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

#95 TIE
Vile Creature – Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!
96 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4014851458_10.jpg

https://vilecreature.bandcamp.com/album/glory-glory-apathy-took-helm

A couple of years ago, I saddled myself with the record Cast of Static and Smoke by Ontarian duo Vile Creature. It turned out to be perhaps the most memorable 3.0 I have reviewed these past 4 years. Despite its flaws, it was an ambitious record that thrived on hideous, grimy textures, hypnotic repetition and glacial progression, rather than hooks or energy. A bit over 2 years hence, and its follow-up graces my inbox, with a disturbing, Midsommar-esque cover and featuring the unwieldy title of Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!.

Vile Creature’s sound has remained intact since Cast. From drummer Vic’s hellish opening scream of “WE DIE!” it’s immediately clear the sort of experience he and guitarist KW envision. Glory, Glory is a grimy, nasty, suffocating record. The riffs move at a slow, deliberate, battering clip, millstones grinding your teeth to meal, at a pace too slow to be called energetic but too steady to be called funeralean. They come at us like ocean waves, each movement a rise to a crashing crescendo that washes over us and drowns us. Vic’s drums are tone-setting, the percussion almost melodic against the wall of distorted guitars, accentuating the peaks and valleys of the crushing, churning riffs, while their vocals shriek and wail like an anti-siren, filling the salty air with throat-ripping desperation.

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/vile-creature-glory-glory-apathy-took-helm-review/

Forgot about Ulthar. Good stuff

xxp great Ian Miller cover art for the Ulthar record

I quite liked the Worm, but not enough to vote for it, I'm afraid.

The Ulthar put me off for purely subjective and somewhat indefensible reasons: I'm not a huge fan of metal bands with dual vocalists, it just sounds too music hall-y for my tastes. Def a Me Problem.

I forgot to check out the Vile Creature, so I'll be making up for that pronto.

Oh yay!! The Vile Creature album is lovely. Such mantric intricacy despite the crushing heaviness. I really liked this - my #23.

And that's the first thing I've heard of these so far. That Worm artwork is delicious.

Vile Creature TOO LOW, my #3. Killer record. I missed their livestreamed set around the release of the album, unfortunately.

Listening to it now. Right off the bat, I'm hooked.

Spotify playlist btw https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6BISg6zJeLzumnfHfMfcbG?si=ccns5k-JQbKz96exWkLLKQ

I voted for Undergang, but it was in the bottom half of my ballot. I found it a bit disappointing after Misantropologi, which was one of my favorite albums of 2017. The songs didn't seem to be there for me this time. The Worm, otoh, placed very high in my ballot. One of my favorite discoveries of the nomination/campaigning process. I also voted for Ulthar, again in the lower part of my ballot. Dan Weiss sounds interesting and I've admired many of the musicians in that line-up, but didn't get to it in time to consider voting for it.

Primitive Man album hitting the spot right now

We've got another tie coming up btw. A 'mere' two-way.

Hadn't heard any of the last three, though that Vile Creature is definitely on my list now.

#93 TIE
VoidCeremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel
96 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3337286041_10.jpg

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/entropic-reflections-continuum-dimensional-unravel

Their name may look unfamiliar to many readers, but some of us have anticipated the arrival of the debut full-length from Voidceremony since the California prog-death four-piece released their Dystheism demo in 2014. Forming from the ashes of their high school band the year before, Voidceremony have put out EPs only up until now. Three of them, in fact, and to witness the band’s growth from one to the next was truly a thing to behold—although nothing compares to the growth spurt they had before recording the album in question. But as the death metal trendscape shifted from death-doom to death-thrash and now to something like brutal death metal, Voidceremony remained dedicated to honing their not-quite-technical-but-definitely-progressive sound into something formidable and memorable.

Reunited with West Coast drummernaut Charlie Koryn, Voidceremony absolutely reign over their contemporaries on this debut. However clunky the title may be, Entropic Reflections Continuum occupies a new level of modern death metal power. From the very first part in opener “Desiccated Whispers,” which hits like a lost Death or Atheist moment, to the slow unraveling of the record’s tightly wound aggression that occurs at the end of closer “Solemn Reflections of the Void,” this album reeks of perfection. Okay, occasionally session bassist Damon Good (Mournful Congregation, StarGazer) goes a little overboard with his fretless soloing, but as always with Voidceremony, no one part gets too much spotlight before it’s quickly pulled back down into the ever-shifting tumult. When you hear the guitar solo at the end of the third track, you’ll be a confirmed believer. This isn’t just Voidceremony at the top of their game; this is the pinnacle of death metal in the year 2020.

https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2020/06/29/album-review-voidceremony-entropic-reflections-continuum-dimensional-unravel/

