2019 Metal ’n’ Heavy Rock/Heavy Music Poll: RESULTS - Top 100 Countdown

This is great and I really don't like thrash metal. Super fun and maximalist

These guys have the perfect balance of nimble lightness and crushing heaviness, aided by the fact that they seem to take themselves with exactly the correct level of seriousness.

31
The Lord Weird Slough Feg - New Organon
235 points, 6 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1409964742_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/551FoxUGrJq2lYz1tvm6iF
https://thelordweirdsloughfeg.bandcamp.com

http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2019/05/24/the-lord-weird-slough-feg-new-organon-review-track-premiere/

For nigh on 30 years, The Lord Weird Slough Feg have served the greater good as classic metal’s gift to heavy rock. Or are they classic rock’s gift to heavy metal? Or metal’s gift to heavy? Plus Celtic influences? Whatever. The point is, across 10 full-lengths and a swath of other singles and splits, etc., the band have become one-of-a-kind practitioners of the metallic arts. New Organon is the San Francisco-based outfit’s first long-player in the five years since 2014’s Digital Resistance (review here) came out on Metal Blade, and it finds them reunited with Cruz del Sur Music for the first since 2009’s Ape Uprising! and 2007’s Hardworlder. It’s a solid fit, considering Slough Feg‘s traditionalist approach, and New Organon feels like a purposeful stripping down of tones and general vibe. Perhaps unsurprisingly to those familiar with Slough Feg‘s work, that suits the material well.

Across 10 tracks and a LP-prime 37 minutes, the four-piece of founding guitarist/vocalist Mike Scalzi, fellow guitarist Angelo Tringali, bassist Adrian Maestas — who takes a lead vocal on side B’s “Uncanny” — and relatively-new drummer Jeff Griffin (John Dust also plays on the album), set about renewing the faith of the denim-clad faithful while at the same time mining the lecture notes of Scalzi, a philosophy professor, for lyrical themes. From the Rousseau through Sartre, Plato through Francis Bacon, from whose work the title derives, Scalzi turns cerebral and existential query into the stuff of fist-pumping proto-thrash and heavy rock and roll. It does not seem like a coincidence that they should re-don their full moniker for the effort, having gone simply by Slough Feg since 2005’s Atavism instead of the full The Lord Weird Slough Feg, since the atmosphere in the clear but sans-frills production and the basic structure of the songs is no less directed to the band’s own roots than those of heavy metal itself. They are among the most woefully underappreciated acts in metal, too bizarre it would seem even for the most brazen of self-declared nonconformists, but all the more righteous for standing alone.

30 years, eh? I'd never heard of them tbh, philistine that I am.

xoth record looks riiiight up my alley

too low

an ilx favourite too. Their albums have made all the polls since metal poll began.
They made the all-time metal poll too which annoyed the late lamented 'Bill Magill'.

I liked the previous album but that felt like all the Slough Feg I'd ever need, tbh

I preferred older Slough Feg

A band that never delivers under a solid 8/10 imo

30
Darkthrone - Old Star
246 points, 8 votes

https://peaceville.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cover-800x800.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/1uGGIlXpl6sldjRjKUv8vR

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/darkthrone-old-star/

Norwegian metal duo Darkthrone’s career has been a long, strange trip, one that’s always hinged upon the relationship between two rock’n’roll obsessives from Kolbotn. The band’s sound has morphed from the grating, lo-fi black metal barbarism that won them international acclaim in the 1990s into a looser, black metal/punk vibe that debuted on 2006’s The Cult Is Alive and injected new life into their career. Since then, they’ve ditched their more abrasive tendencies in favor of a sonic mish-mash that trumpets the duo’s joyful debt to classic heavy metal to the rafters.

Darkthrone’s 18th album, Old Star—which perennial mouthpiece Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell has described as the band’s “most ’80s album so far”—is a celebration of their storied past, produced by Ted “Nocturno Culto” Skjellum in his own Necrohell 2 Studios and polished by veteran knob-twiddlers Sanford Parker’s mix and Jack Control’s mastering job. Both members of Darkthrone share vocal, guitar, and bass duties (with Fenriz also putting in time on the drums), and over the years, they have forged the kind of bond most musicians can only dream about. This new album is in line with what fans of the band’s more recent (as in, post-2006) material have come to expect, but with a new twist—namely, the outsized impact that traditional doom bands like Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus seem to have had on the songwriting. Darkthrone still stand firmly in the heavy metal (with a dash of punk) camp, but they’ve definitely got a soft spot for old-school gloom.

