Classic Albums, Reviewed
The records from before 2023 the editors went back to, best first.
55 reviews
8.5
Amenra
Mass VI
Six pieces of grief that weigh more than any riff on them.
Ilse Brandt
Oct 19, 2026
8.5
Queensryche
Promised Land
A platinum band spent its fortune on silence, and was right to.
Julien Vasseur
Oct 16, 2026
8.5
Saxon
Wheels of Steel
The album that bought a career, and still sounds like it knew.
Declan Rourke
Aug 1, 2026
8.5
Kataklysm
Serenity in Fire
If you want grim-sounding, self-admittedly groove-infused death metal with blasting drums and intelligible growls, then...
Rafael Quintero
Feb 28, 2022
8.0
Borknagar
The Archaic Course
A blade pulled from the quench too soon, keen everywhere except two notches.
Eirik Solvang
Oct 26, 2026
8.0
Alcest
Spiritual Instinct
The dream smashed on the floor, every shard reflecting a familiar face.
Eirik Solvang
Oct 25, 2026
8.0
Blut aus Nord
MoRT
Black metal on an iron lung, breathing on schedule, never once alive.
Eirik Solvang
Oct 23, 2026
8.0
Hypocrisy
A Taste of Extreme Divinity
A career's bones, exhumed and shelved in order, without a single new one.
Andrzej Sawicki
Oct 23, 2026
8.0
Dark Tranquillity
Where Death Is Most Alive
A wake for a doomed club, played loud enough to rouse its dead.
Rafael Quintero
Oct 23, 2026
8.0
Devin Townsend
Order of Magnitude: Empath Live Volume 1
Ten players, no click track, and a dense arrangement that survives daylight.
Julien Vasseur
Oct 23, 2026
8.0
Slayer
Decade of Aggression
The classic four's flight recorder, left unedited and still screaming.
Declan Rourke
Oct 22, 2026
8.0
Cradle of Filth
Existence Is Futile
The old score, played louder, in an opera house on fire.
Andrzej Sawicki
Oct 22, 2026
8.0
Dream Theater
A View from the Top of the World
Magnificent at altitude, and wedged exactly where the last climb stopped.
Julien Vasseur
Oct 22, 2026
8.0
Nine Inch Nails
Pretty Hate Machine
Synth-pop wired to a car battery, dated in sound and timeless in nerve.
Curtis Vance
Oct 19, 2026
8.0
Deicide
Serpents of the Light
Thirty minutes of Tampa death metal with the hooks left in.
Rafael Quintero
Oct 19, 2026
8.0
Melvins
Stoner Witch
A major label paid for the volume and had to take the madness too.
Ilse Brandt
Oct 16, 2026
8.0
Besieged
Violence Beyond All Reason
BESIEGED have returned from the metal cosmos with “Violence Beyond All Reason” and it’s been worth the wait. Their signa...
Declan Rourke
Jun 14, 2022
7.5
GWAR
War Party
GWAR's heaviest manifesto, loud at the rally, thin by the last stop.
Declan Rourke
Oct 26, 2026
7.5
Unleashed
The Hunt for White Christ
Thirteenth crossing, same oars, and eight songs still draw blood.
Rafael Quintero
Oct 26, 2026
7.5
Sepultura
The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart
A young drummer smashes the clock; the middle of the record keeps punching it.
Saint Sylveszter
Oct 25, 2026
7.5
God Dethroned
The Toxic Touch
The blasts were traded for songs, and the songs won.
Andrzej Sawicki
Oct 19, 2026
7.5
Soilwork
Sworn to a Great Divide
A great voice inside a machine built to repeat itself.
Andrzej Sawicki
Oct 17, 2026
7.5
Doro
Raise Your Fist
Too long by three songs, and stronger than it had any need to be.
Declan Rourke
Oct 17, 2026
7.5
Soulfly
Ritual
Familiar groove, no surprises, and the pit still goes down.
Jonah Pike
Oct 17, 2026