THE ILM METAL POLL 2011 RESULTS (All lurkers/non metalheads welcome to join in!)

35. Morne - Asylum (557 Points, 19 Votes)
http://www.code7music.com/store/images/Morne_Cover_HighRes.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/morne

Morne was a concept that began with many trials and tribulations. The band was founded by Milosz Gassan in 2005, and while there were many interested individuals in making the project happen, only one lineup had the dedication and passion to make the band a reality. In 2007, Milosz was joined by Max Furst (bass) and Kevin Adams (drums) and it was here where Morne began to create and develop the band’s distinct sound heard today. After just a few months of rehearsal, the band entered a studio to record their first demo. As time went on, the songs continued to further shape and evolve. In the following summer of 2008, Morne was joined by Jeff Hayward right before the band’s first formal studio recording session for a split 12” with the UK band Warprayer.

After brief touring and intensive rehearsal, Morne finally unveiled their debut full-length album “Untold Wait” in late 2009. The album was the culmination of over 2 years efforts and hard work as a group. Morne also invited guest musicians Kris Force and Alicia Morgan to contribute their talents and signatures to further the album’s vast concept. Due to artistic and personal differences, the band parted ways with Kevin prior to the album’s release. In his place, Erik Larson stepped up to substitute for their first European tour in the summer of 2009. After nearly one year without a permanent drummer, Morne was joined by Billy Knockenhauer in September of 2010 to perform with the band full-time. The band has also since been joined by Ian Shultz to fulfill the role of permanent keyboard and sound manipulation, helping to complete the band’s live sound.

Morne released their second album Asylum in 2011
www.reverbnation.com/mornecrust
www.morneband.com
www.myspace.com/mornecrust
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Morne/215460167565?ref=mf

bloody brilliant crust/sludge album it is too.

i think sean might be a fan too?

Several of mine in this run. I was the #1 for BSC, both here and in the P&J, so Jeff and his paltry #2 have nothing to brag about. Mitochondrion is right up there with Leviathan in arresting ugliness. Dalriada had probably my favorite straight folk-metal record, and I think they've been one of the best at that genre for a while now. Thy Catafalque are in a bizarro world all their own.

fenriz is really into morne

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lcrtiuQxLy1qf51vqo1_400.gif

haha nice

34. Sólstafir - Svartir Sandar (558 Points, 16 Votes, 1 #1)
http://ring.cdandlp.com/greyarea/photo_grande/115029848.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/S%C3%B3lstafir

Sólstafir is a metal band from Reykjavík, Iceland which formed in 1995 and currently has four full length releases. The band’s unique style has made it hard to categorize Sólstafir into a specific genre or group of genres.

Sólstafir were formed by 3 friends, Aðalbjörn Tryggvason, Halldór Einarsson and Guðmundur Óli Pálmason in January 1995.

Most critics also had a hard time pinpointing Sólstafir’s music into a specific genre.

Sólstafir’s 4th full length album “Svartir Sandar” will be released on Season of Mist on October 14th in Europe and October 18th in North America.

Superb album.

Discovered the Morne pretty late in the year, but I like it!

Orchid - like, sounds straight outta the 70s
Condenados - like!
Devil - weird vocals, but +/- like

HELL YES solstafir

33. Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore (564 Points, 19 Votes)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-naraRe42ssM/Trbvx-36v-I/AAAAAAAAI60/T-qo2e9srEo/s1600/Cover.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/leviathan

Leviathan, aka Wrest, is a one-man black metal project from San Francisco, California. The band was brought to life in 1998 and was put on hold in Oct. 2007 due to a legal dispute with the record label. Wrest brought the project back in January 2008 to release the latest album. Wrest plays every instrument found in Leviathan’s music; guitar (electric + acoustic), drums, bass, synths, and vocals.