There’s a melodic strain running through Old Star, particularly on tracks like the delectably doomy “Alp Man” (which suits Nocturno Culto’s breathy rasp) and the up-tempo “Duke of Gloat” (two of several delightfully nonsensical titles on this release. What is an “alp man”? We’ll never know!). “Duke of Gloat” is also the only track on Old Star that could convincingly be labeled “black metal”; despite Darkthrone’s roots in the second wave, their status as genre godfathers, and the designation on their label’s promo materials, the duo’s true Norwegian black metal days are long over. However, with its icy, mid-tempo malevolence and Satanic bent, this song is a thrilling reminder of past evils.

Didn't make my ballot but it's their best album in ages.

Too bad the whole album isn't quite on the same level as 'The Hardship of the Scots'.

I definitely take these guys for granted. Thought this was great and never remotely considered voting for it.

I think with older established acts we compare them to the old 'classic albums' and we overrate 'new' acts with 'potential'. So the older acts are a bit more middling in our ballots.

There are exceptions obviously.

That is undoubtedly true.

we are all obsessed with finding new artists and perhaps we neglect older acts a bit?

of course metal fans are generally quite loyal to bands we liked so we still buy them, go see them yet when it comes to polls we definitely favour new to us acts

I think that goes double for acts whose sound barely nudges over decades. (Not a criticism!)

or newish bands with a long career like darkthrone or maiden etc we wont vote highly for unless they do make a career high (Celtic Frost a good example of that)

-newish

Speaking of older bands…

21-40 does always seem to be the dependable's range

29
Opeth - In cauda venenum
249 points, 7 votes

https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Opeth-In-Cauda-Venenum.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/0NAN3xcePJlVbTY1YaXCqK

https://thequietus.com/articles/27175-opeth-in-cauda-venenum-review

With the release of In Cauda Venenum, we are now four albums deep into Opeth’s discography sans extreme metal. And yet, many fans of the Swedish band’s earlier albums will still bray online about the lack of blast-beats, Azagthothian riffs, and death growls on Opeth’s latest progressive rock LP – eleven years on since those elements last appeared on record.

Without question, Opeth – a band that truly deserves the much-abused “progressive” tag – existed on a different plane than most of their extreme metal peers during the mid-90s/00s. Their sense of the baroque, their Scandinavian/British folk flourishes, the musty draw of their keen Jethro Tull/Rush/Camel/Yes/King Crimson prog gestures, their psychedelic and hard rock touches… were all just as essential to the band’s distinctive sound as the death metal that acted as its incendiary grounding.

Interestingly, unlike Alcest, the French post-black metal band that suppressed their metal side on 2014’s Shelter while fully illuminating their shoegaze inspirations, only to swiftly revert back, Opeth didn’t lose what made them so idiosyncratic when they sidestepped extremity; the sense of compositional adventure and the dexterous, magical musicianship continued, albeit in a different form, with altered or enhanced dimensions. While Sorceress (2016) leaned profoundly on psychedelic rock, classic rock and neofolk influences and was perhaps too understated and dour following the sublimely elaborate prog expanse of Pale Communion (2014), In Cauda Venenum is another imposing milestone in Opeth’s rather gleaming back catalogue.

and yeah obviously I was aware with what was coming up next :)

That a cracking cover. Its like looking at a scene from Murdoch Mysteries

Agreed. Another one that could have made my ballot if I hadn't gone on a mad binge last year.

I'm going to do the Opeth deep dive this year I think

Although if they have a track better than The Baying Of The Hounds I'll be surprised

"April Ethereal" is forever my fav.

This new one was great

I thought you would be all over them LJ. Is it the fact they used to be a death metal band that put you off?

'The X of Y' is such a prog/metal title structure.

This is their best post-growly vox release yet imo

X of Y forever!!

They were really good last night.

That a cracking cover. Its like looking at a scene from Murdoch Mysteries

Everyone in the house wanted to be the eerie silhouette at the window at the same time.

More oldies!

Two more coming up, to be exact.

