THE ILM METAL POLL 2011 RESULTS (All lurkers/non metalheads welcome to join in!)

74 ballots this year (just down on the 80 last year) which is great considering ilx was offline for a while and we had less time to campaign and vote.

So thanks to all of you who voted and i hope you all post your comments on this thread and a bunch of ilxors who don't normally kick it with metal join in too. It's always fun seeing what people think of the albums whether you're into metal or not and we will provide spotify links when available.

Special thanks as always to GLENN as without him none of this would be possible as he does all the hard work. Even moreso this year as we hit a snag with software and glenn had to add the last 2 ballots manually.

And on we go. Will post some results tonight..

125. Weekend Nachos - Worthless (236 Points, 6 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.braingell.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/worthless_362.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Weekend+Nachos

LOL i was thinking about adding this and Indian to my ballot but I was like "Nahhh..."

totally need to give this more listens though

Radical! I've heard 0 metal albums this year and I look forward to incrementing that count!

Did you like it?

(not heard it myself but I like that album cover)

Is it possible to get a short one-sentence description for each one? A couple adjectives?

yay, first year of this where i have spotify!

not really considering i havent heard half of the albums. I am providing links to last.fm though. I have my handsfull at this end y'know just doing this.
And people reading this thread who voted for it can tell us what the album is like!

short description of WN: rym lists the album's genre as Powerviolence; this is also the name of a song on the album

http://open.spotify.com/user/mordys/playlist/6FNGd20uP6dyX5W1jzFE6Z

Gonna try to throw all of these in this playlist.

if someone following the poll wants to help with descriptions after i post the album I'd be utterly grateful

xp

thanks George!

xps thanks mordy that will save me doing it!

124. Azarath - Blasphemers' Malediction (236 Points, 9 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WhPWv5gkYX0/ThgbOeLZ9kI/AAAAAAAAB7I/XiWXdQ2Bzpw/s1600/Azarath+-+Blasphemers%2527+Malediction+%25282011%2529.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Azarath

^ death metal afaik i call it Siegbran Metal.

Ok, thanks. I could look it up, I realize, but if the purpose of results threads is to get people to listen to stuff they wouldn't have heard otherwise, a few identifying characteristics might help someone decide to listen (or not listen) to something that rated on the poll. Powerviolence sums it up, ty.

no prob :D

ha i just realized that the name of the song is Jock Powerviolence

there is also a song called Dubviolence, which I will be playing in outloud here soon

theres enough to do without asking me to do extra stuff. You can volunteer to help!

xps

123. Peste Noire - l'Ordure a l'Etat Pur (237 Points, 9 Votes, 1 #1)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5BPXSzYb1gs/Tdl38gVm-TI/AAAAAAAAAEU/YIAVuRH2ELo/s1600/300.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Peste+Noire

Peste Noire is a medieval black metal band from Avignon, France, formed by La sale Famine de Valfunde in 2000.

this is JJJ music correct?

Hoping Nyan Cat places, or at least some brutal black metal representative.

yup henry's fave bm band.

xp's

122. Grails - Deep Politics (242 Points, 7 Votes)
http://www.soundproofmagazine.com/images/articles/5001/grailscover.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Grails

Grails are an American instrumental rock band from Portland, Oregon.

sweet! my first to place!

your vote got it into the top 125

whoa!

so if anyone shouts DEATH TO FALSE METAL i'll direct them to you.

ha I'm 99% positively that I gave points to every false metal option available

121. Zebulon Pike - Space Is the Corpse of Time (243 Points, 10 Votes)
http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/4111/cover_1934111372011_r.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Zebulon+Pike

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, ZEBULON PIKE is an instrumental prog-doom metal band formed in late 2002. Inspired in equal parts by heavy sounds of the 70’s (Mountain, Pentagram, Captain Beyond, early Judas Priest), progressive rock (King Crimson, Rush), and 20th century classical (Bela Bartok, Arvo Part, and many others).

These guys opened for Rwake, and are all kinds of awesome. Their older albums are nice too.

a certain person loves them

btw i'll do one more for tonight

120. Within Temptation - The Unforgiving (244 Points, 11 Votes)
http://www.cdinzane.com/images/P/WITHIN%20TEMPTATION-UNFORGIVING.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Within+Temptation

Within Temptation is a shite Dutch symphonic metal band formed in 1996 in Waddinxveen, Netherlands. The group consists of Sharon den Adel (vocals), Robert Westerholt (guitars), Jeroen van Veen (bass), Martijn Spierenburg (keyboards), Ruud Adrianus Jolie (guitars) and Mike Coolen (drums). Despite being labeled by the media as a gothic metal band, Within Temptation consider themselves “more a symphonic rock/metal band … we are… no gothic band”.

i voted for them, but they're not very good. i played them once for my mom and she was like, "i like this. they sound like evanescence," then after a song or two played she asked, "they're kinda generic aren't they?"

haha why did you vote for them then? your vote got them in the rollout!

i've since soured on them

also, i think they were already the last band on my ballot, so they barely sneaked on in the first place

Fans of the band at #126 (inc you lol) are going to be ever so mad at you, they missed out by 4 points. you gave Within Temptation 30 points!

30 seems like a lot. is that true? i just listed my 21 picks in order of best to worst. i'm shocked that the worst still got 30 points.

and no, im not telling you what missed out. you can sweat on it til the end!

lots of people did the full 50. More than half probably. Glenn can answer that one.

Zeb pike zeb pike zeb pike!!

what does henry have to say about #123?

Henry's paws are too big for my iPhone, but I will say that isn't nearly as good as last years album, so start there if you are unfamiliar. This one is still worth a listen tho!

Re:peste noire.

Neige from Alcest used to be in them didn't he?

and doesn't 'Famine' have some ...err... dodgy views?

btw will resume countdown somewhere between midday and 2pm uk time depending on whether enough people are around posting.

I will add the genres so we can have a results-by-genre part on needle too like previous years as i know that's quite popular.
btw feel free to make predictions as its a lot of fun at the end where we can see who was closest or who was way off. Predicting later on is a lot easier.
And if anyone has any comments on what is in the countdown so far please post away!

i predict Pitom in the #1 spot

Oh crap I forgot to vote for them! :(

Within Temptation, weird. I've never heard of them. The cover is hilarious. It looks like a young adult mystery, like a slutty Nancy Drew/Trixie Belden and the case of the creepy tweeners who practice occult sacrifices in the woods. Is this band's demographic kids who were too young to read when the first Harry Potter came out?

Okay, based on the small sample size of 3+ tracks of each of these

Disliked - Within Temptation, Azareth
Okay, but wouldn't check again - Zebulon Pike
Liked, but blimey the tracks are long - Peste Noire
Liked, will listen to again - Weekend Nachos, Grails

Looking frwd to the rest of the countdown

Grails are the first of my votes to place. Totally false metal!

I'm not sure why, because they seem totally my thing, but I'm just not into Weekend Nachos. And yet I have had two picks place already (Peste Noir and Grails).

I predict Uncle Acid will do a lot less well than people think it will - I love the album but really fought as to whether I should vote for it (I did in the end) because it's not really a metal record, it's completely freakbeat. If I'd been more involved in the nominations thread I might have been tempted to veto it. I also predict my #1 will not be higher than #20.

Freakbeat? Not sure where you're getting that from.

Maybe I'm the only one then.

I wouldn't have allowed that veto!

Are you all ready for the next one then?

go on then!

119. ISOLE - Born From Shadows (245 Points, 10 Votes)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OS-rotM5MUs/TrimzJA4rgI/AAAAAAAADp8/4L3Is_L4XIw/s1600/isole.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Isole

Isole is an epic doom metal band from Gävle, Sweden that is currently signed to napalm records.

there's 2 tracks from it on spotify
http://open.spotify.com/album/2UbbmuH9USIVBcQsaWMAf5

seems stupid to me to only have 2 promo tracks up. Noone is going to buy an album based on hearing 2 tracks anymore

don't have Spotify at work, but it might be a track length thing? What do people think about the record?

no, its marked down as a 'Snippet promo version'

not available in the US either

TIE
117. Machine Head - Unto the Locust (248 Points, 7 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VEl8HTceqkw/TqAorEN_RoI/AAAAAAAAFPE/7gRoY2ISHsg/s400/machine+head+unto+the+locust.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Machine+Head

Machine Head is an American metal band, formed in 1992 in Oakland, California. Founded by former Vio-Lence guitarist Robert Flynn and Adam Duce, and has only had 3 personnel changes since its inception. The current lineup of the band comprises of Robb Flynn (vocals, guitar), Adam Duce (bass), Phil Demmel (guitar), and Dave McClain (drums). Machine Head is one of the pioneering bands in the New Wave of American Bandwagon Jumping Heavy Metal.

117. Woods of Desolation - Torn Beyond Reason (248 Points, 7 Votes)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNSmwiHmkfc/Tay0ntW-n0I/AAAAAAAAHyQ/W9TNs4mXoKQ/s1600/Untitled+1+%25281%2529.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Woods+of+Desolation

Depressive black metal

I thought that Machine Head record would have done better. I guess no one stans for them round these parts though.

I really want to check that Machine Head album out actually. Thanks for the reminder.

Oh, and I totally think top 3 will be Uncle Acid, Liturgy, and YOB though I won't speculate what order it will be

Mastodon have a top 3 shout IMO.

TIE
115. Cruachan - Blood on the Black Robe (254 Points, 8 Votes)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Kd_iYJHCVY/TbFq1mP9qwI/AAAAAAAAAnk/_A_7eV7GtGQ/s1600/296856%255B1%255D.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Cruachan

Folk metal,Celtic metal, Pagan metal

115. KODIAK - Rn-Xe (254 Points, 8 Votes)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rtAxGUkcyVc/TqFkRSrVczI/AAAAAAAAASw/sGJlsAEKT7w/s320/Kodiak_N_RnXe.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Kodiak

KODIAK (Germany) are a new 3 piece Funeral Drone/Doom Metal band. Their sound excels as a mixture of monolithic ultraheavy compositions with expressionistic poems. Their algid songs consist of long monotonous build-ups (comparable to a long lonely haunting trip through the arctic) and some seldom parts of eruption, disembarrassment and hope.

Oh, those arctic haunting trips. I still have my haunting license framed in my wall. Comparable, oh so comparable. On a scale of 1 to 10 this is Comparable.

But +1 for using "algid" in a sentence.

I'm guessing Corrupted will make the top 10, possibly top 5.

guess what's up next..

that blurb for Kodiak makes me want to hear them very much indeed.

they're good!

114. Obscura - Omnivium (255 Points, 9 Votes)
http://www.extremedrummers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/press-obscura-omnivium-cover.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Obscura

German technical progressive death metal band Obscura was founded in 2002 by guitarist/vocalist Steffen Kummerer.

