Introduction
“Exhume to Consume” was my working title for the second story in my new duology, Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation; unfortunately, the title already belongs to a song from Carcass’s Symphonies of Sickness (which is included on this list). Like many of the pieces in my collection Darkest Hours, this new story owes something to the atmosphere and imagery of death metal and black metal. I’ve listed and (very, very roughly) ranked my 100 favorite metal albums below.
The list
- Godflesh, Streetcleaner (1989)
- Black Sabbath, Vol. 4 (1972)
- Mercyful Fate, Don't Break the Oath (1984)
- Judas Priest, Killing Machine (1978)
- Dio, Holy Diver (1983)
- Carcass, Reek of Putrefaction (1988)
- Obituary, Slowly We Rot (1989)
- Bathory, The Return of the Darkness and Evil (1985)
- Alice Cooper, Brutal Planet (2000)
- Motörhead, Overkill (1979)
- Judas Priest, Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)
- Black Sabbath, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
- Godflesh, Us and Them (1999)
- Judas Priest, Screaming for Vengeance (1982)
- Mercyful Fate, Melissa (1983)
- Bathory, Bathory (1984)
- Slayer, Show No Mercy (1983)
- Iron Maiden, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
- Napalm Death, Scum (1987)
- Sodom, Obsessed by Cruelty (1986)
- Godflesh, Pure (1992)
- Darkthrone, A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)
- Dissection, The Somberlain (1993)
- Emperor, In the Nightside Eclipse (1994)
- Mayhem, De mysteriis dom Sathanas (1994)
- Godflesh, Hymns (2001)
- Burzum, Burzum (1992)
- Ministry, The Land of Rape and Honey (1988)
- Possessed, Seven Churches (1985)
- Rotting Christ, Thy Mighty Contract (1993)
- Death, Scream Bloody Gore (1987)
- Iron Maiden, Somewhere in Time (1986)
- Black Sabbath, Mob Rules (1981)
- Venom, Black Metal (1982)
- Manilla Road, Open the Gates (1985)
- Beherit, Drawing Down the Moon (1993)
- Motörhead, Motörhead (1977)
- Metal Church, Metal Church (1984)
- Immortal, Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (1992)
- Morbid Angel, Altars of Madness (1989)
- Judas Priest, British Steel (1980)
- Darkthrone, Under a Funeral Moon (1993)
- Black Sabbath, Paranoid (1970)
- Repulsion, Horrified (1989)
- Rainbow, Rising (1976)
- Scorn, Vae Solis (1992)
- Sarcófago, I.N.R.I. (1987)
- Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (1970)
- Celtic Frost, To Mega Therion (1985)
- Candlemass, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986)
- Gorgoroth, Pentagram (1994)
- Burzum, Det som engang var (1993)
- Judas Priest, Sin After Sin (1977)
- Bathory, Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987)
- Greymachine, Disconnected (2009)
- Darkthrone, Transilvanian Hunger (1994)
- Black Sabbath, Master of Reality (1971)
- Kreator, Endless Pain (1985)
- Saxon, Wheels of Steel (1980)
- Disembowelment, Transcendence into the Peripheral (1993)
- Testament, The Legacy (1987)
- Judas Priest, Stained Class (1978)
- Witchfinder General, Death Penalty (1982)
- Uriah Heep, Look at Yourself (1971)
- Bathory, Blood Fire Death (1988)
- Slayer, Reign in Blood (1986)
- Nocturnus, The Key (1991)
- Celtic Frost, Into the Pandemonium (1987)
- King Diamond, Fatal Portrait (1986)
- Onslaught, Power from Hell (1985)
- Grim Reaper, See You in Hell (1984)
- Deep Purple, In Rock (1970)
- Lou Reed & Metallica, Lulu (2011)
- Eyehategod, In the Name of Suffering (1992)
- Bulldozer, The Day of Wrath (1985)
- Metallica, Kill ‘Em All (1983)
- Carcass, Symphonies of Sickness (1989)
- Deicide, Deicide (1990)
- Jag Panzer, Ample Destruction (1984)
- Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden (1980)
- Motörhead, Bomber (1979)
- JK Flesh, Posthuman (2012)
- Alice Cooper, Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987)
- Rob Zombie, Hellbilly Deluxe (1998)
- Carcass, Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)
- Cirith Ungol, One Foot in Hell (1986)
- Autopsy, Severed Survival (1989)
- Marilyn Manson, Antichrist Superstar (1996)
- Hallows Eve, Tales of Terror (1985)
- Destruction, Infernal Overkill (1985)
- Saint Vitus, Saint Vitus (1984)
- Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz (1980)
- Hirax, Raging Violence (1985)
- Pestilence, Malleus Maleficarum (1988)
- Fudge Tunnel, Hate Songs in E Minor (1991)
- Satan, Court in the Act (1983)
- Scorpions, In Trance (1976)
- Pitchshifter, Industrial (1991)
- Exodus, Bonded by Blood (1985)
- Possessed, Beyond the Gates (1986)
Biography
Mike Thorn is the author of Darkest Hours and Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation. His fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies and podcasts, including Dark Moon Digest, The NoSleep Podcast, Turn to Ash and Tales to Terrify. His film criticism has been published in MUBI Notebook, The Film Stage, The Seventh Row, Bright Lights Film Journal and Vague Visages. He completed his M.A. with a major in English literature at the University of Calgary, where he wrote a thesis on epistemophobia in John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness. Visit his website (mikethornwrites.com) and connect with him on Twitter (@MikeThornWrites).
Yasssssss! To the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son! 🤘🏻👏🏻👏🏻