!!!!!!!! ILX METAL ALBUMS of 2009 POLL RESULTS!!!!!! (FINAL RESULTS NOW IN! LISTENING TO THESE ALBUMS WILL MAKE YOU STRONGER FRAIL INTERNET PERSON!)

#37 , 123 Points , 8 votes

http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/pelicancover.jpg
Pelican - What We All Come to Need

I quite like the new Pelican. Not as catchy as the last one, if one could call it catchy, but it's nice to nap on the couch to. Also, instrumental band with vocals on one track shocker LOL

― wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara),

I'm probably one of the few other people in this thread that is actually curious to hear that Pelican. Seems like they bear the brunt of a lot of the NeurIsis overload.

― & other try hard shitfests (jon /via/ chi 2.0),

Feel like Pelican still have it in them to make good music by the simple expedient of chancing on a strong riff and rinsing the fuck out of it avec good clear production. Also feel, on initial listens, like this doesn't really happen on the new one

― Vladislav Delap (DJ Mencap),

All their haters moan like fuck about the drummer

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname),

I know, and it's pure parroting. There's nothing wrong with it, and it's certainly not bad enough to completely ruin the band. Like I said, I think his simple style actually benefits Pelicans music.

― Thijs,

the drumming on their stuff always seemed to me like an obvious stylistic decision--never understood the "he can't play" crowd.

― call all destroyer,

I like that Pelican album. Pretty much the only Pelican I like, but still. Not that I'd put it on this sort of list either.

― & other try hard shitfests (jon /via/ chi 2.0),

Pelican can be nice in tiny doses, but it always feels as bland as those paintings of sunbeams poking through clouds (I forget the name of the guy who's famous for making those). And yikes, could the drumming get any clunkier?

― A. Begrand,

Forgot to vote for Marduk :(

Thijs' suggestions are good ^

I might go and see them with Anaal Nathrakh next week...

Awesome. We're getting no-name melodeath opening acts over here I think :( I did see Anaal Nathrakh once already, at one of their first gigs ever; 2006, 2007? Good stuff, though still a bit chaotic and nervous at the time.

Pelican was also in my top ten. I don't just condone Larry Helwegs style of drumming, I'm a big fan (and a drummer myself). I just love it when drummers do very little and still make it work (see also Brad "EZB" Morgan of Drive-By Truckers for instance). The gentle midtempo grooves and the interplay of two guitars have a mesmerizing quality that even reminds me of Sun Kil Moon sometimes. Maybe it's because they're both big Priest fans, I don't know.

I generally don't like postrock or NeurIsis type bands btw, Neurosis and Pelican being the two main exceptions.

#36 , 124 Points, 7 votes

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8CN0D81QZ4E/Suy5ooQbOLI/AAAAAAAAAEc/dY0CtRL6oOg/s400/3858.jpg
Orthodox - Sentencia

one of the best albums this year for sure. Orthodox just keep getting better and better , progressing with each album. Even LJ would approve

-pfunkboy

Looking forward to Orthodox.

― Doran,

I'm listening to the new Orthodox now. I loved Gran Poder but was bored by Amanecer en Puerta Oscura, so I guess my expectations are low. Although it's having some weird Spanish effect on me, because I swear I just looked out my window and for a moment the sight of a construction crane next to the turret of Harvard's Memorial Hall threw me back to looking at the perpetual construction of Sagrada Familia on the skyline of Barcelona.

― glenn mcdonald,

Listened to the new Orthodox last night. It's amazing. They get better every album; Gran Poder bored the shit out of me, but Amanecer showed big improvement, and the new one isn't even a metal record. The first track sounds like an ultra-creepy alternate soundtrack to Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia.

― neither good nor bad, just a kid like you (unperson),

Here's the opening track from the Mount Eerie record, for those curious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtuCP1ExC_I

So, any thoughts about big hitters (as in mainstream-ish or long-term popular acts) yet to place? Slayer? Lamb Of God? Pearl Jam? Mastodon? We've already had Megadeth, of course...

^NB above post is 33rd new answer, or half the number of the beast, lets see if we can make it to 666 this week!

sorry 333rd!

hoping to see pearl jam not place

Big hitters still to come

thinking mastodon will make top ten
lamb of god and slayer in top twenty

infact one up next..

I think PJ are pretty certain to place...

#35 , 126 Points , 7 votes

http://rockandrollchildren.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/heaven-hell-the-devil-you-know-2009.jpg
Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know

I'm more than ready for an "all-doom" Heaven & Hell record. Children of the Sea and After All and Sign of the Southern Cross are exactly what I like about that band...

