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

more imago prog

Yayyy! The space is so dense, the arrangements so lush, the vocals so dreamy... I really think they sound so fresh and different compared to a lot of (prog) doom metal. Spaceships of Ezekiel is a masterpiece

Xp to MWWB

I voted this, and I'm not even much of a Toolhead. Just a really solid album all around.

I had a good line about this...'satisfyingly dull' I think it was

If they're capable of turning dullness into a mostly positive quality, that's... quite impressive, actually.

Namaste

kinda think this is the best tool album. had a great time exploring it last year

43

Mayhem - Daemon

181 points, 4 votes

https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Mayhem-Daemon.jpg?quality=80&w=807

https://open.spotify.com/album/76gklSD363XsZ0YlfusDLc

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/mayhem-daemon-review/

A new Mayhem release is the most exciting thing to happen in metal this year. Unlike most other bands who offer refinements and (ideally) improvements on their established sound with each release, Mayhem exhausts a sound on each full-length by exhausting a theme; as the sound’s purpose is to express the theme, the sound’s purpose is fulfilled once the theme is expressed. This means the lazy reviewer can’t merely compare the new Mayhem record to prior ones and base his analysis on that without completely missing the point of the record at hand — Mayhem’s career is an anthology, not an arc.

Nonetheless, the specter of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas lurks behind Daemon. Mayhem has been performing that record live for years now, and Daemon is their most overtly second-wave record since De Mysteriis. Superficially, one can hear “Pagan Fears” in “Malum” and “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” in “Of Worms and Ruins.” Necrobutcher’s bass is mixed high like Varg’s was and even leads some harmonies in “The Dying False King” and “Everlasting Dying Flame” which remind of “Life Eternal” in that aspect. These similarities all are of fleeting importance. The crucial similarity between the two records is the thematic direction: for the first time since De Mysteriis, Mayhem is plumbing the depths of spiritual horror.

Naturally, this is expressed differently on both records. Where De Mysteriis was cold, worldly, curious, and terrified, Daemon is incendiary, aggressive, pained, and enraged. “Agenda Ignis” will remind you of 1349’s best material in a way, and this is because both Mayhem and 1349 are expressing “aural Hellfire,” but Mayhem is concerned chiefly with its effects. This is the key to Daemon: it’s an aural portrait of Hell from the view of a daemon. Poena sensus (pain of sense) and poena damni (pain of loss) — the pains of the damned in Hell — animate each of Daemon’s songs. Teloch’s and Ghul’s guitars play together in harmony and disharmony, flickering around each other like flames licking the night sky — the refrain of “Bad Blood” is one unforgettable example of this. Both guitars begin on low notes, and then quickly shoot tonally upwards in a burst of disharmony before dissipating and repeating the cycle, sonically putting the daemon amidst the flames — Mayhem’s aural Hellfire is thus part of their sonic portrait, not its essence as it was in early 1349.

Narrowly missed my ballot but it's the most electrifying thing they've done in years.

made mine. definitely a highlight of my year. dont' remember what position I gave it though

It’s really good but it’s very much in the Mayhem comfort zone.

More oldies coming up next

42

Candlemass - The Door to Doom

185 points, 6 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1833682289_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/7GxzesNKtsxGdfN0Ovk1bp

https://candlemass.bandcamp.com/album/the-door-to-doom

https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/candlemass-new-album-the-door-to-doom-is-a-masterclass-in-epic-metal

If you give even the remotest toss about doom metal, the news that Johan Längqvist has returned to Candlemass after a 32-year gap should have made you do whatever the doom equivalent of a happy dance might be. A forlorn foxtrot, perhaps?

Having sung on the Swedish legends’ seminal debut, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, back in 1986, Längqvist could easily have stayed in the shadows and not risked a potentially perilous sequel. But class is, as they say, eternal, and The Door To Doom not only reveals that founder, bassist and chief songwriter Leif Edling is back to top form as a riff-writer, but also that Längqvist’s voice remains his ultimate foil. It sounds, somewhat incredibly, as if he’s never been away.

Never a band to mess with a frankly shit-hot formula, Candlemass begin their 12th album with Splendor Demon Majesty, immediately ticking an important box by kicking off with a lumbering, Sabbathian riff of incalculable hugeness. It all feels like business as usual until Längqvist arrives, backed by some eerie vocal harmonies and underpinned by an ensemble performance that feels exuberant, aggressive and humming with urgency. His voice has weathered brilliantly, the dulcet rasp of old classics such as Solitude reborn with added grit and oomph.

But what really seals the deal is how Edling has conjured songs that perfectly showcase this renewed meeting of creative brains. From the hold-on-to-your-heads explosiveness of that opening track onwards, The Door To Doom proves to be a straightforward masterclass in how to do doom metal properly. And just in case you have any residual doubts, the moment when Tony Iommi himself pops up midway through the superbly named Astorolus – The Great Octopus and lets rip with a solo of life-affirming brilliance will have you howling for more. As grimly dark and monstrously heavy as this album is, Längqvist has the time of his life throughout, and so will you.

