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

Many thanks to all who participated. We received 32 ballots this year.

Without further ado, let’s get this show on the road!

First off, a small bonus.

#101
Primitive Man – Immersion
92 points, 4 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0160033873_10.jpg

https://primitivemandoom.bandcamp.com/album/immersion

In eight years PRIMITVE MAN have earned themselves a reputation as one of sludge’s harshest and most prolific exponents. They sit alongside LORD MANTIS, COFFINWORM, and DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT in metal’s most putrid corner, where dissonance, grinding repetition and sharp changes in tempo are the order of the day. More than most, PRIMITIVE MAN are willing to explore these ideas to the limits of listenability. Debut Scorn and second full-length Caustic are their most developed expressions of this artless creed, but a trove of singles and splits have elaborated on it. Their third studio album Immersion arrives following a period of relative inactivity for the Colorado trio: what blunt instruments of cruelty have PRIMITIVE MAN been crafting?

There is no bluesy-swing or rock ‘n’ roll swagger in what PRIMITIVE MAN do. Theirs is a bleak vision, which draws upon the techniques of death and doom metal to create loathsome long-form tracks, which often turn to violence and anger in a red flash. These expectations are soon confirmed in opening track The Lifer, which bludgeons its listener with low and slow riffs before blending into the sparse Entity without further ado. In spite of what the album’s title promises, no attempt is made to ease the listener into Immersion’s ruthless atmosphere.

https://distortedsoundmag.com/album-review-immersion-primitive-man/

I haven't heard this one, mainly because I'm not very good at keeping up with sludge.

Never did check this one out, but I like Coffinworm and I've at least listened to Dragged Into Sunlight. Primitive Man has an active Twitter, so I'm never sure if I'm seeing friends of the band talking about them, or if there's some kind of hype machine happening.

oh damn!

never got these guys, they make an impressive racket though

I'd also like to point out that EVERYONE IS WELCOME as the rollout unfolds, including those who didn't vote and those who hate metal/heavy music with a passion. Shit-talking is fine as long as it's done entertainingly and provided you've actually sampled the releases you're hellbent on dissing, be it only for 30 secs (these are my self-imposed rules when wading into the main ILM poll).

Yes, the more posters chanting "FALSE! NOT METAL!!" when Hum places in the top 10, the better off we'll be.

One vox populi against the other.

Primitive Man is almost comically heavy. They've got the sound down pat and I'm enjoying it so far but they could use some equally crushing *riffs* to round it all off.

Wait, did I listen to Primitive Man? Oh yeah, I put them at #37 on my ballot, a late entry. I hate to call this album unmemorable, but...

I don't think I've heard of this before. The description makes it sound like its going to be very raw and crude, but then again it's on Relapse, so one would expect better production values, and in the event it does sound rather well recorded and mixed. First track is pleasantly sludgy.

Alright, let's inaugurate the top 100 proper with the slowest of all possible metal tempos.

#100
Atramentus – Stygian
93 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4077586115_10.jpg

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/stygian

Bearing the “gift” of immortality bestowed to him by the God’s sword, a lone knight trudges across the land, snow crunching beneath his feet with every heavy, weary step. After witnessing the death of the sun and thus all life on Earth perishing, he’s left with no choice but to travel the frozen lands alone, forcing him to recall painful memories of the loss of those he loved, forever trapped under miles upon miles of ice. Now that‘s a hefty premise for a debut album, and it would take an equally hefty delivery to even give it a whiff of justice. But Atramentus, the Canadian funeral doom act consisting of members of Chthe’ilist, Funebrarum, and Gevurah (among others), spent a good length of time, constructing this album’s premise as far back as the band’s formation in 2012. Stygian is the end result of their labor.

