2014 POLL RESULTS COUNTDOWN - ILM Metal Albums of the Year

RYM is not wrong, Saor is great.

Scottish apparently. It looks like mordymetal (folk)

Wow, I'm digging this Raspberry Bulbs album, had never heard of them. Very raw, sounds more like punk than metal to me, but I like it...

I think the concensus is that they've gotten less and less metal, but the main guy is from Bone Awl, one of the least metal black metal bands, so even their early stuff had a strong punk vibe.

consensus ugh

recap

102 The Cosmic Dead - Easterfaust 143 Points, 4 votes
tie
100 Autopsy - Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves 143 Points, 5 votes
100 Lantlos - Melting Sun 143 Points, 5 votes
99 Ulaan Markhor - Spiral Horns, Black Onions, et al 144 Points, 4 votes, One #1
98 Seven that Spells - The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: IO 146 Votes, 3 voters , One #1
97 Death Penalty - Death Penalty 146 Points, 5 votes
96 Ambergris - Ambergris 147 Points, 3 votes, One #1
95 Body Count - Manslaughter 147 Points,6 votes
94 Monarch - Sabbracadaver 148 Points, 6 votes
93 Truckfighters - Universe 152 Points, 5 votes, One #1
Tie
91 Raspberry Bulbs - Privacy 155 Points, 6 votes
91 Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII 155 Points, 6 votes
90 A Pregnant Light - My Game Doesn't Have A Name 156 Points, 4 votes, 1 #1
89 Conan - Blood Eagle 157 Points, 5 votes
88 Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestite 157 Points, 6 votes
87 Wo Fat - The Conjuring 158 Points, 5 votes
86 Karma To Burn - Arch Stanton 160 Points, 4 votes
85 Monster Magnet - Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol 160 Points, 5 votes
84 At The Gates - At War With Reality 161 Points, 5 votes
83 Rigor Mortis - Slaves To The Grave 161 Points, 6 votes
82 Hands Of Orlac - Figli Del Crepuscolo 162 Points, 5 votes
TIE
80 Saor - Aura 163 Points , 5 votes
80 The Great Old Ones - TEKELI-LI 163 Points, 5 votes

some good albums there worth checking out

Must check out that Raspberry Bulbs album. I loved that punky, garage-y Bone Awl stuff.

Saor seems nice.

I might need to listen more but I think my issue with Lantlos was that I wanted the vocalist to either be a better singer or to just scream instead. I realize that many people hate the combination of black metal screaming over shoegazey guitars but tbh, I think I might prefer it to a lot of indie rock 'singing'.

I agree with sund4r re the voices

79 Bongripper - Miserable 163 Points, 6 votes
http://i.imgur.com/ajdl4iA.jpg
spotify:album:7lxs62K2fx7qobnJVdU0P4
http://bongripper.bandcamp.com/album/miserable

Don't know how many I'll do today. Depends if there's people around

Well it's just over 9, some of us Yanks might be sleeping in a bit later. Bit too early in the morning for Bongripper yet. They're from Chicago and they are often opening for shows I go to, but I've always showed up too late and missed them.

After 9

78 The Flight of Sleipnir - V. 168 Points, 4 votes
http://i.imgur.com/ly9poY2.jpg
spotify:album:0cqgQ6sJUozchnfJJGxS1V
http://theflightofsleipnir.bandcamp.com/

I thought V might finish higher, loved that album. god, there's so much stuff i haven't heard in the poll already.

really loved this bands last album but again was unaware there was a new one until the poll

and yes lots of stuff to check out so far. I think its a really good poll

Idk anything about those two bands

And I dont think the results are that predictable either. There was no runaway winner. its close in the top 5.

and surprising low places for some albums (and not just that at the gates album)

George I think you might like the Flight of Sleipnir.

If I had heard it earlier it woulda been high in my ballot

Great album, it probably should have been higher on my list, I think it just missed my ballot. I guess I'm not crazy about some of the vocals, but they have many of the same elements of my all-time fave Ufomammut.

Thing i love about metal poll is that a lot of the albums in the lower reaches are albums that were really high on ballots its just that not everyone heard them so they didn't get higher in the poll but it gives everyone a chance to hear them now.
Every year I heard quite a few things I love via here.

Yah I halfway suspect this will end up being my favourite stretch of the poll

it is for a lot of people whilst others just like to get to the top 20. different strokes etc

77 Skull Fist - Chasing the Dream 171 Points, 5 votes
http://i.imgur.com/wwOHP2p.jpg
spotify:album:2FgrtusUOSMIoUh0RkuY79

j3ff to thread

In a lot of polls (i think higher turnout may be the cause) albums low on peoples ballots scrape the top 100 and the handful of votes that were all high albums we get here dont place in those polls and thus make them less interesting.

Is that an ILM thing or a metal thing or just smaller amount of voters?
Or do we all have our own individual tastes rather than voting for the same big bands or this years hype bands?

It's just that the ILM metal community rules above all others.

haha no need for ilx backslapping ( i hate that part of ilx) but is there a statistical reason? I guess that's one for Glenn and Seandalai. What do you both think?