I read an article recently where some guy was saying that the reason metal isn't selling at the moment is because most of the 'hip' bands hyped by the metal media 'cant play their instruments'. He went on to say how black metal, doom metal and overrated arty drone bands like Sunn o))) cant play their instruments and that is why they make the 'boring' music they do and how they make for boring experiences at concerts. In stark contrast to the 80s where thrash bands could really play, SING instead of grunt, and put on exciting stage shows. He said that death metal bands could play but ruined it by the vocals, however the likes of Pantera,Sepultura and Machine Head could sell millions as they could play,wrote great songs, were crushing live and didn't try to be elite and kvlt and weren't ashamed to be trying to sell records. If the death metal vocalists had more character like those bands they could lead a renaissance especially if combined with melodic clean vox. He also bemoaned that all the big selling acts were metalcore who all had the same generic grunt vox (he might have a point there at least).
Wish i could remember where it was so I could link it but i've tried to sum it up as best as I could. Anyone agree or disagree on the dude's points?

btw Obscura can play their instruments very well.

btw it was an american writer. I always get the impression technical proficiency meant more in america.

Also ,lol, he bemoaned the fact that european metal was influencing american metal and how he hated USBM.

113. MoRkObOt - Morbo (260 Points, 8 Votes)
http://www.supernaturalcat.com/images/bands/morkobot/immagini/morbo.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/MoRkObOt

Since the dawn of the first galaxies the voice of MORKOBOT resounded solemn over the saturated atmospheres of the planets in evolution. Dominator of the magnetic strengths and ancestral regulator of the conscience flows, Morkobot has returned to the Earth through his three messengers LIN,LAN,LEN brutally subdued to his will. On our planet MORKOBOT manifests himself through sonic experimentations that humans call music. Morkobot pervades the darkened minds of LIN,LAN,LEN conducting their notes in sadistic consequential deliriums. come to feed you with the supreme verb! LIN, LAN, LEN.

Little known fact: the band before last is actually made up of half the members of Camera Obscura.

yay emil.y is here posting!

morkobot are experimental noise rock btw. Good band.

Really wanted to hear Cruachan -- good chance to do so!

+ kerr, presumably some of the gruntvox (tm) is intentionally alienating. i don't think anyone goes into the studio, lays down some cookie monster vocals, and believes that their album is going top 10 on billboard.

I would be something like 5 million times more interested in Obscura if they were indeed half the members of Camera Obscura. dreampop metal sounds delish!

im not saying they do, but this dude believes it never harmed pantera or sepultura , but only cuz they could really play (i assume). He obviously just prefers singing to grunting and those bands are just an exception. I think he takes DM over BM purely because they can 'play' but would prefer it if they sang more.

That Morkobot blurb just reminds me of Joe Lean and the LIN, LAN, LEN

but of course there are melodic death metal bands out there who can 'play' but dont sell much. Which ruins his point

Metal IS selling if you look at it from the perspective of independent stores. The manager at Reckless said metal is one of their strongest sellers the past couple years. But that writer is probably talking about mainstream sales figures. And it's probably true that there seem to be fewer bands doing more commercial music, relatively. He's way off point about musicianship. There's plenty of bands with chops that can compete with the best of the 70s proggers and clean vox that aren't selling like blockbusters. Opeth, for example have a solid international following, but I don't think they'll ever be stars on this continent. Though it's hard to find out what the actual sales figures are for bands that hover on the bottom of the charts briefly then drop out. I don't really know how much Opeth or Mastodon or Machine Head are selling.

I thought Obscura and Machine Head would have been higher, though they were just outside my top 50. There's just so much to choose from lately.

lol @ LIN, LAN, LEN, but the tag cloud does seem to indicate something I could be into.

listening to Obscura now. Its pretty good but i hate it when he goes into that low register wwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhh cookie monster part. When his vox sound like entombed i like it. Thankfully the parts i dont like are kept to a minimum. I think its well worth checking out even if you dont usually like DM.

emil.y i think you might like morkobot. I'm sure i played them in outloud before

112. Weedeater - Jason...The Dragon (265 Points, 11 Votes)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_atKrCdoiKZ4/TTdMpk2NE7I/AAAAAAAAF4s/6Zr14U_9-4U/s1600/jason-the-dragon.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Weedeater

A 3 piece stoner/sludge/doom metal band from Wilmington, North Carolina, USA, formed in 1998. Features Dave ‘Dixie’ Collins (ex-Buzzov*en, Bongzilla, Sourvein) on bass/vocals, Shep on guitar and Keko on drums.

Weedeater has released Four albums to date, in 2001 they released their debut …And Justice For Y’all and in 2002 they released the follow-up Sixteen Tons, produced by the legendary Billy Anderson. In 2007, the band was signed by Southern Lord Records to release their third album, God Luck And Good Speed, which was produced by Steve Albini.

In 2011 they released a new album - Jason the Dragon

So far today I've enjoyed selected tracks from Machine Head, Kodiac, and Obscura. The others not so much. On to morkobot.

I thought that Machine Head record would have done better. I guess no one stans for them round these parts though.

― good luck in your pyramid (Neil S), Monday, January 16, 2012 1:35 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yes, me too, especially since they are probably one of the handful of bands in the nominations list that people who aren't particularly (or deeply) into metal would recognise, and they've been around for a hell of a long time!

Unfortunately some of their biggest fans on ilm didn't vote and there is not much I can do about that.

+1 Grails fan
Will listen to Kodiak today because I like long boring songs, nature, and new words like algid.

Whoa, I remember Weedeater from my Wilmington days, but had completely forgotten about them! Oh memories.

Weedeater didn't get my help either, was my #55.

xp I do hear the freakbeat in Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats. There is a significant 60s garage rock element. I think with all the campaigning from Jimmy Riddle they could make top 5 maybe.

everyone go vote uncle acid in the big ilm eoy poll
THE 2011 ILM SUPER-MEGA YEAR-END ALBUMS 'N' TRACKS POLL™ Voting Thread (ends at MIDNIGHT EST on Friday, January 20th, 2011)

emil.y i think you might like morkobot. I'm sure i played them in outloud before

― Jimmy Riddle Orchestra (Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker), Monday, January 16, 2012 3:19 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Now you say that I think you may well have done. Maybe chuck another track up next time we're both in?

And yeah, I wouldn't raise an eyebrow at someone calling Uncle Acid freakbeat - not necessarily the over-arching genre of the band, but as an influence I'd say it's there.

Does the bassist from Weedeater still puke every night on stage? That always put me off going to see them.

I read an article recently where some guy was saying that the reason metal isn't selling at the moment is because most of the 'hip' bands hyped by the metal media 'cant play their instruments'. He went on to say how black metal, doom metal and overrated arty drone bands like Sunn o))) cant play their instruments and that is why they make the 'boring' music they do and how they make for boring experiences at concerts. In stark contrast to the 80s where thrash bands could really play, SING instead of grunt, and put on exciting stage shows. He said that death metal bands could play but ruined it by the vocals, however the likes of Pantera,Sepultura and Machine Head could sell millions as they could play,wrote great songs, were crushing live and didn't try to be elite and kvlt and weren't ashamed to be trying to sell records. If the death metal vocalists had more character like those bands they could lead a renaissance especially if combined with melodic clean vox. He also bemoaned that all the big selling acts were metalcore who all had the same generic grunt vox (he might have a point there at least).
Wish i could remember where it was so I could link it but i've tried to sum it up as best as I could. Anyone agree or disagree on the dude's points?

btw Obscura can play their instruments very well.

― Jimmy Riddle Orchestra (Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker), Monday, January 16, 2012 2:58 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I think there's a lot of nonsense in this... there's quite a fair amount of music in all genres of metal created by bands who can 'play their instruments'. All I can glean from that opinion is that the guy in question is just into a particular style of metal, and isn't into others. I think that while metal has had its moments of popularity and commercial success throughout the years at certain times like any other genre has, fundamentally metal music has always been made for a metal audience.

111. Pharaoh Overlord - Out of Darkness (267 Points, 12 Votes)
http://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000006083816-muf5iy-crop.jpg?ee7b2d5
http://www.last.fm/music/Pharaoh+Overlord

Finland’s Pharaoh Overlord take huge rock songs and turn them into minimal trance-inducing drones. Drawing influence from 70’s drug rock like Pink Floyd, Hawkwind and krautrock ala Can and Neu!, their 2nd full length sees them venturing further into the void of repetition and psychedelia. Since then they have embraced NWOFHM like their parent band CIRCLE. As well as the more experimental drone influenced album.

Pharaoh Overlord features members of Circle

Yaaaaaaaaaay Weedeater! My #5! I didn't think it was going to make it. I love that album and I think I'm gonna have to check out their other ones too

Xp. I def need to check out Morkobot and the PO album!

Yaaaaay Pharaoh Overlord!
Recommended for anyone who likes to listen to music while running, working, or just walking around being alive.

Weedeater looks really interesting. How stoner rock is it?

running, working, or just walking around being alive.

I don't like doing any of these things, but I've still enjoyed the bits of PO I've heard.

lol, my sentiments exactly. P.O sound v sprightly. Enjoying it.

the album art is abominable however.

no, see, listening to PO while running/working/being alive makes doing those things better/more tolerable (depending on your disposition) than they are just by themselves

Weedeater is v stoner. Has some Southern-fried in it too, though they don't beat you over the head with it, plus they take the piss as well

...just like doom/stoner/sludge makes grading 1000 abysmal papers a more palatable activity
i guess i categorize metal based on what activity it makes more tolerable/pleasant for me, but i am a hyperactive gnat

Weedeater has some rad songs on it and I put it near the bottom of my ballot iirc but it also feels like it was thrown together really quickly

their previous album is better if you want a starting point for them, I think

I voted for them because they make a good noise, but the guy's weird squeaky vocals are a bit off-putting. He sounds like he's permanently on the verge of whiting out, which is probably actually the case.

Crap, I own that Pharaoh Overlörd album and I totally forgot it in my list.

Weedeater has some rad songs on it and I put it near the bottom of my ballot iirc but it also feels like it was thrown together really quickly

This.

well yeah but I was totally down with the "good noise" part; I am definitely going to try to check out their previous album

I liked that pharaoh overlord lp quite a bit (except for the terrible, terrible cover, yes) but also forgot to vote for it :-/

weekend nachos is the only thing that I voted for that's showed up so far. it was near the bottom of my list iirc but it satisfies.

liking that kodiak cover and even the lolsy PR blurb. will check that one out.

110. Septic Flesh - The Great Mass (268 Points, 10 Votes)
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSiFJS35plMSJLmpv6LQIAm4B64KJY8mZ6YlIlzO1GsoDQAtuSgPfyQHGU
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Septic+Flesh

Hailing from Athens, Attica, Greece, Septic Flesh was founded in 1990. Their sound was a Hellenic brand of death metal mixed with doom metal and gothic metal elements. The band has often been compared to other bands of a similar style, like Paradise Lost, Anathema, My Dying Bride or Nightfall

oh, I like them too

nothing about Septic Flesh - the cover, the name, sounds appealing. and then i read "Hellenic death metal mixed with gothic metal elements" and i feel like i should give it a shot

Those on Bandcamp so far:
http://weekendnachos.bandcamp.com/releases
http://grails.bandcamp.com/album/deep-politics
http://obscura.bandcamp.com/

I really fell in love with that septic flesh album after seeing them live.

now I know why he was so keen on a top 125. All his votes fell in that 100-125 range!
*goes to check if jjj voted for within temptation*

109. Red Fang - Murder the Mountains (278 Points, 11 Votes)
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/89/68/896814283-1.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Red+Fang

Formed in 2005, Red Fang from Portland, OR is the latest stoner rock effort from long time bros and collaborators Bryan Giles (Last of the Juanitas, Party Time), Aaron Beam (Dark Forces, Lachrymator), David Sullivan (Party Time, Face Down In Shit, Shiny Beast) and John Sherman (Party Time, Bad Wizard, Trumans Water, All Night). The four have boiled down their disparate sounds to create the ONLY sound: RED FANG. Tour to Live.
The band runs on beer.

