2014 POLL RESULTS COUNTDOWN - ILM Metal Albums of the Year

I'm pleased both Jute Gyte albums made the top the top 20, Ressentiment #10 no less.

I'm pretty surprised considering how bleak and inaccessible they are, even for truly experimental extreme metal. For me what makes them so horrifying is that it all feels very human, rather than trying to convey some eldritch/cosmic terror (not that I don't like that sort of thing). Vast Chains is the severe depression to Ressentiments' self-loathing anxiety.

You say bleak and inaccessible - as above, I've found that people who are not necessarily into much metal have taken to Jute Gyte really readily - it's exceptionally compelling music, and melodically incredibly interesting - dare I say catchy? And yeah, totally agreed on how human it feels - it has the quality of literature, of insane personal struggle. And always - that mocking, drilling, genuinely mad high guitar tone filtering in to dance across the wreckage! Ressentiment is the externalisation of the self-hatred, the blood actually being shed.

For both albums to be in the top 20 is pretty amazing. And let's not forget that Kalmbach himself has said that these albums feel 'primitive' compared to what he's working on right now.

Would kill for Jute Gyte instrumentals. (also, called it!)

save us (from jute gyte), cosmic slop!

I think I'd like to hear instrumental Kalmbach compositions at this point, too.

There are loooooads on his bandcamp fwiw, mostly his neoclassical/dark ambient/electronic stuff, though. Some intrepid soul should listen to them all and report back (not necessarily volunteering)

no sign of Soft Pink Truth yet...

I actually did that earlier this year (went through JG bandcamp that is) but I was only impressed by the BM stuff to be honest. I think in pre-trilogy stuff like Impermanence and Senescence you can hear hints of what's to come...

Dead excited for what the guy's going to do next

9 Earth - Primitive and Deadly 738 Points, 21 votes , ONE #1
http://i.imgur.com/UEMak9d.jpg
spotify:album:58WkmREY5HFMavDGtOnDcT
http://earthsl.bandcamp.com/album/primitive-and-deadly

Were I still a drinking man, I'd spend the weekend with a bottle of bourbon and JG's bandcamp. At the least I'll probably delve into the latter with the metal-archives reviews as a kind of concordance to figure out which is the more metal stuff.

That jute gyte album getting more votes surprised me as pretty much everyone seemed to prefer vast chains. Maybe of course the most recent album was the one heard by more people of course. It did get 3 more votes than Vast Chains

couldn't get on with the lyrics on the earth album at all

vocals i mean...

I liked them

Next one up is an album I thought might have been a potential winner

auto focus you don like Mark Lanegan?

i really wanted too - it was more the mark lanegan tracks i didn't like, i got into the Rabia Shaheen Qazi stuff more.

CS - usually i do but he sounded a bit halfhearted (to me anyhow) on this. bah, probably my ears or something

8 Scott Walker & SunnO))) - Soused 799 Points, 21 votes, TWO #1s
http://i.imgur.com/Hv6byI2.jpg
spotify:album:35QvDKN3TUg5CbKeHKjKho

http://scott-o.com/

http://thequietus.com/articles/16068-sunn-o-scott-walker-soused

An album that sounds fantastic on vinyl

Tried really hard to get into this one, couldn't do it.

I still haven't actually heard this. Something turns me off about it, and I'd go so far as to say the same about Bish Bosch (though I have heard that one). Scott Walker records need 10 years in between to digest.

it's a really uncomfortable listen i think

It's a great album

i mean that in a good way!

7 Darkspace - Dark Space III I 813 Points, 22 votes , ONE #1
http://i.imgur.com/Ls32cS7.jpg
spotify:album:6zrTpLPW6vmaVk6xGa0Fmg
http://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/dark-space-iii-i

Brilliant album this

Darkspace III is one of my favourite metal albums ever and I haven't even heard this yet. What delights await! :D

I was surprised that I found this one a bit... dull, sadly. I love the other three darkspace albums and all for different reasons but I didn't find this one to be too memorable and I am not a fan of the sequencing. feels too fragmented, kills the vibe for me.

still a good listen but easily my least fave darkspace record.

still... "dark 4.20"

http://www.dedleg.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/take_me_to_your_dealer.gif

The title is Darkspace III I??

I hate Scott Walker's voice. Sunn O))) were doing some interesting things on Soused, but Walker's Opera Man bullshit sank the whole thing. The whole second phase of his career has been one of the greatest Emperor's New Clothes scams of all time.

If I like ambient/atmospheric BM but found III to be too much of an undifferentiated wash, is there a chance that I might like this better?

the earth album has been at the top of my playlist ever since i bought it.
i have grown to enjoy the mark l tracks.
but the highlight is easily the track with rabia.
a full length of earth + her could be absolutely fantastic.
getting this album also prompted me to order more from his back catalogue, hex and angels of darkness pt2 - result.

the earth album was... fine? like good riffs and good singing but they didn't seem to interact in any way. and i fucking love mark lanegan. soused was an uncanny first listen but has been difficult to revisit even though it's like the shortest scott walker record in ages. darkspace yawwwwn

so far the top ten is a bummer 4 me

so far the top ten is awesome ;D

actually i have no idea if i'd like the new earth

I gave Scott Walker a perfunctory vote but I haven't listened to it nearly enough. (Same with Bish Bosch.)

lol jute gyte is not for me

guess my sweet spot really was 50-30

i think its a case of time of the year, the usual winter blues etc, that the earth album has hit my needs so well.

well, that and it sounds immense ...

walker/sunn : nahh .. i'm still figuring out if i actually like 'monoliths and dimensions'

The top 5 is going to be all consensus doom.

cool party guys

the darkspace album is the best yet imo

6 Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire 876 Points, 23 votes, THREE #1s
http://i.imgur.com/PjQMLb4.jpg
spotify:album:5yV2HG5etYWkVTp2P8rN9h
http://godflesh1.bandcamp.com/album/a-world-lit-only-by-fire

pretty good songs, awful production

yeah i like this record but i wanted to like it more?

still one of the best shows i saw this year

What's wrong with the Godflesh production? Too compressed? I love the bass guitar tone in particular.

yeah, live show was totally killer. absolutely loved it.

it sounds waaaay too murky imo. case in point, the double bass drum sound on "impertrator" that just sounds like broadrick tapping on a mic, ugh