In Rainbows, Radiohead, 2007
A classic.
Ys, Joanna Newsom, 2006
A masterful display of songwriting, storytelling, and instrumentation. A vivid and enjoyable experience. Engineered by Steve Albini.
Lateralus, Tool, 2001
Aura farming and hype moments with numerology and occult stuff sprinkled in.
Music Has the Right to Children, Boards of Canada, 1998
My favorite electronic album ever. Boards of Canada created a very distinct, timeless, and unparalleled sound here. Also has numerology stuff and was released on April 20, my birthday.
De-Loused in the Comatorium, The Mars Volta, 2003
Ultra-progressive yet retains the post-hardcore sound of Volta's predecessor At The Drive In. Extremely frantic, all-over-the-place, maximalist, bright. Frequently transitions from gentle guitar to catchy hook to cacophony in any and every order, all within the same song. Truly a rollercoaster ride. Cedric Bixler-Zavala is also a great singer and his extreme vocal range stands out on this album alongside Jon Theodore's drumming.
Master of Puppets, Metallica, 1986
Metallica kind of "invented" progressive metal with this album and I don't think they get enough credit for doing so. Cliff Burton's bass playing and writing ability stand out, in addition to James Hetfield's downpicking ability and mid-scooped tone. Inspired by Baroque music, Master of Puppets is melodic yet crushing; Orion is a perfect example of this.
From Mars to Sirius, Gojira, 2005
A canonical metal album. Gojira here are fascinatingly dissonant and musical at the same time. There are so many technical things they do to establish harshness: parallel fourths, pinch harmonics, chromatic riffs, the "Gojira pick scrape", tritones, the list goes on. It strikes a perfect balance between brutality and musicality and maintains it from start to finish. They don't need extreme gutturals or drop-Q guitars (every song on this album is in D standard tuning) to be heavy, and they are extremely heavy.
The Joy of Motion, Animals As Leaders, 2013
I saw this album's first song, Kaskade, described as "jazz for people who like metal" in a YouTube comment. This is a perfect summary of the album.
Feedbacker, Boris, 2003
Loud, noisy, and sparse. Characterized by droning, extremely distorted, downtuned bluesy riffs and loose song structure. It is essentially one long song divided into five parts and should be played start to finish.
Jane Doe, Converge, 2001
Dissonant, heavy, fast, extreme, and potent. Like an air horn blasting in your ear but in a good way. Definitely took a long time to grow on me.