Top 10 Melodic Death Metal Albums

Heartwork - Carcass

The one that started it all. At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and Children of Bodom wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for this masterpiece. The self-titled track is the best song off the album, and the finale "Death Certificate" is just as good.

Every track on this album is a complete masterpiece. Best death metal album EVER.

A classic and a true masterpiece.

Follow the Reaper - Children of Bodom

I understand that this band is quite mainstream and popular, but I can't deny the fact that Follow the Reaper is one of the best Melo Death albums out there. Quality album. A must-listen for fans who are into this sub-genre of music.
In fact, their first three albums are a must-listen. The rest of them are garbage that you can better avoid, especially that Roll Coll Deathroll garbage.

Never knew what I was looking for in a melodic metal album until I found Children of Bodom. They are one of my top bands now, and Follow the Reaper is perhaps their best.

Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates

The album that inspired so many different genres of metal, it's ridiculous. You can hear At the Gates' influence in the Gothenburg Melodic Death Metal scene, but also in infinite groove metal, metalcore, thrash metal, and even deathcore bands. They have to pay homage to this extraordinary metal album.
From the almighty Lamb of God to the opening riff of Unholy Confessions by Avenged Sevenfold, At the Gates' influence is much more widespread than most modern metalheads know.

To me, this is one of the few albums that truly lives up to the title of "Melodic Death Metal," along with Carcass' Heartwork, unlike some of the other bands on this list that sound like metalcore. Some relentless passages with melodic riffing and those arpeggios create the atmosphere.

The Jester Race - In Flames

Album is great from front to back! Starts the sound for most bands in later years. In "In Flames" we trust! Converters have songs from this every time! Just go and see them!

So beautifully melodic, especially the parts with the acoustic guitar. The lyrics are so moving. A true masterpiece!

In Flames have set a new level for melodic death metal. They have invented this genre.

Twilight of the Thunder God - Amon Amarth

After listening to the current top 10 in this list, I like Amon Amarth the most. Twilight of the Thunder God is their best album (together with Oden and Versus, in my humble opinion). They really deserve to be in the top 3.

Seriously, not number 1? No disrespect to the others, but this is legendary. Every track ranges from very good to iconic. Seriously head-banger heavy. Also got the best album artwork ever. Just my opinion. Keep it brutal, brothers and sisters.

My favorite Amon Amarth album. The title track is perfect and my favorite song from them. Where Is Your God, Varyags of Miklagaard, Guardians of Asgard, and Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags are some of this band's best songs, and the rest of the album is also great.

Crimson - Edge of Sanity

Just an absolute masterpiece in both melodic death and prog metal. A full album with one song (along the likes of Meshuggah's Catch 33), and you never even get bored of it. Truly brilliant.

What an absolute blinder of an album. Dan Swano got everything right on this. Listen to it in one go. The entire 40 minutes gel so well, it gives a very holistic song experience.

Wintersun - Wintersun

Just perfect. If you haven't listened to it, you have missed one of the greatest metal albums of all time. Powerful, melodic, and insanely diverse. It brings me chills every time I listen to it.

Epic is the perfect word to describe this album. A must-listen in my book.

The Gallery - Dark Tranquillity

Easily THE best melodeath album out there. How it is below Fiction, just to name their own, is beyond me. On par with The Jester Race, but I prefer this personally because I like the vocals of Stanne a lot more.

I've heard pretty much every 'major' melodeath album here, and of all of them, The Gallery is the best. All killer, no filler.

The Gallery is the best, I fully agree.

Hatebreeder - Children of Bodom

Amazing guitar and keyboard interplay. Razor-sharp riffs and solos.

Stone's Reach - Be'lakor

Perfection. Every song is a masterpiece, especially the final track Countless Skies, which is one of the greatest songs ever written.

Perfection from start to finish, especially with the newly released remaster!

These guys are on their way to being the best!

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xGODx - Serpent

The melodies and solos on this album are just beautiful.

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When a Tiger Makes Light of a Flock - Baa Rhythm

Fiction - Dark Tranquillity

"The Mundane and the Magic," "Misery's Crown," and "Terminus" are just some examples of how awesome this album is.

Every song is amazing. It's the best. Nothing to No One is a great opener. Everything about the album is amazing.

Incredible sound. Sweeping rhythms. Great songwriting. DT, where death is most tasty. Fiction, where it is most intense.

Hate Crew Deathroll - Children of Bodom

Love this album from start to finish. I can listen to it over and over again and never get sick of it. ANGELS DON'T KILL!

This album is amazing. It does deserve the top 10 at least.

One of the first melodic death metal albums I listened to. Still loving it.

Swamplord - Kalmah

So far, of all the albums I've listened to from this sub-genre, Swamplord and Wintersun's self-titled album do justice to the genre of Melodic Death Metal. I didn't vote for the latter because Wintersun is very well-known among the metal community, and their debut venture has deservingly received glorification over time.
Coming to Swamplord, the album blew my mind after one whole spin of the CD. Stellar musicianship and the passionate and melodic guitar work invoke overwhelming sensations in both the brain and the mind. It's the sort of album that I can listen to on repeat and never feel a slight drop in energy.
I can say that even five decades from now, I'll be listening to this album with the same enthusiasm and mood that I have in this phase of life. Incredible and memorable album.

Clayman - In Flames

The last listenable In Flames album, but sadly this one is only sort of good. Everything they released prior to this was far better.

This album is awesome. "Pinball Map" is one of the best songs ever.

Some of the best songs I've ever heard.

With Oden On Our Side - Amon Amarth

Great album! Cry of the Black Birds and Runes to My Memory are some of my favorite songs from it.

I am happy to see this album in the top 5. Cry of the Black Birds is amazing.

Very epic album. Each song is a masterpiece. With Oden on our side, we are victorious!

Banquet In the Darkness - Intestine Baalism

Tales From the Thousand Lakes - Amorphis

One of my absolute favorite albums of all time.

Purgatory Afterglow - Edge of Sanity

Doomsday Machine - Arch Enemy

The Living Infinite - Soilwork

Best Soilwork album and one of the most complete and epic metal albums in existence! The vocals, the drumming, and the guitars are perfection! The flow and quality from song to song is unheard of for a 20-song album!

Aside from having twice the music, there are a solid number of sonically gorgeous tracks. One of the best from one of melodeath's all-stars.

Unhallowed - The Black Dahlia Murder

Defiant Imagination - Quo Vadis

Whoracle - In Flames

All these albums are pretty good. Maybe this is my favourite album for "listenability." I love Carcass, Dark Tranquillity, Children of Bodom, Arch Enemy, and so forth, but I have noticed I go back to Whoracle more often than the others.

This is the best In Flames album. I can't listen to Food for the Gods enough.

Hexed - Children of Bodom

Children of Bodom are back with a killer album in 2019.

Amazing! Children of Bodom with another future classic of melodeath.

Blackwater Park - Opeth

The writing on this album is perfect. The heavy parts are devastating, the acoustic parts are beautiful, and Steven Wilson's godlike production only adds to the experience.
My personal favorites from this one are Bleak, The Drapery Falls, and the title track, but every track on this album is amazing. Melodeath is one of my favorite genres, and it is home to some of my absolute favorite albums of all time. I couldn't help but vote for this.