I need recommendations on 3 best albums to check out from each.

Also, how would you rank the bands?

Thanks in advance.

I have never been into MDB and Anathema but with regard to Paradise Lost be sure to check out Draconian Times, Icon and Shades of God.

I'd personally say As The Flower Withers is the best My Dying Bride album, followed by their second, Turn Loose the Swans. They're both really different though; certainly Flower.. is a lot less melodic, rawer and far more inaccessible then the second one. From the five albums I've heard they seem pretty consistent, though.

My Dying Bride: Turn Loose the Swans and As the Flower Withers are their best. As the Flower Withers has their best tracks (The Bitterness and the Bereavement and The Return of the Beautiful), while the second album is overall more consistent. The Angel and the Dark River would be my next choice.

Anathema: I'd go for the EPs here. Pentecost III has my favorite track, Memento Mori. Then I'd say the Crestfallen EP and The Silent Enigma.

Paradise Lost: Gothic, Shades of God and Icon.

I'd rank the bands in that order.

Paradise Lost's first album is brilliant and I have no idea why it's so unpopular.

Dude, Sear Me! That song is off the hook, possibly the best doom song ever.