And over the course of just three songs totaling over 45 minutes, they most certainly laid down one of the heaviest pieces of funeral doom I’ve heard in a long time. The two bookends of the album provide the bulk of Stygian‘s considerable length, clocking in at a whopping 40 minutes of top-shelf funeral doom. Opening with a mournful harpsichord, “Stygian I: From Tumultuous Heavens… (Descended Forth the Ceaseless Darkness)”1 lurches menacingly forward, darkening your mood with an onslaught of heavy riffs by Claude Leduc and Phil Tougas (both Chthe’ilist), with Tougas growling, howling, and chanting in forlorn agony. It never progresses faster than a menacing creep, and that’s fine, as Atramentus feels fine with suffocating you with oppressive riffs, a stifling atmosphere, and the wonderful feeling of bad shit not letting up anytime soon. There’s no sunshine here. It’s dead, remember?

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/atramentus-stygian-review/

Bonus Large Sad Men looming in the background, as is tradition.

This was my favourite funeral doom album of 2020, so I'm largely sad to see it place so low. I think it's structurally and timbrally less predictable than most of the usual fare, and Philippe Tougas is an eloquent cookie monster.

Also, having briefly lived in their home town Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal, I can attest to the accuracy and authenticity of the feelings expressed therein.

Good album, definitely not quite typical fun-doom, could never get into it that much though unfortunately

Whoa, surprised to see Primitive Man that low. It's my favorite of their albums so far. Meant to check out the Atramentus, but never got around to it.

the longueuil loungeur lads

After witnessing the death of the sun and thus all life on Earth perishing, he’s left with no choice but to travel the frozen lands alone, forcing him to recall painful memories of the loss of those he loved, forever trapped under miles upon miles of ice.

Winter in Quebec, amirite.

Literally so, yes!

It's -10°C out today ffs.

Someday we should poll the albums with Lewandowski covers. This was my 33.

Hah, I'd be up for that.

(This was my #10 btw.)

(xpost my 33 on my ballot, not my 33rd favorite Lewandowski cover)

I'm real hit-or-miss with funeral doom, but this was good. Late addition so it didn't get any higher than, say the Drown record.

A fun test of metal is how good it would sound with the distortion turned off. Primitive Man would be hilarious as plain indie rock. Here beginneth the dissing

Haha, now that's what I'm talking about.

#99
Undergang – Aldrig i livet
94 points, 4 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3030072133_10.jpg

https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/aldrig-i-livet

Back in 2011 when Indhentet Af Døden dropped, Undergang got onto my radar because they were described as a mix of Obituary and Demilich, which is obviously a winning combination. I couldn’t wait to get my grubby mitts on that record, and when I did, they got even grubbier because Undergang plays filthy, sewer-dwelling death metal exclusively. Since new Undergang is our focus and it’s not 3AM in the Big Apple, we’re not leaving the sewer; we’re going into its dirtiest depths and getting grimy with Aldrig i livet instead.

I liked that shorthand description I was given of Undergang nearly one decade ago, but upon reflection it’s somewhat incomplete. Undergang is indeed a celebration of sewage, taking a heaping scoop, throwing it at a wall, and keeping the grossest things which stick. Fans of classic death metal will hear early Obituary (the first two albums), early Autopsy (the first two albums), Rottrevore, and a bit of Symphonies of Sickness. The Finnish influence here comes largely from Abhorrence, as Undergang employ their own version of Vulgar Necrolatry’s peculiar Finnish melodicism to help capture the sound of an unknown…thing slithering by you in the opaque sewage, but also take the odd cue from Demilich here as well. After two increasingly lengthier and doom-focused records following their debut, Undergang released Misantropologi, their shortest LP to date, where they ratcheted the early Carcass influence up to eleven and streamlined their songwriting. It was an interesting approach, but it didn’t really stick to my ribs the way their first two did, but there was certainly potential in that musical direction.

