~~~ ILM METAL POLL 2015 - ALBUMS - VOTING & CAMPAIGN THREAD~~~ (VOTING ENDS Saturday December 12th 11.59pm UK time/6.59pm EST) ALL ILXORS inc LURKERS WELCOME

The results must run the full week before xmas week so this is the latest it can run to and seandalai is far too busy to tabulate etc after xmas. This is the only time we can run the poll. Please do not leave it until the last minute to vote as we cant extend the voting period.

PLEASE READ BEFORE VOTING

Maximum of up to 50 album votes.

Please vote by filling in the VOTING FORM copying your selections directly from the nominations spreadsheet.

To copy from the spreadsheet you need to use Ctrl + c instead of right clicking and selecting copy.
Put your #1 at the top and work your way down. No numbers.

List of nominations

For those who wish to read the nominations instead of opening up a form just to see what is nominated/cant open documents at work/on tablet or phone here they are but please always check the spreadsheet before voting incase anything is added or edited. Use this as a guide only.
Avatarium - The Girl With The Raven Mask
1886 - Before the Fog Covers the Mount
A Forest of Stars - Beware the Sword You Cannot See
A Loathing Requiem - Acolytes Eternal
Abigail Williams - The Accuser
Absconditus - Katabasis
Abyss - Heretical Anatomy
ABYSSAL - Antikatastaseis
Acid King - Middle Of Nowhere, Center Of Everywhere
Ad Hominem - Antitheist
Ad Nauseum - Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est
Addaura - And The Lamps Expire
Adversarial - Death, Endless Nothing and the Black Knife of Nihilism
Ævangelist - Enthrall to the Void of Bliss
Against Myself - Odyssey to Reflexion
Ahab - The Boats of the Glen Carrig
Akhlys - The Dreaming I
All That Remains - The Order of Things
All Them Witches - Dying Surfer Meets His Maker
Al-Namrood - Ana Al Tughian
Alustrium - A Tunnel to Eden
Amestigon - Thier
Amiensus - Ascension
Amorphis - Under The Red Cloud
An Autumn for Crippled Children - The Long Goodbye
Angellore - La litanie des cendres
Annihilator - Suicide Society
Antigama - The Insolent
Archgoat - The Apocalyptic Triumphator
Archivist - Archivist
Arcturus - Arcturian
Arenna - Given to Emptiness
Arenna - Given To Emptiness
Armored Saint - Win Hands Down
Artrosis - Odi et Amo
Au-dessus - Au-dessus
August Burns Red - Found in Far Away Places
Author & Punisher - Melk en Honing
Awe - Providentia
Ayyuka - Sömestr
Barbatos - Straight Metal War
Baroness - Purple
Barren Earth --On Lonely Towers
Basarabian Hills - Enveloped In The Velvet Cloak Of Midnight
Battle Beast - Unholy Savior
Battlecross - Rise to Power
Beaten to Death - Unplugged
Behold! the Monolith - Architects of the Void
Bell Witch - Four Phantoms
Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic
Big Brave - Au De La
Black Breath -Slaves Beyond Death
Black Cilice - Mysteries
Black Fast - Terms of Surrender
Black Sheep Wall - I'm Going to Kill Myself
Black Tide - Chasing Shadows
Black Tongue - The Unconquerable Dark
Black Trip - Shadowline
Blackout - Blackout
Blaze of Perdition - Near Death Revelations
Blessthefall - To Those Left Behind
Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror
Blind Idiot God - Before Ever After
Blood Folke - My Heart in the Brilliance of Fire
Bloodway - Mapping the Moment With the Logic of Dreams
Boris - Asia
Bosse-de-Nage - All Fours
Bränd Jord - Ont Krut
Brothers of the Sonic Cloth - Brothers of the Sonic Cloth
Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
Burning Saviours - Unholy Tales from the North
byssion - Luonnon harmonia ja vihreä liekki
Byzantine - To Release Is to Resolve
Caïna - Setter of Unseen Snares
Caligula's Horse - Bloom
Caspian - Dust and Disquiet
Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction
Cave Of Swimmers - Reflection
Cepheide - Respire
Chaos Divine - Colliding Skies
Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
Children of Bodom - I Worship Chaos
Christian Mistress - To Your Death
Church - Unanswered Hymns
Civil War - The Killer Angels
Clandestine Blaze - New Golgotha Rising
Cloud Rat - Qliphoth
Clouds Taste Satanic - Your Doom Has Come
Clutch - Psychic Warfare
Coliseum - Anxiety's Kiss
Corsair - One Eyed Horse
Cradle of Filth - Hammer of the Witches
Crypt Sermon - Out of the Garden
Dark Buddha Rising - Inversum
Dark Quarterer - Ithaca
Darkeater - Иней чёрного рассвета
Dead Temple – Cult of Acid
Dead To A Dying World - Litany
