EXTREME METAL Albums Poll - Nominations Round

Extreme Metal, what is the best?
What is extreme metal?

Is it harsher than what would play on an alternative rock station? Does the band's logo look like a weird bat-knot? Lots of distortion, low fidelity, inflammatory lyrical content are some hallmarks, but not necessarily present in extreme metal.

Some microgenres of extreme metal include:
- back metal
- death metal
- funeral doom metal
- drone metal
- gore metal
- thrashcore/grind/grindcore/goregrind
- death doom
- industrial metal

I'm not going to exclude popular well known "false" bands like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, that's just elitist. Also, if its crossover and/or metalcore or post-hardcore or whatever, I dunno -- use your best judgement. Stuff like noise and power electronics and whatever is extreme but it's not metal so it doesn't count. However, the Boris/Merzbow split does... I hope you can see why that would be and refrain from concern trolling me.

I am allowing EPs because in several genres they are the same thing as a full album, and also I see no reason to exclude them in general. You probably don't want to nominate an 'accessible' album of an extreme artist, but I won't disallow it (a famous case being Carcass - Swansong). I mean, things are really loose here. There are a lot of edge cases with this kind of thing and I'll err on the side of allowing a nomination. No limit to your nominations. I'll devise voting rules with the help of people who are interested in this poll.

The nominations list is:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WKuG4E8u5i4xOPvs6wq9ZPgGxkAmv1w8YEXVG9HANfI/edit?usp=sharing

I suppose one week is enough time for nominating, unless someone makes a case for more time... Right now it is 1:15 AM Sunday, September 27, 2015 UTC,
so your noms are valid up to oh lets say 2 AM Sunday, October 4th, 2015 UTC. (UTC is also the same as GMT, in case you're wondering)

Uh hopefully this is a good starting post, I'll be around to deal with issues...

You can also vote for something that hasn't been nominated, but we'll deal with things like that on the voting thread.

Venom - Welcome To Hell
Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales
Hellhammer - Apocalyptic Raids

got them added, thanks!

Immolation-Close to a World Below
Sarcofago-The Temples of Scourge
Death-Human
Macabre-Gloom
Incantation-Onward to Golgotha
Dismember-LIke an Everflowing Stream

Entombed- Left Hand Path
Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness
Burzum - Filosofem
Weakling - Dead As Dreams
Death - Scream Bloody Gore & Leprosy
Autopsy - Mental Funeral
Winter - Into Darkness

xp got those added, thanks!

Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane

i hope people wont be shy and add the obvious big thrash albums by Metallica , Slayer etc

yay for early Death getting nommed. Leprosy is one of my fav albums.

got your noms added too, HAWKZ

Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane

don't want to bias the poll, but this one of my favorites!

Absu - Tara
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse; Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Pestilence - Consuming Impulse
Suffocation - Pierced from Within
Thorns - Thorns

I'm stumped on Enslaved. I could see Frost, Eld, Mardraum, Beneath the Lights, and the Hordanes Land split all going into any list of essentials, because they all present various facets of the band. I'll give it more thought.

agree with all of yrs Devilock except Thorns and that's only cos I ain't heard it.

that fuckin' Mayhem album.....and that Pestilence especially

nominate them all

ok I nominate every metal album ever recorded

I gotta attend to something for like an hour so I will not be around to respond but I will add the noms! I'm so glad we already have some coming in!

Shall add the imago metal to tempt him

Darkspace - II
Sunn o))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
Khanate - Khanate

and its silly not having these already
Metallica - Kill Em All
Metallica - Ride The Lightning
Metallica - Master Of Puppets

Slayer - Reign In Blood

Satyricon gets dumped on for reasons beyond my comprehension. Every time I listen to Nemesis Divina I'm like god damn this is a perfect album. The earlier two are definitely works in progress, though.

So uh

Satyricon - Nemesis Divina

I could probably nominate everything that came out of Norway in the first half of the 90s, honestly.

Let's see. I admit to not really getting into the German thrash thing; I'll leave that to others.

Anata - Under a Stone with No Inscription; The Conductor's Departure
Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God; Memoria Vetusta 2: Dialogue with the Stars
Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious; Heartwork
Coroner - No More Colour; Mental Vortex
Deathspell Omega - Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice
Leviathan - Tentacles of Whorror
Morbid Angel - Blessed Are the Sick; Covenant

Megadeth - Rust In Peace
Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

co-sign Nemesis..."Mother North" is gorgeous

oh you better do it
Artist - Album otherwise frobisher wont pick those up as its confusing the way you did it

Haha what is going on with that google doc. Can anyone edit it?

as a poll runner i know its murder to collate the noms if not done in the proper way

Oh, no, I guess I can't edit it. Which is good because it's all wacky.

Let me re-post without troublesome semicolons:

Anata - Under a Stone with No Inscription
Anata - The Conductor's Departure
Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God
Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta 2: Dialogue with the Stars
Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious
Carcass - Heartwork
Coroner - No More Colour
Coroner - Mental Vortex
Deathspell Omega - Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice
Leviathan - Tentacles of Whorror
Morbid Angel - Blessed Are the Sick
Morbid Angel - Covenant

Nocturnus - The Key
Pungent Stench - Been Caught Buttering
Stormtroopers of Death - Speak English or Die
Terrorizer - World Downfall
Repulsion - Horrified
Cryptopsy - None So Vile
Vital Remains - Dechristianize
High on Fire - Blessed Black Wings
Immortal - Pure Holocaust
Mayhem - Wolf's Lair Abyss
Sarcofago-I.N.R.I.

Malevolent Creation - The Ten Commandments
Malevolent Creation - Retribution

Carpathian Forest - Black Shining Leather
Destroyer 666 - Phoenix Rising
Lunar Aurora - Andacht
Nagelfar - Hunengrab im Herbst
Nagelfar - Virus West
Sargeist - Let the Devil In
Voivod - Killing Technology
Voivod - Dimension Hatross
Voivod - Nothingface

I'm already veering from "obvious staples" to "screw you I really love this album" so I'll let the spaces get filled in before I add more.

Lord how did I forget Nocturnus.

Convulse - World Without God

I need to think tomorrow and nominate all the funeral doom only I will vote for

Worship - Dooom
Esoteric - Paragon of Dissonance
Gorguts - Coloured Sands
Nails - Abandon All Life
Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless
Krallice - Years Past Matter
Brutal Truth - End Times
Wormed - Exodromos
Vektor - Outer Isolation
Mgla - With Hearts Towards None

oh damn, i fucked the spreadsheet up pretty badly. I'm gonna be fixing that, so ya its gonna look fucked up for awhile... sorry bout that this is my first rodeo.

But all of your nominations will be on it!

OK everything should be correct now, and all noms up to now added! I think I'm headed to bed. Thanks a bunch everybody this is already a bunch of fun!

Autopsy - Severed Survival
Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark
Bathory - Blood Fire Death
Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion
Darkthrone - Under A Funeral Moon
Darkthrone - Transylvanian Hunger
Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Gorgoroth - Pentagram
Kreator - Pleasure to Kill
Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death
Possessed - Seven Churches
Sadus - Illusions
Sodom - In the Sign of Evil
Sodom - Obsessed By Cruelty
Sodom - Persecution Mania
Ved Buens Ende - Written In Waters

Samael - Ceremony Of Opposites
Gorgoroth - Under The Sign Of Hell
Behemoth - ...And The Forests Dream Eternally
Asphyx - Last One On Earth
Death - Individual Thought Patterns
Bolt Thrower - For Victory
Disembowelment - Transcendence Into The Peripheral
Winter - Into Darkness
Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun
Paradise Lost - Gothic
Nocturnal Mortum - The Voice Of Steel
Cynic - Focus
Pestilence - Testimony Of The Ancients
Obituary - Slowly We Rot

Thergothon - Stream From The Heavens
Saturnus - Paradise Belongs To You
My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans
Anathema - The Silent Enigma
Sepultura - Beneath The Remains
Kreator - Pleasure To Kill
Death Anfel - The Ultra-Violence
Sodom - Persecution Mania
Destruction - Infernal Overkill

couple of dupes already, and it should read Death Angel not Anfel.

And here I was thinking Death Anfel were some super-obscure death/doom band from Belgium or something...

agree with all of yrs Devilock except Thorns and that's only cos I ain't heard it.

You gotta hear the Thorns record if you like black metal; it's outstanding and does a great job of integrating industrial elements without it becoming a lame distortion fest. Guitar sound oddly reminds me of Massacre's From Beyond.

Dismember - Massive Killing Capacity
Cradle Of Filth - Midian
Venom - Black Metal
Root - Zjevení
Decapitated - Winds Of Creation

xp oh and the Thorns stuff from the Thorns Vs. Emperor EP is amazing if you don't mind demented use of synths, programming and ProTools - they really make Emperor look bad and unimaginative on that EP.

Oh and let's add

Ulver - Bergtatt and Nattens Madrigal
Carcass - Symphonies of Sickness
Brutal Truth - Extreme Conditions and Need to Control
Napalm Death - Scum and From Enslavement to Obliteration

What do you guys think about other Napalm stuff? I feel like Harmony Corruption, for all of it's bloated song lengths and terrible, terrible production was pretty influential in the long run (I think it was the first ND album distributed domestically in the US).

XP oh shit Root!!! Such a great band.

Hellhammer - Satanic Rites
Setherian - Nord
Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi

some Summoning obviously but hard to pick one.

Setherial - Nord
stupid typos

Gorement - The Ending Quest
Graveland - The Celtic Winter
Master's Hammer - Ritual
Strid - Strid
Impaled Nazarene - Ugra-Karma
Anaal Nathrakh - The Codex Necro

Drudkh - Autumn Aurora

Oh yeah some folky stuff:

Borknagar - The Olden Domain
Horn - Die Kraft der Szenarien
Horn - Naturkraft
Myrkgrav - Trollskau, skromt og kolabrenning
Vintersorg - Odemarkens Son
Vintersorg - Visions from the Spiral Generator

I admit I've never much listened to Windir or Falkenbach. They should probably be here but I have no idea which albums.

USBM:

December Wolves - Completely Dehumanized
Demoncy - Joined in Darkness
Epoch of Unlight - Caught in the Unlight
Fog - Through the Eyes of Night...Winged They Come
Grand Belial's Key - Judeobeast Assassination
Nachtmystium - Instinct:Decay
Unholy Trinity - Omnimalevolence

Oh and:

Beherit - Drawing Down the Moon
Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract
Rotting Christ - Triarchy of the Lost Lovers
Zyklon - World ov Worms which I feel is one of the most underrated albums ever

Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst (I vastly prefer the Corpsegrinder era)
Chasm, the - Deathcult for Eternity: The Triumph
Chasm, the - Procession to the Infraworld
Chasm, the - The Spell of Retribution
Deicide - Deicide
Deicide - Legion
Disincarnate - Dreams of the Carrion Kind
Incantation - Mortal Throne of Nazarene
Incantation - Diabolical Conquest
Infester - To the Depths in Degradation

Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels
Disma - Towards the Megalith
Domains - Sinister Ceremonies
Furia - Martwa polska jesien
Furia - Grudzien za grudniem
Lost Soul - Immerse in Infinity
Pig Destroyer - Prowler in the Yard
Spite Extreme Wing - Vltra

hookay think I'm done, I'm well outside of the "undisputed classics" realm

Absu - Absu
Abyssal - Antikatastaseis
Ævangelist - Omen Ex Simulacra
Altar of Plagues - White Tomb
Botanist - VI: Flora
Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
Dark Funeral - The Secrets of the Black Arts
Gojira - The Way of All Flesh
Esoteric - Paragon of Dissonance
Krallice - Krallice
Plebeian Grandstand - Lowgazers
Sepultura - Arise
Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise
Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade
Woods of Desolation - Torn Beyond Reason

Death - Individual Thought Patterns
Kill The Client - Cleptocracy
Immolation - Kingdom of Conspiracy
Cannibal Corpse - Kill
Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated
Pestilence - Testimony of the Ancients
Marduk - Wormwood
Marduk - Panzer Division Marduk
Necrophagist - Epitaph
Funeral Mist - Maranatha
Grave - Into The Grave

Antediluvian - Logos (λόγος)
Celeste - Morte(s) Née(s)
Dead Congregation - Promulgation of the Fall
Desolate Shrine - The Sanctum of Human Darkness
Glaciation - Sur les falaises de marbre
Immolation - Majesty and Decay
Inquisition - Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer
Krallice - Diotima
Ne Obliviscaris - The Aurora Veil
Peste Noire - La sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
Primordial - To the Nameless Dead
Rorcal - Világvége
Thou - Heathen
Thou - The Summit
Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All
Urfaust - Der freiwillige Bettler
Watain - Lawless Darkness
Wolves in the Throne Room - Diadem of 12 Stars

Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet
Esoteric - Metamorphogenesis
Shape of Despair - Angels of Distress
Worship - Last Tape/vinyl/cd Before Doomsday
Evoken - Quietus
Mournful Congregation - The Monad of Creation
Pantheïst - O Solitude
Hjarnidaudi - Pain:Noise:March

diSEMBOWELMENT - Transcendence Into the Peripheral
Ataraxie - Slow Transcending Agony

Coffins - Buried Death

frobisher I assume the likes of Electric Wizard and Sleep count?

Sleep - Dopesmoker
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

Corrupted - El mundo frio
Corrupted - Llenandose de gusanos

Corrupted - Se hace por los suenos asesinos

Converge - Jane Doe

Yob - The Unreal Never Lived

btw there's a hair metal poll by grady due up now too and I know you will all want to vote

Warhorse - As Heaven Turns to Ash

Harvey Milk - Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men

Grief - Come To Grief

jfc that silent opening into immediate brutality on Thorns scared the shit out of me over the headphones THANKS A LOT GOTT PUNCH

Isis - Celestial
Boris - Absolutego
Neurosis - Through Silver In Blood

btw you forgot doom death in your description ;)

Agalloch - The Mantle
Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

might as well get it out of the way too
Burzum - Filosofem

vote split burzum with
Burzum - Hvis lyset tar oss

Slayer - South of Heaven

Mastodon - Remission

Godflesh - Streetcleaner

Negură Bunget - OM

Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark

Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

One of my favorite albums ever but I was debating whether or not it belonged on an 'Extreme' metal list. Now that it's been nominated I'm definitely going to vote for it though.

if it wasnt then pretty much all thrash wouldnt and that'd be silly

i don't see any napalm death. why do you guys hate napalm death?

I've actually seen death metal fans online saying thrash isnt extreme metal .
Reminds me of those (funnily enough some are thrash metal fans) who say the original heavy metal bands of the 70s arent metal.

nominate it scott we cant remember everything!

Napalm Death - Scum
Napalm Death - From Enslavement To Obliteration

better?

