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

BROADRICKWATCH

At the weekend when the car has been washed and the tax returns filled out, what better way than to relax with an amyl nitrate enema followed by a session snorting enough meow meow plant food to subdue Boris Johnson’s hairstyle. If consciousness can be maintained, what better way of spending the rest of the afternoon than lying on face down on the kitchen floor listening to releases by Birmingham's finest son Justin Broadrick?
Everyone’s favourite urban avant nihilist turned country dwelling ray of sunshine, the hardest working man in bleakcore, JB has returned with a new Jesu EP Opiate Sun which contains some of his most uplifting and positive work under that moniker to date. Losing Streak not only has an extremely overdriven country rock chord progression but also features an experiment with what appears to be Kanye West’s favourite plaything – autotune!
Actually it looks like we spoke to soon! JB was obviously saving up all his bad vibes to pour into the insanely good Greymachine project. Along with Aaron Turner of Isis, Dave Cochrane of Head Of David and Diarmuid Dalton of Jesu they have released a deeply unnerving album Disconnected on Hydra Head, which bears some relation to Godflesh, augmented by horrortronix, atonal synth sounds and improvised guitar noise. Let’s hope he’s saved some bleakness to one side for the Godflesh reformation later this year.

ONEIDA

A mad man's breakfast. Jaw dropping.

i seem to recall someone or other proclaiming the GoS top ten fodder up above. but i could be wrong, of course.

Lightning Bolt disc is far from their best (that would be Wonderful Rainbow, no?), imo.

still can't believe Coalesce didn't do better tho--i thought they had serious fans hereabouts.

next please.

#19 , 260 Points , 16 votes

http://www.phantomcityrecords.net/store/images/spin031_liturgy400.jpg
Liturgy - Renihilation (20 Buck Spin)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5J6FcAtAxo

Brooklyn, NY’s Liturgy deal in a style of black metal steeped in the genre’s most basic foundations of buzzing, dissonant guitars and whirlwind percussion, and yet they demonstrate an acute ability to make the sound firmly their own, both modern and ancient. Liturgy’s unique take on the genre only slightly recalls their NYC friends Krallice and the earlier works of the Norwegian wolves Ulver (particularly their 3rd LP masterwork Nattens Madrigal). In some sense Liturgy represents the seeping of black metal into the consciousness of the indie music world at large. The band claim influences ranging from cult black metal figures Vlad Tepes to Angelo Badalamenti to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, all of whom can be distantly identified in Liturgy’s approach.

Renihilation is the band’s debut LP, following two demo tapes and a 12 inch, Immortal Life. The album weaves intricate waves of dissonant dual guitar riffing and complex blackened harmonics between main songwriter Hunter Hunt-Hendrix and second guitarist Bernard Gann. The strange tonalities they seamlessly create providing layers of eerie dimension over which Hendrix’s tortured howls battle to be heard. The ultra-chaotic yet superbly minimalist drumming of Greg Fox, utilizing only a kick, snare and crash symbols, adds a dose of old, raw punk/grind to the mix. Several intros and interludes consisting of vocal pieces and drones break the album up into distinct sections.

Renihilation was recorded and mastered at the Thousands Caves Of Menegroth with Colin Marston of Krallice at the helm. The purposely low-res minimalist artwork recalls the work of German photographer Thomas Ruff in both aesthetic and intent. A photograph of a total eclipse, a massive celestial event, its aura being subdued and defeated by the void the low resolution of the image leaves in its wake – an apt analogy for Liturgy’s ecstatic sonic experiments.

BTW, just got files of the new Liturgy (from NYC). This stuff is really fucking impressive. Need to digest more fully. Sorta indie-fied trance Black Metal from NYC with a nice, original angle.

Check it: http://www.myspace.com/liturgynybm

― Nate Carson,

Listening to _Renihilation_, by Liturgy. Brooklyn blast-metal band, first full album. Wow. Who needs to slow down? Or breathe? Produced by some guy from Krallice; I never managed to appreciate Krallice, but this is magnificent. Ever so vaguely in the same realm as Wolves in the Throne Room, but more like the wolves got distracted ripping some rabbits apart on the way in.

― glenn mcdonald,

tis good

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname),

This Liturgy album is like Parts & Labor as a metal band.

― glenn mcdonald,

I like that Liturgy album quite a bit.

― A. Begrand,

played last night with this BM band liturgy from brooklyn. they were good, nice too. did an elaborate gregorian kind of chant with the help of a loop station. they have an interesting style (imo, and i mean live -- i haven't heard their record yet and i don't know what it's like). a lot of weird pausing, but not like intricate bizarre timing/crazy stops or anything like that, just kinda like weird, heaving pausing before going back into a repetition or going into a change. thumbs up.

