Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’ (1982).But then go back and listen to the first 4 Metallica albums – they’re just as good. “Enter Sandman”, “Sad but True”, “Wherever I May Roam” and “Of Wolf and Man” are perfect entry points if you’re looking for something easy to digest, but genuinely metal at the same time. Where else is a better place than by discussing perhaps the most successful metal album ever, to be written and released by any band in the heavy metal world? Not only has Metallica’s eponymous 1991 album been credited as the reason why some of today’s contemporary metal heavyweights exist in the first place ( Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine just to name a couple), ‘Metallica’ sports a selection of heavy rock anthems that are still celebrated decades after they were first heard. Please note that these 20 records have not been ranked in terms of their appropriateness, and with that in mind, let’s begin… Compiled below is a list of twenty albums that reach across the entire spectrum of heavy metal music, from vast progressive instrumentation to songs about general blood and guts. With only a very little knowledge of the genre they want to become a fan of, as well as a burning passion to be a fan of that genre of music, the fan in question takes his or her first steps into that musical world. When it comes to heavy metal, or any genre of music for that matter, everyone starts at square one.

New metal albums