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

Whiney got mad the last time I brought that issue up

11. The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre (1,056 Points, 29 Votes, 3 #1s)
http://www.nuclearblast.de/shop/artikel/bilder/the-devil-s-blood-the-thousandfold-epicentre-artbook/189455.jpg?x=1000&y=1000
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Devil%27s+Blood

The Devil’s Blood (http://thedevilsblood.com) is an occult rock band from the Netherlands formed in 2006.

“We will serve you with what can best be described as a Satanic Ritual in which crowd participation becomes pivotal. You will wear our blood, you will taste our hunger, you will devour our spiritual release. Although far above you and unattainable for you in the current stages of your evolution, We, the acolytes of His immortal will, welcome you to join us in a night of violence, substance abuse, love and hate. We would just as gladly be a place of worship, a church if you will, for true believers as we would be a left hand exit point for those still on the side of the pure and holy. We would take your offering and redirect it back into The Source of Darkness. We would be your pathway to Chaos. Rejoice, the time of no time evermore is coming.

What can you expect musically?

Without saying too much, or saying nothing at all, you can expect a frenzy of rock n roll flavoured hard rock that speak of times decades past, no modernisms, no trends, no high end sounds. Just Vintage rock music in the vein of Roky Erickson, Black Widow, Coven, Black Sabbath and a rich plethora of sixties and seventies underground psychedelic rock bands too numerous to mention. Although The Devil’s Blood are inspired and fueled by their love for these bands they are not a tribute band in any way or form. Instead we offer new, original, fresh material to strengthen our live rituals and appease our Master’s senses.

So even though The Devil’s Blood play “old time music” they do it with the same creative and artistic drive as their inspirators.”

http://www.doommantia.com/2011/10/devils-blood-thousandfold-epicentre.html

For all our readers with ADD: yes The Thousandfold Epicentre is a brilliant album, yes it gets a 10 and yes you should buy it immediately. So order the album, and then get back here to read the entire review ?. On repeat ever since I got the promo, Thousandfold Epicentre is everything you could have ever hoped for, and more. I’ll try to write some comments that effect the album as a whole. The overall sound is more clearer, and I can think we can properly speak of an so-called ‘epic’ album, in its reach, execution and feel. There is an evident growth in both the craftsmanship or execution of the music by the musicians, and the overall quality of the musical product. I got into The Devil’s Blood when listening to The Time Of No Time Evermore. I got the demo of course, and Come, Reap, but I really started enjoying them with The Time Of No Time Evermore. Why? Because they managed to equal international (and historical) like-minded acts like Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony, Coven, Black Widow, Roky Erickson, be it musically or inspirationally. The Graveyard Shuffle, I’ll Be Your Ghost and the aforementioned releases gain in my opinion from the quality of the stellar The Time Of No Time Evermore album. And now there is The Thousandfold Epicentre. I’ll try to calm my enthusiasm, but in every way it’s a very important release, both for the band as for the nice niche of occult rock that The Devil’s Blood now commands.

It’s nice to be able to accurately hear the lyrics, Selim (guitar & mastermind of The Devil’s Blood) is a true poet of occult doom, and I think this album can be best appreciated when taken as a whole. That’s why I have the feeling we are dealing with a conceptual album here. I mean conceptual in the way that Selim magically focus his total energy in every single second of this release. He channels this nice Edgar Allen Poe sphere of beautiful hauntedness. For the duration of this album we are totally under his spell and we can delve safely in his poetics of lyrical Satanism, magick and what not.

As for the production, a lot of time must have been invested in adding little touches of extra instruments like various stringed instruments and organ or synthesizer. I was a bit hesitant when I heard the new material live in a tryout show, but hearing the total album with all its great details (and overdubs) it’s just plain magnificent. With this album, The Devil’s Blood aims high and the broad, overall approach works like a charm. If I were to describe the album as a whole, I would say: the tracks on this album really ‘belong’ to one another, and can best be appreciated as a whole, because of the story told in the songs. The construction of the tracks is done slowly, and that is why the impact of the album is so strong. Summed up, well, you get The Thousandfold Epicentre. By now we can safely state that The Devil’s Blood have transcended Jex Thoth and Blood Ceremony, and I can only shiver what their next step in musical occult domination will be. The artwork is beautiful, and I’m really looking forward to my vinyl copy of The Thousandfold Epicentre to fully appreciate the extensive artwork.

