The 2018 ILX Metal n' Heavy Rock Poll VOTING + CAMPAIGNING thread! NEW EXTENDED DEADLINE! Ballots due by Friday, February 15th 11.59pm PST

It's that time again, kids. Thanks to the significantly longer nominations period , we've already had ample time to discover new faves! Still, by all means, campaign for your favorite albums! It can only help them get into the countdown!

The rules are as usual: up to 50 votes, weighted/ranked or unweighted/unranked. You can submit your ballot here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaHquVS4dUL_G07q9sOAfM-7Co2PXG6N60BDEO74cw5zrTIg/viewform

Nominations can be found here:. https://pastebin.com/z09xZN47

For pollrunners' ease, ****please**** copy and paste directly from the spreadsheet to the voting form on individual lines, like so:

1914 - The Blind Leading the Blind
A Forest of Stars - Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes
A Storm Of Light - Anthroscene
Abhorrence - Megalohydrothalassophobic
Abigor - Höllenzwang (Chronicles of Perdition)
Aborted - TerrorVision
Abstracter - Cinereous Incarnate
Acherontas - Faustian Ethos

After you vote, please post here so the Metal Authorities can confirm they've received your ballot.

Ballots are due by Saturday, February 9th!!!

(And remember to campaign for your faves as boosting really works!)

Also the spotify playlist!
https://open.spotify.com/user/pfunkboy/playlist/0mWZOMQIfPnXb7wuSFQsr9?si=owPgNIFHS7-3Uelj2UlZ-w

That saturday morning btw not afternoon or evening. aka when seandalai gets up.

Now would be a good time to campaign if you have anything you want to boost.

New DMBQ album is killer, sludgy and punchy like Boris at their best

https://dmbq.bandcamp.com

there's a joke about Dave Matthews Band and how LGBT became LGBTQ, but...I guess I've already made it

Voted - Kind of amazed 'Sulphur Aeon - The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos' is missed in noms, it's in my ballot, hope it doesn't throw off my ballot, but willing to take the risk!

it's in the nominations list now

Eigenlicht - Self-Annihilating Consciousness
https://eigenlicht-metal.bandcamp.com/album/self-annihilating-consciousness
Heavily atmospheric black metal, I listen to a lot of this stuff and this was one of the best of the year I thought.

More of a punt, I didn't even post this in the rolling thread: Mamaleek - Out of Time
https://mamaleek.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-time
Evil blackened post-rock with abstract hip-hop beats, or something. Just really bloody weird and one of my AOTY.

Will throw in more if the thread stays quiet

voted for 30 albums. thank you so much for putting this on again

ultros you will be posting a lot then

I'll be amateurishly campaigning for a name or two very soon.

I would like to start my campaign by reminding everyone to listen to the wonderful Summoning album if they have not yet done so.

To think I’d never heard of them until last year!

Btw ballots are due by February 9th!. My bad

That 1914 record that's conveniently listed on top is excellent WW1 themed Bolt Thrower worship, and I think the grammatically awkward lyrics only amplify the All Quiet On The Western Front vibes.

Funeral Winds - Sinister Creed is old school BM played by actual oldschoolers, this description alone might not sell it well but the ascetic focus on *that* sound is very compelling - I enjoyed this much more than Immortal going back in time for example.

Stortregn - Emptiness Fills The Void awesome Dissection/Sacramentum-style black/death. Haven't heard this done so well in ten years.

I've repped Kriegsmaschine before, not an easy to digest record but I think everyone should hear it. Drums drums drums.

Just going to make my shortlist now

Five favourites –

Burial Invocation: Although I tend to favour black over death metal, 2018 was a good year for the latter – as far as I'm concerned – and this is the DM album I've listened to the most. Killer vocals and reminiscences of early Incantation are enough to grab my attention, but the progressive songwriting is what takes it to the next level.

https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/abiogenesis

Fluisteraars / Turia: An ecologically-minded split whose inspiration stems from the Waal and the Rhine, two rivers that flow near the bands' respective hometowns in the Netherlands. As expected, this one calls for watery metaphors: the guitars swell, ebb and swirl, whether at a leisurely (side A) or more aggressive (side B) pace.

https://fluisteraars.bandcamp.com/album/de-oord

Hamferð: The melodramatic, nigh operatic doom pick from the Faroe Islands. Jón Aldará is a phenomenal singer, whether growling or soaring, and this music suits him like a glove (I can't say the same for the latest Barren Earth LP). The melodies are gorgeously fatalistic and there's enough variation to keep you hooked throughout.

https://hamferd.bandcamp.com/album/t-msins-likam

Iskandr: A tetralogy of epic Dutch black metal (Iskandr shares members with Turia, or so it seems) with an allegorical tale to tell. I've yet to figure out what that tale is, but it hardly matters. What drew me in is the variety of moods on display and the band's dedication to wringing beauty out of the genre's strictures.

