Ranking the Best Metal Albums of All Time 

Go to dave.com/finn and get up to $500 in 5 minutes or less when you download Dave. For terms, visit dave.com/legal. Thanks Dave for sponsoring!

I actually listen through Dirt for the first time all the way through yesterday after only knowing a few AIC songs. It holds up insanely well

The metal boomers are going to love this, all the metal dad Facebook groups will be back on your side.

I agree with the sentiment that Dirt is great because it's so dark, but also kinda too dark to just put on and listen to, you have to be in the right mood for it. Even aside from the lyrics, Jerry Cantrell seems to have a natural gift for writing songs with the most despairing, evil sounding chords/riffs, really capturing the feeling of having given up on life

Dirt is such a dope album. It's been with me for so many years and through my darkest times. Absolutely a 10/10.

Cynic just gained a new fan. It's always fun to discover bands that were so ahead of their time.

“Rain when I die” has one of Layne Staleys best chorus’ ever. Dude was just singing from the bottoms of his soul and that voice he had was so sonically powerful.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with admitting that bands like Metallica, Pantera, Sepultura, Iron Maiden, etc. are the best because it's 100% true lol.

To me, Dirt is the pinnacle of songwriting in heavy music. Besides the lyrical content, it's insane how Cantrell wrote riffs that match perfectly Layne's vocal lines. They complement each other so damn beautifully!

“Suicide silence is not metal” was not on my Finn McKenty bingo card. But I respect it.

I think it'd be cool to see you do a "Definitive Albums From Each Subgenre of Metal" list. Like the album you feel best exemplifies thrash, groove, djent, black, metalcore, doom, melodic death, tech death, alternative metal, etc. It's a little more specific, and allows for more of a modern view as well, since some of these genres have some newer stuff that's pretty definitive as well.

These are 🔥 Pantera - The great southern Trendkill Machine head - The Blackening Sepultura - Roots

Gotta agree with you that Cynic - Focus is a MASSIVE album! If you remaster it with modern production, people will think it just came out last week ..that's how fresh it sounds

Wow. Massive thumbs up for including S.O.D. Loads of people are way too young to have noticed them, but back in 1985 they were such a revelation type of thing for me. Absolutely crushing!!!

"Dirt" is seriously one of the best hard-rock albums ever made. It's just an absolutely devastating album emotionally. The production holds up; that guitar tone is absolutely killer, and Layne and Jerry just sound so good together. An absolute masterpiece.

I’m happy to see “Dirt” being considered a metal album… because that is exactly what it is. So are Soundgarden, Melvins, Helmet and Faith No More.

Been listening to metal since the 80s, and my personal favourite metal album of all time is Clayman by In Flames. Honourable mentions to Dirt - Alice in Chains, Demanufacture - Fear Factory, Arise - Sepultura AIC was criminally underrated in the 90s, but today people can't get enough AIC.

I enjoy your content every day. Really. You happen to post right while I'm getting ready for a 11am-7pm shift.

Ah yes this list oozes boomer energy, but I respect it. My list would be completely different. In no particular order: - Opeth - Ghost Reveries - Slipknot - Vol 3 - Textures - Silhouettes - Periphery - II - Metallica - Master of Puppets - Mastodon - Blood Mountain - Gojira - From Mars to Sirius - Rage Against the Machine - Self Titled - BMTH - Sempiternal - Trivium - Shogun

Aww, it made me so happy that you Anthrax and S.O.D. made it on the list!🥲And yes, I am _that_ old 😄. Great list altogether, thank you!

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality Pantera - Cowboys From Hell Metallica - Ride the Lightning Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son Megadeth - Rust in Peace Judas Priest - Painkiller Down - NOLA Dio - Holy Diver Alice in Chains - Dirt King Diamond - Abigail

Bat Country has my favorite guitar solo. So badass, and so much feeling in it.

Ive always preferred "pierced from within" over effigy of the forgotten.

Yes! Any type video like this, we'll take it. It's due to this channel that I started listening to old school Sepultura. Sounds crazy but true 🤘🪖👍

Rest in peace to Sean Malone of Cynic as well. I feel like he was one of the first to bring that weird fretless bass sound to metal, or at least one of the first to have it noticeably present in the mix. Unfortunate that metal bass players usually just get joked about when guys like him put serious artistry into the genre.