Oh also wrt peste noire dudes views (and forgive me but I am posting from iPhone so this will not be the typically erudite pearl of brilliance you might expect from me) he seems to espouse a really cartoonish version of French nationalism which on one level is sorta troubling but the guy is kinda hard to read. I'd be curious what someone with actual French chops would have to say about the lyrics because to me they are a mystery.

The band runs on beer.

Red fang is my stoner rock album of the year, but I am not really into stoner rock that much at this point so do with that what you will.

I like the Red Fang cover.

Xpost haha well yes.

jjj i'll repost this for you as you're on an iphone, but as a geetar shop owner i wondered what you thought of it

I read an article recently where some guy was saying that the reason metal isn't selling at the moment is because most of the 'hip' bands hyped by the metal media 'cant play their instruments'. He went on to say how black metal, doom metal and overrated arty drone bands like Sunn o))) cant play their instruments and that is why they make the 'boring' music they do and how they make for boring experiences at concerts. In stark contrast to the 80s where thrash bands could really play, SING instead of grunt, and put on exciting stage shows. He said that death metal bands could play but ruined it by the vocals, however the likes of Pantera,Sepultura and Machine Head could sell millions as they could play,wrote great songs, were crushing live and didn't try to be elite and kvlt and weren't ashamed to be trying to sell records. If the death metal vocalists had more character like those bands they could lead a renaissance especially if combined with melodic clean vox. He also bemoaned that all the big selling acts were metalcore who all had the same generic grunt vox (he might have a point there at least).
Wish i could remember where it was so I could link it but i've tried to sum it up as best as I could. Anyone agree or disagree on the dude's points?

btw it was an american writer. I always get the impression technical proficiency meant more in america.

Also ,lol, he bemoaned the fact that european metal was influencing american metal and how he hated USBM.

My other thought on peste noire is that they are black metal for people who like nww/current 93.

Red fang is my stoner rock album of the year, but I am not really into stoner rock that much at this point so do with that what you will

hmmm I had heard that Red Fang wasn't all that, but maybe I should give them a shot after all...

I had a whole long thing in my head but the short version is that the dude who wrote that article is an idiot.

Red Fang was rated highly on some stoner rock lists, but I don't consider them stoner at all. More in common with Baroness, Kylesa and Black Cobra.

http://redfang.bandcamp.com/

I didn't vote in this thing, but I liked that Red Fang album. Very Tad-esque in places imo.

jjj i want to hear your long form reply!

I'm off to run downtown and see Hugo with the wife. I'd like to think this poll might actually generate some sales for some of these bands. Can you include the Bandcamp links if they have them? Just a 1 sec Google search.

108. Windhand - Windhand (289 Points, 9 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.roadburn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Windhand.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Windhand

“MORE AMPS. LESS TALENT.”

Windhand are a Sludge/Stoner/Psychedelic Doom/Rock band from Richmond, Virginia.
Their website is: http://www.myspace.com/windhand

OMG!!!!!!!!!

this was my #2 and I was convinced it wasnt going to make it; who voted it #1?

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z198/jimmyeightysix/Simpsons/lgmp0296i-didnt-do-it-bart-simpson-.jpg

i did have it lower down in my list i think. I forget who had it at #1. Probably a lurker who frequents outloud!

it got 17 points from me

but i'm glad i made george's day!

one day he will be able to tell Drugs B Money about that historic day.

well thanks lots lurker! and thanks Kerr! I love that album.

xp lol yeah. I can't wait!

also if someone wants to post bandcamp links after i post the latest albums then feel free, but I really have enough to do as it is.

Windhand placing proves one thing CAMPAIGNING FOR ALBUMS ON THE THREAD REALLY WORKS.

my browser is awful (it crashes about three times on average when outlouding) so I have never actually clicked on the youtube thread, but I'm going to now

Yeah, I repped hard for Murmuure last year as it was by far my favourite album and it ended up pretty high (between 25 and 30, I think?). My campaign for Police Bastard on the all-time tracks poll was not so successful...

every year some people complain an albums missed out or says the SB-worthy "too low" and they haven't campaigned for it while albums that get campaigned for do much better than expected. I said before the poll that it did work as it had in previous polls and this one appears to be no exception.

I wonder if my #1 will break top 50; nobody campaigned for it in the youtube thread, but it did make a couple high-profile EoY lists...

still I think today will probably end up being my favorite day.

G where you from again?

southern mid-Michigan

107. Acid Witch - Stoned (295 Points, 9 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_95msu-VwXUk/TOH-lgm6WXI/AAAAAAAAA4A/8NXEKVga5rw/s1600/acov_tid131610.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Acid+Witch

From the deepest swamps of Detroit, Michigan come the psychedelic, death-doom duo, the horrific Acid Witch!

Acid Witch draw influence from Halloween, old horror movies, and Marijuana. Their sound can be described as tripped out death metal played at doom tempos, mixed with horror themes.

Acid Witch have two full lengths, the nightmarish “Witchtanic Hallucinations”, and the psychedelic “Stoned”.

oooo I kept hearing about this around outloud and in ILX and I never got around to checking it out. Need to change that soon!

i assumed you would know them tbh

106. Trap Them - Darker Handcraft (303 Points, 10 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/metal/various/Trap_Them_-_Darker_Handcraft_artwork.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Trap+Them

Trap Them is a hardcore/grindcore band from Salem, New Hampshire, formed in 2001.

I guess this means I should have campaigned on this, as it was my #1, but I kind of thought it was more popular as I saw it on other EOY lists.

Acid Witch was my #3, it's a really fun record, suspect you wouldn't like it if you don't do slightly tongue in cheek stuff.

I tried to tell you all it was worth campaigning! ilxors do tend to trust recommendations from other ilxors than other lists these days tbh

xp

btw rock is dead again
Why Rock Music IS Dead.

wonder if that metal dude i mentioned earlier is the us equivalent

I might check me out some Trap Them; I'm surprised to see them so low too tbh. I thought that album more popular here than how it showed

never assume anything with an ILM poll!

105. Falkenbach - Tiurida (308 Points, 10 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P9IlAKTqmA8/TS7QIL_z71I/AAAAAAAAAO4/lN77PTzNqsM/s1600/61E91IBk3ZL._SS500_.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Falkenbach

Falkenbach is a one-man German folk/viking metal project created by Vratyas Vakyas (literally, “The Searching Wanderer”). Vratyas Vakyas lived in Iceland for a considerable time, but now lives in Düsseldorf, Germany again. Throughout the band’s lifetime, Falkenbach has progressed from a rawer, more “black” sound towards viking-influenced folk metal with mainly clean vocals. Vakyas’ music is nowdays accompanied by session musicians.

i assume glenn voted for this

104. Vektor - Outer Isolation (313 Points, 11 Votes)
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/46/12/461267658-1.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Vektor

Refusing to be pigeon-holed into any metal sub-genre, Vektor employs an array of intricacy, virtuosity and a wholly unique sound that sets them clearly apart from the growing legions of color-by-numbers thrash bands. They released their debut full length Black Future in November 2009, and the follow up Outer Isolation in December 2011 (both on Heavy Artillery Records).

Throughout the band’s lifetime, Falkenbach has progressed from not at all, sounding *exactly* as they did on their debut fifteen years ago.

Ah nice, most of my top 10 is already done. Surprised about the lack of love for Azarath, while it's not something ILM normally likes, I would think that this was charismatic enough. Basically they do Behemoth, but better than they have done it for at least 10 years, and with way better solos. Same with Septic Flesh...

No, I didn't vote for Falkenbach. Plenty of other folk-metal, and plenty of other German bands, but not this one.

i would say placing at all means ilm liked it siegbran

btw quick poll so please give your answers
do you want this poll to finish on thursday so friday can be spent discussing the results and all the stats?
or do you want it to finish on friday?

True 9 votes is not bad at all actually. I'm actually more surprised with the low placement of Woods of Desolation, given the whole post-BM hype and all, WITTR, Krallice, Drudkh etc.

No preference, whatever's best/easiest for you

finish it on Friday. already moving too quickly to listen to the stuff that looks interesting

i'll go with what the majority wants.

i agree with LL

this is a lot of work (thx btw) so if you want to spread it out til Friday to make it easier on yourself then have at it

its no more hassle to do it over 4 days than 5 tbh

i just know that some people leave work on a friday before it ends and wont see any results til monday so thats why im asking

if we finish on friday then theres only 3 more for tonight

103. Black Tusk - Set the Dial (317 Points, 12 Votes)
http://www.relapse.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/364x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/s/e/setthedialrgb_1.jpg
Spotify

http://www.last.fm/music/Black+Tusk

Black Tusk is a sludge band from Savannah, Georgia, United States formed in 2005

who on ilx are all the big sludge fans? i feel like most of it is totally off my radar

Man, a good chunk of my list has been burned off already. That Machine Head record was in my top five, it's fantastic but I understand why it placed so low on this particular poll.

Meanwhile, I don't understand why ASR is sidetracking his own thread into conversation about a secondhand account of an article that he knows is idiotic?

myself, jjj and a bunch of others

btw where is j3ff?

lol xp

maybe machine head and others would have done better if people had campaigned for them and persuaded everyone to listen to them.

102. Animals As Leaders - Weightless (336 Points, 12 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rkOcd4UQDWg/TrO6EY4FnBI/AAAAAAAABIU/_NFoyUaIlek/s1600/Animals-As-Leaders-Weightless.jpg

Animals as Leaders is a Washington, D.C. based instrumental progressive metal project by guitarist Tosin Abasi in 2007. Their self-titled debut album was released in April 2009 by Prosthetic Records.

Decent list so far. I really like 90% of that Machine Head record, but that goddamn kiddie's chorus kills all momentum dead.

I like that part, I think it adds a nice contrast to the blunt brutality of the rest of the song.

Aw c'mon, that deserved better.

101. Karma to Burn - V (341 Points, 14 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WE4nYUApQIY/Tc_YFfKZKBI/AAAAAAAABqk/QxLLVQvQ95c/s1600/Life%2BIs%2BPsychedelic.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Karma+To+Burn

Karma to Burn is an American instrumental stoner rock band. The band was formed in 1994, in Hicksville, West Virginia (actually Morgantown, West Virginia, though this was a running joke also reflected in bios of the band on other Web sites). The band is currently located in Los Angeles

Whoops, I sent in the top 50 I did for MSN in early December and forgot to stick in Vektor. Best thrash album of 2011 right there, it grew on me in a big way over the last month.

Thanks for voting though! (same to all of you)

You're welcome.

