2020 Metal ’n’ Heavy Rock/Heavy Music Poll: RESULTS – Top 100 Countdown

This Lamp of Murmuur, which really should be doing it for me, just ... isn't. I think Gjendod's doing the 90s Norse throwback thing better than anyone. Haxanu was excellent too (though they're American and maybe not 100% in that category).

Not sure what this means but the three songs I've listened to so far, all of which were track 1 on an album, were over 10 mins long. The hell's going on with that.

I think I nominated this one, but it didn't make my ballot. Too much killer DM (OSDM or otherwise) for this to rise to the top this year for me I'm afraid.

A phrase to make imagos heart glow

Skeletal was dutiful, but low on mine

Yeah, that's a good descriptor for it.

Guess what?

We've got another tie coming up!

Whudda thunk?

#87 TIE
Spirit Adrift – Enlightened in Eternity
105 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3328898945_10.jpg

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/enlightened-in-eternity

One thing about the number of bands who wake up and have a big bowl of Black Sabbath while listening to Black Sabbath before going to band practice to write songs that sound like Black Sabbath: it’s a vanishingly small number who do it with a focus on the first two Dio-era albums, rather than the floppy, weedy riffs of their glorious early-‘70s age. Not so for Spirit Adrift. While not a total case of bare-faced worship, but their metal does nevertheless take big, obvious gulps from the more taut end of the Sabbath spectrum that gave us Neon Knights and Heaven And Hell. This is a very good thing.

Ride Into The Light and Astral Levitation are big, bold metal bangers, revelling in a bigger-is-better approach that flexes their riffs gloriously. Shades of Iron Maiden pop up in Cosmic Conquest’s lead guitar melodies, while Screaming From Beyond is a stomping slower burner that nevertheless brings heaviness brilliantly. That it’s all done with a level of garage‑y grit and dirtiness only adds to their charm. Sort of like Mastodon or Baroness, this is something grand done by an earthy band.

https://www.kerrang.com/reviews/album-review-spirit-adrift-enlightened-in-eternity/

#87 TIE
Biesy – Transsatanizm
105 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4044994473_10.jpg

https://biesy.bandcamp.com/album/transsatanizm

Black Metal is, let’s face it, an inherently contradictory genre.

By turns both fearlessly progressive and rigidly (some might even say “religiously”) conservative, infinitely malleable yet stubbornly inflexible, it’s the sort of place where bands can preach rebellion and non-conformity on one hand while ostracising anyone who dares to colour too far outside the lines on the other.

And while I love pretty much everything about it – the sound, the fury, the blending of avant-garde artistry and punk-as-fuck attitude – I’m also not afraid to acknowledge the high camp of it all either, considering how much time I’ve spent in small, dark rooms, watching shirtless, make-up covered men with pseudonyms like “Goat Impaler” and “Ultra Sodomite” hammering out priapic hymns of uber-masculinity, all while rocking a borderline-erotic amount of leather.

So it’s actually kind of surprising that it’s taken so long for someone to connect the obvious dots between the nihilistic escapism of Black Metal’s corpse-painted pageantry and the performative, provocative world of drag, but that’s exactly what the mastermind behind Biesy has done, adopting the persona of blue-haired punk-rock princess “Faustyna Moreau” to create an album designed to make you question your own prejudices and preconceptions about the necro-metallic arts.

https://www.nocleansinging.com/2020/06/18/biesy-transsatanizm/

I liked the Spirit Adrift but it didn't steal my trad heart like Wytch Hazel did.

The Biesy is quite unique, and I enjoyed it, but it failed to claw its way into my ballot.

20 Buck Spin has found a way to miraculously pinpoint something very specific that I don't like (and can't articulate) in my metal and give it record deals.

lol

I'll throw a TOO LOW at the Spirit Adrift since it was my #6. I think this one was an improvement on Divided in Darkness (which I think was my #9 or so last year) but didn't quite reach the highs of Curse of Conception, which is still my fave from them.

Tomb Mold tho.

Cerebral Rot.

Obsequaie.

Witch Vomit.

Atramentus.

Mournful Congregation.

Mylingar.

etc.

That's a lot to miss out on.

xp

Biesy my first vote and my first TOO LOW

I loved Mylingar's first album and somehow haven't gotten around to checking out the follow-up, which I hadn't realized was on 20BS.

(And in my original post I'd written out "except for Obsequiae" but backspaced over it, haha. Yes, they rule.)

This Biesy is really cool.

tracks 1 and 3 of the Biesy especially sick. riding that post-2nd-wave industrial-BM Dodheimsgard vibe into new hell

I've never fully managed to overcome my bias against industrial stylings in metal. Blut aus Nord is among the rare exceptions to this rule.

