And yes, before I’m asked to turn in my death metal license, I think all of these albums are great. I’d probably ask if you’re wearing a wire since it’s a little too perfect in a min/max sense. If you submitted this five-album list in this order, I wouldn’t, like, drop a Maki Itoh on you. Bolt Thrower – Realm Of Chaos: Slaves To Darkness To drive that home, Empath, a site that pulls data straight from Encyclopaedia Metallum, has a wisdom-of-the-masses section where it orders releases in each dominant metal style by combined review score. And this totally-not-arbitrary feature is key: Limiting the list to five albums turns the question into a puzzle with no definite solution.įor instance, simply rattling off the consensus “best” albums, those being the highest rated or reviewed, doesn’t cut it.
This is very serious stuff, after all, an all-time brainbuster worthy of Terence Tao, Johann Goethe, or Glen Benton. What’s your strategy? Because, yes, you will need a strategy. While it’s fun to see what albums you pick, I care less about the tunes and more about the thought process behind your selections. What five albums should I listen to and in what order? I’m calling this exercise the “five-album” list. And the follow-up question I have for you is even better.
If you have displaced useful knowledge (math) and skills (how to use math) with the complete lineup of Nihilist, step right the hell up. This is my gift to you, music nerds, those few, proud, likely broke obsessives who have spent years chiseling ex-member connections and “fun” album factoids into preciously finite chunks of brain meat. If I knew nothing about, what five albums should I listen to and in what order? Now, for a certain kind of metalhead at least, I think I’ve armed myself with a passable opener. Oh, but that was then, before I eureka’d myself into a powerful anecdote prospector. Not to brag, but as a chronically unconfident idiot cursed with a lifelong streak of shyness, I’m a legendarily bad conversationalist. As the world turns, and the day when I have to talk to real people in a real-world setting without a mute button draws nearer, I’ve been scrambling for small-talk icebreakers.