― heave haw (roxymuzak),

<3 liturgy!!! dudes are totally super nice for real.

― ian,

Did an email interview with the guy from Liturgy last week, and I came away mightily impressed. Smart guy. Not often you get a fella who goes into great detail describing the similarities between black metal and spectralism.

The drumming on that album is nuts.

― A. Begrand,

Liturgy seconded. Fucking amazing.

― Soukesian,

I think Liturgy is probably the heaviest record I have heard this year

― Sonic Bum,

Ioannis: it's of similar quality to Wonderful Rainbow. They had a total misfire with Hypermagic Mountain but this is them on fire again. (And this isn't the thread for it but they're better than ever live now - especially because they've stopped playing on the floor instead of the stage.)

i don't know, the new one is good and all (i voted for it too) but i just don't see it being up there with their best previous efforts. need to listen to it some more doubtlessly.

Haven't seen Lightning Bolt on stage yet but tbh last time I saw them it was just annoying them being on the floor, too many people and the sound was crap because you couldn't get anywhere near them

xpost

They were in the top five bands at both December ATPs in the UK. The tenth birthday one where they were joined on stage by Afrirampo was phenomenal. So refreshing not to be surrounded by loads of wankered clowns who've just turned up because they've heard there'll be people getting knocked over and "moshing" or whatever. They're a genuinely great band; they don't need a novelty aspect to what they do.

Unlike Monotonix.

Any thoughts on the great album at #19 by Liturgy?

Haven't seen Lightning Bolt on stage yet but tbh last time I saw them it was just annoying them being on the floor, too many people and the sound was crap because you couldn't get anywhere near them

It's for this reason that I've never seen them. I even bought a ticket to see them play here in Dublin a few years ago, but was so put off by the idea of being stuck behind concentric rings of tall hipsters with big hair that I gave it a miss.

haven't heard it yet.

xp

liturgy album is cool and definitely sticks out amongst the sea of black metal releases... but I think they will improve with time. good album but I think they have a great one in them yet.

also, the record seemed really tinny. (yeah, black metal, I know...) to the point where it kinda hurt to listen to it with headphones.

and I liked the lightning bolt but wouldn't vote for it them on a metal poll, personally.

but it's basically more lightning bolt. everyone probably knows whether they want that or not at this point.

#18 , 293 Points , 15 votes
http://i48.tinypic.com/309looo.jpg
Slayer - World Painted Blood

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFw9l_TFokU

The album artwork perfectly encapsulates what Slayer means in relevance to modern extreme metal in my world today
-J0hnD

You can't go wrong with Slayer - they've never made a bad record.

― unperson,

my prediction: it sounds EXACTLY like a Slayer album!

― scott seward,

I liked Christ Illusion quite a bit, but I have to say, World Painted Blood is better. The title track is the best thing I've heard from Slayer in quite a while.

― A. Begrand,

My track-by-track (p)review of the forthcoming Slayer album can be read here http://music.msn.com/superfans/heavy-metal/blog/slayer-s-world-painted-blood-track-by-track-review/. Short version: It's good.
-unperson,

Oh, and I agree with you, Phil, the Slayer is really good. Nice preview piece!

― A. Begrand,
God, Araya looks ancient. And Lombardo looks like Andy Garcia.

― Bill Magill,

Nice Slayer write-up Phil, makes me a lot more excited to hear it than I was.

― 3 mods 1 banhammer (jon /via/ chi 2.0),

So, I've finally heard Slayer - Oh yes!

I hope they don't clean it up too much . . .

― Doran,

The difference on the Slayer thing is that Psychopathy Red and that other track have both been released as singles, therefore are the finished product. I kind of wish they'd just release the rest of it all punky.

Well, like I said, I checked up on it and the whole promo is 'finished product', apparently.

― Thijs,

Unicorn chaser!

Kerry King's not going to be happy about this.

hahaha.

kinda want to hear this, kinda don't care too much anymore. I tuned out after this one:

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/CDUCoverArt/Music/Large/superd_2984565.jpg

He's too busy watching WWE dvds to care
xpost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XkYKIv0Tig

IMO not as good as Christ Illusion.

#17 , 315 Points , 17 votes, One #1 vote

http://www.metalkingdom.net/album/img/d31/22680.jpg
Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul (Hydrahead)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKIl4KKcJ6w

New Khanate has leaked, for some reason I thought they'd broken up.

― I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO (Colonel Poo),

Khanate broke up in 2006. This new disc was recorded during the Capture & Release sessions; the band improvised a bunch of stuff in the studio, and then they waited three years for Alan Dubin to get around to recording vocals. Which is sort of why they broke up. (I was at James Plotkin's apartment on Friday interviewing him about something else, and this subject came up. I have not heard the new record, though.)