#93 TIE
Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Volume I
97 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0339555290_10.jpg

https://bellwitch.bandcamp.com/album/stygian-bough-volume-i

The popularity of Bell Witch is one of the more surprising and remarkable phenomena of the past few years. In this day and age where humans are outpacing goldfish and fruit flies in the lack of attention span department, for a band to issue a single 70+ minute track of sludgy funereal doom as Dylan Desmond (bass/vocals) and Jesse Schriebman (drums/vocals) did with 2017’s Mirror Reaper – to say nothing of previous compositions which regularly shattered the ten-minute mark – and have people not only pay attention but laud them for a job well done, still makes cynical heads spin. Even if a large number of those folks who would trumpet the band are on par with ‘coffee shop black metallers’ – i.e. “I have black metal records, but spend more time name dropping and talking about having them then actually listening to them” – that a band that wears the term “slow burn” with the same irreverent pride that Cliff Burton wore bell-bottoms has attained their success is astounding.

Stygian Bough Volume 1 isn’t the first time Bell Witch has teamed up with Aerial Ruin – a.k.a. Eric Moggridge (who also plays in Old Grandad with Death Angel’s COVID-19 killer Will Carroll and is an ex-member of ‘80s thrashers Epidemic). Moggridge has regularly joined Bell Witch on stage and been a guest vocalist on each of their three full-lengths. This album, however, appears to be a more fully-fleshed out pairing and equitable collaboration in which the acoustic and electric guitar wealth and a preponderance of clean vocals that are predominately Moggridge’s work in interweaved tandem with the duo's bass and drum throb. And, of course, there are probably a small warehouse of effects pedals at work and humming the background.

https://metalinjection.net/reviews/bell-witch-aerial-ruin-stygian-bough-volume-1

The VoidCeremony just narrowly missed my ballot and I already regret it because that bass was phat.

As for Bell Witch, I'm a naysayer. Just terminally boring stuff, sorry.

I really dug that Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin, the acoustic guitars gave a nice balance to Bell Witch (who, as much as I love them, could clearly be self-indulgent as all get out).

Wow lots of ties. I didn't expect both Stygian albums to place in the 90s lol. Too low! Glad the Wormlord made it into the rollout though, I really liked that album.

none of the artsy doom records from lat year really struck me tbh, I'll give the longeuil lads another try tho

All right, I'm starting with VoidCeremony. Definitely heavy so far. Achieves total heaviosity.

However clunky the title may be

lol @ Decibel Magazine daring to adopt this angle of critique.

Ulthar, VoidCeremony, and the Bell Witch/Aerial Ruin were all albums I dug enough to consider voting for and that probably would have made my top 100, but I just didn't have space for them in my top 50. I am wearing a Bell Witch longsleeve at the moment so I feel the need to disclose this fact in the spirit of transparency as if it is a conflict of interest.

Yet you did not vote for them. Now that's impartiality.

Unfortunately I forgot to save my ballot after I made a few last minute shifts/additions, so I can't remember exactly where a lot of my votes fell.

well, I am wearing sweatpants from my #1 vote getter so it balances out.

xp

i am wearing a shirt my mother got for me that just says #metal because I am an impartial lover of all riffs metallic, except if u r a false

^^^ how I break it down to an extent.

Next up: not a tie.

I am eating my breakfast cereal with a metal spoon.

#92
Lamp of Murmuur – Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism
100 points, 5 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0291658041_10.jpg

https://lampofmurmuur.bandcamp.com/album/heir-of-ecliptical-romanticism

Is straightforward, raw, second wave-inspired black metal still worth making, listening to, and celebrating in 2020? Isn't it all played out? Why should we care about Lamp of Murmuur's debut full-length album, Heir Of Ecliptical Romanticism? Hasn't it all been done, and overdone, so many times before?

While this is true in a sense, it has a few problems. First of all, if you're old enough to remember the early-to-mid 90s, the style may in fact be played out for you, because you really have heard it all done too many times before. But for a new band trying out the style today, this indictment doesn't hold much water. It's not a musician's problem that you're tired of whatever style they play, and it should be none of their concern. Second of all, think of a younger listener, or someone your own age listening to black metal for the first time. That person is discovering Darkthrone, Mütiilation, and Immortal at the same time they're discovering the new wave of raw black metal that's emerged in the last few years.

It's not new in an ontological sense, but it's new to them. That's the key distinction. And there's not much reason for them to care unless they're trying to prop up a mask of superiority over other people (in which case, get a life). Finally, with any established style of art, there's always room to imprint your own soul into the work, making the stale fresh again, the staid thrilling again, and the tired vigorous once more.

https://metalinjection.net/reviews/album-review-lamp-of-murmuur-heir-of-ecliptical-romanticism

Opening paragraphs of that review are very much otm.

