This was hard for me because i listen to so much music and so much has happened in my life in ten years, but here goes.
Almost made the list In Flames – Come Clarity, Flaw – Through the Eyes, Iced Earth – Horror Show, Axenstar – Far From Heaven, Lamb of God (they are a great band but just did not have any one great album), Matisyahu – Youth, Pagan’s Mind – Enigmatic Calling, The Showdown - Temptation Comes my Way
15. Pyramaze – Immortal
Matt Barlow’s return to the Metal world and it was a great disc.
14. Neverdream – Souls
It took a couple of listens for this to click, but MAN what a great sound.
13. Shadows Fall – The War Within
With out a doubt the peak of their career.
12. Mercenary – 11 Dreams
This album seemed to have everything, Heavy, Progressive, and Catchy.
11. Venturia – Hybrid
This album has a sound that sets it about from everything, so much great stuff on this album. And I love it all in it’s over produced glory.
10. Circus Maximus – Isolate
Lets face it, this album set the bar that all albums in this genre after it would be compared to.
9. Vision Divine – Stream of Consciousness
There is not a bad song on this disc, and Michael Luppi proves himself to be among the elite singers in any genre.
8. Sabaton – The Art of War
Fun Power Metal + History = MAN I LOVE THIS DISC
7. Evan’s Blue – The Melodic and Energetic Nature of Volume
A Melodic Hard Rock band that really set themselves apart from the pack, some of the best songwriting I have heard. I can still just put this disc on and have every song move me.
6. Soilwork – Figure Number Five
My favorite Soilwork release, I think it is just the mixture of the energy and the emotion, all the songs are positive and fun.
5. Alkemyst – Through Painful Lanes
One of the few albums I would give a 10 to, GREAT stuff.
4. Sonata Arctica – Silence
Fun catchy Power Metal, cheesy ballads, what more could you want.
3. Evergrey – The Inner Circle
Evergrey is one of my favorite bands, they helped get me into Metal and this is a near perfect release for them.
2. Iced Earth – The Glorious Burden
No Matt Barlow, but still the History teacher in me just loves this. The Ripper does what I believe is his best work and Jon doesn’t pull any punches.
1. Project 86 – Drawing Black Lines
OK I know it is not what most people would think, and many might hate it just because it could be called Nu-Metal, but I just call it good HARD Rock. It is with out a doubt the BEST disc to come out of that era. So much emotion and rage and energy, it sums up that time in my life and I believe that generation.