Another oldie that narrowly missed my ballot. Johan is their best vocalist imo so this has kind of become their second best album by default.

Not a Messiah fan??

Nope, it's visceral.

It’s really good but it’s very much in the Mayhem comfort zone.

― Siegbran, Wednesday, February 26, 2020 12:13 PM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

but it's not like they're in their comfort zone that often! and the quality of the songwriting on daemon is just undeniable to me

Last one for today coming then I hand you all back over to pomenitul

41

Mdou Moctar - Ilana (The Creator)

186 points, 6 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0107658170_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/1bbKMkgzgyZ0K3rmMezZ68

https://mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com/album/ilana-the-creator

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mdou-moctar-ilana-the-creator/

Whether it’s stories about African-American legends reared on plantations in rural Mississippi or the apocryphal tale of a young Jimi Hendrix carrying around a broom until his family could afford a real guitar, blues and rock aficionados love a hardscrabble creation story. So it makes sense that in the discourse around one of the year’s most incandescent examples of guitar music, much ado is made about Mdou Moctar’s first instrument. The Tuareg guitarist was raised in northern Niger by a deeply religious family where music was verboten. He made his first guitar from a piece of wood strung with brake wires from an old bicycle, his many hours of practice kept clandestine.

Moctar’s path to the West has been a peculiar one. He began to make his name playing weddings; his first album (2008’s Anar) featured bits of Auto-Tune and made the rounds via Bluetooth swaps between mobile phones. After one of his songs was included on the Sahel Sounds compilation Music From Saharan Cellphones, label boss Christopher Kirkley set out to track down the young musician. When he did, he cast him in a bizarro remake of Purple Rain entitled Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, the first feature film in the Tuareg language. The project would be heavy lifting for an artist without the instant magnetism and dazzling chops of Moctar, who easily filled the Purple One’s shoes.

From the opening lick of “Kamane Tarhanin,” Ilana (The Creator) elucidates just why our ears would draw a line from 20th-century blues and rock to another continent and a distinct style of guitar playing known as assouf. His first full-band studio album, it finds Moctar in the lineage of fellow Tuareg artists Tinariwen and Bombino. It also posits him as heir apparent to the mesmeric one-chord boogie of John Lee Hooker and ZZ Top circa Tres Hombres. Despite those antecedents, you can hear Moctar pushing further and higher at almost every turn, as when, around the song’s 4:15 mark, he enters with a streaking, white-hot comet of a guitar solo.

Good album, although it feels a little streamlined compared to other Tishoumaren albums I've heard. I miss the raw energy of a Group Doueh, for instance.

my #8

This didn't make the general poll either, did it?

I don't think so, no. Too many guitars?

Great rollout today!

Jorge Elbrecht = my #10! It's s little shocking to me that no one has tried a witch house/black metal hybrid before, it's such a natural pairing. Although Elbrecht dispenses with the c&s bits, it's still very well done

Fly Pan Am = my #2! ON why didn't you tell me?? This has to be one of the most amazing albums I've heard this decade. I'm going to quote Michael B again (who admittedly was a little less convinced): "it's like Stockhausen meets Lightning Bolt"

Misthyrming/Car Bomb = both low on my ballot. Misthyrming seems a bit standard-issue for me (sorry pom) but in the end I couldn't really deny it's power. I think imago p much already nailed my thoughts on the Car Bomb album

I voted for Mdou Moctar too; my #29. I really like "Anna" & "Tarhatezed"

Anna sounds to me like dad-rock Tal National

"Tarhatezed" is amazing. Watch the live KEXP version on youtube

What! All that stuff placed today?? imago has been feeding me lies. I voted for everything DAM just mentioned as well. It was my first time I think hearing Mdou Moctar - what should I check out next? Spacey mantric stuff is great listening when <15 minutes.

Yay for Imprecation, my #1. It did better than I would’ve expected. I think that was the only thing from my ballot that placed today. Looking forward to checking out some of these when I get home.

Fly Pan Am is def my big non-metal indulgence for this year, for those who dug the Stara Rzeka/Alameda 4 stuff in past polls (though FPA is different and actually Mdou Moctar has prob more in common sonically with that stuff)

Earlier this year I drunkenly asked someone on the bus what they were listening to (it was loud) and it was Ghost's 'Mary on a Cross' and because I knew it they gave me a beer. I really like the song, but I didn't vote for it because well, it's very short.

Watch this for incredible guitar. I'm pretty sure if more people had heard it then it would've done very well in the main poll as everyone I've introduced it to has been blown away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZvPoE0EH1o

Yeah wow that video is amazing

That Crypt Sermon cover rules, it just keeps giving. Is the skeleton holding a smartphone with wings???