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
Carpathian Forest - Defending the Throne of Evil
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Entombed - Clandestine
Fen - Epoch
Fluisteraars - Dromers
Galdr - Galdr
Mayhem - Esoteric Warfare
Meshuggah - obZen
Oranssi Pazuzu - Valonielu
Satyricon - Dark Medievan Times
Walknut - Graveforests and Their Shadows
Winterfylleth - The Threnody of Triumph
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters

Er, that should be:

Satyricon - Dark Medieval Times

Napalm Death - Time Waits For No Slave
Napalm Death - Utilitarian
Suffocation - Pierced From Within
Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten
Suffocation - Pinnacle of Bedlam
Wormrot - Abuse

Ooh WormRot

Gridlink - Amber Grey
Gridlink - Orphan
Gridlink - Longhena

Vader - De Profundity
Gorguts - The Erosion of Sanity
Deicide - Deicide
Deicide - Legion
Deicide - Once Upon the Cross
Yob - The Great Cessation
Angelcorpse - Exterminate
Gorefest - Mind loss
Skeletonwitch - Breathing the Fire
Hypocrisy - Obsculum Obscenum
Entombed -Clandestine

Shining - Blackjazz
Subrosa - More Constant Than The Gods
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
Vattnet Viskar - Sky Swallower
Wolvserpent - Perigea Antahkarana
Amon Amarth - Versus the World
Converge - You Fail Me
Disfear - Live the Storm
Inquisition - Obscure Verses for the Multiverse
Panopticon - Kentucky

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
Green Day - Dookie
Elastica - Elastica
Propellerheads - Decksandrumsandrockandroll
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

wow, lots of nominations! I'll be adding these asap... I def. think Agalloch counts, and very heavy doom def. counts (eg. Sleep, Electric Wizard, Yob, Cough) as well as sludgy stuff. Candlemass and Pentagram and other trad. doom doesn't fit.

So far everyone seems to know what fits, I haven't noticed any egregious nominations so far.

you didn't read the previous post did you

hopefully imago will get 51 flag posts

lol, I see it. very funny imago... obv. those aren't going on the list.

i cant see what point imago is trying to make there. just looking for attention as per

waiting for the "its just banter" post

Extreme Bantz

Enslaved - Frost
Enslaved - Eld
Enslaved - Mardraum: Beyond the Within
Enslaved - Below the Lights
Immortal - At the Heart of Winter
Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
Marduk - Opus Nocturne
Marduk - Rom 5:12
Mayhem - Ordo ad Chao
Opeth - Morningrise
Opeth - My Arms Your Hearse
Opeth - Still Life
Ripping Corpse - Dreaming with the Dead

i think its pretty fair to say anything by Boris from Pink onwards doesnt count?

pink & smile definitely shouldn't count imo

Yet Isis - Oceanic probably does.

How you gonna decide on this frobisher? Glad its not me running the poll, lol

I don't know enough about Boris! Did they turn into an indie band or something?

I think Isis counts -- if its long and experimental and complex that's extreme, but then that kind of definition would open the door to Tool, which certainly doesn't count. This is tough, I'll probably add anything that seems legit as there are already tons of stuff I've never heard being nominated, I guess this is based on the honor system. If I see obvious not-extreme stuff like Helloween or Iced Earth or Manowar, etc, those will not make it on the list. :)

This has me thinking about my early extreme metal experiences. This is probably way out there but does anyone remember the name of a notoriously bad goremetal/dm band with real obvious tacky drum machine drums? I think they're name started with a C, and one of their albums has like a zombie with a chainsaw on the cover... sorry that's really vague but maybe someone knows what I'm talking about.

Oh yeah and the early albums from the big 4 thrash bands count, but like for Metallica for example, I'm not going to add the Black Album or anything after.

they made albums after???

Frobisher you aren't thinking of Mortician are you

Baphomet - The Dead Shall Inherit

Wow, not excluding dupes there are already 309 albums nominated!

YES its Mortician! Thank you HSB!!!!

Deafheaven was just banter as well, right?

What even is 'extreme' metal, this just seems like a metal poll, which is fine, just don't call it 'extreme' i'm sure you've all been over this already though blah blah

a lot of metal isnt extreme

A lot of the metal nominated already here doesn't seem particularly 'extreme' by metal standards! But ah well, all subjective I guess. You'd best watch out for my real nominations though. They'll be super-duper extreme

Deafheaven is extreme, I don't know why they wouldn't be? I know people can't stand the idea that they're black metal but whatever. This is not about elitism or nitpicking. I mean, we're letting Agalloch & Drudkh in, Deafheaven is certainly as extreme as them.

I doubt your expertise on what constitutes extreme metal, imago. I'm gonna trust peeps like HAWKZ & Devilock & HSB as they are actual metal fans who listen to metal...

I'm probably being an elitist dick tbf so I'll shut up and nominate xp until you said that! oh em gee you've done it now pal

huh? what did I do? look, you're free to nominate non-trolling albums I'm not excluding anyone.

But yes, the definition of extreme is very loose in this poll but it certainly isn't a general metal poll (that's already been done).

Welllll I'm going less by the "extreme" tag and more by the subgenres listed. In my personal life I don't see much difference in composition or execution between Emperor's Anthems and something like Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian. It's mostly a question of ... decibels? BPM? Production? I dunno. In fact I was thinking of the difference between, say, Strapping Young Lad's City and Devin Townsend's Ocean Machine or Physicist. I assume only City is considered "extreme" and now we're already in fuzzy land.

Anyway

Strapping Young Lad - City

But Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian is the best metal album ever. Obv.

Right, Devilock I think you've got the right idea here. TBH I realized how thorny this poll might be after I proposed it, and thought about changing it to a single genre poll (like Black Metal), but oh well.

Another good rule of thumb -- If its in Kerrang! it most likely does not belong here.

I usually just go by if terrorizer covered them then its in

http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/terroris.htm

all decisions are frobishers though

what was extreme 10, 20, 30 years ago might not sound extreme now so you have to balance up the era it came out. Sure , thrash metal isnt very extreme now but it sure was when the albums were made.
Obviously retro revival thrash bands might not seem extreme but would it really matter if they got in? its just a poll.

if it got in kerrang until the late 90s frobisher it might be extreme metal, frobisher. It did used to cover it.

good point about early kerrang

xpost to myself

Of course Venom was the first band nominated, and if Venom is in, everything is in: Mercyful Fate, Maiden, Priest. Or you could make the argument that Venom is noisier and more aggressive than the others.

So I'm just gonna pretend like I haven't noticed anything.

dont really see maiden or priest or sabbath as extreme tho thats just heavy metal to me

I think we just need to make a special case for Venom. But if it makes people unhappy I'll take them off

no way. venom were right there at the beginning of extreme metal.
If you remove them you may as well take off the thrash bands!

tho even early terrorizer lists are lols
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/terroris.htm

Terrorizer Albums Of The Year 1996

1. Type O Negative – October Rust
2. Godflesh – Songs Of Love And Hate
3. Neurosis – Through Silver In Blood
4. Swans – Soundtracks For The Blind
5. Tool – Aenima
6. Samael – Passage
7. Earth Crisis – Gomorrah's Season Ends
8. Whitehouse – Quality Time
9. Sepultura – Roots
10. Blood Axis – The Gospel Of Inhumanity

The other 20 albums...

11. 16 – Drop Out
12. Arch Enemy – Black Earth
13. Fu Manchu – In Search Of…
14. Crisis – Deathshread Extermination
15. The 3rd & The Mortal – Painting On Glass
16. C.O.C – Wiseblood
17. Vader – De Profundis
18. Cradle Of Filth – Dusk And Her Embrace
19. Laibach – Jesus Christ Superstars
20. Korn – Life Is Peachy
21. Katatonia – Brave Murder Day
22. Gehenna – Malice
23. Turmoil – From Bleeding Hands
24. Crowbar – Broken Glass
25. Various Artists – Nordic Metal
26. Bloodlet – Entheogen
27. Downset – Do We Speak A Dead Language?
28. Stuck Mojo – Pigwalk
29. My Dying Bride – Like Gods Of The Sun
30. Burzum – Filosofem

Deeds of Flesh - Reduced to Ashes

They get slagged as a Suffoclone but I think they homed in on one aspect of the Suffo sound, that maniacal chopping guitar thing, and developed it into something beyond even Suffocation. Sometimes I don't even understand how those guys can play in that style in that sustained way for so long. They all must have wrist deformities by now. Anyway, Reduced to Ashes is one of the meanest and most unrelenting death metal albums ever.

Also:

Nile - Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka
Nile - Black Seeds of Vengeance
Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines
Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked

Yes I think all four are equally great and I cannot choose an objective favorite. Each album is like a heavier and more refined version of the one before, and I'd have been content if they'd only ever released just one of them. Pretty much perfect albums all. I have no idea how I'd forgotten Nile til now as they're one of my fav dm bands.

xpost yes keep Venom I was daring to delve into the nitpickiness that will be our downfall but I'm all better now

Nobody need vote venom,hellhammer or death ss if they dont like them but i think they should be nominated just for their trailblazing.

the real murky territory is the death metal demos that preceded official albums by years in some cases. THAT is where the elitists shine.

argh, please don't post lists unless you want to nominate everything on them! And if so, I'm not allowing Korn or Type-O-Negative or Arch Enemy or a lot of stuff...

are they allowed? Would anyone nominate/vote them?

xp

agreed on Venom (Hellhammer and Death seem to be no-brainer to me) -- I think a trickier case would be a band like Motorhead

xp yes! The greatest albums of all time were undoubtedly all on tape cassette with 300 copies made.

If you know about that stuff nominate it then, its your life.

i wouldnt say they were extreme, hell lemmy spent their entire existence saying they're not metal!

xp

i dont know shit about death metal but im glad youre allowing it

Jute Gyte - Discontinuities
Jute Gyte - Vast Chains
Jute Gyte - Ressentiment
Jute Gyte - Ship of Theseus
Dodheimsgard - A Umbra Omega
Dodheimsgard - 666 International
(James Plotkin's) Atomsmasher - Atomsmasher
Orthrelm - OV
Kayo Dot - Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue
MUTation - Error 500
Menace Ruine - Venus Armata
Blut Aus Nord - 777 - Cosmosophy
Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum
Lychgate - An Antidote for the Glass Pill
Chrome Hoof - Crush Depth
Dälek - Absence (n.b. this might actually not count as it's really a hip-hop record. that sounds like an extreme metal record)
The Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale
The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand
Koenjihyakkei - Koenji 2 / Viva Koenji!!
Portal - Outré
Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape
Spektr - Mescalyne
Xasthur - Subliminal Genocide
Xasthur - Defective Epitaph
Zu - Carboniferous

I don't think Motorhead should count fwiw xp's

nm about Arch Enemy btw, I confused them with a different band, they would certainly be allowed.

why would arch enemy not be allowed? you thinking of something else like nightwish?

hah ok

thank you imago, those are good noms. Not sure on Devin Townsend tho...

right, but it's a very blurry line to separate extreme metal from regular old school heavy metal, esp right around the time of Motorhead and Venom. IMO, what really turned heavy metal into extreme metal was the influence of punk, and Motorhead is front and center in that transition. Mind you, I'm not saying they are a "metal" band in the same way Metallica or Slayer is -- but then, neither is Venom, really. Both bands just had a huge hand in creating a world where Metallica and Slayer would make sense, bringing metal out of the Black Sabbath/Rainbow/Deep Purple world.

xpost

That's the only Devin Townsend album (other than SYL) I'd consider 'extreme' but you have to trust me here - it is xp

I'm listening to that specific album now and ok I agree.

Yeah Deconstruction is definitely several shades into the red from the Devin stuff I mentioned earlier.

Also now that those two DHG albums are being brought up I have to add

Dodheimsgard - Kronet til Konge
Dodheimsgard - Monumental Possession

Sorry, that Dälek album is pretty noisey, but IMO its not very metal. I don't think its going on the list...
But this is tough... I dunno. I guess I'll let it slide, it is like weird industrial rap with distorted guitars so... ok.

2edgy4me

which melvins albums count is the tricky one for me

and what about bands like Helmet? not really hardcore not trad metal too noise rock?

or Prong?

How about stuff like Naked City, which is a little bit of everything but certainly informs stuff like, say, Dillinger Escape Plan.

But I think I'm going to veto NWOBHM & 70s heavy hard rock, I gotta draw the line somewhere.

And like I said, I'll side on adding boderline stuff. Stuff such as Helmet and Prong, which are really more hard-driving hard rock I don't think counts, unless there's specific albums of theirs that are very metally. Standard stoner rock stuff is out though.

some Prong stuff was quite thrashy others more industrial metal which you said was allowed

if its like extreme pastiche with bits of metal and other stuff I think it counts (like say, certain Mike Patton stuff).
I don't think there's any Melvins album that's off limits, tbh! But they have ALOT of albums so some of them might be pretty chillax? IDK.

xp sure, specific albums and such that are extreme -- nominate them.

I think
Prong - Beg To Differ
is pretty thrashy and a classic at that. SO Im nominating it.

ok

for those struggling to remember what to nominate this might help (just ignore the trad doom stuff obviously)

http://tinyurl.com/rymextreme

frobisher you could let the wiki entry decide what subgenres are allowed then you can blame that if people complain :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_metal

http://i.imgur.com/ErnaKk0.png

Not really sure you can argue with that tbh and it makes clear what counts

haha ok this is a new subgenre for me
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Anarchist_black_metal

Part of a series on
Marxism

I think you're right CS. I'll have to allow all doom. But I'd like to remind people that pagan & viking metal that's like Nightwish or Edenbridge will be allowed! Basically any power metal that doesn't have heavy breakdowns is out.

That's a pretty good list of genres to choose from, so I think I'll defer to wikipedia here.

Also, stuff that is "kinda doomy" or just stonery doesn't count IMO, I think it has to be exceptionally slow or sludgy or extreme in someother way like psychedelic droning.

i am ever so glad youre running the poll and not me and you have to take the decisions

Anything less heavy than
Candlemass, Trouble and Saint Vitus are out yeah? (theyre the big 3 doom metal bands obviously)

Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus
Trouble - Psalm 9
Saint Vitus - Born Too Late

That's a good rubric. Let's go with that.

I'd also include Cathedral in that lineup.

iirc candlemass didnt do very well in my all time metal poll on here years ago. only 1 album and it was outside the top 100. Dont think trouble did much better. Vitus did tho

Candlemass doesn't have the hooks and grooves of Vitus or Trouble.

I read somewhere once that 1981 was the birth of extreme metal. If that's really the case then albums before that shouldnt count?

i know venom and death ss all formed like 77/78 but they didnt have albums out til the 80s.

Also I agree with you that the nwobhm doom bands like witchfinder general or pagan altar should count (as much as I love them)

1981 because Venom released a single and Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax all formed perhaps?

I think we should exclude 70s stuff unless there's a really good case to be made, otherwise we're opening up a whole other can of worms... what about the animals, what about krautrock, etc... this is not the poll for that stuff.

'81 is good unless someone has a pretty extreme album from before that date. I'm happy to use it as a cutoff.

wtf epicus doomicus is a groove monster

Crown, the - Hell Is Here
Crown, the - Deathrace King
Defleshed - Under the Blade
Defleshed - Fast Forward

SPEED FOR SATAN

got them, thanks!

Ok, I finally got the list caught up, so you can now peruse it before you nominate as to avoid dupes. Thank you so much for all the nominations!!

spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WKuG4E8u5i4xOPvs6wq9ZPgGxkAmv1w8YEXVG9HANfI/edit?usp=sharing

And for clarification, I'm going by the subgenres that wikipedia says are extreme metal:

http://i.imgur.com/ErnaKk0.png

Wikiposeria

lol

Yob - Catharsis
Agalloch - Marrow Of The Spirit

Skepticism - Lead and Aether
Skepticism - Farmakon
Skepticism - Alloy

Reverend Bizarre - In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend

Warning - Watching From A Distance

p soon gonna need googles to wade through the smoke in order to see the thread

Solitude Aeturnus - Through the Darkest Hour

Scald Will Of The Gods Is A Great Power
Thunderstorm Witchunter Tales

2 classic but sadly obscure doom metal albums. Nate C is a fan though

I have a feeling I'm the only one who'd vote for most of these and some are pretty obscure but they ARE all extreme metal. Even though some of them float around being Not Metal for long stretches.

A Forest of Stars - Opportunistic Thieves of Spring
Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors
Cleric - Regressions
Ehnahre - The Man Closing Up
Gris - À l'âme enflammée, l'âme constellée...
Kayo Dot - Choirs Of The Eye
Kayo Dot - Hubardo
Liturgy - Renihilation
Ludicra - The Tenant
Mamaleek - Kurdaitcha
Mare - Mare
Maudlin of the Well - Bath
Maudlin Of The Well - Leaving Your Body Map
Smohalla - Résilience
Spectral Lore - III

O fuck I forgot Cleric! Should have been on my list.

I suppose you'll say that all of the above should have been on my list. Well sor-ry

Not really, I know our tastes aren't identical!

I'm trying not to go overboard but I'll nominate the other good Mastodon albums since Remission's gone already

Leviathan
Blood Mountain
Crack the Skye (if it counts idk)

Oh, and

Orthrelm - Ov

Anyone who has any doubts about it's viability has to listen to all 46 minutes and not go mad first.

yeah I nominated that :P

Demilich - Nespithe
Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes

Listening through to the Cleric album again. Makes a mockery of most 'extreme metal'. So fucking amazing. I'm aware that 'metal taken to new levels' generally arouses the ire of the keymasters, though, so I'll just have to trust you'll follow my lead (before dismissing it as impetuous wank)

Emperor - IX Equilibrium
Anaal Nathrakh - When Fire Rains Down From The Sky, Mankind Will Reap As It Has Sown

Crown, the - Hell Is Here
Crown, the - Deathrace King
Defleshed - Under the Blade
Defleshed - Fast Forward

SPEED FOR SATAN

― Devilock, Sunday, 27 September 2015 22:57 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I totally forgot about that band

The Crown - Crowned In Terror

Palehorse - Gee, that ain't swell
3 Stages Of Pain - With Chaos In Her Wake

Cult Of Luna - The Beyond

(if we can have Isis and Neurosis we can have CoL imo)

Through Silver In Blood is probably my favourite metal album of all time but I probably won't vote for it here. It's utterly classic but I wouldn't really call it extreme. If anything it sounds quite ancient and fundamental - an album that lies very centrally within what metal is.

Gorguts - Obscura
Bolt Thrower - Those Once Loyal

I need to hear that Cleric album. (The guitarist is in John Zorn's new trio Simulacrum, which I would nominate but it wouldn't get any votes.)

Ah, you know what? Fuck it.

Naked City - Torture Garden
Naked City - Leng T'Che
Painkiller - Guts of a Virgin
Painkiller - Buried Secrets (features members of Godflesh!)
John Zorn - Moonchild: Songs Without Words
John Zorn - Simulacrum
John Zorn - The True Discovery of Witches and Devils
John Zorn - Inferno

Darkthrone - Panzerfaust

I have a question about Nihilist. Legendary band from Sweden that became Entombed, and their demos were huge influences for not only the Swedish death metal scene, but due to tape trading, made waves pretty much everywhere that extreme metal was happening. However, they never released a full length record, only demos. They have an amazing comp of these demos called 1987-1989. Is that eligible?

I think I need to try Zorn's metal stuff again. I've been trying to get into Electric Masada recently but I'm finding it quite difficult (I struggle with jazz in general). I have one of the Moonchild albums somewhere but I rarely listen to it. Too much screeching from Zorn and Patton.

imago seems to be one of those who dismisses not only original metal but also original extreme metal.

Metal did not start with death or black metal.

the neurosis/insert any band here arent extreme stuff is for the 16 year olds just into metal bullshit

Yeah, but it's 2015 now

Anyway, enough. It's all extreme by some standard. Carry on

I would argue that Neurosis are plenty extreme but as a mostly post-hardcore band, not very metal.

i don't think Neurosis strictly like being referred to as metal, but it's very heavy stuff regardless.

and goths deny they're goths. lol

imago what has 2015 got to do with anything? its a poll for best extreme metal albums. Its more or less been decided extreme metal started around 1980/81 so what if things have gotten more extreme since?

The history of metal is very important to metallers especially as outsiders despised it and wouldn't allow it in their own canon.

I cant remember if this is the article I referred to earlier or not but if not its another that says 1981
https://twophoton.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/history-of-extreme-metal-part-1-1981-1984/

https://twophoton.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/history-of-extreme-metal-part-ii-dawn-of-death-metal-1985-88/

https://twophoton.wordpress.com/2009/05/16/history-of-extreme-metal-part-iii-golden-age-of-thrash-1985-89/

http://loudwire.com/top-extreme-metal-albums/

...anyway, unless there's a no comp rule, I say Nihilist goes in

Nihilist - 1987-1989

I think frobisher said pre album tape demos are allowed so presumably that is allowed?

if so then I nominate the Paul Chain era Death SS

The Story of Death SS. 1977–1984

that's the roots of Hellhammer right there I reckon tom g mustve been aware of them

Hey everyone! I have some things to take care of today so I'll be away for a number of hours...

Yes, early unreleased/demo stuff is allowed, just note that as a lot of people won't have heard it, it might not garner a lot of votes.

I hate to say this cause I think it sounds elitist, but I don't think taking a sort of outside/empirical view and attempting to develop a really objective standard for extreme metal is productive or beneficial. I think if you've been into metal for years, having a degree of breadth and depth to it, knowing the woof and warp of it sort of intuitively is a better way of sorting things out.

Of course this poll is not just for die-hard metal fans who have listened for years & years so if you like something and you think its metal or highly related to metal and is ~extreme~ to you then go ahead and nominate it.

cool, thanks. Yeah, tho the Nihilist comp is demos, IMO it's as good or better than any other DM around at the time (and particularly relevant for new school revivalist bands playing OSDM). Seriously, if you haven't heard it folks, hear it!

Do these count?

Earth - Earth 2
Sunn O))) - Black One
Melvins - Houdini
Poison - Into the Abyss
Ministry - ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ [Psalm 69]
Warning - Warning

yes those count

At what point do Opeth albums become disqualified as not metal?

When Mikael Akerfeldt says they're not a metal band anymore - so, basically, Heritage and Pale Communion.

Gojira - From Mars to Sirius

cheers phil

have we got all the important death, black and thrash albums nominated?

Atheist - Piece of Time
Atheist - Unquestionable Presence

if we have extra spaces on our ballots it's okay to vote for all the deafheaven albums twice right

Pornograffiti
III Sides to Every Story

and the second person to make the joke award goes to..

OK two more then I'm probably done

Code - Nouveau Gloaming
Virus - The Black Flux

Boris - at Last -Feedbacker-
Melvins - Lysol
Jesu - Jesu
Nadja - Touched
Boris - Amplifier Worship
Sunn O))) - ØØ Void
Sunn O))) - 3: Flight of the Behemoth
Gnaw Their Tongues - An Epiphanic Vomiting of Blood
Monarch - 666

Vlad Tepes/Belketre - March to the Black Holocaust
Carnage - Dark Recollections
Mayhem - Live in Leipzig
Paysage d'Hiver - s/t
Gorgoroth - Antichrist

Merciless - The Awakening

O if we're nominating Bèlketre then surely Ambre Zuèrkl Vuorhdrévarvtre must be in there (cheers Dominique for the heads-up on that)

Solstafir - Svartir Sandar
Solstafir - Otta

Aren't they a post-rock band?

Everything is extreme

post black metal if you really must use such terms

you dont need to vote for anything you dont consider extreme

infact will you even vote?

course I'm going to vote :)

and the second person to make the joke award goes to..

― Cosmic Slop, Monday, September 28, 2015 2:56 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ooooh wow, I wasn't prepared for this...wow...sorry let me look at my notes. Well, first off I've got to thank Frobisher for starting this thread -- I couldn't have made it without you! Thanks for giving me a shot, I know there were a lot of established metalheads who wanted to be the second person to make this joke, so your faith in me is something I'll always remember...

wow...I'm sorry, there are just so many people to thank...I need to thank Cosmic Slop, you've always been my rock, my inspiration though the years....and most importantly my wife and daughter...this joke and all my jokes wouldn't be possible without your love and support.

Thanks everyone!

I'm not a metal expert by any stretch but I'm interpreting the poll as "the best albums that come under the umbrella term of 'extreme metal'" rather than "the most extreme albums that are metal". I mean I'm sure everyone's ballot will have some stuff on it that's not extreme as some of the other stuff they're voting for. Also there are many ways metal can be extreme!

imago's just butthurt frobisher vetoed a hip-hop album

has anyone done a spotify playlist?

Only one Bolt Thrower nominated?

two right?

So is extreme metal quite literally everything except for proto metal/hard rock, NWOBHM, hair metal and nu-metal?

for this poll its whatever frobisher decides it is

That's not meant to be judgmental just sort of wondering if in context of metal idea of extremity has lost all meaning. At one time extreme metal was an antidote to something (or at least outside of some mainstream). Looking at this list and it seems like this is just metal's last two decades....

well, its not like there isnt lots of non-extreme metal. The fact some of us don't listen to it doesnt mean it doesnt exist. the biggest 'metal' of the last 20 years has probably been alternative metal or nu-metal.

But obviously extreme metal is a very wide vague term now and frobisher's rules acknowledge that.

I'm not sure but when he signed up 2 years ago to do this poll on the Ballot Poll Order Thread I think it was in response to grady saying he wanted to do a hard rock/hair metal thread

*poll

I didn't even veto the Dalek album. I am a benevolent dictator!

Alex if you have a good working definition of extreme metal you are free to enlighten us.
(xp no Grady's was in response to mine)

was it? I thought he was ahead of you in the queue but just unable to run it just now

Ok, I'm not sure now... who knows... its somewhere on that huge thread two years ago. They were thought up basically at the same time though.

I'll be working on adding the nominations from today so far, thanks for all the interest everybody! I think its going really well.

Alex if you have a good working definition of extreme metal you are free to enlighten us.
--Frobisher

I don't at all! I'm actually wondering if the term is even relevant now!

It probably isn't since metal has split into thousands of microgenres but its a good umbrella term for the purposes of frobisher's poll.

It's definitely more catchy than metal 1981-2015 that does not include X, Y and Z I'll give you that.

Soilent Green - Sewn Mouth Secrets
Burnt by the Sun - Soundtrack to the Personal Revolution
Pig Destroyer - Terrifyer
Necrophagist - Onset of Putrefaction
Nasum - Helvete
Rotten Sound - Exit
Scorn - Vae Solis
Noothgrush - Erode the Person
Cephalic Carnage - Anomalies
Brain Drill - Apocalyptic Feasting
Ion Dissonance - Solace
Psyopus - Our Puzzling Encounters Considered
Ephel Duath - The Painter's Palette
Blotted Science - The Machinations of Dementia

Awesome. I forgot about a lot of that Relapse stuff. One of many things I miss about regularly shopping at music stores is being able to see Relapse titles at a glace thanks to that little card over the top of the CD -- and in those days there was a good chance it would be something cool.

For all I know the label is still kicking ass; I never think to check the "bigger" label sites anymore, esp for news. I think I should do that right now!

xps Sorry Alex, I didn't mean to be testy. I'm just trying to be very unbiased and that means I am letting people include things that may not be completely extreme or completely metal. Although I think you might be right that the 'extreme' sub-genres have pretty much become the main focus of metal in general.
OTOH Limp Bizkit released a new album this year.

Alright so I have the sheet up to date! We currently have 424 nominated albums! Thank you so much for your participation!

List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WKuG4E8u5i4xOPvs6wq9ZPgGxkAmv1w8YEXVG9HANfI/edit?usp=sharing

Relapse is still a very good label.

Possibly not an extreme one though hah.

Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

Annihilator - Alice in Hell
Blut aus Nord - 777 - The Desanctification
Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
The Great Old Ones - TEKELI-LI
Neurosis - Times of Grace
Portal - Vexovoid

Although I think you might be right that the 'extreme' sub-genres have pretty much become the main focus of metal in general.

Dissection - The Somberlain
Destroyer 666 - Unchain The Wolves
Old Man's Child - The Pagan Prosperity
Windir - Arntor
Amesoeurs - Ruines Humaines
Amesouers - Amesouers
Aluk Todolo - Occult Rock
Cobalt - Gin
Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence
Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines

I thought half of prog metal was some form of extreme metal?

the 'extreme' sub-genres have pretty much become the main focus of metal in general on social media and metal websites

Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough

Kerrang doesnt cover extreme metal and whatever they cover sells shitloads

Hey guys! It looks like nominations are dying down, although there's things I can think of that haven't gotten nommed yet... Anyway, I am suddeenly dealing with a thing that will take a lot of my time over the next few days. So you are free to keep nominating, I believe Cosmic Slop volunteered to help update the list, so you're free to do that if you want CS. Thanks everybody I think we're gonna end up with a great poll! Especially if everyone who's been nominating also votes!

I did?

lol

OK, I'll keep an eye on it by adding stuff/keeping up to date but im not deciding what counts as extreme metal!

just to help the Bathory album count compete with the Krallice album count:
Bathory - s/t
Bathory - The Return

also:
Aura Noir - Black Thrash Attack
Darkspace - III
Grotesque - In the Embrace of Evil
Hellwitch - Syzygial Miscreancy
Isengard - Vinterskugge
Meshuggah - Catch 33
Nifelheim - Servants of Darkness
Nirvana 2002 - Recordings 89-91
Thanatos - Emerging from the Netherworlds

O damn, I forgot about Darkspace III as well!

wtf is Nirvana 2002, I assume its not regular Nirvana?

Ok here's some noms from me:

Agalloch - From Which of This Oak
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope
Catacombs - In the Depths of R'lyeh
ColdWorld - Melancholie²
Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics...
Eyehategod - Take as Needed for Pain
I Shalt Become - Wanderings
Lifelover - Konkurs
Life is Pain - Bloody Melancholy
Monster Magnet - 25... Tab (their only album I'd qualify as extreme)
Macabre - Sinister Slaughter
Totalselfhatred - Totalselfhatred

add your own!

The formatting you have is weird.
I usually just use 1 column with Artist - Album
so I can copy & paste from here directly.
Cant do that the way its set up.

Nirvana 2002 was a great Swedish death metal band, contemporaries of Entombed, Dismember, etc. They never released a proper record, but fans of that style love them (and their singer Orvar Säfström was briefly in Entombed).

and yeah, they were forced to change their name once another, lesser band came along

xp I know I messed up at the start, I realized too late that I should have just had one column. Don't know if its worth fixing at this point. But don't worry about it, I'll add the nominations myself in a little bit here.

