2014 POLL RESULTS COUNTDOWN - ILM Metal Albums of the Year

Even thinking about Nachtmystium at this point makes me feel kind of icky. Everything I've heard about the circumstances of this newest album suggests zero creativity/passion/urgency went into it -- unless we're talking the urgency of paying debts, or of contributing to new ones.

That said, I will give it a listen. And then probably go back to pretending their career began and ended with Instinct:Decay, one of the greatest and most powerful and surprising USBM albums.

me too. surprised the album ranked so high too -it had some pretty terrible reviews.

I haven't heard it either, maybe it's not bad at all but the circumstances surrounding the record left a bad taste in people's mouths regardless of the music.

Well the first song (after the intro) is a lot more toe-tapping and upbeat than I'd been bracing for, even if it does have the expected cruise control element. Very post-punky. Enough to make me curious about the rest of the album so I guess this'll play until something else from the roll-out strikes my fancy.

Eh. On second thought, now that I'm well into the third track, this is ... click track music. Just waiting for it to end, already with a good idea of what's gonna happen.

Sorry Cos, I was replacing a kitchen faucet before I go out of town. I really don't like that Nachtmystium, but TBF it's not objectively horrible ;)

The Oath! Glad to see them acknowledged and not completely forgotten since they broke up before it was even released. Hope to see Johanna Sardonis' (the singer) new band Lucifer someday.

I saw some good reviews and all the bad reviews mentioned the circumstances. I thought it wa a decent album and somewhat in the middle of the reviews. 7/10 id say

maybe 6/10

people have already made the point, but looking at the first 50, it's such a varied list. I've listened to a lot of metal this year, but half this stuff is unfamiliar to me!

xpost to me: And since the next song is an 8 1/2 minute epic I think I'm ready for the next result. Fleeing.

49 Goat - Commune 301 Points, 9 votes
http://i.imgur.com/HXx3wqT.jpg
spotify:album:7uQp0QiuQzOblVPfNQhczi
http://rocketrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/commune

people have already made the point, but looking at the first 50, it's such a varied list. I've listened to a lot of metal this year, but half this stuff is unfamiliar to me!

― auto focus,

I always enjoy the lower part of polls for that reason (plus outside of metal poll that is where all the albums I vote forplace) it gives everyone an incentive to vote.

I know lots of you dont even vote in the big ilm poll because you think its pointless as your picks dont make it.
But get nominating
ILM's 2014 End of Year Albums & Tracks Poll / NOMINATIONS THREAD

and then vote

if everyone who votes here voted in the big poll we could easily get 10 albums in the top 77

A little less hype this time around as it's more of the same, but I think it's better than the first one, with a few nice heavy psych guitar solos.

I will not be surprised if a couple of my more basic black metal noms don't make the countdown. I can see how a lot of people are so over the whole Norwegian second wave (or second wave of the second wave) but I cannot get enough. I'll mention them if they go neglected, obviously.

Also I can't imagine much from my list being of interest to people who don't immerse themselves in metal. Except maybe for Emptiness, oddball band that they are.

Everyone eligible should vote in Pazz & Jop too -- it would be extremely easy for just another 15 to 20 people to make a big difference in esults and raise the profile of a few ILM favorites.

xp

I think that hurt it in the lists and probably here and maybe the big poll too?

not a writer, critic etc so no vote for P&J

48 Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith 311 Points, 9 votes
http://i.imgur.com/0CIUalE.jpg
http://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/phobos-monolith

This one I really enjoyed. Space black metal is a thing now! Great cover too

didn't get round to checking this out, but his other albums are really good.

47 Horseback - Piedmont Apocrypha 329 Points, 9 votes
http://i.imgur.com/dbQaCVm.jpg
http://threelobed.bandcamp.com/album/piedmont-apocrypha

oh this is great ^ i just checked it out based on the cover and it's fabulous.

whoever recommended that tzadik blade runner album (coffins on io) was totally otm about me liking it

Big thumbs up on the Mare Cognitum. I imagine Spectral Lore is coming up soon. Hopefully it will beat out the new Darkspace, which I found kinda boring (even though I usually love their stuff).

