2014 POLL RESULTS COUNTDOWN - ILM Metal Albums of the Year

That's probably because they don't want anybody to know that their album's called 'Groping In A Misty Spread' tbf

― imago
Yeah I can't even begin to grope grasp what they were going for there. It makes no sense. What is a misty spread? And why would groping it be a good idea?

It's such a bad album title that I'm going to find their work and listen to it immediately

btw EZ that Comet Control is some of the best heavy psych I ever did hear - awesome find

Glad you like it! I fell in love with it immediately. My most played new record of 2014 by a far distance.

it bangs extremely hard

Basarabian Hills is lovely, really dig this sort of synthscape. His appearance on the Metal Archives forum is deeply heartbreaking (check the month-later post edit!): http://www.metal-archives.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=64985&start=6160

I mean, Metal Archives and the Encyclopedia Metallum are totally run by ridiculous dipshit snobs, right?

It's a good resource for discographies and the like. And for finding out about stuff that's happening generally.

And those are the positive things I can say about the site.

Thanks sloppy! Missed the rollout today (family stuff), but had a good time catching up over the last few min. And thanks for the Oi Magoi vinyl link.

Random thoughts.... New E-Wiz isn't terrible, isn't brilliant. Sounds awesome fucking LOUD (of course), catchy & dense enough to reward repeat visits, underwhelming as whole. And I'd agree that that Melana Chasmata weighs in about the same. Solid, but limited by that. My sentimental attachments run deep, though, and I wouldn't for a moment consider putting them aside in favor of imaginary "objectivity" when voting. Like, if I had voted, Rigor Mortis would have been very near the top, not only on the strength of present work. Anyway, the Yob album is fucking fantastic. No qualms about the the top spot.

metallum is a great resource, invaluable. just have to accept it on its own terms.

Band logo of the year:

― Devilock, Thursday, December 18, 2014 3:17 PM (58 minutes ago)

that album's damn good, too. way (way) better than a star-wars themed black metal concept band has any right to be.

thanks for organizing the poll / results countdown

my votes: unweighted

Aenaon - Extance
Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
Anatomy of Habit - Ciphers + Axioms
Ascending Dawn - Coalesce
Behemoth - The Satanist
Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution
The Contortionist - Language
Darkspace - Dark Space III I
DOOM:VS - Earthless
Downfall of Gaia - Aeon Unveils the Thrones of Decay

Epitimia - (Un)reality
Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails
Fen - Carrion Skies
Foscor - Those Horrors Wither
Ghost Brigade - IV – One With the Storm
Goatech - Exquisiteness
Godflesh - A World Lit Only by Fire
The Great Old Ones - TEKELI-LI
Helevorn - Compassion Forlorn
Inanimate Existence - A Never-Ending Cycle of Atonement

Insomnium - Shadows of the Dying Sun
Kayo Dot - Coffins on Io
Lost Ubikyst in Apeiron - Abstruse Imbeciles Nailed on Slavery
Lotus Thief - Rervm
Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith
Murmur - S/T
Nachtmystium - The World We Left Behind
Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
Nero di Marte - Derivae
Nightbringer - Ego Dominus Tuus

Novembers Doom - Bled White
Opus of a Machine - Simulacra
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
PoiL - Brossaklitt
Primordial - Where Greater Men Have Fallen
Revocation - Deathless
Saor - Aura
Schammasch - Contradiction
Shihad - FVEY
Skyharbor - Guiding Lights

Sólstafir - Ótta
Spectral Lore - III
Swans - To Be Kind
Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise
Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
Voices - London
Winterfylleth - The Divination of Antiquity
Woccon - Solace in Decay
Words of Farewell - The Black Wild Yonder
YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend

last year Glenn did his fancy stats: e.g the most sheep-like / hive mind and the lone-wolf / most individualistic. will Glenn be doing his data science on the 2014 ilm metal poll results?

some albums that didn't make the top 100

2 black metal albums that deserve to be in the top 100:
Nightbringer - Ego Dominus Tuus - blistering buzzing guitars ala Emperor
Schammasch - Contradiction - intense industrial black metal sweeping you into a sonic immersive vortex

most overlooked: a unique hybrid of influences
Nero di Marte - Derivae - influences from sludge metal, progressive metal, technical metal and killing joke type guitars

death / doom hybrids for katatonia/ novembre fans

Helevorn - Compassion Forlorn
Woccon - Solace in Decay

on a more melodic / prog tip - for those that like clean vocals and atmospheric arty prog production

