-I'm trying to limit the number of releases per artist, especially from very prolific musicians, but can't help but fanboy in a couple cases

-a lot of albums that initially came to mind turned out to be released 2007-2009, doh!

-I decided to start by listing all my contenders, narrowing it down to 50, and am now in the process of sorting them against each other (head to head between albums above/below until none of them move anymore)

-I've already found more things I initially forgot and definitely want to list though, doh!

good thing we have a long time to work on this

I thought about this. I also thought about trying to only list the most innovative albums too. There's a few that I genuinely love but acknowledge don't bring a lot new to the table, if anything. 

Triceratopsoil wrote: -I decided to start by listing all my contenders, narrowing it down to 50, and am now in the process of sorting them against each other (head to head between albums above/below until none of them move anymore)

I haven't re-listened to any yet, more listening to stuff I've missed completely. What I did for my first draft was to take all my five star ratings, as well as bump up some 4.5's that have gone up in estimations, and sorted them into two groups. Ones I really want to make sure get some of my points and ones I could live without not getting any. It hasn't worked too well though because there's a lot of albums I've got filed under The Unlucky Ones on my document that I've played to death, are by my favourite artists or just plains feels wrong to not include them. 

I definitely put a lot of weight towards an unquantifiable "x-factor" that certain albums seem to have.  In general it feels like this decade has a lot fewer of the genre-defining classics that the previous 2 decades did; maybe that's just a factor of my age and tastes.

I think we're all aging... I just noticed this morning that the top 5 albums on the site on the front page are all 30 years old or more!

I find watching YouTube videos of younger metal fans looking at what they call definitive or defining albums is quite useful for how things have changed.

To be clear, there are still so many albums from the past decade that I absolutely love... I just struggle to see them having the same lasting impact on the future of heavy metal.  Even bands that are doing something "new" are more often then not mashing 2 old styles together

There are obviously exceptions to this too - bands like Triptykon have taken "doom metal" somewhere completely different than the slower, lower Black Sabbath that the subgenre trends towards.  Varg came out of prison and immediately gave the entire black metal scene a giant middle finger by putting out a totally fresh take on the style he was so instrumental in developing.  Aaron Turner's projects since Isis have been a total 180 from the direction that band had taken (he has said in an interview that he wishes Panopticon was the last Isis album...).  Newish bands like Lord Mantis and Inter Arma are difficult to compare to anything that came before them.

I guess TLDR: it's still exciting, but not in as clear of a way.  And the exciting stuff seems to be pushed further and further to the outskirts, as mainstream metal is dominated by 30+ year old bands doing the same album over and over again, or Andy Sneap overproducing every album into monotony

I think the 2010's have probably been the weakest decade for music in general since the 60's, but at the end of the day it's all subjective. Personally though, I think a problem is that in our current internet-dominated culture, there's really not much of an underground music scene anymore. Let's face it, metal is mainstream these days, in the sense that there's several huge metal labels and I'd be surprised if there weren't at least some label plants in the scene. I think I can list on one hand the number of death metal bands today that still sound like death metal, instead of being over-produced and sterile.

and by mainstream, I don't mean just popular. I think most of the metal bands of the 70's, 80's, and 90's that got popular got there for a good reason. Many of them are among my favorite bands, Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Judas Priest, Korn, Soundgarden, Ratt, Motley Crue, Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath, etc. These are all amazing bands, but it's not like they started out as major-label superstars. Many of today's metal bands I see start right off on Napalm, Nuclear Blast, Century Media, etc. 

As far as what is underground, most of it seems to be within electronic music, which I think has been the strongest genre in the past decade. With Bandcamp, it's easier than ever to release your own music, and unfortunately I haven't noticed many metal bands releasing their own stuff yet. (I've seen plenty of metal on Bandcamp obviously, but usually attached to a label. There's a few cool independent bands I've found though). Electronic artists have benefited most from Bandcamp in the past decade from what I've noticed.