46 Indian - From All Purity 329 Points, 10 votes
http://i.imgur.com/sIuRyJ2.jpg

spotify:album:1rFCX8VEjIWN35Oe1evxBE
http://indiandoom.bandcamp.com/album/from-all-purity

Chicago’s blackened noise nihilists return to scene with their 4th full length album ‘From All Purity’. On ‘From All Purity’ Indian take their infamously hateful aggression to new levels of despair. Now augmented with an even keener sense of harsh noise, all the trademark elements of Indian’s sound have been refined to reach new lows of powerful and punishing anguish. This is the opposite of easy listening.
credits
released 21 January 2014

That's the last one for tonight hope you are enjoying todays albums

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shame, was hoping indian would be higher! really underrated group

yeah they are. I guess going top 50 is good though

Recap

102 The Cosmic Dead - Easterfaust 143 Points, 4 votes
tie
100 Autopsy - Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves 143 Points, 5 votes
100 Lantlos - Melting Sun 143 Points, 5 votes
99 Ulaan Markhor - Spiral Horns, Black Onions, et al 144 Points, 4 votes, One #1
98 Seven that Spells - The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: IO 146 Votes, 3 voters , One #1
97 Death Penalty - Death Penalty 146 Points, 5 votes
96 Ambergris - Ambergris 147 Points, 3 votes, One #1
95 Body Count - Manslaughter 147 Points,6 votes
94 Monarch - Sabbracadaver 148 Points, 6 votes
93 Truckfighters - Universe 152 Points, 5 votes, One #1
Tie
91 Raspberry Bulbs - Privacy 155 Points, 6 votes
91 Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII 155 Points, 6 votes

90 A Pregnant Light - My Game Doesn't Have A Name 156 Points, 4 votes, 1 #1
89 Conan - Blood Eagle 157 Points, 5 votes
88 Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestite 157 Points, 6 votes
87 Wo Fat - The Conjuring 158 Points, 5 votes
86 Karma To Burn - Arch Stanton 160 Points, 4 votes
85 Monster Magnet - Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol 160 Points, 5 votes
84 At The Gates - At War With Reality 161 Points, 5 votes
83 Rigor Mortis - Slaves To The Grave 161 Points, 6 votes
82 Hands Of Orlac - Figli Del Crepuscolo 162 Points, 5 votes

TIE
80 Saor - Aura 163 Points , 5 votes
80 The Great Old Ones - TEKELI-LI 163 Points, 5 votes
79 Bongripper - Miserable 163 Points, 6 votes
78 The Flight of Sleipnir - V. 168 Points, 4 votes
77 Skull Fist - Chasing the Dream 171 Points, 5 votes
76 Myrkur - Myrkur 173 Points, 6 votes
75 Opeth - Pale Communion 177 Points, 7 votes
74 Mournful Congregation - Concrescence Of The Sophia 186 Points, 6 votes
73 Petrychor - Makrokosmos 189 Points, 5 votes
72 Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails 190 Points, 6 votes
71 Inter Arma - The Cavern 190 Points, 7 votes

70 Towers - II 193 Points, 7 votes
69 Comet Control - s/t 194 Points, 5 votes , One #1
Tie
67 AEvangelist - Writhes in the Murk 205 Points, 6 votes
67 Shooting Guns - Street Rock 205.0 6 votes
66 Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls 209 Points, 8 votes
65 Wizard Rifle - Here In The Deadlights 210 Points, 6 votes
64 Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel 214 Points, 7 votes
63 Nadja - Queller 223 Points, 6 votes, One #1
62 Atlas Moth - The Old Believer 234 Points, 8 votes
61 Kayo Dot - Coffins On Io 236 Points, 6 votes

