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

Yeah, Oxbow is a good point of comparison.

We could do with an album by an old legacy act right now

Any guesses?

Testament

if u mean "legacy" literally

Testament?

Xpost what Neanderthal said

Unless we already think of Elder as a legacy act.

Babymetal?

Elder will go quite high. Hell, I voted for them

if it is Testament, I voted for it out of duty, even though it's nothing special amidst their catalog (and probably not as good as Brotherhood of the Snake). but they're one of my long-time favs (on the strength of The Legacy, The New Order, and The Gathering - so I gave it a low end vote.

I didn't vote for too many older acts. Cirith Ungol already placed, and I assume it's not Anaal Nathrakh.

AC/DC and Deep Purple were both on my ballot.

I know at least one other person voted for AC/DC.

Bingo!

#42
AC/DC – Power Up
193 points, 6 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b27304db0e3bcd166c1d6cfd81f9

https://open.spotify.com/album/3bTNxJYk2bwdWBMtrjBxb0

For decades, AC/DC have defended their devil-horned crown as rock’s most stubborn band. They’ve survived deaths (singer Bon Scott in 1980, guitarist Malcolm Young in 2017) and dirty deeds (drummer Phil Rudd was placed on house arrest after threatening to kill a man). Yet, they remain eternally committed to their core values: rocking out, hailing Satan, and never going within an outback mile of a ballad. Hell, their most transgressive move ever was using the bagpipes on “It’s a Long Way to the Top,” and that was in 1975. That consistency is what their fans love about them and what their critics hate most.

But nothing has ever slowed down AC/DC on their journey down the Highway to Hell. And now they’re back again with Power Up, their umpteenth album of eardrum-shredding guitar terror and odes to raising hell. It’s their best record since 1990’s The Razors Edge, and yet again, they sound the same as they always have. Frontman Brian Johnson, who had to leave their last tour due to deafness, now has a special hearing aid so he can continue to sing, and Malcolm’s nephew, Stevie Young, plays rhythm guitar. Rudd has served his time and plays as steady as ever, and even Angus Young’s schoolboy outfit still fits snugly.

Naturally, there are no real surprises here: Power Up sounds unapologetically like AC/DC, and Angus has likened the LP to a tribute to Malcolm the same way that Back in Black was a back-pew eulogy for Bon Scott. Many of the riffs, which came from Angus and Malcolm’s archive, recall their greatest hits — the sidewinding blooze of “Demon Fire” is a distant relative of “Whole Lotta Rosie”; the throbbing intro to “Witch’s Spell” harks back to “Who Made Who,” the riff on “Code Red” stutters like “Back in Black” — and Johnson’s voice still sounds like angry truck exhaust, whether he’s huffing about tearin’ up the highway on “Code Red,” snarking about “crystal balls” on “Witch’s Spell,” or prescribing sex three times a day (“or as much as you may”) as a depression cure to a woman on “Money Shot.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/ac-dc-keep-riding-the-highway-to-hell-on-power-up-1089089/

It was someone's #1, even.

I haven't heard it myself. Tbh I don't really enjoy their classic material…

6 votes too

If you don't like their classic material, this won't change your mind at all, but I thought it was immensely better than I could have ever expected - particularly with all the drama of the last few years.

blech.

listening to the Thou/ERR album, imagining it's the AC/DC

I prefer the Bon Scott era but this was really solid, hooky, with excellent guitar tones; Johnson's voice is almost as strong as ever.

Last place on my ballot but deserved a nod.

One more to go before we call it a day. All I can say is that it has almost nothing in common with the AC/DC.

Yeah - I voted for it mid ballot-ish - I'm a big Bon era fan, and just love Malcolm guitar all eras - this was a 'RIP' vote for him more than anything, as they're definitely, if not all his songs, a healthy swan song contribution throughout the record. Probably their best since The Razors Edge.

Yeah, definitely a lower ballot placement for me, but they deserved it for bouncing back with something this solid.

