THE 10TH ANNUAL ILM METAL POLL:2017 RESULTS THREAD

(personally I liked this fine but found it a bit on the safe side)

Yeah pretty much

(k3rr also says TOO LOOOOW re: the next one, incidentally...)

I did a terrible job of predicting the top 35.

Less than 25 correct?

way less, from 35-11 (which is all I've seen) I only guessed 12 correctly.

It has been a surprising mixture of things this high up, but I feel like I've got a good idea of what's on its way. I hope I'm wrong though in a way! It'd be nice to find something completely unheard of in the top 10.

There's some good stuff to come but yes I'm hoping for some interesting discoveries! I think only two albums on my entire ballot aren't going to place in the 100, which is mad tbh

can some of you pls get Brad to come back as well, at least to ILM

brad quit?

lmao not as far as I know

don't want to get into it but it seems so

Oh shit that sucks.

Just FYI, if anyone cares, I interviewed Matt Hollenberg of Cleric for the Burning Ambulance podcast back in December. Personally, I find Retrocausal to be kind of a throwback to early 2000s super-mathy avant-metal; it doesn't feel like it's moving anything forward. But it's good. I'm very interested to hear the album of Masada compositions they've got in the can.

16 Au champ des morts - Dans la joie 393.0 Points 11 Votes
http://arcticdrones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/review-Au-Champ-Des-Morts-Dans-La-Joie-770x770.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/59mAeqeDQMTYo25AvYFxYF?si=7mPsGfXOSnqwnkkXxAkzbg

Au Champs De Morts (French for : In The Field Of The Dead") is one of the single best up and coming black metal bands I've listened to in years. Dans La Joie (In Joy) is a logical follow up on the bands stunning debut, 2014's Le Jour Se Leve (The Day Rises). The compositions have a unique sense of black metal brilliance and hint at the bold future of a band who have the potential to rapidly expand the sonic possibilities of a genre. Dans La Joie is an album that forces you to sit down and really sink about the power of the genre and the breadth of the work can't help but to captivate the listener. These are songs that craft potent melodies and hint at bold futures, they grow on you and encourage repeat listens but also pummel forward with an old school rage that you can't help but to admire. Au Champs De Morts represent a beautiful fusion of old and new, never getting lost in pretentious bullshit and always keeping it as fierce as possible.

That being said, don't think that Au Champs De Morts aren't afraid to get lost in the magic of the genre and create some of the most ethereal musical moments in French black metal history. One need look no further than the intro of a track like 'Le Sang, La Mort, La Chute' (loosely translated: Blood, Death, The Fall) to see the influence of frontman Stephane Bayle's previous band, the quasi-legendary Anorexia Nervosa. The mix between almost tortured sounding cleans that sometimes come out feeling shouted and harsh growls creates a sort of antediluvian aura which adds to the sheer transcendence of the mix. This entire thing seems strangely rooted in the works of bands like Bathory or even Darkthrone. The band is wholly aware of their own epic leanings but they are also fond of diving into the more punk rock sides of things and driving the nails in, one bloody step at a time.

by far my favorite title + cover juxtaposition of the countdown so far

i listened to that podcast and can vouch for it. and yeah it's not the 'moving things forward' i love so much about it so much as the intense, open-minded and excellent composition, which of course owes a lot to jazz, mathcore etc

the masada thing is gonna be quite the event

xps

oh look! pomenitul can rejoice. and i'll check it out!

Nice! Vague reminiscences of Noir Désir in French black metal always do it for me.

yeah I'm enjoying this

Belatedly listening to 'Ifrit' off Retrocausal (both titles are up my alley btw). Another one that would've likely made my ballot had I kept up with new metal releases last year.

such a great album. never cared for his far more famous band but this album is majestic

15 Spectral Voice - Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing 401.0 Points 11 Votes
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/db/76/1f/db761f69d461927d6bff1513bfe161bd.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/4hWRz8Cvr1OSgikycop9fE?si=my8hsZBlRrKmsjA4tdT8Xw

Spectral Voice’s Eroded Corridors of Unbeing is like a ghostly cry in the dark. It’s the first thing that springs to mind in every song. No matter how brutal or how atmospheric, its haunted halls are brimming with unspeakable horrors. And, of course, that’s the allure. While Spectral Voice have been releasing grim, A-grade death/doom for years now, Eroded Corridors of Unbeing proves they’re at their darkest yet.

You probably already knew, but Spectral Voice is 3/4 Blood Incantation. And in a way (if you’ve never heard them before), Spectral Voice is like Blood Incantation distilled through diSEMBOWELMENT (or Inverloch). The band has felt, to me, more skewed towards doom than death metal, but always willing to dabble in both. However, it’s the ghoulish, haunted atmosphere of this one that really cements it as a modern classic.

threw this on the bottom of my ballot after listening and admiring. top campaigning dominique!

Another one I'm glad to see in the top 20.

forgot to mention - weirdly huge points jump between 16 and 17!

Too low!