As of January 9th, Wrest was arrested and charged with raping his girlfriend with his tattoo tools as well as assaulting her.

so i think we will move on

32. Cauldron - Burning Fortune (580 Points, 20 Votes)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wAYcA7CQZWU/TVpQs9-ZsjI/AAAAAAAADoE/NMeHObzvwM4/s1600/CAPA.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/cauldron

Trad heavy metal/doom

and it rules. Chuck didn't vote here but it was his P&J #1

I found the Leviathan to be a pretty weak record.

album cover has a total Bad News video vibe LOL
xp

I thought the Leviathan record was pretty stunning. It and the Mitochondrion album both just barely dropped off my P&J ballot because I'm basically a goopy romantic and there were enough happier things I liked just a tiny bit better. But both are well worth hearing. Wrest's legal issues are an interesting side-issue, but I think if you listen to violent, angry music, you can't really get too offended if it occasionally turns out that its practitioners are accused of doing something violent or angry.

btw Cauldron have a song called "Tears Have Come" but the vocalist appears to be singing "Tears of Cum"

yes emil.y. I will play that song for you in outloud room tonight

31. In Solitude - The World. The Flesh. The Devil (594 Points, 18 Votes)
http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2011/05/In-Solitude-The-World-The-Flesh-The-Devil.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/in+solitude

In Solitude was formed in 2002 in Uppsala, Sweden. The band has released three different demo tapes, followed by the 7” single “Hidden Dangers” on SMP Records including the two songs “Kathedral” and the classic “Hidden Danger (In the Night)”. If you listen to In Solitude’s brand of complex, high-class heavy metal with high-pitched singing, one band springs to your mind immediately: Mercyful Fate. After the demo tapes and the 7” single, In Solitude have taken the next logical step in releasing a full-length album. The vinyl version was released by High Roller Records, the CD came out via Pure Steel Records.
The World. The Flesh. The Devil was released in 2011.

http://www.myspace.com/InSolitudeHeavyMetal

Another great album.

Cauldron rules. Any young band that loves Dokken and Thor is okay by me.

30. Primordial - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand (594 Points, 24 Votes)
http://www.metalblade.com/primordialstream/images/image01.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/primordial

Primordial is a Pagan Folk Black Metal band founded in 1987 from County Dublin. They play a unique style of Pagan an History metal, which can best be described as a blend of black and folk metal with strong influences from their Irish roots. Their music and lyrics deal with cultural heritage, struggle, Celtic.

I thought that would place higher! I knew it was coming though. I like them a lot.

Okay, here's something I don't get. While the dude from Leviathan does seem like a prick in interviews, and if he is guilty he is a scumbag of the highest order, he hasn't actually been convicted of the crime yet (innocent until proven guilty and all that), so I'm not sure why you said we should just move on from him whereas you didn't say something similar about Varg, the convicted unrepentant murdering Nazi scumbag?

Yeah, I thought Primordial would rank higher.

welllll did you read the burzum write-up?

There is no point in talking about wrest until his court case.

29. Autopsy - Macabre Eternal (602 Points, 23 Votes)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jjw1LzROAGY/TdIMaboga4I/AAAAAAAAC1Y/I11u07kOR-k/s1600/Autopsy-Macabre-Eternal-e1301176685928.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Autopsy

Autopsy is an influential death metal band, founded in 1987 in the United States by Chris Reifert after leaving Death. Beginning their career with the ‘Severed Survival’ LP, Autopsy took on a sound similar to that of Scream Bloody Gore era Death, but soon moved on to a doom metal influenced sound for the ‘Retribution For The Dead’ EP. The next full-length, ‘Mental Funeral’, would expand on Autopsy’s “death doom” style of metal, and was met with great critical acclaim. Having completed a successful European tour soon after Mental Funeral, the band reentered the studio to record the ‘Fiend for Blood’ EP, which was followed by their third full-length, ‘Acts Of The Unspeakable’. Autopsy’s last album, 1994’s ‘Shitfun’, was heavily influenced by hardcore punk and would prepare fans for Abscess, Danny Coralles and Chris Reifert’s project after Autopsy’s demise in 1995 ,but as of July 2009, have reunited and 'Macabre Eternal ' was released in 2011

I disagree with that actually, because this album is practically begging you to think about what he was charged with. Plus his recent interviews really place him in an unflattering light, even if it ends up with all charges being dropped. I just can't imagine someone with these type of charges hanging over his head so publicly calling attention to it.