― Nate Carson,

holy crap! i am, like, totally digging the hell outta the new Sabba...er Heaven & Hell album! riffs galore; production dark & densely packed; Dio's voice aging well and far more than bearable; Bill Ward, alas, missing. my top two metal albums of the year locked in place already. next?

― \m/ metal oaf \m/ (Ioannis),

Not me:

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/27386930/review/27534978/the_devil_you_know

― xhuxk,

Heaven & Hell was so fantastic and inspirational. They're all in great form, Dio sounded fantastic (reaching for extra notes and nailing all of them). Vinnie's drum solo was a blast, Iommi's solo was moving, and the new material sounded great. Big shout out to the light and stage crew as the gargoyles and lights were top notch.

It was so great to see these guys be classy and excellent. It's always a bit embarrassing when Ozzy is in the house, flubbing notes. None of that with H&H.

― Nate Carson,

Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know : Surprisingly good, but not sure how well it'll age

― Kindjal,

Anyone think Alice in Chains will chart, then?

How does the Heaven & Hell it hold up now?
xp

it?
How does the Heaven & Hell hold up now?

I've never been into non ozzy sabbath so i never checked it out. Maybe i should play the classic dio sabbath stuff on spotify.
Funny how in the last few years older bands have managed to come back with really good albums. Celtic Frost & Unsane I thought were as great comebacks as ive ever heard. But lots of older bands (maiden,priest,ac/dc etc) seem to be getting rave reviews now. Wonder if its a Classic Rock Magazine effect of these bands being covered and new fans finding the band and the bands just raising their game rather than coasting it. The AiC album was really well received, which I was surprised with because i thought more would agree with me that AiC without Layne could not be AiC, but the music seemed to be so well received that ppl forgot about it and loved it.

Colonel Poo told me that Napalm Death have been on a roll with their last 3 albums too

oh and the already placed Megadeth and the will it/wont it place Slayer albums are seen as their best albums in eons.

How does the Heaven & Hell hold up now?

Still play it to death, almost on a daily basis. There really are so many nice touches in the arrangements that it never fails to move me in a big way.

And another big hitter up next..

I cooled on the Heaven & Hell album so much that I ended up dissing it in the process of praising something else on my list. The Megadeth album didn't last long in my rotation, either. It's a good Megadeth album, and I find that that isn't worth a whole lot to me anymore.

I really like the Heaven & Hell album. It's Old Testament doom.

Based on that one track up there and the other stuff that's already charted on here I have no problem w/ the Mount Eerie album being waved through - if it was some no-promo-photos dude on Southern Lord/Aurora Bourealis/blah no-one would bat an eyelid

That one track is the only one with blastbeats on it IIRC.

As for the Classic Rock effect etc, I don't personally think the last AC/DC is remotely brilliant or remotely awful but every time they've had an album out in my music-listening lifetime (ie three albums) the press have queued up to blow them so ppl's reaction overall is maybe a touch inflated

I know what you mean re: the AC/DC but i got the feeling that the last time everyone still felt it was the best thing they had done in 20 years a year after it came out.

And with Unsane ,Maiden, Celtic Frost etc you do get people who really do believe they were as good as any of their old classic albums.

I still don't like the Heaven and Hell album. One great song ("Bible Black"), and the rest either feels uninspired or just plain goofy.

same here. I love dio sabbath but could not get into that heaven and hell. felt like a bit of a chore to sit through.

but I should prob listen a few more times.

but they were so, so awesome live.

Hopefully chuck or scott might pop in with their thoughts on why (and comment on the rest of the poll too)
xps

Glenn how many of our poll's top albums made the P&J poll?

#34 , 129 Points , 9 votes

http://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Nile_-_Those_Whom_The_Gods_Detest_artwork-300x300.jpg
Nile - Those Whom the Gods Detest

I'm not a big fan of the belching vocals or the post-metal vocals, to be honest. Like, I can't even listen to Nile.

― Vulgar Display of Flowers (J3ff T.),

And speaking of blindsided, the Nile is unreal. Ithyphallic didn't click for me, but this one is just shattering. This is the kind of follow-up I wanted to hear after In Their Darkened Shrines and Annihilation of the Wicked.

― A. Begrand,

I was enjoying the new Nile last night, which is significant because I usually hate that band. So take that as a recommendation, I suppose.