You're weclome.

damn cant find a pic of that still game reference

Direct Link to poll recap & full results

found it!
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lssuudTgAj1qh4utio1_500.jpg

Need to check out some of these; all I've done so far is listen to the one Pharaoh Overlord album that's on Spotify (from 2005) and been appropriately impressed.

While you're all waiting for part 2 of the countdown tomorrow, why not put together your ballot for the big ILM poll? The more metal-inclined voters we get, the more metal-inclined the results will be and the more enjoyment you'll get from exposing other ILXors to e.g. your favourite grindcore band. The voting thread is here and the ballot form is here.

http://heavyartillery.bandcamp.com/album/outer-isolation (Vektor)
http://blacktusk.bandcamp.com/releases

Windham and Vektor look fun. I look forward to hearing 'em. A pretty high average quality for 125-101, nice start.

yeah I think it's a pretty good list so far. Yeah there's albums i don't know but they seem to be pretty highly rated in their sub-genres.
Surprised with the within temptation placing. Goth metal has never had any traction round here outside of like 2 posters. It's a concept album, right? Maybe that's what attracted votes?
To anyone who has heard it (or any of the albums in the list, its never too late to chime in even if they were posted ages ago) want to tell us more?

I've heard it and it's ok. Just played it again today, didn't notice it was a concept album apart from maybe some silly spoken word parts. I don't hear much "gothic" metal in it tbh, it's basically a Kelly Clarkson pop/rock album with a little bit of 80s AOR thrown in (I'm hearing bits of Heart, Bon Jovi). I realise I'm not selling this album very well.

^^^ Within Temptation, that is.

Ahh, so the description way above about it looking like an album for 12 year old girls is accurate then?

Or for boomers who don't hear "music like this made anymore".

bound to do well in the P&J poll then..

It's like music from alternative chart-rock universe, where grunge and nu-metal never happened

(a parallel universe)

you mean Holland?

Wonder if any non metal folks have stuck around to listen to anything. Though I realise the albums at the top end of the poll will be of more interest, I'd still like to see their comments if they did check anything out. If you have and didn't like anything then dont give up! The poll is varied.

I didn't listen to anything because I'm non metal and just assume most of this stuff sounds like ass. I'm just checking in to see if LULU has shown up yet.

judging by siegbran/mordys posts you should give Within Temptation a try

we have a loose definition of metal btw

and its a broad broad church full of sub-genres of sub-genres of sub-genres. So to dismiss it as 'ass' is silly. Even though I assume you were joking.

Damn it!! I should of voted... Weekend Nachos and Trap Them were my favs of the year and you guys have em that low?!?! whats wrong with you people?!? lol!!

because guys with beards from hell forgot to vote or didn't reply to emails!

Hey mane long time no see!

xp

Interested in what lesser known albums people want to place tomorrow (or highly rated albums they want to crash n burn).
Not many predicting what will go top 10. Go on stick your neck out !

just think that 12 months ago Hellbeard crashed into the poll

I'm a bad person, what do you want from me! lol!
I totally was looking foward to voting, and I got all your emails and heads up, I was just being, as some of you might say, a wanker.. lol!

well we will forgive you if you hang around this week commenting on the albums as they roll out!
ps i bet you like within temptation ;)

hey whats up seanwayne! good to see you around here man

NO! lol.. Chick singing and symphonic shit? is it metal or Celtic Women?

whens the next Hellbeard album?

And thanks for te welcome back, folks... I didn't know I was missed! Cheers!

Hellbeard hopes to record within the next few months probably an EP.. We've been down a while, one our guitarists had a apretty major surgery in October to repair the affectas of Bursidis, which is tendonitis for the ball and socket parts of your corpes.. They had to do some pretty major repairs to his shoulder, but they didn't go bionic, which we are all bummed about.. lol
So he is just now playing agian, so rehearsals shall commence shortly, hopefully in a few weeks.. We all have a shit ton of new material to sort through..

you never did send Terrorizer your cd did you?

Ha!
No... total fail!

you should still send it. Did you send one to Decibel? half of their writers are on ilm i think!

btw here is something to discuss. This band finished at #131 in this poll
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jan/13/norway-top-music-prize
Dont know them at all tbh. Seen the name around but that's it.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Music/Pix/pictures/2012/1/13/1326456111600/Taakes-Noregs-Vaapen-007.jpg
Controversial nomination … Norwegian band Taake have lyrics attacking Muslims

A notoriously "anti-Islamic" band has been nominated for Norway's top metal prize. Taake are one of six nominees for a prestigious Spellemann award, despite a song that declares: "To hell with Muhammad and the Muhammadans!"

"Norway will soon awaken!" read the lyrics to Orkan (Hurricane), on Taake's album Noregs Vaapen. The Spellemanns are Norway's equivalent of the Brits or the Grammys, and Noregs Vaapen is nominated for best metal album. Elsewhere on Orkan, singer Ørjan Stedjeberg refers to Muslims' "unforgivable customs" and calls for a new "kingdom" to "shine through [the] bad years, shame and Christian times".

Despite complaints, Spellemann officials defended the band's nomination. "We enjoy full freedom of expression in Norway and [our] jury is not going to censor content in any way," chairman Marte Thorsb told Aftenposten. But the Norwegian Humanist Association argues the lyrics go too far. Norway is still shaken from last summer's "anti-multiculturalist" attacks by Anders Breivik, which left 69 people dead. "In the aftermath of July 22nd [Taake's lyrics] are completely over the edge," said Didrik Søderlind. "I'd imagine Taake aren't particularly proud of these lyrics after Utøya."

Despite lyrics damning Muslims, Taake "do not encourage either violence or racism", Stedjeberg said. "Our view … is that it is shameful to adhere to Christianity or Islam." He also criticised the media for ignoring Taake's (relatively tame) lyrics about Christianity. "Taake has never been a political band," he said.

Stedjeberg's comments come less than four years after he painted a swastika on his chest for a Taake concert in Essen, Germany. In the outcry over that event, he again insisted Taake are "not a political Nazi band". "Our whole concept is built on provocation and anything evil- and death-related," he said.

The Spellemanns will be awarded on Saturday night.

oh and if anyone wants to check out youtubes of bands who may or may not have made it please go to ~ YOUTUBE COMPANION THREAD FOR ILM METAL POLL 2011
Also feel free to add stuff as others place here or if you just want ilxors to check out cool stuff.

I didn't vote for them xp

7 people did.

i get the impression theyre anti-christian anti all religion. but someone who knows more about the band should chime in rather than my guessing

will post next one soon

Still catching up on yesterday's placings, and by catching up I mean listening to 3 you tubes of the respective albums.

Really dug Windhand, and flat out loved Red Fang! Thank you very much voters, lots to enjoy so far (I'm a non-metaller so this stuff is all new to my ears)

hurrah, posts like that really makes it all worthwhile!

100. Agrypnie - Asche (343 Points, 12 Votes)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jZ43ct0Ugj8/TsWsJATOwoI/AAAAAAAAFTk/0tLYfKw7CZA/s1600/Agrypnie%2B-%2BAsche.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Agrypnie

Avant Garde Black Metal

Glenn metal

hmmm ilx seems dead today.

hi

hey! hoping for anything to place today? or are you just happy with yesterday momentous day?

uh I'm hoping for Hills to place today, a lot of the other stuff I voted for I am hoping will place higher

Liked Trap Them a lot also.

TIE
98. Ash Borer - Ash Borer (345 Points, 12 Votes)
http://www.lurkerspath.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Ash-Borer-Ash-Borer.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Ash+Borer

Black Metal from Arcata

Disma was formed in January 2007 by guitarists Bill Venner( Incantation, Body of Christ) and Daryl Kahan (Abazagorath, Funebrarum, Assück etc) with the intention of creating some heavy and morbid Death Metal.

Aah but Agrypnie sorts out the men from the boys and I find myself a boy I'm afraid. Too much for my delicate sensibilities.

spotify search for Ash Borer said "did you mean Ass Boner?" I knew it was a mistake for them to hire KJB

And the first Ash Borer trk I click on is 12 mins long. Oh well, lets give it a go.

Heard good things about Disma (from lol Pitchfork I believe), so will have to check that one out...

pitchfork has decided death metal is hip now?

think they were featured in their Show No Mercy column from a while back, which I always thought was a good read.

Ash Borer another one of the ones I rated pretty highly last year. I suspect I am not going to be one of the core voters once the statscock comes into play.

you never were!

Troo.

97. Jesu - Ascension (346 Points, 11 Votes)
http://www.revolvermag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Jesu-Ascension.jpg?9d7bd4
http://www.last.fm/music/jesu

Jesu (English pronunciation: /jeɪ-sʊ:/ yay-sue) is a band formed in 2003 in Abergele, Wales, United Kingdom by Justin Karl Broadrick following the breakup of Godflesh. Jesu was the name of the last song on the final Godflesh release, Hymns, and Broadrick decided to adopt it as the name of his new project.

Jesu have released most of their music on Hydra Head, a label that specializes in contemplative metal, but lately they've been recording for Calo Verde, the label founded by the Red House Painters' Mark Kozelek. Broadrick has cited the Red House Painters as an inspiration, and it's easy to see how those two could form a mutual admiration society. Jesu, especially on the new Ascension, do a pretty incredible job evoking the feeling of depression through music, its melodies buried under so many oceans of impossibly slow sound that you just barely notice they're there.

Haha, I forgot to vote for this.

96. Arckanum - Helvitismyrkr (346 Points, 14 Votes)
http://i26.lulzimg.com/a720f2.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Arckanum

Arckanum is a black metal band from Sweden. The band formed in 1992 and features Johan “Shamaatae” Lahger as sole member.

Arckanum is not a “pagan” black metal band. Johan “Shamaatae” Lahger is a practicing chaos-gnostic.

Disma is way low imho, such a great album.

The album cover for the Jesu record is gorgeous.

How nice to see a little IPA on this thread!

I am going to listen to Jesu now because that cover is lovely and it sounds like something I might want to listen to. This album isn't on spotify but there is a lot of other stuff. Thanks!

Ok why did this guy have to start singing?!

95. Wreck of the Hesperus - Light Rotting Out (347 Points, 11 Votes)
http://www.aestheticdeath.com/images/shop/large_168Cess-Pit-People.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Wreck+of+the+Hesperus

Wreck of the Hesperus are a doom metal band from Dublin, Ireland.

tbqf i think this is the best music poll ILM has to offer.

"Arckanum is not a “pagan” black metal band. Johan “Shamaatae” Lahger is a practicing chaos-gnostic."

Glad that got cleared up.

oh man, pretty sure I forgot to vote for disma so I'm part of the problem. they're fun live too.

anyone curious about vektor should listen to 'tetrastructural minds' off of that last one. def one of my fave metal tracks of the year.

94. ICS Vortex - Storm Seeker (347 Points, 14 Votes)
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/icsstorm.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/ICS+Vortex

Simen Hestnæs (born March 4th, 1974, in Oslo, Norway), also known as i.c.s. vortex, or simply Vortex, is the current vocalist and bassist of the progressive black metal band Borknagar and the vocalist and guitarist of the doom metal band Lamented Souls. Previously he has also been the vocalist of avant-garde metal band Arcturus and the bassist and background vocalist of the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.

omar thanks for that!

