Our survey for the Top 75 Metal Albums of All Time offered a fascinating look inside the record collections of some prominent metal musicians. In the aftermath of Metal Week here on Consequence, we’re pulling back the curtain on some of those survey results to reveal some of our favorite Top 5 lists from those who contributed, such as Baroness’ Gina Gleason, whose Top 5 we featured earlier this week.
Next up, we’ve got a couple of modern doom-metal auteurs in Joseph D. Rowland and Brett Campbell of Pallbearer.
Their respective top fives shine a light on the doom metal albums that influenced their own romantic take on the genre. There’s also some interesting parallels between the two: each share an affinity for fellow Arkansas act Rwake’s 2004 album If You Walk Before You Crawl, You Crawl Before You Die — an album of importance in Pallbearer’s history — and both Campbell and Rowland ultimately chose a heavy metal titan as their No. 1 pick.
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Check out their full lists below.
Joseph D. Rowland (bass/vocals/synthesizer)
5. Meshuggah – Catch Thirtythree (2005)
I have virtually no interest in the innumerable imitators they’ve spawned, but Meshuggah themselves are such a fascinating alien-machine-like entity, I listen to them quite often. Choosing a favorite is tough, but this album is the one that I probably return to most.
4. Saint Vitus – Die Healing (1995)
I adore this record, a comeback of sorts from the legendary doom forefathers. It’s menacing and desperate, with a touch of melodrama and rawness that I’ve never heard anyone else replicate well, and though they’ve never been a technical band, what they accomplish here through simplicity and vibe is gritty perfection.
3. Rwake – If You Walk Before You Crawl, You Crawl Before You Die (2004)
To this day, still one of the most important records in my personal history (Pallbearer most certainly would not exist without a deep obsession with the song “Dying Spiral Galaxies”). Rwake embodies the role of “YES if they were evil rednecks instead of British bookworms” so handily here that they become an undeniable gravitational force.
2. Asunder – A Clarion Call (2004)
This beautifully apocalyptic album has been massively influential on my songwriting over the years. Simultaneously harmonious, foreboding, and timeless, it encompasses virtually everything that I love about doom metal, with a heavy emphasis on the DOOM aspect.
1. Judas Priest – Stained Class (1978)
Judas Priest is super important to me and it’s so tough for me to narrow down one particular album of theirs, but this is probably the one I’d pinpoint for the earliest, most fun and anthemic distillation of their iconic and cunty leather anthems!
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