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

69. Witch Mountain

It’s getting called doom because it leans toward the slow and heavy sound of the early 70s, but there are some things they do that other doom bands rarely aim for or achieve. Firstly, they swing like motherfuckers (something Sabbath doesn’t get enough credit for, by the way). Nate Carson’s drumming and Dave Hoopaugh’s bass are one unit, the pocket so enveloping it’s like a 40 Hz womb. Secondly, Rob Wrong’s guitar is one of the least Iommi-inspired of anyone mining that “Hand Of Doom” vein; there is a lot of psychedelic rock in his sound (listen to that fuzz and feedback), to these ears owing more to the Hendrix/Uli Jon Roth lineage than the Iommi/Wino side of things. Top that off with vocalist Uta Plotkin’s power blues delivery and this ain’t your everyday doom band.

EZ Snappin -- you get it, and you are too kind!

One last reminder to vote in the big ILM poll. Voting closes tonight and without giving anything away, there are a good number of metal albums that would benefit from one or two extra votes...

Glad you liked my description Nate! A year after our long talk about "the pocket" it was nice to see you guys come out with the best example in ages.

Yeah I forgot about Arabrot and Amebix. Substitute them for Lo-Pan and White Wizzard in the 21-25 slot. Maybe Megadeth? Didn't even know Anthrax had an album. I forgot to check out the Shining album. It must not be making as much impact as Blackjazz.

xp I love the sound of that Green & Wood album, just the kind of rough around the edges distortion I like. They sure don't sound very L.A. to me. I wish I were in L.A. right now. I hate snow.

25. Loss - Despond (670 Points, 24 Votes)
http://luminousdeluge.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/loss-despond.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/Loss

Funeral Doom

on profoundlore. Awesome album.

Profound Lore will probably have the most entries in this year's poll, I think?

Of course that made it, dammit. I had that sandwiched between Skeletonwitch and Machine Head on my metal list, but didn't make my top 50.

Direct Link to poll recap & full results

24. Burzum - Fallen (699 Points, 22 Votes, 1 #1)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EXihUu7bbR0/TVqATWwM_eI/AAAAAAAAA2g/gd99UYmGI44/s1600/burzum-fallen.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/burzum

Review

by Eduardo Rivadavia

Varg Vikernes' real-life rehabilitation for murder may have taken close to two decades (in case you've been living under a rock, he's that Norwegian black metal dude who stabbed that other Norwegian black metal dude in 1993), but the creative rehabilitation of his lonesome black metal enterprise, Burzum, took just a few years. Yes, loathe him or loathe him there was simply no denying the return to musical form exemplified on 2010's maddeningly brilliant Belus album, and the same is almost but not quite true of its quickly recorded and suggestively named successor, Fallen, which arrived in stores by early 2011. Here, once again, Vikernes methodically assembles a series of mid-paced, gradually developing black metal movements (see "Jeg Faller," "Valen," "Enhver til Sitt," "Budstikken") out of multiple layers of interlocking riffs and melodies over which he can then improvise additional guitar runs and grunt or shriek or murmur or whisper his Norwegian lyrics to his dark heart's content. The resulting hellish hymnals are at once hypnotically successful (for the most part, barring some odd vocal choices and iffy repetitions) yet also border on predictability by now, and for all their individual merits, all of them uniformly fall short of career-defining precursors like "Stemmen Fra Taarnet," "Jesus' Tod," or even Belus counterpart "Glemselens Elv." For anyone who's wondering, Fallen's only blastbeats are housed in the otherwise like-minded "Vanvidd," and the biggest surprises are found in the meaningless percussive twaddle (some drums, some mysterious stringed instruments) that bookend the album as intro "Fra Verdenstreet" and outro "Til Hel Og Tilbake Igjen." This combination of staying the course and failing to impress when risks are taken ultimately gives Fallen something of a leftover taste and suggests that Varg might want to invest a little more time in conjuring Burzum's next opus…after all, he is now finally free to do so at whim.

noone ever seems to have an opinion on Burzum, just varg

That particular Burzum album is not too shabby, but I didn't vote for it.

23. Opeth - Heritage (786 Points, 22 Votes)
http://bandmill.net/bandmill/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Opeth-Heritage.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/opeth