― Defender Of The Girly Metal Faith (J3ff T.),

There were 92 albums that appeared on both polls, and I won't spoil any surprises here, but there's substantial similarity at the top. But there's also one album in the top 10 here that got only a single vote in P&J, and another in this top 20 that wasn't mentioned in P&J at all.

see, i still really dig the H&H disc, tho i admit that "Bible Black" may be the only classic Sabbath-worthy track on it. on the other hand, the Nile album seems to get duller every time i listen. what can ya do?

xp

So which of Slough Feg or Gay Witch Abortion (both of whom got one P&J vote) didn't make the top ten - I would guess the latter. Of course I could be totally wrong and might have missed something.

Glen - since I know you're reading this thread, I spotted an album credited to two different artists. One was "Ray Davies and the Crouch End Festival Chorus, The Kinks Choral Collection" and the other was "The Kinks Choral Project, Ray Davies". It's not going to push it into the top ten or anything, but thought you'd want to know.

wow the fact that slough feg only got one P&J vote is a real bummer

but yeah that makes me think that gay witch abortion didnt make the top ten

Do you know the P&J Gay Witch Abortion voter?

#33 , 131 Points , 6 votes

http://dhex.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/125779.jpg
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse

ANb album only has 13 songs - what the hell is that about? Guess that's what happens when you let a girl in the band...

― unperson,

wait, but did you actually listen to the new agoraphobic nosebleed?

I've noticed that they've been writing slower/longer songs on a couple of their recent splits, so I was curious if they'd keep on going that route with the next full album. and that could explain why there's only 13 tracks... maybe?

haven't heard it yet myself, but I'm looking forward to it.

― Alan N,

...and agoraphobic nosebleed has a cute girl on board now. (!?!?)

I wonder if they'll ease up on the casual misogyny?

and my first impressions for the new anb are positive. they took the short songs thing about as far as they could, so I don't mind them stretching things out. it's a bit like what pig destroyer did on their last one; this isn't exactly the new cryptopsy.

― picture me lolin' (Alan N),

The new ANb album is easily my favourite grind album to come out in a while. The songs are really well-written, the lyrics are twisted, the artwork is over the top, and it's exceptionally produced.

― A. Begrand,

i dont think so? i have no idea who it was tho xpost

Jesse Fox Mayshark.

Thanks, EZ. First (and so far, only) thing I missed and somebody else spotted. Album/Artist flip plus significantly different names! Just a little glimpse into why tabulation of human input is hard...

I totally understand why everyone running these things here want cut and paste!

nope, don't know that dude, unless hes one of you all xxpost

Really didn't like that ANb disc at all, not at first nor after trying two or three more times to get into it. And Nile? Fuck Nile. Never liked 'em.

#32 , 131 Points , 7 votes

http://www.art-of-propaganda.de/shop/cover/1559drudkhmicrocosmos120091223.jpg
Drudkh - Microcosmos

Mordy if you want folk black metal try Drudkh

― Pfunkboy in blood drenched rabbit suit jamming in the woods (Herman G. Neuname)

yeah, I was going to recommend them... but they're, uh... pretty racist, right?

― picture me lolin' (Alan N)

but if that's not a problem, then yeah, they're good.

― picture me lolin'

no one actually knows. I heard they recently denied that they were.

― Pfunkboy in blood drenched rabbit suit jamming in the woods (Herman G. Neuname),

in any case, dicey territory.

yeah, I mean, I own burzum records, so I can't exactly point fingers.

but I actually haven't listened to drudkh in years. what releases do you rate?

― picture me lolin' (Alan N),

thats why i refuse to buy drudkh stuff alan and i just download it. Normally i avoid anything dodgy like that as you know, but the music is so damn good its worth d/l. Plus im pretty sure they denied being nsbm.
Until its totally cleared up i wont buy their stuff, but you arent giving them any cash if you d/l it at least if they are racist.

― Pfunkboy in blood drenched rabbit suit jamming in the woods (Herman G. Neuname),

Drudkh's politics, I'm unaware of, but I have never purchased any Burzum or early Emperor for similar reasons. Safer to download (or at least buy used), than to support that kind of crap.

― Nate Carson,

I'm doing a piece on Janvs, who recently were censored by Terrorizer because their bass player was in some nsbm-related band, despite the fact that Janvs's music is completely apolitical. There are a lot of knee-jerk reactions to black metal going on these days, it's quite interesting.

I own Burzum albums. I'm fully aware that Varg is an ass, but over the last few years I've come to admit that stuff like Filosofem and Hvis Lyset Tar Oss are, musically speaking anyway, works of genius.

― A. Begrand,

Drudkh claims his lyrics aren't political at all, but I'm pretty sure he openly admits to having extremist right-wing, possibly white supremacist views. I guess I'm a hypocrite, but I love the guy's music.

