Top 10 Modern Classics

[Draehl]

(Totally ripping off the thread idea from Metal Archives)

Which 10 albums from 2000 onward would you consider "modern classics"? Be it influential to an entire style or just a perfectly executed refinement of an existing formula. Write a paragraph or just drop in a list, but it needs to be something you feel will be relevant 15 years from now. I aint a stickler for being 100% metal either so if you want this is your chance to sneak in any metal-ish fringe cases that maybe weren't applicable in the past Top X/voting threads.

 

[Draehl]

My atmo/folk tinged picks.

Agalloch - The Mantle (both)
Drudkh - Autumn Aurora (execution)
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone (both)
Moonsorrow - Verisakeet (execution)
Opeth - Blackwater Park (both)
Tool - Lateralus (execution)
Wardruna - Yggdrasiil (execution)
Weakling - Dead as Dreams (influence)
Windir - 1184 (execution)
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters (execution)

 

[Mort Divine]

Ares Kingdom - Incendiary
Beherit - Engram
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels

I'll add more when I get home, but these stand out immediately.

 

[Omni]

Ares Kingdom - Incendiary
Beherit - Engram
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels

I'll add more when I get home, but these stand out immediately.

All of these are worthy.

Here's a few that came to mind for me:

Warning - Watching from a Distance
Revelation - Release
Averse Sefira - Advent Parallax
Hail - Inheritance of Evilness

 

[no country for old wainds]

my personal top 10 is something like:
the chasm - procession to the infraworld
deathspell omega - SMRC
harvey milk - a small turn of human kindness
hour of 13 - s/t
manilla road - gates of fire
portrait - crossroads
reverend bizarre - in the rectory
the shadow order - raise the banners
warning - watching from a distance
wolfnacht - heidentum

below is a list of others i hear people talk about as being modern classics in the circles i frequent, aside from a few i already listed. you can quibble or nitpick and i personally don't agree with all of them, but it's a fairly definitive list for my sphere of interaction.

absu - tara
arghoslent - incorrigible bigotry + others + some gbk stuff
beherit - engram
belenos - spicilege
blut aus nord - the work which transforms god
brocas helm - defender of the crown
the chasm - conjuration + others
crimson massacre - the luster of pandemonium
dark moor - gates of oblivion/hall of olden dreams
dead congregation - graves of the archangels
deeds of flesh - mark of the legion
fanisk - noontide
gorguts - from wisdom to hate
hail - inheritance of evilness
immolation - unholy cult + others
inquisition - invoking the majestic throne of satan + others
isen torr - mighty & superior EP
katharsis - vvorldvvithoutend
the lord weird slough feg - down among the deadmen + others
nokturnal mortum - Голос сталі
orodruin - epicurean mass
pagan altar - lords of hypocrity/mythical and magical
repugnant - epitome of darkness
revelation - release
stargazer - the scream that tore the sky + others
weakling - dead as dreams
while heaven wept - of empires forlorn/vast oceans lachrymose

i guess there isn't much thrash here. i'd say stuff like nifelheim, sabbat, aura noir, d666, deceased, hades archer, vektor etc

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

The Ruins of Beverast - Rain Upon The Impure
Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God
Deathspell Omega - Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels
Emptiness - Nothing but the Whole

 

[The Butt]

Deathspell Omega - Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice
Arghoslent - Hornets of the Pogrom
Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
Warning - Watching from a Distance
Burzum - Belus
Beherit - Engram
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels
The Chasm - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm
Inquisition - Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm
Sargeist - Let the Devil In

 

[Slayed Necros]

Immolation - Close to a World Below
Panphage - Storm
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels
Grand Belial's Key - Judeobeast Assassination
The Chasm - Procession to the Infraworld
Mortuary Drape - Tolling 13 Knell
Sorhin - Apokalypsens ängel
Hail - Inheritance of Evilness
Negative Plane - Et in saecula saeculorum
The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Hardworlder

Honorable mentions going to:

Moonblood - Taste Our German Steel
Lvcifyre - The Calling Depths
Force of Darkness - Absolute Verb of Chaos and Darkness
Nocternity - Onyx
Zemial - Face of the Conqueror

 

[JontRevolting]

Most of the stuff mentioned above,I'd add a few Anathema albums,Misery's Omen 'Hope Dies' and Tarot 'The Warrior's Dream'. The OFC reissue's though obviously not material from that period so I dunno if you'd include though.SloughFeg, Warning, GBK and the two Black Trip albums. I've got a sneaking suspicion that the new Zombi will hopefully be worthy of this list as well.Also Beherit, Ares Kingdom, Tool and maybe Of The Wand And The Moon.