https://iskandr.bandcamp.com/album/euprosopon

Ungfell: Peste Noire's folk-punkster melodies minus the fash. Maniacal songs are interspersed with medieval interludes and the whole is steeped in Swiss fables, ostensibly retold in Old Alemannic. A definite step up from their debut (which I also liked), and the album likeliest to approximate a dancing plague.

https://ungfell.bandcamp.com/album/mythen-m-ren-pestilenz

And yes, the Kriegsmaschine is pure drum porn.

cosign on all of the above.

ok so a few things to stan for this year

Usurpress - Interregnum - every year there seems to be a "kitchen sink" metal album that artfully blends styles and just blows me away in the process, and this year this was the one that pulled off that synthesis. Mostly it's just incredibly fun to listen to! Harsh death vox plus big canyon guitar solos (and the occasional synth line!), spoken word, moody interludes, a sub-two-minute thrasher, riffs for days, and some surprisingly creative drumming to boot

LLNN - Deads - these guys seem to keep flying under the radar but I love their tightly structured records and incredibly percussive, punishing, yet still atmospheric sound; kind of like Unsane meets Deftones, or something?

Dautha - Brethren of the Black Soil - big yearning melodic doom of the sort I haven't heard done well much of late. Actually earns its scope.

The Stortregn flirts with power metal a little more than I expected. Good stuff.

I've voted

RN listening to Deiquisitor - Downfall of the Apostates and RIYL Florida/NY death metal early in the process of assimilating grindcore's influence. Even has a kind of Scott Burns production but for once I don't mean that as an insult.

seandalai are you voting this year?

I definitely have voted

I'm listening to Eigenlicht right now. On "Hagia Sophia". This is pretty well-put together. Lots of different parts, though a little slower than I expected. I loved the abrupt switch from funereal organ to reverb-y screaming; also how it feels like it's going to end multiple times but refuses to relinquish the momentum

Ok "Labrys" just started. Much more my speed.

The push and pull between faster verses and midtempo instrumental breakdowns work well for the track imo, though that might be a common trope...

Anyways, I can totally hear what you're getting out of this, ultros. It's some pretty epic tuneage

Mamaleek is batshit. Kind of wish I'd voted for it

Regarding Eigenlicht, my standards for that kind of bm are pretty low but I do think that it's an impressive record, though yeah it takes a while to get going.

Mamaleek are something else.

I hath voted

Going to try to do some campaigning later if i feel up to it

we dont have access to ballots so will need to ask seandalai to confirm they arrived (but usually they do)

I'll hold out for a while longer just in case. Do campaign, fellow lovers of loud filth.

Because my sloth knows no bounds, both Mylingar and the esoterically-named HWWAUOCH can be described as concentrated shots of unyielding, nigh unlistenable Hadean malevolence or some such.

https://hwwauoch.bandcamp.com

https://mylingar.bandcamp.com/album/d-da-dr-mmar

A week left to vote

I get too focussed on black metal so I'll just mention that Ails, Dispirit, Entropia and ION all made great albums last year, all more or less bm (Entropia especially good, like a more danceable Oranssi Pazuzu).

But one of my favourite discoveries of 2018 was El Efecto, a maximalist prog band from Brazil who include riffing heavy enough for this poll, lots of different folk styles, plus other tangents like Latin rap and some pseudo-Eastern classical but honestly it's better than I'm making it sound
https://elefecto.bandcamp.com/album/mem-rias-do-fogo

Also co-sign on Hamferd, Iskandr and Ungfell

The Entropia is brilliant.

As is the KHôRADA album
https://khorada.bandcamp.com/album/salt-luxus

Rising from the ashes of Agalloch and Giant Squid, a new group is born: Khôrada. Featuring former Agalloch members Don Anderson (guitar), Jason Walton (bass) and Aesop Dekker (drums) alongside former Giant Squid guitarist / vocalist Aaron John Gregory, KHôRADA creates colossal, textured, and emotionally powerful music.

As a completely fresh concept, Khôrada is an opportunity for the musicians to explore new soundscapes while challenging themselves creatively. With their debut album "Salt", KHôRADA forges breathtaking swathes of sound that swell, stretch, submerge and recede with panoramic power.

At once atmospheric, aggressive and apocalyptic, the album's emotion is driven by the band members' view of today's world; these are precarious times. "Salt" was written under the pressure and uncertainty of the beginning of the Trump-era, standing as a musical exploration of the routine madness we now live. Paired with the surreally visceral artwork by internationally renowned painter & sculptor Cedric Wentworth, the visual explorations prove to be as haunting as the ethereal vocals of Aaron himself.