Good section for me: Agrypnie, Jesu, Arckanum, ICS Vortex. The Agrypnie is nominally an EP, so I didn't vote for it in the P&J album poll, but I put "Augenblick" on my song ballot. Weird how nobody else ever votes for my "singles"...

What does the 'avant-garde' descriptor indicate musically in relation to Agrypnie?

ok ilx was down for me but i dunno if it was an isp prob or nortons didnt like a site one of the jpegs came from but maybe a mod should look at one of the recent images

93. WOODEN STAKE - Black Caped Carnivore (349 Points, 11 Votes)
http://altsphere.com/catalog/1285-1147-thickbox/wooden-stake-black-caped-carnivore-7.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Wooden+Stake

Doom metal with female vocals.

Vanessa Nocera - Vocals, Bass

if you like this check out Murkrat which I stupidly forgot to nominate and are even better.

where did everyone go? i hope there isn't a dodgy jpeg on here thats now preventing you all connecting

92. Rwake - Rest (350 Points, 14 Votes)
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/37/47/3747794631-1.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Rwake

Rwake is a sludge metal band from Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, that began as a jamming four-piece in 1996. The band was originally called Wake.

emil.y what do you mean?

Way too low!! lol.. I actually like the fact that these guys with this record have moved away from so much black metal stuff.. more sludge, and more atmosphiric stuff.. Plus, they incorperate guitar solos in a really cool way, and they are never wanky, also fitting.. Not too many bands do that in this genre..

Oh, just that 'avant-garde' is somewhat over-used (by myself also), and frequently doesn't actually give you a hint as to what the music will be like. I mean, people use 'avant-garde' in metal terms to mean "sounds a bit like Sunn O)))". Or it could be that they have schooling in the classical avant-garde tradition. Or it could just be that "they're kind of weird"...

xpost

well they're not like sunn o))) but i have no musical training so i cant really answer but I'd say its more likely in this case "they're kind of weird"

91. Premonition 13 - 13 (351 Points, 12 Votes)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OD8rFyvoAFw/TrPTckDA4sI/AAAAAAAAFhA/G_QApzn14Uw/s1600/PF.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Premonition+13

WINO

it only needs that 1 word description.

http://woodenstake.bandcamp.com/track/black-caped-carnivore

I admire the Rwake album, but didn't rank it super high because I can't really enjoy it. Just like they were impressive live, but I also wanted to leave the room after 30 minutes!

okay so the last three albums + Murkrat sound kind of appealing to me

90. Anatomy of Habit - S/T (352 Points, 15 Votes, 1 #1)
http://c1.ac-postto.myspacecdn.com/postto01/3/e1a26571742d4246b2832276394f4abb/s.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Anatomy+of+Habit

Anatomy of Habit formed in October 2008, following the dissolution of the group Animal Law. Blake Edwards (percussion; also of Vertonen, ssseepage, Burrow, Series Founders, Startless, Crippled Insectual, ex-Animal Law), Dylan Posa (drums; also of Dylan Posa and Three Cheers for One Dead Man, ex-Cheer Accident, ex-Flying Luttenbachers, ex-Brice-Glace, ex-Animal Law), and Mark Solotroff (vocals; also of BLOODYMINDED, The Fortieth Day, A Vague Disquiet, Nightmares, ex-Super Eight Loop, ex-Intrinsic Action, ex-Animal Law) joined forces with Kenny Rasmussen (bass; ex-No Funeral, ex-Radar Eyes) and Greg Ratajczak (guitar; also of Plague Bringer) — the duo originally slated to engineer and produce Animal Law’s abandoned debut album. With less than 20 intense shows under their collective belt since their mid-2009 debut, Anatomy of Habit recently finished work on their first recordings, working with Andrew Ragin of The Atlas Moth at Phase Recording Studios. The band mastered the mini-LP in late-June 2011, with Bob Weston of Shellac, at Chicago Mastering Service. After their initial outings, people have mentioned diverse groups, including Joy Division, Swans, Einsturzende Neubauten, Killing Joke, Unsane, Bauhaus, My Bloody Valentine, Black Sabbath, The Cure, Jesu, The Sisters of Mercy, Death in June, and even The Doors, when attempting to describe the band. Part post-punk, part death-rock, part early-industrial, part noise-rock, part shoegazer, and part full-on doom-metal, this list of bands at least begins to describe where the powerful five-piece group might be coming from.

http://anatomyofhabit.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anatomy-of-Habit/65210152926
http://www.myspace.com/anatomyofhabit
http://anatomyofhabit.bigcartel.com/

I'm sorta partly responsible for this being here even tho i didn't vote for it.
CAMPAIGNING WORKS FOLKS HERES THE PROOF
now over to the poster who stanned and gave it the #1..

Yeah that Rwake album is really great. Still haven't heard that new Wino yet though.

Agrypnie is one I heard after I mailed my ballot. I'm sure I've heard one of the earlier records, but can't say it left any impression - this is a great record however. Avant garde my ass btw, it is just good, catchy metal.

I'd like to think that the Arckanum placement is because of me Singing His Praise for the last couple years :) Also I can't decide what's more LOLworthy, Taake taking flak for being anti-muslim after spewing anti-christian bile for almost 20 years, or the fact that they were even nominated for a national award. That record is pretty grim (not too dissimilar to Arckanum, actually).

YAAAAAY Anatomy of Habit!
This band rules so much and let me tell you why:

* a gong
* a skilled vocalist with a low range and a good screaming voice too
* lyrics you can listen to or not, your choice
* super long songs that change a lot but do so gradually
* not too fast, not too slow

went to see them open for russian circles and left before RC played because the crowd was really annoying, but i bought the record on my way out and am not at all sorry about it
big fan over here

Siegbran you are probably right re your campaigning.

and there's the happy LL.
her drugs c money moment

Since theres only like 70 voters campaigning for stuff really works as it only takes 9 or 10 ppl to vote and it gets in, and then new people get to hear awesome music

89. Lifelover - Sjukdom (355 Points, 9 Votes, 1 #1)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wiWNf1FzEkg/TUVPQNnKxMI/AAAAAAAABBE/DDK6klK9PGw/s1600/Lifelover-Sjukdom500.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Lifelover

Lifelover was a metal band hailing from Stockholm, Sweden. They split up after the death of B in 16th September 2011. Their lyrics are mainly focused on pure misery, drugs, hate and death, with elements of sarcasm and irony. Lifelover was formed 1st June 2005 by B and ( ) in Stockholm, Sweden. A demo called “Promo 2005” was recorded the same month, it contained two tracks, but it was never officially released. Their debut Pulver was released by GoatowaRex in July 2006.

On 14 February 2011, Lifelover released their fourth album called Sjukdom.

On 10 September 2011, the band reported through their Facebook page that band member B died the previous day, stating, “We are very sad to report that yesterday our bandmate and brother B has passed away. The concerts today and tomorrow are still to be performed, but in a different form in his honor. This information is valid and in its extreme sadness true. A final statement with further details is to come.”

If you have never heard Pulver go do so now, wonderful album. You wont get vinyl though, it was selling for $200 even before the guy committed suicide.

In other words "Lifelover" was a pretty ironic band name, eh?

88. Hands of Orlac - S/T (359 Points, 14 Votes)
http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/images/covers/hands-of-orlac-hands-of-orlac-20110910024903.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Hands+of+Orlac

Italian doom metal band with female vocals.

great album this

Jon the Premonition 13 record is good, but not great. More Wino, if you like Wino, you'll like it basically.

87. Kampfar - Mare (364 Points, 15 Votes)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BQxNjUlJaG8/Tb0smGbd0cI/AAAAAAAACtQ/SZ29OiubSL8/s1600/folder.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Kampfar

Kampfar, formed in 1994, was born in the realms of the mighty Mock, in the early times of Norwegian Black Metal. The whole idea is to make music inspired by the nordic nature, folklores and myths

Glenn's becoming a bit of a hivemind centre here isn't he?

scary innit?

whoa, that's a nice cover.

I caught premonition live, and fwiw, I thought they were pretty dull. but I've never been a huge wino guy anyway...

I like that rwake record a lot btw. nice and grimey.

and I'll admit it - siegbran stanning for arckanum's (excellent) ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ record is what got me back on board with them. still haven't spun the 2011 release yet.

Hands Of Orlac was my #38. I probably first heard of them through Doomantia:

Hands of Orlac are a band from Rome that plays retro doomy old-school hard rock / heavy metal. The band get their name from the movie of the same name which was made originally in 1924. Of course they come from the great land who seem to produce a lot of this occult driven, horror rock. Some of the very best bands in this genre all come from the region; Abysmal Grief, Black Oath are just two worthy of mentioning but Hands of Orlac are a bit different, at least to my ears. Their style is much more 70's heavy prog mixed with traditional heavy metal than the morbid tones of Abysmal Grief and other such acts. Their main influence is Black Sabbath or to be more precise Tony Iommi...If you are one of those folks that has jumped aboard the Ghost bandwagon, then you will want to check this band out.

i sent their album out in the google group actually

86. GNAW THEIR TONGUES - Per Flagellum Sanguemque, Tenebras Veneramus (370 Points, 11 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4GCyroSaUX8/TociZGeWG5I/AAAAAAAACJY/BGMiVE3B4P0/s1600/front%2Bgtt.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Gnaw+Their+Tongues

Gnaw Their Tongues is an experimental black metal moniker of Maurice de Jong formed in Drachten, Netherland in 2005. Its named after a verse in the bible.

Glenn has a lot of influence

What's that Kampfar cover even supposed to be?

druids in red robes going up a mountain on a starry night?

druids with tails? shadowy figures? i like it.

I should probably be flogged for not having heard the Hands of Orloc album yet. Sounds way cool though...

i sent their album out in the google group actually

Yes, on Nov 16. But I heard about them in September via Doomantia. It also leaked via Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Angrychairs and Metal Music Blog the day before. It is convenient to be in that Google group in case I do miss something.

I should pay more attention to Hands of Orlac, I think.

So, this year's Gnaw Their Tongues. Better than last year's I think, but still not as good as Epiphanic Vomiting of Blood?

Hands of Orloc

LOL @ me

85. Ordog - Remorse (371 Points, 15 Votes)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_95msu-VwXUk/TUw8w-7U5wI/AAAAAAAABNU/a6GktL3bCM8/s1600/ordogremorse.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Ordog

There are at least four bands called Ordog, which means “Devil” or a satyrical evil creature in Hungarian.

1) A doom metal band from Tornio, Finland formed in 2005. They released two demos titled “I” & “II” which were later compiled on “I-II”. In 2006 they released their debut “Crow and the storm”. In 2008 their 2nd album “Life is too Short for Learning to Live” has been released.

They consists of Aleksi Martikainen (vocals), Valtteri Isometsä (guitars, bass, drums) and Jussi Harju (keyboards). On live gigs they are supported by R. Väänänen, playing drums and K. Huhtala on bass.
Newest info can be found on their official site www.ordogband.com or on MySpace.

Finland really rules at Funeral Doom. So chuffed this album made it, it's awesome! Skepticism/Thergothon fans gets this now!