My 30 and 45 placed (Tool and Misthyrming, respectively). Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard was my 95th choice. I really wish I liked them, they have such a great name.

Oor Neechy or Pomenitul, if either of you wants to put me on the Spotify playlist editing group, I can add stuff after I get out of work. I was planning on using it. It's easier to browse than the thread.

Alright, Spotify playlist is caught up. Listened to a bunch of the Zig Zags record, that was dumb fun. Now on Wormed. I'm getting a kick out of it. I guess I could see how more than 15 minutes of it would be trying, though.

recurring case of a band absolutely killing it live (3 times already) while leaving me cold on record: falls of rauros
gets frustrating. not stoping me from watching them again

will def listen to the fly pan am album

two more placed today from my ballot, disentomb the decaying light and yellow eyes rare field ceiling, my#5

The Drudkh album is great! I didn't vote for it (didn't vote for DsO or Mgla for the same reasons) but I at least should have listened to it. Is this a comp of older material?

The Pharaoh Overlord album is surprising. Almost sounds like Trans Am.

When do we get the split single between Weeping Sores and Oozing Wound?

Wasn't even aware of its existence, alas.

Expect the next leg of the rollout to begin in a couple of hours, as usual.

I listened to the Mdou Moctar a bunch this year, and I loved the guitar playing & tone but too many of the songs were blending together in my mind, which is why it landed in the middle of my ballot. But something about it placing yesterday--the same day I got invited into Dog latin's new pan-global/afropop/fluxwork FB group--and pairing it with Tal National's Tantabara as a foil, made Ilana snap into focus for me. I've been kind of obsessing over both records for the past sixteen hours.

Certainly I think the video Neechy posted helped too

Everyone excited for the start of the top 40?

Really liking the Bolzer. Need to return to their entire discography

Huh, didn't expect you to say that. Their first EP remains all-time, I'm not entirely sold on what's come after.

I think their songwriting is strong and the slightly laconic, austere guitar style brings it out very nicely. There's a lot of personality and idiosyncrasy to it, even if it's not necessarily pushing the envelope

It's that time of day again…

40
Andavald - Undir skyggðarhaldi
187 points, 4 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4226331593_16.jpg

https://andavald.bandcamp.com

Black metal is at its best when it’s raw. And I’m not referring to tin can production quality, which has become an obsessively mandated component of the genre for purists. The rawness I’m referring to is a of a more human variety. Give me black metal that feels utterly unhinged, dripping with inexorable sadness, misery and anger. Give me black metal that does more than herald Satan’s kingdom through decades old, redundant and stale shock value, but feels instead currently gripped by a madness only explored through personal anguish and suffering. Give me despair. Give me struggle. Give me that messy, organic, raw human shit all day.

The Icelandic black metal scene has, over the past few years, come closest to hitting my above stated black metal sweet spot time and time again. It’s aggressive, wild, and inventive enough to almost invariably hold my interest, while exhibiting an emotive core that feels utterly, chaotically human. Bands like Zhrine, Sinmara, Misþyrming, Skáphe, Svartidauði, and a host of others have delivered some of the most profound and emotive black metal I’ve heard this decade, and 2019 has seen a veritable glut of releases from the scene’s most influential acts. But none have taken me by surprise quite like the debut record from Andavald, Undir skyggðarhaldi. Taking the Icelandic black metal template and tweaking it in some fascinating and effective ways, Andavald have here constructed one of the most harrowing, interesting, personal, and vital black metal records I’ve heard in a long while.

There are some key attributes that set this release apart from its contemporaries. First and most immediately noticeable is the record’s tempo. While the majority of bands in the Icelandic black metal scene are prone to utilizing manic speed as a cornerstone of their sound, Andavald take a decidedly more measured approach. As a result, the compositions on this record feel deeply melancholic, drinking sadness in a manner more reminiscent of depressive black metal than anything created by their Icelandic kin. At least that would be true if Andavald didn’t drench their music in enough frosty atmosphere to be of an unmistakably Nordic origin. It’s Icelandic black metal through and through without ever feeling cookie cutter, which in equally potent measure can be credited to the album’s vocal performance, delivered here by A.F. with absolutely breathtaking intensity. “Intense” is a word bandied about with far too much regularity around the metal blogosphere (and I most certainly implicate myself in this sweeping judgment), but here it is meant in its purest sense. The wails, screams, and howls present on these tracks feel utterly human to an unsettling degree, making them truly terrifying and often quite disturbing to sit through. “Hugklofnon” contains a section of maniacal screaming and laughter that sounds like a man about completely lose his mind or burst into tears, and the impact is nothing short of jarring. Throughout the record, A.F. delivers compelling, diverse vocal gyrations that are as unique as they are stunning, and his performance is without question one of the highlights and stand-out components of the record.

Third band of Icelanders in my top 5 and my pick for depressive BM last year, in no small part thanks to that croak.