The dissolution of two of America's most beloved underground groups has resulted in the formation of perhaps the scene's most highly anticipated new band. With a sound built upon a resolute sense of purpose, KHôRADA has arrived.

Pretty sure that sund4r, Imago & TT would love the Entropia

https://entropia.bandcamp.com/album/vacuum

btw you can help boost your albums by adding them to the playlist set up here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0mWZOMQIfPnXb7wuSFQsr9

dont forget to subscribe to it

I'll give Entropia a listen. I thought the Ails album was pretty great; I liked the ION too

Pretty sure you will dig it (I assumed you had already heard it)

I'm still listening to the Mamaleek. It's pretty nuts! It's kinda got this vibe, like Locust Abortion Technician except goth-as-fvck, but there's all sorts of moments that almost sound like a heavy metal Yves Tumor...? I don't know. It might be a little out-there even for me

oh and for fans of weird arty kitchen sink metal hungarian/scottish mentalism dont forget perennial ilx faves Thy Catafalque https://thycatafalqueuk.bandcamp.com/album/geometria

Imago/TT have you heard it?

Huh, somehow I missed that Entropia till now. Not sure I'll have enough time to let it sink in before the deadline, but it sounds promising. Lots of good stuff coming out of Poland these days. The Gorycz album is one of my top faves, a bit like the Kriegsmachine or the Furia album from a couple years ago (all from Poland, I believe).

Entropia are so good

Listening through everyone's recommendations now and have so far really enjoyed DMBQ, Mamaleek and Funeral Winds.

Fluisteraars / Turia though...this is wonderful! That first track reminds me somehow of a more fuzzed-out blackened Aereogramme, and the second track is just wild. Sounds like they're doing so much more with the familiar instumentation of atmospheric black metal. Very twisty and psychedelic. Thanks so much for this!

Glad you like it!

I assume almost everyone's heard it by this point, but I'm still very much taken with Messa's Feast for Water, which has got to be one of the most accessible albums on our list. Trad doom-psych-drone-jazz with consistently memorable songs and fantastic female vocals.

That first track reminds me somehow of a more fuzzed-out blackened Aereogramme

Probably because its climax is almost literally the chorus of Post-Tour, Pre-Judgement ;)

I thought you were going to bring up 'Where Is My Mind?'

Cosign Feast for Water! That was the first doom album that really stuck with me last year.

For urgent listening:

Urfaust - The Constellatory Practice: I remember there being some hype for this on ILX at the time, but if anyone didn't get around to it, now is very much the time. Veers wildly between scuzzy, almost brit-pop-y black metal and swelling mountains of choral doom, all saturated in occult ritual. Much more beautiful than it is gross or scary. https://urfaust.bandcamp.com/album/the-constellatory-practice-2

Protoplasma - -: Cut and paste progge of brutal syncopation and wild nonsense. https://protoplasmaprotoplasma.bandcamp.com/releases

Shylmagoghnar - Transience: Spacey blackened death with spiralling synth lines and some little techno inflections that still manages to sound quiet ancient. I'm realising that a lot of the metal I like from 2018 is from the Netherlands - I wonder why? Is that a current trend? https://shylmagoghnar.bandcamp.com/

Yhdarl - Loss: Unrelentingly heavy from the first three seconds. Furious dbm, each track splitting off in a hundred directions, with a hopeless and grief-stricken desperation that is genuinely affecting. That doesn't sound like it would be a fun listen, but somehow the frenzied layering of shouted vocals and disoriented riffs elevate it. https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/loss

Ling Tosite Sigure - #5: Going to sandwich this cute little math rock album between two of the most brutal albums so that some of their energy rub off onto it and people think it's allowed. This is seriously wonderful though, and it had no chance of being heard in the main poll! It still gets plenty noisey alongside its lush intricacies. On YouTube

Bloss - Era Noire: The loest fi, the blackest metal. Nothing can be pinned down and it's not catchy, but sometimes there are eerie strings and the whole thing is an arboreal adventure! https://blosse.bandcamp.com/album/era-noire

Oh, that YT link goes to a random part of the LTS album, not intentionally selected. (A good taster track is the third one)

Cosign on the Urfaust, Shylmagoghnar and Blosse.

guys please add all your recommendations to the spotify collaborative playlist, that's the best way to get anyone to listen

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0mWZOMQIfPnXb7wuSFQsr9

I'm one of those bastards who signed up for Apple Music instead…

Re: El Efecto - you had me at maximalist prog! This is lovely.