#41
Cryptic Shift – Visitations from Enceladus
198 points, 6 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1636311486_10.jpg

https://cryptic-shift.bandcamp.com/album/visitations-from-enceladus

While I’ve traditionally identified as a basic black metal bitch, my listening habits of late have hovered firmly above death metal territory. The art of the Big Dumb Riff has held absolute command of my Spotify search bar, and it’s all thanks to the diversity the genre pool has spawned in over three decades of evolution. Just as I finish my most recent round of dick flattening at the hands of something as unflinchingly savage as Black Curse, I know I can hop to the opposite end of the technical axis to enjoy similarly aggressive highs in a fresh context. Cryptic Shift‘s debut is about as far from something like Black Curse as you can imagine on the caveman riff spectrum, but those same thrills are all here. Astonishingly fun in a way that transcends its deeply progressive template, Visions of Enceladus is a remarkable offering of thrashing death metal.

Cryptic Shift invokes many greats in the pantheon of death metal, but before I had absorbed a moment of their music, I was reminded of Rush. Visions of Enceladus follows the 2112 school of album construction, hogging side A with an absolute chonker of a track. “Moonbelt Immolator” is a progressive death metal odyssey, effortlessly hopping between movements which recall Atheist‘s jazz death, Vektor‘s wild tech thrash1, Cynic‘s spaced-out prog, and even Blood Incantation‘s vulgar cosmic death metal. These pieces smoothly interlock, not necessarily because they follow a logical trajectory, but because of the propulsive nature of the riffs and transitions. I can’t help but feel downright giddy as I’m dragged through this monolithic composition, because from the bouncy rhythms to the joyously melodic guitar solos, extreme metal is almost never this fun.

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/cryptic-shift-visitations-from-enceladus-review/

Cryptic Shift - Visitations from Enchiladas

Basically, my ballot is a mix of FM classic rock and people screaming over Thurston Moore/Kevin Shields jams. It's a good thing other
people voted for proper heavy metal. xps

This record slays.

Tremendously promising band. Their debut's a bit too formless for comfort, though.

3xp sounds tasty.

its a better title too

Many metal albums could be improved with being replaced by a food dish

sick, this has the best 26 minute long album opener of 2020. I put it at #19.

Very popular in Scotland Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie & The Infinite Square Sausage.

Latest recap (I added the missing 'Pigs' btw):

