Fuck Brumpxit its the 2016 Metal and Hard N' Heavy Rock Poll Results Thread (With spotify and bandcamp links)

ya this is exceptional. opening track is the jam

my #6

Yeah incredible album

jazzy metal-edged postpunk with the world's best bassist. it's the noir soundtrack to our crisis dreams

19 Horse Lords - Interventions 384 Points, 11 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/qHAybs6.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/2lwVXTWuMvK2Ng3x3Sdxhy
spotify:album:2lwVXTWuMvK2Ng3x3Sdxhy
https://horselords.bandcamp.com/album/interventions

West African rhythms collide with just intonation guitars, art-fire saxophone, minimalist grooves, and collaged zapdowns on Interventions, the powerful third full-length from Baltimore's Horse Lords. The band's Northern Spy debut is also the first Horse Lords album to explore the classic studio-as-weaponry strategies of yore, mapping the quartet's raw Baltimore lightning onto the experimental musique concrète territory surveyed by elder heads like Faust and This Heat.

Founded at the turn o' the 'teens by Andrew Bernstein (saxophone/percussion), Max Eilbacher (bass/electronics), Owen Gardner (guitar), and Sam Haberman (drums), Horse Lords quickly established themselves as avant-heavies with the two extended tracks of their powerful self-titled debut (Ehse Records, 2012). Playing custom electric guitars and basses refretted by Gardner, the band's rolling polyrhythms chime with the strange and distinct harmonies of just intonation inspired by the master La Monte Young and other heroes. Where the earliest Horse Lords releases, also including Hidden Cities (NNA Tapes, 2014) concentrated on linear performance, a trio of Mixtape cassettes (self-released, 2012-2014) pointed the way towards the newest turn in the Horse Lords saga.

Chopped and screwed and stomped and smothered and dissolving to bells and then suddenly (as if through a flung-open door) back into some room where Horse Lords is playing at full flight, the three Mixtapes exploded the possibilities of the quartet. Changing contexts like flipping channels on a dadaistic cable box, the series found a whole expanded universe of Horse Lords there for the squonking. Realizing that promise, Interventions is (as they say) a new phase Horse Lords album with Bernstein's saxophone and the microtonal guitars pinging through the stereo mix with single-minded purpose. Horse Lords is a band, its members serving a range of functions over multiple axes, from the audible (writing and performing music) to the structural (altering their instruments), to the soundscape in between (editing together Interventions' threaded mini-suites).

Part of the newest wave of smarty-arty-weirdos playing DIY spaces and tea houses and college campuses, Horse Lords' soaring heaviness achieves a true poise that seems equally primed to make the leap to concert halls and festivals. Making appearances on freeform radio station WFMU and concert recording site NYCTaper, Horse Lords are recognized, too, as a galvanizing live act, powered by the double-drumming of Sam Haberman and Andrew Bernstein. Last year, their Hidden Cities Remix to benefit the local Living Classrooms' Believe in Music featured the work of influential contemporaries including fellow Baltimore undergroundists Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt of Matmos (contributing separately) and Guardian Alien drummer/lead-brain Greg Fox.

Floating at the boundaries of composition and improvisation, electronics and performance, the underground and the vast improbable 21st century indie mainstream, Horse Lords exist in none of these places and all of them. More accurately, they exist on Interventions, the album you now hold in your proverbial hands, perhaps noticing the reflection of the imaginary room's light reflecting on the LP cover, ready to cue up as you find yourself in the new beyond of tomorrow's ecstasies and today's Horse Lords.
credits
released April 29, 2016

Sam Haberman
Max Eilbacher
Owen Gardner
Andrew Bernstein

recorded by Horse Lords and Chris Freeland

mixed by Horse Lords

mastered by Sarah Register

Northern Spy Records
northernspyrecords.com
tags
tags: experimental rock experimental just intonation microtonal musique concrete polyrhythms rock saxophone Baltimore

:[ my #3

TOO LOW
xp Ha, I guessed that from the description.

Seriously, I don't really think of this as metal at all, and find it hilarious that it made it into the poll, but it is incredible.

Lmao + otm

Listening now...I think I didn't jive with one track ages ago but willing to have my sixth eye opened

ok Intervention 1 is where this has taken off

reminds me of Ligeti Jr's experimental electronic work with Burkinabé folk

Virus is my first prediction that actually made the top 20. At least six of mine didn't make the top 20. Maybe an easy way to score that is just to add up the places of each prediction, lowest score wins.

