Reply #82: Black/death/thrash/doom/... devotee here.

[Durtal]

Not to mention I'm old as fuck.

Anyway.

Best Metal Band - considering all subgenres? I dunno. Maiden certainly is among the candidates. But let me restrict my attention to my favorites extreme subgenres - so, let BDTSDG stand for "Black or Death or Thrash or Speed or Doom or Grind"...

Best BDTSDG band: Slayer.
Runners up: Darkthrone; Mercyful Fate; Suffocation; Carcass; Venom

Best BDTSDG album: Slayer, "Reign in Blood." (Not a big surprise, eh?)
Runners up: Darkthrone, "Transylvanian Hunger", Samael "Ceremony of Opposites," Carcass, "Necroticism", Venom, "Possessed," Suffocation, "Pierced from Within," Cryptopsy, "None so Vile," Disembowelment, "Transcendence into the Peripheral."

Overlooked Classic BDTSDG album: Venom, "At War with Satan"
Other underrecognized brilliance: Belmez, "Berserker", Autopsy, "Acts of the Unspeakable," Dodheimsgard, "Kronet til Konge".

Probably more - but I just realized I'm running late and need to skip on out of here.