Think I've heard this one, though I didn't vote for it. Will give it another go...

You know whats frustrating about being a fan of metal? I feel like I've listened to a shitload of metal albums from 2011, but this list and the RYM charts remind me that I still haven't even come close to scratching the surface. There's almost too much!

there's never too much!

Hence the "almost", its just daunting to look at the list of albums I listened to and realize how much I still missed!

sign of a healthy scene creatively innit

I honestly don't mind this about metal but surely it's more a sign of tons of copycat?

*copycat bands

again, I kind of like that there are like 200 bands that were really into one darkthrone riff and decided to make a couple albums that sound just like that riff... but it can be a bit wearying sometimes.

And we're only covering a small percentage of the sub-genres on ilx really. Mainstream metal or metalcore,nu metal,djent,power metal,thrash metal, screamo ,glam and shitloads of sub-genres dont get mentioned on ilm really. So imagine adding the 'good' albums in those genres to the list.
The rap threads cover the most pop artists through to the underground, we just really tend to go for non mainstream stuff, even if some of the death/black/doom bands are quite successful within their own sub-genre(s)

Did I miss where we (as in ilm) agreed that "djent" was a real genre? Because I certainly didn't sign up for that.

84. THE WOUNDED KINGS - In the Chapel of the Black Hand (377 Points, 18 Votes)
http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/thewoundedkingscover.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Wounded+Kings

The Wounded Kings of England (Dartmoor) is a doom metal band formed in 2005. They uphold Britain’s occult heritage and aim to produce a unique blend of spectral doom and psychedelic horror with a desolate end of the world vibe filled with suffocating heaviness. Hallmarks are eerie choirs, pianos and the use of space within the slow and mind-bending riffs with haunting female vocals

Band Members:
~ Steve Mills (Guitars, Piano & Organ)
~ Sharie Neyland (Vocals)
~ Alex Kearney (Guitars)
~ Jim Willumsen (Bass)
~ Mike Heath (Drums)
http://www.myspace.com/thewoundedkings2

awesome album.

actually a bunch of albums on my ballot have been in this section too, not just glenn's.

Great, great band. Awesome live as well.

a japanese band coming up next. Also known for being good live

Loudness put out an album last year? Damn, I missed it.

83. Boris - Attention Please (382 Points, 14 Votes)
http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2011/02/Boris-Attention-Please.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Boris

Boris (ボリス Borisu) are a Japanese experimental rock band formed in Tokyo in 1992. The band’s original lineup consisted of Atsuo, Takeshi, Wata, and Nagata who was the band’s original drummer. After his departure, Atsuo took over drums and the lineup has remained consistent to this day. Boris draw influence from a huge variety of styles including, but not limited to, psychedelic rock, punk, sludge, doom metal, drone, pop, noise, shoegaze, and ambient. The band’s name is taken from a song on Melvins’ album, Bullhead.

They released their debut full-length album, Absolutego, on their own label, Fangs Anal Satan, in 1996. Since its formation, Boris have released 17 full-length albums, three live albums, six collaborations with Japanese noise legend Merzbow among various other collaborations, and one best album Variations which focused more on the rock side of the band.

Boris saw a huge increase in popularity when Southern Lord reissued their works in North America, garnering them critical acclaim and recognition in music press. Pink, originally released in 2005 in Japan via Diwphalanx, was reissued in 2006 by Southern Lord and met with a very positive reception in the US. Blender magazine and SPIN magazine both named it one of the year’s best albums. The album also made the top of the metal section in Canadian magazine Exclaim’s reader’s poll of that year, and was in the top 10 of Pitchfork Media’s top 50 records of the year.

In 2011, Boris announced plans to release three full-length albums in the same year. The first to be released was New Album, their fifteenth album, on March 16 in Japan. The album consists of mainly j-pop with some elements of psychedelic rock and electronic styles. The next two albums, Heavy Rocks (2011) and Attention Please, were released simultaneously on May 24 through Sargent House. Heavy Rocks shares its name and cover art style with Heavy Rocks, released in 2002 in Japan. Attention Please is mostly noted for featuring lead vocals by Wata on each song. Boris co-headlined a European tour with their new label-mates Russian Circles throughout the summer from June 17 to July 17 and continued touring Europe alone from July 19 to July 24. They will also be headlining a North American fall tour from October 7 to November 12 with various openers including Tera Melos, Asobi Seksu, True Widow, Liturgy, Master Musicians of Bukkake, Coliseum, and Joe Lally.

Boris maintains a Tumblr page at http://borisheavyrocks.tumblr.com/ and an official homepage at http://www.borisheavyrocks.com/

Anyone see them touring last year?

Haven't seen them since they toured with Nachtmystium and Torche, but that was a fantastic show. I'm actually glad this was Boris because I'm holding out for a much higher placement by a certain other Japanese band.

so is jeff

but that might be a different band

or maybe the same. who knows!

C'mon, Corrupted are top ten, surely?

82. The Flight of Sleipnir - Essence of Nine (382 Points, 16 Votes)
http://cache1.bigcartel.com/product_images/38081988/A5cover.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Flight+of+Sleipnir

A collaboration between Clayton Cushman (Acheronian Dirge, Ex-Throcult) and David Csicsely (Acheronian Dirge, Nexhymn, Ex- Throcult) to create a project that is lyrically based on Norse mythology and built on a “doomy” foundation with elements of psychedelic and progressive rock.

taking it all the way down to 76 tonight. Would have finished earlier but for my internet problems

Its hard to gauge, there wasn't a lot of chatter about the new album, at least not as much as I expected there to be. But I do know a couple of metal thread people absolutely loved it.

(xp re corrupted)

http://www.tribbleagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/siren1.gifMORDY METAL ALERThttp://www.tribbleagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/siren1.gif

81. Pitom - Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes (384 Points, 12 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2011-04/1301736176_3cc0b4c1f07d6ec205b7d3b861de9172.jpeg
http://www.last.fm/music/Pitom

Pitom is a very exciting young band from Israel that remains true to the “fusion” aesthetic without succumbing to any of the pretentions sometimes associated with that word. Taking progressive jazz and melding it with elements of rock, punk, prog and traditional Jewish melodies makes for a unique and exciting sound. The band consists of Yoshie Fruchter on guitar, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on bass, Kevin Zubek on drums and Jeremy Brown on violin and viola.

!!!

Such a good album. To celebrate I'll play some tracks in Outloud tnite

now you need to sell it to everyone reading the thread now

Can anyone tell me - do these "doom metal with female vocals" albums actually sound like they have female vocals or do they vocally sound like every other doom metal band it just so happens that it's a female making those noises and not a guy?

This was my review when it came out: http://www.forward.com/articles/135976/

On “Blasphemy,” Fruchter has done no less than undermine the very concept of teshuvah, or repentance, so pivotal in Jewish expression and experience. He posits a universe of uncertainty and fear where we are always begging for forgiveness and — sometimes — left unforgiven. Staked out in the midst of metal, a genre more commonly associated with anti-religious sentiment, Fruchter’s album is ultimately a stunningly and unexpected religious artifact. We are distant from God, and we are troubled, and we are lost, and redemption is very hard to find. It is a vision of life and religion far more terrifying than any devil horns, and darker than the blackest Scandinavian metal.
“Playing music, and playing specifically this music, is like prayer when you’re not in the synagogue,” Fruchter said. Like the most moving prayer experiences, it is unpredictable, inchoate and primordial. It can be terrifying.

they're generally clean vox and arent like Salome

Wounded Kings nearly made my top 30.

http://boris.bandcamp.com/

Having released three albums, there's a chance another Boris album might appear. Kind of overkill -- I thought New Album was a good balance between the other two, but not really metal. There was so much damn actual metal to choose from, I didn't see the point of voting for shoegaze.

When has ILM ever passed up the chance to vote for Shoegaze? You saw Jesu up there.

WTL for Ash Borer. I thought that was aces.

As this is ILM I'm just going to assume that Fen, Alcest, and Meads of Asphodel place pretty near the top.

I appear not to have voted for any metalgaze this year.

hey asr - when you compile the stats and stuff, can you also tag albums by vox (male/female)?

The US release eventually was the one Boris album I went with. The inclusion of "Luna" clinched it.

Sorry, the US release of New Album, I mean.

not really as i havent heard all the albums and its a bit much too work on top of everything else. but there's been plenty of female singers so far in the countdown

also -- wooden stake might have female vox but i can't hear any difference from any other doom vox

80. Dornenreich - Flammentriebe (386 Points, 13 Votes)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5FKglh38b_c/ToCm1dLDyII/AAAAAAAAC3E/9CoObcPnJ-Y/s1600/folder.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Dornenreich

Dornenreich is a Melodic Black Metal band from Tyrol, Austria. The name means realm of thorns (noun) or full of thorns (adjective) in German. Founded in 1996, the band has progressed in style from black metal on their first album, Nicht um zu sterben, to what the band describes as “a vision beyond (black) metal, neofolk and ambient” on their latest works.

xp hey Mordy did you check out Windhand? They have a female vocalist.

I was wondering about the female vocalist thing too -- I mean, female vocalists have lots of different styles, breathy, growly, operatic, other. Didn't want to press my luck asking for more adjectives though ;)

despite my great interest in, and sometimes even admiration for, i admit i am not quite enough of a connoisseur of the cookie monster vocal to appreciate the subtle differences between male + female practitioners

I think the female vocalist that have been pointed out so far are, for the most part, clean singers. At least in the stuff that I've heard. Within Temptation certainly. As for the cover art on that one – it's a tie in with a comic book that they cocreated or something. And I like that record all right, but it's really not metal.

its some dude music ie bland mallrock for 10 year olds

and it sounds like 'ass'

78. CIRCLE of OUROBORUS - Eleven Fingers (389 Points, 14 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.handmadebirds.com/store/img/store_images/HB-016.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Circle+of+Ouroborus

Circle of Ouroborus is an experimental black metal and sometime krautrock influenced band from Finland, formed by Antti Klemi and Rauta in 2004. The band’s sound is characterized by lo-fi production, unusual use of clean vocals and sometimes entirely acoustic releases that have very little in common with black metal. Sadness and nature themes seem to be prevalent in their music. While particular influences on their work seem unclear there seems to be an obvious influence of Joy Division, as they covered this band’s classic “She’s Lost Control” on their debut album.

The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol that depicts a serpent swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. It has been used to represent many things, but it most generally

TIE
78. Obake - Obake (389 Points, 14 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.rarenoiserecords.com/jukebox/_images/covers/Obake-Obake.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Obake

Obake is a sludge/doom rock band with noise rock, psychedelic rock and jazz elements formed by Balázs Pándi (The Blood of Heroes), Eraldo Bernocchi (Somma), Massimo Pupillo (Zu) and Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari (Owls). Their first album (お化け) was released in 2011.

The Obake album is actually on spotify but its marked down as additional tracks to an album by a totally different band but only shows on band page not album page.