As for the songs, let’s delve somewhat deeper into them. Starting with Unending Singularity, this track serves as an intro to On The Wings Of Gloria, a seven minutes plus track that immediately shows you the growth that this band has made. On The Wings Of Gloria has this nice twang in the riff, and the vocals of Mouth introduce us to the new level of songwriting that The Devil’s Blood has achieved. Her voice seems even stronger than on previous releases, and I really love the added distorted background vocals. After four minutes, the energy is released, and we hear nice keys added to the chorus. The guitars and rhythm are in a healthy co-op, and Die The Death continues the sphere of the first track. Dig the la-la-la-la chorus! Within The Charnel House Of Love is another epic track, with nicely tempoed guitars and rhythm section. Cruel Lover is one of the favorites, with a galloping rhythm that will make you drool. After four minutes cosmic sounds are added (giving this and a couple of other tracks loose ‘space rock’ elements). She – we have arrived at track number six – is a straight occult rocker with very clear vocals. She is likely to become a live favorite, with a very memorable chorus and a plain and simple good song. The title track is a personal favorite, because of, well, everything. Just listen to the song and be happy. Oh yeah, the memorable riff I suppose, coupled to the lyrics – I’ll call youre your name – Devil! Fire Burning’s lyrics are penned by Saturnalia Temple’s brethren in occult doom, and the last three tracks – Everlasting Saturnalia, The Madness Of Serpents and Feverdance – really serve as one big monster track. Everlasting Saturnalia is fully centered on Mouth’s beautiful voice, and serves as intro to The Madness Of Serpents. More than eight minutes of occult bliss, and we end the disc (or vinyl) with Feverdance – lasting fifteen minutes plus. The track opens up with Mouth’s vocals hypnotizing you into a state where eventually you have to say farewell of wave goodbye to The Thousandfold Epicentre.

It’s a shame really that my scale goes up to 10 only, I wish I had an reviewer’s scale equivalent of Spinal Tap’s amplifier that goes up to 11… Here is a teaser: At YouTube but you can check more teasers at Van Records @ YouTube . I’m proud to be a Dutchman again :D......10/10

Words: Sandrijn van den Oever

Wow! This 40 Watt Sun is great!
xp

The Devil's Blood is going to be really high up on my end of year list for Decibel this year (which sidesteps the issue of the album coming out in November in Europe and January in the states since the cut off for the list is the end of October anyway). Right now it's the one to beat.

Yeah the only negative thing I can say about 40 watt sun is that they aren't as good as warning was, but warning was incredibly awesome so

40 Watt Sun really didn't grab me. No idea why.

Probably because doom is boring :-)

heh

But seriously, didn't really grab me either. Maybe I just haven't been in the right mindset for music that crushingly depressing?

Blood stain child has given you ADHD prob

^^^^

Well I am, and it still didn't grab me like it should have.

Wow, so I only got Devil's Blood (my #14) and Blood Ceremony right for my 21-30 guess. I guess Pentagram and Subrosa will be top 10, and Skeletonwitch, Brutal Truth, USX, Hull and Dir en grey probably won't make it.

The Devil's Blood really push all the right buttons for me. Different buttons than Turisas, to be sure, but female vocalist, 70s inspired sound, and insanely catchy songs? Yes please. All the Satan stuff is just icing on top!

So...

YOB - Atma
Hammers Of Misfortune - 17th Street
Mastodon - The Hunter
Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Corrupted - Garten der Unbewusstheit
Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
The Gates Of Slumber - The Wretch
Esoteric - Paragon of Dissonance
Pentagram - Last Rites
Subrosa - No Help For The Mighty One

The Devil's Blood should be right up my alley for all the reason's J3ff gave, but for some reason it hasn't grabbled me yet. I'll keep it in rotation for a while and see if that changes.

What does Satanic icing taste like? Burnt black salt licorice maybe?

I guess now that I think about it, I can understand why 40 Watt Sun doesn't appeal to everyone.

You know what song I've just realised sums up how the Uncle Acid album feels to me? "Don't Believe A Word" and I'm not sure I wouldn't rather listen to that on repeat.

