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

I reckon if they made all their albums exactly half as long as they are, keeping the best stuff, they'd be a favourite of mine. Think I listened to this a bit and liked what I heard? I always like what I hear with Esoteric and very rarely finish it lol

You're too ambient-averse for the stuff to fully enshroud you, no?

Their track Circle is a monstrous masterpiece and that's 20 minutes long with plenty of ambience. I think my problem is more with the sheer amount of music

They only make an album every 5-7 years so I don't begrudge them the indulgence.

Fair enough. I tend to think of it as a feature rather than a bug but such an attitude requires some amount of self-induced suggestion (true of most aesthetic preferences tbf).

xp

This was kinda low on my ballot cause I could only set aside time for a couple listens before submitting but it's clearly a tremendous achievement from one of the most consistent bands around.

fwiw I found their previous album pretty great all the way through, this one didn't cast quite the same spell

the truth is imago isnt really a prog fan at all, he likes songs around the 8 minute mark

14

Wilderun - Veil of Imagination

351 points, 9 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0899408251_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/25EBYaYCG5egyU4BQIbWtJ

https://wilderun.bandcamp.com/album/veil-of-imagination

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wilderun-veil-of-imagination-review/

Wilderun’s Sleep at the Edge of the Earth was a revelation. The record was a powerful blend of ideas that was as enchanting as it was addictive. It was epic and sprawling and my (and the staff’s) Record o’ the Year from 2015, and it came with an elevator pitch as snappy as: “Opeth meets Turisas.” And while this is a simplification that does not do the brilliance of Sleep at the Edge of the Earth justice, it is a good reference point. Because after four years, with my understanding being that Veil of Imagination was done for at least a quarter of it, this elevator pitch does not seem to have enticed anyone to pick the band up. This is absurd, as even after Sleep at the Edge of the Earth, the band was clearly among the most exciting bands in metal. But on Veil of Imagination, Wilderun has not only grown, but they have raised the bar for what progressive and melodic death metal can be. Veil of Imagination is one of the most imaginative, beautiful and interesting records that I have ever heard.

Veil of Imagination is a complete album that is worthy of its length. While other bands have referred to their songs as “movements,” the term is the only appropriate name for what Wilderun has wrought. From the fourteen and a half minutes of “The Unimaginable Zero Summer” to the out of tune outro on “When the Fire and the Rose Were One,” everything flows with the kind of practiced grace that few bands not named Pink Floyd or Symphony X have ever accomplished. The pacing, when seen from a bird’s eye view, is genius. Whether Wilderun recapitulates a riff which transitions perfectly between songs (“O Resolution!” to “Sleeping Ambassadors of the Sun”), or subtly changes key and feel over the course of three minutes before merging into the next movement (“Scentless Core (Fading)” to “The Tyranny of Imagination”), the transitions are brilliant and seem effortless. Veil of Imagination even has a three act feel. The first three tracks spend most of their time in 6/8; that unmistakably Opethian swing (clearest on “The Unimaginable Zero Summer”). The next three tracks comprise Act II with a majestic and powerful Turisasian flare (“Far from Where Dreams Unfurl”). And finally, Act III is comprised of “The Tyranny of Imagination” and “When the Fire and the Rose Were One,” which emphasize dissonance and consonance. These sounds, of course, blend throughout the album, but each act has its own emphasis.

the truth is imago isnt really a prog fan at all, he likes songs around the 8 minute mark

Dayum, shots fired.

Well here it is then

"Opeth meets Turisas.”

Whither Jeff T?

I mean this is my #1 and I consider it an all-time feat of metal songwriting, but yes, the average song length is about 8 minutes, you have been warned

Was I the first to mention them on Rolling Metal?

Their last album was really good but comparatively modest, even quaint. This sucker is massive in every sense.

It's more Opeth meets Cardiacs btw. The singer more or less confirmed when I joined a Discord listening party to ask him about it. Yeah I'm lame enough to do that #notsorry

More sublime than annoying, but with an indelible dash of the latter. At first I thought I'd never want to hear it again, then it cracked my top 10 before ultimately nestling at #20.

8 minutes? that's how long the intro should be!

So next up is the best album by a band in years

13

Alcest - Spiritual Instinct

357 points, 11 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3962441999_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/54wQ1ifimLwrohkH9ImlSX

https://alcest.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-instinct

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/alcest-spiritual-instinct-review/

There is a point during the first minute of “Les Jardins De Minuit,” the opening track of Alcest’s sixth LP Spiritual Instinct, when the French duo’s stylish cohesion of shoegaze, black metal, and pop elements reaches a zenith. A digging, revolving bass line, shy, fluttering tremolos, and ethereal vocal harmonies all surge into a striking atmospheric black metal melody. It’s a moving instant, one that is candidly emotional yet eschewing of kitsch and banal melodrama. Instead, it feels earned and lived in. Throughout their career as Alcest and helped by gradual fluctuations in style, French multi-instrumentalist Neige and drummer Winterhalter have been cultivating a deep sense of beauty and unfiltered sentiment. An exploration of sonic poetry in the vein of The Lake Poets, unmistakably filled with a romantic ache, a longing, and an expression of beauty and infatuation with the world so deep it hurts. Looking back at their previous work, Spiritual Instinct appears as one of the purest manifestations of this search.