Also, *Blosse, ffs

Yeah, the Entropia album slates right into the Oranssi/Aluk Todolo tradition of trance BM that always does very well in this poll. I definitely like it more than Voix, though maybe not as much as Occult Rock or the OP albums that I've spent time with

I recommend for anyone who likes the dancier moments on this to give a listen to The Oscillation's Wasted Space. It's one of my albums of the year, and though it's not really the same thing--this is more just a very adventurous space rock album--there are definitely some real affinities

https://youtu.be/ctko1fzjoeY

(^title track, on some sort of wild-sounding, Chrome-meets-Liquid Liquid ish, total Drugs bait)

Almost forgot to stump for Paara, a very melodic slab of atmospheric BM with lots going on but manages to stay cohesive

https://vicisolumrecords.com/album/riitti

^^ I loved this. Bits of the last track often swimming about.

Also, WOW this Khôrada album is so amazing to my ears! I don't know Agalloch or Giant Squid at all really, but if they sound anything like this, then I should. Sounds very accessible and pretty. I think that Elder fans (i.e. everyone) would find a lot to like here!

You don't know Agalloch?????? Time to immerse yourself in their entire output!

Don Anderson ex-Agalloch now in Khôrada is an academic I think?

Fully cosign on Paara as well.

You don't know Agalloch?????? Time to immerse yourself in their entire output!

Yeah, it might be time. imago: "they've got one good track"

hes talking shite

every single agalloch album is at least good

but they play it about twenty times!!!!1

Have you listened to entropia yet?

Yes. I think imago quite liked it and compared it (favourably) to Devin Townsend, but I couldn’t get into it somehow and I’ve tried a few times. Maybe it’s yet to grow on me? I like the album art.

their last album was great too. i think it made the rollout

we have 6 ballots in so far.

Voted.

I'll be voting. Every year, I am intimidate by the sheer number of albums I missed - even by bands I try to follow - and feel obliged to cram as much of it as possible to make sure nothing awesome escaped me.

Shylmagoghnar sound absolutely tremendous tbh - we're listening again now. You know how most prog metal is kind of wanky and boring? This is PROGGE ALMIGHTY

is that what's putting you off ?

My ballot is 8 records, including the decidedly non-metal AWK album. Was 2018 terrible for metal, or was I just too busy listening to Jandek and Joni Mitchell?

not good for metal imo but am belatedly finding some things

My "ballot" currently has 4 albums, only 2 of them are really metal. I have so little time for music these days. Ugh.

I think 2018 was a bit of disappointment all round in that I didn't find much in the way of absolute favourites (but still found lots to like, too much probably). Have noted down stuff to listen to mentioned upthread and will try to get voting done next couple of days

Plus there's the yearly dilemma of liking stuff that imago's nominated but can't really vote for in good conscience because they aren't metal enough

n.b. The Armed are metal a.f.

Oh yeah I'm voting for that one easy

death metal dominated the eoy lists in 2018 i think

and deafheaven were the token band on the non metal lists though it is in fact a very good album

2018 was a good metal year. I came up with a top 20 easily.

The Armed, KEN Mode, and LLNN were big highlights.

Are write-in votes acceptable? I neglected to nominate Alice in Chains.

Well they aren't remotely metal anymore but george can decide

Not ‘anymore’ metal than they were in 1992, the new record sounds exactly like their old stuff. It’s an excellent album, not metal I’d say but that also goes for a lot of hardcore-related stuff that usually does get accepted in these polls (Converge even won it one year, right?) so who am I to complain.

Fwiw, Spotify went straight to Facelift after Rainier Fog one time and I barely noticed the difference. Not sure what it is you're hearing. xp

nah the original albums were heavy and had sludgey riffs. That's gone now.

It's certainly not less of a heavy rock album than Andrew WK or Ghost. xp

but like i said it's george's call

Nearly every song has heavy guitars and sludgey riffs, u mad!

You're not mad wrt Entropia, though. The first two songs are fantastic and have a pretty unique sound with almost funk-disco grooves behind the dissonant metal guitars.

"The One You Know", "Drone", and "So Far Under" are as heavy and sludgey as any classic Seattle grunge, for a start. I almost feel like you just listened to the two ballads or something.

dissonant metal guitars.

Maybe I should say "dissonant blackgaze guitars"? Idk, trying to not make it sound like nu-metal.

Can someone kindly explain the difference between weighted and unweighted with regard to this poll?

Sund4r, go right ahead and vote for AiC

NYCNative, unweighted means that all entries have the same point amount. Not exactly sure what point amount that is, though...let me get back to you on that...

Okay, that's actually fine. I didn't know if there was a way to weight your polls a la the Pazz & Jop.

2018 was an excellent year for metal because, for the first time in eons, I kept up with new releases. Also because overt metalcoreisms and proggery (I get my avant kicks elsewhere) are only tangentially my thing so maybe it was a bad year for those two subterrains, I wouldn't know.

noone here cares for core though

Converge won the poll a few years ago?

Converge are their own thing though

Ghost and Yob just placed in the ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2018

and Senyawa which gives me high hopes for em in this poll. that album has blown my mind. going through their back back catalog and im digging all of it so far

I just voted

excellent

I'm listening to a lot of these campaigned albums, and even the stuff that's not usually in my wheelhouse--such as 1914 & Funeral Winds--is sounding pretty good to me...

the armed album turned up in metal poll

i mean big poll, lol

Sleep just placed. Lots of albums nommed in this poll has made big poll

Nice of you to forget to mention D********n

I dont get the hate for Deafheaven from you. It's usually the purist snobs who hate them.

They're the most corny fuxxor band to really gain traction in the metal sphere

and as we all know, imago has an antifuxxor ratio of infinity

I love some """hipster""" metal but DH just come off as trite and cynical, and their song construction is really clumsy in an extremely uninteresting way

^this

also they utilise the most pandering and corny of post-rock melodies

let's fight this in the actual poll tho

It's a losing battle :C

I reckon thats all the metal out the way in big poll and none will crack the top 30 which is where the big votes will be , will be interesting to see where those albums place here.

also they utilise the most pandering and corny of post-rock melodies

tritones only!!!!

Diabolus in musica is metal af.

This song is pretty crackers:

https://youtu.be/1ND8EpzVSVo

Voted

thanks!

Spoke to seandalai and he says its fine to extend the voting until friday 15th 11.59 which is basically saturday morning when seandalai gets up and tabulates.

everything of course depends on LJ keeping up his side of the bargain!

anyone who wants to resubmit still can, just let us know here

Spotify Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0mWZOMQIfPnXb7wuSFQsr9

I also forgot to nominate Kevin Hufnagel - Messages to the Past.:( Can I write it in as well?

Absolutely

Kevin Huffingglue added to pastebin noms list

Good call tt & pomenitul: the Fluisteraars / Turia album is the first thing I've heard that makes me actively want to re-do my ballot

Be sure to check out their back catalogue too, esp the Fluisteraars debut is excellent.

I will try to do a vote, figured I'd be almost done by now but I just spent the past 3 days trying to breathe normal so the extra week will for sure help

It was inevitable as we have hardly any ballots in. We had 6 the last time I asked seandalai a day or 2 ago and 3 have since said they voted.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to use the extra time for a little last-minute campaigning.

Uncreation - Overwhelming Chaos - if you like your death metal without too many hyphens, this is the stuff
https://youtu.be/xlZ6hyoUctU

Taphos - Come Ethereal Somberness - on the blackened-death tip with zip, from the fetid Copenhagen scene
https://youtu.be/IYIycFKkPtU

Demonomancy - Poisoned Atonement - deathened-black anyone? relentless and foul
https://youtu.be/-Ztl0nB2p9Q

Thanks for adding my late-ass write-ins to the noms list, Oor Neechy.

no probs. Lets hope we get some extra votes as I think we only have 9 so far

No matter how long they have most people always leave voting to the last minute, try not to panic Neechy

yeah, I know. Extend a week and instead of listening for a week they just postpone oting for a week. Makes extensions pointless usually but I think people did need it what with the big poll

glad I had time to appreciate this Shylmagoghnar album before voting.

well there's an extra week to vote now as ballots aren't due until next friday night. Hoping some big poll voters will check it out and vote.

Don't forget to subscribe to the spotify playlist

Also with hardly any votes in it means your campaigning and boosting could help

I will vote, i just like hugging the deadline.

I assumed that everyone had heard the Evoken album but just incase you haven't please check it out

https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/hypnagogia

How was the Daughters album received round here in my absence?

the pastebin is the one that gets the added nominations but I just updated the googledocs too BUT I recommend using the pastebin as it's much easier to copy & paste.

xp thread to dis hyped releases that you don't get/don't like/wanna complain about

was p much it i think

Hmmm hard to say if that's all metal poll voters saying it.

The Daughters is a really good noise rock album anyway and I hope people check it out anyway

I'm glad that the deadline extension means more people getting into Shylmagoghnar!

Here's some more campaigning because it's a stormy and atmospheric Saturday:

Spectral Wound - Infernal Decadence: Stunning, riff-driven 'nature is satan's church' black metal. Album cover also spectacular. https://spectralwound.bandcamp.com/album/infernal-decadence

Alameda 4 - Czarna Woda: Little folky, Polish noise rock. The closing track is a trip textured into infinity. https://instantclassic.bandcamp.com/album/czarna-woda

Deszcz - III: Exhilaratingly heavy crust with great melodies. https://deszcz.bandcamp.com/album/iii

Azusa - Heavy Yoke: Completely awesome and weird female-fronted desert prog with equally excellent clean and screamed vocals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Cq4MENAbM

Sectioned - Annihilated: Powerhouse mathcore! Terrifying. https://sectioned.bandcamp.com/album/annihilated

Ugh, sorry - didn't mean to embed video!

