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Albums That I Like:

Facelift

album cover for Facelift by Alice In Chains

While it's not my favourite Alice In Chains record, Facelift is really no slouch. One of the most powerful debut albums I've ever heard.
Expertly written, performed and mixed to create such a disgusting atmosphere, as though the music is actually slathered in mud and gravel.

Favourites from this album are: We Die Young, It Ain't Like That, and Sunshine.

Dirt

album cover for Dirt by Alice In Chains

Everything that Facelift has, Dirt does better. A better mix, guitar tone, drum sound, EVERYTHING is better on this album. I really like that the songs are less afraid to breathe and have a little space, it really makes the louder parts hit a lot harder.

Favourites from this album are: Rain When I Die, Junkhead, Dirt, Angry Chair, and Would?.

Jar Of Flies

album cover for Jar Of Flies by Alice In Chains

Only recently dethroning Dirt as my favourite Alice In Chains album, Jar Of Flies is potentially the most depressed album I've ever had the good fortune to hear.
Okay, TECHNICALLY it's an EP, but do you really care? At the end of the day, it's all still prime music for the absolute worst day of your life.

Favourites from this album are : Rotten Apple, I Stay Away, No Excuses, Whale & Wasp, Don't Follow, and Swing On This.

System Of A Down RoundUp

album cover for System Of A Down's Debut Album album cover for Toxicity by System Of A Down album cover for Steal This Album by System Of A Down album cover for Mezmerize by System Of A Down album cover for Hypnotize by System Of A Down

"Gosh, Lou, I really have no idea how you got yourself out of the alt-right pipeline." - said nobody ever. Aggressively leftist alt metal out of Armenia.
Raw, unencumbered and largely unpolished. I really do appreciate when somebody isn't afraid to scream their political stance super obviously.
Steal This Album is probably my favourite but it's a bit like choosing a favourite child.

Favourites from this set of albums are: Know, Shimmy, Innervision, Violent Pornography, and Tentative.

Operation Doomsday

album cover for Operation Doomsday by MF DOOM

Little change of pace from all the metal and grunge. As with any culture-larping white guy, I really like MF DOOM's work. I love his very conversational and laid-back style. It really sounds like he's just genuinely just in the room telling you his weird rambling story, especially with how earnestly enthused he sounds on this.

Favourites from this album are: The Finest, Go With The Flow, Hey!, and Gas Drawls.

MM...FOOD

album cover for MM...FOOD by MF DOOM

While it's arguably more consistent an experience compared to Operation Doomsday, I don't think MM...FOOD reaches quite the same height for me. Don't get me wrong though, it's still awesome. Big fan of the slightly angrier tone on this album. The sample choices are a little more abrasive here, and I like that a lot.

Favourites from this album are: Beef Rapp, Hoe Cakes, Deep Fried Frenz, Guinesses, Kon Queso, and Vomitspit.

Madvillainy

album cover for Madvillainy by MF DOOM and Madlib

You know, I think they're right when they say this is DOOM's Magnum Opus. Madlib's loose and strange production was built for DOOM's conversational flow. They combine wonderfully to create one of the most infectiously engaging albums I've ever heard.

Favourites from this album are: Meat Grinder, Raid, Sickfit, Money Folder, Figaro, Fancy Clown, Great Day, and Rhinestone Cowboy.

Born Like This

album cover for Born Like This by MF DOOM

I think my MF DOOM theory is that he sounds angrier on every album, and Born Like This really does prove that in my eyes. The production is much more energetic here and that pairs amazingly with how goddamn pissed off DOOM sounds on this.
Also, as an aside, I don't think BATTY BOYZ is that bad. I'm queer, I get to say that. Stop letting straight cisgender people dictate how you feel about it, dude.

Favourites from this album are: BALLSKIN, BATTY BOYZ, CELLZ, STILL DOPE, MORE RHYMIN' and THATS THAT.

Master Of Puppets

album cover for Master Of Puppets by Metallica

Pure unadulterated THRASH. It's goddamn DELICIOUS. Every song on this record is genuinely flawless, which I think you can attribute to various things. James, Kirk, and Cliff were all at what could be argued as their compositional heights. Plus, Lars actually had the audacity to practice around this time.

And I tell you what, if you like Battery, you'll love the Machine Head cover of it from The Blackening (2007).

Favourites from this album are: Battery, The Thing That Should Not Be, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Disposable Heroes, Leper Messiah, and Orion.

Slayer RoundUp

album cover for Reign In Blood by Slayer album cover for South Of Heaven by Slayer album cover for Seasons In The Abyss by Slayer

Y'know, sometimes you wake up and think "Gosh, I really want to hear a lead guitarist violently finger-blast the fretboard". Luckily, Slayer is here to fill that void. Every song, a blood-soaked poem from either a very desolate afterlife, or the path that led there. I'd argue it often does stray into an almost cringeworthy territory, but I love it all the more for it. There's a sort of juvenile quality to how flagrantly gore-spattered these songs can be.

"It's probably a song I would put on if I was actively driving to kill someone" - Gemi.inv's reaction after hearing Behind The Crooked Cross for the first time.

Favourites from this set of albums are: Angel Of Death, Raining Blood, South Of Heaven, Behind The Crooked Cross, War Ensemble, Seasons In The Abyss.