28
Blut aus Nord - Hallucinogen
262 points, 7 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1199731476_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/7JE1WpvUTOU06F2CoL5JgB
https://blutausnord.bandcamp.com/album/hallucinogen

The trick is to keep moving. A quarter of a century into their careers, French black metallers Blut Aus Nord have left a stunning trail of records behind, shifting in strange directions with each of them, unafraid to wander off into uncharted territories in search of the next fresh sound. They mastered filthy, industrial-tinged dissonance on The Work Which Transforms God, collided star systems with MoRT, and stretched the limits of the genre into avant-garde sfumatos on the 777 trilogy. Simultaneously, the Memoria Vetusta series anchored them to traditional black metal. Whichever the style, the quality of their output never faltered. They could and have done whatever they wanted. Yet even in such a varied discography, their thirteenth LP Hallucinogen arrives as a sharp and expectedly unexpected detour. An ascendance to a higher celestial plane.

At first glance, the delightful psychedelic cover art and album title suggest that the Blut Aus Nord masterminds, drummer and multi-instrumentalist W.D. Feld and guitarist and vocalist Vindsval, finally went completely bonkers and created an Infected Mushroom-inspired psytrance/black metal crossover. In reality, the similarities with the Israeli duo are restricted to the music’s inspiration, earthy tones, and organic feel. Hallucinogen, for most of its duration, stays rooted in black metal, but also reaches well beyond it. Springing from ariose, vibrating escapades reminiscent of Memoria Vetusta, the eight cuts become heavy mescaline hits laced with psych rock, blues, blackgaze, and funk. It is an approach that has more in common with heady trips like Waste of Space Orchestra’s Syntheosis than any of the group’s previous releases. In that sense, the opener “Nomos Nebuleam” is the perfect introduction to the new style. Incisive and melodic, Vindsval’s incredible leads and solos drive the cut. Meanwhile, tremolos buzz above and below him, frame floating chants, blossom into gorgeous melodies, and finally descend into rocking repetitions: hypnotic, mind-bending, and captivating.

Decent but it's no Cosmosophy is it

lol time for a bunch of stuff at the bottom of my ballot to place i guess. opeth was their best in years regardless. hallucinogen is like memoria vetusta iv

This was somewhere in the middle of my ballot. Very good as always, but not quite mind-blowing.

I actually haven't heard that one yet! I started making my way through his releases chronologically and suddenly stopped at the first vol. of 777.

2xp

lol time for a bunch of stuff at the bottom of my ballot to place i guess. opeth was their best in years regardless. hallucinogen is like memoria vetusta iv

― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 27 February 2020 18:04 (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I suspect brad is to blame for the next couple

Before we return to the almost-boomer-core, here's something for the young'ins…

27
BABYMETAL - METAL GALAXY
266 points, 8 votes

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/814-bvmQRbL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/6rxRhft7JZtXavzHP2g2el

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/babymetal-metal-galaxy/

On their unruly 2014 debut, the Japanese pop-metal outfit Babymetal pinballed from blastbeat belligerence to chiptune clap-alongs, adding a trap interlude for extra cultural currency. Two years later, they fortified the follow-up, Metal Resistance, with power ballads and alt-rock anthems. Their indiscriminate approach to approachability worked: Babymetal count Robs Zombie and Halford as fans, and their brutally cute ode to chocolate ranks as one of this decade’s essential viral oddities. On the day they released their third record, Metal Galaxy, they headlined The Forum.

Metal Galaxy is a loose concept album about being dispatched to a distant part of the universe. “We are on an odyssey to the Metal Galaxy/Please fasten your neck brace,” they greet us over a Sleigh Bells-sized, guitar-and-sequencer stomp. But then, that thread mostly disappears, and the real conceit emerges: After touring the world, Babymetal recruit a half-dozen international collaborators to widen their musical net even further. There is a guest verse from Thai rapper F.Hero on “Pa Pa Ya!!” and faceless growling from Canadian grunter Alissa White-Gluz on “Distortion,” which sounds like a Hot Topic-commissioned cover of Taylor Swift. Without the help of guests, Babymetal nod to Bollywood and the Miami Sound Machine. It is an exultant, near-absolute mess.

Now a duo after the mysterious departure of Yuimetal last year, Babymetal are still at their best when they hover around their initial idea—harnessing the energy of metal and J-Pop into high-flying hybrids. Metal Galaxy’s closing stretch of songs do just that; the arcing “Kagerou” boasts one of their most undeniable choruses, and you can visualize the epic sweep of stage lights and lighter-wielding throngs on “Shine.” Babymetal have rarely sounded as natural or convincing as they do in these moments.

266 points is babysteps to 666

lol, touché.

I've still managed to never hear a note of this band (afaik).

I haven't heard this, actually, because, well, it's just… How is it?