#86
Ripped to Shreds – Luan
105 points, 4 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1394046225_10.jpg

https://rippedtoshredsdeathmetal.bandcamp.com/album/luan

You know the death metal's going be good when the intro sounds like a soundtrack to an RPG made absolutely no later than 1993, and Ripped to Shreds' second full-length 亂 (Luan) is infallible proof of this. It's searing death metal that revels in brutality and musicality without trading away either.

In keeping with Ripped to Shreds' preferred subject matter, 亂 (Luan) loosely follows an ancient Chinese war-themed folk tale. Judging by the album art, I'd surmise it involves fire, chaos, and destruction: all ideal material for some gut-ripping death metal. And rip it does, as Ripped to Shreds constructs potent sequences out of a broad palette of cadences and temperaments -- every song tears its way through the less-important stuff in your brain to find a more permanent residence. Drums, bass, guitar and vocals all play a part in the meta-rhythm, stopping and starting in tight coherence with just enough interplay and deviance to tantalize.

https://www.invisibleoranges.com/ripped-to-shreds-luan-album-stream/

I liked this one when I heard it.

Aw...too low.

Loved this one. Was in my top ten I think

TOO LOW. My #14. Andrew Lee has quickly become one of the busiest (8 active bands since dropping his first RTS release in 2018) and best people in metal. Azath and Houkago Grind Time would have both also made an extended ballot for me this year, too.

I'm just not listening to much metal at the moment. I'm wondering if it's terminal and that makes me sad. Interested in the rollout though!

One-person BM bands are easier to pull off than their DM counterparts imo.

This Okkultokrati is a pleasant discovery. The Biesy was a late addition to my ballot. For some reason shouted metal vocals always sound good in Polish.

I feel like methanie and I will have much overlap in our ballots

Next up: one for teh olds.

Imago is rather quiet today, I guess he always is on the death metal section 100-11, lol

#85
Cirith Ungol – Forever Black
106 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4223878982_10.jpg

https://cirithungol.bandcamp.com/album/forever-black

Pestilence sprays across the land from lung to lung, ignorant congregations gather and die in hordes, the populace rallies against their own public health for the sake of their slaver’s prosperity and in the sky Helios looms in preparation of his fieriest whip of summer heat to date. Churning within every mounting wave of blazon doom is a magnitude higher maelstrom of chaos descending upon Earth and we knew it was coming. We heard the evil laughter in the shadows and the night’s sky for nearly five years prior — It is no coincidence that the prophesiers of doom would return and slap hands full of painted cards across our tables each warning once again of sickness and fire, of black machines and eternal wars! Back by popular demand and nearly a full twenty nine years removed from their fourth and thought-to-be final album (‘Paradise Lost‘, 1991), the masters of metal, the heir apparent kings of the dead and undisputed Ventura, California heavy/doom metal legends Cirith Ungol arrive with a fifth and magical long-player today and I’ll be damned… ‘Forever Black’ doesn’t suck. If anything they’re heavier and more passionate on tape in their sixties than they’d been since ‘One Foot in Hell‘ (1986), it is a kingly return in trying times and a massive inspiration to all.

https://grizzlybutts.com/2020/04/22/cirith-ungol-forever-black-2020-review/

Surprised to see Spirit Adrift that low, fun trad metal record (tho I enjoyed one even more than that that I suspect is yet to come).

I'm hit or miss with 20 Buck Spin stuff, but I'm glad they are less uh, problematic, than Profound Lord. Which is a disappointment, because PL has put out some truly incredible records over the years.

Cirith Ungol album is great

Re: Cirith Ungol, I'm going to self-quote my post from the rolling 2020 thread 'cause I never got an answer to my question:

Not really feel the new Cirith Ungol – my introduction to the band, incidentally. Beyond the dilapidated vocals, the playing is too noncommittal to justify such slow tempos throughout – maybe doom metal isn't for them? There are some appropriately compelling retro guitar solos here and there, and 'Stormbringer' is a standout track, but I can't say I'm too impressed overall. How does it compare to their previous material?

Think I forgot to vote for it though

impressed that I haven't had any of my (I think) 33 votes show up yet!

2/50 of mine placed so far.

Biesy my #15. A powerhouse opening track, followed by some other really decent tracks. Love the slightly power electronics-y vibe it has sometimes.

This Ripped to Shreds is some very listenable no-nonsense old-school Swedeath-style metal. Reminds me of Interment's also very listenable 2016 album Scent of the Buried.

Loved RTS first one, and, again, in my weird selective apathy, never ventured to the second. Sheesh. Nor the new Cirith Ungol though I kinda feel like King of the Dead is as much of them as I need. Tim Baker's way of enunciating every line in exactly the same way gets a bit grating after not too long.

