EXTREME METAL Albums Poll - Nominations Round

Deafheaven was just banter as well, right?

What even is 'extreme' metal, this just seems like a metal poll, which is fine, just don't call it 'extreme' i'm sure you've all been over this already though blah blah

a lot of metal isnt extreme

A lot of the metal nominated already here doesn't seem particularly 'extreme' by metal standards! But ah well, all subjective I guess. You'd best watch out for my real nominations though. They'll be super-duper extreme

Deafheaven is extreme, I don't know why they wouldn't be? I know people can't stand the idea that they're black metal but whatever. This is not about elitism or nitpicking. I mean, we're letting Agalloch & Drudkh in, Deafheaven is certainly as extreme as them.

I doubt your expertise on what constitutes extreme metal, imago. I'm gonna trust peeps like HAWKZ & Devilock & HSB as they are actual metal fans who listen to metal...

I'm probably being an elitist dick tbf so I'll shut up and nominate xp until you said that! oh em gee you've done it now pal

huh? what did I do? look, you're free to nominate non-trolling albums I'm not excluding anyone.

But yes, the definition of extreme is very loose in this poll but it certainly isn't a general metal poll (that's already been done).

Welllll I'm going less by the "extreme" tag and more by the subgenres listed. In my personal life I don't see much difference in composition or execution between Emperor's Anthems and something like Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian. It's mostly a question of ... decibels? BPM? Production? I dunno. In fact I was thinking of the difference between, say, Strapping Young Lad's City and Devin Townsend's Ocean Machine or Physicist. I assume only City is considered "extreme" and now we're already in fuzzy land.

Anyway

Strapping Young Lad - City

But Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian is the best metal album ever. Obv.

Right, Devilock I think you've got the right idea here. TBH I realized how thorny this poll might be after I proposed it, and thought about changing it to a single genre poll (like Black Metal), but oh well.

Another good rule of thumb -- If its in Kerrang! it most likely does not belong here.

I usually just go by if terrorizer covered them then its in

http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/terroris.htm

all decisions are frobishers though

what was extreme 10, 20, 30 years ago might not sound extreme now so you have to balance up the era it came out. Sure , thrash metal isnt very extreme now but it sure was when the albums were made.
Obviously retro revival thrash bands might not seem extreme but would it really matter if they got in? its just a poll.

if it got in kerrang until the late 90s frobisher it might be extreme metal, frobisher. It did used to cover it.

good point about early kerrang

xpost to myself

Of course Venom was the first band nominated, and if Venom is in, everything is in: Mercyful Fate, Maiden, Priest. Or you could make the argument that Venom is noisier and more aggressive than the others.

So I'm just gonna pretend like I haven't noticed anything.

dont really see maiden or priest or sabbath as extreme tho thats just heavy metal to me

I think we just need to make a special case for Venom. But if it makes people unhappy I'll take them off

no way. venom were right there at the beginning of extreme metal.
If you remove them you may as well take off the thrash bands!

tho even early terrorizer lists are lols
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/terroris.htm

Terrorizer Albums Of The Year 1996

1. Type O Negative – October Rust
2. Godflesh – Songs Of Love And Hate
3. Neurosis – Through Silver In Blood
4. Swans – Soundtracks For The Blind
5. Tool – Aenima
6. Samael – Passage
7. Earth Crisis – Gomorrah's Season Ends
8. Whitehouse – Quality Time
9. Sepultura – Roots
10. Blood Axis – The Gospel Of Inhumanity

The other 20 albums...

11. 16 – Drop Out
12. Arch Enemy – Black Earth
13. Fu Manchu – In Search Of…
14. Crisis – Deathshread Extermination
15. The 3rd & The Mortal – Painting On Glass
16. C.O.C – Wiseblood
17. Vader – De Profundis
18. Cradle Of Filth – Dusk And Her Embrace
19. Laibach – Jesus Christ Superstars
20. Korn – Life Is Peachy
21. Katatonia – Brave Murder Day
22. Gehenna – Malice
23. Turmoil – From Bleeding Hands
24. Crowbar – Broken Glass
25. Various Artists – Nordic Metal
26. Bloodlet – Entheogen
27. Downset – Do We Speak A Dead Language?
28. Stuck Mojo – Pigwalk
29. My Dying Bride – Like Gods Of The Sun
30. Burzum – Filosofem

Deeds of Flesh - Reduced to Ashes

They get slagged as a Suffoclone but I think they homed in on one aspect of the Suffo sound, that maniacal chopping guitar thing, and developed it into something beyond even Suffocation. Sometimes I don't even understand how those guys can play in that style in that sustained way for so long. They all must have wrist deformities by now. Anyway, Reduced to Ashes is one of the meanest and most unrelenting death metal albums ever.

