~~~ 15 YEARS OF ILM POLL!!! ~~~ (Metal & Heavy Rock [+ related sub-genres] Edition) RESULTS & DISCUSSION THREAD

16 Weakling - Dead as Dreams 3407.333333 Points, 16 Votes, TWO #1's
http://i63.tinypic.com/14ty15e.jpg
https://youtu.be/mnjH-ZYe59c

Gave this lots of points. It is a grey labyrinth of despair

my #11

the best USBM album and indeed the album that got me into black metal finally (lol fucking champs connection)

My #2 I think.

I'm hoping dominique approves

the vinyl sells for about $500 now.

A magnificent, wretched thing.

I love the Champs! Weakling was ok, but I didn't spend enough time with it to vote for. 15 minute songs are a tough sell in today's go-go world.

some of us heard it when it came out :)

and bollocks to today's go-go world

I don't know if I've heard this. I should probably check it out after all these raves (after I do my final listening for the notated music poll - which is really sticking it to the go-go world).

15 Boris at Last - Feedbacker 3644.166667 Points, 18 Votes, TWO #1's
http://i65.tinypic.com/23kqdxw.jpg
https://youtu.be/eWgXJMyqZ2g

Brilliant record. Glad to see it go top 20

oh yeah i guess there needed to be another boris album. this one's fine

love weakling

Only my #30 though. I had Flood at #9

Clearly I'm at odds with ILM on Boris as per usual

I have one Fucking Champs album. I've basically never listened to it since I heard Scale the Summit.

xps

I always wonder how much the Champs had to do w/indie appreciation of metal. I remember at the time reading all this hand-wringing kind of stuff about authenticity, and hipsters, and not really getting what the big deal was. Either you like riffs or you don't, thought I, in my bubble.

Hand-wringing aside, I more or less concluded that there were a bunch of heavy progressive bands doing similar things with much better chops.

they didn't have tim greene though

I still remember all the Tim Greene fanboys down the front at the 13th Note when I saw The Fucking Champs (Touring with Trans AM). It was like the second coming for them.

I've never even heard The Fucking Champs but I do remember one of their albums, IV I think, getting talked up a lot by some of the writers in Metal Maniacs that I tended to pay more attn to, like (iirc) Jeff Wagner, Chris Black, and Marty Rytkonen.

Dont think they were ever written about in the UK press

14 Cobalt - Gin 3731.666667 Points, 20 Votes, One #1
http://i65.tinypic.com/t85bh0.jpg
https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/gin
https://youtu.be/BZHyYPSkB5o

This one's enjoyable.

After listening to praise for a long time I thought I'd like Gin more than I did. I feel like it has some kind of importance in the grand scheme of things even if it hasn't kept my attention.

the new album is great

13 Agalloch - The Mantle 3763.833333 Points, 19 Votes
http://i67.tinypic.com/av53pg.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/2lx6oEjQ9CxIYDZP6EkcaL
spotify:album:2lx6oEjQ9CxIYDZP6EkcaL

hmmm

I really have no idea why people prefer this to Grain or Marrow, sounds like p ordinary folk metal to me

ashes was my best guess for #1 so we're still on track

Oh shit I figured that must have already placed

I'm not that much of a seasonal listener but The Mantle is one that really works best in the dead of winter

I think The Mantle is the highest rated one on RYM but they do love their folky black metal over there

12 Ghost - Meliora 3828.282946 Points, 21 Votes, One #1
http://i64.tinypic.com/2dhb4sj.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/2uaQ1K2eSqaWeVQRXeuGdN
spotify:album:2uaQ1K2eSqaWeVQRXeuGdN

I think I The Mantle higher than Ashes but they're pretty close in my mind.

Alright! This is way too high, but I don't care.

I totally get why Ghost scores high, they're very universally likeable.

So anyone got a handle on the top 10 yet?

Yeah, I wonder if it's the image that puts of general ilm? Because im pretty sure a lot of them would like the songs if they heard them

*off

Ghost is fun but without depth. I am cool with people liking them but it's really superficial stuff imo

Top twenty needs its pop-metal

Not sure if ILM is the right audience, but they certainly have the potential to become an arena-filling band like a Rammstein or Foo Fighters.

Ghost is fun but without depth. I am cool with people liking them but it's really superficial stuff imo

I was surprised to read the high-minded origins of Meliora's lyrics (eg "He Is" being inspired by Selim Lemouchi of The Devil's Blood's suicide).

I like Meliora and Opus Eponymous about equally, but I also feel like a lot came together for Ghost on Meliora, like they'd grown into their popularity or shed any remaining timidity. It seemed like they achieved the confluence of music, image, videos, and live show that they'd been reaching for.

This album is adorable. I completely forgot to vote for it (would have been low on my ballot), but it's almost impossible to dislike. It feels almost as though the specific chord sequences are actually designed to release endorphins.

11 Converge - Jane Doe 3860.166667 Points, 17 Votes, TWO #1's
http://i65.tinypic.com/wqsluc.jpg
https://open.spotify.com/album/2gtM4m6sglJDrX3toJWZO6
spotify:album:2gtM4m6sglJDrX3toJWZO6

Ghost is fun but without depth. I am cool with people liking them but it's really superficial stuff imo

I struggle with arguments about depth in music, I think it's a tricky thing to get a handle on. It's like when people say 'style over substance', I'm never sure where one ends and the other begins. I think it's something in the... erm, ear of the beholder.