Thanks Dom, surprised I've never heard of them!

If you work out a way to fix it then im happy to add ppls noms!

and i couldnt figure out to to get them in the a-z order either as you have the headings.

its not easy running polls is it? :)

unfortunately, no it is not.

Ok I found an easy way to do it, and now we have a one-column list! This should be much easier to deal with.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WKuG4E8u5i4xOPvs6wq9ZPgGxkAmv1w8YEXVG9HANfI/edit?usp=sharing

when do we starting voting on who's allowed to vote in the poll

you want to ban l0u1s jagg3r?

lol

NO BRONIES ALLOWED

i just thought we need to vet everybody's Tr00 Quotient

Kvist - For kunsten maa vi evig vike

(I was just reading a thread on one-album wonders and I have no idea how I forgot this one)

I feel like there are some holes in these nominations but I'm not at all qualified to fill em. Like some of the black metal of the non-Scandinavian variety, say Master's Hammer, Mortuary Drape, the S American stuff. And bdm like Defeated Sanity or Katalepsy, which I hear a lot about but never actually listen to. We need ... emissaries or something.

Oh

Melechesh - Sphynx (I can't decide between the following three albums; they're all great though)

that's you out HSB then!

Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris

I thought this had been nommed already. Not so, it turns out.

yeah the problem I have = I feel like I've been cramming metal into all of my orifices for over half of my adult life and then I see people posting enthusiastically on these threads about some other classic albums that I not only haven't heard but haven't heard OF and I'm like how do I catch up to the metal. how.

with your ears!

...and eyes. I have read a shitload about metal in the past 3 years, via the internet, but also the Slayer Mag anthology, D. Ekeroth's Swedish death metal book, D. Patterson's black metal book, Fenriz's band of the week. Hell, I found 3 amazing bands today just from reading a death/thrash list at RYM.

Oh I mean I get that, I subscribe to Decibel, and often fish for obscure acts on metal-archives.com. Just find I have less and less time to devote to giving it all meaningful listens!

How did you get on with
YOU TOTALLY MISSED THE ILX HEAVY ROCK/METAL ALBUM POLL COUNTDOWN, SUCKA (CLICK FOR A RECAP)

Did Josh Homme take the thread out for drinks prior to that vote?

Also, re: the current poll, poor Gothenburg. No At the Gates, no Dark Tranquillity, no In Flames.

add them then! Frobisher said there's no limits to how much you can nominate

I'm looking at this poll more as a list of personal favorites than a document of historical significance. Even of the best works by the bands I mentioned, I rarely make it through an entire album. Slaughter of the Soul just kind of wears me out by the time I'm like 6 songs into it. Unfortunate because a lot of those riffs rule; that recurring humppa beat drags everything down.

At The Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
Cave In - Until Your Heart Stops
Katatonia - Dance of December Souls
Obituary - Cause of Death
Morbid Angel - Gateways to Annihilation
Celtic Frost - Into the Pandemonium
Kronos - Colossal Titan Strife
Sacrifice - Forward to Termination
Razor - Shotgun Justice

thing with the gothenburg stuff, sacramentum and dissection are clearly the best in that style, i don't see much need to nominate a bunch of 2nd tier stuff that i will never vote for anyway.

Abigor - Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)
Abigor - Channeling the Quintessence of Satan
Cultes des Ghoules - Henbane
Gorgoroth - Incipit Satan
Overkill - The Years of Decay
Septicflesh - Sumerian Demons
Tiamat - Wildhoney
Vesania - God the Lux

Tempted to already put the new Mgla on there; it's just as amazing as the last one.

Forgot one of my favourites from last year:

Nightbringer - Ego Dominus Tuus

Don't the later Judas Priest albums qualify?

Ahab - The Call of the Wretched Sea

Celtic Frost - Monotheist
Eyehategod - Dopesick
Eyehategod - Confederacy of Ruined Lives
Gorguts - From Wisdom to Hate
Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
Watchtower - Control and Resistance

mostly that's filling out a few discographies but i was sorta surprised watchtower hadn't been nominated

sorry I was away, was taking my dog to the vet. I'm getting these noms added now.

Don't the later Judas Priest albums qualify?

No.

This is due to following the genre family tree more than anything? Painkiller is definitely extreme and Jedi is not if we're going by the sound alone.

Jesu not Jedi.

I'd say Painkiller counts myself but its frobishers poll and he needs to draw the line somewhere

I'm not too fussed. Just clarifying that if older bands do make something genuinely extreme that will it count or not. Some of the solo Halford stuff I'd heard sounds like full blown extreme metal to me.

xxps well, neither is High on Fire or really a lot of 1st gen thrash, or Mastadon, but its on there... look this is tough, and I know a lot of stuff on it already doesn't make any sense, but you don't have to vote for it. I don't even like Jesu, lol, I'm trying to bend over backwards to not make this poll about what I think and rather about what ILM thinks instead.

I'm just trying to keep out Priest/Maiden/Sabbath as they would dominate the poll and are not in the spirit of this poll even if they "were extreme at the time" or have an album that still holds up as fairly blistering.

uh the first jesu album is hella extreme imo but i'm not the one to argue this point lol

Sorry, I assumed everything else was as soft as Conqueror and Silver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0PYwPMnUCM

If this is in then Nadja has to be in as well and I don't think it should.

why not Nadja?

Nadja - Touched has already been nominated. Should it be taken off? If you guys think we should take some things off, look through the list and suggest them, we can debate them. I'm open to whatever!

No way should it be removed!

I loooove the first Jesu album but I didn't nominate it coz I'm unsure how extreme it is

But I guess a track like Sun Day basically turns dreampop into metal and vice versa better than anyone else has ever done (inc. alcest) so maybe that's extreme idk

i think it's extreme bc it really successfully creates this harrowing and uncanny atmosphere through which both dreampop and industrial scrapes sound equally sinister, that's fuckin extreme 2 me

i would not nominate the later jesu records

arguably Jugulator for JP was kind of "extreme" but it's also a humongous pile of donkey shit so

striborg: Autumnal Melancholy
striborg: Black Desolate Winter / Depressive Hibernation
striborg: Embittered Darkness / Isle De Morts
striborg: Ghostwoodlands
striborg: Mysterious Semblance
striborg: Nefaria / A Tragic Journey Towards The Light
striborg: Nocturnal Emissions / Nyctophobia
striborg: Spiritual Catharsis
striborg: Southwest Passage
striborg: Solitude
striborg: The Foreboding Silence
striborg: Trepidation
nuclear assault: game over
necronomitron: s/t
GLUTTONY: Collapse Of The Roman Republic
SHEVALREQ: Siege Of Albraca
SHEVALREQ: Tournament At Constantinople
THURSAR: Journey To Jotunheim
XYNFONICA: A Feast For Famished Ravens
necrofrost: Bloodstorms Voktes Over Hytrunghas Dunkle Necrotroner
Virus: carheart
REHTAF RUO: Boiled In Goat Blood
benighted leams: ferly centesms
faxed head: chiropractic
vorak: triumph of the will
ocrilim / octis: ment
meshuggah: I
meshuggah: chaosphere
melvins: stag
young gods: l'eau rouge
LUGUBRUM: Albino De Congo
LUGUBRUM: Bruyne Troon
LUGUBRUM: De Totem
LUGUBRUM: De Vette Cuecke
LUGUBRUM: De Ware Hond
LUGUBRUM: Heilige Dwazen
benighted leams : caliginouf romantic myth
wold: l.o.t.m.p.
KHANATE: Capture & Release
KHANATE: Things Viral
fredrik thordendal's special defects: sol niger within

portal: seepia
portal: swarth
portal: vexovoid

Wow there's some real outsider stuff on that list massaman gai. Never thought I would have seen fucking Vorak mentioned outside the wastes of RYM. Love Lugubrum though, I totally forgot about them

Arckanum - ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ

is that a real album title? that's nuts!