The Contortionist - Language
Opus of a Machine - Simulacra
Skyharbor - Guiding Lights

intensive black sludge:
Downfall of Gaia - Aeon Unveils the Thrones of Decay

my most obscure selection: for fans of
Atmospheric Black Metal / Ambient, Shoegaze, Post-Rock
Goatech - Exquisiteness
it's on spotify

one for Neo Obliviscaris fans: complex extreme progressive metal
Lost Ubikyst in Apeiron - Abstruse Imbeciles Nailed on Slavery

technical death metal: that deserved more votes
Inanimate Existence - A Never-Ending Cycle of Atonement

band with pedigree that get ignored: a strong hybrid of progressive/ death/ black/ avantgarde metal
Voices - London
includes ex members of akercocke

melodic death metal never polls well on ilm:
Insomnium - Shadows of the Dying Sun
Words of Farewell - The Black Wild Yonder

blackgaze / shoegazer metal with some ethereal female vocals:
Lotus Thief - Rervm

metal in opposition / avant-prog: for those unfamiliar with avant-prog this got a confusing / mixed reaction but worth experiencing:
Murmur - S/T

and Brutal avant-prog that i only voted for,
PoiL - Brossaklitt
it's on spotify
http://open.spotify.com/album/2TU9wTRmUXgH19pcLZsj7z

I liked that Schammasch record. Intense but way too long.

Metal Storm

current top 20 @ Metal Storm

http://metalstorm.net/bands/albums_top.php?album_year=2014

1. Ne Obliviscaris Citadel 8.47 | 281
2. Insomnium Shadows Of The Dying Sun 8.35 | 582
3. Septicflesh Titan 8.31 | 425
4. Behemoth The Satanist 8.23 | 572
5. Helevorn Compassion Forlorn 8.18 | 101
6. Aenaon Extance 8.18 | 232
7. Empyrium The Turn Of The Tides 8.17 | 204
8. Epica The Quantum Enigma 8.17 | 385
9. Triptykon Melana Chasmata 8.16 | 281
10. Mastodon Once More 'Round The Sun 8.16 | 367
11. Dark Fortress Venereal Dawn 8.16 | 136
12. Agalloch The Serpent & The Sphere 8.15 | 403
13. Vader Tibi Et Igni 8.15 | 198
14. Mors Principium Est Dawn Of The 5th Era 8.15 | 149
15. Sólstafir Ótta 8.14 | 222
16. Ghost Brigade IV - One With The Storm 8.14 | 157
17. At The Gates At War With Reality 8.14 | 272
18. Ancient Bards A New Dawn Ending 8.14 | 57
19. Schammasch Contradiction 8.14 | 49
20. Eluveitie Origins 8.13 | 200

Great call on P.Oil. This is cool.

Least favorite:

Anubis Gate - Horizons
Archenemy - War Eternal
Babymetal - Babymetal
Brainstorm - Firesoul
Disentomb - Misery
Exmortus - Slave to the Sword
Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails
Goatwhore - Constricting Rage of the Merciless
Indian - From All Purity
Insomnium - Shadows of the Dying Sun
Oozing Wound - Earth Suck
Origin - Omnipresent
Scythia - Of Conquest
Today Is the Day - Animal Mother

wuh

yep it's also on bandcamp

Brossaklitt
by PoiL
http://poil.bandcamp.com/album/brossaklitt

i don't know why it's indexed on spotify as P.Oil

This was my weighted list (more or less):

Earth
Dead Congregation
Thou
Spectral Lore
Mare Cognitum
Planning for Burial
Have a Nice Life
The Great Old Ones
Krieg
Botanist
Wold
Psalm Zero
Nadja
Horrendous
Blut Aus Nord
Godflesh
Lord Mantis
Wolvhammer
Jute Gyte - Ressentiment
Jute Gyte - Vast Chains
Abyssal
Pallbearer
Yob
Funereal Presence
Morbus Chron
Reverorum ib Malacht
Voices
Scott O)))
Agalloch

If that's the UK Abyssal who had the (admittedly massive) album with the long Latin name, that was from last year. I was just listening to it last night, actually! Kind of a head fuck. Much creepiness.