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Death Karma - The History of Death & Burial Rituals Part I
Deathcode Society - Eschatonizer
Deathhammer -Evil Power
Dekadent - Veritas
Deluge - Æther
Demon Eye - Tempora Infernalia
Demon Head - Ride The Wilderness
Demon Lung - A Dracula
Der Weg einer Freiheit - Stellar
Desert - Never Regret
Desolate Shrine - Heart Of The Netherworld
Destruction Unit - Negative Feedback Resistor
Devil Worshipper - Devil Worshipper
Dew-Scented - Intermination
Die Krupps - V - Metal Machine Music
Dimesland - Psychogenic Atrophy
Disarmonia Mundi - Cold Inferno
Disenchanter - Strange Creations
Dispirit - Separation
Disturbed - Immortalized
Dodheimsgard - A Umbra Omega
Dodsferd - Wastes Of Life
Dog Fashion Disco - Ad Nauseam
Dopethrone - Hochelaga
Draconian - Sovran
Dragonheart - The Battle Sanctuary
Drohtnung - In Dolorous Sights
Drudkh - A Furrow Cut Short
Dystopia Nå! - Dweller on the Threshold
Earthside - A Dream in Static
Echoes of the Moon - Entropy
Ecstatic Vision - Sonic Praise
Elder - Lore
Embrional - The Devil Inside
Encenathrakh - Encenathrakh
Enforcer - From Beyond
Enisum - Arpitanian Lands
Enshine - Singularity
Ensiferum - One Man Army
Enslaved - In Times
Envy - Atheist's Cornea
Erraunt - The Portent
Eternal Tapestry - Wild Strawberries
Ethereal Shroud - They Became the Falling Ash
Extreme Noise Terror - Extreme Noise Terror
Exxasens - Back to Earth
Faith No More - Sol Invictus
False - Untitled
Fear Factory - Genexus
Finsterforst - Mach dich frei
Five Finger Death Punch - Got Your Six
Flight - Flight
Fluisteraars - Luwte
Freedom Hawk - Into Your Mind
Fuck the Facts - Desire Will Rot
Fuzz - II
Galar - De Gjenlevende
Genevieve - Escapism
Ghost - Meliora
Girl Band - Holding Hands with Jamie
Glaciation - Sur les falaises de marbre
Gnaw Their Tongues - Abyss of Longing Throats
Goatsnake - Black Age Blues
Goblin Rebirth - Goblin Rebirth
Golden Void - Berkana
Gorgoroth - Instinctus Bestialis
Gorod - A Maze of Recycled Creeds
Graveworm - Ascending Hate
Graveyard - Innocence & Decadence
Grift - Syner
Grimoire - L'Aorasie Des Spectres Rêveurs
Gruesome -Savage Land
Grusom - Grusom
Hacavitz - Darkness Beyond
Hammercult - Built for War
Hanging Garden - Blackout Whiteout
Hate - Crusade: Zero
Hate Eternal - Infernus
Hegemon - The Hierarch
Heidevolk - Velua
Helloween - My God-Given Right
Heretical - Daemonarchrist- Daemon Est Devs Invervs
High on Fire - Luminiferous
Hills - Frid
Hivelords - Tapered Limbs of a Human Star
Holy Serpent - Holy Serpent
Hooded Menace - Darkness Drips Forth
Hope Drone - Cloak of Ash
Horisont - Odyssey
Horna - Hengen tulet
Horrendous - Anareta
Howls of Ebb - The Marrow Veil
Huntress – Static
Ice Dragon - A Beacon on the Barrow
Ilsa - The Felon's Claw
Imperia - Tears of Silence
Imperial Triumphant - Abyssal Gods
Indesinence - III
Indian Handcrafts - Creeps
INI - If Nothing Is
Intronaut - The Direction of Last Things
Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
Ironsword - None But The Brave
Ithaqua - Initiation to Obscure Mysteries
iwrestledabearonce - Hail Mary
Izah - Sistere
Jess And The Ancient Ones - Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes
Jungle Rot - Order Shall Prevail
Jute Gyte - Ship of Theseus
Kadavar - Berlin
Kalmankantaja - Metsänkulkija
Kamelot - Haven
Karyn Crisis' Gospel of the Witches - Salem's Wounds
Kataklysm - Of Ghosts and Gods
Kauan - Sorni Nai
Keep of Kalessin - Epistemology
KEN Mode - Success
Khemmis - Absolution
Khors - Night Falls Onto the Fronts of Ours
Killing Joke - Pylon
King Woman - Doubt
Kings Destroy - Kings Destroy
Kjeld - Skym
Komara - Komara
Kontinuum - Kyrr
Korpiklaani - Noita
Kowloon Walled City - Grievances
Krallice - Ygg huur
Krisiun - Forged in Fury
Kroda - Ginnungagap Ginnunagagaldr Ginnungakaos
Kronos - Arisen New Era
Kult of the Wizard - The White Wizard
Kylesa - Exhausting Fire
Kylver - The Mountain Ghost
Lamb of God - VII: Sturm und Drang
Leaves' Eyes - King of Kings
Leprous - The Congregation
Leviathan - Scar Sighted
Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
Liturgy - The Ark Work
Locrian - Infinite Dissolution
Lord Dying - Poisoned Altars
Lord Fist - Green Eyleen
Lost Soul - Atlantis: The New Beginning
Lucifer - Lucifer I
Lustre - Blossom
Lychgate - An Antidote To The Glass Pill
Macabre Omen - Gods of War - At War
Magic Circle - Journey Blind
Magister Templi - Into Duat
Maïeutiste - Maïeutiste
Majutsu No Niwa - The Night Before
Maladie - ...still...
