No, We Aren't Making These Bands Up: ILM Metal Poll 2010 Results Thread

Oh, and the Zoroaster has one of my favourite opening tracks of 2010. Love that song.

I don't think Grand Magus are anything to get too excited about these days, but they are incapable of making a bad album.

They do the trad doom/trad metal thing better than most.

That Zoroaster is criminally low imho, great album.

66
Thou - Summit (290 Points, 11 Votes)
http://www.metalsucks.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/thou-cover.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Thou

Thou is a doom/sludge/drone metal band from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. They have relased a full length LP “Tyrant” on One Eye Records, and a CD version of the record out on Gilead Media.

Another criminally low placing for an album I loved this year!

65
Titan - Sweet Dreams (298 Points, 12 Votes)

http://altsphere.com/catalog/1038-888-large/titan-sweet-dreams.jpg

http://open.spotify.com/album/3D4s5K5UVwdBDaTPZQrsdo

http://www.last.fm/music/Titan

An instrumental psychedelic/space/kraut rock band from Brooklyn, NY, described by Aquarius Records as “divine spaced out drug drenched psychedelic krautrockiness.” Releases include a self-released CD-r album, “Pilzmarmelade,” a limited edition self-titled album on Paradigms Recordings, and recently “A Raining Sun of Light and Love, For You and You and You” on Tee Pee Records. Tee Pee: “The group played its first show with Zombi in early 2005, and has since toured the East Coast with Saviours, and decimated stages opening for sonic contemporaries such as Comets on Fire, Lightning Bolt, Boris, Witch, DMBQ, Blue Cheer, and Suishou no Fune.” Currently active.

i don't get the love for this one; sounded kinda dull to me when i put it on a few weeks ago tbh.

xp

Thou?

yeah, that one.

I could see how Thou might be boring for some people, but man, it just hits me in the sweet spot.

hm, guess i'll give it one more shot.

it did end up with the coveted 66.6 spot on the poll, tho.

I really got into the Intronaut album in December, much more so than their previous couple. It was one of my top picks. Grand Magus is great. Seems like they missed some guaranteed sales by delaying a U.S. release.

next album is a shock low placing for an album you all thought might be top 10

Thou does bore me. Titan on the other hand...always great fun! Love the Hammond organ jams.

I'm re-listening to the Sigh album. I think most of their albums this past decade were pretty jaw-dropping, and awaited Scenes From Hell with slathering anticipation. But for some reason when I got it, it didn't click. It's finally starting to though...

64
Burzum - Belus (315 Points, 16 Votes)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eP70iQJjL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Burzum

R.I.P.

Biggest event of 2010 that album? or disappointment?

I could see how Thou might be boring for some people, but man, it just hits me in the sweet spot.

yeah, this is basically exactly how I feel about thou. the 90s hardcore gone sludge sound they do really works for me but I can so how others might disagree.

but the split with mohoram atta is still my favorite thou document.

I found Belus a pleasant surprise, a proper follow-up to Filosofem. I still listen to it.

Wow, kind of amazed Burzum is that low. Still a really strong record imo.

yeah, i top 10 it.

It was mid-20s on mine.

of course, Varg being Varg (and all that entails), it's not that much of a surprise low placing.

Burzum did extremely well in the alltime poll..

for work he produced before... not after.

I love filosofem but I only listened spun belus once and didn't find it all that memorable. thought about putting a bit more work into it but was like, "eh, varg is a dick" and just moved on.

I was actually surprised at how high Burzum placed on critics' polls.

he did way better on the dB top 40 than i would have thought.

...given the mere 7 the mag awarded Belus.

63
Across Tundras - Old World Wanderer (328 Points, 14 Votes)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BB7dNJcVUzY/S8SjOxgUyCI/AAAAAAAABPg/pswc-9gYFPs/s1600/o2826886.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Across+Tundras

http://www.myspace.com/acrosstundras

Across Tundras is Tanner Olson, Nate Rose, and Matt Shively. Brewing heavy psychedelic jams in the hills of Tennessee; Across Tundras seamlessly melds classic rock, folk, country, psychedelia, and doom into songs that defy classification.