Before #10 hits, anyone think something else would make the top 10?

I still think Arabrot might make the top 10.

I'd definitely rather listen to "Don't Believe A Word".

xpost

Fastnbulbous - I think you're guesses look pretty good.

I would guess Graveyard over Pentagram. But Graveyard might have lost some votes for not being metal enough. A lot of really excellent death metal hasn't placed so far, and considering the general dislike for the genre on here, I would guess that means it isn't going to place at all.

xp I could see that, instead of Subrosa. Argh, I will stick with my prediction.

I could also see Graveyard taking Pentagram's spot. hrm. The suspense.

probably right on both counts J3ff.

Subrosa is a lock.

Wouldn't be too surprised if it won, actually.

Hrm. My love of Subrosa faded some, got kind of tired of it, so it's lower in my ballot.

mine faded too (I had it at #1 early in the year) but I think it crossed a lot of boundaries.

Pantheist instead of Pentagram maybe?

Agree w EZ about Subrosa. If it made #1 that'd be awesome!

10. Subrosa - No Help for the Mighty Ones (1,080 Points, 30 Votes, 3 #1s)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-piCOV7s6ATU/TsqPE7xq0TI/AAAAAAAABQw/KHFwAoqY4D4/s1600/SUB-ROSA-nhftmo.jpg

http://www.last.fm/music/subrosa

Salt Lake City, Utah's SubRosa extrapolate upon sludge, doom, and stoner rock foundations with contrasting elements drawn from goth, psych, indie rock, and, thanks in part to their predominantly female lineup, an almost subliminal post-riot grrrl vibe to boot. Despite roots reaching as far back as 2005, the band's full-length demo and first album, Strega, both emerged in 2008, and to mixed reviews, since SubRosa were still refining their sound and coping with lineup instability throughout, even up to the following year's Swans Trapped in Ice EP. But, once founding members Rebecca Vernon (guitar, vocals) and Sarah Pendleton (violin, vocals) joined forces with new bandmembers Kim Pack (vocals), Dave Jones (bass), and Zach Hatsis (drums), SubRosa really hit their stride, producing a sophomore full-length cryptically entitled No Help for the Mighty Ones that found release through leading indie metal label Profound Lore in early 2011, this time to major acclaim within the heavy metal community.

Review

by Phil Freeman

This Salt Lake City-based, female-led doom metal band features two violinists as co-lead instrumentalists alongside the usual guitar, bass, and drums, as well as multiple vocalists. The effect is hypnotic and incantatory, and much more interesting than the usual howls and growls of male-fronted, violin-deficient doom bands. Because three-fifths of their membership is female, SubRosa have a unique energy, reminiscent of Bay Area post-black metallers Ludicra but even more psychedelic and haunted. The tribal throb of songs like "Beneath the Crown" and the nearly 12-minute "Stonecarver" (which builds to an almost thrashy peak before downshifting to a crushingly heavy riff in its final third) doesn't inspire headbanging so much as head-nodding, but it's never boring; it's captivating rather than cathartic. There's an occult, retro vibe to their music despite the lack of overt early-'70s signifiers like those found in the work of groups like the Devil's Blood, Blood Ceremony, and Electric Wizard. "The Inheritance" feels like a song that should be howled at the moon, not played in a rock club. No Help for the Mighty Ones is a major statement of artistic purpose; while the album is absolutely not aimed at the metal mainstream, it offers powerful evidence that the genre's vitality can't be questioned.

So much for that theory.

the review of 40 Watt Sun Kerr pasted nails a ton of stuff I think is great about the band

I think I've probably said this or something similar before but it would not surprise me if at some point the main dude did a str8 non-metal mopey indie rock album that pissed a lot of ppl off but was actually awesome

he was just waiting for us to commit. I had it at #10 on my ballot.

Ha, nice timing Kerr! I will listen to it while I eat lunch in tribute. Nobody move while I venture into the snow for 5 minutes ;)

Great timing.

