THE 10TH ANNUAL ILM METAL POLL:2017 RESULTS THREAD

Psudoku that is

I wonder who the fourth vote was from?

Dominique has already said!

nah, I heard it after I voted

Anyway, thanks again to tt for finding another winner

49 Venenum - Trance of Death 183.0 Points, 6 Votes
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/6/2/8/2/628270.jpg
https://venenum.bandcamp.com/album/trance-of-death

There’s an undeniable gothic sensibility to what Venenum does, but not in the same way that Mercyful Fate or Swedish contemporaries Tribulation would display. “Entrance,” the leadoff track from Trance of Death, is a mournful and haunting instrumental played on cello and piano that wouldn’t be out of place on an Agalloch album. The band maintains that darkness throughout, but they do so in the service of some furiously righteous death metal born of a twisted and unfamiliar realm. The title of “Merging Nebular Drapes” offers the possibility that alien blood really does run through their system, though it’s arguably the most straightforward death metal offering here, galloping forth with tight rhythmic dynamics and tremolo riffs. “The Nature of the Ground” takes things into a more complex direction, shifting tempos and introducing some dizzying, psychedelic guitar leads into the mix. And “Cold Threat” shakes up the approach even more, slowing to a crawl before launching back into a blast-beat explosion and eventually a section of crunchy grooves and acid-laced guitar leads that send the listener through a portal to a thrilling, terrifying terrain.

we should just call this the 10th Annual ILM Death Metal Poll 2017

iirc this one topped the Last Rites staff poll.

48 Falls of Rauros - Vigilance Perennial 184 Points, 7 Votes
https://i.imgur.com/0v0oCUI.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/2gcjg5RGSxXOo6XhOawMtb?si=jiICuNBqQD26dpXxMJyN6w
https://fallsofrauros.bandcamp.com/album/vigilance-perennial

With Falls of Rauros' 4th full-length album, Vigilance Perennial, a vital complexity and multifaceted emotion is at the forefront of this stunning quartet's musical creativity, drive and evolution. Ever since the opening notes of the Hail Wind and Hewn Oak debut, Falls of Rauros have never put on a mask to hide behind a false facade. Yes their sound has indeed grown to embrace an otherworldly atmosphere that feels almost spiritual, but their songs possess endlessly layered riffs and thoughts from the heart that feel as real as the earth squishing up between your toes as you stop to appreciate the sound of the wind sailing through the pines. Such an organic flow and endlessly dynamic rise and fall elevates the 5 songs of Vigilance Perennial from a multi-layered bout of aggression to beautiful moments of music that twist with a powerful and honest emotion rarely experienced within a musical mindset that others refer to as “black metal”.

Vigilance Perennial finds Falls of Rauros once again challenging the status quo, for the pure honesty and obvious love for truly unique songcrafting has in part distanced this band from any obvious genre defining terms. This music bleeds from the heart in a giving way, and we, the Bindrune and Nordvis alliance are proud to share our brothers' stunning and healing work with the world.
credits
released March 31, 2017

http://www.angrymetalguy.com/falls-of-rauros-vigilance-perennial-review/

I didn't mention anything upthread but yeah, Blood Offerings is fucking awesome.

Not as enthused with Psudoku.

Glad to see Venenum, though.

LOVE the Falls of Rauros album. I'm bummed that I had the chance to see them on christmas day but chickened out due to the extreme cold.

the falls of rauaros album is really good

I was really impressed with the Venenum record last year but stopped listening to it quite quickly. I should go back to it...

I heard FoR a while back and found them quite plain but should probably give this one a go.

so if we slag off current generation of music writers in this thread they will come here to post instead of the poptimism thread?

imago get to it! lol

We need a 'hide thread' feature.

I think most people hide ILM from SNA actually. I'm sure stet said once he detected that from the stats

ok

can we get rid of similes like 'like the earth squishing up between your toes' from metal reviews

Ban Empedoclian elements from metal reviews.

Way too low for Venenum record - now I wish I made it my number one - it rocks so hard and it endlessly re-listenable.

47 Undergang - Misantropologi 190 Points, 5 Votes , One #1
https://i.imgur.com/Cjgpii1.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/1YSVa36oHYYegNYz5b6fWr?si=1qksl8E_QIC_PXVmXX3rpA
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/misantropologi

https://www.moshpitnation.com/undergang-misantropologi-review-interview/

Is there a canonical descriptor for this vocal style?

i forgot who recommended this in the campaigning thread but this album is gross and i love it

cookie monster?

xp

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds even lower-pitched than the trad cookie monster style.

this is approaching the Demilich-style "burp" vocal

also there's no way I'd have guessed this was a new record if I didn't see it here first!

