25 years ago, the new millennium kicked in and all our computers exploded. Thankfully, we put them back together and made some cool albums that weren't that weird collab between Linkin Park and Jay-Z.

With 2000s nostalgia about to kick into high gear, here's some underrated albums from the earliest part of the 21st century.

Cult of Luna – Somewhere Along the Highway

We need more songs about Finland, guys. Cult of Luna have put out so many gorgeous and haunting post-metal records, but this one's just perfection. There are so many sprawling, melancholic interludes — they just sweep you out to sea and force you to accept an icy fate. Cult of Luna are the musical equivalent to a Robert Eggers film — hypnotically bleak and beautiful. 

Seo Taiji – Ultramania

Seo Taiji's Ultramania was gigantic in South Korea, but folks don't seem to speak of it in the same vein as Maximum the Hormone or Dir En Grey. Taiji was initially the leader of a famous boy band, but after Seo Taiji and Boys parted ways in 1996, he switched over to rock and went into the new millennium with a down-tuned guitars and warped DJ scratching. Ultramania isn't just underrated… it's legitimately aged like wine.

Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know

Why don't more people talk about this album? Black Sabbath's 13 was okay, but the team of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice absolutely crushed with Heaven & Hell's sole album, The Devil You Know. This thing is a storyteller's dream. With a voice that refused to age, Dio sung about religion like God and the Devil were competing for his affection. And the riffs? Holy fuck, Iommi must've summoned his past Vol. 4 self to pull out the riff for "Fear."

Ed Gein – Judas Goats and Dieseleaters

There was so much weird grind coming out in the mid-2000s. This brand of noisy spazzcore was conquered by bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan and The Number Twelve Looks Like You, but Ed Gein made some of the most unhinged music of the Myspace era. Judas Goats and Dieseleaters is an absolute mishmash of drums, bass and guitar, but the jumbled nature of the record gives it unquestionable character.

Desaster – Tyrants of the Netherworld

Twisted, evil thrash was experiencing a resurgence in the early 2000s, and Germany's Desaster pushed the revival forward with their hate-fueled Tyrants of the Netherworld. This is the type of thrash that remains untouched by time or trend. It's red meat served rare and garnished with the spirit of medieval warfare. There's so room for civilized men here… only butchers.

Poison the Well – Versions

Poison the Well released one of the most underrated metalcore albums of all time with 2003's You Come Before You, but we wanna show some love to its successor, Versions. This record was a wild departure from PTW's earlier work, delving deep into the band's more artsy, post-metal urges. It's so secret that Ryan Primack loves his surf guitar parts, and he really let them rip on Versions. However, the strongest cuts here are the mid-tempo, moody tracks like "Breathing's For the Birds" and "Nagaina." 

Nadja – Touched

Fuck it, here's an hour of drone metal. The hypnotic powers of Nadja's debut album, Touched, can not be understated. It's a funeral dirge of an album, blending the ambient with the unforgivable. 

Mitochondrion – Archaeaeon

Here's some weird, deathy, ambient black metal to cleanse the palate. Mitochondrion's Archaeaeon takes more left turns that a Formula 1 driver, seeping deep into wildly complex and avant-garde territory. The album sits somewhere between Cryptopsy and Portal, but with drumming that clearly sits front-and-center in the mix and ultimately steals the show.

Lost Horizon – Awakening the World

And now for something completely different. There was a ton of great power metal in the 2000s… you know this, we know this. Beyond the ridiculous album cover, Lost Horizon's Awakening the World is pure, blissful cheese. You'd swear these songs were sung by Robin Hood and his merry men. 

Gorod – Leading Vision

With so many great tech-death albums lining CD cases in the 2000s, it's easy to forget underrated classics like Gorod's Leading Vision. That fretless bass… ahhhhhhhhh! It's so tasteful. Don't be scared to nerd out on this album — it's a perfect bridge between tech geekery and caveman brutality.