I’ll get right to it: Aldrig i livet actualizes that potential and this new disgusting brew sticks something fierce. Songs are more compellingly composed than anything these guys have put out since their debut, and they’ve essentially recaptured that unbridled creativity from 2011 and brought it into 2020 with their various influences and compositional experiments in the intervening years intact. The anything-goes creative spirit of Mental Funeral is done in marvelous fashion, with “Spontan bakteriel selvantændelse” being a minute long and sounding like Undergang successfully writing something like “Bonesaw” in their own style (and with vocals). “Indtørret” has an “In the Grip of Winter” type break, but what comes after is an extended lead and disgusting vocals which sound like an extension of that indecipherable burbling about forty seconds into “Ruptured in Purulence.” What sounds like a sly reference to Obituary’s “Cause of Death” kicks off “Ufrivillig donation af vitale organer” and Undergang drags it deeper down into the murk via Autopsy, Disma, and Abhorrence. It’s murky, punishing stuff that never gets bogged down in mindless chuggery.

https://www.angrymetalguy.com/undergang-aldrig-i-livet-review/

TOO

FUCKING

LOW

Seriously, I thought this was one of last year's absolute best DM albums.

I would diss Atramentus but it's sounding pretty good. I will always diss DM though

but its death metal

C'mon, you like plenty of DM, even if it comes with extra incongruous toppings.

xp

aw it's true. if it isn't too aimless and wibbly ;)

Atramentus is quite something isn't it

If imago is enjoying a record that is a slave to slow tempos you know it’s the shiznit.

The ending of the first track is some heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy organ-prog shit. It's like the true heir to VDGG or something

Atramentus are the Anton Bruckner of funeral doom and Stygian is their cathedral.

Anyway, I wonder who else voted for the Undergang. Did Fred surreptitiously cast a ballot for the sake of his fellow Danes? I sure hope so.

Next up: an excellent instrumental record that is TOTALLY NOT TRVE METAL!

#98
Dan Weiss/Starebaby – Natural Selection
95 points, 3 votes

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1400024447_10.jpg

https://danweiss.bandcamp.com/album/natural-selection

Dan Weiss is one of those drummers who could easily make a name for himself simply by being a very good drummer but is far from satisfied stopping there. He’s led ensembles all the way from a duet with guitarist Miles Okazaki to a sixteen-piece band. He’s thrived in straight-ahead jazz, modern jazz and even Indian-influenced jazz — he plays a mean tabla — but in 2018 he took his biggest artistic risk yet, an experimental, electronic/prog-metal turn called Starebaby.

For Starebaby, Weiss put together a murderer’s row of jazz talent: bassist Trevor Dunn (Nels Cline Singers), guitarist Ben Monder (David Bowie’s Blackstar band) and two of the most forward-thinking keyboardists on the scene today: Craig Taborn (Junk Magic) and Matt Mitchell (Snakeoil). Full of fuzz and feedback, rock bass lines, rock drums, a metal guitar and electronic adornments, this isn’t the stuff you wouldn’t expect top shelf jazz musicians to play. However, these are particularly adventurous jazz musicians and even those types like rock ‘n’ roll and other forms of contemporary music.

They do bring their improvisational chops to every composition, but these compositions often don’t follow the structure of either jazz or rock. You don’t have a song figured out in the first two minutes and sometimes, not even in the first five minutes, because even though these songs are meticulously composed one never knows what lurks around the corner

https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/dan-weiss-starebaby-natural-selection-pi/

Sund4r, stop checking the Québécois music thread instead of the metal rollout.

lol

Catching up now. Primitive Man and Atramentus were both albums I liked that didn't get past my second ballot cut of 80ish records, but that I am glad to see place. Undergang was somewhere in the 40s on my ballot and probably could have inched higher if I spent more time with it. This Dan Weiss thing is the rare entrant in these rollouts that I have never heard of at all.

As far as vox-free jazz-metal goes, Natural Selection is top notch.

Oh wow lol, glad it got other votes.

(I'm doing something that I can't listen to records while doing so I was waiting on checking this thread.)

This is :( though (and from a jazz publication!)

guitarist Ben Monder (David Bowie’s Blackstar band)

That might be worse than "Wilco sideman Nels Cline".

Fair enough, I just wanted to draw your attention to this as it's clearly your doing. ;)

xp oh lol

locating Trevor Dunn in the Nels Cline singers is the biggest crime of description there imo :P

Moving on, we've got nothing less than a THREE-WAY TIE!

