyrics are actually optimistic and happy which is so strange to see but it makes this album a one of a kind album in the world of death metal. It sucks that its so obscure because it is a really good album and it would've been cool to see if the band would've made anything else but at least we got the one happy album we got because it is such a great album.

Extol- Burial

As I have said most Christian death metal is bad but there is one band thats always been solid and thats Extol. They've always written awesome progressive death metal but their debut Burial is their best. Everything about it is so good and I've always been in awe of it ever since I heard the song Celestial Completion for the first time and struggled learning to play it because of the odd time signatures. Either way though it is just like up there too as like one of the greatest Christian metal albums ever made and it still floors me that the band made this when they were teenagers. I just absolutely love it and as you can see by my current profile picture at the moment I certainly love it and am blessed to have bought myself a copy with my Christmas money. It is just such a great album through and through.

Children of Bodom- Hatebreeder

Children of Bodom are one of those bands that aren't super death metal as although they are a melodic death metal band they have a lot of power metal elements in their sound but I absolutely love them. I think their music was awesome and Hatebreeder was for me their best. It just has all of what made them so fun the cleaner sound, the keyboards, the melodies and the awesome guitar work by my favorite guitarist Alexei Laiho. Its not their most technical album but he was playing and recording all of this at 19 and I am nowhere near the level of this album at 24 years old. It just is such a fun album and its only major fault would be Alexei's awful vocals but that is just part for the course with any CoB album. Why I don't own it yet is beyond me but either way I absolutely love this album and it still pains me that CoB is basically done because they are like one of my favorite Finnish bands and we will never get to see gems like Hatebreeder ever again.

Mortification- Scrolls of the Megilloth

Mortification are a Christian death metal band and one of the most iconic Christian metal bands ever but as famous as they are and as many albums as they have, a lot of their albums aren't actually great or standout. However, their sophomore album Scrolls of the Megilloth does not fall in that category. The title track was one of my earliest experiences with osdm and Christian metal and that song always stuck out to me because of the barrage of sound of the guitars and the really epic tone and feel they got for this album. It sounds really gnarly and really feels like an evil album even though it isn't. I've always loved this album and have even juggled with learning to play the title song and doing a cover because of how good that song and the album are. Its pricey to get these days but I'm certain I'll get it for myself someday. A top tier Christian death metal album.

Septicflesh- Communion

When I was younger I was really into Septicflesh and considered Communion to be the greatest symphonic death metal album ever. 8 years later and that take still stands. This albums tone and production are so good and the booming growly vocals were always a favorite of mine. I also loved the riffs and the atmosphere of this album it is literally peak. While I don't listen to Septicflesh or this album as often as I did all those years ago, my copy that Cassie got me still sits on my bookshelf in my collection to this day. Communion is still an epic album though through and through and I still stand by that its the best symphonic death metal album and even an album that inspired me vocally as its just that good to me.

Sacrilege- Lost in the Beauty You Slay

Of course, being a big fan of melodic death metal, I have to have a favorite melodic death metal album of all time and instead of something epic from the 90s like an early In Flames album, anything by Sentenced, early Children of Bodom or Dark Tranquility, Ceremonial Oath, At the Gates, Eucharist or any other Swedish bands, my favorite melodic death metal album of all time is Lost in the Beauty You Slay by Sacrilege. This band was very underrated and they only dropped 2 albums on the world but those albums are marvelous and this album is perfect. I've always loved the album art as it alludes to what you get which is a 90s melodic death metal album that feels perfect. Its chock full of beautiful melodies, more screamed vocals and isn't too long which ensures that the album doesn't overstay its welcome. Everytime I see this album the final acoustic track autoplays in my head and I'm reminded just how much I love this stupid album, why I still haven't bought a rare copy of it is beyond me since this album is essentially like a relic in today's day and age. Still it is such a beautiful album and as someone who likes melodic death metal a lot it is for sure my favorite melodic death metal album of all time. Its sad that the band is no longer around but at least the drummer is in The Halo Effect and we got this masterclass album bestowed upon us and for that I'm grateful.

Beyond Creation- The Aura

Beyond Creation were one of the earliest tech death bands I ever listened to and they are still one of the best. This is mainly due to the fretless bass work by Dominic "Forest" Lapointe who is an awesome fretless bass player. I love all of his works and I almost went with Algorythm by Beyond Creation or First Fragments first album but I eventually realized this is the best choice. The Aura was my introduction to his awesome bass playing and Beyond Creation and I've been a fan ever since. This albumhas just stuck with me all these years and still to this day I am certain that I'll never be able to play these songs on this album but at least I can still enjoy streaming this album or putting my cd in the cd player when I want to hear it. This album is just an absolute gem and if I had never watched the music video for Omnipresent Perception my tastes in music would surely have been way different. The Aura is for sure a must listen in tech death and even I'd say for death metal in general because its for sure among the best.

Destroying the Devoid- Paramnesia

This one is an odd pick but is the perfect example of quality beats quantity. This is the only album by a musicians side project and its just a work of art. Its a tech death album dealing with struggles of mental health but it is definitely far from being an average tech death album. It can be chunky and rythymy but there are also symphonic elements and beautiful acoustic guitar sections which sound perfect and even a sound clip of chimps freaking out. It is just musically so solid and the production and mixing in my opinion is also very good for a modern tech death album. Its definitely up there as the greatest tech death album and like with most of these albums on this list I missed out on getting a cd but the guy behind this band actually heart reacted one of my comments on YouTube which was super awesome as that doesn't happen too often so there's that. Paramnesia is super underrated but its an album that I think is a must listen and don't let the goofy album artwork throw you off its a great album through and through.

Dark Tranquillity- Character

Finally to end this list we have Character. I could have selected any one of their albums but this album to me personally means a lot to me more than the other ones. This was the first melodic death metal album I ever listened to in my life and when I heard it I knew that I really liked melodic death metal and have for sure listened to Character way more than any other Dark Tranquillity album. There's just something about it that I love and it just brings this happy nostalgic vibe that I always love to hear. I have always liked Dark Tranquillity but even though they have lots of albums that could be considered "better" I still always come back to this even after listening to tons of new melodic death metal albums and listening to the rest of their discography. I also recently finally acquired this for my collection so I've been quite thrilled to finally have what is to me such an awesome album. While Character isn't considered their best or is seen as a weaker album to me its the best album by a band that already doesn't miss when it comes to making albums and as of now its seeming to stat that way. I just absolutely love Character so much.

So there was my list for my 25 favorite death metal albums of all time. Making this list stung a little as there are so many albums I could've picked and I had to narrow it down to 25 so a lot of albums didn't make it. Otherwise I'd be playing Jenga with albums trying to be satisfied with a list which would never come to fruition. Anyways, what are your guys's favorite death metal albums and what did you think of my list? I hope you all enjoyed the blog and I'll see you all next time I end up making a blog. Goodbye :wave:

Kyrie Eleison ☦

Glory to God

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