Compared to 2016’s wonderful Kodama, Spiritual Instinct is an album that is embalmed in lighter tones and motifs, charmingly optimistic against Neige’s often morose themes. Where Kodama was overwhelmingly mournful and draped in hazy overtones, Alcest here embrace a more direct musical approach right from the start. On the aforementioned “Les Jardins De Minuit,” dispersed vocals, punctuating blast beats, and sharp tremolos mesh with clean and growled vocals—evoking in many ways the band’s early records—before a break and goosebumps-inducing leads guide us through an instrumental, faintly progressive part. “Night collapses as a / Suspended tapestry / And I hear / Roars within / And I struggle / And fight / The shadows / Piercing us / Like arrows,” Neige sings (in French) on “Protection,” but despite the heaviness of his words, the feeling they project is not that of mourning nor surrender. Accompanied by an energetic, unusually dynamic rhythmic backdrop, the emphasis of the lyrics and the inflection of the delivery shift, peeling layers of meaning and opening them to the world.

Yep, incredibly solid from beginning to end. Lots of older bands put out excellent albums last year, come to think of it.

Yeah, I agree with that. But for some reason that doesn't excite people who live for new artists to merge. Is that just an ILM thing?

It still made the top 20, but we all do privilege the new for some reason and I wonder why that is.

Maybe one for TT to answer?

Nah, I think it's fairly ubiquitous. Novelty is exciting in and of itself, I suppose. If anything, I'd say older bands did quite well in this poll so far.

12

Vastum - Orificial Purge

369 points, 10 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1704940385_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/0XHUl6yQ2B4jUnrmTo9DVW

https://vastum.bandcamp.com/album/orificial-purge

https://www.indymetalvault.com/2019/10/08/album-review-vastum-orificial-purge/

I’m going to be completely honest with y’all here, when the latest batch of promos was posted up, I pounced on this the instant I read the name. “Fuck yeah!” I said, “Trance of Death absolutely fucking smashed, they were one of the unsung gems of 2017, I definitely want that one.” I realized pretty quickly that they’d undergone a pretty noticeable shift in sound, with Orificial Purge being much murkier and abstract than their previous album, which was a bit more outwardly destructive. But, to my utter embarrassment, it actually wasn’t until I started writing this review that I actually did some research into the band and realized they didn’t release anything in 2017. Yeah, I got Vastum mixed up with Venenum. Well, there’s half the review you gotta rewrite, moron.

Anyway, Vastum’s upcoming fourth album, Orificial Purge, is quite good. If there’s any real flaw, it’s that I could clock that it was released on 20 Buck Spin within a few seconds of listening. There’s nothing wrong with a label having an identity, but man, you can spot their death metal representatives a mile away. Regardless, even their worst release is still solid, so I knew I was in for a good time and wasn’t disappointed. Like labelmates Tomb Mold, Cerebral Rot, and Fetid, Vastum specializes in a very “brown” sounding death metal. It’s hard to describe without pretentious abstraction, but I hear a band like Vastum, and instead of the vibrant “red” flowing blood and gore of most death metal, I can only think of vile and disgusting infections, greenish “brown” sores and open wounds that have decayed into something resembling three-day-old guacamole. There are more traditionally straightforward moments here and there like the Cannibal Corpse-esque “Abscess Inside Us,” but for the most part, these songs are presented more as a swirling morass of putridity. The riffs and twisted into brutally alien forms and thrown at you four at a time. That’s not to say they come at you rapid-fire, because they really don’t. Vastum spends maybe half the runtime playing at full speed, instead putting a lot of effort into crawling passages that drip with filth in a way that recalls Autopsy’s best work.

Good album, kind of overrated tho tbh.

pom, no. i heart leila & shelby

Fuck yeah, my #5. Basically my platonic ideal for DM.

they didn't top hole below with this one, no one did afaict, still the most gifted death metal band in a long time, and they don't even know it. 4 stunning albums in a row

hookless in comparison, but masters of suggestion, they went hard with the gravitational atmosphere empty breast was hinting at, which, who would think, fuckin crushes.my#4

I had Vastum in my top 10, but I was just listening to it again this morning and thinking I should have rated it higher.

It ticks all the right boxes for me too and I love Leila’s solo work but this one just didn’t stick.

