2020 Metal ’n’ Heavy Rock Poll: VOTING & FURTHER CAMPAIGNING thread (open until March 5)

Love the Dola and (spoiler) it made my ballot.

Didn’t make mine, alas, but it’s a good ‘un.

Anyone else care to recommend or campaign for albums?

Anything I or others need to hear before voting?

I would urge those perhaps not so striclty metal oriented voters to check out the very lovely Colour Haze album We Are from the list. Somehow a more kosmische (thinking AR & Machines / Amon Duul rather than Neu!) vibe to this one than some previous releases. Warmest sounds around.

https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/we-are

Also the Motorpsycho album was a huge thing, a groovy prog suite sandwiched between a set of more ostensibly straightforward rock songs and a handful of quieter, mostly acoustic numbers. It doesn't really lend itself to excerpts but let's have the title track. I think some found the lyrics too on the nose but sometimes you just got to say it straight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckrg-GQInRg

I don't really like campaigning tbh but let's see if it works at all. Rock stuff seems to fall in the gap between the main poll and the perception of this one as being mostly metal.

Colour Haze are indeed awesome

I do think campaigning works and lots of heavy rock and adjacent shouldn't miss out if it's good. If it's nominated anyone should vote for it regardless of whether they consider themselves a metalhead or not.

The poll is open to all - including lurkers. Always has been.

Discogs and Spotify both say "We Are" was released in 2019.

The nomination passed inpection.

2020 Metal ’n’ Heavy Rock Poll: NOMINATIONS Thread (open until the 8th of January 2021)

‘Inspection’ is giving us too much credit. That said, a 2020 Bandcamp release is fine in my book.

You like death metal with a slight tech bent? Then you've heard Faceless Burial's Speciation, right? Riiiight? Because it fucking rips, and somewhat stupendously achieves that effect without being dumb as rocks.

On the bluesier, Beefheart-esque end of metal, featuring less genre-hopping than on their previous albums and all the more compelling for it, Mamaleek's Come & See is a highlight.

It's since been repackaged as the closer to Omination's latest LP, which came out this year, but as a standalone EP, The Pale Horseman is peak Eastern Orthodox apocalypticism made in… Tunisia, of all places.

I don't get much out of Thin Lizzy and 70s heavy metal revival gets little beyond a polite nod from me on the best of days, but Wytch Hazel's III: Pentecost is just incredibly solid and catchy from beginning to end.

Folk-suffused, melodic death doom with gorgeous clean vocals courtesy of a closet cookie monster doesn't get much better than Syttyköön toinen aurinko by Kaunis Kuolematon.

I'm getting my ballot together... I have 40 now, hope to send in a full 50-album ballot this time, thanks for all the campaigning everyone it's helped me find a bunch of good stuff.

I don't really like campaigning tbh but let's see if it works at all. Rock stuff seems to fall in the gap between the main poll and the perception of this one as being mostly metal.

― Noel Emits

With that in mind I'll recommend Horisont - Sudden Death as it didn't get anywhere in the main poll. It's a sort of 70's AOR/Prog/Heavy Metal pastiche kind of thing I liked a lot. Feels like Thin Lizzy, ELO, Procol Harum, and Alan Parsons Project were big influences.

Five more…

Slutet's Love & Beauty is a wild, improvisational black metal ride into Sumerian mythology by an obscure Swedish collective that tries really hard to sound like an actual cult (perhaps it is one?).

Also from Sweden, Draug's Irreelle sindelag is violin-haunted blackened doom that keeps leaping through the looking glass and back.

On the death metal end of things, why is no one talking about Angel Morgue's In the Morgue of Angels? I can't imagine being into riffs and not liking this.

From Russia, last year gave us Black Flux's Black Stream (guess which subgenre these guys play) and it includes my most played metal track of 2020, 'Ashen Goblets', which distantly reminds me of the'Opening' from Glassworks, of all things.

From Poland, Cultum Interitum's Poison of Being is truly ugly and filthy methodical black metal with multiple vocalists to ensure optimal laceration.

Mr Pom and Mr Lai could you check your emails please?

There is now a weeks' extension for voting!

Voting now ends Friday, February 26!

ahhhhhh

Horisont album sounds good.

Deep Purple and BÖC albums were v good for anyone who didn't hear them. Purp has a lot of psych and prog elements, including quoting most of the prelude to BWV1006 in "Nothing At All".

Dan Weiss album = virtuoso jazz players doing legit heavy hyper-intricate progressive compositions. I think it's actually better than the previous album; Monder shreds more on this one.

I enjoyed the Horisont as well, very buoyant. Thanks for that.

The Dan Weiss is great but not trve enovgh for my ballot, that’s just how it is. Still, anyone who likes heavy jazz ought to hear it.

I had listened to the Wytch Hazel some time ago and enjoyed it p well.

I had stopped keeping up with Krallice, probably just because I didn't think they could top Years Past Matter, but I'm really impressed by Mass Cathexis. They've managed to preserve everything that was good about them without simply rehashing what they were doing; they seem to have gone further in a progressive direction. "Feed on the Blood of Rats" is really fantastic: what a great riff. Wonderful breakdown in "Aspherance".

I had to turn it off bc I couldn't hear it over the construction but the first five tracks from the Colour Haze were really good - is it an ineligible 2019 release, though?

I'm glad for the extension. It will give me more time to check out these suggestions. So far I'm digging the Mamaleek and Angel Morgue.

We could extend it again if anyone thinks it would help to hear more albums before voting.

It was worth it to finish the Colour Haze album.

The Wobbler album is super fun retro-prog pastiche, like a lost classic from 1972. Catchy, whimsical, full of worshipful nods to Yes and Gentle Giant. It's not heavy or metal, but sufficiently geeky for the poll I'd say.

Imperial Triumphant - Alphaville

Using the Alphaville computer voice in a metal song is such a neat and in retrospect very obvious move. Has it been done before? Anyway I really dig this record. It's odd seeing it described as "chaotic", the songs make a great deal of sense to me. Probably cos it's basically Zeuhl.

Black Stream album was p good. "Reflection of Death" seemed like a highlight to me. "Upwards" had me nodding my head.

Glad you liked it.

The Wobbler album jmm mentioned is another case of 'too vntrve for this poll' in my book but it's a really solid pastiche and I think you'd enjoy it as well.

Yeah, the Wobbler was not bad, some cool rhythmic things going on. Not sure if it's something I'd buy. What did people think of the Behold the Arctopus album? I listened to it a couple of times last year and again now. It was quite singular, I thought: something like a Marston-metal take on contemporary chamber music, like the flipside of the Dan Weiss album - it's less nuanced and compositionally ambitious but heavier and intense. There were no cymbals and a wide range of mallet percussion instead. Pretty mathy and virtuosic.

Kaatayra – Toda História pela Frente was a pretty album I listened to a lot.

...something like a Marston-metal take on contemporary chamber music

I said something like that last year and felt kind of silly about it, glad to have the backing of someone who knows a lot more about theory! It's a great album and I'm not particularly into their previous stuff. I also found the acoustic Kaatayra album a lot better than the electric one.

I’m stupidly biased against instrumental metal but I thought the Behold the Arctopus LP was pretty decent, yeah.

I mentioned this before and nominated it but I loved the Arctopus LP. saw them play it live too, the drumkit looked like something out of hellraiser with pipes, planks and chimes. sounded great.

Our dear Neechy is feeling a bit sick lately and needs more time to prepare for the rollout, so we’re going to extend the deadline yet again, to the 5th of March. I hope this works for everyone.

A few years ago I was blown away by the Mastery album VALIS which I thought never really got a proper follow up. But I just recently discovered he has a ton of projects, one being Ulthar whose album I slept on and ultimately didn't vote for but its pretty damn good in hindsight. Glad he's still making music because VALIS is still one of the more mind bending albums I've ever heard. Providence (which is nominated) isn't quite on that level imo but pretty killer in its own right.

it's uhh voting day! I will vote!

We extended it further, to March 5, but you can certainly vote now! I should do so myself, in fact, before I forget.

It's really true that quarantine has resulted in a greater utility for chill vibes. But I will punch vibes in the face for this poll.

I had to turn it off bc I couldn't hear it over the construction but the first five tracks from the Colour Haze were really good - is it an ineligible 2019 release, though?

Think we covered it in the original nomination thread, but landed on it being good because as far as it seems, the physical release didn't come until 2020.

Lol Simon, that's the spirit :)

I'll have a ballot in before the deadline, I promise!

Our dear Neechy is feeling a bit sick lately and needs more time to prepare for the rollout, so we’re going to extend the deadline yet again, to the 5th of March. I hope this works for everyone.

This would be fantastic! I had hoped to get a ballot slapped together, but real life and work insanity intruded. This will help me a lot and, more importantly, I hope it gives Oor Neechy time to recover properly.

I'm revisiting Neptunian Maximalism. I like it reasonably well but tbh I think I have a harder time hearing this as metal than I do Dan Weiss.

It's simply, really. The Bandcamp page for Natural Selection only features a generic mention of 'metal' among the keywords, whereas the page for Éons has 'metal', 'black metal', 'death metal', 'doom metal', 'drone metal', 'jazz metal' and 'stoner metal'. QED.

*simple

vöted

Haha, fair enough, pom.

voted

Voted.

Obviously yes. I love Hum and I know it's louder and heavier than many actual metal records that will place, but calling it metal or heavy rock just seems wrong.

Perhaps it is your record store's shelves that are wrong.

Usually we wait for the results before we start screaming NOT METAL

For what it's worth, I just typed "what genre is the band hum" into Google and the first thing that came up was "alternative metal".

I don't think it's weird at all to include them. It's not like someone nominated the Spin Doctors

Yeah I guess I'm the one having the blinders on. I just thought nobody would seriously think of Hum as a metal band.

This has never been a metal-exclusive poll.

it's in the title, even. heavy rock is a term that is pretty broad and inclusive.

It's going to be fun if Hum win

now she's out back counting VOTES

Hum probably sound more rooted in Black Sabbath to me than a lot of the bands on that Decibel list do, though.

They were at the bottom of my list tbc.

mine too

Last on mine I think as well LOL.

In a break from previous traditions we wont be starting the rollout today as pom is busy and doesn't want to miss out on any of the rollout.

So I think we will be starting tomorrow about 8/9am his time, which will be UK lunchtime I think?

ahaha that makes at least 4 of us xp

I hope you are all excited

Won't be able to listen along because I'm at work, but at least I can follow the rollout since I'm working from home.

Starting in 30 mins or so. Stay tuned.

Very excited! Working until half 6, but I'll be checking in sporadically.

And so it begins:

2020 Metal ’n’ Heavy Rock/Heavy Music Poll: RESULTS – Top 100 Countdown

Thanks all, re: above <3

Hope you're ok, LBI.

Feel free to join us in the rollout, of course (if you feel like it!).

Onward and upward for me, thank you Pom.