Best metal of the 2000s

A lot of people have been throwing up “best of the decade” lists, so I thought I’d take a shot at what I probably know the most about: Metal music. I’ve spent some time thinking about these entries, so maybe it’s a bit late to cash in on the “best of 2000s” trend, but who cares. I do this mostly for myself, anyway.

I do consider myself a metalhead – a very picky one, at that, and more a fan of the 90s than the past 10 years, but on the other hand I think there’s been a lot of good music this decade, so I thought I’d put up some of the bands/albums that really stuck out for me as good. These are in alphabetical order, by band name – anyone hoping for a top 10 will have to look elsewhere!

Enslaved. Norwegian progressive black metal, as I usually call it. They started out as “just another” black metal band in the mid-90s, but have become increasingly unique and distinct as time passed on. Their 1998 album Blodhemn started marking their new sound, which has grown and developed since then. While I didn’t really like their latest album (Vertebrae, 2008), Isa (2004) and RUUN (2006) are real masterpieces and a true testiment to the fact that black metal is anything but boring, mind-numbing and grinding music.

Gojira – From Mars to Sirius. This album is one of the very few that I can’t really put in any specific subgenre of metal. It sounds like a mix of doom, black and death metal, which is quite unique. It succeeds very well in creating lots of different soundscapes and still relying mostly on the standard instrument lineup. I also think these guys have to be commended for creating metal that should be very accessible for people new to metal as well as something that can please the more old-school fans.

Immortal – Damned in Black and Sons of Northern Darkness. Immortal, being one of the old and classic black metal bands still around, went into the 2000s unlike any other band I know. While many were watering out their sound, adding clean vocals and synths (mostly in the vein of Dimmu Borgir), and others were just doing the same stuff over and over again without any sense of originality, Immortal surprised me with two absolutely brilliant albums that I would easily cite as their best. Triumph, the opening track to Damned in Black is my absolute favourite. Damned in Black really did perfect their sound in my opinion, while Sons of Northern Darkness created something new that really works in its own way. I didn’t think all that much of All Shall Fall, but that doesn’t stop me from including these two masterpieces on this list.

Megadeth – or just Dave Mustaine. He is one of those 80s metal heroes who really have succeeded in continuing to put out good albums. Not great – nothing that could ever compare to Megadeth’s older albums, in my opinion, but still good. I can’t say that for any other 80s metal bands, really. An inclusion on this list for a solid, true to his roots performance by Dave Mustaine.

Nile and Behemoth. I had to put them both on the list and on the same spot because these two bands introduced me into the realms of brutal death metal in 2007 when Nile released Ithyphallic and Behemoth released The Apostasy. In my opinion, these albums took brutal death metal to a new, more epic level. Maybe it could be considered a bit of a sellout, but if you don’t think their recent albums are brutal enough, then you’re probably having problems finding music that’s brutal enough anyway. I also have to mention that while I think Behemoth improved with Evangelion, Nile’s Those Whom the Gods Detest wasn’t as impressive as the previous album. In any case, these two bands get a spot on my list.

Strapping Young Lad – or Devin Townsend. Much like Gojira, SYL has made music that’s more mainstream than most of what I listen to, but it’s still great music. I’m not sure what it is, but it might be some perfect mix between brutality and emotion in their music that sells it for me. I don’t know what else to write, I’d just like to point you to my favourite song of theirs: Love? (if you can, get the CD, Alien – this is one of those albums where you really need the extra sound quality, in my opinion.)

That should just about do it. There are a few omissions I should probably mention – Opeth, my favourite band, produced my favourite album, Blackwater Park, in 2001, but I feel they should best be complimented as a band as the best thing to come out of the past 20 years. This list is too puny for them! Tool could probably be on the list, making two incredibly great albums this decade, but I don’t really consider them metal, so I left them out. Wintersun could be complimented for creating just about the only power metal album I like, Arcturus could be mentioned for creating the absolutely amazing and 100% unique Sham Mirrors, and Katatonia could be included for Night is the New Day, one of the few doom metal albums I actually like (which says a lot, if you ask me) – but those felt more like personal things, not so much things to be put on a best-of list for the decade.

EDIT: I should also mention Emperor’s Prometheus – The Discipline of Fire and Demise (2001), which is another favourite album of mine, but it wasn’t included mostly because Emperor disbanded right after releasing it. So in many ways, it feels to me more of a bookend to the 90s than a 2000s album. Doesn’t make it any less awesome, though!

So let’s hear it from you. What defined this decade in metal for you? Is there something I should have included? Is there something I shouldn’t have included? Let’s hear it.