New to this site, not new to metal.
The first 'metal' album I bought was ...And Justice For All around March of 1989 at the age of 12. That album single-handedly got me into metal and fundamentally changed my taste in music for the following 18+ years. To this day I still rank it as my single favorite recording among all genres of my widely-varied taste in music.
#2 is Faith No More's Angel Dust
#3 is Cynic's Focus, which is probably the single metal album I listen to more than any other. I consider this album better than any Opeth album (at least of the 5 I have), but I still listen to Opeth lots. In fact, I listen to Opeth more than Cynic currently, but only because Opeth is a relatively new obsession for me, whereas I have been listening to Cynic since about 1995.
Incidentally Cynic is why I am into Opeth now. I was reading some Customer reviews of Focus on Amazon and I saw a couple comparisons to Opeth, so I decided to check them out. I pirated Blackwater Park to sample it, fell in love with the song Bleak, then later purchased Ghost Reveries, then Blackwater Park, Morningrise and later still the box set (to get Deliverance, Damnation, and Lamentations). I eventually re-purchased the special ed. of GR and sold my original copy (along with the BWP that was in the boxed set). Right now I'd like to pick up Still Life, but it is never in the neighborhood CD store when I check, so the Opeth purchasing has slowed somewhat.
The comparison of Cynic to Opeth is unfounded. I don't consider them even remotely similar. Opeth's music is proggy and is rhythmically and melodically oriented whereas Cynic is much, much more heavily rooted in Jazz with thick harmonic textures, even if the melodies/rhythms are not that complex. Cynic's only album is dense. Very dense. Most passages have Malone (bass), Masvidal (guitar), and Gobel (guitar) playing 3 completely independent parts simultaneously. Anything longer than its length of 35 mins and it would be an exhausting listen. I was quite glad when I found out they are doing a reunion tour this year--I just hope they book a show in FL. I've already decided I'll drive as much as 6-8 hours to see them.
My favorite 2 albums thus far are GR and Damnation. My least favorite is Deliverance (I am only counting among the 5 studio albums I have).