Malevolent Creation - Dead Man's Path
Mamaleek - Via Dolorosa
Mammatus - Sparkling Waters
Manilla Road - The Blessed Curse
Mansion - Altar Sermon EP
Marduk - Frontschwein
Mare Infinitum - Alien Monolith God
Maruta - Remain Dystopian
Master Musicians of Bukkake - Further West Quad Cult LP
Mastery - Valis
Melechesh - Enki
METZ - II
Mgla - Exercises In Futility
Midnight Odyssey - Shards Of Silver Fade
Milk Duct Tape - Styrofoam Tombstone
Minsk - The Crash and the Draw
Mirror - Mirror
Mirror Queen - Scaffolds of the Sky
Misþyrming - Söngvar elds og óreiðu
Momentum - The Freak is Alive
Mondo Drag - Mondo Drag
Monolithe - Epsilon aurigae
Monolord - V
Monster Magnet - Cobras and Fire (The Mastermind Redux)
Moon Curse - Spirit Remains
Moonspell - Extinct
Morgoth - Ungod
Mother Engine - Absturz
Motörhead - Bad Magic
Mustasch - Testosterone
Mute Tale - Gordian Knot
Mutoid Man - Bleeder
My Dying Bride - Feel the Misery
Myrkur - M
Nameless Coyote - Blood Moon
Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat
Natural Snow Buildings - Terror's Horn
Nechochewn - Heart of Akamon
Nécropole - Ostara
Negură Bunget - Tău
Nevoa - The Absence of Void
Night Demon - Curse Of The Damned
Nightrage - The Puritan
Nightslug - Loathe
Nightwish - Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Nile - What Should Not Be Unearthed
Nocternity - Harps of the Ancient Temples
Nocturnal Depression - Spleen Black Metal
Noisem - Blossoming Decay
Northland - Downfall and Rebirth
Northwinds - Eternal Winter
Obsequiae - Aria of Vernal Tombs
Ommadon - Empathy For the Wicked
Orpheus Blade - Wolf's Cry
Öxxö Xööx - Nämïdäë
Palace In Thunderland - In The Afterglow Of Unity
Panopticon - Autumn Eternal
Paradise Lost - The Plague Within
Pentagram - Curious Volume
Perihelion - Zeng
Peste Noire - La Chaise-Dyable
Petrychor - Apocalyptic Witchcraft
Pinkish Black - Bottom of the Morning
Pissgrave - Suicide Euphoria
Pitbulls in the Nursery - Equanimity
Planks - Perished Bodies
Poison Idea - Confuse & Conquer
Praying Mantis - Legacy
Prong - Songs From the Black Hole
Pro-Pain - Voice of Rebellion
Prurient - Frozen Niagara Falls
Psalms for the Dead Sun - Holy Charade
Psychonaut 4 - Dipsomania
Psycroptic - Psycroptic
Pyogenesis - A Century in the Curse of Time
Pyramids - A Northern Meadow
Quttinirpaaq - Dead September
RAM - Svbversvm
Raven - ExtermiNation
Red Apollo - Altruist
Refused - Freedom
Regarde les hommes tomber - Exile
Regnmoln - Regnmoln
Revenge - Behold.Total.Rejection
Rivers of Nihil - Monarchy
Rosetta - Quintessential Ephemera
Rotting Christ - Lucifer Over Athens
Roundtable - Dread Marches Under Bloodied Regalia
Ruby the Hatchet - Valley of the Snake
Rwake - Xenoglossalgia: The Last Stage of Awareness
Sabbath Assembly - Sabbath Assembly
Sacral Rage - Illusions in Infinite Void
Sacri Monti - Sacri Monti
Sadist - Hyaena
Sannhet - Revisionist
Sans Soleil - A Holy Land Beneath A Godless Sky
Sarpanitum - Blessed Be My Brothers
Satan - Atom By Atom
Satan - Atom By Atom
Satan's Wrath - Die Evil
Sator - Sator
Saturnalia Temple - To The Other
Saviours - Palace Of Vision
Saxon - Battering Ram
Scarab - Serpents of the Nile
Screaming at the Sun - Screaming at the Sun
Scythian - Hubris in Excelsis
Sentimen Beltza - Pagopean
Shape Of Despair - Monotony Fields
Shepherd - Stereolithic Riffalocalypse
Shining - International Blackjazz Society
Shining - IX: Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends
Shooting Guns/Hawkeyes - Brotherhood of the Nod split
Shredhead - Death is Righteous
Shroud of the Heretic - Unorthodox Equilibrium
Sigh - Graveward
Sirenia - The Seventh Life Path
Sivyj Yar - Burial Shrouds
Skeletal Remains - Condemned to Misery
Skepticism - Ordeal
Skinless - Only the Ruthless Remain
Slayer - Repentless
Snail - Feral
Snail - Feral
Snow Ghosts - A Wrecking
Soilwork - The Ride Majestic
Solefald - World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud
Sonic Medusa - The Sunset Soundhouse Tapes
Sorcerer - In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross
Soulfly - Archangel
Special Providence - Essence of Change
Spectral Lore - Gnosis
Speedtrap - Straight Shooter
Spelljammer - Ancient of Days
Spidergawd - Spidergawd II
Stara Rzeka - Zamknęły się oczy ziemi
Stellar Master Elite - III: Eternalism - The Psychospherical Chapter
Stoned Jesus - The Harvest
Stormwitch - Season of the Witch
Subterranean Masquerade - The Great Bazaar
Subversion M / Tengger Cavalry / Nine Treasures - Mongol Metal
Sulphur Aeon - Gateway to the Antisphere
Sumac - The Deal
Sundays & Cybele - Heaven
Sunder - Sunder
Sunn O))) - Kannon
Sunpocrisy - Eyegasm, Hallelujah!