I didn't vote for this – I found it a bit overhyped tbh – but it's a good one, no doubt about it.

voted for it on the lower end as I liked it a lot but didn't return to it much, but it's good stuff.

yeah, I liked this a lot, but it's another one I couldn't fit in my top 50. Would have made my top 60ish though.

^^^ same xp

I am realizing that anything that came out around April to like, July or August I listened to way more than anything after. when I started my vinyl collecting I pretty much was buying mostly old music, so new releases (which I usually bought digitally) were car listens, and I don't drive much.

Napalm Death an exception, played the hell out of that one. and the Cadaver one.

I think my top 50 is spread somewhat evenly, chronology-wise, although December did get snubbed a bit, of course.

I enjoyed the Lamp of Muurmurr, probably should have voted for it.

I love Lamp--raw and punky but really well-produced/-mastered for a lo-fi BM release; synth passages nice and buried, how I prefer 'em

I thought Lamp of Murmuur was really refreshing. Raw, catchy, atmospheric but not over-serious, full of spooky corners.

He's going to drop a split with Dai-ichi in April.

Well, Lamp of Murmuur added to my list too!

This is why I'm glad we don't whittle down the albums in the results, these lower reaches are usually the most fun for me discovering new things.

(I didn't vote for it though, maybe b/c I thought noms had closed, oh well, glad to see it on here)

That VoidCeremony sounds like it might be good, I was on a call and I heard a righteous guitar lick on "Abandoned Reality." I'll have to listen for real at some point.

I did however accidentally vote for Ulthar in two positions (at weighted numbers 8 and 11 on my ballot, in careless haste evidently), so hopefully that was flagged by the comptrollers and their placement a few spots back wasn't artificially inflated--sorry

#91
Okkultokrati – La ilden lyse
101 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4111863293_10.jpg

https://okkultokratisl.bandcamp.com/album/la-ilden-lyse

Most reviews and articles concerning Norwegian dark hearts Okkultokrati seem to contain slightly differing classifications of the band’s sound. I’m no different: if you’re going to mould the likes of Motörhead, Emperor, and Sex Pistols into a ball of spewing hate, you’re playing Punk / Black ‘n’ Roll as far as I’m concerned. Anyone care? Of course not. More interesting is the decision of certain band members to change their stage names in a move that seems purely designed for new album La Ilden Lyse (Southern Lord Recordings), and which corresponds with a further evolution of the sextet’s direction.

Keyboards have added an extra dimension to the band’s later albums and …Lyse is no different. To set us off, however, a skewing Punk riff leads into ‘Thelemic Threat’: the pounding beat of drummer Verminscum underpinning the shimmering, emetic rasp of Dionysiac; the whole resembling an echo chamber of chilling sonic violence. This is followed by the hostile, frosted buzz of ‘Grimoire Luciferian Dream’, a real screamalong with a rhythmic bluster that evokes those Motörhead comparisons. In turn, Azoth‘s keys give an element of emotion to the rampant, ‘Ace of Spades’-esque ‘Loathe Forever’, and with that obsidian edge, it gives a feel similar to 80s Gothic Metal while creating a musicality that sticks in the mind.

https://www.ghostcultmag.com/album-review-okkultokrati-la-ilden-lyse-southern-lord-recordings/

I haven't listened to this because punk/black 'n' roll is usually not my cup of tea, but I'll give it a shot in a bit just in case.

oooooh

could this be this year's Reveal?

This is good for what it is, but it doesn't dispel my reservations about the subgenre.

#90
Horisont – Sudden Death
101 points, 4 votes

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71MIlNe1bcL._SS500_.jpg

https://horisont.lnk.to/SuddenDeath

Formed in 2006, HORISONT started their career with the want to revive the classic sounds of the 70s and has continued on that path ever since. 10 years after forming, they signed a record deal with Century Media Records and went onto achieve #1 on the Swedish charts for About Time in 2017. Vocalist Axel declares that “Our mission was to make the record that WE wanted to do, and not what people expect us to do,” and it is with this laid-back attitude that the band created their new 2020 record, Sudden Death. One look at these guys tells you all you need to know. The band’s style and sound is perfectly matched, complete with oversized aviator-style glasses and some pretty damn impressive moustaches. If you’re gonna do it, do it properly!

First track Revolution kicks things off with an upbeat, staccato style piano intro, gently moving into a classic 70s sound. Vintage rock revival at it’s finest, every note is soaked in sunshine and could easily be the soundtrack to an old-school movie. Free Riding follows suit with sweeping piano melodies reminiscent of 70s rockers like STATUS QUO. Groovy guitar harmonies are layered well here, creating a soft but up-tempo sound. Axel’s voice is unique, it’s nasally but in the best way, strong and full but slightly strained in the way that Ozzy Osbourne sounds.

https://distortedsoundmag.com/album-review-sudden-death-horisont/