I didn't vote for Horse Lords, but it's great. The poll is clearly not just about metal, but "hard 'n' heavy rock & roll." I can't say Horse Lords fits, but neither do Wardruna or 40 Watt Sun, so whatevs!

18 Hammers of Misfortune - Dead Revolutions 408 Points, 12 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/q6CG5ce.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/6M3CAdGcdAn64c7nOuidVQ
spotify:album:6M3CAdGcdAn64c7nOuidVQ

https://hammersofmisfortune.bandcamp.com/album/dead-revolution

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22129-dead-revolution/

7.8
John Cobbett is one of modern metal’s premier guitarists. In Hammers of Misfortune, he reinvigorates ’70s progressive rock and the hard rock of Deep Purple, Rainbow, and Uli Jon Roth-era Scorpions.
Featured Tracks:
“Sea of Heroes” — Hammers of MisfortuneVia SoundCloud

John Cobbett is one of modern metal’s premier guitarists, channeling an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre into virtuosic playing that bubbles with an energy folks from all levels of metal fandom can gravitate to. While he’s remained a cult figure, his work in VHÖL has given larger audiences a taste of his gifts for fusing contemporary and classic sounds. VHÖL almost overshadows Cobbett’s long-running main project, Hammers of Misfortune: In Hammers, he reinvigorates ’70s progressive rock and the hard rock of Deep Purple, Rainbow, and Uli Jon Roth-era Scorpions. Dead Revolution, Hammers’ sixth full-length, retains much of the dynamic lineup from 17th Street and contains some of their most inspired material yet, but it’s also gloomier than much of their work.

It doesn’t begin that way, however. Cobbett and Leila Abdul-Rauf, another Bay Area veteran who’s also in perverse death metallers Vastum, kick off the album with “The Velvet Inquisition,” which begins on a familiar and addictive gallop before Joe Hutton’s vocals come in to dominate. Somehow, he makes triumph sound like despair, a feeling matched by the striding music: Melodically, it’s on point, but there is a pained smile behind the shredding, a sense of reckoning with an encroaching doomsday so ominous it might already be here.

If you’re going to call upon the spirit of Ritchie Blackmore-era Deep Purple, you’re going to have to bring in some organs. Sigrid Sheie, who also plays bass, keyboard, and piano (or rather, “Paino”) in VHÖL, is their John Lord here, but her work goes beyond retro texture. As in Purple, her organ playing acts as a complementary, and sometimes alternate, drive to the guitars, giving off a pollution that clouds Revolution in unease. She gives the Maidenesque “Flying Alone” a turbo boost, with an added dose of weltering confusion, as Cobbett and Abdul-Rauf descend into a tailspin of dueling solos towards the end. On the title track, her work adds to much urgency to the clanking of Will Carroll’s cowbell that it shrugs aside any schlock you might attach to it. One of the album’s most beautiful moments is when “The Precipice (Waiting for the Fall),” breaks into just Sheie’s organ and Hutton’s soaring voice, adding another twist to the duality that characterizes the record.

Hammers feel the sting of the Bay Area’s lightspeed gentrification like almost all of the regions’ artists, something they agonized over on “The Day the City Died” from 17th Street. Revolution addresses this again by ending with a cover of “Days of ’49,” Joaquin Miller’s Gold Rush poem that was eventually covered by Bob Dylan on Self Portrait. It’s a personal take on the aftermath of a large influx of hucksters chasing fleeting economic gains—sound familiar? Hutton carries the song, combining power metal heft with Phil Lynott’s heart. He captures the longing of more optimistic times, while entirely aware of the damage its brought. Sheie brings her disorienting shimmer, as well as some piano, and Carroll’s thunder is the weight that lets Hutton thrive.

There’s an ongoing metal revival in the States, borne of an appreciation of the pre-thrash era, and perhaps a desire to hear some damn melodies, which rock radio nor the extreme underground will provide in abundance. Bands like Manilla Road and Cirith Ungol, who never got their due back in the day, are gaining a second life, and newer bands like Eternal Champion, High Spirits, Sumerlands, and Magic Circle prove traditionalism still can yield great results. Cobbett would like you to know with Revolution that not only was he ahead of the game, but that it can extend beyond hero worship.

tangenttangent, you were awfully close on this one

killer album, as always

Alright! Hammers of Misfortune was my #2. "Here Comes the Sky" might be my pick for metal track of the year.