I didn't vote for this because I only listened to this once before the voting deadline but it sounded really satisfying and I'm already really enjoying it again.

the second track is a wonderful monster

personal fave coming up

14 The Ruins of Beverast - Exuvia 405.0 Points 11 Votes 1 #1 Vote
http://www.nuclearblast.de/static/articles/260/260764.jpg/1000x1000.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/1cwDxz56RMKHDmgHHADDQX?si=j17Wrq8yS46osLQg8Bd8dA

The Ruins of Beverast is one of those bands whose every release feels like a deliberate exercise in the unpredictable. Its like a black and doom metal gumball machine. You know in general what you’re going to get, but you won’t fully understand the specific flavor, color, and texture of each release until you’ve got the thing in your possession. Candy analogies aside, Alexander von Meilenwald’s career over the past decade as the creator of and solo performer in The Ruins of Beverast, while varied in tone and sonic direction, has been nothing short of exemplary. From the lo-fi catacombs of Rain Upon the Impure to the doom-laden heaviness of Blood Vaults, each release has painted consistently mesmerizing portraits of death, suffering, and mysticism through a unique amalgamation of black and doom metal. While each release by the band has been unique in comparison to its predecessors, it’s been four years since The Ruins of Beverast released a full-length, and 2016’s puzzling EP Takitum Tootem! was a sonic curveball of epic proportions. Equally championed and reviled by fans, the EP not only added confusion as to which sonic direction the band would take with its latest record, Exuvia, but trepidation in some as to whether it would be any good. If you were worried that The Ruins of Beverast is losing its edge, may your fears be assuaged. This is some premium metal.

This is absolutely brilliant and although it was my #7 I probably put it too low? It sustains its mood wonderfully throughout such intense narratives - menacing and cosmic. Maybe the first TOO LOW afaic

Second track's my favourite I think but it's all great

I'm home

their records have a nice enveloping feel that makes them easy to get lost in

good stuff, hope all's well

I had a 2 hr meeting and thought I'd have missed the rest of the rollout, but it's a slow 'n' low roll I see!

aye, it was just her appointment with the consultant. Got an xray and they said its healing nicely but it can take a long time so she's to go back in 4 months. She asked for some crutches type walking stick and they werent sure but because she'd used them with the physio in hospital when she was in, they okayed it. She can use them or the zimmer, whichever she feels best.
I hope that there will be contact about physio for her.

tick.jpg :)

That sounds positive, I'm glad to hear it. :) And good luck with her getting physio, too.

imago, I can't believe Ruins of Beverast wasn't like your #3...you talk about it every day.

I find it weird that the middle two tracks aren't available on spotify (whole album is on bandcamp iirc)

I bought the album just for those two tracks, and they're worth it

also it was a really great year for metal!

wait, did I miss something? Brad's gone? He was absolutely essential in my keeping up with emo/pop-punk! NOOOOOOOOOO

13 King Woman - Created in the Image of Suffering 419.0 Points 13 Votes
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1256656107_5.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/3Hfzq8ppZoC0pkwTuEMF4g?si=3W1kDCBuQJGCKJy6IWsfww

No one gets off easy here. Esfandiari scorns the self-medicating faithful during “Deny,” her soft but haunting voice riding a riff that feels as sharp as a reaper’s scythe. “Shame,” meanwhile, spotlights the existential dread of Esfandiari’s former fellow adherents. She wonders how they find comfort in doomsday prophecies and punitive proclamations, why they seek shelter in something that feels so vengeful. She worries less about what people worship than how they worship—specifically, how they use their beliefs to ensnare themselves and those around them, herself included. During Doubt, King Woman seemed to be learning how to communicate these concerns as a group; here, they preach together as a mighty team. The band pounds away behind her questions and observations, the bellicose rhythm section and snarling guitars demanding answers from a society of self-delusion.

The real strength of this still-new quartet becomes clear on “Hierophant,” the centerpiece of these eight songs. Esfandiari funnels the language of the sacred into a series of profane come-ons: “If you’re a holy church, I wanna worship,” she sings. “If you’re a sacred script, I am the Hierophant.” She treats actual human lust with the same sort of obsessive, accidentally prurient language evangelicals sometimes use for God. It’s funny, seductive, and coming from someone who has seen both sides, tragic. And with a chorus that hits like an electrified lullaby with a heretic’s sense of mischief, it wouldn't be hard to imagine “Hierophant” as a rock radio anthem. Now that would be a coveted fall from grace.

Au champ was my #5.

LJ otm: please, someone get Brad back asap :/

Never heard of the last two tbh

The last three albums are all wonderful and I'm thrilled to see them placing this high.

Also, agreed that Brad is essential.

Brad is an especially big booster of King Woman. Who were first recommended to me, if you'll allow the namedrop, by MC Dälek! Who should have been in this poll really ;)

incidentally, their recent cover of "I Wanna Be Adored" is fantastic

spotify:album:4ZrSA3klsa1Vl4XKfZjyvm

err

https://open.spotify.com/track/2IbbPqpU1uchOWCMULOuJD?si=HdUiFs0UQheUzLGg3Yu7_A

Listening now - it's lovely :)