Review

by Thom Jurek

Heritage, Opeth's tenth studio offering, finds the Swedish band abandoning death metal: no growled vocals, no blistering fast power riffs, no blastbeats. Mixed by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson) and engineered by Janne Hansson, Heritage is easily Opeth's most musically adventurous -- and indulgent -- recording. Written primarily by vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt, these ten songs are drenched in instrumental interludes, knotty key and chord changes, shifting time signatures, clean vocals, and a keyboard-heavy instrumentation that includes Mellotrons, Rhodes pianos, and Hammond organs -- ironic since keyboardist Per Wiberg left the band after Heritage was completed. Opening with the title track, a haunting solo piano instrumental, it careens into the explosive "The Devil's Orchard," with spectacular, arpeggiatic guitar work by Fredrik Åkesson and matching drums by Martin Axenrot. With a huge, swirling B-3 in the backdrop, it melds progressive metal to prog rock, with Åkerfeldt's clear, clean singing. "I Feel the Dark" marries Åkerfeldt's classical guitar to piano, flute, a droning Martin Mendez bassline, and double-timed, quietly tense drum kit work. "Slither" sounds like Motörhead meeting early-'70s Deep Purple. "Nepenthe" begins as a ballad but shifts toward jazz-rock in the instrumental break before finding its way back to a middle ground with sparse instrumentation and taut dynamics. "Haxprogress" draws real inspiration from King Crimson; Mellotrons and nylon-string guitars give way to Åkerfeldt's crooning, thundering basslines, and syncopated drums. At eight-and-a-half minutes, "Famine" is the album's most abstract cut, with guest Alex Acuña adding Latin percussion to the mix, creating spaciousness in a long intro before giving way to colliding prog rock at the seam where King Crimson's "Larks Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 2" meets Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick." "The Lines in My Hand" is the set's most aggressive cut, with a deeply satisfying guitar crunch. "Folklore," with its myriad instrumental and vocal parts, complex melody, and breakbeats, comes off as an eight-minute suite before closing with another jazz- and folk-inflected instrumental entitled "Marrow of the Earth." Love it or hate it, Heritage, for its many excesses -- and stellar conception and execution -- is a brave album. It opens the door for Opeth to pursue many new directions and reinvent themselves as a band.

I've not heard this record, but the consensus was it was a bit underwhelming, correct? Amazing/ terrible cover though!

I was initially disappointed, but it ended up really growing me. The band is pretty much 0% metal at this point, but thats not a bad thing.

reception was mixed. Lack of metal pissed off a lot of people but was welcomed by others.

This is the Opeth record I've been waiting for them to unleash; same themes as always, minus the death metal trappings that have, at times, seemed tacked on to the last couple of records. Great dark prog with heavy moments and motifs.

Plus they wrote a song for Ronnie James. Can't get more metal than that.

Consensus is that it's #23! It's my #4. Mainly 70s inspired prog, but still sounds modern, and Opeth will always be metal, even with acoustic guitars.

Was my #9.

i dunno, tell that to death metal fans/purists
xp

Ooh looks like the full album is open on youtube. Lovely piano led opener. Not v metally so far.

my #7

open=up
xp

Okay, some strong recommendations, I will seek it out, thanks! Metal threads are great for people explaining why they like records minus the snark and meta commentary you get on certain other threads.

Unsurprisingly, the material was much heavier live than on the record.

Excited for this today, tbh. Half of my top ten is yet to place.

dont post ballots or anything but predictions are welcome.

22. Turisas - Stand Up and Fight (796 Points, 22 Votes, 3 #1s)
http://hangout.altsounds.com/attachments/reviews/7301d1298834176-turisas-stand-fight-album-turisascd.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/turisas

Review

by Tim DiGravina

With Stand Up and Fight, Turisas offer another rousing, invigorating bevy of epic symphonic metal ballads centered on ninth to 11th century Baltic Vikings. Think Andrew Lloyd Webber mashed up with GWAR and a Disney ride. Battle metal crooner/leader Mathias "Warlord" Nygård's boom-and-doom voice commands his Norse warriors to "stand up and fight," "hoist the sails," and protect the front line like Scott Walker or Peter Murphy playing a William Wallace personality type on Broadway. Nygård's rich voice centers and seems to conduct the chugging guitars, pounding drums, and all manner of symphonic accompaniment. Whether he's quietly addressing his clan, calling out for battle, or leading a rousing chant of backup Vikings (singers), Nygård is always a compelling frontman. Where some of their symphonic metal peers linger in evil vibes, Turisas always uplift. There's a Queen-like motivational power throughout the album, and the Viking genre, with its old-world pub atmosphere, is loads of fun. Stand Up and Fight is a delightful ride that gets better and better with each listen.

Cant find a jeff review but he can post one himself.
If he says it's too low then please SB him!

Three number 1 placements! Outstanding!

Though I have to admit, I only had it at #8.

j3ff will be happy. Don't really get into these dudes much, but I love the cover.

someone wake that lazy bastard up and tell him he owes those voters money

and no, one of the voters wasn't a hamster (afaik)

Okay, just listened to the title track 'Stand Up and Fight'. It is preposterous, but in an enjoyable way. I dunno, surprised myself by liking it. Not too sure if I could last an entire album.

These guys are fun; I was beginning to think they'd be a surprise top 10 placing, but am happy with this. I voted for it.

Blimey, 'Fear The Fear' is good too! In a Sweeney Todd The Musical kinda way.

"Hunting Pirates" is so over the top I laugh and sing along like a giddy kid.

