Metal Madness

It's that time of year again! March Metal Madness is upon us and this time around, we're looking to find the best metal album of the 21st century. And as always, we're leaving the decision up to you.

During the 21st Century, both of these acts redefined the landscape of metal while achieving monumental success. Tapping into styles and concepts never quite tackled before, these bands capture the listener's imagination like few others. Which one of these discs will move on to the second round of our March Metal Madness tournament to determine the best metal album of the 21st century?

True progression in modern metal has been embraced by the fans of these two acts like almost no others. One hails from Sweden while the other comes straight from the U.S., but both have composed some of metal's most recent long-form masterpieces. Which one of these discs will advance in our March Metal Madness tournament to find the best 21st century metal album?

Though rooted in hardcore, these underground juggernauts are two of the most experimental and unrelenting metal bands of this century. Both acts are true originals, and they go head-to-head in this matchup to try and find the best metal album of the 21st century in this March Metal Madness tournament.

These two bands have both been hailed as the most extreme of their generation. Though residing in different genres of metal, thrash and grindcore, both acts cranked up the intensity level of their respective genres while somehow churning out a product palatable for the metal masses. We're looking to find the best 21st century metal album in this March Metal Madness tournament. Could one of these t

Experimentation is the theme of this battle. Which of these discs will move on in our March Metal Madness search for the best metal album of the 21st century? When it comes to critical praise and undisputed originality, these two bands are ranked in the elite. Ahead of their time, compositionally complex and deeply imaginative, no acts on Earth sound quite like either of these sonic blueprinters.

Here comes the death metal! These two acts are undisputed innovators of their craft, and here they compete in the first round of March Metal Madness to determine the best 21st century metal album. When it comes to both brutality and innovation, these are two bands any death metal aficionado would point curious metalheads towards.

Check out this epic Round 1 matchup between these Southern heavyweights to find the 21st Century's best metal album as part of March Metal Madness 2014. There must be something in the sweet tea and cornbread down in Georgia, because these two bands have become modern metal's most progressive and influential acts.

For March Metal Madness this year, we're trying to find the greatest metal album of the 21st Century. In this first battle within the Headbanger Region, one of history's most purely powerful acts face down one of modern metal's most solid bands.

It's an old fashioned clash of European metal acts in the fourth and final Devil Horns Region matchup of the 2014 March Metal Madness competition. And you get to have a say in which act has the better 21st Century metal album.