I see now that Krieg has released a veritable buttload of stuff this year. All I've heard of theirs (his?) are The Church EP and the Destruction Ritual LP, both of which I hope are significantly worse than whatever they (he?) may be doing nowadays.

First time I've voted in the metal poll! YOB was my #1, but don't have ballot anymore to share. I will say this year was very much about metal for me, though mostly older stuff. I listened to a ton of old Darkthrone, Motorhead, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Gorgoroth, etc and I say with no small amount of happiness (ha!) that finding 2014 music by bands of like-minded heaviness was one of the big high points, musically, for me this year. I'm still a beginner with this stuff, but already am well aware that some of my favorite music ever will be metal.

From what I remember, my ballot was:
YOB
Thantifaxath
Stargazer
Inconcessus Lux Lucis (fun revival old school black metal, a little less reverent than Old Wainds)
Swans
Darkspace
Teitanblood
Old Wainds

I would have voted for a Jute Gyte had I remembered they were 2014, though in fact I'd say that my tastes tend to err on side of "rock", ie I'd go for Thantifaxath over JG due to visceral-ness

My weighted list:
A Pregnant Light - My Game Doesn't Have A Name
YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend
Horseback - Piedmont Apocrypha
Woods of Desolation - As the Stars
Ghost Bath - Funeral
Funeral Sutra - meditations
Nux Vomica - Nux Vomica
Bölzer - Soma
Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith
Myrkur - Myrkur
Cuscuta - The Wildness Within
Thou - Heathen
Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun
Falls of Rauros - Believe In No Coming Shore
Yellow Eyes - The Desert Mourns
Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
Swans - To Be Kind
Bongripper - Miserable
Winterfylleth - The Divination of Antiquity
Pyrrhon - The Mother of Virtues
Boris - Noise
Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII
Harakiri For The Sky - Aokigahara
Indian - From All Purity
Jute Gyte - Ressentiment
Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
Inter Arma - The Cavern
Witch Mountain - Mobile of Angels
Obliterations - Poison Everything
Earth - Primitive and Deadly

Cosmic Slop - can you post my ballot, i didn't save it. Cheers!

Mine, non-weighted...

Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
Behemoth - The Satanist
Bong - Stoner Rock
Comet Control - s/t
Conan - Blood Eagle
Earth - Primitive and Deadly
Electric Wizard - Time to Die
Goat - Commune
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
Raspberry Bulbs - Privacy
Slough Feg - Digital Resistance
The Body - I Shall Die Here
The Soft Pink Truth - Why Do the Heathen Rage?
Thou - Heathen
Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
various artists - Warfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles
Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestite
YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend

i'm going to give celestite another go on the back of this poll.

Dominique's ballot

"YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend
Stargazer - A Merging to the Boundless
Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise
Swans - To Be Kind
Inconcessus Lux Lucis - Disintegration: Psalms of Veneration for the Nefarious Elite
Darkspace - Dark Space III I
Teitanblood - Death
Old Wainds - Nordraum"

Auto Focus

"Botanist - Vi: Flora
Panopticon - Roads to the North
Dawnbringer - Night of the Hammer
YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend
Indian - From All Purity
Wold - Postsocial
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
Woccon - Solace in Decay
The Flight of Sleipnir - V.
Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry
Occultation - Silence in the Ancestral House
Falls of Rauros - Believe In No Coming Shore
Thou - Heathen
Scott Walker & SunnO))) - Soused
Aureole - Alunar
Sivyj Yar - From the Dead Villages' Darkness
Horrendous - Ecdysis
Witch Mountain - Mobile of Angels
Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII
Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
Auroch - Taman Shud
Conan - Blood Eagle
Bongripper - Miserable
Bölzer - Soma
Vorde - Vorde
Bastard Sapling - Instinct Is Survival
Spectral Lore - III
Xothist - Simulacrum
Primordial - Where Greater Men Have Fallen
Revocation - Deathless
Wolvhammer - Clawing into Black Sun
Barghest - The Virtuous Purge

Primitive Man/Fister - Split 12""
Lotus Thief - Rervm
Alraune - the Process of Self-Immolation
Yellow Eyes - The Desert Mourns
The Great Old Ones - TEKELI-LI
Secret Cutter - ""Self Titled""
Vermin Womb - Permanence
Yith - Yith
Artificial Brain - Labyrinth Constellation
The Wounded Kings - Consolamentum
Lord Mantis - Death Mask
Earth - Primitive and Deadly
Atlas Moth - The Old Believer
Atriarch - An Unending Pathway
Alaskan - Despair, Erosion, Loss"