There's a lot of pretentiousness these days as well within the general internet music populous, certain genres are shunned while others are propped up as the best. If a metal band today does something "new", it's bound to be some critic approved form of metal combined with another critic approved genre (For example, black metal and shoegaze, a very popular combination of two critic favorites. Also, this isn't a diss at those bands, just an observation. I liked the Alcest album I've heard, so I don't hate these bands). You'll never see a big beat or nu metal on any RYM top of the year chart, but you're bound to see a free jazz or shoegaze album there. In a sense, avant-garde is the new mainstream in some circles.

I just listen to whatever sounds good to me, whatever the genre, but this is just something I've observed and for all I know I'm talking a bunch of shit. This could get into a way deeper philosophical discussion and I don't know how well I could communicate that on a forum. 

As far as how I decide what to vote for, I'm planning on (and already started) re-listening to several albums from the past decade and maybe check out some new ones if they sound interesting. I'm just voting for whatever albums I like best, limiting myself by artist or something would make it too hard.

If anyone's got any recommendations for something you think I'd like, send them my way. Nothing political please (unless very vague and doesn't get in the way of the music), and I'm open to most metal genres. I usually don't like black metal, prog metal, hardcore/grindcore, modern death metal, or modern power metal though, with few exceptions. I haven't checked out much of it from this decade, but the sludge I've heard have sounded really good (Floor's Oblation and Kylesa's Exhausting Fire in particular), so some sludge recs would be nice.

I'd say you're on the money with critic-approved metal; there seem to be forced trends, partly due to the Profound Lore/Nuclear Blast dominance, partly due to there only being like 3 sites for metal journalism.  Blackgaze & atmospheric sludge are everywhere now.  Satanism in black metal is another one; none of the 2nd wave bands worshipped satan in any way shape or form, it's a trend that some journalists made up back in the day but now it almost defines the genre.  

I could rant about this stuff for a long time 

RE: Andy Sneap - him and his (now mostly defunct) forum are part of the reason every metal band uses all the same gear and production techniques (EMG > tubescreamer > 5150 > Vintage 30 > SM57).  And he's part of the reason everybody uses triggers on drums now, and is switching to modelling amps & impulse responses now (which sound TERRIBLE, I can tell immediately; this is the reason Exodus for example sounds totally different after Atrocity Exhibition 1) 

Unitron wrote: so some sludge recs would be nice.

OLD MAN GLOOM

I'll check out some Old Man Gloom.

Progenie Terrestre Pura - oltreLuna - this is one of my tops from the last decade. A real brilliant release. Their debut was also good but this is much harder sounding and with more outside of the box influences creeping in. Even dubstep for fucks sake. 

Winterhorde - Underwatermoon/Maestro - really puts the actual prog into (melodic) black metal. 

Entropia - Ufonaut - a kind of post-black metal that isn't actually too atmospheric, but hard and riffy. 

Aquilus - Griseus - his combination of black metal with folk music and sections of pure classical works really well. One of the last decade's most epic BM albums. 

Hail Spirit Noir - all three albums - their take on blending black metal with old school psych rock remains a unqiue take on both styles in my experience. All three albums are bloody brilliant, especially the most recent Mayhem in Blue. 

Absolutely none of these acts are blackgaze. 

That album sounds interesting, may check that out.

I wasn't trying to imply that most black metal today is just blackgaze, I was just using it as an example of a popular combination of two genres that are generally pretty popular among critics. I'm sure there is really unique stuff coming from there as you say, and if I was more of a black metal fan I'd probably be more excited about it. Music wise, it's just a matter of personal taste, but my biggest problems with black metal are with the scene. Both the trve kvlt purists, and on the other side the RYM elitists who act like black metal is so much better, creative, and higher art than any other metal. Goes to what I was saying about avant-garde being the new mainstream in some ways.

The dubstep bit is in the title track. 

