Top-10 Best Metal Records By Each Year: 2003-2015

Yo everybody! I've been going back and forth over the years after 1996 or 1997, basically from where the last list stopped. There were some years, like 1998-2002, that are too hard to even find as much as ten(!) metal records that I like from each of those years. It's impossible to be honest. 

Anyway, from 2003 it was manageable to find ten from each year, even if that wasn't the easiest task either. Anyways, here are the lists for my personal - top-10 favorite metal records - by year - each year - 2003 to 2015. I will also comment some short thoughts on each year respectively. I hope you enjoy!

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2003:

Type O Negative – Life Is Killing Me

Chimaira – The Impossibility Of Reason

Watain - Casus Luciferi

Lamb of God – As The Palaces Burn

Children of Bodom – Hate Crew Deathroll

Septic Flesh - Sumerian Daemons

Iron Maiden – Dance Of Death

Jane’s Addiction - Strays

Strapping Young Lad – S/T

Black Label Society – The Blessed Hellride

Comment: The first year in quite many that actually began to take metal music uphill again. Not a very rich year (metal) musically, the the first 5-7 albums in this list are rather strong efforts in my opinion.

2004:

Lamb of God – Ashes Of The Wake

Mastodon - Leviathan

Megadeth – The System Has Failed

God Forbid – Gone Forever

Scarve – Irradiant

Motörhead - Inferno

Fear Factory – Archetype

Amon Amarth – Fate Of Norns

Saxon – Lionheart

Damageplan – New Found Power

Comment: A small step backwards, decreasing the strength in musical quality from the previous year, and not a very good year overall. What's in this list is pretty much "it" of what I either liked or found the slightest interest in.

2005:

Chimaira – S/T

Strapping Young Lad - Alien

DevilDriver – The Fury Of Our Maker’s Hand

Bolt Thrower – Those Once Loyal

Judas Priest – Angel Of Retribution

Crashdïet – Rest In Sleaze

Grand Magus – Wolf’s Return

Kreator – Enemy Of God

Soulfly – Dark Ages

Trivium – Ascendancy

Comment: A pretty big improvement from the previous two years, and quite a massive improvement if looking back to, like, 1998-1999 and onward. This was where (good) metal started to get a firm base to build upon again.

2006:

Iron Maiden – A Matter Of Life And Death

Lamb of God - Sacrament
Mastodon – Blood Mountain

Trivium – The Crusade
DragonForce – Inhuman Rampage
Amon Amarth – With Oden On Our Side

Celtic Frost - Monotheist
Cannibal Corpse - Kill 
Strapping Young Lad – The New Black
Tool – 10.000 Days

Comment: I'd say this year was not worrying as it was a quite good one, but it's a slight decrease in quality from the previous year. At least it was nothing that worried me at the time. Lamb of God and Trivium step it up a notch each, while Celtic Frost returns with a brooding dark album, and DragonForce gets interesting (I actually do like them).

2007:

Type O Negative – Dead Again

Chimaira – Resurrection
DevilDriver – The Last Kind Words
Samael – Solar Sun 

Machine Head – The Blackening

Ozzy Osbourne – Black Rain

Megadeth – United Abominations

W.A.S.P. – Dominator

Helloween – Gambling With The Devil

A Perfect Murder – War Of Aggression

Comment: Now this was the best year in over ten years time, I believe. 1996 and '97 weren't bad years at all (I have not listed anything for them in my previous list, though), but this year was like an official statement that "yes, metal is back, and it's here to stay". Bands like Machine Head and Helloween release their best albums in many years, while Type O Negative unknowingly releases what would ultimately be their last album, but a damn fine one.

2008:

Judas Priest – Nostradamus

Amon Amarth – Twilight Of The Thunder Gods

DragonForce – Ultra Beatdown

Trivium - Shogun

Cavalera Conspiracy – Inflikted

Soulfly - Conquer
Cannabis Corpse – Tube Of The Resinated

Dismember – S/T
Unleashed – Hammer Battalion

Texas Hippie Coalition – Pride Of Texas

Comment: After an excellent year in 2007, this year had a lot to do if it was going to top it, and it just didn't - unsurprisingly and understandably so. I for one loved "Nostradamus", like my favorite form Priest to be honest. Amon Amarth, Soulfly and DragonForce released their best albums (so far) respectively in my opinion.

2009:

Chimaira – The Infection

Mastodon – Crack The Skye

DevilDriver – Pray For Villains
God Forbid - Earthsblood
Lamb of God - Wrath 

Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know

Dethklok – Dethalbum II

Devin Townsend - Addicted

Immortal – All Shall Fall

W.A.S.P. – Babylon

Comment: Despite this list being fucking awesome, with Chimaira, LoG, Mastodon, God Forbid and DevilDriver all releasing my favorite albums of theirs respectively in this year, the year as a whole (outside of this list) was pretty poor. Not really a weak year musically, but just too few interesting releases. A thin but strong year.

