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

#13

Black Curse – Endless Wound

326 points, 10 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0522392822_10.jpg

https://blackcurse-svr.bandcamp.com/album/endless-wound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJgHNeFVQqg

there ya go :D

oh yeah, forgot about that one. have dug some of their older records.

have never been able to get into fluisteraars at all. life's too short, so I stopped trying a long time ago.

botanist record sounds cool but didn't get around to it. great band name.

pom you gave me a youtube review?

OMFG. Black Curse. how the hell did I forget to vote for this? jesus, my skimming of the nominees was terrible. this was one of my favorites the week it came out. so massive.

black curse was solid enough but I didn't go back to it much. I think I put it somewhere low on my list bc I vaguely remembered being into it.

but jeez, ewww no fantano embeds plz! yuck!

It turns out that BM and DM don't have to feud after all

Seeing as some who still haunt ILX have renounced this poll for inscrutable reasons, raising a new phalanx should be easier for the upstarts.

xps haha I'm sorry but I couldn't help but include that embed, it was beyond my control.

blame pom

xxp

My way of making up for the absence of fakeouts.

This is sounding pretty sick ngl

oh yeah, forgot about that one. have dug some of their older records.

this was in ref to thy catafalque btw

yup, we dont do comedy fakeouts here

blimey Alan N has returned!

Spectral Voice and Blood Incantation fucking rule, obviously, but I found the Black Curse extremely overrated, and I tried repeatedly. It's a 6-6.5/10 at best.

oops wrong DN lol

tempted to hate watch vlog hot take but I know I'll just have to see this guy on my recommendation grid for months if I do, so doesn't seem worth it

the black curse album is almost hilariously intense, couldn't not throw it some points

feeling very conflicted as this is my first vote to place today (it made my top 10, it rules) but the image of Mr. Fantano channeling the Vancome Lady from MadTV will haunt me until the end of days.

I'm so sorry.

I would say that this, yes, rips, but also, crucially, slays

I had no idea bgm was alan!

it may even crush, but let's not go too far yet

It ticks all the right boxes yet I found it kind of… boring. The songs themselves didn't click with me.

trying not to use my govt name, thanx in advance! (x-post)

at least I know who you are now! I thought you were lost to the metal gods long ago!

nice one adam, now everyone knows your real name

We can google proof you to Anal N if you like?

yeah, good going Angus!

#12

Ulcerate – Stare Into Death and Be Still

381 points, 12 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0118737312_10.jpg

https://ulcerate.bandcamp.com/album/stare-into-death-and-be-still

You’ve seen it happen. Your favorite band, who released some of the best records you’ve ever heard, who completely changed the way you thought about music, who could do no wrong, release a new record that you just can’t enjoy. You don’t know what to do. Maybe you lose some respect for the band. Maybe you lose some respect for yourself – for putting too much faith in your heroes or for failing to appreciate what must be a work of genius far beyond your understanding. It sucks.

At least, I imagine it would. You see, I can’t relate to your shameful feelings because the band that reshaped my understanding of music was Ulcerate. Everything Is Fire ignited my passion for their visionary re-invention of extreme metal, and every Ulcerate record thereafter has been an unqualified success. From the post/death metal synthesis of The Destroyers of All, through the ragged and ferocious take on that sound in Vermis, to the gradual introduction of melody in Shrines of Paralysis, each of the Auckland trio’s subsequent albums expanded the Fire sound into a modern classic. Their latest is no exception.

Stare into Death may be Ulcerate’s most approachable record, but it is unmistakably an Ulcerate record, and “approachable” for adherents of their winding, dissonant, and atmospheric death metal will still equate to “unlistenable” for most. It adventures into more melodic territory than Shrines of Paralysis did before it but retains the dense counterpoint and murky tonality of an Ulcerate record. The title track provides a perfect synopsis of Stare into Death and be Still; Michael Hoggard’s endlessly shifting phrases flow between atmospheric waves, driving riffs, and anthemic melodies, almost always in cross-motion between right and left. Cymbals shimmer and skins buckle under Jamie St Merat’s equally restless drumming, and an almost subsonic bass growls in Paul Kelland’s hands. At the song’s apex bleak melody completely takes over, harmonized only at the edges of phrases as Kelland roars the eponymous command.

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/ulcerate-stare-into-death-and-be-still-review/

Anal Nadswound

omg wtf this is like 12 places lower than I thought, are we really doing DM this wrong???

I'm sad that we didn't get any drive-by snipes from ILXors who disdain the very existence of metal.

This Thy Catafalque album is the business!

My #2, fucking phenomenal record. Could've been my #1 depending on my mood.

I agree that this is shamefully low.

I was sure this would be top 3! immense album

I voted for this, probably much too low. It's completely awesome. They are monsters, and they know when to hold back

voted for this one! liked this one better than some of the other Ulcerate I've heard (which I also like but not as much as this one)

Yeah, wow, I thought this would be higher.

I had some mind-warping experiences listening to this.

very good record. destroyers of all still the peak of mt ulcerate for me tho.

yeah, this placement feels low. I put this in the bottom third of my ballot cause I figured it didn't need my help, but it is incredible.

Black Curse is awesome btw, its simplicity of composition allows the sound and mood to pour forth unchecked

This level of intensity is almost psychedelic

(which Ulcerate also manage)

Is it possible that Sweven won the death metal category? That would make me very happy.

I think it's possible Sweven missed out completely, which would probably entitle Ultros to hunt me down and attack me with axes

Actually, Imperial Triumphant is still to come. Y'all liked that one.

IT aren't DM at all really though

will be sad and confused if Sweven isn't still up ahead.

okok Sweven will make it haha

but then...what won't? Paysage D'Hiver?

Well we can safely say one legendary band was 102'd. Not hinting at who though