Listened through some of it, sounded good though it has the same issue that I have with Apartment 26's Music for the Massive. When the dubstep and other non-ambient electronic elements are there, it sounds REALLY good, but I don't think they utilize them enough. I'll be looking forward to seeing if they do on their next album though.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/progenie-terrestre-pura/asteroidi/" rel="nofollow - https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/progenie-terrestre-pura/asteroidi/

If you like that sound, I can recommend some of Eat Static's stuff, this song in particular: 

http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/TopAlbums.aspx?lstReleaseTypes=1&lstYears=2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019&MinNRatings=1&MaxResults=100#list" rel="nofollow - http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/TopAlbums.aspx?lstReleaseTypes=1&lstYears=2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019&MinNRatings=1&MaxResults=100#list

I have rated/reviewed seven of those, and had to go all the way to 39 to find the first one!

Well they brought it back somewhat on the last two. Not exactly A Blaze in the Northern Sky anymore though. 

Only 1 album there that has made (the current draft of) my list, Triptykon at #35, though a couple others that barely didn't make the cut

I'm not very active with ratings/reviews though

I have bouts of it. I haven't managed a review in a while, but some days I go through and click a few stars. I'm trying to be more proactive on it with new stuff I hear. With the make up of the users here, it's often the only rating those releases get.

Interesting to see that at least 8 of those will probably make my top 50. 

I'm not a huge black metal fan, but I've been quite interested in the rise of the anti-fascist side of it. Bands like Gaylord, Neckbeard Deathcamp and Dawn Ray'd.

5 of those are definites on my list, and there's a few that might with a re-listen.

As far as the lack of ratings go, yeah right now it's just the active forum users (which aren't many) mainly that are rating things. I have a couple suggestions though of getting more people, Discord and Plug.dj servers would be a good way to do so.

I decided on a self-imposed limit of 2 albums per artist, and preferably 1 if there is a clear standout in their discography.

I'm also gonna need to pick a date by which to finalize the 50 albums, or else there is no hope of getting them sorted 

Seems the better place to put my WIP list.

These are all my relevant 5 star ratings that I currently have on MMA. I have more ratings that I haven't added though. Sorted by genre for now, then I'll rank each one seperately. Then will come the hard part, merging them together for an overall top 50.

Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time

Lovebites - Awakening From Abyss

Eternity's End - Unyielding

Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror

Sinbreed - When Worlds Collide

Lovebites - Clockwork Immortality

Triosphere - The Heart of the Matter

Wuthering Heights - Salt

Grave Digger - Return of the Reaper

Orden Ogan - To the End

Iron Savior - The Landing

Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls

Hell - Human Remains

Obscura - Omnivium

Enthean - Priests of Annihilation

Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution

Lascaille's Shroud - The Roads Leading North

Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race

Beyond Creation - Algorythm

Nile - What Should Not be Unearthed

Esoctrilihum - Pandaemorthium (Forbidden Formulas To Awaken The Blind Sovereigns Of Nothingness)

Gorguts - Colored Sands

Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails

Lascaille's Shroud - Interval 02: Parallel Infinities - The Abscinded Universe

Obscura - Diluvium

Barren Earth - Curse of the Red River

Origin - Entity

Mayan - Dhyana

Progenie Terrestre Pura - oltreLuna

Fen - Epoch

Spectral Lore - III

Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit

Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith

Winterhorde - Underwatermoon

Wodensthrone - Curse

Mare Cognitum - Luminiferous Aether

Hail Spirit Noir - Mayhem in Blue

Winterhorde - Maestro

Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä

Fen - Winter

Pillorian - Obsidian Arc

Mare Cognitum/Spectral Lore - Sol

Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.