 

[Draehl]

Good calls on Dead Congregation. I've not been much of a fan of too many DM acts aside from your more easily appreciated basics (Nile, Opeth, Morbid Angel, In Flames, etc.) yet they're good shit even I can appreciate.

 

[JontRevolting]

No idea how I managed to forget to mention Sacriphyx, they're right at the top of my list.

 

[zerostatic]

15 years from now the following will be considered classics:
Celtic Frost's Monotheist - An amazing comeback from album from a legendary band. One of the heaviest albums of the 2000s.
Destruction's The Antichrist and Exodus' Tempo of the Damned - Two great albums that paved the way for the thrash resurgence. Neither band has come close to producing anything of the same quality since then, sadly. I
Hexen's State of Insurgency and Being and Nothingness. One of the most talented bands, they release two killer albums loaded with amazing riffs and solos and then fold.
Cattle Decapitation's Monolith of Inhumanity. This album is Cattle Decapitation at the top of their game. If you own/listen to only one of their albums it should be this one.
Havok's Time is Up. A great modern thrash album. All the songs on here are great.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

I actually wanted to start writing for a blog about this very topic. I had some bullshit criteria in that the album had to be at least 10 years old and still be from the new millennium. A lot of you are mentioning a lot of the same albums that I'd mention, but here are a few more.

The Lord Weird Slough Feg - "Traveller"
Orodruin - "Epicurean Mass"
Reverend Bizarre - "Into the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend"
Destroyer 666 - "Phoenix Rising"
Virgin Steele - "Visions of Eden"
Quicksand Dream - "Aelin - A Story About Destiny"
Scald - "Will of Gods is a Great Power" (I know it's from the 90s but fuck, nobody knew that shit until it was remastered in 2003)

 

[no country for old wainds]

that quicksand dream is very nice, i keep forgetting it exists.

 

[Mort Divine]

Visions of Eden? Over Atreus II?

 

[EspaDa]

Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels
Drudkh - Forgotten Legends / Autumn Aurora / Blood in Our Wells
Dawnbringer - Into the Lair of the Sun God
Darkthrone - F.O.A.D.
------------------------------------------------------------
Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water
KoRn - The Path of Totality

 

[The Ozzman]

Pantera - Reinventing the Steel
Devildriver - The Last Kind Words
In Flames - Come Clarity
Black Label Society - The Blessed Hellride
Arch Enemy - War Eternal

(this is a joke in case you're wondering)

 

[no country for old wainds]

i just assumed it was a sincere list 'cause of who posted it

 

[The Ozzman]

i just assumed it was a sincere list 'cause of who posted it

I love you too. I haven't even listened to Arch Enemy in years.

 

[Mort Divine]

Ares Kingdom - Incendiary
Beherit - Engram
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels

To expand on this:

Primordial - Spirit the Earth Aflame
Agalloch - The Mantle
Reverend Bizarre - In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend
The Chasm - Conjuration of the Spectral Empire
Mithras - Worlds Beyond the Veil
The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Traveller
Faustcoven - The Halo of Burning Wings
Morrigan - Celts
Countess - Heilig Vuur
Crimson Massacre - The Luster of Pandemonium
Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness
Summoning - Oath Bound
Katharsis - VVorldVVithoutEnd
Warning - Watching from a Distance
Negura Bunget - OM
Sorcier Des Glaces - Moonrise in Total Darkness
The Gates of Slumber - Suffer no Guilt
Inquisition - Nefarious Dismal Orations
Revelation - Release
Griftegård - Solemn • Sacred • Severe
The Wounded Kings - The Shadow Over Atlantis
Midnight - Satanic Royalty
Portrait - Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae