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

The sort of band who'll record an album inside of a week with absolutely minimal regard ot songwriting, have some sort of weird tuning, and put the word 'microtonal' in the fucking album title like they just invented it. I'm sure they're freaks but they're really annoying freaks

There's plenty of gems/jams scattered across their albums. They seem to thrive on limitations and concepts as frameworks to compose in/around, which is totally fine. I just didn't think this was a standout album for them.

I'm being harsh. They did that one good psych pop song early on at least

Sund4r is definitely behind this one…

36
Glenn Branca - The Third Ascension
203 points, 6 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1165242204_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/5a1XfxTK4jgBJ8E3X1xvOD
https://glennbranca1.bandcamp.com/releases

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/glenn-branca-the-third-ascension/

“There are very few animals that kill their own kind.” Avant-garde composer Glenn Branca often began interviews with bleak screeds on human existence. “We’re vicious, psychopathological beasts,” he said in 2011, referring to our planet as a “disgusting shithole.” It was easy to take one look at Branca, drink in hand and perpetually smoking, and think you had him figured out. It was even easier to hear his vitriolic compositions and find them oppressive and terrifying, as John Cage famously did in 1982. But there was always an armored optimism in Branca’s work that suggested: If we can get lost in this maddening sound, we might be able to transcend our shared shithole, if only for a moment. With Branca’s final work The Third Ascension, released a year and a half after he died of throat cancer, the composer and his ensemble take the familiar instruments of a rock band and transform them into machines of calculated pandemonium, whose noise is so merciless it’s blissful.

The concluding entry in his Ascension series, The Third Ascension premiered at New York’s famed art space the Kitchen in February 2016, where Branca and his ensemble were recorded for this very album. Branca, dressed in his trademark black duster and slacks, flailed around the stage as he conducted for bass, drums, and four guitars (one of which was played by his wife, Reg Bloor). His movements were spasmodic, and he occasionally shimmied his hips like a beleaguered Elvis. He grumbled between songs, brief quips about the best hot dog he’d ever eaten, or a dig at John Zorn. He kept his sheet music in a plastic shopping bag, which, if memory serves, had a yellow smiley face on the front. It was the only concert I’d ever been to where earplugs were forcefully handed out at the entrance, like safety goggles at a gun range.

Branca was known to say that if you didn’t like loud music, you shouldn’t bother with his. At live performances, you had no option regarding volume. When it comes to his albums, you unfortunately do. But heed the man’s words: The Third Ascension should be played at full blast, neighbors and landlords be damned. One of the most exhilarating aspects of Branca’s music is the amount of aural hallucination it inspires—a frequent side effect of listening to his work is hearing things that aren’t really there. “The Smoke,” a 16-minute odyssey that kicks off like the opening credits in a western film, eventually bursts into a fit of distortion, and it appears as though a synthesizer simulating gale-force winds has been added to the mix. On closing opus “Cold Thing,” Branca’s guitar quartet sounds like a squad of machine guns firing at point blank range, and yet the continued roar somehow registers as distant screaming, air raid sirens, and a choir of angels all at once.

I haven't heard it yet, but it's on my list.

I'm being harsh. They did that one good psych pop song early on at least

Papier Mâché Dream Balloon! <3

I knocked it off my ballot for some reason I can't recall, but have no qualms with it showing up here. RIP

yup sund4r is responsible for this, hurrah!

My #10. Probably listened to it the least of all the albums I voted for, but it's memorable, and great.

the album cover is definitely metal enough for entry

Very true.

35
Witch Trail - The Sun Has Left the Hill
204 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0766589755_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/2tp9Fj7RuhOmXcA1O8ipOt
https://witchtrail.bandcamp.com/album/the-sun-has-left-the-hill

https://grizzlybutts.com/2019/11/15/witch-trail-the-sun-has-left-the-hill-2019-review/

Punks don’t just happen upon enlightenment, right? The long-standing tradition of the reactionary flinging their body, and ‘self’, into the fire of psychedelics when seeking relief from any congealed societal ache is yet upheld by virtue of the unchanging brutality of existential dread. Far beyond the greenest corner-of-the-eye shade an irascible venture into psilocybin could provide, the isolation and disconnection provided by these substances manifests most wildly in complete darkness; The biggest picture relatable to the species, poisoned and projecting into invisible worlds, comes when the astral-viewer reaches the frozen void of space where the war between light and darkness is proven hopeful fable and an antiquated notion of men. Without this great dilation of all senses the defiant will forever be the shortsighted warrior of the light, the underdog reactionary; A furiously shitting ostrich eating with his head tucked warmly in his own pile. Where does this ‘enlightenment’ come, then? Do we mourn the grey area, as the light goes to die? By law, it is the only truly proven constant. Do we grasp and hug this old concept of ‘nothingness’, bite down on the strap, and cease all meaning? Cease to see the wars of everyday life as anything but the absurd, fractally-sprouting nonsensical downward spiral it is, you fool, and bear down on the darkness. The only question left, in my mind at least, is what to do with the mind while the body is burnt to a crisp amidst the impending suffocation-by-fire of all mammals on Earth? The cause of all suffering is greed. Somewhere in the midst of this 30-minute psychedelic post-blackened post-punk record from Ghent, Belgium wunderkind Witch Trail hashes at least some of the best answers out, first through brain-bursting genre defiance and then by way of its equally shot-gunned concept.

There is an end to suffering. The pains of growth end physically here, where a grand metamorphosis is complete by way of Witch Trail successfully crossing the pale from morbid thrashing metalpunk maniacs (‘The Witch’s Trail‘, 2013) to a post-black metal act toying with post-punk and noise rock ideas (‘Thole‘, 2016). Their sound at that point was akin to modern atmospheric black metal groups from the Netherlands such as Iskandr, Wiegedood or Fluisteraars but their style was relevant to the atmospheric lilt of ‘Sweven’-era Morbus Chron and thereabouts (see: “Residue”) thanks to persistent psychedelic wanderlust that’d build toward pointed and intense post-rock and/or post-punk songwriting. There are no comparisons to be made with ‘The Sun Has Left the Hill’ and its tenfold expansion beyond that breakthrough– It is a one-of-a-kind headpiece crowning Witch Trail alone, beyond any poe-faced post-black metal creatives who’d never thought to be this bold with their sound design. They’re still a punk band, though, and it warrants pointing out that this gaunt Ghent-based trio are healthily kicking out a mutated modern noise/post/indie-rock level of songwriting throughout their second album and all of the riffs are designed to hit the ground running; A jaggedly directional spontaneity only amplified by a distinctly psychedelic glass-shattering guitar sound that doggedly characterizes the shifting mood of ‘The Sun Has Left the Hill’. Despite the massive doubling down on ‘hipster’ black metal aesthetics, Witch Trail avoids even a whiff of this last decade’s obsession with the crescendo-thickened post-metal style currently infesting every weary corner of extreme metal thanks to an avoidance of typical black metal rhythm; It will inevitably be labeled as ‘black n’ roll’ by many because of this.

Awesome stuff. Went from never heard to very high on my ballot in the last day or so before voting

Another #1 vote! I didn't give this a proper chance and I don't know why, since the reviewer namechecks Iskandr, Wiegedood and Fluisteraars (the latter's new album is coming out tomorrow btw).

woah, no idea what this is

I gotta say, I'm fairly surprised by rankings and results so far.

Yes!! Thanks to DAM for this. Heard a few days before the poll deadline, straight in at #8 on my ballot. Fuzzy punk bm with lots of character

Haven't heard it, but definitely will, mainly due to the namechecks Pom already mentioned.

The track Afloat is a monster

my #1!

it really is uncategorizable

got some traction in the branca metal thread, didn't expect it this high, tho. shout outs to the other 4 voters

gaudio becoming the go-to post-punk-metaller between this and Reveal

gaudio's main poll ballot was awesome

Or nominations in this maybe...I can't remember. Something was good

I concur. 'gaudio' is a remarkably un-metal moniker, though. ;)

Also that might be my favourite album cover of the rollout so far

love y'all

Next up: [redacted]'s poor cousin.

34
Sunn O))) - Pyroclasts
207 points, 6 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0470628539_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/7qBdr5VAmWMSJ7dij0mV3f
https://sunn.bandcamp.com/album/pyroclasts

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sunn-o-pyroclasts/

Stephen O’Malley once described Sunn O))) as his “guitar band,” which is a striking understatement. Over the band’s nearly two-decade run, they’ve never deviated from a singular mission: crushingly glacial guitars played at devastating volumes. Since 2009’s Monoliths & Dimensions, the duo has gracefully slipped the shackles of heavy metal, remaining rooted in its ferocious aesthetic while pursuing high concept collaborations and drone at its most incantatory. Sunn 0))) is a guitar band like a hurricane is wind.

April’s Life Metal had a distinct back-to-basics quality, stepping away from the orchestrations and composer commissions for some of the pure, indefinite-hiatus riffage on which Sunn 0))) built their name. Recorded by Steve Albini, the album showed Greg Anderson and O’Malley summoning a sound of overwhelming scope and elegance, moving with just a little bit of extra authority.

Pyroclasts is a companion to that album, recorded in the same sessions but stripped even further back. At the start and end of each day of recording, the group and their collaborators would perform a simple exercise: explore a single modal drone for 12 minutes; Albini would capture it, and they would move on. These four selections can be experienced as a sort of frame for Life Metal’s more definitive statement. Not compositions, nor exactly improvisations, the group describes them as “a daily practice,” calling to mind a regular meditation or yoga routine (except at pain-threshold dB). And like a series of stretches, these sessions were intended to open up the musicians as they worked through the album.

I know several people who prefer this one

More power to them.

Well, the power they have ain't coming from the album.

*stifles a y...elp*

other than Branca this is the least impressive stretch of the rollout so far. bad voters!!

I haven't really dug into the Branca album much in full, but "Cold Thing" is incredible.

I liked the Boris album a lot. They're still strangely hookworm but they manage ream shoegaze poetry without necessarily stopping to sounding pretty

*stooping

and hookworm should be hookpoor

sorry, I'm fucking stoned

lol

33
Lightning Bolt - Sonic Citadel
209 points, 7 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1376325179_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/7j0wKLXUOaXhlq2Iw83NHs
https://lightningbolt.bandcamp.com/album/sonic-citadel

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lightning-bolt-sonic-citadel/

For 25 years now, Lightning Bolt has made a career out of indulging only the most gnarled riffs, covering every sound in brittle distortion, and playing live shows so loud and destructive that they—literally—blow out the power and leave the performers covered in blood. The duo’s dedication to this “move fast, break everything” mentality is still strong on Sonic Citadel, their seventh full-length album. The first song is called “Blow to the Head,” a three-minute blast of punishing kick drum, acrid bass riffs, and squealed vocals like a pile of styrofoam plates tossed on a bonfire. It’s as wonderfully ugly as anything they’ve ever made.

They keep up this energy—standouts include the surreal anthems “Bouncy House” and the Tilt-a-Whirl hardcore of “Tom Thump”—adding a handful of tracks to the pantheon of Lightning Bolt jams designed to keep your local audiologist in business. But where Sonic Citadel really takes off is in the moments where they deviate hardest from their formula. Underneath all the fuzz, there’s always been pop sensibility at work; Lightning Bolt riffs have been catchy in their own warped way since Ride the Skies. But at points, they allow those instincts to come into startling focus.

That’s telegraphed, in part, in some of the song titles, which reference Don Henley, Husker Dü, and Van Halen. None of these jams especially sound like classic rock or hair metal, but they are some of the most memorable moments in the band’s catalog. “Don Henley in the Park” is an especially notable curveball, built around overlapping bass riffs that sound like a Durutti Column song as played by the Tasmanian Devil. Chippendale’s nursery-rhyme vocals would almost be fit for a sing-along, if you could make out what he’s saying. (The lyric sheet isn’t especially helpful on this score; it reads “[improvised lyrics].”)

very possibly their best album

Still haven't gotten around to this in full but like what I've heard

Surprised to see so little LIGHTNING BOLT commentary. I liked it about as much as Wonderful Rainbow, which is to say a solid 7/10.

Anyway… an ILM darling coming up (or so it seems to me).

32
Xoth - Interdimensional Invocations
223 points, 6 votes, 1 #1 vote

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1114251881_16.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/0ahGsSwSspQ1zqZp4Qg76c
https://xoth.bandcamp.com/album/interdimensional-invocations

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/xoth-interdimensional-invocations-review/

It feels like a millenia has passed since Xoth released their debut record Invasion of the Tentacube. The 2016 release took me by surprise. I picked it up randomly, intrigued by the rough sci-fi album artwork and the B-movie title; I expected little. What I heard, though, was striking. Xoth had a sound of undeniable strangeness. You could trace a slither of every subgenre in their sound. The patterns and impulses of their style were reasonably common – a black metal base sculpted with features of thrash, death, power and symphonic. But it was the tone of their production, the peculiarity of the mix, and the quirky hyper-melodic turns in their music which caught me off guard. That record had hooks and memorability aplenty, but this was buried under rusty, rickety dirtiness which struck the right chord. Three years is a long time, though, and I spent a lot of time scouring the web for any information about a new release. Silence. The band played a lot of gigs in the Northwest US and hinted at new songs being written but, then, nothing, really. I sort of forgot about them, except for riffs and vocal lines from”Tentacles of Terror” invading my psyche at random times in my life. As if out of nowhere the mangled title Interdimensional Invocations emerged from another dimension. Now, a second release is here. Can Xoth weave their multidimensional magic once again, or is this destined to spend an eternity in the scrap heap?

Instantly, the music sounds thicker, denser. With the help of Joe Cincotta (Obituary, Suffocation), the band have given their sound a turbo boost. Whereas Invasion had an endearing roughness, Interdimensional Invocations has a directness which intensifies the band’s sound, especially during the heavier jaunts. This record is undeniably heavier. The bassier mix aids this but the songs themselves are less ultra-melodic and more tempestuous. The melodies, present throughout, have a more acerbic quality – there’s a directness which pummels through the whole record. Opener “Casting the Sigil” crunches into being without an introduction. The song grooves at a vicious pace, supported by thicker drum and bass lines. The rickety, jazz-like fluidity of the bass is still present – thankfully – but it’s assimilated much more naturally. Despite enjoying the showmanship it conveyed in the debut record, it occasionally became too flamboyant. Here, it adds to the spirit of the songs – filling the gaps, bridging the riffs and allowing for the lead guitar solos to spin and spit at a manic rate.

This was cool but didn't quite live up to the hype, I'm afraid.

It was my #1 and pom is wrong. Riffs and hooks and wonderful things for days.

Hooray. This was my #4.

Don't mind me, there's so much to which I only lent a superficial ear.

This is great and I really don't like thrash metal. Super fun and maximalist