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

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