SuperGiant - On to the Stars
Swallow The Sun Songs From The North I, II & III
Swami John Reis, The Blind Shake - Modern Surf Classics
Sweat Lodge - Talismana
Taiga - Gaia
Taman Shud - Viper Smoke
Tank - Valley of Tears
Tarot - The Warrior's Spell
Tau Cross - Tau Cross
Tempel - The Moon Lit Our Path
Tempel - The Moon Lit Our Path
Terzij de Horde - Self
TesseracT - Polaris
The Agonist - Eye of Providence
The Arcane Order - Cult of None
The Atomic Bitchwax - Gravitron
The Black Dahlia Murder - Abysmal
The Body - The Tears of Job
The Body & Krieg - The Body & Krieg
The Crown - Death Is Not Dead
The Exploding Eyes Orchestra - I
The Gentle Storm - The Diary
The Great Tyrant - The Trouble With Being Born
The Moth Gatherer - The Earth Is The Sky
The Sword - High Country
Theologian - Pain Of The Saints
Therapy? - Disquiet
Thou & The Body - You, Whom I Have Always Hated
Thurisaz - The Pulse of Mourning
Thy Catafalque - Sgùrr
Todesstoß - Hirngemeer
Torche - Restarter
Tribulation - Children of the Night
Triosphere - The Heart of the Matter
Trivium - Silence in the Snow
Trna - Pattern Of Infinity
Tsjuder - Antiliv
Tyranny - Aeons in Tectonic Interment
Ufomammut - Ecate
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Undergang - Døden læger alle sår
Undergang - Døden læger alle sår
Unleashed- Dawn of the Nine
Unmothered- UMBRA
Urfaust - Apparitions
Valkyrie - Shadows
Vanum - Realm of Sacrifice
Vastum - Hole Below
Vattnet Viskar - Settler
Vehemence - Forward without Motion
Veil of Maya - Matriarch
Venom - From the Very Depths
Vexillum - Unum
VHÖL – Deeper Than Sky
VI - De praestigiis angelorum
Vidunder - Oracles & Prophets
Viking - No Child Left Behind
violet cold - desperate dreams
Visigoth - The Revenant King
Vola - Inmazes
Vreid - Sólverv
W.A.S.P. - Golgotha
Wailin Storms - One Foot in the Flesh Grave
Wand - Golem
Wartha - Azure Lakes
Warwulf - In the Glare of a Dying Horizon
Watertank - Destination Unknown
We Hunt Buffalo - Living Ghosts
Weedeater - Goliathan
Weedpecker - II
Whispering Woods - Peritus Et Dea
Wiegedood - De Doden Hebben Het Goed
Windfaerer - Tenebrosum
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Witchskull - The Vast Electric Dark
WitchSorrow - No Light Only Fire
With The Dead - With The Dead
Wo Fat - Live Juju: Wo Fat at Freak Valley
Xibalba - Tierra y libertad
Zombi - Shape Shift
Zu - Cortar Todo

There is a [url=https://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/2fZQglorvuVBQalU6J0L9K]SPOTIFY PLAYLIST/url] or spotify:user:pfunkboy:playlist:2fZQglorvuVBQalU6J0L9K for you all to subscribe to which needs someone to look after it so please could you all add anything that is missing.

No blurbs this year unless someone volunteers to write them. It's time consuming as it is for me so please volunteer to help if you can.

As always please campaign on this thread. Albums that are campaigned for always do better than ones that don't. So please posts your thoughts or any good reviews you know of. The best things about these polls is the discussion.

Also do not post embedded youtube links. Please start a thread for that.

Remember VOTING ENDS SATURDAY December 12th 11.59pm UK time/6.59pm EST The rollout will probably start soon after as usual and will finish by the following Friday, which is the last full working week before xmas.

Thanks to everyone for nominating.

Please post here when you vote so we can check it went through.
Happy voting!

Who will be firsties this year? ez snappin as usual?

and does anyone want to volunteer to look after the spotify playlist?

Damn I forgot to nominate Heat Dust and Wolf Eyes :-(

Had my ballot ready (almost) a week ago. Voted.

haha, i thought you needed the extra time?

Due to concerns about albums released later in December, I will allow them in next years poll. (Unless they go top 10) You can still vote Baroness for example if you have heard it and it will still be eligible for next year (unless it goes top 10). Anything released in december this year can count for next year.

Great solution! Thanks again.

np. Its only fair. I'm looking forward to hearing the Baroness but im not a music writer so i need to wait til it leaks/comes out

I listened to the new Jess & The Ancient Ones album last night and It's awesome so I recommend people give that a listen before voting.

Also I want to remind everyone about this
Shape Of Despair - Monotony Fields was described by Mark S as "kinda like eno/fripp with a massive v slow backbeat"

And I've voted.
Has anyone else other than Tom & I voted, seandalai?

I voted. I think it was a pretty decent year for metal - still had to leave some good releases off, and there's non-noms (digging the Contrarian 'Polemic' release, but didn't think to nominate it) and releases that haven't even come out yet (Baroness, Monolithe) that I'm sure will be good and remembered on next year's poll.