TERRORIZER ALBUMS OF 2014

50. NACHTMYSTIUM ‘The World We Left Behind’ CENTURY MEDIA
49. At The Gates49. AT THE GATES ‘At War With Reality’ CENTURY MEDIA
48. DEATH PENALTY ‘Death Penalty’ RISE ABOVE
47. MARTYRDÖD ‘Elddop’ SOUTHERN LORD
46. ESBEN AND THE WITCH ‘A New Nature’ NOSTROMO
45. 11 PARANOIAS ‘Stealing Fire From Heaven’ RITUAL PRODUCTIONS
44. PRONG ‘Ruining Lives’ STEAMHAMMER/SPV
43. Lord Mantis43. LORD MANTIS ‘Death Mask’ PROFOUND LORE
42. WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM ‘Celestite’ ARTEMISIA
41. DECAPITATED ‘Blood Mantra’ NUCLEAR BLAST

40. CONAN ‘Blood Eagle’ NAPALM
39. ACxDC ‘Antichrist Demoncore’ MELOTOVE
38. INSOMNIUM ‘Shadows Of A Dying Sun’ CENTURY MEDIA
37. OPETH ‘Pale Communion’ ROADRUNNER
36. MAYHEM ‘Esoteric Warfare’ SEASON OF MIST
35. MASTODON ‘Once More ‘Round The Sun’ WARNER
34. THE BODY ‘I Shall Die Here’ RVNG
33. TOMBS ‘Savage Gold’ RELAPSE
32. ORANGE GOBLIN ‘Back From The Abyss’ CANDLELIGHT
31. SCHAMMASCH ‘Contradiction’ PROSTHETIC

30. TRAP THEM ‘Blissfucker’ PROSTHETIC
29. TEITANBLOOD ‘Death’ NORMA EVANGELIUM DIABOLI
28. SUNN O))) & ULVER ‘Terrestrials’ SOUTHERN LORD
27. PYRRHON ‘The Mother Of Virtues’ RELAPSE
26. TODAY IS THE DAY ‘Animal Mother’ SOUTHERN LORD
25. EARTH ‘Primitive And Deadly’ SOUTHERN LORD
24. VALLENFYRE ‘Splinters’ CENTURY MEDIA
23. AUTOPSY ‘Tourniquets, Hacksaws And Graves’ PEACEVILLE
22. BLUT AUS NORD ‘Memoria Vetusta III – Saturnian Poetry’ DEBERMUR MORTI
21. WOVENHAND ‘Refractory Obdurate’ DEATHWISH

20. DEAD CONGREGATION ‘Promulgation Of The Fall’ MARTYRDOOM
19. PANOPTICON ‘Roads To The North’ BINDRUNE
18. THOU ‘Heathen’ GILEAD MEDIA
17. AGALLOCH ‘The Serpent And The Sphere’ PROFOUND LORE
16. SWALLOWED ‘Lunarterial’ DARK DESCENT
15. VOICES ‘London’ CANDLELIGHT
14. JUDAS PRIEST ‘Redeemer Of Souls’ EPIC
13. WINTERFYLLETH ‘The Divination Of Antiquity’ CANDLELIGHT
12. MORBUS CHRON ‘Sweven’ CENTURY MEDIA
11. MIDNIGHT ‘No Mercy For Mayhem’ HELLS HEADBANGERS

10. ELECTRIC WIZARD ‘Time To Die’ SPINEFARM
9. PALLBEARER ‘Foundations Of Burden’ PROFOUND LORE
8. SÓLSTAFIR ‘Otta’ SEASON OF MIST
7. PRIMORDIAL ‘Where Greater Men Have Fallen’ METAL BLADE
6. EYEHATEGOD ‘Eyehategod’ HOUSECORE/CENTURY MEDIA
5. TRIPTYKON ‘Melana Chasmata’ CENTURY MEDIA
4. YOB ‘Clearing The Path To Ascend’ NEUROT
3. BEHEMOTH ‘The Satanist’ NUCLEAR BLAST
2. SWANS ‘To Be Kind’ YOUNG GOD/MUTE

