ILX METAL ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2008 RESULTS (NOW COUNTING DOWN THE TOP TEN, BTW)

Krallice sound like Glenn Branca at times!

you should check out the ocrilim album, if you haven't already. branca-ness abounds.

i guess i should check out some branca then, b/c i like the ocrilim.

You should.

will do. any suggestions where to start?

autogoons called off the rap poll.

ah well.

ok, so I listened to a couple of records and thought "Hmm.. this is OK. I'll guess I will make it to the end of my week of metal and maybe check out rolling metal once every couple of months instead of never". But now I am listening to the Harvey Milk and really fucking enjoying it. So now I am wondering if the other records were just canon fodder to ease me in, if this is a 1 off or if I may actually really start liking this genre i'd written off forever?

So, what should I listen to next if like the Harvey Milk and Genghis Tron, not so much the Gojira and... umm, I still have no idea what I think of the more droney stuff. Nice in idea but actually a bit boring? Nice background music?

i don't like the Gojira disc either; too much breast-beating hardcore punk in the vocals.

the ones i've liked thus far, to one degree or another: the
Nachtmystium, Esoteric, Amon Amarth and Earth discs.

i didn't like the Torche very much (too remminicent of Helmet for my tastes bone-weary tastes), but i have the feeling you'd probably dig it. also, i found the Harvey Milk disc kinda annoying. go figure. next.

Cheers. I downloaded it the same time I got the others, and I'm sure i'll listen to it before the week ends.

One thing I'm going to do - I'm not going to listen to records with tacky, horrible, 'shock' covers. It's not shocking, it's just a bit lame and just feels me with no desire at all to listen to their records. Is this common with any metal fans and will I be missing out on anything so amazing that I should go against such a statement?

maybe too obvious, but if you liked the harvey milk, check out some melvins records. I really like the recent-ish (a) senile animal. two drummers, good times.

and check out the back catalogs! I like special wishes/dead mountain mouth better than the latest harvey milk/genghis tron records.

and it depends what you'd consider a "shock" cover. I don't recall anything too tasteless on this list, for example.

i think that question would best be directed at the fine folks on the rolling metal thread (Scott Seward in particular; i'm pretty sure he's the kind of fellow who appreciates the truly tasteless cover art of some extreme metal discs).

xxp

Ha, I just skimmed the thread and... didn't this used to have more albums on it? I dunno, covers with really limp "oh, look at all this blood/guts/crap like that, we are soooo shocking" bullshit. It just seems like such a shitty schtick to have, especially considering most people have grown accustomed to such a high tolerance of gore and what not.

Cheers on the recommendations though.

(I mean, I understand, and hell, maybe even appreciate the proper death metal "hey, this is our guitarist's actual brains all over the floor" covers the same way I love the geto boys cover where bushwick bill has just been shot - but most of it is just a bit silly and totally puts me off wanting to listen to their music.)

it's a new thread (2009 edition). so there's really not that much to discuss/post jpg's of just yet. good for getting in on the ground floor, tho.

again i say cheers. i have bookmarked that bitch for the future.

next up - rolling country.

on the cover tip... do you like horror movies?

the great majority of these covers strike me more as horror movie/ec comics worship playing to an audience with a similar mindset... not really what you're describing. coffins, for an example that made the list.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61uHSS27PAL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

The whole gory album cover thing is less a conscious attempt to shock at this point and more of a genre convention for certain strains of death metal/grindcore. I would say that skipping over metal albums with "disgusting" covers is sort of akin to not listening to any rapper who uses the n-word -- i.e., needlessly limiting.

That stuff I'm cool with, although it doesn't immediately make me interested. Maybe because I'm new to it all, the stuff that has sparked my interest hasen't been the stuff that looks like that though, whereas the torche etc. are just begging to be listened to.