Aquilus - Griseus

Entropia - Ufonaut

Pure Wrath - Ascetic Eventide

Vattnet Viskar - Settler

Fen - Dustwalker

Dordeduh - Dar de duh

Saor - Aura

Vektor - Terminal Redux

Sacral Rage - Beyond Celestial Echoes

Avatarium - The Girl with the Raven Mask

Spectral Voice - Eroded Corridors of Unbeing

Haken - The Mountain

Arch / Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance

Enslaved - RIITIIR

Threshold - Legends Of The Shires

Epica - The Holographic Principle

Xandria - Neverworld's End

Epica - The Quantum Enigma

Within Temptation - The Unforgiving

Blood Ceremony - Lord of Misrule

Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
Progenie Terrestre Pura - oltreLuna
Fen - Epoch
Spectral Lore - III
Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith
Avatarium - The Girl with the Raven Mask
Winterhorde - Underwatermoon
Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time
Wodensthrone - Curse
Lovebites - Awakening From Abyss
Eternity's End - Unyielding
Mare Cognitum - Luminiferous Aether
Hail Spirit Noir - Mayhem in Blue
Obscura - Omnivium
Enthean - Priests of Annihilation
Vektor - Outer Isolation
Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror
Winterhorde - Maestro
Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä
Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution
Lascaille's Shroud - The Roads Leading North
Fen - Winter
Spectral Voice - Eroded Corridors of Unbeing
Hell - Human Remains
Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
Sinbreed - When Worlds Collide
Lovebites - Clockwork Immortality
Pillorian - Obsidian Arc
Epica - The Holographic Principle
Beyond Creation - Algorythm
Nile - What Should Not be Unearthed
Haken - The Mountain
Mare Cognitum/Spectral Lore - Sol
Paradise Lost - Medusa
Blood Ceremony - The Eldritch Dark
Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.
Xandria - Neverworld's End
Esoctrilihum - Pandaemorthium (Forbidden Formulas To Awaken The Blind Sovereigns Of Nothingness)
Uada - Devoid of Light
Aquilus - Griseus
Blood Ceremony - Lord of Misrule
Arch / Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance
Vektor - Terminal Redux
Gorguts - Colored Sands
Entropia - Ufonaut
Epica - The Quantum Enigma
Triosphere - The Heart of the Matter
Enslaved - RIITIIR
Pure Wrath - Ascetic Eventide
Wuthering Heights - Salt
Sacral Rage - Beyond Celestial Echoes
Threshold - Legends Of The Shires
Vattnet Viskar - Settler
Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails
Fen - Dustwalker
Lascaille's Shroud - Interval 02: Parallel Infinities - The Abscinded Universe
Grave Digger - Return of the Reaper
Dordeduh - Dar de duh
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats' Nest
Obscura - Diluvium
Saor - Aura
Powerwolf - Blood of the Saints
Metal Church - Damned If You Do
Haken - Aquarius
Barren Earth - Curse of the Red River
Mesarthim - Isolate
Sojourner - Empires of Ash
The Faceless - Autotheism
Wode - Servants of the Countercosmos
Within Temptation - The Unforgiving
White Ward - Futility Report
Ihsahn - After
Evilfeast - Elegies of the Stellar Wind
Obscura - Akróasis
Origin - Entity
Vorbid - Mind
Orden Ogan - To the End
Iron Savior - The Landing
Mayan - Dhyana

In fact, I probably have a lot of 4.5's that deserve revaluation due to being growers. Cult of Luna/Julie Christmas is easily one of my most played releases of the last decade and I already had to up that one to 5 stars and it will definitely feature high on the final list even though based on original ratings it wouldn't have got a look in. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/7mrObcqzUoGMEa25uOZmXY" rel="nofollow - https://open.spotify.com/album/7mrObcqzUoGMEa25uOZmXY

nope I'll check it out

I was under the impression metal-related is a non metal subgenre?

it doesn't make the cut in my main list

edit: getting started on head to head comparisons and so many have moved already  but I don't think I will add or remove any albums, just reorder

My biggest issue is that there's always going to be some albums that I think deserve points that I just won't have room for. 

yeah, I could make a list of 200+ albums I love without much trouble

Unitron wrote: It's more a matter of what else to add.

Did you check out Old Man Gloom yet? 

I checked out Ape of God (the one with the shorter songs), and thought it was pretty good. I still need to check out No and the other Ape of God. 

Did you check out Obake yet? 

I think we also need more new voters on this than we currently have if its going to be worthwhile. We have 11 submissions currently. 

I must say I'd hoped there would be more lists for this by now. I hope you're all just been saving them for the final month. 