I remember seeing Cynic open for Cannibal Corpse in 1994. They did not fit in. I felt so bad for them. I saw them again when they opened for Dragonforce a decade or so later. I drove from Seattle to Spokane for that show. They didn't play a single song off Focus, but played Traced in Air in its entirety. I was bummed. I eventually came to love that album, but at the time wasn't happy. Especially so since I didn't care about Dragonforce. The next time I saw Cynic was at the Capitol Hill Block Party. If you know anything about Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party, you know that's not a good fit. I finally got to see them play all their old stuff and saw them another three times, touring each of their albums after Focus. Thanks, Finn, for finally doing a bit more of a deep dive into Cynic.

Totally related to freaking out when your manager asks for a word later. The worst time was when I worked myself up into such a state think about all the awful things they were going to ask that I got sent home for being too erratic. The next morning the boss had that word and all they wanted to know if I wanted to take part in the "Secret Santa" thing between all the staff that year. I was so relieved to hear that was all it was.

Also loved the Decapitated cover of Suffer the Children

Got a respect Dirt. That album is so fucking heavy and so fucking dark. Different heavy from like thrash metal, but JFC it's so dense man

Atheist was ahead of Cynic and who I would have personally picked. Unquestionable Presence is amazing. Also, as far as I remember, Cynic was well recognized as being awesome. I find myself listening to Traced in Air more often than Focus.

The nuances, stories and cool facts that Finn takes time to address on his channel made me want to listen to many of those bands for the first time and appreciate it. There is a stigma that you either get into it as a teenager or grow up to be a metal boomer, but im having a blast randomly falling for those genres today. Also, i think that best metal as made in the 80 and 90, because it was defying decades for this music. Like if you ask what was the best decade for boom bap or disco. And thats why we separate hip hop from trap. Things evolve but there is always a “you had to be there” time capsule period for all genres. Thats why we call it golden age.

Love ya vids man and awesome to see ya rocking an Aussie metal band knocked loose

Thank you for the ranking, Finn, since I really wanted to know your thoughts because I don't have your historical perspective. I was born in the 90s, and my favorite genre as a kid was Sports Metal. Growing in my faith, I tried cleaning up my music, but back then, I thought KoRn's first album was the greatest album I heard. Now, I can't say since I don't think a lot of tracks are good for me from albums I listened to. Appreciated you mentioning "Silent Scream" by Slayer! I read that the theme of the track was based on the 29 minute 1984 documentary the Silent Scream. It has Bernard Nathanson Obstetrician-gynecologist, the co-founder of NARAL in 1969, and after the arrival of ultrasound and other technology, he became a vocal opponent to the procedure after performing 5,000 of them. Really heartbreaking documentary imo. Thanks again. Hope you and your family have a peaceful good day.

The first time I ever heard Among the Living I bought it on cassette at a garage sale for .50 cents in 96. When I heard the opening to the title track I wanted to slam into the walls of my room. That shit hit me like a lighting bolt. I did have to get used to Joeys vocals slowly but what a perfect groove and riff filled album.

Being a boomer is ok. Welcome to the club! That being said, I still love finding new music....mostly now through this channel and prmba. Thank you for that! Btw....for me the defining metal album for me being 49 was when I traded my Psalm 69 tape for friends Arise tape. Beat deal ever. Sepultura was my gateway band into the heavier stuff. That might be a good topic to dive into (gateway bands or artists for different genres.)

I think in the rhythm guitar conversation, Scott Ian often gets overlooked (easy I guess when Papa Het is one of your contemporaries). His riffs are so good.

Great list!

Great picks!

For me, Underoath's Define The Great Line is one of the best metal albums of the last 20 years

Now we need a "Ranking the Best Butt Rock Albums of All Time" video.

Hope the End of Heartache KSE made the list. Metalcore Dad Rock people!

Great list man! I'm in the same boat as you, most of my faves are from the 90's. Mine would be something like: Pantera - Great Southern Trendkill Sepultura - Chaos AD Alice In Chains - Dirt Down - Nola Zao - Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest/Liberate Te Ex Infernus Converge - Jane Doe Living Sacrifice - Reborn Vision Of Disorder - Imprint

There are so many great metal albums from the 90s that it's impossible to pick just a few. The 90's was by far the best decade for metal - excitingly innovative and influential new releases on a weekly basis. It was just such a burst of creativity.

0:46 Exactly you did a Loudwire haha 😂😂

Superb picks Finn

43 y/o metal boomer dad approves of this list. Caught in the Mosh is one of my entry songs into metal..such a classic!

I remember being so exhausted and worn out about ten years ago and putting Them Bones on and it just clicking. That shit sounds like how it feels to be just beaten down and burnt out.