21. Argus - Boldly Stride the Doomed (800 Points, 24 Votes, 2 #1s)
http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/ARGUS_boldlyCD.gif
http://www.last.fm/music/argus

Review

by Eduardo Rivadavia

Pennsylvania's Argus made a very strong first impression with their superlative eponymous debut of 2009, but unfortunately not too many people outside a small group of underground heavy metal cognoscenti got word of it. Now, one can only hope that the group's even more accomplished sophomore outing, Boldly Stride the Doomed, will rectify this unjust state of affairs. By all rights, it damn well should -- although using the word "doom" in the album's title actually sells short its much broader creative scope, since Argus, as they did the first time around, stick to slower, dramatic tempos only occasionally (see "The Ladder," the piano-enhanced "42-7-29," the epic-length "Pieces of Your Smile"). In fact, more often than not, and as exemplified by "A Curse on the World," "Wolves of Dusk," and even the album's title track, the band is heard galloping by in full jousting chain mail regalia, twin guitars ringing in unison, in the long tradition of everyone from Iron Maiden to Isen Torr to Grand Magus. No matter what tack they employ, though, perhaps Argus' wisest decision on this second LP was procuring a huge but cleanly separated production that showcases both their songwriting strengths and instrumental prowess, production where even the bass guitar can hold its ground. And when even less distinctive offerings like "Fading Silver Light" and the Crusades-inspired "Durendal" can so easily be rescued from good to great status by emotional guitar solos, it becomes obvious that Argus are firing on all cylinders. Or at least it should be obvious to anyone who actually gets wind of Boldly Stride the Doomed‘s existence -- here's hoping word spreads far and wide.

Glad to see this place so high, since I completely forgot to vote for it!

on the same label as Slough Feg, Bill Magill will love it!

don't like the look of that nightclub much.

famous last words

One of those #1 votes is mine. Really happy to see it place; honestly, I didn't think there was as much love for it as this placement shows.

This is part of what I wrote on my blog:

As I keep saying, I love retro-metal, and I’ll be damned if these guys aren’t doing it as well as any of their inspirations. Vocalist Brian “Butch” Balich has a tendency to throw in the odd, utterly superfluous “Yeah!” and “Whoa!” and other onomatopoeic exhortations to his band and audience, and each brings a smile or quick “Ha!” from my lips. He also delivers with what I assume is a straight face my favorite line of 2011: “Lost/We run from the light/Our inequity knows no end” When you hear that how can you not throw up a fist at that and celebrate?

jeff says doom metal is boring.
i say IT BEAT TURISAS GET IT RIGHT UP YE!

i went to the docs today as i had a sore throat (got antibiotics for the infection) my BP was high and now I got a splitting headache. So this next album is a good one for me to listen to while i roll these results out.

20. Asva - Presences of Absences (845 Points, 25 Votes, 2 #1s)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a6q8TtSbFwg/TiiA0dlQE9I/AAAAAAAACA4/1prTcEW8ee8/s1600/presence+cover.jpg
Spotify
http://www.last.fm/music/asva
http://www.doommantia.com/2011/07/asva-presences-of-absences.html

If someone had to pigeonhole Asva's sound, the category would be Drone, and yet this album has so much more to it. It could be pushed also into Post Metal, but still, a lot of the vastness of this sonic tapestry would be lost. It could be pushed also into Post Metal, but still, a lot of the vastness of this sonic tapestry would be lost. One thing is certain: G.. Stuart Dahlquist has touched something that few musicians touched with this. Some remote, deeply buried frequency of emotional raw power that this majestic sonic art piece awakens.

This is going to be the last album Dahlquist will make as Asva and in that spirit it has the feeling of a final speech from a remote place. It's a testament, an epitaph, something unearthly, almost divine, that isn't concerned with common music structures. It honestly drove me to tears. As weird as it may sound, it did. Possibly, it wont have the same effect to you. It might even bore you. But the best approach to this album could be to free your mind of any prejudice, put it on your stereo, wear headphones, and let it flow into you. The four long pieces that compose it are opened and closed by mysterious “a capella” melodies. While I am not informed enough to know where they're from, they work. Its like being introduced toa ritual. The spiraling sounds then begin. Organs, drums, a sensual and yet unsettling bass build up. The voice of Kayo Dot's Toby Driver chants on, with a hypnotic intensity that simply gets under your skin and trickles inside.

The guitars start creeping inside. The effect is scary yet magnificent. The mood is something that word can't describe, almost like the whole music is screaming for you to simply let yourself be absorbed and enraptured by the crescendo. It's like watching a stark work of art develop under your eyes, the sounds twirling one into the other and creating a melody that doesn't really sound like any other. You could name their first work “What you don't know is frontier” or even some of the original post-rock innovators, but the whole thing is different. More hypnotic. More sober and yet grandiose. The four songs are just like one glorious piece in different movements, they tie together and take you elsewhere.
Simply magnificent. That's the only word that really fits.

Review Written By Andrea Contanzo

absolutely fucking brilliant album.

I'm feeling sleepy...

you shouldn't have put opeth on then

Sorry, that Asva record was a real snore for me. And I liked the last one.

I thought it was great!