Isis - Oceanic - (2002)
This is another album where, if it gave birth to a new subgenre (post-metal, in this case), it must be pretty good. Even better, seven years later this album is still at the top of the heap. It sounds like it could be the finely-tuned end result of years of post-metal trial-and-error, rather than the first experiment. Sure, there were influences, but post-metal as we know it today was largely defined by this album. Everything about it, from the layered instrumental construction, to the expansive but propulsive song structures, to the loud but enveloping sound, came out fully-formed and just right.
maudlin of the Well - Bath / Leaving Your Body Map (2001)
Ok, this is two albums, but they go together. I could write a pages-long description of this band’s sound (and I have!), talking about the wide range of musical styles, the bizarre changes, the variety of instrumentation, etc., but that wouldn’t tell you a thing about why these albums are on this list. To be sure, the style and the weirdness are one of the things I really like, and it’s what first drew me into the band. But to me, all that is just a means to an end. This is in stark contrast to a lot of other "kitchen sink" bands, who seem to throw in everything but the kitchen sink just because they’re able to. maudlin of the Well does it for a purpose. They are able to conjure up a very complex, very specific, yet very undefinable mood, feeling, and atmosphere, and communicate it all to the listener. Whether anyone else feels the same thing, or whether what I feel is anywhere near what the band intended, I have no idea. I also have no answer to the question of how the band was able to figure out the bizarre formula that would produce such an unexpected result. I could never reverse-engineer it in a million years.
Mayhem - Grand Declaration of War (2000)
In the 90s, I never figured I'd like a Mayhem album, much less have one end up as one of my favorites of the 00s. But then, this isn't really a Mayhem album; it's a Rune Eriksen (Blasphemer) solo album, where he simply hijacked the Mayhem name for marketing purposes. Amazingly, it's still black metal, even though it sounds very little like any type of black metal we'd ever heard before. The sonic mess of the original Mayhem is replaced with surgical, razor-sharp guitar playing, and Hellhammer's clinical and martial V-drums. A completely new approach to coldness and grimness.
Naervaer - Skiftninger (2000)
Kristiansand, Norway (pop. 80,000) must have the highest density of musical geniuses in the world. Tchort from Green Carnation, the mysterious Botteri twins from In the Woods..., and heck, throw in the Solefald guys too. And then we add Terje Sagen, the man behind Naervaer. To execute his vision of "pure mood music", he brings in a bunch of the In the Woods... crew to help out, most notably ItW vocalist Jan-Kenneth Transeth (ok, it's his 3rd appearance on this list, add him to the musical geniuses too). It's largely acoustic, sometimes there are "songs", sometimes it's more soundscapes, though it's too persistent to ever become "ambient". Whatever it takes to evoke a mood. I've loved it for nearly a decade now, but camping at night this year on the high desert plateau of the American Southwest, it blew my mind wide open.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus (2004)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds spent the 90s getting softer and quieter, and then, improbably, spent the 00s getting harder and louder. On their way back up near the middle of the decade, for their 13th album, they produced this out-of-nowhere masterpiece. With some exceptions, 'Abattoir Blues' captures the loud and boisterous side, while 'The Lyre of Orpheus' covers the quiet and atmospheric side. However, neither side is a retread of past work; choirs and piles of instruments give either a power or a depth that the Bad Seeds had never reached before, but none of those additions have any chance of burying a re-lit Nick Cave, the not-exactly-religious preacher leading his carnival congregation.
Novembre - Novembrine Waltz (2001)
In the mid-90s, a band named Opeth released a couple of brilliant albums. The had invented a riff-less form of metal, led instead by intertwined melodic guitar leads, overlaid with a mix of clean and growled vocals. It was melodic death metal, without being Melodic Death Metal. The pace was more relaxed, the atmospheres deeper, and the journey more free-form. In short, it was genius. But by the end of that decade, Opeth had thrown that all away. Luckily, Novembre, a contemporary of Opeth's from the early 90s, smoothly stepped in to take up the fallen mantle. From the Mediterranean rather than the Baltic, their sound is necessarily warmer and more Romantic than Opeth's, and the songs more concise. An Opeth clone would not make this list, and Novembre is clearly not that; instead, they created an alternate vision from similar influences, and 'Novembrine Waltz' captures that emotional resonance I'd been waiting for.
Orphaned Land - Mabool (2004)
In 1994, as a small group of bands in Sweden were experimenting with a new sound that would come to be known as "melodic death metal", a band from Israel, Orphaned Land, had already invented their own regional version of the same on their debut record, 'Sahara'. Two years later on 'El Norra Alila', they advanced that sound considerably and released perhaps the most complete synthesis of metal and local cultural influence ever put to tape. After such an auspicious and groundbreaking beginning, the expectations for their third album were unreasonably high from the start, and only grew as the years dragged on, to the point where 'Mabool', if ever released, would have no hope of matching them. But against all odds, it did. A whole new sound for the third time (smoother and more rounded, with an increased keyboard emphasis, and bigger hooks), but the core remains the same: "oriental" riffs and melodies on the guitars, seamlessly intertwined with local instrumentation, and the most explicit synthesis of the Abrahamic religions thus far, as the three are tied together with the myth of The Flood.
Primordial - Spirit The Earth Aflame (2000)
Though drawing heavily from melodic black metal, Primordial's overall sound is so unique and characteristic that they could almost be credited with creating a new subgenre themselves, if only other bands had the ability to follow them. It starts with the guitars, where instead of distinct metal riffs, we get a huge, swirling, droning sound full of harmonics playing off each other. Add Nemtheanga's impassioned declarations, exhortations, and tribulations, and you have some of the most powerful and evocative "folk metal" you'll ever hear, without ever needing a fiddle or tin whistle. Primordial had been creating this same music in previous decade, and continued throughout the 00s, but this album was the first that matched pain and suffering with the strength of iron and the blaze of fire.