(32 ballots will do that, heh.)

Albums on my list that didn't place:

4 Crippled Black Phoenix - Ellengæst (Season of Mist)
12 Lucifer - III (Century Media)
13 Maggot Heart - Mercy Machine (Rapid Eye Records)
14 Rebel Wizard - Magickal Mystical Indifference (Prosthetic Records)
17 Early Moods - Spellbound (Dying Victim Productions)
20 Mesarthim - Degenerate Era (Avantgarde Music)
22 Lotus Thief - Oresteia (Prophecy)
23 Witching - Vernal (Independent)
24 Zeal & Ardor - Wake of a Nation [EP] (Zeal & Ardor)
25 Horn - Mohngang (Iron Bonehead)
26 Ensiferum - Thalassic (Metal Blade Records)
27 Smoulder - Dream Quest Ends [EP] (Cruz Del Sur Music)
28 Serpent Omega - II (Icons Creating Evil Art)
29 Myrkur - Folkesange (Relapse Records)
31 Wolftooth - Valhalla (Ripple Music)
32 Eye of Nix - Ligeia (Prophecy)
34 Frayle - 1692 (Aqualamb Records)
35 Chrome Waves - Where We Live (Disorder Recordings)
36 Evangelist - Ad Mortem Festinamus (Nine Records)
37 Protokult - Transcending The Ruins (Self-Released)
38 Warbringer - Weapons Of Tomorrow (Napalm Records)
39 Griiim - Bête Immonde (Purity Through Fire)
41 Drottinn - Í helgum dýrðar ljóma (Terratur Possessions)
42 Onslaught - Generation Antichrist (AFM Records)
43 Venom Prison - Primeval (Prosthetic Records)
44 Insect Ark - The Vanishing (Profound Lore)
45 Cosmic Burial - Impakt (Purity Through Fire)
46 Finntroll - Vredesvävd (Century Media)
47 Macabre - Carnival Of Killers (Nuclear Blast)
48 Tombs - Under Sullen Skies (Season of Mist)
49 Lili Refrain - ULU (Subsound Records)

Bolded are albums that I, and I alone, voted for.

Has the main poll become a surefire predictor of our metal top 10?

#36: Hum - Inlet - 324 points - 11 votes - 2 Nº1 votes
#38: Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi - 317 points - 9 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#74: Kairon; IRSE! - Polysomn - 188 points - 5 votes

Not quite, I suppose.

I honestly was surprised Poppy didn't make it after making the general ILM poll, but we had fewer voters this year and I assume several of the high profile Poppy fans didn't vote this year.

Hey, I am confused about something...

Tombs - Under Sullen Skies only got one vote in the poll according to the final roundup but I voted for it and so did Oor Neechy according to his/her post above.

What happened? Did the Tombs EP get confused with one of our votes? Or did one of us have a ballot that didn't count (that would be terrible).

Thanks for a great rollout and all the effort! Much appreciated.

Here's my weighted ballot. Too busy with some things to do the 'bdnp':

Hum – Inlet
Sweven – The Eternal Resonance
Ulcerate – Stare Into Death and Be Still
Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin kynsi
Dropdead – Dropdead 2020
Lowrider – Refractions
Deftones – Ohms
Necrot – Mortal
Cryptic Shift – Visitations from Enceladus
Undeath – Lesions of a Different Kind
AC/DC – Power Up
Blue Öyster Cult – The Symbol Remains
Draghkar – At the Crossroads of Infinity
Imperial Triumphant – Alphaville
Fluisteraars – Bloem
Eternal Champion – Ravening Iron
White Stones – Kuarahy
Autonoesis – Autonoesis
Khthoniik Cerviiks – Æequiizoiikum
Spirit Adrift – Enlightened in Eternity
Paysage d'Hiver – Im Wald
Serpent Column – Kathodos
Skeletal Remains – The Entombment of Chaos
Mongrel's Cross – Arcana, Scrying and Revelation
Napalm Death – Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
Faceless Burial – Speciation
Of Feather and Bone – Sulfuric Disintegration
Afterbirth – Four Dimensional Flesh
Mare Cognitum & Spectral Lore – Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine
Slift – Ummon
Elder – Omens
Svalbard – When I Die, Will I Get Better?
Ripped to Shreds – Luan
Intronaut – Fluid Existential Inversions
Wayfarer – A Romance with Violence
Kaatayra – Toda história pela frente
Worm – Gloomlord
-(16)- – Dream Squasher
Motorpsycho – The All Is One
Lamp of Murmuur – Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism
Defeated Sanity – The Sanguinary Impetus
Esoctrilihum – Eternity of Shaog
Black Crown Initiate – Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape
Glorious Depravity – Ageless Violence
Bloodsoaked Necrovoid – Expelled Into the Unknown Depths of the Unfathomable
Hellripper – The Affair of the Poisons
Omegavortex – Black Abomination Spawn
Hexer – Realm of the Feathered Serpent
Black Curse – Endless Wound
Sumac – May You Be Held

Hmm… gotta ask seandalai.

xp

It was last in my ballot so would only have got 1 point from me.

because I only heard it the week before i voted

Tombs got 3 points, indicating that your ballot was the one where it counted, NYC Native, as you had it in 48th position

Does this mean that ON's ballot DIDN'T count? lol if so

Really fun poll. Thanks to everyone! I'm blaming you for my lack of productivity this week.

imago somehow I completely missed the Wyrmwoods album from last year, listening to it now and it's great, thanks

great results overall! thanks to the poll runners! here's my ballot:

Hail Spirit Noir – Eden in Reverse
Elder – Omens
Liturgy – Origin of the Alimonies
Bell Witch / Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough Vol. I
Sweven – The Eternal Resonance
Hum – Inlet
Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin kynsi
Horisont – Sudden Death
Thy Catafalque – Naiv
Zombi – 2020
Macabre – Carnival of Killers
Worm – Gloomlord
Kadavar – The Isolation Tapes
Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou – May Our Chambers Be Full
Pharaoh Overlord – 6
Malokarpatan – Krupinské ohne
Atramentus – Stygian
Griiim – Bête immonde
Kaatayra – Toda história pela frente
Early Moods – Spellbound
Paysage d'Hiver – Im Wald
Carcass – Despicable
Pallbearer – Forgotten Days
Smoulder – Dream Quest Ends
Mourning Beloveth / The Ruins of Beverast – Don’t Walk on the Mass Graves
Lethian Dreams – A Shadow of Memories
Colour Haze – We Are
Sólstafir – Endless Twilight of Codependent Love
Lustre – The Ashes of Light
Dan Weiss / Starebaby – Natural Selection
Wake – Devouring Ruin
Dwaal – Gospel of the Vile
Dirt Woman – Lady of the Dunes
Esoctrilihum – Eternity of Shaog
Temple Nightside – Pillars of Damnation
Tombstone Eyes – Land in the Sky
Núll – Entity
Wytch Hazel – III: Pentecost
Garganjua – Toward the Sun
Spell – Opulent Decay
Zopp – Zopp
Wayfarer – A Romance with Violence
Occlith – Gates, Doorways, and Endings
Armagedda – Svindeldjup Ättestup
Intronaut – Fluid Existential Inversions

Zopp?

What's wrong with Zopp? They have teapots and teapots are metal. (It's a lovely album)

Looking forward to the Zopp With Rager album then

I kinda don't get Oranssi Pazuzu at all. Nor Elder. I mean, it's fine, but it kinda just sounds like psych to me, whereas there is so many fucked up avant soundscapes elsewhere on the list. Neptunian Maximalism! Passage d'Hiver! 26 minute death metal about a spacefarer or something? Black metal covers of Messiaen? It's amazing, so much of it. And I look forward to delving deeper into the results. Thanks to the poll runners!

