Alternative Metal 2000s Albums

Addicted unleashes Devin Townsend’s bright, high-energy side through loud guitars, stacked vocals and huge melodies.

Ki finds Devin Townsend deliberately holding back the usual explosions in favor of quiet tension and spacious sound.

War Is the Answer connects Five Finger Death Punch’s enormous riffs and heavy groove to choruses that land immediately.

The fourth studio album, a seven-song concept record whose narrative runs through Tsarist Russia and Rasputin.

Indestructible gathers Disturbed’s hard guitar riffs, striking rhythm and David Draiman’s singular vocal character.

A Sense of Purpose combines In Flames’ cutting guitars and heavy rhythm with electronic texture to push melodic death metal into a more contemporary sound.

All Hope Is Gone keeps Slipknot’s destructive riffs and heavy rhythm at the center while moving into broader melody and more complex arrangement.

All Ends uses the contrast between two vocalists and hard guitar sound to create a distinctive melodic-metal debut.

Ziltoid the Omniscient uses layered guitar, thick choruses, and eccentric narration to create a cosmic story.

The Way of the Fist introduces Five Finger Death Punch through low chugging guitar, heavyweight breakdowns, and Ivan Moody’s raw voice.

Untitled combines low, coiling riffs, electronic noise, and Jonathan Davis’s urgent voice.

Synchestra lets Devin Townsend combine heavy guitars, stacked choirs, electronic texture, and pop melody with almost excessive freedom.

The Open Door centers Amy Lee’s strong yet delicate voice within piano, strings, and heavy guitar.

IV gathers Godsmack’s low, rolling guitar riffs, tight drumming, and Sully Erna’s rough vocal character into a concentrated record.

Come Clarity connects In Flames’ cutting twin guitars and mechanical rhythmic drive to Anders Fridén’s mix of harsh and clean expression.

The third studio album, and the band's first for the major label Reprise. "Colony of Birchmen" was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards.

Come What(ever) May gathers heavy guitar riffs, introspective vocals, and wide-open ballad feeling into a broader Stone Sour statement.

Deuce by BEAUTIFUL CREATURES: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Ten Thousand Fists gathers hard chugging guitar, striking beat and David Draiman’s singular vocal character.

See You on the Other Side combines low surging guitar, programmed-feeling rhythm and Jonathan Davis’s uneasy vocal character.

Soundtrack to Your Escape combines sharp guitar riffs, a mechanical rhythmic feel and shadowed melody in a more compact In Flames form.

The second studio album, a concept record drawn from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and the band's last for Relapse Records. It opens with "Blood and Thunder".

Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) keeps Slipknot’s destructive riffs and urgent vocals while drawing in more melody, silence and strange texture.

Accelerated Evolution combines walls of guitar, dense arrangement and soaring vocals to make heaviness and release coexist.

Fallen layers hard guitar, piano, strings and Amy Lee’s clear voice to make darkness and accessibility coexist.

Faceless puts physical weight at the front through thick guitar, low-stepping rhythm and rough vocals.

Take a Look in the Mirror uses low, rolling guitar, bouncing bass and Jonathan Davis’s pained voice to make direct, raw music.

Believe uses heavy repeating riffs, muscular groove and David Draiman’s tense vocal delivery to examine conviction and loss.

Reroute to Remain keeps In Flames’ melodic-death-metal core while introducing more modern rhythms, electronic texture and direct hooks.

Untouchables layers low, rolling bass, heavy guitar and electronic texture with great precision, creating one of Korn’s biggest and darkest soundscapes.

The debut album, released by Relapse Records in 2002 by the band formed in Atlanta in 2000.

Stone Sour’s debut combines heavy guitar riffs, alternative-rock atmosphere and vocals that leave emotion exposed.

Beautiful Creatures is a debut that blends L.A. hard-rock flash with punk roughness.

Terria uses heavy guitar, but places atmosphere, silence and scale at the center of Devin Townsend’s writing.

Iowa by SLIPKNOT: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Physicist collides Devin Townsend’s enormous sound pressure with introspective, off-kilter melody.

The Sickness gives nu metal a distinctive center of gravity through bouncing rhythms, blunt riffs and David Draiman’s instantly recognizable delivery.

Awake by GODSMACK: track list, Spotify player, music videos and English liner notes on METAL BOOST.

Clayman balances In Flames’ melodic-death aggression with unusually strong accessibility.

Renegades turns Rage Against the Machine’s influences into material that still sounds like Rage.