Everyone please do what you can to share this around your social media, especially to other metalheads and get some of them over here to take part. 

We still need a lot more or this won't be worth doing!

Come on MMA!

Anyway, looks like most of my top 10 isn't repeated anywhere. I have seen The Wake and The Mountain at least once each.

I did remove the numbers for the official list:

1. Voivod - The Wake

2. Pryapisme - Hyperblast Super Collider

3. Haken - The Mountain

4. Watchtower - Concepts in Mathematics Book 1

5. Colonel Petrov's Good Judgement - Among Servants

6. Syk - I-Optikon

7. Helium Horse Fly - Helium Horse Fly

8. Atheist - Jupiter

9. Panzerballett - Breaking Brain

10. Pryapisme - Diabolicus Felinae Pandemonium

11. Chimp Spanner - All Roads Lead Here

12. Electro Quarterstaff - Aykroyd

13. Exivious - Liminal

14. Opeth - Ina Cauda Venenum

15. Mestis - Basal Ganglia

16. Schitzofrantik - Oddities

17. Rings of Saturn - Lugal Ki En

18. Canvas Solaris - Irradiance

19. Virus - Momento Collider

20. Voivod - Target Earth

21. Unexpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire

22. Blotted Science - The Animation of Entomology

23. Dysrhythmia - Terminal Threshold

24. Special Providence - Essence of Change

25. Protest the Hero - Fortress

26. Pain of Salvation - In the Passing Light of Day

27. Scale the Summit - The Migration

28. Dethklok - Dethalbum III

29. Syk - Atoma

30. Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason

31. Virus - The Agent That Shapes the Desert

32. Felix Martin - The Scenic Album

33. Counter-World Experience - Pulsar

34. Schizofrantik - Ripping Heartaches

35. Nova Collective - The Further Side

36. Dying Fetus - Reign Supreme

37. Dysrhythmia - Test of Submission

38. Haken - Visions

39. Rings of Saturn - Dingir

40. Animals as Leaders - Weightless

41. Portal - Ion

42. Pryapisme - Rococo Holocaust 

43. Periphery - Periphery (Instrumental)

44. Intronaut - Valley of Smoke

45. Theory in Practice - Crescendo Dezign

46. Meshuggah - Koloss 

47. Panzerballett - Xmas Death Jazz 

We don't have many collabs currently and bands often get overlooked. If there are any bands that should be here please post them in our suggestion forum and we'll make sure they're added. Too late now for this vote as I've just finished the tally, but we still want them here if they belong. 

The presentation has had to be recalculated twice already today, which not only makes muggins here who spends his time putting it together more work, it makes it take even longer before any of you can see the result. First time was because someone voted for a live album as their number two album. Live albums have never been permitted in an MMA Best Of Vote. The second time was for a Non-Metal album which wasn't picked up on until the presentation was in its second to last stage. And that's an even bigger continual problem. This is ultimately a metal vote, yet we see continual insistence of trying to slip Non-Metal into the list and making it even worse, giving those albums a fuckton of points, which just makes even more work adjusting the presentation when I pick up on them (usually at the point I'm about to insert them into it!). It needs to stop. As does trying to vote for artists and releases which are not even here, as at least one submission was made up of about half of, which again slows down the presentation's release. We do not mind you voting for things not here (so long as they should be of course) but you MUST report the act/release for addition if you're not a collab and add it yourself if you are. 

The rules for MMA best of votes have been standard for a while now. Yet every time I have to try to make things even more clearer than they already are. And yet still the rules are not being followed, which without sugar coating it, is pissing me off. And I am seriously considering making this one my last MMA presentation.

So just to be clear, these are the rules I expect you to follow when you vote. They are basic, fair and most voters manage it (and yes this size text WILL be used on the next rules since people aren't reading them - maybe then they will take notice):

Anyway, the results are in and published! 

http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16356&FID=79&PR=3&title=mma-best-of-the-decade-2010s-results" rel="nofollow - http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16356&FID=79&PR=3&title=mma-best-of-the-decade-2010s-results