Voted!

thanks!

fancy campaigning for anything?

dont worry if its for well known stuff. Yob and Sleep and Ghost deserve the love they get too. They did make the general poll

Albums on the metal poll noms that made the general poll

Senyawa - Sujud
Ghost - Prequelle
Yob - Our Raw Heart
YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN - Dirt
Andrew WK - You Are Not Alone
The Armed - Only Love
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Sleep - The Sciences
mewithoutyou - (untitled)
Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace

I have friends who say this is their album of the year
https://svartidaudi.bandcamp.com/album/revelations-of-the-red-sword

I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death.
-Liber Al vel Legis 2.6

On the 3rd of December 2018, six years to the day after the apocalypse, Svartidauði will unleash long awaited sophomore full length Revelations of the Red Sword upon the ashes of civilization.
Once again recorded and produced at Studio Emissary by Stephen Lockhart and featuring artwork by David Glomba, the combined result is equally stunning sonically as it is visually. The 6 track, 47 minute album marks Svartidauði’s second release on legendary German imprint Ván Records.

The Red Sword refers to the rays of a rising- and a setting sun, encompassing its contents in the fire and the fury of our world’s most creative and destructive force, the glowing God up above, the Sun - Celebrating its howling solar winds, all the while waiting with anticipation for the inevitable heat death of the universe.
credits
released December 3, 2018

Everything I voted for will probably make the list, but I definitely want to see Pharaoh Overlord, Sulphur Aeon, Ails and High on Fire do well.

Actually, Sulphur Aeon might not make it! Murky but melodic German Cthlulu death metal! Highly recommended.

https://sulphuraeon-vanrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-scythe-of-cosmic-chaos

Not heard of Ails, what do they sound like?

Ludicra without the olde metal influences, pretty much

The Ails album is really good, Kerr

Also TT I'm so glad you're into that Alameda 4 record. I was going to campaign for it myself! Every Alameda album is entirely different. Everybody I knew was into the more acoustic Alameda Duo record but actually the fluxwork surrealism of duch tornada was more my thing. As for Czarna Woda, it's a fantastic record. Superloud rough-hewn prog with some Sonic Youth influence on "Colfax". A big favourite

Alameda 5 out in March

seandalai says we have 17 ballots so far

I'll be voting for sure! Thanks for extending the deadline.

Cosign the Deszcz, a great contrast of melodic music and kind of one-note screaming.

I tell you what; this Usurpress album is not shabby at all. Good call, Simon!

Sunday, a good time to make/start a ballot?

Anyone got any other albums they would like to boost?

'Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court' -Mongrel's Cross - Australian Blackend Thrash that sounds sinister and regal with great, speedy drumming, engaging leads, and riffs that won't leave your head. Good fun!

'Panoptic Horror' -Sepulcher - Norwegian Crust-punky Death Thrash - rollercoaster riffs interspersed with eerie, spooky breaks, giving songs a post-modern feel not unlike Morbus Chron or Execration. Headbanging delight!

I've not kept up this year so what have been the best

Black Metal
Death Metal
Trad Metal
Doom Metal
Thrash Metal
Power Metal (one for the smithy)

albums that came out in 2018?

I still think DMBQ is the best Doom record, but I liked the Dylan Carson and Windhand albums too

Best black metal = prob A Forest of Stars or Ails

why isn't imago campaigning? Has he ran out of things to say?

Oh yeah, no mention yet of Chapel Of Disease? This is really accessible, catchy Death Metal with the kitchen sink thrown in: power metal leads everywhere, bit of 70s prog, bit of rockin' black metal.

I assume Imago and TT are familiar with them as they love similarly legendary funeral doomsters Esoteric but just incase they do't have you guys checked out Mournful Congregation?

High On Fire just won a Grammy beating Deafheaven, Between the Buried and Me, Trivium, and Underoath.

Not a huge fan of HOF but against that competition, right on.

I like some stuff by all those ppl but yeah

Haas I was just coming here to post this

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtuOHkGFn9e/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=2x7z1h6zt3rx

is there no album category for metal?

dont think so

The Brit Awards have never recognised Metal at all.

I remembered metal albums getting awards. Reviewing Wikipedia, apparently, only albums were nominated in 89 (when it was hard rock/metal). Then, weirdly, both albums and songs were nominated and competed against each other for a few years, until it was just albums for a year, and then became just songs.

I haven't heard the High on Fire track but "Honeycomb" was #1 on my tracks ballot in the big poll.

