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

1. Hammers of Misfortune - 17th Street (1,601 Points, 39 Votes, 5 #1s)
http://i27.lulzimg.com/326d0b3228.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/hammers+of+misfortune

The eclectic and versatile guitarist John Cobbett (Gwar, Ludicra, Slough Feg, Amber Asylum, Jarboe) from San Francisco gave birth in 2000 to HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE, previously known as UNHOLY CADAVER.

Review

by James Christopher Monger

Bay Area progressive metal outfit Hammers of Misfortune's fifth outing brings to mind classic Deep Purple, Queen, and Judas Priest as filtered through Dream Theater's kaleidoscopic art rock lens. Led by guitarist/lyricist John Cobbett, 17th Street juggles power metal clichés, classic rock melodies, and doom metal breakdowns with equal aplomb, managing to circumvent any kind of eye rolling through sheer determination and earnestness. Key cuts include the weary, vaudevillian “The Day the City Died” and the blistering title track, the latter of which opens with a pair of crucial duel leads before launching into a brutish mix of Queens of the Stone Age and "Starship Troopers"-era Yes. Eclectic? Absolutely, but it never feels contrived, and when all of the disparate parts successfully align, as they do on the breathtaking Big Country-meets-Iron Maiden-inspired single “The Grain,” it’s like randomly spinning the dial on the radio and landing on your favorite song.

An album like this can easily be experienced with the same emotion that fuels you when you watch a magnificent, soaring landscape. Or a beautiful painting by an artist you admire.

Yes, I realize this sounds big and gushing but I think, with some amount of confidence, that when music is in the field of what Hammers Of Misfortune play and loaded with so much love and grandiosity, it reaches the same level of greatness than art.

Hammers Of Misfortune always played Heavy Metal in its purest incarnation. The metal that you could find in old vinyl collected with care and inherited from a wiser brother. Or the heavier Hard Rock classics. Stuff like early Maiden, Dio-era Black Sabbath, Judas Priest but als Thin Lizzy, early Rush, even the more operatic incarnations of Queen. That might not be everyone's cup of tea, but to be honest, it should be, especially when the band delivers with as much passion as you can hear in this record. In the past, including on their cult-worthy release “The Locust Years”, I always thought they had heart and some sort of magic but lacked restraint. And yet, on “17th Street”, the band created the by the ever-so-excellent Joh Cobett, whose Slough Feg are a blessing from heaven, uses that love for no holds barred epicness, theatrical heaviness and larger than life songs to reach a place that has been abandoned by more well-known bands.

It's a powerful, galloping, epic album. Even when the songs take a break and go into moodier territories, they're still all about the grandiosity and the power of rock. The keyboards, the queen-esque guitars, Joe Hutton's leading vocals (that remind me of David Byron at his most evocative), the moments of over the top theatricality all work together to make an album that isn't even remotely concerned with being “different” or “restrained” but goes for the heart and guts. Whether its with hair-raising epics like “The Grain” or the beautiful, purely 70's prog-ballad “Summer Tears” (a song that sounds like it came out from a time machine), I didn't have a second of boredom. The whole album is played great, produced like it should be (with a lovingly warm and analogic sound), soaring and glorious and at times just right to cruise a road feeling great about life. This is heavy music for the soul...9/10.

Words: Andrea Contanzo.

Up the Hammers!!!!

blah

Hammers of Misfortune are never "blah"!

Well in a thread full of fantastic album cover art, that probably is the best

My thoughts on Hammers Of Misfortune, from the blog:

I’m a fan of Hammers’ band-leader John Cobbett. Whether working with Hammers, The Lord Weird Slough Feg or Ludicra, his guitar style and undeniable mastery of the riff from hell shine through. With his focus now solely and strongly on this version of Hammers Of Misfortune, he’s crafted his masterpiece. 17th Street is an amazing listen from front to back, and, in this era of red-lined ear fatiguing mixes, an absolute pleasure to listen to regardless of the playback medium (though I’m partial to cranked in the car, because I can sing along and play steering wheel drums). I remember fondly when metal was a broad, nearly template free music whose one criteria for greatness was rocking the fuck out, and this record rocks the fuck out like the best of the best. “The Grain”, is by far my song of the year. An instant all-time classic on on album chock full of songs nearly as good.

RAGE QUIT

Kewl! Thanks to everyone who ran this, it was a lot of fun as usual!

I'm glad it was Hammers and not Corrupted.