Rooster makes me think about what my dad went through after he got back frrom Vietnam. Going to fight for your country and being sent to some godawful jungle and then come home and seen a pariah, called a baby killer having people try to pick fights with you and spit on. He talked a little about it, but there was pain there. Thank you Jerry Cantrell.

Entombed’s Wolverine Blues is basically the template for modern hardcore. Was expecting to see it here.

Focus was recorded with the live to tape approach? That explains a lot. The vibe of that album sure feels like that's the case. That's amazing. I like it even more now knowing this.

Really liked the video. Not to be pedantic but there were metal bands with some groove before Pantera. Stuff thay comes to mind: Black Sabbath (Sweet Leaf), Metallica (No Remorse), Exodus (And Then There Were None), even Napalm Death (Unchallenged Hate), etc.

Great list. You hit on a lot of stuff I was into in my teens. Ironically, the only Anthrax I ever really got into was the stuff with John Bush (and Dime). I would have to throw Chaosphere somewhere in there. It's so hard to do these cause there's so many good bands and albums.

Hail to the king is special to me because I learned about a7x through cod bo2. Shepherd of fire playing during the origins intro cutscene is so iconic.

Hail to the king is one of my favorite AV7x albums. It was also the first I heard so I'm probably biased. It's the album that got me into metal. My local library had the CD and I borrowed it and I was hooked

As a 34 y/o dude: Anthrax - Among the Living Linkin Park - Hybrid theory Metallica - And Justice for all/Ride the lightning ( gotta count both XD) Judas Priest - Screaming for vengence S.O.A.D - Toxicity Killing Joke - Killing Joke Faith No More - Angel Dust Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz Some of these aren't full on metal but have metal songs on the albums.

Great top 2 picks!

Listened to the Layne Staley era AIC as a teenager but didn’t appreciate Dirt until much later when I was an adult. That album hits so hard

I'm sure all the extreme metal edgelords will come at me: 1. Black Sabbath- Master of Reality 2.Judas Priest- Stained Class 3.Metallica- Ride the Lightning 4.Iron Maiden- Somewhere in Time 5.Ozzy Osbourne- Diary of a Madman 6. Pantera- Vulgar Display of Power 7. Megadeth- Rust in Peace 8. Death- The Sound of Perseverance 9. Dio- Holy Diver 10. Slayer- Show no Mercy

Dirt is still one of my favorite albums of all time.

authentic review ! awesome

Great choice for #1 I completely agree 🤟

Finn - would you ever do a breakdown of your recording set up? Equipment? Green screen? Editing apps? Would love to see that

Totally off topic but thanks for informing me about Between The Buried And me... they're amazing

3 albums from this list (or possibly 4) were direct 'inspiration' for the music in doom/doom2, its also an interesting part of music history how much music was ripped off for those games and no lawsuits ever came from it, it just couldn't be done today

The band Godsmack 100% ripped their entire discography from a single song from Alice in Chains

Solid list!!! Couldn’t agree more.

I remember buying City of Evil in a Target back in '05 just because I wanted something new to listen to. I had only heard Bat Country on the radio. I didn't like the album right away. It wasn't really my thing at the time. But I kept listening to it while I delivered pizzas. Probably half a year later I was loving it. I got Waking the Fallen and Sounding the 7th Trumpet and they were my main band for about 10 years.

Solid list RU-vid star Finn Mckenty!!!

I'm the complete opposite with DIRT/AIC. I listen to them when i'm depressed & feel better after. I also never took drugs in my life. Easily my favorite band of all time.

My thoughts: 1. AIC Dirt is my pick for Best Rock album of the 90s, and in my Top 10 all time! 2. Slayer’s SOH album is solid, but I never cared for the overall sound of the album, or the pitch of Araya’s vocals on throughout . Seasons is my favorite for sure, and in my Top 10 albums all time. 3. It’s crazy close, but I actually choose Far Beyond Driven as my favorite Pantera album and in my Top 10. 4. And finally, Finn you’re going to absolutely adore this, lol, but my favorite album of all time is definitely Megadeth’s RUST IN PEACE. I mean it’s always ranked high in greatest Metal albums of all time, and sold in big numbers, around the world, so I ain’t alone for Fs sake 🤟😎

The shock Reddit is going to have after seeing this video "fuck... His taste is perfect."

Man, Dirt reminds me of this album called a Crow Looked at Me by Mt Eerie. If you're going through some rough times, that album will come in and snap the last few tiny twigs in your heart (that you have always wanted)

Big agree with Cynic, got to see them on their recent tour with Atheist. They were incredible

Cynic - Focus was a revelation as a Death Metal kid...genius album

Great southern trendkill is one of my favorite albums.