Hammers of Misfortune won ILM metal albums poll with their previous album yet failed to get near the 77 in that years EOY poll

how misfortunate

😂😂😂

you just lost your 77 jute gyte voting block
lol

xposts

I am really enjoying this competition sub-plot!

I'm quiet today but still daring to hope for some unexpectedly high placements.

the tribe ever expandeth

my fave trax on horse lords are all the interventions lol, and that omega one that got properly amazing three seconds before it ended ffs

It's about the polyrhythms.

17 Forgotten Spell - Epiphaneia Phosphorus (Angel, God or Insanity) 413 Points, 9 Votes, THREE #1's
http://i.imgur.com/Ul2JIK6.jpg

FUCK DRUMMING PROPERLYYYYYYY

i legit hate everything about this record

C:<

Can't help but feel I'm largely responsible for this

I haven't heard this one but I am intrigued by brad's ringing endorsement

i dunno where anyone heard it as i cant find it

Xpost This Horse Lords record is GRATE. Reminds me most of Dawn of Midi.

brad why do you hate it?

YES! 3 #1's!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT-0Qm4XPZE

fuck youtube streams/embeds

can't stand the drumming or the sound

My #3. If I hadn't first heard it the day before the voting deadline it might have ended up my #2. A titanic, bewildering voyage that comes from the heart of metal, the absolute crushing DIY forest spirit madness of metal, the universe of sound beyond what's expected of songwriting and performance...and yet it never gets boring, it never in fact gets anything less than utterly compelling, a headlong five through some of the most spectacularly emotional playing I think I've ever heard. Sure, everything's out of time, out of phase. But it fucking KILLS. Plus, he's obviously a great, original songwriter and his melodic sense is stunning. Please hear this album. Unless you're Brad

There's a soundcloud link! http://www.invisibleoranges.com/forgotten-spell-epiphaneia-phosphorus-angel-god-or-insanity-full-album-premiere/

This album is just bonkers! Who else voted #1?

Well apparently YouTube is the only way to hear it.

Or Soundcloud!

I think I'd really love Hammers of Misfortune with a stronger singer.

like mike scalzi?

Three number ones! I am one of those. Since I had only heard it once at the time of voting I figured this might be too impulsive, but considering it again realised that nothing else could hope to make an impression quite like this.

The singularity of vision here is extraordinary. Feels like it was envisaged (and possibly conducted) amid of flurry of fever dreams. Surely this mad energy can't be sustained, I thought. But it could - and how! Seriously, who knew out of time drumming could have such an impact.

It is metal as all hell, but with weird accents of 80s post-punk.

for those that like the less metal stuff, despite my crowing about the Furia full length, there are EPs that the band release in between their albums, and they tend to be weirder, proggier stuff, almost krautrockish at times. They recorded the most recent one, Guido (from October), down in a mine in Poland.

https://paganrecords.bandcamp.com/album/guido

When I say "proggier," I do not mean, like, wizard music. I don't even know what genre this stuff falls in.

Seriously, who knew out of time drumming could have such an impact.

>:|

16 Thy Catafalque - Meta 424 Points, 10 Votes One #1
http://i.imgur.com/SVCIfNg.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/2DB7no5QXEJ3E5mVPgJxel
spotify:album:2DB7no5QXEJ3E5mVPgJxel

https://thycatafalqueuk.bandcamp.com/album/meta

With the new album 'Meta', the ever-evolving THY CATAFALQUE transforms once again. The Hungarian progressive/experimental metal project, helmed by composer, lyricist, and multi-instrumentalist Tamás Kátai, takes a heavier, more direct tack than on last years sprawling 'Sgùrr'. Katai effortlessly weaves idiosyncratic progressive passages and folk melodies through this [much] heavier and more metallic album. THY CATAFALQUE's enduring unpredictability makes it one of metal's most unique bands, and 'Meta' is yet another distinct and indispensable piece of their integral catalog of albums.
credits
released September 16, 2016
tags
tags: experimental metal metal avant-garde Edinburgh

Tamás Kátai is back with another offering in what comes as a bit of an unexpected surprise – avant-garde act Thy Catafalque’s seventh album. You might remember that the previous record Sgurr came out just last year, and Meta is no small EP recording to tide you over to the next one. It is the next one, all sixty-six minutes of it. Yes, you’re getting nearly seventy minutes of what is expectedly not just black metal, but doubles as something so much more. After Sgurr it’s relatively tough to even call the band black metal anymore, but I will say that the record begins a bit heavier than the previous release.