Didn't know YOB was gonna be at Empty Bottle wed. - I just got tix too - that's gonna be awesome - wish I would have voted - woulda been my number one

Thanks for doing this guys. Another year done and dusted.

i've tried with hammers. i really have.

Direct Link to poll recap & full results

Will start a new thread with full results, stats as soon as Glenn opens needle to the public and i get the link. Dont post any ballots until ive posted full results and link please.

Thanks guys! Great poll. Don't quite have that much love for Hammers, but happy to see it place nonetheless.

Get over to http://outloud.fm/ILXORS where tracks from all these albums will be playing

Awesome poll Kerr and Glenn; kings amongst ilxors, the both of you are

Everyone who hasn't already go vote THE 2011 ILM SUPER-MEGA YEAR-END ALBUMS 'N' TRACKS POLL™ Voting Thread (Voting ends TONIGHT!)

yes, thanks kerr!

absu tracks on spotify are really good. tara is probably one of my fave metal albums; not sure why I haven't listened to this album until now.

"this album" = abzu

Hammers was my #6 vs. Corrupted my #17, so yay.

A BIG THANKS TO ALL WHO VOTED!

I deliberately placed Uncle Acid low because (as I said upthread) I don't think it's metal but not enough to raise it a position. Would have been gutted Corrupted missed out by two points had my voting not been what it was.

Actually, surprised this means Amebix didn't place at all.

oh shit just noticed zeb pike finished! that's awesome! great band, bassist is a friend and a total bro

someone else says that funnily enough

yeah jj and him are tight bros from way back when

Unless YOU'RE JJ.

ILM METAL POLL 2011 POST MORTEM - FULL RESULTS/STATS AND BALLOTS

Massive thank you to Kerr and Glenn!

Speaking as someone who had only heard one of the 125 albums listed and had only even heard of 5 or 6 of the artists at all this whole thread has been both hugely enjoyable and informative. Never would I have suspected that I dug so much metal.

Big ups to everyone who voted as well. Great job one and all.

Kerr will shed tears of joy at that. Thanks indeed!

Great poll ASR!

this was great (as usual), K. sorry i didn't vote/participate, but i honestly did not have a very metal 2011 in any sense whatsoever. luckily this poll's bounty should go some way in rectifying last years sad lapse somewhat. so, HAILS!, all.

yeah where you been hiding

pop over to the other thread and check out all the stats
ILM METAL POLL 2011 POST MORTEM - FULL RESULTS/STATS AND BALLOTS

i love this poll because it's educational to a dude like myself whose metal bonafides are nil beyond voting for subrosa and corrupted and gates of slumber in the all-encompassing ILM poll. MAD PROPS

haven't been following this, but glad to see hammers take it. one of my favorite bands going, and probably my single favorite album of the year (if i exclude ghost on the basis of last-year-ness and E-40 on the basis of two-album-ness).

Figured I deserved a treat for having to walk to the train in shitting snow, so I stopped by Reckless and picked up Esoteric and Devils Blood thanks to this poll. Good job guys. Also, Krallice sounds fucking great walking in shitting down snow.

Oh well, I missed a bunch of results to the cut-off, but I will say that one of the soundtracks to my insomnia has been the staccato female-vox chorus to the title track of that Hammers of Misfortune record. And in a good way.

good song that. Everyone needs to go back and check their other records!

nice list

I have only heard three of the top 10 albums which is really quite remiss

moreso because I've *felt* like there's been no shortage of quality metal in my lyfe during 2011

Great list thanks. Sorry I didn't have time to participate this year.

dj mencap you got to check those albums out then!

Great job everyone. Once again I'm stunned over the amount of great music.
Having Spotify in the U.S. sure helps. Thanks for the playlists.

Love the stats too.

glad you dug it!

I thought more people would have been shocked at how close it was. Decided by the last ballot!

thank you so much ilm for recognizing corrupted, that album is incredible, I am so happy they landed at number 2. I didn't vote cuz I listened to like maybe 3 metal albums last year, but last year was also when corrupted became my favourite band. <3 can't wait to listen to moe from this list.

if you had Corrupted would have won!

Yeah but Kerr you wouldn't accept three-album ballots so really its your fault! ;)

wait wait wait!! Hold the godamn phonw... you mean to tell me BATILLUS did not even make this list?!?!??? A tragedy for sure.. You guys need to seriously check out that record! would've been my number 2 or 3..

you should have voted!