The Top 20 Metal Albums of 1992
01. Darkthrone (Norway) - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
02. Faith No More (USA) - Angel Dust
03. Testament (USA) - The Ritual
04. Trouble (USA) - Manic Frustration
05. Incantation (USA) - Onward to Golgotha
06. Alice in Chains (USA) - Dirt
07. Dream Theater (USA) - Images and Words
08. Root (Czech) - The Temple in the Underworld
09. Tiamat (Sweden) - Clouds
10. Blind Guardian (Germany) - Somewhere Far Beyond
11. Master's Hammer (Czech) - The Jilemnice Occultist
12. Kreator (Germany) - Renewal
13. Demigod (Finland) - Slumber of Sullen Eyes
14. Fleshcrawl (Germany) - Descent Into the Absurd
15. White Zombie (USA) - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1
16. Samael (Switzerland) - Blood Ritual
17. Bolt Thrower (UK) - The IVth Crusade
18. Vader (Poland) - The Ultimate Incantation
19. My Sister's Machine (USA) - Diva
20. Amorphis (Finland) - The Karelian Isthmus
A pretty unusual year, all told. Sure, there's a metric fuck ton of cult death metal here, including the arrival of Incantation and Vader, not to mention the emergence of the Finnish scene bands like Amorphis and Demigod. But several of my choices were quite eclectic, to say the least. Not only with strange, beautiful records like the art metal of Angel Dust, or Dream Theater's incredibly successful sophomore prog metal opus which redefined an entire sub-genre, but other efforts upon which the bands in question made unpopular moves to branch out their styles (Kreator, Testament, etc). Root, Master's Hammer and Samael all make return appearances with killer black metal records, but more importantly, this was the year that Darkthrone exposed us to their new sound and turned everything, including my life on its head. I was never the same after that album, it challenged my perceptions of songwriting and atmosphere and took the Hellhammer influence to a place cold as fuck. Only two perfect 10s, but quite a lot of interesting material here.
UPDATED FOR 2020
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