Also:

Nile - Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka
Nile - Black Seeds of Vengeance
Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines
Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked

Yes I think all four are equally great and I cannot choose an objective favorite. Each album is like a heavier and more refined version of the one before, and I'd have been content if they'd only ever released just one of them. Pretty much perfect albums all. I have no idea how I'd forgotten Nile til now as they're one of my fav dm bands.

xpost yes keep Venom I was daring to delve into the nitpickiness that will be our downfall but I'm all better now

Nobody need vote venom,hellhammer or death ss if they dont like them but i think they should be nominated just for their trailblazing.

the real murky territory is the death metal demos that preceded official albums by years in some cases. THAT is where the elitists shine.

argh, please don't post lists unless you want to nominate everything on them! And if so, I'm not allowing Korn or Type-O-Negative or Arch Enemy or a lot of stuff...

are they allowed? Would anyone nominate/vote them?

xp

agreed on Venom (Hellhammer and Death seem to be no-brainer to me) -- I think a trickier case would be a band like Motorhead

xp yes! The greatest albums of all time were undoubtedly all on tape cassette with 300 copies made.

If you know about that stuff nominate it then, its your life.

i wouldnt say they were extreme, hell lemmy spent their entire existence saying they're not metal!

xp

i dont know shit about death metal but im glad youre allowing it

Jute Gyte - Discontinuities
Jute Gyte - Vast Chains
Jute Gyte - Ressentiment
Jute Gyte - Ship of Theseus
Dodheimsgard - A Umbra Omega
Dodheimsgard - 666 International
(James Plotkin's) Atomsmasher - Atomsmasher
Orthrelm - OV
Kayo Dot - Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue
MUTation - Error 500
Menace Ruine - Venus Armata
Blut Aus Nord - 777 - Cosmosophy
Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum
Lychgate - An Antidote for the Glass Pill
Chrome Hoof - Crush Depth
Dälek - Absence (n.b. this might actually not count as it's really a hip-hop record. that sounds like an extreme metal record)
The Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale
The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand
Koenjihyakkei - Koenji 2 / Viva Koenji!!
Portal - Outré
Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape
Spektr - Mescalyne
Xasthur - Subliminal Genocide
Xasthur - Defective Epitaph
Zu - Carboniferous

I don't think Motorhead should count fwiw xp's

nm about Arch Enemy btw, I confused them with a different band, they would certainly be allowed.

why would arch enemy not be allowed? you thinking of something else like nightwish?

hah ok

thank you imago, those are good noms. Not sure on Devin Townsend tho...

right, but it's a very blurry line to separate extreme metal from regular old school heavy metal, esp right around the time of Motorhead and Venom. IMO, what really turned heavy metal into extreme metal was the influence of punk, and Motorhead is front and center in that transition. Mind you, I'm not saying they are a "metal" band in the same way Metallica or Slayer is -- but then, neither is Venom, really. Both bands just had a huge hand in creating a world where Metallica and Slayer would make sense, bringing metal out of the Black Sabbath/Rainbow/Deep Purple world.

xpost

That's the only Devin Townsend album (other than SYL) I'd consider 'extreme' but you have to trust me here - it is xp

I'm listening to that specific album now and ok I agree.

Yeah Deconstruction is definitely several shades into the red from the Devin stuff I mentioned earlier.

Also now that those two DHG albums are being brought up I have to add

Dodheimsgard - Kronet til Konge
Dodheimsgard - Monumental Possession

Sorry, that Dälek album is pretty noisey, but IMO its not very metal. I don't think its going on the list...
But this is tough... I dunno. I guess I'll let it slide, it is like weird industrial rap with distorted guitars so... ok.

2edgy4me

which melvins albums count is the tricky one for me

and what about bands like Helmet? not really hardcore not trad metal too noise rock?

or Prong?

How about stuff like Naked City, which is a little bit of everything but certainly informs stuff like, say, Dillinger Escape Plan.

But I think I'm going to veto NWOBHM & 70s heavy hard rock, I gotta draw the line somewhere.

And like I said, I'll side on adding boderline stuff. Stuff such as Helmet and Prong, which are really more hard-driving hard rock I don't think counts, unless there's specific albums of theirs that are very metally. Standard stoner rock stuff is out though.

some Prong stuff was quite thrashy others more industrial metal which you said was allowed

if its like extreme pastiche with bits of metal and other stuff I think it counts (like say, certain Mike Patton stuff).
I don't think there's any Melvins album that's off limits, tbh! But they have ALOT of albums so some of them might be pretty chillax? IDK.

xp sure, specific albums and such that are extreme -- nominate them.

I think
Prong - Beg To Differ
is pretty thrashy and a classic at that. SO Im nominating it.

ok