Nobody has subscribed to the playlist yet
https://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/2fZQglorvuVBQalU6J0L9K
or put this in search bar spotify:user:pfunkboy:playlist:2fZQglorvuVBQalU6J0L9K

So we have 3 ballots in. lets hope more come flooding in!

Anyone care to campaign for anything? where's DJMartian and imago?

2015 METAL POLL YOUTUBE & SPOTIFY THREAD

Sunday is a good day to start on ballots!

The Elder record, Lore, is amazing. Epic stoner riffing. They're from Boston, so I hope to see them live sometime sooner than later.

I was also really surprised by the Leviathan. I thought he was more or less on the same page as Xasthur, sad-sack DSBM, but Scar Sighted really brings in a lot more dynamics and styles and influences. I'd trade my copy of Subliminal Genocide for side one of Scar Sighted in a heartbeat.

Yeah this where I'm finally on board with Leviathan.

And I mean, sad-sack DSBM is totally my thing, but not the Xasthur kind. The new Dodferd however is great as far as that goes, gets pretty psychedelic in places.

Dodsferd not Dodferd.

I almost certainly won't vote in this (no matter how much Cosmic Slop badgers, it's a futile endeavour), but any recommendations for someone who got into Menace Ruine through this poll last year? Would like to hear about other female-led projects but that's not a definitive criterion.

(Other hints from the list - I love the Body but got a bit worn out of them + their collaborations so haven't listened to the 'Thou &' record, I love Zombi but also haven't heard this one yet though I do intend to soon, I kind of like Jute Gyte but something fails to fully impress me every time I try his stuff... Also I have a weird/perverse pride about the (possibly untrue) fact that I only like false metal.)

Can't go wrong with Ghost.

Just realised there's like three (four, more?) records by the Body this year and I haven't listened to any of them. I think I need a change, y'know, I have at least three of their records already, that's plenty to keep me going for a while.

xp oh yeah, I haven't paid all that much attention to them b/c of them being "the wrong Ghost", but what I have heard wasn't bad. Will go a bit deeper.

Female led? Try Jess & The Ancient Ones, Avatarium, Chelsea Wolfe, Myrkur,Kylesa, Windhand, Christian Mistress, Acid King.

And I think you would like Zombi, Natural Snow Buildings and probably some others

and the Ghost is fantastic. every track is an earworm

some of these albums are linked here 2015 METAL POLL YOUTUBE & SPOTIFY THREAD for youtube if you dont like spotify , emil.y
https://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/2fZQglorvuVBQalU6J0L9K

Zombi and Pinkish Black are two that I've just discovered I really like. Similar in terms of spooky synth atmospherics.

Oh and that Panopticon album was my surprise of the year, I had never heard a note and when I listened last week the album (Autumn Eternal) kinda blew me away. Really dynamic blackish metal.

Female led? Try Jess & The Ancient Ones, Avatarium, Chelsea Wolfe, Myrkur,Kylesa, Windhand, Christian Mistress, Acid King.

Any particular stand-outs? A few of the names are familiar but wouldn't necessarily know which ones would be most up my street. Any experiments here? Which record grinds the most? Anything none-more-black? Which has the most twiddly-widdly guitar that I will hate? Any metal-synths? (I know it's nobody's job to give me answers to these questions that I could discover for myself, but I won't get around to trying all of them so if anyone does want to give answers I'd be grateful.)

Also I always get Natural Snow Buildings confused with Life Without Buildings.

multiple xps ah, I will look for youtubes, for some reason I elided over that in thread title and thought it was just spotify, which I don't have.

That Myrkur is fairly black, albeit it's mostly clean vocals iirc. I actually didn't love it myself but it could be worth a shot for you.

Okay, on her bandcamp now, this sounds pretty great so far, very traditionally "I heard you liked Norse folk in yr metal" but definitely working for me.

avatarium is the new (this is their 2nd album) band of Leif, the main dude in Candlemass. They branch out a bit more than Candlemass and the singer is great.

Chelsea Wolfe is right up your street emil.y. Surprised you have never heard her.

Will check out CW next, thanks, and then see what I get onto (she is one of the names I recognised but pretty certain I've not checked her out before). This Myrkur record is great. I think the clean bits are actually more classical compositionally than folk? I'm not entirely sure of myself here. Also, it's, uh, quite shoegaze in places. Like, really quite shoegaze.

It's basically ulver (produced by ulver dude coincidentally)

the myrkur that is

Yeah, I noted that. I definitely have a skew for female metalvox at the moment, though.

a couple of fb friends asked if they can vote. Theyre not ilxors, should I let them?

emil.y the chelsea wolfe isnt really out and out metal but i'm sure its what you are looking for

to anyone reading that wants to know what a non metal fan should check out then
Ghost, Chelsea Wolfe, Zombi, Torche, Natural Snow Buildings, Deafheaven.

Metal fans should check them out too of course

emil.y - check out Big Brave's Au De La.

we have 9 ballots according to seandalai , thanks folks and keep em coming!

Feel like people should register for ILX at a minimum but it's not policed in any way.