#84
Turia – Degen van licht
108 points, 3 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1703939268_10.jpg

https://montturia.bandcamp.com/album/degen-van-licht

‘Atmospheric black metal’ seems to be a bit of a loaded term these days. Traditional black metal bands want nothing to do with it, that’s for sure – but even some bands that are firmly in the ‘atmospheric’ bracket seem to shy away from this term. It almost seems to be synonymous with boring, the same old minor chords backed by blast beats and drenched in too much reverb, clean sections that are too contrasting to make any sense, and pretentious lyrics that (fortunately) no one will ever understand because the vocalist sounds like a dying cat. I’m quite partial to a bit of it, personally. I love the moods, the way the chords resolve, the overall sound of it, and the emotion behind it. Turia’s Degen van Licht is a brilliant amalgamation of these elements.

The Dutch three-piece have released two full-length albums and a handful of splits since their inception in 2014. Degen van Licht is their third studio album; the title translates to ‘sword of light’ – not really my cup of tea when it comes to album names or imagery, but this review isn’t based on that. The music is exactly my cup of tea, and that’s much more important. I’ve written about quite a few black metal releases recently, and so I was wanting to stay away from them for a bit. However, I’ve felt myself very drawn to this kind of music in the last while, and as soon as I heard the opening moments of Degen van Licht, I remembered why. The intro track, a minute and a half of guitar textures and grandiose reverb, transported me straight into a world of snow and stars, the guitars so glassy, sometimes hanging suspended like a cloud of breath, later screaming, a saw across ice. It sets the tone wonderfully for the rest of the album.

https://everythingisnoise.net/reviews/turia-degen-van-licht/

Imago is rather quiet today, I guess he always is on the death metal section 100-11, lol

― Oor Neechy, Monday, 8 March 2021 20:11 (twenty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

just not rly a fan of things that rip or slam

Guess I'm alone on this one, as it was my #1 and the metal record I listened to the most last year. Atmoblack with a yen for beauty is my kryptonite.

xp

It's a fairly subtle album, however. I found it slightly disappointing at first compared to their split with Fluisteraars, but it slowly but surely won me over in the end.

Gotta listen to this. I loved the new Fluisteraars.

The Dutch know how to make classy BM.

The Turia was great. One of my bandcamp purchases last year

Next up: yet another tie as Tie Day draws to a close.

Vile Creature have the best website in metal btw: http://www.vilecreature.net/

#82 TIE
Regarde les hommes tomber – Ascension
109 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1077738278_10.jpg

https://regardeleshommestomber.bandcamp.com/album/ascension

Those in the know about French black metal are very aware of Regarde Les Hommes Tomber. They are without a doubt one of the most interesting groups to emerge from the country’s vast black metal underground. With their first full length in five years, they have come to silence all those who may have doubted them. Their latest offering, the spine-tingling Ascension, is a fitting addition to the band’s legacy and a clear next step in their trajectory.  Regarde Les Hommes Tomber craft a unique brand of black metal that relies on vast atmospheres. These are brought on by searing guitars and punishing blast beats. Ultimately, Ascension is more of a sonic experience than a collection of songs. The all-encompassing nature of the record makes it an early contender for 2020’s black metal album of the year. For their Season Of Mist debut, Regarde Les Hommes Tomber have unapologetically pulled out all the stops.

The most promising aspect of Ascension is that it shows how much the band has grown. "Stellar Cross" shows some of the band’s most dynamic work to date. The acoustic intro and open-throated moans that define the track are mesmerizing. The production has clearly also taken a huge leap forward, with the potent interlude, "La Tentation," perhaps serving as a standout example. Meanwhile, tracks like "A New Order" really stay true to the band’s traditional fare of ‘wall of sound black metal’. These precisely composed blasphemous screeds promise to be the stuff of legends and of course, countless year-end lists.

https://metalinjection.net/reviews/regarde-les-hommes-tomber-ascension

#82 TIE
Angel Morgue – In the Morgue of Angels
109 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2844519188_10.jpg

https://angelmorgue-us.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-morgue-of-angels

Blasphemy and rotten, cavernous death metal are Angel Morgue‘s specialties on debut album In the Morgue of Angels. The death metal on display is primitive and effective—everything from the riffs to the vocals to the impressive drumming to the production to the song titles sounds like it was dug out of a crypt.

Fortunately, that crypt contained an impressive death metal album. From the Immolation-esque “Raped in Church (Touched by God)” to the neck-snapping “Cosmic Torment” and titular closer, Angel Morgue juggle fast and slow tempos, never giving too much of one or the other. There are plenty of sonic similarities to Immolation, Autopsy and early Outer Heaven, and the song titles would bring a smile to Glen Benton’s face.

At a lean eight songs, everything about In the Morgue of Angels feels inspired by a time gone by, adapted for 2020.

https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2020/08/03/full-album-stream-angel-morgue-in-the-morgue-of-angels/

I really enjoyed the Regarde les hommes tomber, I just found it a bit less than consistent than I would have liked. I need to check out their first couple of LPs.

Regarde les hommes tomber – Ascension is one of my votes and I say

TOO LOW