― unperson,

OK, listening to Clean Hands Go Foul now. It's fucking amazing. It may be Khanate's greatest achievement. The first track sounds like Fushitsusha, for fuck's sake. And the last track (which I haven't gotten to yet) is 33 minutes long!

― unperson,

The Khanate album is crushing and so much better than Capture & Release. top 10 album of 2009 for sure.

― Pfunkboy Formerly Known As... (Herman G. Neuname),

Any thoughts on the Khanate? Giving it my first listen right now, sounding good to these ears.

― display names have been changed to protect the innocent (jon /via/ chi 2.0),

It's great, more people need to hear this. Those checking out Sunn 0))) should be checking this out too, even though it's completely different
-pfunkboy

Far too low.

Was that your #1 vote Aldo?

nah, i'd say it's about right.

xp

Khanate's is the highest-ranking album here that got no votes in the Pazz & Jop (although they did get one song-vote, at least).

Nah, my #1 was Big Business, loved that record. I would have expected Khanate to have come in about 10 places higher, as it's a blinding achievement. Mind you, potential votes split with Gnaw, Greymachine, Sunn and maybe Jodis? And Katatonia kind of showed returning legends don't necessarily get votes.

I reckon still to come we definitely have Sunn 0))), Mastodon, Baroness, Kylesa, Zu, YOB, Shrinebuilder and OM. Not sure apart from that, ISIS maybe?

I'm biased obviously, but I prefer this poll to P&J :)
xp

aldo that leaves room for another 8 guesses

I KNOW THAT

I'm now listening to the Kylesa record, very good, but not that far removed from the likes of Pissed Jeans. Not troo metal!

Anyone have thoughts on placings for Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, or Lamb of God? I have a feeling that one or more may not place at all...

Kylesa come from the same sorta background as Baroness

#16 , 334 Points , 17 votes , One #1 vote

http://larecord.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/1209shrinebuilder.jpg
Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL4BkunJqes

In which I express my misgivings about the whole Shrinebuilder thing http://bit.ly/tmZIY (that name's becoming increasingly ironic, btw, given how many people are willing to fall to their knees without having heard a note of music)...

― unperson,

i think i like the Shrinebuilder disc even more tho.

― where u draw the liney, Whiney? (Ioannis),

I think I slightly prefer the new Shrinebuilder for not being quite as, I dunno, relentless.

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

kind of wish everyone in Shrinebuilder would ditch their current projects and go forth with that one.

― richie aprile (rockapads),
I second that.

― Chonus,

really? thought shrinebuilder was fine but nothing special

― call all destroyer,

That's pure insanity. Shrinebuilder are one of the few current metal bands who make tracks live up to their preposterously awesome song titles.

― Doran,

The Shrinebuilder album is good IMO, but I would take OM, Melvins or Hidden Hand (or any other Weinrich project) over it. Haven't heard any Neurosis.

I just want Wino to go back to Spirit Caravan.

Given who the members are, it was pretty easy to get excited about Shrinebuilder without hearing a note. I heard they only rehearsed for a day before recording the album, but it sounds pretty great to me. Nice show too.

What's left - probably YOB, Krallice, 3 Inches of Blood, Gates of Slumber, Converge, Slough Feg, Cobalt, Zu, Mastodon... Raise The Red Lantern probably didn't make it, I think probably not enough people heard it.

Hmmm. Eight of my top ten are yet to come. I had Coalesce at #9 and Shrinebuilder at #5.

Add Sunn O))) and Baroness to that list above.

it's up there with OM for me--could fully live well without the rest (except Neurosis, of course).

xps

7 of my top 10 have already placed. Obviously I love stuff other people just like, and vice versa.

everyone seems to have a different prediction, but i like that. Means the poll isn't too predictable!

Right, and OM and Kylesa. I didn't like the OM as much, and their live show suffered from switching the drummer. That leaves three more in question. Gwynbleidd? Wolf? Kreator?

assuming all those guesses are right..

Isis and WITTR.

you just never know... some of those albums predicted in the thread so far might make it.. or might not.. maybe there's other surprises? ...or not....

Yeah, Isis seemed to get a lot of love. I would love to see Wolf up there, but I don't remember a ton of people enthusing about it really, besides Phil.

I like Wolf too, but discovered it too late to put it on my list.

Plenty of stuff that's in the poll doesn't get much chat on the rolling metal thread fwiw. Hence the struggle for finding posts.

I'd be tickled to see the Wolf album make it - I'd place it higher on my ballot today because it is just such fun.

Anyone think the Bergraven album has a chance?

Re: Zu: great band, saw them do a fantastic show last year, but it would be quite something for a band without a guitar player to reach the top 15 in a metal poll...

It would be AWESOME.