Secret Chiefs 3 - Book M (2001)
On 'Book M', Secret Chiefs 3 took a trip that started at the eastern edge of Europe, and pushed on towards The Orient, picking up musical ideas and instruments along the way. Back home in California, they fused the ancient sounds and melodies with the modern western world, augmenting them with dense electronics, unsettling glitchy rhythms, and metallic storms of distortion. You could call it folk metal if you wanted to, but make sure the person you're talking to has an expansive mind, for it comes from a completely different pedigree than Skyclad or Orphaned Land.
Sentenced - The Funeral Album (2005)
After 15 years evolutionary life, Sentenced made a conscious decision to end it. However, unlike nearly every other band-breakup in the history of rock music, their end was marked not by an unceremonious press release or quiet fadeout, but by a carefully-planned funeral album. Though the melodic, radio-metal style is largely the same as the one they had finally settled on for their last few albums, it's that external circumstance that makes this album incredibly unique. Always fascinated with topics of death and suicide, 'The Funeral Album' gives these topics the extra depth that can only come as a response to real life. It seems that the tendency would be to freeze up in the face of such self-consciousness, but somehow Sentenced turns it into an extraordinary advantage. Nowhere is this effect stronger than their final song, "End of the Road". Feeling the pressure to say something dramatic and meaningful for your final words would seem to lead to either an overwrought mess or complete denial of the situation, but instead, Miika Tenkula's 2-minute mournful-but-uplifting guitar solo ends Sentenced's life as perfectly as you could possibly imagine.
Sólstafir - Masterpiece of Bitterness (2005)
'Masterpiece of Bitterness' is an album that could only come from this decade. It needed to be preceded by the development of black metal and forays into the epic and experimental by metal bands of the 90s, and be of an era where it was even conceivable to synthesize those sounds with that of post-rock, psychedelic-rock, and even garage-rock. This diversity of influence allows an incredible dynamic range, even though the final synthesis is distilled to a simple and cohesive guitars/bass/drums sound, adorned only by the full-throated melodic screams. Opener "I Myself the Visionary Head" captures the full extent of that range, with its title and 20-minute length referencing the epic and pretentious, while the 15 minute repeated riff, led by a dirty and distorted bass guitar, references the rest. A unique vision discovered when I thought metal was running out of such things.
The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls (2003)
Amanda Palmer is such a gifted singer/songwriter that she likely would have made it on her own, but when she found drummer Brian Viglione and they formed a duo and named it 'The Dresden Dolls', it basically guaranteed their success. Mostly dark and brooding, but with occasional bursts of pop sunniness, the range covered by piano, voice, and drums makes you wonder what other bands need all those instruments for. Lyrics are endlessly clever and shockingly personal, and cover an even greater emotional range than the music. From this DIY debut, to Roadrunner Records (who released the technically superior 'Yes, Virginia'), to the red carpet at The Golden Globes, with lots of excellent live performances in between, The Dresden Dolls are probably my band-of-the-decade.
The Gathering - Souvenirs (2003)
In 1995, The Gathering released 'Mandylion', which invented female-fronted metal as we know it today. That's worthy of a prize in itself, but by the end of that decade they had left that domain to their followers and created their second landmark album, the sprawling modern epic, 'How to Measure a Planet?' The uninspired, conventional follow-up ('If_Then_Else') led me to believe that two masterpieces was more than we really ought to expect out of a band anyhow, but then they shocked with 'Souvenirs'. How can a former metal band release the darkest album of their entire career as their seventh album? The final track, a stunning duet between Anneke and Ulver's Garm, seems obvious in retrospect, as 'Souvenirs' is a clear atmospheric relative to Ulver's 'Perdition City': The Gathering's trip-rock is still more conventional than Ulver's ambiances, but both are music for the 3am streets of modern Europa.
Thirdmoon - Sworn Enemy: Heaven (2004)
Melodic death metal may have peaked in Sweden by the turn of the century, but in an unknown corner of Austria, Thirdmoon was just getting good. Sonically, they're quite independent from Gothenburg or any other band, I think mostly due to their pummeling rhythmic density. It takes some excellent songwriting skill to integrate that level of heaviness without making it sound unnecessarily brutal, but Thirdmoon is up to the task. Occasionally incorporating acoustic guitars that play right along with blasting metal is another trick they use to add texture. Their previous two albums are also excellent, but 'Sworn Enemy: Heaven' has their most diverse stream of neverending hooks and riffs, all stitched together in a way that seems natural and not-at-all "prog". In fact, the sense of identity and focus from Wolfgang Rothbauer's songwriting seems so strong, it feels as if Thirdmoon may have found their way here even if Sweden had never existed.
Ulver - Perdition City (2002)
This is Ulver's fifth album, and the fifth complete re-invention of their sound. By now, you figure they must have some serious skills. The first three, you could dissemble and say they were all somehow related to "black metal", and then on their fourth, anyone has a chance of getting lucky when going whacked-out experimental. But 'Perdition City' proves that there's a lot more than luck at work. Capturing the atmosphere of a dark forest at night and turning it into sound (on 'Kveldssanger') was impressive enough, a feat that would cause most bands to either rest on their laurels or retire immediately. But for the same band to invert that feat four years later, capturing a cold city as sound, the atmospheric opposite of the natural forest, seems almost impossible. To be fair, Kristoffer 'Garm' Rygg was the only common link between the two efforts, so maybe he's simply a good manager of the musical talent of others, rather than a musical genius himself. But given that this is his third appearance on this list (tying Mista Transit), I'm thinking a 'musical genius' tag might be well-deserved.
