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

Srsly though, the Eternal Champion cover is equally NSFW if we're really going to be removing pictures (not that we should be).

Lol yes, truly indecent monolith xp. Aaaah I thought this was a lock for the top 3! It's so resplendent and tainted.

I think we can all agree the Undeath is 100% SFW though.

Undeath cover is genuinely lovely tbh

is not that how we should all aspire to go

I liked what someone said way upthread about changing the killing methods up in the Undeath cover.

Speaking as someone who enjoys directionless, negligibly tasteful avant-metal, this band... are kind of poor, honestly.

On the other hand, Liturgy rule but I agree that the previous two were better. Still voted for it high up, mind.

The first day I listened to Alphaville in full, I was walking around a blistering hot and totally empty Canary Wharf and it was very ominously fitting.

we need a London metal band to do what IT do for NY. or will Lychgate do

We should poll the best UK metal bands of the 21st century at some point.

so long as that excludes anyone who formed before then, yes

Next up: LO-FI FOREST MAGIC.

#7
Paysage d’Hiver – Im Wald
491 points, 14 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0868412336_10.jpg

https://paysagedhiver.bandcamp.com/album/im-wald

Paysage d’Hiver is not new to black metal—not by a long shot. The Swiss one-man act has been hashing out quality blackened tunes since 1997 in the form of demos and splits, releasing some of the iciest sounds to grace the scene. Always toeing the line between raw and atmospheric, mastermind Wintherr’s (also a member of the formidable Darkspace) demo work has ranged from the crystalline ambiance of Die Festung to the unrelenting rawness of Winterkälte, consistently providing an aural experience of a blizzard at its most violent and a winter’s evening at its most empty. This has all built up to this: first full-length Im Wald,1 which feels far too anticlimactic for this stunning project’s storied 23-year career.

Wintry black metal may not be the most original thing since sliced bread, as genre-mates Coldworld, Vinterriket, Forest Silence, and millions of others have never shied from the cold. However, none have ever sounded as solid as Wintherr’s solo project. Furthermore, in the truest sense of the word, Im Wald is a culmination of Paysage d’Hiver‘s greatest assets. It’s an absolutely mammoth release, a sprawling 13-track and two-hour affair of blisteringly icy tremolo, searing shrieks, ominous darkness, and just enough ambiance to add dimension. It’s a continuation of the band’s last, 2015 demo Das Tor (aside from a couple splits), a blend of the old second-wave shredding and the new cleaner production that blessedly never forsakes its teeth. Combining the best of Krystal und Isa‘s fury, Einsamkeit‘s ominous darkness, and a combination of Wintherr’s trademark unrelentingly icy aesthetic with the twisting and labyrinthine uncertainty of isolation in a night-shrouded wintry forest, it may not be Paysage d’Hiver‘s first, but I’ll be damned if it’s not its best.

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/paysage-dhiver-im-wald-things-you-might-have-missed-2020/

My #6. Up there with Darkspace's very best.

My #4

I think I liked this? I bought it. I heard it, I think. It went on a while. It might have been good. I didn't vote for it. One day I will have to reaffirm whether it is truly up there with Darkspace III

Did you buy it too? I did the exact same! That said, I did vote for it at #36.

I think I just need to wait until it's the height of summer before I can listen to this properly

More bland and featureless black metal is difficult to imagine tbh, don't get the hype at all

Lol xp

yeah, I listened to this all one day and was pretty impressed. still preferred das tor, but dug it.

but that one day was literally the only time I listened to it all year. just so freakin' long and it doesn't work if you do it piecemeal.

darkspace iii is in an entirely different league for me tho.

It's like finding a stranger in the Alps.

Would a best UK Metal band of the 21st century mean lots of arguments as to what is or isn't metal?

hopefully

Mos def.

And Imago wouldn't be allowed to nominate?

oceansize 4eva

Popping up belatedly to say I enjoyed and voted for the (rather different) Fluisteraars and Black Curse in the middle part of my ballot. I'm holding out hope that at least 2 more of mine will place.

lj exhibited no small amount of jingoistic pride over the years in these polls, so I think he's earned the right to nom UK bands.

Is false metal still a kind of metal? 🤔

Maybe two polls. One for all kinds of Rock and One for METAL

Let the libertines fans have their fun I say

Challop: Libertines have a couple of good songs.

LJ you and I could co run both polls if youre up for it? We just run them at the same time

Yes, yes they do.

You know the metal poll rollout is alive and well when gyac is posting in it. :)

let's sort this poll out first then see

You know the metal poll rollout is alive and well when gyac is posting in it. :)

This is impressive and I voted for it in the backhalf of my ballot, but I found it a bit too monochromatic for it's length so it didn't wow me like Das Tor and some of the other demos did.

Tbf I think the metal poll is a good place for beefs.

xp

There is certainly an over-abundance of sausage

Im Wald is a self-consciously monomaniacal record and that's part of its appeal.

ever just like wanted to be in the cold woods

I've been detained with other matters sadly... but I'm here for the last bit. the Hail Spirit Noir was my #1.

Next up: ILM really worships these guys, huh?

*nervous laugh*

#6
Elder – Omens
493 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4214182015_10.jpg

https://beholdtheelder.bandcamp.com/album/omens

Elder, detailed and gorgeous, have long been standard bearers for a modern take on proggy stoner rock. Previously flitting between lush dreamscapes and fuzzy riffs, their new outing explores a little more of their voice and a wider range of moods, bringing less thunder and shedding more light on the bubbles under the surface.

Clearer and trippier, Omens dials back the volume to let some explorative synths rise to the forefront. As a result, some of it feels a little dated and some of it is sort of timeless, switching between 60s BBC space noises and warm, searching tones. Ideas-heavy, the guitars are hard at work, creating a web of layered notes; tracks are both busy and dreamy, smooth and active, the guitars sprawling and noodling through intricate passages, riffs fluttering and decaying. A kind of nebulous nostalgia is part of the patchwork that makes up their sound; they avoid sounding kitschy when this is balanced with the warm modern production.

For all the thunder, which they're very comfortable with, the real gold is when they hold back; the record is in no rush to get to the heavy moments, managing to keep momentum through synth pulses and the low, understated throb of the drums. In doing so they embrace a palette that modern metal doesn't use as much, and by around the halfway point the ideas coalesce into a deep, brooding mood, which unfolds to be contemplative, reserved, and delicate.

https://thequietus.com/articles/28371-elder-omens-review

I wish they'd gone further down the kraut route of The Gold & Silver Sessions EP.

As it stands, I thought this was okay.

Agreed with that pom, but I do still love this new one. Would love for a full-length krautrock record tho.

totally, I loved that EP, but this did little for me.