Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Albums of the Past 25 Years

Sun Beast, by Sun Beast (heavy rock, full-length, physical CD available, released July 13, 2018, Brentwood, California)



Favourite track: Freebo

 

Tool - undertow
Tool - aenima
Faith No More - album of the year
Audioslave
Bruce Dickinson - chemical wedding
Iron Maiden - a matter of life and death
Iron Maiden - book of souls
Michael Schenker - spirit on a mission
Stolen Babies - there be squabbles ahead
Tea Party - ocean at the end
Devin Townsend - deconstruction
Devin Townsend - epicloud
Uriah Heep - outsider

 

Ozzy - Ozzmosis
Megadeth - The World Needs A Hero
Iron Maiden - Brave New World
Judas Priest - Firepower
Black Sabbath - 13
Tool - Lateralus
Melvins - A Senile Animal
Anthrax - For All Kings
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Queensryche - Condition Human
System Of A Down - Mesmerize

 

Several I can think of in no order.
ASG-Blood Drive
ASG-Win Us Over
Tool-Larealus
Tool-Aenima
Truckfighters-V
Dissection-Reinkaos
Acid Witch-Witchtanic Hellucinations
Acid Witch-Stoned
John Arch-Twist Of Fate (EP)
Judas Priest-Firepower
Judas Priest-Nostradamus
Just some thst come to mind quickly.

 

Psychotic Waltz - Mosquito
Queensryche - Promised Land
Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson - all releases
Anathema - Judgement
Ark - Burn the Sun
Conception - In Your Multitude
Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane
Evergrey - In Search of Truth
Symphony X - V: The New Mythology Suite
Fates Warning - Inside Out

 

1. The Sword - Age of Winters
2. The Sword - Gods of the Earth
3. The Sword - Warp Riders
4. The Sword - Apocryphon
5. Beastmaker - Lusus Naturae
6. Beastmaker - Inside the Skull
7. Fuzz - Fuzz
8. Fuzz - II
9. Fu Manchu - Gigantoid
10. Wo Fat - Psychedelonaut
11. White Zombie - Astro Creep 2000
12. Venom - Resurrection
13. Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age
14. Monster Magnet - Powertrip
15. Metallica - Garage Inc

 

Brutal Truth - Need to Control
Type O Negative - World Coming Down
Down - NOLA
Carcass Heartwork

 

Many that I would have picked were already said. I will add

Alter Bridge - Blackbird
The Winery Dogs - Self Titled

There are certainly more but can’t think now

 

Pantera - Far Beyond Driven
Motorhead - Sacrifice
Van Halen - Balance
Rush - Counterparts
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Motley Crue - Self titled
Metallica - Death Magnetic
White Zombie - Astro Creep
Buckcherry - Self titled
The Darkness - One Ticket To Hell And Back
The Sword - Age Of Winter
Baroness - Blue Record
Iron Maiden - Brave New World
Foo Fighters- The Colour and The Shape
Saxon - Dogs Of War
KISS - Carnival Of Souls
Tesla - Bust A Nut
Sepultura - Chaos AD
Black Country Comunion - BCC
The Winery Dogs - Self titled
Rush - Vapor Trails
Dragonforce - Valley Of The Damned
Richie Kotzen - Into The Black
AC/DC - Ballbreaker
Tool - Just pick one
Extreme - Waiting For The Punchline
Andrew WK - I Get Wet
Uncle Acid - Blood Lust

 

Lots of good picks. I'll add these...

Mastadon - "Leviathan"
Disturbed - "The Sickness"
Korn - "Follow the Leader"
RATM - "Battle of Los Angeles"
Tremonti - "All I Was"

 

Focusing on more recent releases (~10 years ago or fewer), I second Ivand's recommendation of Baroness's Blue Album, and would also recommend two other Baroness records, Purple and Yellow & Green. I also recommend a few more not already mentioned here:

Royal Thunder - Crooked Doors (terrific female vocalist)
Uncle Acid - The Night Creeper
Ghost - Meliora

Going a little farther back toward the turn of the millennium, I really like the stuff from The Gathering with Anneke, particularly if_then_else. I strongly recommend Blind Guardian's albums for those of you who like traditional metal; start with the "Live" album for a great performance of their "biggest hits" (i.e., fan favorites). And Opeth's Ghost Reveries!

