I love metal. It's the music that I can truly relate to, and I listen to most of the sub-genres. 2009 had a few great metal albums, and I decided to write down my favourite albums of 2009 here on Gamespot (mainly because I have nothing to do today).

5. Dream Theater -- Black Clouds and Silver Linings

While this CD isn't one of Dream Theater's best, it's still pretty darn good. It has a good mix of songs and they all sound distinctly like Dream Theater. More Dream Theater is NEVER a bad thing.

4. Megadeth -- Endgame

A brilliantly thrashy album. Mustaine does a good job with the vocals and the guitars are appropriately aggressive. Megadeth is still relevant, even after such a long time in the music business.

3. Lamb of God -- Wrath

One of my favourite Lamb of God albums. This baby starts off with a soothing instrumental introduction, and then continues with a brutal beating, right until the very end. Randy Blythe's harsh screams are as amazingly done as ever, and the guitar duo of Mark Morton and Willie Adler are characteristically melodic and heavy. The drums and bass are also solid, as usual.

2. Mastodon -- Crack the Skye

I have always thought that Mastodon is a good band, but never a great one. I found their music to be a little too sloppy for my taste, and even though I listened to their older stuff, I didn't put it in my playlists above most other things. Crack the Skye has totally changed my view of Mastodon. This album is incredible and every metalhead should check it out. It's much more melodic and a lot cleaner (both the vocals and the instruments) than Mastodon's previous efforts, which made it a lot easier for me to listen to. Headbangers owe it to themselves to pick this CD up(The album art alone is worth the purchase).

1. Katatonia -- Night Is the New Day

An absolutely brilliant album. It has heavy riffs and beautifully haunting vocals. The musicianship on this album is stellar. It is worth going out to buy right this instant. Go. Now.