2014 POLL RESULTS COUNTDOWN - ILM Metal Albums of the Year

memoria vetusta ii is a masterpiece. memoria vetusta iii is very, very good.

I couldn't get into the emptiness album at all either but I'll try a bit more. I do love the cover.

voted for jute gyte but I kinda respect it more than I listen to it. could see it really clicking one day. respect this dude's dedication his niche subgenre.

behemoth album sounded great when I first heard it but I never really went back to it. never do with them for some reason. didn't end up listening enough to have anything interesting to say but voted bc it felt right anyway.

babymetal album has some real junk on it (one track is basically limp bizkit) but the good tracks are super fun ("gimmie chocloate" duh, the more overtly power metal ones, and that one produced by the coaltar of the deepers guy that sounds like rob zombie) and the live show is a blast. NO MORE BULLYING FOREVER.

having spent a lot of time with it in the last few weeks.... mv3 >mv2

just slightly

I can take it down to 16 tonight as planned or I can take it down to ELEVEN if all of you will still be around posting.
If lots keep posting and say they will be around I can keep going til #11

17 Alcest - Shelter 612 Points, 18 votes, One #1
http://i.imgur.com/nH1Hxam.jpg
spotify:album:7gy7foOitAK66NYaitOZLz
http://alcest.bandcamp.com/album/shelter

that's a cool looking cover

really thought mviii would be in the top ten, a really beautiful album, and yeah, better than their other trilogies.

thought it was a bit wimpy tbh. its basically Ride

I think he prefers the Slowdive comparison

another surprise, i gave this a quick listen and nothing grabbed me. Not hugely metal (IMHO) either, but yeah, i get why it belongs in this poll.

couldn't get into the emptiness album at all either

Weird thing about Emptiness is that despite being my second favorite of the year it doesn't come off as something I can "get into" either. Hard to explain. It's fascinating but has almost zero emotional resonance. I don't find myself relating to it (like Domains or The Deathrip, both signatures of styles I love); I just sort of sit mesmerized by it and assume that one day it will unravel and make sense for me yet I know it won't. And thus the charm.

It puts the volume to 11...

we should do a poll for metal albums with the least metally covers.

the Star Trek symbol in the middle is my favorite part of that Alcest cover.

I think he prefers the Slowdive comparison

― Cosmic Slop, Wednesday, December 17, 2014 8:21 PM (57 seconds ago)

lol at least someones taking notice

xxxpost yes make this one go to 11

beaten

so do we finish tonight at #16 or #11 you all get to choose

having spent a lot of time with it in the last few weeks.... mv3 >mv2

just slightly

it mostly comes down to production for me, mv2 sounds a bit warmer to my ears. strangely, it comes down to the drums for me. altho it's live this time, the playing on mv3 strikes me as a bit rigid. mv2 actually swings in places and I love the way they're mixed on that record.

anyway, nitpicking. compositionally, they're both way, way solid. my #3 pick. (kriegsmaschine was my #2, sure doesn't seem like it will place at this point)

I think I've been subconsciously registering the Star Trek symbol every time I look at that cover.

nominate High Spirits for the non-metal album cover poll

11!!!!

As long as you all keep posting I will take it to 11.
If chat dies off i'll stop

this poll goes to 11

lol five of the same joke upthread

In honour of taking it to 11 you guys need to watch this while i get the album pics and links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAz_UvnUeuU

is it metal

Vast Chains almost threw me off JG altogether. Too slow, really. I put it on the bottom of my ballot just for the integrity of its nightmarish soundworld.

Contenderizer, if you're at all interested, I found Ressentiment much more palatable. Maybe thatd be more your thing...? Of course I really like Discontinuities as well...

youre the first person ive met that thinks its better than vast chains

16 Botanist - Vi: Flora 619 Points, 18 votes, One #1
http://i.imgur.com/JKPJztM.jpg
spotify:album:2alalNFu3Ah449CIyPqiWp
http://theflenser.bandcamp.com/album/vi-flora

yayyyyy! my number one. i love everything about this, the music, the artwork, the eco terror concept

i think i forgot to vote for this but i would have

"stargazer" is such a great track

i haven't heard it but i like the look of it! what does it sound like? are there words?

btw this year we did get a placing with 666 points incase anyone was wondering

the botanist album is awesome

xp hammered dulcimer black metal

fyi that Alcest album fucking rules and I've played "Deliverence" to death this year

all "metal" should be shoegaze IMO

the lyrics are mixed low on this one.

i think you can guess who voted it #1 now

(Alcest)

Oh wow. I had no idea that the dude behind Botanist is the dude behind Maelstron zine. Roberto (Martinelli) = Otrebor. Huh.

maelstrom, rather

edit: the guy who was behind Maelstrom zine, I should say. I'm out of the loop. Used to read that zine all the time, though. They had massive amounts of reviews and god knows how much I discovered through them.

xpost i generally love shoegaze-metal too, Dan. just thought it was a bit too soft for my liking. ill go back and give it another try though.

Botanist sure is good.

the other otrebor band, lotus thief, is worth checking too

I'm not that fussed about a few tracks on Shelter though it's still a good listen, but if we had a tracks poll I probably would have voted Voix Sereines #1. So beautiful.

The Botanist album is lush as well.

ty for the tip.

Contenderizer, if you're at all interested, I found Ressentiment much more palatable. Maybe thatd be more your thing...? Of course I really like Discontinuities as well...

i should dig a little deeper, yeah. albums that combine some component of intriguing attractiveness with utter (initial) inaccessibility often wind up becoming favorites in the long run. like i finally figured out how to hear colored sands this year. now i'm baffled by how "unlistenable" it first seemed.

After my first listenthrough (of Shelter) I felt like I'd found a long-lost Catherine Wheel album

I then listened to it about 50 more times

this emptiness album is cool as hell. did anybody else dig howls of ebb's visions of the third eye?