The Top 20 Metal Albums of 1996
01. Samael (Switzerland) - Passage
02. Amorphis (Finland) - Elegy
03. Sabbat (Japan) - The Dwelling
04. In Flames (Sweden) - The Jester Race
05. Kvist (No) - For kunsten maa vi evig vike
06. Forgotten Woods (Norway) - Curse of Mankind
07. Rotting Christ (Greece) - Triarchy of the Lost Lovers
08. Satyricon (Norway) - Nemesis Divina
09. Burzum (Norway) - Filosofem
10. Opeth (Sweden) - Morningrise
11. Borknagar (Norway) - Borknagar
12. Neurosis (USA) - Through Silver in Blood
13. X Japan (Japan) - Dahlia
14. Impaled Nazarene (Finland) - Latex Cult
15. Helloween (Germany) - The Time of the Oath
16. Thy Serpent (Finland) - Forests of Witchery
17. Cryptopsy (Canada) - None So Vile
18. Mental Home (Russia) - Vale
19. Darkthrone (Norway) - Total Death
20. Prong (USA) - Rude Awakening
Easily the best year in the 90s for metal music, and in fact the top two are my favorites of that decade. Passage is this flawless night sky creation which overcomes even its own drum machine programming to provide poetic perfection against a martial, menacing vacuum. Elegy is hands down more creative than anything else on the list, a fusion of Finnish folk, psychedelic Moog synthesizers, clean and crushing vocals and unrivaled melodies. But the Sabbat single-track concept album, The Dwelling is also a flawless exertion of horror, traditional black, speed and doom metal. Lots of other greats here also, including the career peaks for Impaled Nazarene, In Flames, Satyricon, Burzum, Cryptopsy and Rotting Christ. To be honest, I look back upon this year as a bastion of invention across numerous genres, or at least the maturation of such, and the point where I finally ended my mourning of the late 80s. At long last I warmed to the idea that the inspiration was not dead within the genre at large, it had just swapped a few color palettes.
UPDATED FOR 2020
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