Regarding blackgaze, I don't know why anyone would want to ruin some perfectly good shoegaze with excruciating, shrieking vocals, but I'm surprised Ghost Bath - Moonlover wasn't nominated.

emil.y, you might try Sundays & Cybele's Heaven, which to me feels like a slightly poppy, album-length Rallizes tribute, with maybe some J-Pop touches

https://beyondbeyondisbeyondrecords.bandcamp.com/album/heaven

Mamaleek - Via Dolorosa pairs black metal vox with weird, at times almost ambient, genre exercises

http://theflenser.bandcamp.com/album/via-dolorosa

Quttinirpaaq - Dead September is the noise side project of ST 37's touring guitarist. Lots of screeching noise punk and random junk, as far beyond Gravitar's Chinga Su Corazon as Chinga was beyond the Buttholes' Double Live Bootleg. One of my favorite albums of the year

http://quttinirpaaq.bandcamp.com/album/dead-september

emil.y, you might want to try The Visit
https://thevisit1.bandcamp.com/album/through-darkness-into-light

Ha, I thought I was the only person on ILM who cared about the Visit!

I sort of gave up on mentioning them.

Never really thought of them as metal, though, despite Raphael's love of the genre.

Yeah I don't consider them metal either

I'll back up the Big Brave suggestion. It's great. Anyhow, I voted. Thanks Comic Slop for doing this once again.

Do the people who take part in the metal poll usually do the global poll as well? Or do they ignore it? I'm wondering if it's worth nominating metal albums for the other one.

― moans and feedback (Dinsdale)

Go for it! Given the numbers that vote in the metal poll there's no reason why the genre can't be well-represented in the big poll. There are usually a couple of albums that make the top 77 at least.

the problem is that if only a couple of albums from their lists make it they get fed up and dont vote next time.

But the big poll has got so many ballots in recent years its much harder to make the top 77. Quite a lot have either placed 77-100 or just outside the top 100.

So more people do need to vote, however a lot of people who do vote in metal poll will vote for other non-metal stuff they like.

Uncle Acid did make the top 10 one year because it crossed over to the rest of ilx.

Voted! Good year for metal. Winner had to be Magic Circle - Journey Blind, though Elder - Lore was a close second. Two utterly astounding albums.

Shoutout to some greats that weren't nominated:

Ghost Bath - Moonlover: Blackgaze is a little overcrowded these days, but Ghost Bath stand out with anguishing, pained vocals and beautiful post-metal soundscapes

Scale the Summit - V: It's debatable wheter this tops the last two albums, but this is an excellent slab of instrumental prog/shred from an otherwise forgotten genre, ruined by a certain Swede's arrogance & showmanship

Publicist UK - Forgive Yourself: Not metal per se, though since Chelsea Wolfe & Taman Shud made it in, why not this hard-hitting, mature & muscular slab of goth-infused post-punk? Excellent album.

Royal Thunders - Crooked Doors: A real mish-mash of genres, so I can see how it didn't end up here maybe, but in terms of quality this remains one of the best albums of the year.

Periphery - Juggernaut: Ok, so not the greatest djent album this year, but this marks a big improvement for these guys, with some crushing riffs and less annoying vocals. Solid slab of emo-prog.

Dreadnought - Bridging Realms: A fairly unique blend of modern neo-progressive metal with hypnotic psychedelia. Well worth a look.

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing - Not Your Typical Victorians: Stupendous name for a gang of irreverent, jokey punk rockers with a metallic edge. Not to be missed.

Powerwolf - Blessed & Possessed: Slightly overrated German power metallers, this is arguably their best album since Lupus Dei, catchy and memorable.

so we actually in reality have beyond midnight then

this is important

dont take it for granted it closes late because if he is around it will close at stated time

if he's out partying and stuff and wont be around that is fine though. but he did only say he may not be around.

Wish I had a few more hours...

you mean you wish you were out partying?

I am at work, so that isn't an option.

if he's out partying and stuff and wont be around that is fine though. but he did only say he may not be around.

― Cosmic Slop, Saturday, December 12, 2015 10:34 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm not out partying, I'm just going to bed early! I want a bit of time to double-check everything before I send off the results so it will close tomorrow morning. Hope that's ok with everyone.

morning = 8am UK time

my gf, just now: "oh good, we've got until 3am then"

it shall be a long night of metal

I get off work at Midnight EST (which is before 8 Am your time).
Does this mean I can submit a revised ballot before I leave work if the need strikes me?

my gf, just now: "oh good, we've got until 3am then"

it shall be a long night of metal

Should be ok xp

Yay! I had ten more albums I wanted to sample at least... :)
I will send a revised ballot when I leave, if anything gets into the Top 50.

You got a keeper there...

― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, December 12, 2015 11:03 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya obv but the worry is that our ballots will be too similar - coming from the same IP even - and will look fishy. be assured that there is no foul play, just a shared love of all things wild and noisy

you have until seandalai posts here saying its closed then

Spotify Year in Metal 2015
https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/0MMszONEuwc1JU3Fa1Wp36
118 tracks

Imago. Listen to Kult of the Wizard. https://kultofthewizard.bandcamp.com/album/the-white-wizard

this is....really quite good

A Forest Of Stars is *fucking phenomenal*, obv

imago did you ever hear death karma?