76 Myrkur - Myrkur 173 Points, 6 votes
http://i.imgur.com/YZVehT3.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/6whUmfg024Gl38G9ckicQz
http://myrkur.bandcamp.com/album/myrkur

I believe there was a wee bit of controversy due to sexism in some quarters?

Anyone got the full story?

Polls are weird bcz they tend to reward reach over devotion, if u get me...? Like, event albums that are highly publicized and build a buzz and get a lot of ppl to hear them tend to do well even if a majority of ppl don't really rate it that highly...if you hear a high profile album and don't hate it you almost feel like you ought to put it on yr ballot (or at least I do) even if it is somewhere down in the twenties or thirties, BUT it's precisely that ubiquity that allows it to do better than someone's #1 or #2 pick that only can get three or four others voters to care...

That's why I like the longer rollout' it just happens that ppl like me, Fastnbulbous, La Lechera, yournullfame, sund4r, and even EZ--all our pet albums tend to be the ones that wd be the first to be cut

xxp

All wiki say is Myrkur is the one-woman black metal musical act of Danish musician Amalie Bruun.[1] Myrkur is signed to Relapse Records; initially the real-life identity of the person behind the project was kept unknown

its great stuff anyway. Another nice discovery due to this poll

All this reminded me (not to change the subject off Myrkur) that Dorthia Cottrell from Windhand released a solo album within the padt week...has anyone heard it? Is it any good?

xp interesting I might listen to that

I'd recommend this album to sund4r

next one up btw is a huge shock low entry

The Dorthia Cottrell album isn't out until March. First track, "Gold" came out this week and is amazing. I guess you'd call it Americana or dark folk or something.

http://www.stereogum.com/1724161/dorthia-cottrell-gold/mp3s/

xposts

I see absolutely no info about this Cottrell album. EZ just answered, cool.

I quite like the Myrkur EP. Not earthshattering or anything, but good. And she's now recording her debut with Kristoffer Rygg from Ulver in Oslo.

75 Opeth - Pale Communion 177 Points, 7 votes
http://i.imgur.com/SxUAua8.jpg
spotify:album:0DLImjuzdrOBQKtYLlf3C5

I assume this is more prog than metal and the older fan just dont care anymore?

This album went up and down my list like a yo-yo. Very mood dependent, but I think it's an improvement over the last one. They only played 2 cuts at the show a couple weeks ago and they sounded great! The fans seemed to be into 'em just as much as the older songs they played.

That Skull Fist was really good, really nailed the style without mocking it. If I'd made an EOY list larger than a top ten, it would've made the cut for sure.

I started reading a lot of chatter about Flight of Sleipnir late in the year thus haven't gotten around to hearing it. (Oh, I guess it just came out, now that I've checked its release date.. So that's why.)

edit: hi, Opeth. Sadly I'm one of those "old Opeth" grumps so I think I may have streamed a couple tracks from PC and that was that. MORNINGRISE FOREVER.

74 Mournful Congregation - Concrescence Of The Sophia 186 Points, 6 votes
http://i.imgur.com/8fEVmvj.jpg
http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/concrescence-of-the-sophia

Until further notice just consider my response to every result, "oh yeah I need to hear that."

I'm with Devilock, there's a ton of albums I apparently missed out on. And I completely forgot Mourthful Congregation made a new album.

Polls are weird bcz they tend to reward reach over devotion, if u get me...? Like, event albums that are highly publicized and build a buzz and get a lot of ppl to hear them tend to do well even if a majority of ppl don't really rate it that highly...if you hear a high profile album and don't hate it you almost feel like you ought to put it on yr ballot (or at least I do) even if it is somewhere down in the twenties or thirties, BUT it's precisely that ubiquity that allows it to do better than someone's #1 or #2 pick that only can get three or four others voters to care...

That's why I like the longer rollout' it just happens that ppl like me, Fastnbulbous, La Lechera, yournullfame, sund4r, and even EZ--all our pet albums tend to be the ones that wd be the first to be cut

― wonderful about a proletariat-Vorticist version of James Brown (Drugs A. Money),

That Skull Fist was really good, really nailed the style without mocking it. If I'd made an EOY list larger than a top ten, it would've made the cut for sure.

― tongues flowering (Devilock),

I wonder if it's because all magazine lists, P&J etc have a small amount of votes allowed.
In this poll you can have up to 50 votes so those big event albums that ppl dont think are that great but feel they got to include that george talks about could still get in a ballot but lower down and the lesser known albums they do like can get a boost.
All polls could benefit from that I think.

73 Petrychor - Makrokosmos 189 Points, 5 votes
http://i.imgur.com/lovYHS5.jpg
http://petrychor.bandcamp.com/album/makrokosmos

The intersection of cosmic and terrestrial influences, music of and from the stars and how we relate to them from our position on Earth. Rest well and travel far, for though you at times may feel that you are without company, hopefully these sounds will remind you that there are others scattered across the globe, who are on a similar journey. Share in it.
credits
released 10 July 2014

Everything: Tad Piecka