I think I made a list before, but that didn't have reasons or explanations, so here y'all go.
1. Vladimir Cochet (
Mirrorthrone,
Unholy Matrimony,
Weeping Birth)
I first heard A Scream to Express the
Hate of a Race after Carriers of
Dust came out. It stunned me. I then found of about his otyher bands, and also blown away. He takes everything that I want in music, and combines them all in perfection. Structure, atmosphere, technical proficiency, profound lyrics, avant-garde/classical influence. It is perfect in my eyes. And the part that it is just one man amazes me. The music itself combines
Brutality and beauty, creating a crushing feel alongside atmosphere. So many influences are throughout his works, it all seems strange. Placing it in avant-garde metal seems like the only sensible point; all three bands are unlike any other band I've ever heard. The Fecal
Rebellion remains my favourite song
Ever Since it came out.
2.
The Ocean While searching once on Wikipedia for
Sludge metal, I came across a strange genre name: post-metal. I pondered on the ridiculous name and then
Saw a band called "The
Ocean Collective". First I heard Hadean and I was amazed. Then I heard Rhyacian and was at loss for words. The heavy parts were crushing as
Hell, while the quiet parts were foreboding and chilling. Taking
Sludge, ambient, classical, jazz, and a billions other influences, this becomes a "Collective", hence the name. Every single one of their albums have been masterpieces, the first three were
Sludge while the last two were progressive metal.
3.
Rosetta I love post-rock, but I always feel that it is missing aggression.
Rosetta takes post-rock and amps it up a level. They give a spacey, uplifting atmosphere which accustom to post-rock, but with extremely talented drumming and growled vocals, it gives an immense emotional feel. The guitars, yet still technical in such, provide a powerful feel to the music as well. The bass sustains the rest of the music. Among all of this is beautiful lyrics.
4.
God Is An Astronaut Again, I love post-rock. These guys have given a pleasant and beautiful type of music that I have tried to find. The uplifting feel in their music is undeniably perfect. The
Ethereal feel makes you want to zone out and just imagine things. The pinnacle of post-rock along with Rosetta.
5.
Devil Doll Only for those who are willing to listen to long songs. A whole orchestra and band under the command of one man, Mr. Doctor. The instrumentation is perfect in line with the avant-garde structure, the lyrics are
Ominous and profound, and the vocals (though others may disagree) are spell-binding (the Sprechsegang). The music takes from almost every genre. Releasing his (final?) opus in 1997,
Dies Irae was the perfect album. 45 minutes of pure avant-garde beauty. It is odd though, as the music itself takes on a
Insane (in the literal meaning) feel to it.
6. Valery Av (Senmuth, Harmahis, NeNasty, Tenochtitlan)
Every genre. Every fucking genre. Over 130 releases, all great albums. How is anyone able to do this? This is one person! He produces everything! And everything is free! With great folk and ambient, he occasionally releases an extraordinary metal album. With his potential
Magnum opus (he releases a lot; he might make better, who knows) being Sebek, it is great. The album takes industrial, folk, ambient and
Doom Metal and creates the most unique metal album you'll ever hear. The techno/industrial albums are strange, but amazing. An extremely talented man Valery Av is, along with his partner Lefthander.
7. Immolation
My favourite
Death Metal band. It is technical, but not weely-deely.
Brutal, but not slam. Atmospheric, but not... uhh, something. The tempo is not too fast, not too slow. Ross Dolan's vocals are a example of great death growls. Releasing epics such as Close to a World Below, Here in After and Dawn of Possession, these guys are the pinnacle of death metal (my opinion). They have stayed consistent; every single one of their albums have been great to perfect.
8. Esoteric
Monumental. Psychedelic. Demonic. These are the words that describe this band. The average song length is about ~15-20 minutes while the average album length is far over an hour. A hopeless, nihilistic feel thrives in their music. Even intertwined in the funeral doom, there is death metal. At any moment, you can expect a brutal, crushing wave of death metal, only to die down to haunting funeral doom. Every album by them has been perfect in my eyes.
9. The Monolith Deathcult
They are not higher because they have released 2 meh albums, 1 good album, but in their discography lies the most amazing, unique piece of brutal death metal you'll ever hear. Trivmvirate starts out with some symphonic, techno rhythms, which then get enveloped by galloping drumming and crushing guitar. The music itself is not syrupy/symphonic-filled, but instead the symphonic elements only come in to enhance the atmosphere, thus not cutting away from getting your face melted inwards. They have released a new song (Aslimu) and it is making me hope for a new album by them.
10. Winterhorde
A new addition to my favourites. In 2010, these guys released Underwatermoon, a favourite album of mine now. Listening through the album, I reach the interlude. I find that it is perfect so far. Now the song becomes "The Curse of Gypsy", which has a rhythm different than the rest. The whole song is perfect... then it reaches 8:10. At that moment, my jaw literally dropped. Nothing has been the emotionally powerful before (maybe Rosetta, but this is a different genre). These guys have made a special brand of symphonic black metal that is both catchy, and unbelievably powerful.
I would've had The Chasm, Traumatic Voyage, Devin Townsend, Yyrkoon, Elvira Madigan, Nevermore, Sodom and Klabautamann, but there is only 10 spots here.
Last.fm: Mercenarion
I remember that mother_of_god post from awhile back. Your musical interests sure have evolved over the past couple years 