“Uránia” gives us a similar approach that reminds me heavily of the band’s early material, but the next cut “Sirály” is unquestionably different. It’s quite simple to say that it isn’t even metal at all. It feels like a bit of electronic rock with some psychedelic elements and even a female vocal presence. Perhaps there are some metallic thumps here and there, but it’s certainly not what you were expecting. Even so, that doesn’t mean that the piece isn’t effective. It even throws in a rather killer solo section that I didn’t expect to hear, showing just how versatile and magnificent this kind of act is. Songs like this are why I still have a lot of faith in this act, as well as Kátai’s willingness to experiment. The mood changes drastically with the next piece “10^(-20) Ångström” which turns from hard-hitting metal to DnB influenced metal. Kátai is still performing the scowl as we might (or might not expect) on a piece of this nature, but it’s a more upbeat track and you can dance to it.

One of the longer tracks on the disc follows in the form of “Ixión Düün” which once again changes the mood, throwing us right into the center of a video game – preferably one of role-playing fare. This seems to offer what almost feels like a little bit of Rotting Christ or Nile, possibly even Septic Flesh in it’s tone. The track itself is exponentially heavy, with the drums often blazing at full speed and darker vocal realms than I’ve heard from any of Kátai’s projects. These aren’t scowls, folks – and this isn’t black metal. It’s atmospheric death metal. We can even go back to Lykathea Aflame with this. Adding to that, we have the inclusion of the trippy guitar compositions, as well as another fine solo section that almost feels a bit inspired by Nile. This track is literally so good that it could stand out on it’s own, completely separated from the album and even if people don’t care for some of the other realms traversed on the disc, I think that a lot of people will notice this one from the start. It certainly took me by surprise and doesn’t even sound like the same band. Of course, the track mostly succeeds in it’s atmosphere, by which the guitars and keyboards just sound plain majestic. There are times when you listen to a piece of music and are overwhelmed by the complexity and sheer amount of work put into it – this is one of those times. Following that, we have “Osszel Otthon” which feels like a sort of light after dinner mint in which to settle one’s stomach after the explosive and startlingly raucous epic that we had just experienced. It doesn’t bring in the guitar until a little later in the cut, but the almost easy-listening factor of the piece brings with it a very calm, very cool feeling that is akin to a refreshing glass of ice water. If one wants to call it “elevator music” then it is definitely one of the best songs that I think I’ll ever hear while on an elevator.

Little did we know that this short piece was only an intermission to what is unequivocally the largest cut on the record. “Malmok Járnak” is just a little over twenty minutes long, and has several sections within itself, as you might imagine. It begins with something more metallic in the realms of atmospheric black metal (albeit played slower than you might expect, much closer to some of Summoning’s material) as the female vocals come back along with some electronics and atmospheric guitar leads. About midway, the entire nature of the piece changes, transforming the song from metallic to electronic. I’ve done things like this on crude electronic albums with emulated guitars, but they never sounded anything quite like this. The metal sections come back in for a little longer until the whole thing becomes atmospheric prog-rock with one last metal kick and a chant. There are a couple more tracks after that, but my intention is not to give away the entire record.

From just this observation we can sense that Thy Catafalque have returned with not only a much heavier, but far more atmospheric and proggier record than before. It won’t be for everyone, but most of Thy Catafalque’s material is a bit tough for some to chew on and that’s perfectly fine – these songs aren’t necessarily so catchy or easily absorbed. Regardless of that, there is truly something for everyone here and that’s where I find this disc most valuable. Even people who don’t like heavy metal music at all will find at least something here, and that’s worth saying something. Kátai has created a sense of musical harmony between many dissimilar styles of music, and that’s what makes Meta one of the most interesting and ambiguous albums of the year. It is an absolute must have for all avant-garde and experimental metal enthusiasts. (The Grim Lord)

http://newnoisemagazine.com/album-review-thy-catafalque-meta/#

like mike scalzi?

Lol, what? It's so nice! He is drumming his heart out

lol i'm just mad

Well I never liked what I've heard of Thy Catafalque before but I'll give this a go cos I like the cover