― fwiw (rockapads),

I meant he openly admits to views we would classify as extreme right-wing and, I think, racist - though I don't know this for sure. Poorly worded; sorry for multiple posts.

― fwiw (rockapads),

I think they said it was Ukrainian ultra nationalist views. But it probably all amounts to the same thing.

― Pfunkboy in blood drenched rabbit suit jamming in the woods (Herman G. Neuname),

I think Drudkh are pretty well known for having some rather suspect political leanings. They're very cagey about stating them directly, but they're there. It brings up that thorny old dilemma about separating the artist from his politics. I can understand someone being so disgusted with modern society that they would try and make the most ugly, distorted sounds possible. What I don't understand is why that so often leads to a flirtation with Neo-Nazi imagery and ideology. You see a lot of the same dynamic play out in early Industrial music. See Boyd Rice.

― leavethecapital,

As is the proggy new Drudkh album. Things are really starting to pick up, there are tons of killer metal releases this summer.

― A. Begrand,

i need someone smart like adrien to explain to me what the hell drudkh are up to on their new album. ??????????????

― scott seward,

Ha, I was as just as baffled as you. But a few spins had me liking this album a lot...it feels a little like Enslaved at times. At any rate, it's better than Estrangement, but not as great as Blood in Our Wells.

― A. Begrand,

still haven't listened to that drudkh. I heard that there's slap bass on it or something... that can't be true, right??

― ' ( *_*) ERROR HANDLING (^_^ ) (Alan N),

hahah @ the "slap bass" ... yeah there's a single riff/solo thing that may start out with a slap, but it's not an ongoing theme.

― richie aprile (rockapads),
i can't really tell if it's a slap or if the dude just pulled on the strings causing it to hit the frets a little. it's actually one of my favorite little moments on the disc, because i love bass and it doesn't get to shine enough in black metal.

― richie aprile (rockapads),

i think the whole Drudkh racist thing is one of those internet rumors gone "where there's smoke there's fire". i haven't seen any evidence of it.

― richie aprile (rockapads),

main dude was in hate forest, who generally seem to be regarded as NS. and there are tenuous connections to astrofaes and nokturnal mortum, the latter being really try-hard NS dudes (swastikas made of ak-47s in their album art and shit). drudkh does seem to leave it alone, though.

― that's not a logo it's a fucking font (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ),

It would seem that Drudkh are not NSBM (as in the band dont have lyrics about it or promote the ideology) but possibly have extreme politics personally(maybe in the past but not now?).
Anyway noone knows. The only fact we have is is that they make very good music, would be a shame if they were neo nazis, but until it's cleared up I still wont purchase their music.

#31 , 137 Points , 7 votes

http://www.metalkingdom.net/album/img/d7/23856.jpg
Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God

New Goatwhore's the best new record I've heard in a while, though.

― A. Begrand,

Goatwhore blew my face off.

― A. Begrand,

that onion list is kind of strangely constructed, but the streaming album player allowed me to catch up on a few things i'd never heard. i'm liking that goatwhore album a lot--could anyone tell me how it stacks up to their other stuff?

― omaha deserved 311 (call all destroyer)

Ask Phil - he loves him so Goatwhore.

― EZ Snappin,

Did you check Phil's MSN column today? http://music.msn.com/superfans/heavy-metal/blog/the-year-end-and-decade-end-lists-begin/

"Goatwhore are a terrible, boring black metal band whose appeal is utterly inexplicable to me. Otherwise smart friends of mine swear by them but their albums send me diving for the eject button."

― EZ Snappin,

Don't get what's so great about Goatwhore myself I must say

― 19349 things paedophiles like to complain about (DJ Mencap),

What's wrong with Goatwhore? Good, old-fashioned, Celtic Frost rip-off metal...their past albums were always a bit on the plain side, but the recent one blows them all away. I have them pretty darn high on my list.

― A. Begrand,

Yeah, me too. That all-guns-blazing Rutan production helps a lot.

― Chuffed Wiff Morrisound (Thijs),

The addition of the dirty rock 'n roll really made a world of difference, Goatwhore-wise.

― Van Slyke Paidbreed (J3ff T.),

I just don't like 'em. I like Celtic Frost just fine. Shit, I like Gallhammer and Crucifist. But something about Goatwhore just doesn't work for me. I can't make it through a whole song, and life is too short to keep trying.

― neither good nor bad, just a kid like you (unperson),

you really like gallhammer? you are a strange old man.

― scott seward,

I'd listen to the last Gallhammer thing ten more times before I fancied playing the last Goatwhore thing again

― 19349 things paedophiles like to complain about (DJ Mencap),