101. Primitive Man – Immersion

100. Atramentus – Stygian

99. Undergang – Aldrig i livet

98. Dan Weiss/Starebaby – Natural Selection

95 TIE. Worm – Gloomlord

95 TIE. Ulthar – Providence

95 TIE. Vile Creature – Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!

93 TIE. VoidCeremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel

93 TIE. Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Volume I

92. Lamp of Murmuur – Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism

91. Okkultokrati – La ilden lyse

90. Horisont – Sudden Death

89. Skeletal Remains – The Entombment of Chaos

87 TIE. Spirit Adrift – Enlightened in Eternity

87 TIE. Biesy – Transsatanizm

86. Ripped to Shreds – Luan

85. Cirith Ungol – Forever Black

84. Turia – Degen van licht

82 TIE. Regarde les hommes tomber – Ascension

82 TIE. Angel Morgue – In the Morgue of Angels

81. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals
80. Khthoniik Cerviiks – Æequiizoiikum
79. Vladislav Delay – Rakka
78. Eternal Rot – Putridarium
76 TIE. Ocrilim – Plvence Abrost R Msitloun
76 TIE. Dola – Dola
75. Blue Öyster Cult – The Symbol Remains
74. Malokarpatan – Krupinské ohne
73. Defeated Sanity – The Sanguinary Impetus
72. Geld – Beyond the Floor
71. Melted Bodies – Enjoy Yourself
70. Envy – The Fallen Crimson
69. Svalbard – When I Die, Will I Get Better?
68. Boris & Merzbow – 2R0I2P0
67. Pyrrhon – Abscess Time
66. Raspberry Bulbs – Before the Age of Mirrors
65. Azusa – Loop of Yesterdays
64. Fuck the Facts – Pleine noirceur
63. Blues Pills – Holy Moly!
62. Kaatayra – Só quem viu o relâmpago à sua direita sabe
61. Drown – Subaqueous
60. Gezan – Klue
59. Gulch – Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress
58. Touché Amoré – Lament
57. Mr. Bungle – The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
56. Feminazgûl – No Dawn for Men
54 TIE. Zombi – 2020
54 TIE. Molasses – Through the Hollow
53. Pallbearer – Forgotten Days
52. Triptykon – Requiem (Live at Roadburn 2019)
51. Azarath – Saint Desecration
50. Sightless Pit – Grave of a Dog
49. Machine Girl – U-Void Synthesizer
48. Esoctrilihum – Eternity of Shaog
47. Void Rot – Descending Pillars
46. Of Feather and Bone – Sulfuric Disintegration
45. Kaatayra – Toda história pela frente
43 TIE. Mamaleek – Come & See
43 TIE. Thou & Emma Ruth Rundle – May Our Chambers Be Full
42. AC/DC – Power Up
41. Cryptic Shift – Visitations from Enceladus

Also the pastoral sweep, and acoustic folk elements, mixed with black metal reminds me of the Stara Rzeka album that did well in this poll a few years back.

V cool comparison

These done made my ballot:

56. Feminazgûl – No Dawn for Men
52. Triptykon – Requiem (Live at Roadburn 2019)
46. Of Feather and Bone – Sulfuric Disintegration
43 TIE. Thou & Emma Ruth Rundle – May Our Chambers Be Full
42. AC/DC – Power Up

The Thou/ERR was in my top ten; the AC/DC was the last on my 50-album ballot.

Feminazgûl is sounding perfect on this bright, windy morning. Was not expecting blackgaze from the cover art.

Violin and accordion in everything, please.

Sad I can't be part of the roll-out but you guys are making it a brilliant read, going through it on my own time. Trvue krv <3

I know I'm the Anti-DM Guy but I am having to concede that the Azarath does indeed whip

"you sure like a lot of DM for an Anti-DM Guy"

I think it's maybe how the drums are mixed front and centre? Awesome drums

And now I check and I see that the drummer is the only permanent member. It's his baby. That explains it

Pom reckons todays run is a great one

So lets not waste any time

#40

Afterbirth – Four Dimensional Flesh

202 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1320487242_10.jpg

https://uniqueleaderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/four-dimensional-flesh

Welcome to my ass. We won’t be long. I’ve gathered us here today before my review of the brilliant new Afterbirth record because I didn’t want to drag you through here in the middle of it. Suffice it to say that my critique of Afterbirth‘s The Time Traveler’s Dilemma has proven unassailably correct: Afterbirth should get right back on the horse, they should keep exploring their progressive tendencies, and they absolutely should record with Colin Marston. Probably no thanks to my scolding they have. Four Dimensional Flesh is a triumph, one of the most charismatic and original death metal albums you’ll ever hear.

Like a sci-fi movie that compels you to fill in the space around its world, Four-Dimensional Flesh gives you just enough information to make you wonder how the hell Afterbirth came up with it. Whereas the animating question of The Time Traveler’s Dilemma was “Can we please release this album already?” Four Dimensional Flesh poses a more focused query; “What if Voivod, on occasion, slammed?” Well, it would be pretty fucking sick. And it is. Four Dimensional Flesh proposes an alternative timeline for death metal, one where the genre’s literary touchstone is not H.P. Lovecraft but Arthur C. Clarke, where death metal’s goal is not oppression but expansion. Instead of a nether realm or bloody dungeon, the tension and brutality of Four Dimensional Flesh play out in an adventurous and bright future. I would never have thought a death metal band could pull off retrofuturism, but Afterbirth expanded the possible.

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/afterbirth-four-dimensional-flesh-review/

Don't forget the spotify results playlist to subscribe to
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6BISg6zJeLzumnfHfMfcbG?si=i_gA26H5SD-EankDWpLIiA

TOO LOW. I was the #1 vote on this one.