60 The Wounded Kings - Consolamentum 251 Points, 7 votes
59 Stargazer - A Merging to the Boundless 255 Points, 7 votes
58 Wovenhand - Refractory Obdurate 262 Points, 7 votes
57 Woods of Desolation - As the Stars 267 Points, 10 votes
56 Teitanblood - Death 270 Points, 9 votes
55 Dead Congregation - Promulgation Of The Fall 272 Points, 8 votes
54 Fen - Carrion Skies 274 Points, 8 votes
53 The Oath - The Oath 274 Points, 9 votes
52 Hail Spirit Noir - Oi Magoi 282 Points, 9 votes
51 Midnight - No Mercy for Mayhem 290 Points, 8 votes

50 Nachtmystium - The World We Left Behind 297 Points, 9 votes
49 Goat - Commune 301 Points, 9 votes
48 Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith 311 Points, 9 votes
47 Horseback - Piedmont Apocrypha 329 Points, 9 votes
46 Indian - From All Purity 329 Points, 10 votes

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http://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/4DzhT7xPiDI3oy9tWVMGos

remember to nominate in
ILM's 2014 End of Year Albums & Tracks Poll / NOMINATIONS THREAD

never heard of Mare Cognitum. looks intriguing.

Loved their previous album but not heard that one yet

Any new discoveries today folks? or thoughts on albums that posted the previous days?

Skull Fist is the first discovery to inspire ballot remorse, I have a hard time getting into a lot of old school metal but kind of like last year's Satan album, is so lively and well-written that it's really clicking for me

glad for teitanblood's death and indian's from all purity, the only albums from my ballot placing at this point
would def expect at war with reality to be higher, yeah. the rec was good - now can we get a new disfear?
great finding about the cosmic dead and most of all wizard rifle

the cosmic dead are great, yeah. got one of their old cds.

SKULL FIST

SKULL FIST

I feel like Swans and Earth have the best chance at making a dent in the big poll

Any new discoveries today folks? or thoughts on albums that posted the previous days?
--Cosmic Slop

really enjoyed that oath album

@anonanon: just confirming that your ballot was received and counted

My favorite discoveries on the list so far have been Wizard Rifle and Petrychor. And I was excited to see hometown Cleveland heroes Midnight place so high.

Indian is exactly what I want to hear at the end of this day. Were they considered an emo/hardcore band at any point? They remind me a bit of bands I saw in the late 90s.

Dylan O'Toole and bassist were from Wrekmeister Harmonies, but I have no idea what they were like. I have The Unquiet Sky (2005) and it's sludge with a bit of noise, nothing too different just less accomplished than the latest.

!:

Wrekmeister Harmonies, led by musician and composer JR Robinson, is an experimental music collective based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Named after the Béla Tarr movie Werckmeister Harmonies, it combines elements of drone music, serialism, post-rock, and heavy metal. Wrekmeister Harmonies typically performs a single composition, often almost an hour in length, beginning with a slow build, shifting into a cathartic middle section, concluding with either a peaceful or disquieting resolution

Wow, second track is even better than the first.

def also have a soft spot for 90s hardcore and I can hear that on the indian record too now that you mention it

mare cognitum kinda bored me after a while but maybe I just wasn't in the mood. but gonna re-visit since y'll seem so psyched on it (and cuz the cover is cool)

skull fist record really is well-crafted

SKULL FIST

I think this is the third time I'm mentioning Wizard Rifle in this thread -- I want to formally thank the folks who put this thing on their ballot. It's a keeper. Christ almighty. Am I nuts or am I hearing some Cirith Ungol in there? Killer cover art too.

On an unrelated note genre-wise, I had been wondering if any funeral doom surprises would show up in the list this year, but now I'm thinking probably not. Monarch is sort of funeral-y I guess and Mournful Congregation is nice. Were there any other noteworthy funeral doom records this year? Anyone knocked out by anything in that vein?

Can't wait for tomorrow's countdown continuation...

xps thanks seandalai

Wizard Rifle was my #1, they just keep delivering what I love most in metal, the skillful manipulation of tension and release for maximum drama, relentlessly piling waves of riffs and swirling chaos that suddenly crystallize into towering peaks with a kind of vertiginous clarity only to implode in on themselves