My ranked top twenty. Bold didn't place:

Sightless Pit – Grave of a Dog
Feminazgûl – No Dawn for Men
Paysage d'Hiver – Im Wald
Pyrrhon – Abscess Time
Touché Amoré – Lament
Liturgy – Origin of the Alimonies
Imperial Triumphant – Alphaville
Septage - Septic Decadence
Senyawa & Stephen O'Malley – Bima Sakti
Vladislav Delay – Rakka
Cryptic Shift – Visitations from Enceladus
Eternal Champion – Ravening Iron
Sumac – May You Be Held
Orm – Mit blod
Afsky – Ofte jeg drømmer mig død
Fluisteraars – Bloem
Zeal and Ardor – Wake of a Nation
Behold… the Arctopus – Hapeleptic Overtrove
Black Curse – Endless Wound
Pallbearer - Forgotten Days

I want more Danish bands on the list next year! Though I guess none of you like BAEST?

Bæst is good but why didn't you vote for Sunken? :(

Or Chaotian? I suppose Festering Excarnation is technically a compilation, but that didn't stop me.

Because I don't know them... I still just stumble around in this genre.

Fair enough. Do check out Sunken's Livslede at least, I think you'd really enjoy it.

I didn't vote for the Afsky but I thought it was very good btw. I'll look into the Orm – that one slipped under my radar.

The Orm ep has brass! Still waiting for an album.

The bass-player from Afsky released a solo album last month as Udånde. It's called Life of a Purist, and, well, it doesn't exactly invent a new genre. But it's ok.

Thanks for the tip. Solbrud are also going to release a new album a couple of weeks from now.

Oh! Didn't know that! Yay!

150 Nechochwen / Panopticon – Nechochwen / Panopticon
9 Liturgy - Origin of the Alimonies
95 Vile Creature - Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!
6 Elder - Omens
182 Body Void / Keeper – Body Void / Keeper
187 Bernelius - Grave Dancer
192 Yuri Gagarin (SWE) – The Outskirts of Reality
30 Mare Cognitum & Spectral Lore – Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine
205 Limalla – ¿Ké futuro? Directo
61 Drown - Subaqueous
29 Victory Over the Sun - A Tessitura of Transfiguration
218 Gareth Davis and Merzbow - Broken Landscapes
50 Sightless Pit - Grave of a Dog
11 Slift - Ummon
80 Khthoniik Cerviiks – Æequiizoiikum
147 Ensiferum - Thalassic
247 Thee Arcadians - Current Events
257 Barishi - Old Smoke
264 Terminal Nation - Holocene Extinction
93 Bell Witch / Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Vol. I
21 Krallice - Mass Cathexis
8 Imperial Triumphant - Alphaville
234 Serment – Chante, ô flamme de la liberté
7 Paysage d'Hiver – Im Wald
130 Senyawa & Stephen O'Malley – Bima Sakti
307 Bong Wizard - Left Hand Pass
18 Lowrider - Refractions
320 Faron - Interloper
53 Pallbearer - Forgotten Days
332 Modarin – In the Distance…
335 Fuzzriders – Fuzzriders
342 Bring Me the Axe - Bring Me the Axe
100 Atramentus - Stygian
69 Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?
64 Fuck the Facts - Plene noirceur
363 Adzes - No One Wants to Speak About It
101 Primitive Man - Immersion
32 Couch Slut – Take a Chance on Rock 'n' Roll
207 Stephen O'Malley – Auflösung der Zeit
382 Desolate Entity - Deconstruction
124 Caustic Wound - Death Posture
1 Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi
43 Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou – May Our Chambers Be Full
24 Necrot - Mortal
400 Nawaharjan - Lokabrenna
12 Ulcerate - Stare Into Death and Be Still
191 Escuela Grind - Ppoowweerrvviioolleennccee
38 Boris - No
381 Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment
127 Cosmic Putrefaction - The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers

I really can't believe nobody else voted for the Nechochwen/Panopticon split, "Rune's Heart" is such an incredible song.

methanietanner as expected, your ballot was the closet to mine of anybody's

including the Ingested album, lol

forgot to bold my list, but at a quick pass, this is the stuff that didn't place in the top 100, I think -