If you like Zu check it out

the C.o.U. album is one of the 'weird' albums btw

so emil.y if you're still reading this is one you should try

77. Moonsorrow - Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa (389 Points, 15 Votes)
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/reviewpics/moonsorrow2011cd.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Moonsorrow

Moonsorrow is a self-described ’epic heathen metal’ band formed in Helsinki, Finland in 1995. The group’s earliest formation consisted of cousins Ville Sorvali (vocals and bass) and Henri Sorvali (guitar and keyboards) who released various demos that were much more characteristic as being symphonic black metal, musically, than future folk/viking metal releases. However, their albums contain occasional flashbacks to their black metal roots.

Their newest album, Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa, was released on 21st of February 2011. Moonsorrow had initially stated they would be returning to shorter songs but all the tracks on Varjoina except the interludes are over 10 minutes.

oh hey i voted for that

you only get the sirens once

Hey there! Obake was my #1!

Moonsorrow was my #3 album. It's probably the biggest sounding metal album ever recorded.

last for tonight coming up then a recap

76. Lento - Icon (390 Points, 12 Votes)
http://www.rockfreaks.net/files/a/1310668609.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Lento

Lento is an instrumental doom/space/sludge/psychedelic/post metal collective based in Rome, Italy.
The former members joined in 2004 as a quartet and started working out a sort of introspective and implosive approach, taking their cue from a wide range of influences including seminal bands such as Neurosis, Earth and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. After a short time break, in late 2005, Lento expanded into a five piece act, and began structuring the basement of a more elaborate mood. Incorporating elements of ambient, doom and hardcore, lento has created a perfect opposition between sludge heavy riffs and ambient psychedelic suites. Lento’s tone is a blend of heavily down tuned guitars, apocalyptic slow tempos, systematic drones and resonant
feedbacks, their live sets alternate from hardcore assaults to intimate collapses of the signals.

See, now we are getting into the stuff that I expect to do well on an ILM poll. Hipsters.

J3ffsTers

wait, "post-metal" is a thing?

Been a thing for a while now.

yup

btw guys if you all go and vote in THE 2011 ILM SUPER-MEGA YEAR-END ALBUMS 'N' TRACKS POLL™ Voting Thread (ends at MIDNIGHT EST on Friday, January 20th, 2012) johnny fever will not troll metal poll!
seandalai says a couple of metal albums were 1 ballot away from placing in the 77, so go vote!

Any atmospheric doom/sludge/black metal band gets the post-metal tag now. For quite a few years now tbh. But i think saturation point was reached and bands have moved on to other things but there's still a lot of it about. It's the one thing guaranteed to still piss off the metal purists!

Death metal is the next one to get the indie kid treatment though. Deathcore and melodic deathcore are huuuuge so Post Death Metal will happen as those bands go 'serious'

I will def be voting for Obake, Windhand, and Weedeater in the big poll here pretty soon! xp

But everyone else vote for albums that have a chance of making it!

Direct Link to poll recap & full results

Thoughts?
Predictions?
Hopes?

I predict I will once more have voted for the album in dead last.

you try to do that every year though

i predict Turisas in the top 10

I sawa lot of top album list this year thast had Litutgy at the top of their list... Lets hope you guys did something different.

Liturgy.. Damn I'm the wosrt typist ever.

Go check out the metal entries in http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/

and laugh

well come on, its the Village Voice, arguably the leading voice in whats hot and not.. heavy music isn''t even a consideration.. Carson Daly has been crowing about Kylesa on his late night show the past few months(has had em on twice), but thats as close as its gonna get for heavy music being excepted by the masses...

(pretty much all of the critics on ilm vote in that poll sean)

okay, well they don't like heavy music then.. lol!
And you're making my point for me... look at ALL the post on ilm and how little heavy music is on here.. two, maybe three threads at a time maybe, while there is a shit ton of other stuff on here with a lot more traffic.. Just an observation, not a slag by any stretch, and not a very investigative conclusion, just at quick glance, thats what I've seen

yeah but the reason there's a limited # of metal threads is because people want it all on one rolling thread.

Cuz of the frequency in which it gets talked about. I posted in the rolling thread last night, and this afternoon my post was still the last one.. It doesn't get the traffic, and its roughly about the same 10 people that post regularly. Again not a slag, just an observation to the scope of heavy music and where it lies in the mainstream of whats trendy and hip.. But, all the reason I love it that much more.

and that thread gets a lot of posts

lol xp

Metal still hasn't seen the big stages here in the states like it does in Europe, literally not since the hair metal shit in the 80s, but its always done well over there, so maybe its a bit more in the public eye than here, but only a bit more... Perfect example, the big 4 shows.. what did Europe get 7 shows, we got two.. And where are they all from, oh thats right they're fucking Yanks! lol..

well sean, the reason i do this poll (and the large rollout) is to introduce a lot of heavy music to ilx. It's not just metal thread posters reading this. There's ilxors who dont read that thread as they may only have a passing interest in metal, then theres fuck knows how many lurkers reading it but loads of them vote and even more will be reading this thread.

i don't think this is necessarily a bad thing but i kinda feel like we have this conversation every year? (the one about the metal thread, and the amount that metal is or isn't visible on mainstream ilm?)

but ilm might cover a lot of mainstream music right down to the downright obscure, but metal thread ignores the mainstream really. But i know we cover the better music!

oh im not dissing the metal thread. I was just saying to sean why there's not a lot of metal threads, as its all contained on the 1 thread really.

Kerr brought it up.. LOL! wanting us to laugh at the Village Voice poll.

Bottom line, this site in gerneral is cool for just seeing what else is out there no matter what type of noise it is..

anything in music gets discussed on ilm. Which is great.

even your album got discussed, sean!

(pretty much all of the critics on ilm vote in that poll sean)

I wish. I was only one of two people who voted for Graveyard and Elder, and of three for Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats.

man everything about Acid Witch is so awesome, from the stoner riffs to the graphics to song titles, the band photos, I'm loving those guys.

agreed!

I ordered the CD a month ago and still don't have it. Nevertheless, I sure hope more people voted for it here than in Pazz & Jop.

^what is this post referring to, Uncle Acid or Acid Witch?

Oops, Uncle Acid. Slow-azz shipping from U.K.

75. Deafheaven - Roads to Judah (390 Points, 16 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pXh2qWKzURs/TWwpYgrjcCI/AAAAAAAAC98/J_YCqGBOpfU/s1600/DFHVNcover.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Deafheaven

Based out of San Francisco, CA, Deafheaven started as an isolated project between frontman George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy. After sending the demo to various blogs and receiving overwhelmingly positive reception, they accepted offers to play live shows and added members of Whirl and Temple Of Saturn to form the quintet that today tours as Deafheaven. On July 29th, 2010, Deafheaven played their first show, marking the unofficial genesis of their rise to bay area prominence. Within months of forming, they began receiving interest from numerous record labels and officially signed on with Deathwish Records in December of 2010.

Since signing to Deathwish, Deafheaven has released a limited edition 7” demo, debuted their first full album, Roads to Judah, toured the West Coast; and are currently preparing for a tour of the South West.

Their music is described as “A dizzying hybrid of shoegaze shimmer, hardcore punk passion, emo vulnerability, and black metal intensity.” They have cited a wide range of musical influences, including, but not limited to, Morbid Angel, The Smiths, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Orchid and My Bloody Valentine

wonder if sean has an opinion on these guys

interesting list of influences. i don't quite get how they all go together, but i've noticed that no matter how long your list of influences, if it includes 'black metal' it probably sounds mostly like black metal and much less like the other things...

Black metal is the green bell pepper of influences.

I'm guessing they sound like Wolves in the Throne Room, like lots of BM-gaze bands. WitTR haven't been mentioned much for a hight placing, I think they're locked on for top ten, and possibly top five.

"we're emo in the sense that if you could understand our lyrics, you'd see that they're really quite sensitive."

Glenn voted for them so ask him!

74. Raspberry Bulbs - Nature Tries Again (392 Points, 11 Votes, 1 #1)
http://static.boomkat.com/images/433477/333.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Raspberry+Bulbs

Lo-fi black metal/punk by He Who Crushes Teeth, half of Bone Awl.

i have this lp. It's really good!

Somehow this totally passed me by. Must acquire and listen.

I thought it was average at best. Like Bone Awl but not as good.

TIE
72. Lantlôs - Agape (392 Points, 14 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jQYh2SE_X28/TrbKwcfz8ZI/AAAAAAAAB1k/ezMJxUWE-MI/s1600/lantlo%25CC%2582s+-+agape.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Lantl%C3%B4s

Lantlôs was founded in 2005/2006 in Rheda, Germany by Herbst and Angrrau. Some rough demos were recorded and later released on the extremely limited “Îsern Himel” demo tape by the band itself in 2008. Because both Herbst and Angrrau were not satisfied with the sound and “Îsern Himel” was always meant to be a demo, they started to record the debut in their homestudio in September of 2007. After Alboîn joined as a session singer their first line-up was complete. “Lantlôs”, released by ATMF, saw daylight in September of 2008 in combination with the perfect artwork by Fursy Teyssier. Shortly thereafter, Angrrau and Alboîn left Lantlôs. The debut was rereleased on LP via Deviant Records and on tape via Karge Welten in 2009.

In the end of 2007/early 2008 Herbst started to work on the next album”.neon”, and eventually Neige (Alcest) joined Lantlôs as a permanent vocalist. “.neon” was recorded in February 2009. In March 2010 Lantlôs switched to Prophecy Productions. Again Fursy Teyssier delivered even more breathtaking artwork for “.neon” and the new material was released in May 2010.

Herbst and Neige will enter the studio in mid July 2010 to record the third full length.
Herbst words about their following album; “With our new album we’ll tread new paths, both musically and conceptually. In general, the upcoming album will be very vanguard and rather unaccessible and the black metal vibe will be gone almost entirely. Still the record will be much darker than its predecessors, nihilistic, and strange. It’ll be bulky, ugly and will feed off its listeners.”

72. Orchid - Capricorn (392 Points, 14 Votes)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2tS5V2eSBB0/TV6qDte3hAI/AAAAAAAABQw/KULYSEW5jsM/s1600/Orchid.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Orchid

2. ORCHID (SF) hail from San Francisco, California. They began playing live in and around San Francisco in early 2008. Since that time they have shared the stage with such heavies as Pentagram, Earthless, Nachtmystium, Fu Manchu, Astra, Slough Feg, Ludicra, and Hammers of Misfortune.

ORCHID signed with German Doom label The Church Within Records in October of 2009 and released their debut EP Through the Devil’s Doorway in December of that year to much praise and critical acclaim from both European and American press.
A full length LP, Capricorn, was released in February of 2011.

www.facebook.com/orchidsf

gotta say, mordy's spotify playlist is helping me keep up with this
there are only 4 subscribers?

Presumably a lot of people are listening to the other polls playlist to help with their ballots

Well it took me...er..6 hours but I've finally managed to hear a few tracks off each of yesterday's countdown placers. I feel my world is a little topsy turvy right now cos I really liked a surprisingly (to me) large number of 'em.

Very much liked - ICS Vortex, Hands of Orlac, The Wounded Kings, Dornenreich

Fell head over heels for - Premonition 13, Pitom

Coupled with the fact that I spent the early hours of this morning at work blasting the Red Fang album I only discovered yesterday, I'm a bit worried about what's happening to me.