2010:

Watain – Lawless Darkness

Enforcer – Diamonds

Helloween – 7 Sinners
Death Angel - Relentless Retribution

Raintime – Psychromatic

Overkill – Ironbound

Fear Factory – Mechanize

Black Label Society – Order Of The Black

Accept – Blood Of The Nations

Valkyrja - Contamination

Comment: A new decade, new trends and possibilities ahead, and it started rather good I'd say. First off, and of most worth to me, the current trend of "retro metal" crawls out of the underground and starts to become popular, with bands like the almighty Enforcer leading the pack to my ears. Watain also just kills everything in their way, and Helloween, Death Angel, Fear Factory and Overkill release their strongest material in a long time.

2011:

Skull Fist – Head Öf The Pack

Samael – Lux Mundi

Chimaira – The Age Of Hell

Mastodon – The Hunter
DevilDriver – Beast

Revocation – Chaos Of Forms

Jane’s Addiction – The Great Escape Artist

Amon Amarth – Surtur Rising
Vicious Rumors – Razorback Killers

Machine Head – Unto The Locust

Comment: This was a really long/slow and worrying year for me. Not only was the amount of interesting albums very small this year, but some bands like Machine Head and DevilDriver delivered a lot weaker material than their previous releases. Fans of Chimaira and Mastodon thought the same of their releases this year, but I actually liked both "The Age Of Hell" and "The Hunter" a lot. All in all though, this was not a very good or fun year for me as a metal music fan.

2012:

Steelwing – Zone Of Alienation

Overkill – The Electric Age

Unleashed - Odalheim
God Forbid - Equilibrium

Accept – Stalingrad

Bleeding Through – The Great Fire

DragonForce – The Power Within

Fear Factory -  The Industrialist

Lamb of God – Resolution

Cauldron – Tomorrow’s Lost

Comment: After the most mediocre year of 2011, this year was to become a whole lot better. More "retro metallers" deliver some great albums (Steelwing and Cauldron), while an old band like Unleashed suddenly comes back and releases their best album like...ever! It was at least an interesting year again, even if it wasn't on par with, say 2007 and 2010.

2013:

Power Trip – Manifest Decimation

Enforcer – Death By Fire
Death Angel - The Dream Calls For Blood

Watain – The Wild Hunt

Carcass – Surgical Steel

In Solitude – Sister

Sepultura – The Mediator Between The Head And Hands Must Be The Heart

DevilDriver – Winter Kills
Motörhead - Aftershock

Chaos Invocation – Black Mirror Hours

Comment: Once more, this particular year was an improvement over the last year(s). This year really passed by fast for me, I found my life's love and everything just went by so goddamn fast. There was a lot of good music this year, even outside of the actual top-list. Enforcer and Watain continue to release really strong and great albums, while DevilDriver returns with their strongest album for a while, and the biggest surprises of all: Sepultura delivers their best album since Chaos A.D., possibly even Arise. If fans weren't convinced of their quality without Max after this year, then those fans are fucking inbred or brainless or something. The second: Hardcore-thrashers Power Trip just rip metal a new asshole with their awesome debut.

2014:

DragonForce – Maximum Overload

Mastodon – Once More ‘Round The Sun

Accept – Blind Rage

Satanic Warmaster - Fimbulwinter

Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestite

At The Gates – At War With Reality

Behemoth – The Satanist

Arch Enemy – War Eternal

Skull Fist – Chasing The Dream

Revocation – Deathless

Comment: Once again a strong year, even though if it wasn't perhaps just quite as good as the previous one. Anyway, I had nothing to complain about - apart from time passing by so fucking fast. These albums feel like they were released yesterday to me. Fuck, I feel old.

2015:

Enforcer – From Beyond

Lamb of God – VII: Sturm Und Drang

Fear Factory - Genexus

Ghost – Meliora
Motörhead - Bad Magic

Queensrÿche – Condition Hüman

W.A.S.P. – Golgotha

Europe – War Of Kings

Tribulation – The Children Of The Night

Saxon – Battering Ram

Comment: Another strong year to my ears, even if it's still on a slight downfall (again). At this pace however, it will be a few years till metal is truly gone to shitters again. I must admit though, I did not have as much focus on releases during this year than the years before. So much happened in my life last year, so I just didn't have the same time to discover music, and thus I don't really have an overall picture of what the year provided as a whole, but I really enjoyed these albums at least.