2014 POLL RESULTS COUNTDOWN - ILM Metal Albums of the Year

anyone reading that isnt really into metal then that is the album for you to check first.

and if you are into metal then check it too as its really good. Love his other albums and his previous band too.(16 Horsepower)

I suppose it is just straight-up psych rock, maybe a lot of people are purists in their voting.

more gothic country psych

Post-punk gothic Americana, with extra apocalyptic hellfire and brimstone!

Covers he's done with his old band 16 Horsepower are telling -- Joy Division, Gun Club.

Look at their FB post on Dec 12, they quoted my blurb that I published in my year-end summary that morning: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wovenhand-official/189495264425563

"Daily bible passage"
..."Church chat"

Like the Stargazer a lot. I think I voted it around #6 or 7?

These metal musicians voted for Wovenhand in MetalSucks:
Tommy Rogers, Between the Buried and Me
Alan Averill,  Primordial
Dallas Thomas, Pelican/The Swan King 

57 Woods of Desolation - As the Stars 267 Points, 10 votes
http://i.imgur.com/jgqlDtz.jpg
http://woodsofdesolation.bandcamp.com/album/as-the-stars

from their page:

"On this 3rd album, mastermind D. on guitars, with the help of session members (Vlad from Drudkh on drums, Luke Mills from Nazxul and Pestilential Shadows on bass, and Old from Drohtnung on vocals), continues the musical direction which was begun on "Toward The Depths" and refined on the very successful "Torn Beyond Reason."

Can't believe I don't know about this band.

56 Teitanblood - Death 270 Points, 9 votes
http://i.imgur.com/sfWo0Z5.jpg

this is another good one!

didn't get into that WoD album as much as some of their previous work, but i think i found a place for it on my ballot.

found the full Teitanblood album on youtube for your listening convenience:
http://youtu.be/VDRV5FiW-Pc

Also, Wovenhand headlines the Thursday installment of Roadburn. Tix on sale now, anyone going? I really wanted to but am in the middle of trying to sell place and move to new one and can't schedule anything 'til that's over. Russian Circles, Floor, SubRosa, Monolord, Enslaved, Wardruna, Eyehategod, Goblin, Zombi, Fields of the Nephilm, Tombs, Kayo Dot, Solstafir, Thou, Fields of the Nephilim, Death Hawks, White Hills, Lo-Pan, Golden Grass, many more.

http://www.roadburn.com/2014/12/roadburn-festival-2015-day-tickets-now-sale/

55 Dead Congregation - Promulgation Of The Fall 272 Points, 8 votes
http://i.imgur.com/IouiObs.jpg
spotify:album:093ctZKjtMDADth0fJUWAr
http://deadcongregation.bandcamp.com/album/promulgation-of-the-fall

really like that teitanblood record. these guys also nailed the production, really gnarly and disorienting.

These guys had Dead Congregation in their top 10:
George Paul, Mutilation Rites
Lasse Pyykko, Hooded Menace 
Alan Averill,  Primordial
Patrick Alberts, Call of the Void 

For my money, Dead Congregation is way too low! I think I had it at #2 on my ballot. Also, I like Woods of Desolation quite a bit, but the production on the new one seemed like a huge step backward. I don't know why there was such a drop-off in their sound quality since the last record. Anyone know why?

the Dead Congregation record was terrific i thought, but not quite as good as their debut from 2008.

i probably would have rated it higher given more time, it didn't really grab me until late in the year.

54 Fen - Carrion Skies 274 Points, 8 votes
http://i.imgur.com/RsfE1Sn.jpg
spotify:album:5qNepiBgifVuuKIYGc5iBp

Fen and Saor are both a decent listen, they both do the whole post-black thing well but they weren't really striking enough for me to vote for.

Dead Congregation are pretty good from what I remember hearing.

haven't given that Fen album a listen yet since i've always found their brand of folky blackgaze to be a little bit wooden & precious. i'll definitely give it a chance though.

on the other hand, i voted Saor pretty high on my ballot

53 The Oath - The Oath 274 Points, 9 votes
http://i.imgur.com/Kog1TJ9.jpg
spotify:album:3famRI5ZxosCM9Tf7PBjtJ
http://theoath.bandcamp.com/

Not heard this but I've heard good things about it

52 Hail Spirit Noir - Oi Magoi 282 Points, 9 votes
http://i.imgur.com/S41BH2H.jpg
spotify:album:63Yx6ZmNT7cxRdhQCZsfRz
http://hsn666.bandcamp.com/album/oi-magoi

juggalo-affiliated?

hah, no

psychedelic black metal

it's great

yup

yayyy. Kinda busy today but paying attn and youtubing some of the stuff I've missed. HSN was amazing, yeah, it was my #5 (just ahead of Behemoth), though my list was only 10 long. Oi Magoi really clicked for me once I switched from headphones to speakers. It really pulls a room together.

And I was pleased to learn, according to the liner notes/credits, that the cover is an actual photo of an actual person with actual body paint, not a digital concoction.

ah, another one I meant to check out and had forgotten about - whoop whoop!

I guess I wasn't feeling the death metal too much this year. None of the big stuff -- Dead Congregation, Teitanblood, Impetuous Ritual, even Incantation -- really moved me. Last year had Grave Miasma, Suffo, Deeds of Flesh, Abyssal, Obliteration, so much bigness. My #1, however, is pretty much death metal (or blackened death or whatever) and I'll be sure to pipe up when we get there.

Oi Magoi is very much a black metal version of a 70's prog album. But less Darkthrone and more Arcturus re: "black metal." It's kind of light-hearted feeling, too, loose and animated. And choruses that will stick with you. I esp love "Hunters."

tbh i wish id placed it much higher in my ballot

Actually now that I listen to it with Darkthrone in mind, I can hear Darkthrone in the riffs. Weird. Chameleon of an album, I guess.

I don't think I ranked it, but it's a fun album. A lot of 70s prog has a particular kind of tasteless humour about it and this album replicates that nicely.

51 Midnight - No Mercy for Mayhem 290 Points, 8 votes
http://i.imgur.com/KF6bB17.jpg
spotify:album:3MNjrtJfGyBoxoEVjOKIA5
http://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/no-mercy-for-mayhem

Another one I've been meaning to check out

As much as I love HH as a distro, their taste in label signings is ... not my thing. They manage to hit all the areas of the extreme metal subgenre venn diagram that shoo me away. Except for Zemial. That Nykta album from last year was great.

I was not super into this one. Too much on the raunch side.

Will you guys be here for the next 5 or will i leave it for the night?

i'll be here...

here - would love more roll-out!

ok then into the
TOP 50