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.

Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory

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

1/13

Operation: Mindcrime

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

2/13

The Human Equation

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

3/13

Crack the Skye

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

4/13

Keeper of the Seven Keys

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

5/13

Streets: A Rock Opera

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

6/13

Imaginations from the Other Side

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

7/13

Colors

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

8/13

The Black Halo

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

9/13

Leviathan

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

10/13

Something Wicked This Way Comes

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

11/13

The Wake

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

12/13

Dante XXI

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

13/13