Great list Finn, I agree Alice in Chains is lyrically dark. 1.) Megadeth - Rust in Peace 2) Metallica - Master of Puppets/The Black Album. 3.) Pantera - Cowboys From Hell/Far Beyond Driven 4.) Death - Human 5.) Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve 6.) Parkway Drive - Horizons 7.) Periphery - Self Titled 8.) Within The Ruins - Creature 9.) August Burns Red - Thrillseeker 10.) I Killed The Prom Queen - Music for the Recently Deceased

My first job in the early 2000s, had a coworker that let me borrow Vulgar Displays of Power and was absolutely blown away, still my favorite metal record to this day.

As a 48 year old from the Seattle area originally I’d go with this I guess Corrosion Of Conformity - Blind Metallica - Puppets Opeth - Blackwater Park Forced Entry - As Above, So Below AIC - Facelift Dream Theater - Images & Words Pantera - Cowboys Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime Lamb of God - Ashes Of The Wake Megadeth - Rust In Peace

My Top 5 01. Metallica - Master Of Puppets (1986) 02. Slayer - Reign In Blood (1986) 03. Iron Maiden - Powerslave (1984) 04. Anthrax - Spreading The Disease (1985) 05. Nuclear Assault - Game Over (1986) Runner up....Judas Priest - British Steel (1980)

I agree with the thought on Anthrax. Sound of white noise was my fav. If you question if Alice in Chains is metal, listen to angry chair at a really high volume.

Been listening to Haste the Day recently again. Their Attack of the Wolf King is absolutely solid. It’s one of maybe 10 albums I can listen from beginning to end.

You got me into SOD with one of your videos like a year or two ago. Last year, I ended up being in the top 1% of their Apple Music listeners… so thank you! I agree with you though, terrible sentiments, great music.

Oh man I'm gonna go re listen to Focus now, hell yeah!

On the Anthrax note: Persistence Of Time is their best album and the best song on ATL is actually I Am The Law. You did perfectly lay out why I fell in love with them in middle school though, their riffs were all just nasty

Thank you Finn!!!!

As a "Metal Boomer" myself this is such a stellar list Finn. I completely agree with all of your choices. This is your list and I find it excellent man.

Good list! I can’t get over Cynic’s bass sound, but they were definitely decades ahead of their time.

way to having the ballz to add AIC's Dirt , awesome unique album

good list! Pantera, AIC, Anthrax...LOVE 'em!

BTW, Seasons in the Abyss is the fifth album by Slayer

Watched a few of your videos and you have some good taste in music. You gave Divine Intervention some much deser ved love ❤. If you arent a fan of The Police, Tom Waits, Talking Heads/David Byrne I would be a little surprised. Some great metal the past few decades but if you're doing the best then yeah gotta go back on time.

Every genre has a time window whera the music was as it peak. The best metal was made during the 80-90th.

I knew I loved Cynic's "Veil of Maya" way before I knew I had anxiety. Never made the connection til now but damn, kind of an eye opener.

Nice to know where bands got their names

Love to see South of Heaven on here, it was the album of hat turned me from punk to metal!

"In Waves"( Special Edition)" by Trivium is easily my favorite metal album of all time. It's got such an atmospheric quality to it with some of the most technical and catchiest songs I have ever heard. It's got a combination of some of Tivium's catchiest and most accessible songs like In Waves, Built to Fall, and Of All These Yesterdays while also having some of their heaviest songs like Dusk Dismantled, Chaos Reigns, and Skyline's Severance. The instrumentation is top tier and Matt's harsh vocals sound the best in this album. Even his low death metal growls sound fantastic considering that was always his weakest point when it came to harsh vocals prior to this album. Just an absolute 10/10 album. My personal favorite song from the album has to be "Inception of The End".

Sharing your bias on SOD. Milano threw me off the stage via a monitor at an AF show once and he really seemed to enjoy throwing around a lightweight kid (at the time ;-)) and I still hate him for it!

My list: Opeth - Ghost Reveries Metallica - Master of Puppets Pantera - Cowboys From Hell Slayer - Reign In Blood Black Sabbath - Master of Reality Death - The Sound of Perseverance Iron Maiden - Powerslave Linkin Park - Meteora Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En Guns ‘N’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction Megadeth - Rust In Peace Mastodon - Leviathan (Edit: Forgot Leviathan)

Good list. Would have liked to have seen more than 8. Some Bolt Thrower and Demolition Hammer would have been good additions.

When you spoke about the ‘veil of Maya’, that really resonated with me. That’s exactly how I think and it’s fucking mentally exhausting.