I assume you're referring to Demilich the band but I choose to believe you meant a burping D&D demilich.

lol yeah the band, who doubtlessly got their name from D&D

46 Paradise Lost - Medusa 195 Points, 7 Votes
https://i.imgur.com/u11NSGk.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/1K4grcFMjbuao5doCFgt1J?si=5vtVx1h1QuiSlTbBt7WwRQ

http://www.angrymetalguy.com/paradise-lost-medusa-review/

Yay for Undergang! That was my #1. Gross is an apt description.

huh, paradise lost is way too low

i like undergang! i haven't even heard that album. i'll bet it's good though.

power trip record is gonna be number one, right?

i'm guessing imago is to blame for the next one

paradise lost was almost my no. 1. i think it ended up third on my ballot? anyway it's them totally realizing the pivot back to depressive death/doom that occurred on the last record imo. the songs are all so strong

45 Kairon; IRSE! - Ruination 196 Points, 6 Votes
https://i.imgur.com/M3ioFdF.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/4BK3y0c0JWVFU9dcC6uwHu?si=i-ogxrxrQT2CWz1YYsjWXA

https://kaironirse.bandcamp.com/album/ruination

http://www.angrymetalguy.com/kairon-irse-ruination-review/

immolation has to be top ten or i cry foul. such a good record. i even got the vinyls.

~~~proggggge~~~

tt much more responsible than I but it's bloody great, so many fantastic tunes, tones and twists. and grooves! almost all the songs, especially the penultimate track, blossom into something truly marvellous by the end. Oranssi Pazuzu involvement too, albeit this is softer

fantastic album!

immolation has to be top ten or i cry foul. such a good record. i even got the vinyls.

― scott seward, Tuesday, February 6, 2018 10:17 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

after i submitted my ballot i thought "fuck i definitely underrated the immolation." magnificent record

Solid retro-prog. Maaaaybe like their shoegaze album a bit better though.

A little too retro for me, even though I'm fond of their influences.

Immolation made a shoegaze album? no wonder scott loves them

Yes - the shoegaze debut is a better overall record - this one has its moments, though.

Lol, the names of the tracks in themselves are to gross for me on that Undergang album...

i'm still kinda going through everything i find remotely interesting in the results. the akercocke record, renaissance in extremis, is both good and a little too complicated to focus on (i love the vocals, i wish i heard this kind of vocal versatility on more extreme metal records)

Enslaved - E 197 Points, 6 Votes
https://i.imgur.com/nhMZGiZ.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/384vCqFNNWXumypoRHeKDN?si=JpH5m-7WQC-5UIlriSEd4Q

http://www.metalinjection.net/reviews/enslaved-e

http://www.angrymetalguy.com/enslaved-e-review/

I've made peace with the fact I'll never get into this band.

43 Sannhet - So Numb 204 Points, 5 Votes, ONE #1
https://i.imgur.com/awazLv9.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/7wdOUoAUF79Cwl27oNdS4N?si=6vhQZGVTTt-A1gP3TiBspQ

https://sannhet.bandcamp.com/album/so-numb

The cover of Sannhet’s third album, So Numb, features a mother shielding her son’s eyes with her hands - an allegory depicting the protection one receives from their parents, but it isn’t meant to be sentimental. As the mother shelters her child, she inadvertently creates a false sense of safety. The child, in turn, spends it's life seeking comfort and escape in temporary solutions.

Though Sannhet meditate on life’s imperfect escapes, So Numb’s nine songs showcase the band facing life’s pain and joy with their eyes wide open. The collection’s emotional landscape is one of existential dread, melancholy, and loss - ammunition for escapists. Despite these existential conundrums, So Numb has an uplifting, euphoric feel.

The collection was recorded and produced by Peter Katis, who’s known for his work with Mercury Rev, Interpol, the National, and Oneida among others. Working with Katis, the production illuminates a more open sound for the band. While Sannhet’s second album, 2015’s Revisionist, was bigger and harsher than their 2013 debut, Known Flood, they offer a more wistful, melodic approach here.

The first track, “Indigo Illusion,” opens with Christopher Todd’s eviscerating, but anchoring drums locked in... more
credits
released August 25, 2017

Produced, engineered, and mixed by Peter Katis

Sannhet Are:
Christopher Todd - drums and samples
John Refano - guitar and loopers
AJ Annunziata - bass guitar and visuals

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sannhet-so-numb/ 8/10

really great album

What, no one wants to take post-metal? well, you're in luck then...

*talk lol

K V L T

42 Black Cilice - Banished from Time 209.0 Points, 5 Votes
https://newnoisemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Black-Cilice-Banished-From-Time.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_5kdIhx_to

Since the release of debut full length A Corpse, A Temple (2011), Mr. Black Cilice has been on a steady tear, releasing a new album every two years. I would not say there’s a palpable difference in aesthetic between the first three albums. They sound more or less the same, and if you don’t spend much time listening to raw, lo-fi black metal then you could be forgiven for mistaking them all for the same exact album. For fans of the style though, your preference among the three most likely hinges on all sorts of unknown variables like how much iron is in your diet, who you voted for in the last mid-term elections or whether or not your mother breast fed you. As a trio, these albums stand as a bold and uncompromising testament to black metal’s pioneering spirit, to its willingness to subvert and pervert, to its insane disregard for its own safety. There is, of course, a bull-headed black metal orthodoxy which stands like a kidney stone in the urinary tract of time, but the fringe is where all the really cool shit is happening. Mr. Black Cilice has been skirting the fringe all along, and with his latest offering, Banished from Time, we are given no reason to believe that he will ever come back.