10 Greatest Debut Albums In Metal

Metal as a genre has been an ever-evolving monster. Ever since the darker side of hard rock reared its ugly head in the early '70s, metalheads across the world have found ways to twist the demonic chords into something much more vicious for years now. Then again, you're never as young and hungry as you are when you're first starting out.

From metal's inception in the '70s to just a few years ago, metal musicians have really hit the ground running with some of the most awe-inspiring debuts in history. Whether it's the amazing licks or the high register of the lead singer, there was something about these acts that made them virtually impossible to turn away from. A few of these respective albums turned out so well that they ignited whole new genres to follow after them, be it nu metal, thrash, or even the heavier sides of grunge.

No matter what kind of other genres they may have taken from, there's no mistaking the metallic chops on these records, complete with riffs that can still get a pit started to this day. While there are still probably tons of people wishing that metal would just go away, young kids like these were always there to spread the dark gospel to anyone within earshot...

As the years have gone on, many of the old guard of metalheads can get snobbish about the dark genre they love. Even though acts like Avenged Sevenfold and Bring Me the Horizon were setting the bar for what metal would sound like later on down the line, there always seemed to be that missing link that people just couldn't get down with. Every so often though, an act like Ghost comes along with a sound that we can all universally agree kick ass.

Then again, it feels weird even putting Opus Eponymous in the category of a straight-ahead metal affair. Make no mistake, the look and feel of Papa Emeritus is the stuff of metal legends, with the anti-religious garb and the assemble of ghouls that adorn the stage. On the other hand, this record has a lot more going on that's closer to the stone age of metal, with songs that feel like they have more than a passing similarity to something like Deep Purple, albeit through the chamber music lens that only Ghost can pull off.

Compared to the other metalcore acts coming down the pipeline at the end of the '00s, this was the first of its kind to feel both rooted in the past while also offering something entirely. Little did we know that we had just scratched the surface of Ghost's dark magic.