Best Death Metal Albums

The Top Ten
1 Symbolic - Death

This is the best Death Metal album and also one of the greatest in Heavy Metal history by far. Amazing songwriting, every song is awesome, the riffs, solos, bass lines, drums and the voice of Chuck are all amazing. Perfect album.

How this is not in top 5 at least?
Every single track was an amazing track... Hear Crystal Mountains, Empty Words, Without Judgement, Misanthorpe if you don, t believe me.. I loved all Death's albums but this one is my favourite..

Love and respect Chuck but sorry this ain't Death Metal just like the album before and after this. Their first three albums definitely belong here.

2 Altars of Madness - Morbid Angel

This album should be number 1,on the greatest death metal albums of all time. The whole album is just amazing.
Plus Human is death's greatest album and not Symbolic... period

One of the most influential albums of Death Metal genre, this album influenced the Swedish Death Metal scene.

This is a really heavy album, but it also displays some artistic merit as well as having some kick-ass tracks.

3 Human - Death

Best album by death. Just because Scream Bloody Gore spawned the genre doesn't mean it's the greatest album of all time.

This is top 3 material. In fact, top 3 should be : Symbolic, Individual Thoughts Patterns and Human.

I can't say anything but awesome.

4 The Sound of Perseverance - Death

Amazing vocals guitars bass and drumming. On painkiller ( cover of judas priest) chuch uses his normal vocals at the end. Also youve got to here voice of the soul. Others kickass songs are scavenger of human sorrow,spirit crusher, story to tell, flesh and the power it holds, and one of chucks best guitar solo on in a moment of clarity. All songs ill give 10/10. Best death metal album along with heartwork scream bloody gore symbolic blackwater park and more.

Better than Symbolic for sure, this album is perfection. Ask Rob Halford.

5 Blackwater Park - Opeth

Come on guys! It is progressive death metal! It may not be the same as the others on this list, but its still very much death metal, just more complex, and the songs are longer. This is by far the best.

6 Slowly We Rot - Obituary

Slowly We Rot should be top 5, you can't forget the Obituary and this awesome album.

7 Seven Churches - Possessed

More THRASH than DEATH! A song like Satan's Curse sounds pretty ominous for its time and is possibly the only song on this album having almost all characteristic elements of death metal..

This album has a irresistible raw sound to it that just makes it fantastic! Also, it arguably created the genre of Death Metal.

Pioneers with evil crushing guitars, chromatic harmonies and disturbing sound aesthetic!

8 Left Hand Path - Entombed
9 Tomb of the Mutilated - Cannibal Corpse

It was banned in countries. It a was powerful album. Cannibals Corpse is one of the most important death metal band in the history of metal music!

Why is this 15? Do people not know what death metal is?

It was so brutal it was banned in Germany.

10 Severed Survival - Autopsy

This album is astonishing! Every song sounds completely different, and the vocals are really nasty and amazing! The first track (Charred Remains) is a death metal masterpiece.

Difficult to choose one. This album is great.

Influential to all Death/Doom bands.

The Contenders
11 None So Vile - Cryptopsy

How the hell was this no on the list until I added it? It's a MASTERPIECE, production suits the music perfectly, guitars are amazing, bass is utilized very well, Flo must be one of the best/fastest drummers on the planet and last but not least, the vocals performed by Lord Worm are so brutal and amazing! He sounds so evil and also sounds like he's suffering as if there's someone trying to sing while mutilating themselves! If you haven't heard it before go listen to it right now!

If you ask the question "what does it feel like to have your ears torn off in under 30 seconds? "
The answer: listen to None so vile
seriously, this album absolutely mutilates you under a second. The first song is one of the heaviest on the album!

12 Scream Bloody Gore - Death

Honestly, Seven churches might be the first death metal album, but I think this album truly captured the essence of how death metal should be.
Also, each song on the album is good, that's how you rate and album.
My vote: Scream Bloody Gore

Mainstream music lovers are voting for their prog metal garbages. This influential album should be in the top 5 instead of those sleep inducing, pretentious and diluted prog albums from this band.

When I was listening to this album, I was blown away by the opening riff of zombie ritual. Man chuck schuldiner's vocals was the DEFINATION of a death growl. My fave songs from this HISTORIC album are zombie ritual, mutilation and evil dead

13 Cause of Death - Obituary

Yet to listen to a better death metal record than this. That cover art has kept me frozen and intrigued for years.The eyes ov the devil is savouring your mental suffering.

This album made me fully fall in love with death metal. That's how fantastic it is.

One of the best death metal albums of all time!
This should be in the top ten.

14 Leprosy - Death

The undisputed champion of all that is Death Metal. Created with input from all the members and released before the band turned into a one-man weak miserable prog-fusion metal act.

I have this album on vinyl and when I have parties it's all slayer and leprosy on the turn table. This album and the bleeding and anything by napalm death should be on the list or way higher. And also at the gates

Best Death Metal album ever! Listen to Leprosy, Pull The Plug, Born Dead and Forgotten Past and then you'll know why this should be on number 1

15 Heartwork - Carcass

If you're new to metal and you think that the guitar riffs in this album remind you of Arch Enemy, it's because this was the album that Michael Amott's signature guitar style that he carried over into Arch Enemy originated from.

This is also the first "melodic death metal" album ever, a game changing album. Which is probably why many people cite Heartwork as Carcass' magnum opus. It's also the band's most commercially successful.

An awesome album and one of the most influential ones, Carcass defined Melodic Death Metal with this.

16 The Bleeding - Cannibal Corpse

Man, I love Black Sabbath and Slayer, but they aren't Death Metal. Also, The Bleeding is the best Death Metal album, in my opinion.

This is the best Death Metal album ever made!

How is this not higher? How is cc not higher?

17 Individual Thought Patterns - Death
18 Unquestionable Presence - Atheist

Not only is this on top of the list of death metal albums, it is also the best metal album of all time period.

I wonder what an atheist would say the unquestionable presence is. Funny combo.

19 Carcass - Symphonies of Sickness
20 Annihilation of the Wicked - Nile

I don't necessarily know if this really is my favorite death metal album, but I saw it down here and thought it deserved to be much higher. I love Nile, and especially this album, and it's amazing workout music as a plus (I know it sounds weird, but try listening to this album next time you go biking).

Recently fell in love with Nile. In their darkened shrines my favorite though. Goes surely to top 10 death metal albums ever.

This album is one of the best. It definitely deserves a higher placement on this list.

21 Effigy of the Forgotten - Suffocation

Earth-shatteringly heavy! Seriously this album can cause earthquakes when blasted at Max volume from a large stereo system!

Come on this beats everything by Cannibal Corpse and at least half of Death's discography, and it should beat at least some of Carcass and Obituary's stuff

22 Crimson - Edge of Sanity

Crimson is an album that contains a single 40 minute song that combines progressive rock with death metal. Picture King Crimson, but heavier and darker. This song is long, but never feels that way. It's constantly evolving and tells a wonderful tale to boot. Belongs in the top 10 death metal albums and songs.

23 Elvenefris - Lykathea Aflame
24 Nihility - Decapitated
25 The Living Infinite - Soilwork
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