What is the best metal album of the 1990s?

The 1990s saw metal fracture into countless subgenres — from the Black Album to Norwegian black metal, groove metal, death metal, and experimental prog. Which metal album from the 1990s stands above all others?

1

Metallica (Black Album)

Metallica's 1991 self-titled album that became one of the best-selling albums of all time by stripping back their thrash roots.

2

Vulgar Display of Power

Pantera's 1992 groove metal titan that made them the biggest metal band in the world with relentless sonic aggression.

3

Ænima

Tool's 1996 masterwork expanding their sound with longer, more psychedelic compositions and existential themes.

4

Symbolic

Death's 1995 progressive death metal pinnacle, the most melodically accessible and technically refined album of Chuck Schuldiner's career.

5

Human

Death's 1991 technical death metal landmark that recruited jazz and fusion musicians to push the genre's boundaries.

6

Slaughter of the Soul

At the Gates' 1995 melodic death metal classic that inspired an entire generation of bands from The Haunted to In Flames.

7

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

Mayhem's 1994 definitive black metal album recorded under tragic circumstances and forged in true Norwegian darkness.

8

Rust in Peace

Megadeth's 1990 technical thrash masterpiece with Marty Friedman and Nick Menza in their most inspired performances.

9

Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory

Dream Theater's 1999 concept album that stands as the apex of progressive metal ambition.

10

Operation: Mindcrime

Queensrÿche's 1988 concept album that remained the decade's gold standard for progressive metal storytelling.

11

Heartwork

Carcass' 1993 melodic death metal breakthrough that added melody and guitar solos to brutal death metal's formula.

12

Chaos A.D.

Sepultura's 1993 pivot to groove and world music, capturing the political turbulence of Max Cavalera's homeland.

13

Storm of the Light's Bane

Dissection's 1995 cold melodic black metal classic still regarded as one of the most hauntingly beautiful extreme metal records.

14

Burn My Eyes

Machine Head's 1994 debut that combined thrash precision with groove metal weight to devastating effect.

15

Cowboys from Hell

Pantera's 1990 album that introduced their revolutionary groove metal sound and marked the start of a new metal era.