What is the best concept metal album of all time?

From Operation: Mindcrime's political thriller to Scenes from a Memory's time-travel tale, concept albums allowed metal bands to tell epic, immersive stories across a full record. Vote for the best metal concept album ever made.

1

Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory

Dream Theater's 1999 murder mystery concept album told through 77 minutes of intricate progressive metal storytelling.

2

Operation: Mindcrime

Queensrÿche's 1988 concept album following Nikki, a drug-addicted assassin caught in a web of political corruption.

3

The Human Equation

Ayreon's 2004 rock opera featuring 14 guest vocalists exploring the psyche of a man in a coma.

4

Crack the Skye

Mastodon's 2009 album exploring astral travel, paraplegics, and Rasputin through progressive metal virtuosity.

5

Keeper of the Seven Keys

Helloween's 1987-1988 two-part power metal fantasy epic that set the template for narrative-driven European metal.

6

Streets: A Rock Opera

Savatage's 1991 progressive metal rock opera following a drug dealer's redemption arc through vivid musical theater.

7

Imaginations from the Other Side

Blind Guardian's 1995 progressive power metal epic drawing from literature and mythology in complex narrative form.

8

Colors

Between the Buried and Me's 2007 conceptual progressive metalcore opus spanning multiple genres in 74 minutes.

9

The Black Halo

Kamelot's 2005 dramatic concept album concluding the Ariel saga with operatic grandeur and emotional devastation.

10

Leviathan

Mastodon's 2004 concept album based on Moby Dick exploring obsession and the clash between man and nature.

11

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Iced Earth's 1998 three-part concept suite exploring a prophecy of apocalyptic evil through American power metal.

12

The Wake

Voivod's 2018 sci-fi concept album continuing their tradition of science fiction-inspired progressive metal.

13

Dante XXI

Sepultura's 2006 concept album based on Dante's Divine Comedy, fusing groove metal and experimental sounds.