:-Þ

ew that looks wrong

D{-:Þ

Vehemence - God Was Created
Summoning - Stronghold
Wormphlegm - Tomb of the Ancient King
Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade
Immortal - Battles in the North
Horna - Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne
Peste Noire - Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor

Thank you! I will get all these added a little later!

Satyricon gets dumped on for reasons beyond my comprehension. Every time I listen to Nemesis Divina I'm like god damn this is a perfect album. The earlier two are definitely works in progress, though.

So uh

Satyricon - Nemesis Divina

― Devilock, Saturday, September 26, 2015 10:05 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thanks for saying this, I had always avoided Satyricon, but god damn this is an amazing album Forhekset -> Du som hater Gud is particularly amazing.

is that a real album title? that's nuts!

Yeah - no idea how it's pronounced though...

oh and:
jazkamer: metal music machine
Vondur: Striðsyfirlýsing

Þ is pronounced 'th' and presumably the album is titled that way because all 11 song names start with this letter.

Has nothing on this band though, which is positively Google-proof.

Ah right, I'd noticed that about the song titles but was still none the wiser about the pronunciation. You learn something new every etc.

Metal writer: So what's the new album called.
Arckanum dude: [pronounces album title]
Metal writer: [wipes face]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzC1Dn0gqgE

Satyricon gets dumped on for reasons beyond my comprehension.

*sigh* can't not nominate this, even though it's totally obscure and didn't influence anyone

Protected Illusion - Festering Fairytales

I found it looking for death/thrash like Sadus, and in all honesty, it outdoes that. It's like you took a crust/grind band from 2015 and transported them back to 1990 and said "make a thrash record, but don't let anyone onto the fact you're from the future." Incredibly precise, proggy and brutal, and I can't believe they weren't huge.

Monstrosity - Spiritual Awakening

Err...SPIRITUAL APOCALYPSE

inspired by seeing them last night and they were great!

I meant to nominate

Liturgy - Aesthetica

instead of Renihilation but why not both.

In fact I'm going to dump some last minute noms because even though nobody will vote for them probably, perhaps some madman will weed through the entire list at some point. I might do that myself, since I've never got round to actually listening to most of the canonical important stuff...

Going to include some Black Twilight Circle because it would be a shame if they were left out

!T.O.O.H.! - Pod vládou biče
!T.O.O.H.! - Rad A Trest
Ashdautas - Where The Sun Is Silent...
Averse - The Endesque Chants
Duobetic Homunkulus - Ani já ani ty robit něbudzeme, šedněme do koča, vozit še budzeme
Kuxan Suum - Kinich Ahau
Morbus Chron - Sweven
Muknal - Muknal
Volahn - A'ab'al
Yellow Eyes - Hammer Of Night

That should be "Aq'ab'al" by Volahn

Fantômas - Suspended Anisusmation

anyone got anything left to nominate? Frobisher hasn't said they've closed yet

Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve

Fantômas - Suspended Anisusmation

― ultros ultros-ghali, Saturday, 3 October 2015 16:29 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

What? "Animation" that is

Creepiest autocorrect ever.

I actually have no idea what happened there. Probably more to do with the fact I'm terrible at typing.

OK 1 more

Oranssi Pazuzu - Kosmomonument

Krallice - Ygg Huur
Panopticon - Roads to the North
Alcest - Le Secret (EP)
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Obliveon - Nemesis
Angel Hair - Pregnant with the Senior Class (does this count?)
Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle, pt 1
Corrupted - Garten der Unbewusstheit
Spektr - Near Death Experience
Ambergris - Ambergris (EP)
Stara Rzeka - Cień chmury nad ukrytym polem

bit early for 2015 albums just out a week to be called a classic surely?

I don't see the word "classic" anywhere in the OP.

That Stara Rzeka album is great. Not sure how metal it is but I'll probably have to vote for it.

Yeah, Frobisher is free to DQ that, or anything. If it had BM or DM vocals anywhere on it, I thought it was fair to throw out there.

i just mean that ppl prob wont vote for it

I was nominating albums that I might consider voting for, not predicting how other people will vote.

Carcass - Surgical Steel
Tribulation - The Formulas of Death
Tribulation - The Children of the Night
Obsequiae - Aria of Vernal Tombs

Hail Spirit Noir - Oi Magoi
Howls of Ebb - Vigils of the 3rd Eye
Opeth - Ghost Reveries

Meh, 2015 albums are fine! Especially if you think they're really good and will stand the test of time. Sorry I haven't been around much, I have been preoccupied with things at home! I will leave nominations open throughout tonight and finish this thread up tomorrow morning, or whenever I wake up. Sound good? So, last call, everyone! Get em' in now if you have noms left!

a couple more...

Assück - Anticapital
Cathedral - Forest of Equilibrium
Demolition Hammer - Tortured Existence
Indian - From All Purity
Kriegsmaschine - Enemy Of Man
Mgla - Exercises in Futility
Skepticism - Aes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_metal

This doesn't sound like a real subgenre at all.

I've been weighing this one up - if it is metal, it's certainly extreme, as it's done with synths and vocoder, but fuck it

O.L.D. - Formula

Having added that I'd be compelled to add Ulver - Blood Inside, another of my favourite extreme albums but unclear of status. Frobisher, clear this up!

That Stara Rzeka album is great. Not sure how metal it is but I'll probably have to vote for it.

Same here.

Bathory - Hammerheart
Master - On the Seventh Day God Created ... Master
Massacre - From Beyond
Nailbomb - Point Blank
Deceased - As the Weird Travel On
Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry of Consciousness
The Haunted - s/t

silentist - s/t
silentist - nightingales
silentist - chariot swing
silentist - house on the hill

Ancient - Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends
Nunslaughter - Angelic Dread
Brujeria - Matando Güeros
Mortician - Chainsaw Dismemberment
Bongzilla - Gateway
Various Artists - Gummo OST

OK thank you bill. The noms are a wrap, thank you everyone! Not sure when to begin the voting thread, perhaps tonight? Does anyone care?

oh I think plenty care since plenty nominated!

How long are you setting the voting period for?

25 minutes

Dang, forgot to nominate the Kvelertak debut. Oh well...

So is there going to be voting for this poll?

Amazing user name^

Thanks, I'm new here.

not sure all my noms are on the list yet?

The Somberlain, for one, is conspicuously absent.

DIEBOLD

The poll was a ruse, Frobisher just wanted a laugh at our horrible tastes

frobisher took the poll money and went to rio

lol, sorry guys this has been a particularly busy week for me... also I'm not sure I know how to tabulate results! I'll try to get the voting thread up this weekend and have a google form thing set up to e-mail your ballots. I'll probably have a 50-album ballot max, 5 min, open for two weeks. Hold in there, I promise this isn't the comic strip poll all over again!

motherfuckit I am listening to At the Gates' The Red Sky Is Ours, and realizing that yeah this is definitely classic. Too late to nom?

Also: Slaughter - Strappado!

http://204eastsouth.com/skippy/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/zombies-at-the-door-017.jpg" class="noborder">

Demilich - Nespithe
Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes

I am way more familiar with the first one (which I love and will vote for whenever this poll happens), but listening to the excellent second one today, and love it. So thick, almost doomy, and a rare example of understated (yet outstanding) drumming in a death metal record. Great riffs, great mood, great production.

Ok guys this time I swear I'm getting off my ass and starting the voting thread, ok!

Ok, It's finally up - your chance to vote!

The thread is here: The ILM Extreme Metal Poll Voting, Discussion and Campaigning Thread