Ha unlike you guys, I didn't even like the Subrosa until a few weeks ago, when it finally 'clicked'.

xposts kinda lol mostly ;_;

from the blog:

When this album dropped last spring I thought it a lock for the very top of my list, and was surprised to find myself placing them here when I put it together. I still think it is an amazing album, changing both my perceptions of doom metal and of my pigeonholing of instrumentation. The strings and female vocals instantly mark this as something different and though it could have been novelty in less capable hands, Subrosa deftly makes it seem like other, more traditional, doom bands are missing something. A welcome addition to my library and a band I will follow with great zeal in the years to come.

I guess Subrosa are gonna be the highest placing band I know nothing about - was about to say I'd never heard of them but 'Profound Lore' in the blurb jogged my memory albeit v slightly

trivia: Children of Bodom just won the Emma award (Finnish equivalent for Grammys) for the best metal record. Other nominees were Kotiteollisuus, Amorphis and Moonsorrow.

(and thanks to everyone involved in this poll! I'm just a lurker here and not a true metal fan, but every year these polls are a great way to check out bands I might like.)

this album rules

We're in the top 10, who do you think will win?

YOB or Mastodon, probably the former.

Powerwolf still haven't placed, so I'm holding out hope.

Bullet aren't going to make it, are they?

9. The Gates of Slumber - The Wretch (1,085 Points, 32 Votes, 1 #1)
http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/thegatesofslumbercover.jpg
http://www.last.fm/music/the+gates+of+slumber

The Gates Of Slumber is a doom metal band from Indianapolis, USA. They play old school style of doom metal in the traditions of Saint Vitus, Cirith Ungol, Candlemass and the likes. Their band name is taken from the Cianide song Gates of Slumber from the album A Descent Into Hell.

Review

by Eduardo Rivadavia

The greatest misconception about the Gates of Slumber is that the Indiana trio is your typical, run-of-the-mill doom band, but anyone who's actually spent time with the group's discography would beg to differ. As of its very first album, the trio has in fact been experimenting with different metallic varieties, ranging from traditional ‘70s vintages to energized ‘80s flavors to a few psychedelic, semi-thrash, and even downright foreign musical elements to, sure, good old-fashioned doom as well. But it wasn't until album number five, 2011's indicatively named The Wretch, that the Gates of Slumber truly embraced the style with which they've been most closely associated for all it's worth -- possibly with the desire to ground themselves in metal's most unpretentious underground tenets once again, following the higher creative ambitions flirted with on 2009's Hymns of Blood and Thunder. Whatever the group's motivations, The Wretch certainly indulges in some of most brazen and unapologetic Saint Vitus worship heard in some time, as evidenced by the grimy snail's trail left by slothful juggernauts such as "Bastards Born," "Day of Farewell," the title track, and the 13-minute colossus "Iron and Fire" in particular. Other offerings do pick up the pace somewhat (see "The Scovrge ov Drvnkenness" [sic], "To the Rack with Them," and the only serious galloping ghost, "Coven of Cain"), but still never leave the Vitus aesthetic behind, and the mildly psychedelic trip undertaken by "Castle of the Devil" -- in obvious tribute to Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" -- is seriously about as far out as TGOS get here. All of which may well leave some listeners upset at The Wretch's overall lack of invention, but will probably convince others that the Gates of Slumber fully deserve the doom credentials alluded to by their moniker, once and for all.

I wish Kuma's Corner were closer. I'd order a YOB.

YOB
Smoked Gouda, Bacon, Roasted Red Peppers, Roasted Garlic Mayo - $13

Mastodon
BBQ Sauce, Cheddar, Bacon, Frizzled Onions - $13

Absu
10 oz. Patty, spicy tomatillo salsa, pepperjack, red onion/avocado relish, queso fresco, trio of breaded deep fried chiles - 13.00

I have enjoyed the Mastadon on multiple occasions, but the High on Fire is my personal favorite in spite of the hot sauce typo

High On Fire
Siracha Hot Chili Sauce, Prosciutto, Roasted Red Pepper, Grilled Pineapple, Sweet Chili Paste

I saw Gates Of Slumber open for Pentagram a couple years back. A solid show, but they didn't have a tenth the charisma and presence of Pentagram. Maybe that experience affected my view of their albums.

it's kinda interesting how some of these albums get highly rated for doing adventurous/interesting/bold/new stuff and some for embracing traditional tropes, almost like doom metal standards