The Top 20 Metal Albums of 1999
01. Cannibal Corpse (USA) - Bloodthirst
02. Summoning (Austria) - Stronghold
03. Katatonia (Sweden) - Tonight's Decision
04. Darkthrone (Norway) - Ravishing Grimness
05. Sigh (Japan) - Scenario IV: Dread Dreams
06. Opeth (Sweden) - Still Life
07. Finntroll (Finland) - Midnattens Widunder
08. Darkane (Sweden) - Rusted Angel
09. Neurosis (USA) - Times of Grace
10. Babylon Whores (Finland) - King Fear
11. Dødheimsgard (Norway) - 666 International
12. Hollenthon (Austria) - Domvs Mvndi
13. Rage (Germany) - Ghosts
14. Manes (Norway) - Under ein blodraud maane
15. Samael (Switzerland) - Eternal
16. Gamma Ray (Germany) - Powerplant
17. Sabbat (Japan) - Karisma
18. Arch Enemy (Sweden) - Burning Bridges
19. Primal Fear (Germany) - Jaws of Death
20. U.D.O. (Germany) - Holy
At a glance this looks like quite the eclectic year, with my tastes falling everywhere. There were a lot of albums in 1999 where the bands were teasing new styles or experimenting, and many of these were not popular among the 'status quo' branch of metal fandom. On the contrary, though, I rather loved the evolutions of bands like Samael, Katatonia, and so forth. Dødheimsgard and Aborym brought some interesting electronic touches to the black metal genre. Was also a pretty strong time for power/heavy metal, with a lot of strong efforts coming from German groups Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, and U.D.O. I believe Katatonia and Opeth both hit their pinnacle this year, and though it might not be a popular opinion, Cannibal Corpse as well. In fact, Bloodthirst is the one album of 1999 I still consider a perfect 10, a bastion for brutal death metal that I find to be criminally underrated to this day. Loaded to overflow with excellent and creepy riffs, a great percussive vocal performance, and songwriting that vastly outshines any of their early work with Barnes at the helm. I could not and still cannot get enough of that one.
UPDATED FOR 2021
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