Throwback: 10 Best Metal Albums Of 2000

Metal titans Godsmack hurtled to success with their second album, "Awake." Tracks Sick of Life and Awake were even used for the US Navy's recruitment campaigns, giving metal the nod of recognition as a valid genre that it truly needed.

Godsmack actually converted a rural warehouse into a makeshift studio for the recording of "Awake," wanting to stay away from "luxury" in order to have a more authentic writing and recording process. As a result, there truly is nothing luxury about this release, but far from being detrimental, it only adds to the band's rugged approach to music.

With guitars so downtuned they're basically engulfed in the earth's crust and catchy drum fills that occupy the small voids between riffs perfectly, "Awake" is entirely immersive as an album, being their best offering to date. Subsequent releases have never quite hit the successes of "Awake" despite Godsmack still being an entirely relevant and successful band.

It's therefore hard to believe that Godsmack started their career as an embarrassing tribute to heroin-afflicted grunge metal group, Alice in Chains. The name of the band is an Alice in Chains song, and fronted by an all-time superfan. With "Awake" they forged their own path, and made their own recognisable sound, despite still taking heavy influence for riffs and song structure from the likes of Metallica and, you guessed it, Alice in Chains.