The other day was going to add 'Battles in the North' by Immortal and come back to the thread to see two other Immortal records added :)

Nice to see Sleep and Bathory get a mention and I recommend Dopesmoker and Blood Fire Death respectively.

Need some grindcore in this thread now and a classic I go back to is;

[YouTube]https://youtu.be/pJ2UTD9s9x8[/YouTube]

There were earlier grindcore albums but this is just perfect and I remember it getting slated upon release but there are some really catchy hooks and under the surface songmanship that would come out in later records.  There is a real playfulness and tongue in cheek humour to the lyrics and presentation that sadly spawned a billion imitators and shitty gross out grind / pornogrind who kind of didn't understand what this record was really about.

Also a really underated Death Metal album is Bolt Thrower's 'Realm of Chaos'

[YouTube]https://youtu.be/3uSM-ihNGHs[/YouTube]

It wasn't long after this that every single Death Metal album sounded the same Cong out of Morrisound in Florida and whilst I loved a lot of them this record stands out as being really heavy compared to them.  They had the 40K tie in and decades later it still sounds like the perfect soundtrack to eternal pointless war in a bleak fascist universe.  It sounds like thundering through deep space in a giant space hulk.  One that has definitely aged well for me.