1. GODFLESH ‘A World Lit Only By Fire’ AVALANCHE

Cosmic Slop could you post my ballot as well? I want everyone to bask in it's glory (i.e. I can't really remember half of it).

ok here's your ballot ultros

"Spectral Lore - III
Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise
Old Man Gloom - The Ape of God II
Old Man Gloom - The Ape of God I
Scott Walker & SunnO))) - Soused
Jute Gyte - Vast Chains
Ambergris - Ambergris
Murmur - S/T
Boris - Noise
Jute Gyte - Ressentiment
AEvangelist - Writhes in the Murk
Kayo Dot - Coffins On Io
Hail Spirit Noir - Oi Magoi
Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith
Botanist - Vi: Flora
Petrychor - Makrokosmos
Lantlos - Melting Sun
Panopticon - Roads to the North
Have A Nice Life - The Unnatural World
Morbus Chron - Sweven
Alcest - Shelter
Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
Opium Warlords - Taste My Sword Of Understanding
Sunn O))) & Ulver - Terrestrials
Floor - Oblation"

Ta, duck

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

i'm going to give celestite another go on the back of this poll.

― auto focus, Friday, December 19, 2014 2:01 AM (2 hours ago)

good headphones a must. first track starts of shaky, imo, but it just gets better and better as it goes. 2nd half of the title track is devastating.

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...

― wonderful about a proletariat-Vorticist version of James Brown (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, December 17, 2014 12:31 PM (2 days ago)

THANK YOU DRUGS. Spent the last few hours listening to Discontinuities, Vast Chains and Ressentiment back-to-back, and yeah, I enjoy the latter a great deal more than its predecessor. Keeps the sickening intensity level, but brings back the catchy, layered dissonance-hooks I loved so much on Discontinuities. Fewer anguished dirges also a plus. Honestly, there isn't a single Vast Chains track I like half so much as "The Haunting Sense of an Unrepeatable Unidirectional Vector", "Supreme Fictions and the Absolute Fake" and "The Failure of Transmutation". For that reason, my attention wandered, and I never got back around to check up on Ressentiment. Which is fucking fantastic. "The Grey King"! Ordered the CD-R to go with the other two, and now itching to dive into JG's six (!) prior black metal styled releases.

Some from my ballot that didn't place. Too bad Colour Haze's distributor won't use Bandcamp to let fans hear the album while they wait weeks and weeks for the physical product to trudge their way to the stores. Small Stone was a great model for that -- you could preview the albums sometimes a couple months before release date, pre-order the CDs through the site and actually get them promptly, etc. Fans of The Oath and Death Penalty will appreciate the proto-metal references really need to check out the Brimstone Coven, Demon Eye and Satyress.

Colour Haze - To The Highest Gods We Know
Spiders - Shake Electric
Castle - Under Siege
Brimstone Coven - Brimstone Coven
Satyress - Dark Fortunes
Demon Eye - Leave The Light
Motorpsycho - Behind The Sun
Les Big Byrd - They Worshipped Cats
All Them Witches - Lightning At The Door
Ogre - The Last Neanderthal
Mansion - Uncreation EP
Purson - In The Meantime EP
Alunah - Awakening The Forest
The Well - Samsara
Electric Citizen - Sateen
Messenger - Illusory Blues
Wedge - Wedge
The Socks - The Socks
Greenleaf - Trails & Passes
Black Moth - Condemned To Hope
Ovvl - Screech
Heat - Labyrinth
Monolord - Empress Rising
Moab - Billow
Hands Of Orlac - Figli Del Crepuscolo
Satan's Satyrs - Die Screaming
Dwellers - Pagan Fruit
Le Betre - Melas
Jeremy Irons & the Ratgang Malibus - Spirit Knife
Spiral Shades - Hypnosis Sessions
Occultation - Silence In The Ancestral House
Hornss - No Blood, No Sympathy
Black Trip - Goin' Under
Mars Red Sky - Stranded In Arcadia
John Garcia - John Garcia
Cardinals Folly - Our Cult Continues!
Lo-Pan - Colossus
Hessian - Bachelor Of Black Arts
Papir - Papir IIII
Sigiriya - Darkness Died Today
Fu Manchu - Gigantoid
Saturn - Ascending - Live In Space
Big Red Panda - Big Red Panda
John Gallow - Violet Dreams
Lecherous Gaze - Zeta Reticuli Blues
Sungod - Vision Space
Seven That Spells - The Death And Resurrection Of Krautrock: IO
Slow Season - Mountains
Holy Mountain - Ancient Astronauts
Morgan Delt - Morgan Delt
Deep Space Destructors - III
The Vintage Caravan - Voyage
Jess & the Ancient Ones - Castaneda EP

who appreciate

i thought occultation would feature in the top 50, surprised not to see it.