I don't find them disgusting, it just seems a bit silly. I 100% know this a ridiculous stance btw.

gotcha.

mathematics otm, basically.

yeah i was going to say, the Racebannon cover is prob the most euuuurrggghhh cover on this years list, and i guarantee that it will not sound like anything you might expect it to using your cover gross = sounds like this rule.

hah i bought the Racebannon cd in Braehead shopping centre today from HMV. Just the fact they had it I was enough for me to get it rather than getting the vinyl from somewhere and getting charged a fortune for shipping.
re: album covers, i've NEVER liked that kind of metal cover. But if you don't buy stuff because you dont like teh artwork, then you're going to miss out on some terrific albums. That coffins album mentioned is ACE doom/death.

OK I don't like Gojira.

Just for reference, I'm a pretty serious metal fan and I didn't really like anything in this poll above #13, and only 5 things in the top 30. Tastes vary. That's much of what's fun about them...

serious question: which do you like more-- metal or numbers

Metal, but numbers pay way better.

do you like mathmetal? (j/k)

I voted in Pazz & Jop. 5/7 of my votes were for metal albums.
http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/critics/2008/769868

But, sadly, I didn't make it to this poll. Next year I promise to vote and write blurbs!

only seven albums and one track?

(i really dig two of your picks, btw.)

I still haven't heard that Jesse Sykes album, Nate. I really should check it out.

man, i loved Boris' Smile! what should i check out next from them?

I suppose you should try Pink then. But early Boris is still superior to both.

ok then, i'll check out both.

If you wanna check out old but accessible Boris then start with Heavy Rocks better songs than on Pink and Smile.
If you want to check out more Experimental Boris then it has to be Flood or Absolutego which is Boris at their very best.

I think amplifier worship is still my fave boris. melvins-y sludge. flood is good too.

The Rainbow album is really good as well, if you're looking for more accessible Boris stuff.

thanks, guys. i think i need to check out their entire catalog--although i'm kinda weary of anything that sounds like the Melvins (never did like them much).

HERETIC

well, the drone stuff like dronevil doesnt sound like Melvins

heh

2008 was an alright year for metal, i have to say.

as for Boris, i can't get into the mix of the new album! dude's vocals are just not strong enough to be featured so prominently. also, Dronevil, Flood, Absolutego ... that was the good stuff. now, it's schlocky Stooges/Melvins meets psych rock thing that i can't get into.

although, admittedly, some of the songs on Pink were really great. and Rainbow was amazing.

--Albums (full lengths and cassettes)--
Asva - What You Don't Know is Frontier
Deathrow/Moloch - Echoes of Eternity
Menace Ruine - The Die is Cast
Moss - Sub Templum
Monument of Urns - Absence
Smorzando - Smrad
Thou/Leech - We Pass Like Night, From Land to Land

--Reissues (albums, not comps)--
Paysage D'Hiver - Kristall & Isa
Vérmyapre Kommando - s/t (demo)
Watain - Casus Luciferi

The new stuff is definitely stooges inspired but not as good as Heavy Rocks was (inspired by stooges as well as stoner rock). I prefer Pink when it's more shoegazy.

I think amplifier worship is still my fave boris

It's a great album too.

amp worship definitely has a melvins thing going on but I wouldn't let that put you off if you're not a fan. they sound like their own band on it.

also, a warning: somebody smashed into my car during a blizzard while I was listening to this album. just saying.

Wonder what they were listening to :)

Given up on Gojira. Cynic was ok but dont think I could get into it.

a hoy hoy , i see the rap poll is go then. Nice one.

Umm... possibly. If we could get more than, ha, 5 people nominate then it could work!

Well now deej has got it started I think it will keep ticking over. Remember to keep bumping it so it's near the top of the page.

and remember that if a few people nominate stuff that others were going to ,it looks like hardly anyone is interested. But those guys will still email you their ballots. Just keep the thread at the top of new answers and everything should be ok. It also helps to generate discussion on the nomination/voting threads too.