Bog Body / Primitive Warfare – The Gate of Grief / Undulating Torment
Oksennus – Työn orjat sorron yöstä nouskaa
200 Stab Wounds – Piles of Festering Decomposition
Yoth Iria – Under His Sway
Deliquesce – Engineered Frailty
Kryptamok – Verisaarna
Undeath – Lesions of a Different Kind
Thaetas – Shrines to Absurdity
Torture Tomb – Killing to See How It Feels
Denunciation – California Commando
Crushing the Scepter – Echoing Screams of Madness and Delusion
Serration – Shrine of Consciousness
Kommand – Terrorscape
Striges – Verum veterum
Gravesend – Preparations for Human Disposal
Dkharmakhaoz – Proclamation ov the Black Suns
Terrestrial Hospice – Indian Summer Brought Mushroom Clouds
Isengard – Vårjevndøgn
Internal Rot – Grieving Birth
Vassafor – To the Death
Moldé Volhal – Into the Cave of Ordeals…
Aethyrick – Gnosis
Lustre – The Ashes of Light
Exhumation – Eleventh Formulae
GreVlaR – Cloud of Death
Ifernach – The Green Enchanted Forest of the Druid Wizard
Onirik – The Fire Cult Beyond Eternity
Left Cross – Prophecy of Conquest
Chasmdweller – Bacterial Lotus
Herxheim – Incised Arrival
Rat King – Vicious Inhumanity
Vader – Solitude in Madness
Aborted – La grande mascarade
Ventr – Numinous Negativity
Faustian Pact – Outojen tornien varjoissa

gonna rep for a few that really stood out to me...

bog body / undulating torment split:
https://stygianblackhand.bandcamp.com/album/the-gate-of-grief-undulating-torment

the bog body side is just really in my sweet spot. slow and heavy bass/drums duo that is also pretty propulsive. not unlike ride for revenge and has me primed for more from them.

undulating torment side is messy grind, also cool.

oksennus:
https://necrolatryrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ty-n-orjat-paholaisten-y-st-nouskaa

nothing like the other oksennus material I've heard, which was more like gorguts. loose and jammy but great vibe. feels a bit like something corrupted might have put out on a split.

200 stab wounds:
https://200stabwounds-maggotstomp.bandcamp.com/album/piles-of-festering-decomposition

this was pretty hyped I thought but only one other person voted for it so... death metal that grooves pretty hard for its brief runtime. "she was already dead" is my fav cut.

crushing the scepter:
https://crushingthescepter.bandcamp.com/album/echoing-screams-of-madness-and-delusion

very sparse and atmospheric, feels a bit like disembowlment gone black metal.

deliquesce:
https://deliquesceau.bandcamp.com/album/engineered-frailty

another short and sweet death metal release. love the twangy bass work. it's like 6mins long, just give it a shot!

kryptamok:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhg2YAHibPU

could mostly be the similarities between the covers but I always think of emperor's nightside eclipse when I play this one. obv, it isn't as good as that but... it's pretty damn good.

I was wondering who else on here was brootal enough to vote for the Ingested, Neanderthal. Were you also the other voter for Putrid Pile perchance?

As I noted wayyyyy upthread so maybe it has yet to get dealt with, I accidentally double-voted for Ulthar and the proof is in the c & p below: if a re-count is in order then I bellow 'mea culpa' hellward in the OSDMiest of manners:

1) Void Rot - Descending Pillars
2) Of Feather and Bone – Sulfuric Disintegration
3) Necrot – Mortal
4) Faceless Burial – Speciation
5) Ocrilim – Plvence Abrost R Msitloun
6) Voidceremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel
7) Shezmu – À travers les lambeaux
8) Ulthar – Providence
9) Undeath – Lesions of a Different Kind
10) Omegavortex – Black Abomination Spawn
11) Ulthar – Providence
12) Black Curse – Endless Wound
13) Cryptic Shift – Visitations from Enceladus
14) Cosmovore – Into the Necrosphere
15) Azath – Through a Warren of Shadow
16) Angel Morgue – In the Morgue of Angels
17) Ceremonial Bloodbath – The Tides of Blood
18) Cosmic Putrefaction – The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers
19) Ulcerate – Stare Into Death and Be Still
20) Witches Hammer – Damnation Is My Salvation
21) Coagulate – The Art of Cryptosis
22) Xibalba – Años en infierno
23) Azarath – Saint Desecration
24) Skelethal – Unveiling the Threshold
25) Siege Column – Darkside Legions
26) Nimbifer – Demo II
27) Primitive Man – Immersion
28) Dødskvad – Krønike I
29) Horna – Kuoleman kirjo
30) Afsky – Ofte jeg drømmer mig død

I didn't even know there was a new Oksennus last year. Thanks for the tip. This is why I look forward to ilm metal poll every year.

Xpost I was! Love the Pile!

Thank you pom and Neechy for running the poll! Also thanks to NYCNative for recommending Serpent Omega in one of the threads, it's the best metal album I heard last year.

Yea thx so much to the pollrunners. Lots of good stuff in this thread.

Don't be so afraid of the hardcore-adjacent bands. I'm pretty sure Gulch was my #1.

Thanks folks!

I don't actually dislike hardcore per se, but it helps to set up a few artificial fences lest the process of exploring new music become even more overwhelming.

whoa at the 200 Stab Wounds. get in my ears!!!! \m/

yeah, it's slam, but there are actual riffs instead of "chug 5 power chords really slow for 45 minutes while kids windmill in the pit"

ie like Dying Fetus

(the actual riffs part, not Dying Fetus being the latter. i will shut up)

Yeah, this is great. Thanks for the tip.

only thing I didn't like was the Ruptured in Purulence cover. it's pretty weak and it's one of my favorite Carcass songs and if you aren't gonna go balls out on that song you might as well just not.

but everything else on the EP is dope.

Do you guys want the poll run at the same time next year or earlier?

I feel like waiting until the ilm main polls die down is a good idea, so I'd say roughly the same timeframe.

bold dnp

Sweven – The Eternal Resonance
Hum – Inlet
Slift – Ummon
Behold… the Arctopus – Hapeleptic Overtrove
Touché Amoré – Lament
Gulch – Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress
Bindrune Recordings – OVERGROW TO OVERTHROW
Couch Slut – Take a Chance on Rock 'n' Roll
Vladislav Delay – Rakka
Infant Island – Beneath
Krallice – Mass Cathexis
Stabscotch – Twilight Dawn
Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin kynsi
Sightless Pit – Grave of a Dog
Liturgy – Origin of the Alimonies
Boris & Merzbow – 2R0I2P0
Mr. Bungle – The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
Serpent Column – Endless Detainment
Deafheaven – 10 Years Gone
Thy Catafalque – Naiv
Ocrilim – Plvence Abrost R Msitloun
Plague Organ – Orphan
Black Curse – Endless Wound
Envy – The Fallen Crimson
Triptykon – Requiem (Live at Roadburn 2019)
Imperial Triumphant – Alphaville
Machine Girl – U–Void Synthesizer
殞煞 Vengeful Spectre – 殞煞 Vengeful Spectre
Deftones – Ohms
Serpent Column – Kathodos
Vile Creature – Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!
Skáphe – Skáphe³
Uniform – Shame
Old Man Gloom – Darkness of Being/Light of Meaning
Infant Island – Sepulcher

Sorry to be a pain in the arse but I didn't save my ballot, could someone fish it out the bin and post it please?

just put Sweven on top of my ballot and jiggle the order about a bit

& throw in some more colin marston

there we've rebuilt ultros

Yeah pretty much lol

I dont have access to ballots

Just bumping this to say that I finally got my copies of both #4 (Sweven) and #11 (Slift) this week and they are both absolutely incredible. Wish I'd have gotten to them sooner, they both would have gotten another high vote for sure.