Onto 75 and beyond!

http://open.spotify.com/user/mordys/playlist/6FNGd20uP6dyX5W1jzFE6Z

Gonna try to throw all of these in this playlist.

― Mordy,

Pandemic I wish there was more like you!
Your comments and enthusiasm really makes doing all this worthwhile! (and everyone elses too!)

once upon a time all of tzadik's stuff was on spotify. alas, no more.

the ulcerate album has been growing on me in a major way over the last few days. curious where it will place.

71. Slough Feg - Made in Poland (395 Points, 13 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/image/cache/data/sloughfeg_live-300x300.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Slough+Feg

First ever SLOUGH FEG live, includes 28-page booklet + liner notes by Mike Scalzi and full of color photos!
’The Lord Weird Slough Feg’, whose name is derived from a character in the British mythology-inspired Sláine comics, originates from Central Pennsylvania.

The band relocated to San Francisco, California in 1990 in hopes of resurrecting the ailing ‘true metal’ scene in the United States. The band quickly gained a reputation as, ‘The band San Francisco loved to hate’ by taking a stand against the trends and incorporating stage savagery with strong visual imagery.
The band moved to underground Italian label, Cruz Del Sur in 2005 and shortened their name to simply, ‘Slough Feg’ with the release of ‘Atavism’.
Slough Feg’s style is an eclectic mix of Celtic Folk and Traditional Metal peppered with buckets of energy and lyrical depth.
Bill Magill is known to be a massive fan.

my cd hasnt arrived yet

I see what you did there.

70. EPHELES - Je Suis Autrefois (397 Points, 13 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.drakkar666.com/drakkarproductions/releases/arcd005-EPHELES.gif
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Epheles

Hailing from France, Epheles combines brutal black metal with ambient music

Siegbran's #1 iirc

69. Witch Mountain - South of Salem (398 Points, 22 Votes)
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/33/39/3339993935-1.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Witch+Mountain

Witch Mountain was formed in Portland, OR in 1997 by Rob Wrong and Nate “Nanotear” Carson ).

people took j3ff literally when he asked everyone to throw a few points to a fellow ilxor

A very respectable placing, congrats Nate!

Hey Witch Mountain!!!

(btw I am way slow to check new stuff out but I am compiling of list of stuff that sounds like interesting)

to the tune of hey bo diddley?
xp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBomZZz72d8

no youtubes!

btw do you all bookmark this thread?

oops sorry xp

also yeah I bookmark this thread but I have so many bookmarks it tends to get lost in the shuffle

p&j thread is the big thread atm im guessing a lot bookmarked that

68. Condenados - A Painful Journey Into Nihil (406 Points, 14 Votes)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fgWUGmN3KLM/TZ47UQ_d9rI/AAAAAAAABfU/dcJp-8jOJxY/s1600/CONDENADOSPainful.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Condenados

This band from Chile performs a dark and heavy Doom Metal, highly influenced by perverted cults like SAINT VITUS, CATHEDRAL, ELECTRIC WIZARD, among others. CONDENADOS will penetrate your soul, and will let you smell an internal rot, through the invocation of ancient demons, inside the sonorous malediction of this band. “THE END HAS FINALLY COME!”

btw we're doing a country map for the poll again this year.

which is always interesting. Seandalai/johnny f , you guys fancy doing that for the big poll? Would be interesting to see the geographical make up of the bands voted for.

is that witch mountain album as stonery as it looks from the cover?

also, how can you see how many ppl are subscribing to a playlist?

i clicked on "subscribers"
yesterday i was the first one to subscribe, i think?

now there are 7

I guess you can't check if it's your playlist?

oooh I am way overdue on checking that Condenados album out

yes, yes you are.

67. Devil - Time to Repent (409 Points, 15 Votes)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RMPB-kGHh3o/TjL7xN6plCI/AAAAAAAACDw/s1DQ7Lm3Fz0/s1600/Devil+Time+to+Repent.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Devil

Doom Metal/Occult rock

Not too different stylewise from Ghost I suppose. Very good album anyway though obv not as good as Ghost.
Title track is a belter though.

so check it out!

btw how do americans enjoy this poll now they have access to Spotify?

a lot more, obvs!

ditto -- it's a totally different experience following a poll when you can listen to ~50% of it right away

Haven't been feeling today's offerings 75-70 as much, but holy crap Witch Mountain is fantastic!!

66. Nightwish - Imaginaerum (409 Points, 16 Votes)
http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2011-11/1322510809_front.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Nightwish/

Nightwish is a Goth influenced symphonic girly metal band, formed in the town of Kitee, Finland in 1996. The band currently consists of Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards), Marco Hietala (bass, vocals), Emppu Vuorinen (guitars), Jukka Nevalainen (drums and percussion) and Anette Olzon (vocals).

Anette Olzon was announced to be the replacement for former vocalist and frontwoman Tarja Turunen in 2007 after the latter was fired in 2005. She has appeared on Dark Passion Play, Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places) and Imaginaerum, as well as the two-year Dark Passion Play tour.

The band’s leader, keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, composes songs that are often classified as either symphonic metal or power metal; their musical style has also been described as a symphonic metal variant, called opera metal and even in some cases called ‘epic metal’.
Nevertheless, Nightwish is considered one of the main developers of the symphonic metal genre, which encompasses similar bands such as Within Temptation, Therion, Epica, Edenbridge, Lunatica, and Visions of Atlantis.

The original idea of Nightwish was largely inspired by The Gathering, and the idea was to use keyboards, acoustic guitars and the operatic vocals of their then singer Tarja Turunen. This idea was changed in 1997, as a drummer was added, and the acoustic guitar was replaced by an electric guitar.

The idea of using operatic vocals was changed dramatically with their third album Wishmaster (2000), and more so on future albums, especially Dark Passion Play (2007). In 2001, Holopainen asked Sami Vänskä, their bassist since 1998, to leave, and he was replaced with Marco Hietala (Tarot, ex-Sinergy), leaving Sinergy. The bassist would, apart from playing his instrument, also perform male vocals.

Century Child (2002) marked a new change in Nightwish’ music, as they used a live orchestra on several songs, to get a more present feeling of classical music. This was developed further with their US breakthrough Once (2004) and Dark Passion Play (2007), the latter being the first to use orchestra on all of the songs.

In October 2005, after touring for their Once, the four other members of Nightwish decided that it was best to continue Nightwish without Tarja, a feeling they expressed through an open letter.

This was due to the fact that they felt that her husband Marcelo Cabuli and commercial interests had changed her attitude towards Nightwish.
Tuomas Holopainen gave the letter to Tarja after the last concert of the tour. In spring 2007, 35-year-old Anette Olzon from Katrineholm, Sweden was announced to replace Tarja Turunen.

The band released a new single, Eva, featuring their new singer in May, 2007.
It was followed by another single, Amaranth, on August 22, and a studio album in late September entitled Dark Passion Play.
The third international single of the album was Bye Bye Beautiful, released on February 15, 2008, and the next was The Islander, released in May, 2008.

On February 10, 2011, Nightwish announced via their website that the title of their seventh studio album will be Imaginarium. The album released in late 2011, is a concept album telling the story of an old composer on his deathbed, reminiscing of his youth. The album is to be produced alongside a movie with the same name, directed by Stobe Harju, who previously directed the music video for “The Islander”. The first single to be released was Storytime on November 11, 2011. (Storytime Songfacts).

Official site: www.nightwish.com
Their Label’s Nightwish profile: http://www.nuclearblast.de/de/label/music/band/about/70948.nightwish.html

is that witch mountain album as stonery as it looks from the cover?

jeff has way too much influence on il metal btw

also another concept girly goth metal album.

ok i guess noones interested in Nightwish so i'll post the next one

65. Orthodox - Baal (410 Points, 15 Votes)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rAhoVCZsHz4/TcLIWuiMXVI/AAAAAAAABms/AS_QYrijVyM/s1600/orthodox.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Orthodox

Orthodox is a trio from Seville, Spain playing experimental doom metal, inspired by religious folklore and jazz.

“We started with a concept”, could be read in the album cover of the seminal band Earth. The Spanish trio Orthodox could say the same. Their music, their performance, their artwork, everything is made in order to develop their own concept.

The band started in the winter of 2004/05 and the next April they recorded the two themes of Gran Poder, an amazing debut that is just the first stone of the sonic monolith they’re going to build step by step. In this first recording, their musical influences Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Melvins and Sleep get mixed with their peculiar perception of the South-Spanish religious folklore. The result is a liturgical music with obsessive repetitions, minimalism, feedback, distortion and endless drones creating a primitive feeling that leads to trance and remains as a perfect soundtrack for every dark point of Christianity: oppression, sin, suffering, guilt and pain.

Orthodox members come from different bands of the Spanish underground (Tierra, Degüello, The Forge) but is Orthodox the band where they feel free to express themselves and let their personalities sing with a same voice.

Now they are working in new songs with new instrumentation (stand up bass, piano…) and showing influences from John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Morricone, Ligeti and religious music so they can express their spiritually in the heaviest way possible.

The Nightwish album is their best in ages. I should have ranked it higher on my list.

Orthodox are fkn great.

I give a lot of credit to Jeff. he's got a distinctive, compelling taste in this kind of music, he shares it generously, and he finds really neat, really fun stuff. a good portion of my metal ballot came from him introducing me to stuff.

Orchid and Witch Mountain were my #28 and 29. I didn't know an ILXr is in Witch Mountain, cool.
http://orchid.bandcamp.com/album/capricorn

I really like The Flight Of Sleipnir. Short album, but two tracks from this year's split EP fills it out nicely. Why haven't I heard of them? Were Winter Solstice II (2009) and Lore (2010) not nearly as good?

that epheles album is stone cold perfect btw

"You wouldn't like me when I'm Angrrau"

64. Caïna - Hands That Pluck (410 Points, 16 Votes)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0lqMO-dml0U/Tjl__HQmczI/AAAAAAAAAHs/RDwHmv7RJHc/s1600/Ca%25C3%25AFna%2B-%2BHands%2BThat%2BPluck.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Ca%C3%AFna

Caïna is a one-man band, from the United Kingdom (Hampshire / Sussex, England) and created by Andy, known as “A” on early releases. Stylistically drawing from influences as disparate as black and death Metal, drone, dream-pop/shoegaze, neofolk and post-rock, each Caïna release is designed to be a distinct entity with it’s own palette and mood. Amongst the project’s lyrical themes are English myths and legends, literature, the repudiation of religion and the exultation of the individual.

Caïna Discography :

When We Are Grown, We Will Be Strong (EP / 2005)
Age of Thorns (an anti-monotheistic hate monument) (Split / 2006)
The Cold Taste of Perdition (EP / 2006)
The King Beneath (EP / 2006)
Some People Fall (CD / 2006)
I, Mountain (EP / 2007)
Mourner (Full length CD / 2007)
The Heart of the Master (EP / 2007)
Temporary Antennae (Full-length CD/2008)
Krieg/Caïna (split 7”/2009)
Caïna/Process of Guilt (split 10”/2009)
Caïna (EP/2009)
Will Over Worlds (Compilation CD/2011)
Hands that Pluck (Full-length 2CD/2011)
White Medal/Caïna (split/2011)