and did you like the albums djmartian repped for 'Glaciation - Sur les falaises de marbre' and 'Regarde les hommes tomber - Exile'

sounds like your kind of thing

every year bands I've never heard of get in the poll and they're pretty much always repped by dj martian or siegbran. How does it feel to be tastemakers, guys?

we're into overtime folks until seandalai wakes up. When he posts voting is closed that's it. (or the voting form disappears)

Ultros' recommendation Nameless Coyote, along with Black Cilice, these are probably my favorite last-day discoveries

Voted!

Nameless Coyote made it onto my ballot; haven't heard Black Cilice and it got too late. Ok, now listening to Black Cilice but I've voted k so like idk, this will have to be a ghost vote if it's good. It seems quite good.

My gf voted too and her ballot is several albums longer than mine. AN ASSET TO ILX

Ok, Black Cilice was so good I resubmitted my ballot. seandalai, please delete the first one that doesn't have Black Cilice on it! :)

There were parts of Nameless Coyote that brought to mind 'black metal A.R. Kane' & parts of Black Cilice that brought to mind 'black metal Roy Montgomery' (though this might be one of those connections that only I can hear)

I definitely hear the A.R. Kane in Nameless Coyote.

when do we find out that every single ballot submitted had Meliora at #1

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo

I submitted a new/final ballot with a few changes.
seandalai, please use my second ballot.
It's the one with Venom at #50.

Thanks so much!

I lied... It's the one with Desolate Shrine - Heart Of The Netherworld at #50.
Sorry about that but I am done now... :)

While you wait for the results you can refresh your memories of last years poll results

102 The Cosmic Dead - Easterfaust 143 Points, 4 votes
tie
100 Autopsy - Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves 143 Points, 5 votes
100 Lantlos - Melting Sun 143 Points, 5 votes
99 Ulaan Markhor - Spiral Horns, Black Onions, et al 144 Points, 4 votes, One #1
98 Seven that Spells - The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: IO 146 Votes, 3 voters , One #1
97 Death Penalty - Death Penalty 146 Points, 5 votes
96 Ambergris - Ambergris 147 Points, 3 votes, One #1
95 Body Count - Manslaughter 147 Points,6 votes
94 Monarch - Sabbracadaver 148 Points, 6 votes
93 Truckfighters - Universe 152 Points, 5 votes, One #1
Tie
91 Raspberry Bulbs - Privacy 155 Points, 6 votes
91 Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII 155 Points, 6 votes

90 A Pregnant Light - My Game Doesn't Have A Name 156 Points, 4 votes, 1 #1
89 Conan - Blood Eagle 157 Points, 5 votes
88 Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestite 157 Points, 6 votes
87 Wo Fat - The Conjuring 158 Points, 5 votes
86 Karma To Burn - Arch Stanton 160 Points, 4 votes
85 Monster Magnet - Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol 160 Points, 5 votes
84 At The Gates - At War With Reality 161 Points, 5 votes
83 Rigor Mortis - Slaves To The Grave 161 Points, 6 votes
82 Hands Of Orlac - Figli Del Crepuscolo 162 Points, 5 votes

TIE
80 Saor - Aura 163 Points , 5 votes
80 The Great Old Ones - TEKELI-LI 163 Points, 5 votes
79 Bongripper - Miserable 163 Points, 6 votes
78 The Flight of Sleipnir - V. 168 Points, 4 votes
77 Skull Fist - Chasing the Dream 171 Points, 5 votes
76 Myrkur - Myrkur 173 Points, 6 votes
75 Opeth - Pale Communion 177 Points, 7 votes
74 Mournful Congregation - Concrescence Of The Sophia 186 Points, 6 votes
73 Petrychor - Makrokosmos 189 Points, 5 votes
72 Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails 190 Points, 6 votes
71 Inter Arma - The Cavern 190 Points, 7 votes

70 Towers - II 193 Points, 7 votes
69 Comet Control - s/t 194 Points, 5 votes , One #1
Tie
67 AEvangelist - Writhes in the Murk 205 Points, 6 votes
67 Shooting Guns - Street Rock 205.0 6 votes
66 Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls 209 Points, 8 votes
65 Wizard Rifle - Here In The Deadlights 210 Points, 6 votes
64 Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel 214 Points, 7 votes
63 Nadja - Queller 223 Points, 6 votes, One #1
62 Atlas Moth - The Old Believer 234 Points, 8 votes
61 Kayo Dot - Coffins On Io 236 Points, 6 votes

60 The Wounded Kings - Consolamentum 251 Points, 7 votes
59 Stargazer - A Merging to the Boundless 255 Points, 7 votes
58 Wovenhand - Refractory Obdurate 262 Points, 7 votes
57 Woods of Desolation - As the Stars 267 Points, 10 votes
56 Teitanblood - Death 270 Points, 9 votes
55 Dead Congregation - Promulgation Of The Fall 272 Points, 8 votes
54 Fen - Carrion Skies 274 Points, 8 votes
53 The Oath - The Oath 274 Points, 9 votes
52 Hail Spirit Noir - Oi Magoi 282 Points, 9 votes
51 Midnight - No Mercy for Mayhem 290 Points, 8 votes

50 Nachtmystium - The World We Left Behind 297 Points, 9 votes
49 Goat - Commune 301 Points, 9 votes
48 Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith 311 Points, 9 votes