Which High On Fire song won it?

"Electric Messiah"

Remember the year we tried a tracks poll? less than half of the album voters voted for tracks.

What would we all say the best tracks were in 2018?

This little ditty is a cracker.

Imago this must appeal to your esoteric loving self
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXFfAPAjI08

catchy title too

This would've got my #1 vote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWEF-rSQAh8

Tropical Fuck Storm - You Let My Tyres Down was a belter too

This Ails album is really good. Surprised I missed it.

You guys are sleeping on this Earthling Society album. My favourite thing I heard all year. I came across it from JR Moores' Columnfortably Numb feature on the Quietus. I guess it's supposed to be their final album...? Hell of a standing, endlessly delirial space rock, indebted to the usual suspects but also draws on electric Miles and Berlin-era Bowie. It might not quite be proggy enough to sustain the comparison, but fuck if, I'll go there anyways: ====> this year's Kairon; IRSE

Earthling Society - MO-The Demon

https://riotseasonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mo-the-demon

Errr, "standing" should be "swan song"

How'd you hear about that Usurpress album, Simon? That was really cool. Did they post about it in Rolling Metal?

If anyone hasnt made a shortlist it might be a good idea to start

@DAM I think I learned of it on Angry Metal Guy.

I wanna put in a quick word for JORD by MØL, which does the glittery post-black thing a la Deafheaven, but crammed into tight, hooky songs with actual choruses that hover around the 4-5 minute range. Very glad I found time to return to it.

https://moeldk.bandcamp.com/album/jord-2

I think I played that one from the spotify list.. It was quite good.

Only 9 people have followed the Spotify playlist so its not really worth doing it in the future

I alternated between Apple Music and Bandcamp. Good enough for me.

How is apple music for underground metal?

I don't have Spotify either, else I would have

I haven't noticed much of a difference between Spotify and Apple Music tbh. The stuff that I only managed to find on Bandcamp is available on neither Spotify nor Apple Music as far as I can tell.

couple of days left to vote folks

.

How many ballots we have so far, Oor???

dunno, i pm'd seandalai earlier. Last time I asked it was 17

Who else plans to vote?

it will be at least 18 ballots tonight!

I should be voting, won't be much of a ballot but I can put something together either tonight or tomorrow!

i look forward to siegbran's 17 socks voting

or indeed anyone voting

:(

There's at least six others who have committed to voting; it'd just they're not posting about metal at all, so their ballots will be a mystery👻👻👻👻

My ballot otoh has been telegraphed proper

on that note, sbanhof* just posted the story behind my favourite album:

About Earthling Society's album MO - The Demon, they set themselves a formidable challenge:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1554525519_7.jpg

Mo - The Demon was recorded at Leeds college of music between November 2017 – February 2018. The basis of the album was to record an imaginary soundtrack to the Shaw Brothers batshit psychedicrazy Kung Fu horror ‘The Boxer’s Omen’ aka MO or demon.
The story is an everyday one.
After a Hong Kong kickboxer is paralysed by a cheating Thai competitor, his mobster brother vows revenge and journeys to Thailand for a duel. Along the way, our hero is met by bizarre visions, entered into a Buddhist monastery, and begins a quest to save the soul of a deceased Monk (his twin brother in a past life) who died at the hands of a powerful black magician.
We’ve all been there. However the movie descends into a kind of spiritual Jodorowsky mushroom fest that is completely deranged and is therefore one of those perfect midnight movies.
So we got free studio time at LCM in November and just went ‘fuck it’ lets make an imaginary soundtrack in homage to such a great movie.

I will def be voting at the last minute as per usual

(here's the trailer for _The Boxer's Omen_)

https://youtu.be/q3AnjfBA3iw

i sent in a thing just now

ST 37 - ST 37

Haha you probably knew this was coming. Not exactly my favourite band in the world but awfully fucking close, the Texas psychonauts released an even better album than 2014's I'm Not Good, which I'm was their strongest since the '90s. This one though, finished in a burst of inspiration after their triumphant US tour with Acid Mothers Temple, surrounds you on all sides with swirling, spiralling noise, from towering weirdpunk rave-ups like "Hollywood Cemetery" and the batshit Jacobin-friendly "Boss", to sinister singalongs like "Shadesty", to musique-concrete lava lamp like "Inward, Please" and "KBDP".

Check it out. http://www.brooklynvegan.com/stream-austin-psych-vets-st-37s-new-self-titled-double-lp/

This is my personal Best of 2018 Spotify Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/user/nyc_native/playlist/3XSIesRX2Q8OXmjRJ6CtEd?si=j3m-JgGtTjKVm5S-KTpvfA

It's not all metal but that's a majority of it.

2nd last day to vote!

