United States Metal & Hard Rock Albums of the 2000s - Page 3

Ascendancy drives forward on cutting riffs, hard rhythm and vocals that move between screams and clean lines.

Honkin’ on Bobo revisits blues standards as rough, living Aerosmith rock and roll.

This Darkened Heart introduces All That Remains through cutting riffs, raw vocals and racing rhythm.

The Greater of Two Evils revisits familiar material through the voice, production weight and arrangement sense of its recording period.

The Curse combines Atreyu’s sharp riffs, intense screams and highly singable choruses.

Hangover Music Vol. VI steps away from Black Label Society’s usual riff-heavy attack toward acoustic guitar, piano and melancholy melody.

The Art of Dying brings Death Angel back to the thrash-metal front through sharp riffs, shifting rhythms and tense vocals.

Hell to Pay is built around fluid guitar phrases, thick riffs and shadowed melody in a steady Dokken form.

Tempo of the Damned reasserts Exodus through slicing riffs, accelerating beats and a raw vocal attack.

FWX uses sharp guitar, restrained rhythm and shadowed vocals to create progressive metal that turns inward.

Jupiters Darling naturally places heavy-guitar rockers beside quieter songs shaped by acoustic texture.

Lost in the Translation centers on Jeff Scott Soto’s soaring, expressive voice while moving between hard rock, AOR and soulful nuance.

The End of Heartache tightly joins Killswitch Engage’s heavyweight guitars, urgent screams and soaring clean vocals.

Ashes of the Wake packs low, rolling riffs, sharply shifting rhythm and raw roars into overwhelming density.

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".

The System Has Failed sharpens Megadeth’s identity through cutting riffs, shifting rhythm and Dave Mustaine’s distinctive vocal delivery.

The Weight of the World uses hard guitar riffs, heavy-footed beat and forceful vocals to push traditional heavy-metal weight to the front.

Jericho layers bright keyboards, firm guitar and dramatic vocals with great care.

The War Within uses slicing twin guitars, heavy breakdowns and fierce vocals while still pushing memorable melody to the front.

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

Into the Now returns Tesla to the kind of rock and roll built on unadorned riffs, sturdy rhythm and seasoned vocals.

Still Hungry revisits songs from the Stay Hungry period with a more immediate, heavier performance feel.

The Neon God: Part 1 – The Rise uses heavy guitar, shadowed vocals and dramatic movement to tell the story of a central character.

The Neon God: Part 2 – The Demise takes the story begun in the first volume into darker, heavier territory.

We've Come for You All connects Anthrax’s sharp riffs and springing rhythm to John Bush’s forceful vocals inside a modern, hard-edged production.

Waking the Fallen joins harsh roars, heavy breakdowns and twin-guitar melody into music that balances aggression with drama.

The Blessed Hellride joins Zakk Wylde’s thick riffing and Southern-blues feeling to a dragging, heavy groove.

This Left Feels Right is a useful way to hear BON JOVI from a different angle within the 2003 catalogue.

Train of Thought turns Dream Theater toward harder, darker progressive metal through low guitar, precise rhythm and technical keyboards.

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

Prime Time combines FireHouse’s clear high vocals, polished guitar and instantly graspable choruses with care.

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

Epica uses thick guitar, symphonic color and Roy Khan’s shadowed voice to tell a story on a large scale.

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

As the Palaces Burn builds high-pressure metal from low-chugging riffs, sharply changing rhythm and raw roars.

Meteora compresses hard guitar, electronic beat and the contrast of rap and singing into short, dense songs.

Through the Ashes of Empires restores Machine Head’s low, rolling riffs, urgent vocals and muscular rhythm.

Music for Speeding joins Marty Friedman’s singing guitar melodies to changing rhythm and pop-minded hooks.

St. Anger chooses urgent riffs, raw sound and anger-filled vocals over Metallica’s usual polish and architectural control.

Gilbert Hotel lets Paul Gilbert fold his formidable guitar skill into short, welcoming songs rather than placing virtuosity above everything else.

Tribe uses hard guitar, shifting rhythm and Geoff Tate’s expressive voice to create tense metal with progressive instincts.

Leave a Whisper combines heavy guitar, steady rhythm and Brent Smith’s powerful, emotional voice into melody-driven American rock.

Thickskin pushes Skid Row toward a rougher, heavier strain of hard rock built on cutting riffs and low-slung groove.

Unhallowed drives forward with fast guitar riffs, urgent blasts and cutting vocals.

Ember to Inferno uses fast guitar, rough vocals and shifting rhythm to make aggressive metal with obvious ambition.

Letter to God revisits XYZ’s glossy hard-rock instincts through more settled songwriting.

Behind Silence and Solitude is All That Remains’ debut, connecting rough riffs, growls and lyrical guitar leads.

Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses is an early Atreyu record built from rough screams, hardcore-rooted rhythm and emotional guitar melody.

1919 Eternal joins Zakk Wylde’s enormous guitar riffs with Black Label Society’s bluesy, shadowed sense of melody.

Bounce brings Bon Jovi’s anthemic writing into a more modern guitar sound while carrying a direct message of resilience.

Corporate America brings Boston’s trademarks—layered guitars, huge harmonies and clear melodic lift—back to the foreground.

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

Long Way Home reunites Dokken’s strengths in melancholy melody, soaring choruses and precise guitar work.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence uses heavy riffs, complex meters, lyrical ballads and an extended suite to examine inner life from multiple angles.

II brings Hardline back to melodic hard rock with powerful vocals, thick choruses and firm guitar work.