CS, could you please post my ballot as well? I didn't save either.

Vigils not Visions

― Devilock, Wednesday, December 17, 2014 7:25 PM (2 days ago)

goddammit, i keep doing that (re the howls of ebb album). when i posted my non-ballot a few days back, i had it backwards, but managed to notice and correct before posting. like my brain wants to be wrong...

sund4r's ballot

Jute Gyte - Vast Chains
Botanist - Vi: Flora
Panopticon - Roads to the North
Menace Ruine - Venus Armata
Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise
Alaskan - Despair, Erosion, Loss
Zvi - Zvi
Ambergris - Ambergris
Stargazer - A Merging to the Boundless
Jute Gyte - Ressentiment
Petrychor - Makrokosmos
Swans - To Be Kind
Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry
Sunn O))) & Ulver - Terrestrials
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

am i the only one to find botanist (maybe just maybe) a wee bit staid and comforting? i haven't made a deep study, but listened to III and IV a few times, the new one once. though i love the hammered dulcimer as an instrument, i wish the drums weren't so buried, or were more engaging, or the vocals a little more aggressive. i dunno, something to cut against the basic sweetness of the strings & melodies. its a gorgeous sound, no doubt, but little of it sticks and the whole leaves me slightly unsatisfied.

yes, you probably are

i thought so. just checking.

eh, i gave botanist a pass. sounded like post-rock.

that's the barbed version, yeah

Have a Nice Life are goth-tastic but enjoyable! I found the Alcest record dull in the extreme (and also not trv metal)

you think HANL are what Alcest should sound like?

my list, weighted:

Gridlink - Longhena
Kriegsmaschine - Enemy Of Man
Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry
Teitanblood - Death
Cyntia - Limit Break

Horrendous - Ecdysis
Indian - From All Purity
AEvangelist - Writhes in the Murk
YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend
Disentomb - Misery

Sick/Tired - Dissolution
Full of Hell - Full of Hell & Merzbow
Serpentine Path - Emanations
Behemoth - The Satanist
Neoheresy - Noc Która Dniem Się Stała

Darkspace - Dark Space III I
Necrophagia - WhiteWorm Cathedral
Mournful Congregation - Concrescence Of The Sophia
Incantation - Dirges Of Elysium
Thou - Heathen

Dead Congregation - Promulgation Of The Fall
Skull Fist - Chasing the Dream
BABYMETAL - BABYMETAL
Mayhem - Esoteric Warfare
Jute Gyte - Ressentiment

Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
Anaal Nakhrath - Desideratum
Vainaja - Kadotetut
Emptiness - Nothing But The Whole
Autopsy - Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves

Varathron - The Untrodden Corridors of Hades
Decaying Purity - Malignant Resurrection of the Fallen Souls
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
Archspire - The Lucid Collective

didn't think about the ordering a whole lot

brb, groping in a misty spread

It's interesting to see Kriegsmaschine toward the top of a couple lists. I'm a huge fan of their sister band Mgla, but the Kriegsmaschine didn't do much for me the few times I listened to it. I guess it's yet another one I'll need to spend more time with. That's the beauty of this countdown -- having some potential blind spots in my listening habits exposed and rectified. Thanks so much Cosmic Slop for running things. It's been a fun time for us metal geeks.

Gladsomany enjoyed it and Ihope you all (and lurkers from the rest of ilx) will check out albums and keep returning to posting their thoughts here.

Perhaps you might nominate and vote in ILM's 2014 End of Year Albums & Tracks Poll / NOMINATIONS THREAD

I think Botanist is closer to what I want shoegaze-metal to be, i.e. something that synthesizes the strengths of black metal and shoegaze/post-rock (as opposed to straight-up 90s nostalgia-pop, which seems pointless to me unless you can actually make something as good as Loveless). The drums could probably stand to be produced with more presence but it's something I can live with. I guess this mean that, for me, the metallic/screamo vocals and drums do cut through the sweetness enough. Plus, the distorted hammered dulcimer is so resonant and shimmery.