 

Firebird - S/T, Deluxe, Number 3, Hot Wings, Grand Union, Double Diamond
Gentlemen's Pistols - S/T, At Her Majesty's Pleasure, Hustler's Row
Spiritual Beggars - Ad Astra; On Fire, Sunrise to Sundown
The Sword - Warp Riders, Apocryphon
Baroness - Red , Blue, Purple
Zakk Wylde - Book of Shadows
UFO- Walk on Water
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Mind Control
The Paybacks - Love, Not Reason, Harder and Harder
The Muggs - On With the Show
Graveyard - Hisingen Blues
Mount Carmel - S/T
Kadaver - S/T

 

Clutch - s/t
Carcass - Heartwork
Cannibal Corpse - The Bleeding
Mastodon - Leviathan
High on Fire - Surrounded by Thieves
Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
Brutal Truth - Sounds of the Animal Kingdom
Snot - s/t
Hate Eternal - Conquering the Throne
Morbid Angel - Covenant
At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
Cryptopsy - None So Vile
Dead Horse - Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers
Gwar - This Toilet Earth
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Napalm Death - Diatribes
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf

 

Megadeth - Dystopia was great. I think it's their best album since Rust in Peace.

MEGADETH – DYSTOPIA ALBUM REVIEW – Green and Black Music

 

Love your choices, especially these.

 

Not only is Superunknown my #1 pick—it’s probably the only such album I own within that time frame.

 

Many good entries here listed, I will add D Generation- No Lunch and Through the Darkness.
Great albums and they were a great band to see live during that time.
Will add more after some more coffee

Edit: Motorhead - The World is Yours. Pretty much anything they put out in that time frame.

 

Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue

 

So many different styles of hard rock/metal came out over the last 25 years, it's hard to choose. Some good ones mentioned already, I'll try and add a few others.

Testament - The Gathering
Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance
Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World
The Gathering - How To Measure a Planet
Candiria - 300% Density
Paul Gilbert - Fuzz Universe
Trivium - Ascendency
Living Colour - Stain
King's X - Dogman
Dream Theater - Awake
Pantera - Far Beyond Driven
COC - Deliverance
In Flames - The Jester Race
Cradle of Filth - Midian
Dillinger Escape Plan - Under the Running Board
Angel Dust - Enlighten The Darkness
Isis - Panopticon
Killswitch Engage - End of the Heartache
Clutch - Blast Tyrant
Gojira - From Mars to Sirius

 

Had a tough time narrowing anything down. My favs since 1993, in no order:

Hard Rock/Alternative:

Nirvana - In Utero
Alice In Chains - Alice In Chains; Black Gives Way to Blue
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf; Rated R
Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire; The Battle for Los Angeles
Deftones - White Pony; Diamond Eyes; Koi No Yokan
A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms
Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters; The Colour and the Shape; Wasting Light
Ghost - Opus Enonymous; Infestissumam; Meliora; Prequelle

Metal/Prog Metal
Kyuss - Kyuss
King’s X - Dogman
Dream Theater - Awake; Metropolis 2000: Scenes from a Memory
Pantera - Far Beyond Driven; The Great Southern Trendkill
Symphony X - Divine Wings of Tragedy; V: The New Mythology; The Odyssey; Paradise Lost; Iconoclast; The Underworld
Between the Buried and Me - Colors; The Great Misdirect; Parallax II: The Future Sequence
Tool - Aenima; Lateralus
Opeth - Blackwater Park; Ghost Reveries, Deliverance, Watershed
Mastodon - Blood Mountain; Leviathan; Crack the Skye
System of a Down - Toxicity
Periphery - Periphery II
Protest the Hero - Fortress
Devin Townsend/Project - Ocean Machine, Terria, Accelerated Evolution, Addicted, Deconstruction, Epicloud, Trascendence, Ziltoid
Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty; Low Teens
Elder - Dead Roots Stirring; Lore; Reflections of a Floating World

 

Nevermore - Dead Heart In A Dead World
Fozzy - All That Remains
Stuck Mojo - Declaration Of A Headhunter
Living Colour - Stain
Mr. Big - Bump Ahead
Anthrax - Sound Of White Noise
Suicidal Tendemcies - Suicidal For Life
COC - Wiseblood
King’s X - Dogmam
AIC - s/t
Porcupines Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet

 

I think Probot deserves a mention.

 

Just reading the names of the bands and album titles is entertaining.

 

Norwegian band palyed some great catchy/hooky/powerful stuff, they had many influences in genres of glam rock, hard rock, punk rock.
Turbonegro - Apocalypse Dudes (album)
I always felt this band should have been higher up in the music/hard rock chain of the mid-to-late 90's and into the new century, they had a very competent band, great guitar players (2), and musically very good chops/riffs, songwriting, IMO of course. Anyway you look at it these guys and this album especially belong in best hard rock/ heavy metal albums of last 25 years.
Think Queen, AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Ramones, Motorhead, good time rock n roll,
Have a look n listen if you haven't heard em. And pick up an album or a few.

 

Which ones?