My innumerable socks are ready to vote. Who needs ethics in metal anyway?

seandalai informs me as of last night we have 17 ballots

I submitted mine this morning.

I’ll be voting today!

voted jsut now fwiw. only a dozen or so records i listened to & enjoyed & didn't get deep into the noms like i hoped! sorry for ruining everything

It's ok! We'll make sure to blame you anytime anybody complains about the results!

it's ok the co-pollrunner gets the blame

Yeah we all know who's really at fault here haha *nervous*

nah i'll be your sin eater! tell em i voted for only the very most overrated stuff just to piss off the ppl who know the /real shit/

and also my ballot was counted five times

i can't wait to be the wrestling heel of this rollout now!

I'm listening to YOB right now. I remember being pretty bored with Atma but I've only started the second track and already this seems much more engaging. I barely noticed that the first song was ten minutes!

"The Screen" has a pleasing lurch

All Yob is great

Ehhh

I had to re-start "In Reverie" 3 times because my attention kept wandering...def getting those Atma vibes again. Sounds like something that could have been on Surrounded by Thieves if Matt Pike had been trapped in a terminal k-hole

The tally, thus far = unperson, 1; sludge wizards, 2

Has anyone seen imago or tt? usually they are on the voting and campaigning thread. Are they even going to vote?

I can’t vote because I’m way way way out of it but I <3 YOB!

By “it” I mean being aware of new releases

We'll vote tomorrow!

I'm liking "Beauty in Falling Leaves", very pretty

That said, a 16-minute power ballad is a formidable proposition no matter who is behind it

LL a small ballot is fine!

Btw I could tell within thirty seconds that "Original Face" was my favorite song off the album. Serious Anointing of Seer vibes. I'll bet it kills live!

http://scontent.fewr1-4.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/52532840_10161471803935597_504662084663902208_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_eui2=AeGghn6t_SKGFip5527lGnf5_qf4qfWKHBQBBbd69CQgOCodZsXezS2TISxwRVpTVIs73ywMeTvs8XjKm6-FPj1NBb3TovvYIE6YziGrxUj_8Q&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-4.fna&oh=3109343aaae9ecf0c069bd4b8ad2480e&oe=5CF132EF

Time to make coffee and begin this ballot. Hopefully we still have until whenever we go to sleep to vote...

youve had an extra week!

it was always going to be on the last day

Voted

voting ends in about 13 hours?

Today I heard the preview track off the Waste Of Space Orchestra album and it's already more exciting than all of last year's metal

https://roadburn.com/premiere-waste-of-space-orchestra-seekers-reflection/

link at the bottom

I mean can you even

What did you think of the Entropia? I thought it was good but fell slightly short of my favorite records by Oranssi & Aluk Todolo

It was...OK. I'm still reeling from the WOSO preview track

What did you think of the Entropia? I thought it was good but fell slightly short of my favorite records by Oranssi & Aluk Todolo

― aquaman goes to college (Drugs A. Money), Friday, 15 February 2019 19:24 (twenty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'd agree with that. They have the potential to be as good though.

Simon H totally otm re: LLNN. I'd forgotten how much this album absolutely rules and it's climbing my ballot the more I re-listen.

Louis not wrong about WOSO.

Concentrate on last year!

I voted!

Inspired by what I posted, I have now heard Dark Buddha Rising.

Folks. I mean, why didn't you say?

We did, years ago. You slowcoach.

Voted!

I can't remember whether through Kerr's metal email list or through EZ that I heard DBR but I could never quite get into them. They kind of reminded me of UFOMammut

Well, Ufomammut have never really moved me, but all I know is that this is *the shit*

Azusa currently bringing the sick post-hardcore tunez

My word, that got amazing.

Voted!

we might be able to start the rollout sat afternoon like how we used to keep fingers crossed

I am listening to the new Uncle Acid...this is actually pretty good. Maybe they were this year's Comet Control all along :/

but you all still have a whole 8 hours at least to vote. Seandalai will close the voting form when he's ready to tabulate.

32 ballots according to seandalai

Voted. Get yer ballots in ye swine

Yeah this Uncle Acid album was awesome

Voting is closed and I haz results. Not looked at yet of course.

If the george is ready I think we will start the rollout shortly.
maybe do 10 today and 10 tomorrow then 20 mon-thurs

Going to do a 125 for the lols. thats 25 bonus albums for the weekend and 100 during the week.

That’s a lot of metal! It’s going to be a wonderfully intense February. So glad it’s half term.

That is way too much - why not a cut off when the points start spreading out meaningfully? I guess it isn't my poll

ILM METAL POLL 2018 RESULTS THREAD!

That is way too much - why not a cut off when the points start spreading out meaningfully? I guess it isn't my poll