(xpost re wrest)

\m/

Fucking love that Autopsy album!

I know it's Autopsy and all, but I wasn't really impressed.

Mainly vocal wise I think.

I think the Exhumed album is so much better than the Autopsy one.

Happy to see a few of these make it - Cauldron and In Solitude being classic metal of the highest order. Am surprised a bit by Primordial being this low; I figured it for a top 10 or top 15 placement.

This is a bit of what I wrote about Primordial in my own year-end list:

It’s the record they’ve been leading up to, one that forges ahead with something singular, raw, and I have to say (and love doing so) primordial. This is an album that leaves me physically tired, a worn and brusied feeling in my bones. I’m in awe of the fact that Alan Averill manages the nearly impossible task of melodic bellowing, creating a tuneful wail of unmatched intensity. There are plentiful hooks, and some subtle shifts in beat and tempo that cause me to catch my breath even though I know full well when they are coming. Another band reaching a career high, and I hope they have no plans on stopping.

and In Solitude:

I like Mercyful Fate, but not as much as these Swedes like Mercyful Fate. It’s almost a tribute, but after a while I realized it was just such a solid foundation that I can’t believe more bands haven’t taken that blueprint and laid their own floor plan on top of it. Again, it’s 80s metal, modernized in recording technique and minus the hated gated drums. I’m a sucker for harmonic riffing, and these guys interweave it just enough to catch my ear and make my heart skip a beat. May traditional metal never die.

Haven't heard that yet, but as far as doomy death goes I like reformed Asphyx better than reformed Autopsy.

(xpost)

Why would I actually make sure I had my facts straight before going on a long, poorly phrased rant?

haha

28. Today Is the Day - Pain Is a Warning (614 Points, 19 Votes, 1 #1)
http://www.dormitiondesigns.com/images/reviews/todayistheday.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/Today+Is+The+Day

Today Is The Day is an experimental rock/metal band founded by Steve Austin and Brad Elrod. The band saw its beginnings take root in Nashville, Tennessee in the early 1990s when Today Is The Day released their debut EP, entitled How To Win Friends And Influence People, in 1992. This self-financed release garnered the attention of Amphetamine Reptile Records (AmRep) who signed the band (at this time consisting of Austin on vocals and guitar, Brad Elrod on drums and percussion, and Mike Herrell on bass) in February 1993 and released the full-length Supernova later that year.

yes,bassist Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor of Mastodon used to be in the band.

thread needs henry

Another one I thought would place higher.

my number one, and henrys as well.

its an ILM poll. Some stuff places higher than expected some lower and some not at all.

I am expecting a number one placement for Turisas.

btw anyone with even a passing interest in the noisier side of things really really needs to hear that today is the day album. and all the other today is the day albums for that matter.

agreed. today is the day rule

This one is definitely their most accessible. Total rock 'n roll groove going on.

27. Grayceon - All We Destroy (645 Points, 19 Votes, 1 #1)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wtaisyBljuI/TV2tKbSFE_I/AAAAAAAAAC4/uOcQkV4i2U8/s1600/allWeDestroy_cover_lowres.jpeg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/grayceon

Grayceon pulls together an extremely diverse range of musical influences and writing styles to create a fresh sound that defies the boundaries of the metal/rock/progressive genres. Compared to King Crimson and Ved Buens Ende, not in sound but in ‘feel’, Grayceon embraces the hard-to-describe-them definition and expects no hard comparisons to be made any time soon.

Alternate low tuning on both cello and guitar, finger picked metal riffs, dreamy double vocals, and unpredictably impeccable drumming all meet to give Grayceon their unique sensibility.

checking out Today Is The Day on youtube - this is good. No idea why I've never given them a second glance.