11

Botanist - Ecosystem

379 points, 13 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2440025988_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/2lTG63edSmiHyzbYWPqOWT

https://verdant-realm-botanist.bandcamp.com/album/ecosystem

https://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2019/10/14/botanist-ecosystem/

Uniqueness is often conflated with interesting ideas in our modern music consumption landscape. There’s plenty of experimental music that, while undeniably different, is pretty deniably good. I’ve encountered albums of all-acoustic black metal and blackened trip-hop on my travels, both of which defied the norms of their genres but were hardly well-executed or engaging.

All that said, there’s still virtue in risk-taking when it comes to music, something that Botanist have done consistently throughout their short but prolific career. The group has tinkered with the post-black metal formula in a different way than their Bay Area peers like Bosse-de-Nage and Deafheaven. Of course, they’re most well-known for their instrumental choices, opting for hammered dulcimers rather than the genre’s textbook guitar tremolo attacks.

But beyond this, Botanist have carved their own unique, striking lane of post-black and blackgaze. The atmospheres and progressions the band unravel conjure heavy dream pop and ethereal wave vibes, akin to Alcest with a much more raw, earnest sound; imagine a wise druid instead of a flighty tree sprite. The band have developed their style significantly from lo-fi double album I: The Suicide Tree / II: A Rose From the Dead to recent, higher budget highlights like VI: Flora and Collective: The Shape of He to Come.

Ecosystem is yet another excellent development in this journey. Furthermore, it further demonstrates how versatile Botanist can be with their signature, dulcimer-led sound. As exhibited on opener “Biomass,” the instrument can be delicate and melodic one moment and then contribute to a larger, sweeping musical flourish the next. It somehow holds a similar and contrasting role to traditional black metal guitar, creating the genre’s signature atmosphere while maintaining a bright, resonant tone unlike any other instrument in metal. It’s almost like a prettier, more reserved harpsichord.

I frankly hated Shape and didn’t even bother with this one.

tbh this one was the first botanist album i've heard

my #5

and yeah it went from good to woah, in a minute. had to vote for

It might even be their best, if not, its not far off.

Thanks for doing these, Neech. I'm going to kick off the top 10 in a few mins.

10
Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
381 points, 12 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4260823379_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/3QuHkSB1KueSxekHj3rRoA
https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/the-palms-of-sorrowed-kings

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/obsequiae-the-palms-of-sorrowed-kings-review/

Back in 2015 I was taken off guard and enchanted by the superb sophomore album from Obsequiae, entitled Aria of Vernal Tombs, which marked a strong improvement over their impressive debut. Despite operating a bit outside my regular wheelhouse, the album’s raw blend of folky and medieval melodic black metal struck a chord that left me gobsmacked, gushing over the album’s elegant melodies, accomplished song-writing and earthy tones. Perhaps most impressive of all, was Obsequiae‘s ability to transport the listener back in time, bringing full immersion into their medieval inspired world, replete with ancient harp melodies and some truly epic guitar work. Well finally the band have awoken from their slumber, returning to the ye olden days with another taut yet epic collection of melodic black metal tunes on their long awaited third album, The Palms of Sorrowed Kings.

Masterminded by Tanner Anderson (vocals, guitars, bass), the trio deliver another enthralling collection of epic, guitar-driven metal songs. Stylistically not deviating far from its predecessor, The Palms of Sorrowed Kings hits the ground running, as Obsequiae‘s sprightly melodic black metal gallops, bounces and writhes with wonderful energy, infectiousness and intricacy, riddled with folky and progressive elements revealing further layers of depth. Like Aria of Vernal Tombs, the album is interspersed with beautifully rendered, medieval harp-led interludes, courtesy of Vicente La Camera Mariño, that chain the album’s sleek and classy metal songs together, lending weight to the captivating and authentically-aged sounding atmosphere. The main guts of the album however feature full-fledged melodic black gems, imbued with the band’s spellbinding  melodic flair and medieval charm. What they lack in the frosty bleakness and rage of traditional Scandinavian black metal, Obsequiae make up for in their uniquely human and thought-provoking exploration of the blackened arts, akin to the vibes of Nechochwen or Saor, while comfortably maintaining their own identity.

Hopefully more posters will be around to chat! Lurkers who aren't regular metal heads or even voters are most welcome to join in!

folk-metal?

I'm a sucker for medieval BM and this was last year's cream of the crop.

This felt like a step back but I ought to revisit

I haven't heard their previous albums, so I hope you're right!

AOVT was some weird and lovely fare

I don't think this Obsequiae was as good as the last one.

only two things left on my list to place, and one of them is probably no. 1

Loved this and voted for it but it was also the first thing I've heard from em. Will have to dig into their back catalog then.

Up next: expect the unexpected. Any guesses?

Maybe everyone heard 2 Akasha songs and threw them into their top 10 immediately like I did

Attila - Villain