“There aren’t many American metal bands that tap into their country’s deep cultural heritage quite like Across Tundras have over the span of four albums. The geography, the history and the traditional music all feature prominently on their records, whether on the dustbowl doom vibe of 2006’s Dark Songs of the Prairie or 2008’s haunting, understated Lonesome Wails From the Weeping Willow. Their newest, Old World Wanderer, marks a return to the band’s heavier side, a seamless blend of Neurosis, Crazy Horse and the Anthology of American Folk Music.” Adrien Begrand - Decibel Magazine

^ Yeah! Love that band.

I think everyone was overly cautious in the weeks prior to the Belus's release, as if no one really knew how listeners would react to it. Lots of wishy-washy reviews and features.

Who reviewed it for Decibel?

Greg Moffit.

A few more of my favorites placed today: Gnaw Their Tongues, Grand Magus and Across Tundras. In each case, I think the artists have reached a new peak, refining their sounds and exceeding my expectations. This is especially surprising with Gnaw Their Tongues - I discovered them through this poll last year and didn't think he could top All The Dread Magnificence Of Perversity so quickly.

62
Kvelertak - Kvelertak (342 Points, 20 Votes)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_A5ss3nyKBNA/TSL3BvQ_jrI/AAAAAAAAC3g/LY7gCoK87sQ/s1600/Kvelertak+-+vinyl.jpg

http://open.spotify.com/album/08d7MnYYp9OEsQ8GcnMHOn

http://www.last.fm/music/Kvelertak

Kvelertak shamelessly draw inspiration from every corner of something that could fit into their idea of good hard-hitting and catchy rock’n’roll. Regardless of genre, but always truthful to the basic idea of the band; good songs performed with the tongue-in-cheek attitude of their punk-rock pioneers. Unlike the majority of heavier bands they sing in their native language – adding even more character to their already unique sound.

Releasing their much anticipated debut album, Kvelertak are already well known in Norway for their furious live energy and catchy, melodic, metal-inspired punk rock. Outside Norway they are fairly unknown, as of yet.

Late 2009 Kvelertak inked a deal with Indie Recordings and the search for a producer started. On top of the list was the name of Kurt Ballou of Converge, and it is no surprise the band went ballistic when he agreed to produce the album in his God City studio in Salem, MA.

The story actually repeated itself when it came to finding the right artwork. All time favorite of the band, John Baizley of Baroness, heard a demo while on tour and felt he absolutely had to do the art, which Kvelertak absolutely agreed on.

http://www.myspace.com/kvelertak

There's another I love - "Mjød" was nearly my song of the year.

"Mjød" was one of my most-played tracks last year. I looked everywhere in London for a copy of that damn Kvelertak CD, but it was sold out wherever I looked.

I hear they've been holding out for a really lucrative NA record deal, but everyone in NA downloaded it off torrents six months ago.

You should totally hang around for the last one of the night then EZ

I'm here - had to run out this afternoon and pick up my wife at the airport or I would have been more timely with my comments.

http://treblezine.com/reviews/3559-Kvelertak_Kvelertak.html

I didn't know Kvelertak hadn't been released in the states.

61
Quest for Fire - Lights From Paradise (345 Points, 15 Votes)
http://www.mbvmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/q4f.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/5qIUG329Jfo9Q6g7SpMysf

http://www.last.fm/music/Quest+for+Fire

http://www.myspace.com/questforfireband

Ah finally two albums I voted for. Think I've said it before on ILM, the problem is that Burzum songs only have two riffs each. Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and Filosofem were great because they only had 6 and 7 riffs, and all of those were glorious. Belus on the other hand manages 3 great riffs (2 in River, 1 in Kelio), 11 good-to-decent ones, no bad ones. It makes for a frustrating album, really.

Kvelertak was a surprise, I normally dislike this punk/BM hybrid stuff (Khold, new Darkthrone, etc). But this is very charismatic and, uh, kicks ass. In an old-fashioned way yet they do have their own style.

Though note to bands: no more John Dyer Baizley artwork please!

Quest For Fire! Love, love, love that record. Crunchy stoner primitivism. And they're something in Canada - Had a #1 in November on CBC Radio 3’s R3-30 charts. I have no idea what that actually signifies. Maybe Adrien can help explain?