47 Horseback - Piedmont Apocrypha 329 Points, 9 votes
46 Indian - From All Purity 329 Points, 10 votes
45 Primordial - Where Greater Men Have Fallen 333 Points, 11 votes
44 The Body - I Shall Die Here 335 Points 10 votes
43 Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise 337 Points, 9 votes
42 Eyehategod - Eyehategod 339 Points, 11 votes
41 Horrendous - Ecdysis 349 Points, 9 votes

40 Boris - Noise 353 Points, 11 votes
39 Dawnbringer - Night of the Hammer 356 Points, 11 votes
38 Morbus Chron - Sweven 358 Points , 10 votes, One #1
37 Spectral Lore - III 360 Points, 12 votes, One #1
36 Nux Vomica - Nux Vomica 366 Points, 11 votes
35 Have A Nice Life - The Unnatural World 373 Points, 11 votes
34 Gridlink - Longhena 376 Points, 10 votes , TWO #1s
33 Witch Mountain - Mobile of Angels 378 Points, 15 votes
32 Thou - Heathen 392 Points, 12 votes
31 Old Man Gloom - The Ape of God I 406 Points, 11 votes

30 Old Man Gloom - The Ape of God II 415 Points, 11 votes
29 Apostle Of Solitude - Of Woe And Wounds 422 Points, 11 votes
28 Menace Ruine - Venus Armata 432 Points, 12 votes
27 Floor - Oblation 434 Points, 14 votes
26 Swans - To Be Kind 441 Point, 13 votes
25 Today is the Day - Animal Mother 460 Points, 11 Votes, TWO #1s
24 Solstafir - Otta 465 Points, 14 votes
23 The Skull - For Those Which Are Asleep 489 Points, 13 votes
22 BABYMETAL - BABYMETAL 500 Points, 14 votes One #1
21 Behemoth - Jolly Christian Singalongsongs 537 Points, 18 votes

20 Blues Pills - Blues Pills 557 Points, 13 votes
19 Jute Gyte - Vast Chains 599 Points, 15votes , THREE #1s
18 Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry 609 Points, 17 votes
17 Alcest - Shelter 612 Points, 18 votes, One #1
16 Botanist - Vi: Flora 619 Points, 18 votes, One #1
15 Sunn O))) & Ulver - Terrestrials 621 Points, 17 votes, One #1
14 Panopticon - Roads to the North 654 Points, 18 votes , One #1
13 Slough Feg - Digital Resistance 662 Points, 19 votes, One #1
12 Bölzer - Soma EP 666 Points, 18 votes , One #1
11 Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun 680 Points, 19 votes, One #1

10 Jute Gyte - Ressentiment 697 Points, 18 votes
9 Earth - Primitive and Deadly 738 Points, 21 votes , ONE #1
8 Scott Walker & SunnO))) - Soused 799 Points, 21 votes, TWO #1s
7 Darkspace - Dark Space III I 813 Points, 22 votes , ONE #1
6 Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire 876 Points, 23 votes, THREE #1s
5 Triptykon - Melana Chasmata 1078 Points, 27 votes FIVE #1's
4 Electric Wizard - Time to Die 1130 Points, 27 votes THREE #1's
3 Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere 1165 Points, 31 votes, Three #1s
2 Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden 1233 Points, 33 votes, One #1

1 YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend 1240 Points, 32 votes , THREE #1s

Something from last year that I didn't get around to hearing until this year but would've easily made my top 10 is Thy Darkened Shade's Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet. On WTC (of course) and from Greece (ditto), they're in that well known "orthodox or anticosmic bm" realm along with Watain or Tortorum but are infinitely more interesting, almost technical/progressive with lots of clean choral vocals. They're pretty much what I wish Watain had become after Sworn to the Dark, and then some. The album is long as hell but there's not a dull moment.
https://wtcproductions.bandcamp.com/album/liber-lvcifer-i-khem-sedjet

And let me just restate for the record that Domains' Sinister Ceremonies and Emptiness' Nothing but the Whole were the best my two favorite albums from last year, one a reinvigorating of the OSDM style almost on the same level as Morbid Angel's first three or Pestilence's Consuming Impulse, the other a weird and almost inscrutable blend of eerie blackened death metal but that doesn't sound like anything ever labeled "blackened death metal." I probably could've yapped some more about them last year but didn't.

A Merging to the Boundless is another I wish I'd heard on time too. That thing's crazy. I should've paid attention to the hype.

Domains' Sinister Ceremonies

wow this is cool

Ok we're done here. 61 ballots in total.

every year bands I've never heard of get in the poll and they're pretty much always repped by dj martian or siegbran. How does it feel to be tastemakers, guys?

― Cosmic Slop, Sunday, 13 December 2015 00:57

ok ready to start soon
thanks everyone for voting!

big thanks to seandalai for tabulating!

by soon do you mean today? :D

yes

excellent

i think last year we did a 102 rollout so 103 this year?

if you agree i'll start asap

guessing 103 is jute gyte or something ;-)

let's go! new thread obv

2015 POLL RESULTS COUNTDOWN - ILM Metal(ish) Albums of the Year

Ah bugger. I missed my opportunity to vote for Elder.
I've decided that any top albums list for this year is fatally flawed if they aren't in there.