![25 Best Metal Albums of 2000](https://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2023/04/attachment-25_best_metal_albums_2000.jpg?w=980&q=75)
25 Best Metal Albums of 2000
The turn of the millennium was also a major turning point in heavy metal, which was beginning to show new signs of life and these are the 25 Best Metal Albums of 2000.
Over the previous decade, Pantera nearly single-handedly kept metal on life support, at least as far as the mainstream — which would later get ensnared by nu-metal — was concerned. Aside from the power metal development that had begun in the late '80s and broke out a few years later, the '90s saw metal return largely to the underground as the death and black metal genres emerged.
READ MORE: The Best Metal Album of Each Year Since 1970
When 2000 marched in, so did a new era of metal, which felt more defined than ever before. Maybe it was the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith to Iron Maiden as well as Rob Halford's return-to-form after an experimental few years away from traditional metal that signaled the most hope. Two of the '80s biggest icons were back in the limelight, instantly raising metal's ceiling from eight feet of headroom in the basement to a vaulted cathedral.
Join us below as we look back on the 25 Best Metal Albums of 2000.
25 Best Metal Albums of 2000
The 66 Best Metal Songs of the 21st Century
More From KZCD-FM
![10 Metal Vocalists Who Sound Like Classic Movie Monsters + Villains](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2022/12/attachment-musicians_movie_monsters_villains.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Corey Taylor + Evanescence Join 90 Other Acts Confirmed So Far for 2023 Blue Ridge Rock Festival](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2023/02/attachment-Corey-Taylor-Evanescence.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![10 Rock + Metal Guitarists Who Owe A Lot to Jimi Hendrix](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2022/11/attachment-Jimi_Hendrix_Zakk_Wylde_BIlly_Gibbons.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![50 Most Controversial Hard Rock + Metal Album Covers (NSFW)](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2022/11/attachment-controversial_album_covers.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Ozzfest Reveals First-Ever Metaverse Festival Lineup for 2022 Feat. Ozzy, Motorhead + More](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2021/05/Ozzy-Osbourne-Lemmy-Kilmister.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Anthrax + Black Label Society Announce Second Leg of North American Tour Dates With Exodus](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2022/11/attachment-Anthrax-Black-Label-Society-Exodus.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![‘Hellraiser’ Pinhead Actor Reveals His Metal Fandom, Calls Dani Filth a ‘Trailblazer’](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2022/10/attachment-Pinhead-Dani-Filth.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![The 10 Creepiest Music Videos of All Time](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2022/10/attachment-Aphex-Twin-Dead-Soft.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![The Best Rock + Metal Songs of September – Staff Favorites + More](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2022/10/attachment-best_roc_metal_songs_september_2022.jpg?w=980&q=75)