GMD Poll: Top Ten Albums of 1991

[no country for old wainds]

=5) Blessed Are the Sick by Morbid Angel
Born again in blasphemy...

"It was my favourite for years but I lean towards Formulas these days." - @Slayed Necros

"I can't really think of anything that sounds like Blessed are the Sick from that time period. The album is very cohesive and I've always found it to work incredibly well as an album experience - the track ordering and the pacing is pretty much perfect. It's quite a large change in direction from Altars, more mature and more varied in its tempos and lyrical content. What it lacks in the youthful energy it more than makes up for in its artfulness imo." - @Phylactery

"Blessed are the Sick is pretty overrated tbh. I came upon one of the songs from it on shuffle (I like to play a guessing game since I've downloaded a lot of stuff I've forgotten about) and literally thought it was a Kreator song. It's far from the massive breakthrough it's heralded as, and the Burns production is shit." - @HamburgerBoy

"If Blessed Are the Sick had a more vital, punchy production or even a more black metal style necro/cold production, I would hail it as an absolute masterpiece. The compositions are fucking fantastic. They also re-recorded three tracks from Abominations of Desolation which I really appreciate as that is, while definitely flawed, my favourite Morbid Angel recording." - @CASSETTEISGOD

"Blessed are the sick is Morbid Angel showing the rest of the world how to make a death metal album." - @Sirjack

Chosen by:
Phylactery (#1)
Satanstoenail (#3)
Sirjack (#4)
Manic Ferocity (#5)
alex76 (#5)
Serjeant Grumbles (#5)
TechnicalBarbarity (#6)
no country for old wainds (#6)
Slayed Necros (#6)
Slammed (#6)
Master_Yoda77 (#9)
TOTAL POINTS: 65

=5) War Master by Bolt Thrower
You shall obey all that he commands...

"Bolt Thrower 'war master' & 'realm of chaos' is real drinking music." - @CF87

"Trying to decide which Bolt Thrower is best is like trying to decide which Italian dish is best. You think of a good one and then you remember 4 other good ones and then you just go "............" and shut down and explode.

For Victory is so fugging good though, but I always seem to get caught up in the Godliness of Realm Of Chaos and War Master. Then I remember that Mercenary has some of their finest riffs ever and it starts all over again!" - @CASSETTEISGOD

"Got to be Realm of Chaos with IVth Crusade a close second. War master is great but it aint those gems imo" - @Sirjack

"War Master was always my go to." - @Satanstoenail

"War Master > Realm of Chaos" - @The Ozzman

"Realm of Chaos is a close second for me. I used to prefer War Master but it's definitely not as consistent. The former sounds like a merciless onslaught throughout, while the latter has some of the band's finest moments, but occasionally stagnates while the band takes prisoners (psh)." - @Manic Ferocity

Chosen by:
CASSETTEISGOD (#1)
Atomic Tide (#1)
rms (#1)
Sirjack (#3)
Slammed (#3)
Krow (#6)
Satanstoenail (#7)
The Ozzman (#7)
Slayed Necros (#8)
Anom@nder Rake (#8)
TOTAL POINTS: 65

 

[no country for old wainds]

4) Dawn of Possession by Immolation
Can't you see it's Satan's world?

"The only memorable album from Immolation is Dawn of Possession. Consequentially it is the only album worth owning from the band." - @The Ozzman

"Shit like this is why people don't take your opinion on death metal seriously." - @Krow

"I somewhat agree with Ozz, I like other Immolation albums but if I had to have just one, it'd be the debut." - @CASSETTEISGOD

"Dawn of Possession is pretty overrated and nothing special anyways." - @HamburgerBoy

"DAWN OF POSSESSION is an anomaly among their classic recordings really, they hadn't strayed too far from their influences yet. it's kinda like IN BATTLE THERE IS NO LAW in that there'll always be old schoolers who cite it as their best album because it's their most to-the-point, dirty, primal record, but it's not exactly the best example of the more calculated, dramatic sound they became known for." - @no country for old wainds

"A melting pot of absolutely potent and disturbing blasphemies." - @Addo_Of_Nex

Chosen by:
I-TEND-TO-DIE (#2)
Atomic Tide (#2)
EspaDa (#3)
rms (#3)
Slayed Necros (#5)
Anom@nder Rake (#5)
zerostatic (#6)
Phylactery (#6)
Talos of Atmora (#7)
Master_Yoda77 (#7)
alex76 (#8)
Sirjack (#9)
Manic Ferocity (#10)
ClichéUserName (#10)
TOTAL POINTS: 71

 

[HamburgerBoy]

You should try and find quotes where I say "pretty overrated" to describe the remaining albums as well.

 

[no country for old wainds]

=2) Ritual by Master's Hammer
To the land of awesome mysteries, where only the dead can go...

"Master's Hammer is better than your favorite band, even if your favorite band is Master's Hammer." - @Dodens Grav

"On yet a different note, does anyone else here fucking hate the vocalist for Master's Hammer? I don't really like anything about The Jilemnice Occultist, but Ritual would be an excellent album if it weren't for the damn vocals. They really ruin it. He sounds like a dying troll or something." - @Life Sucks

"By all rights I should like this, but no matter how many times I listen to it, I just can't get into it." - @Rumpole

"The compositions on this album are fantastic, and I rather enjoy the experimental vocals, but the guitar tone is pathetic and reminiscent of an oboe that hasn't been cleaned out in two years. Also, the drumming is weak at times." - @Eligos

"Master's Hammer Ritual is epic as fuck. Great early Black Metal, essential as hell. Unique, one of a kind album." - @Dazed and Brutal

"Burzum is Master's Hammer worship" - @Naggamanteh

Chosen by:
Anom@nder Rake (#1)
rms (#2)
no country for old wainds (#2)
Slayed Necros (#3)
Serjeant Grumbles (#3)
Krow (#3)
crimsonfloyd (#4)
Phylactery (#5)
EspaDa (#6)
ClichéUserName (#8)
Talos of Atmora (#10)
TOTAL POINTS: 74

=2) Mental Funeral by Autopsy
Hyperboric nightmare reigns...

"How can someone not include Mental Funeral on their list?" - @Master_Yoda77

"Mental Funeral is a downgrade from Severed Survival in almost all respects. Still good though of course." - @HamburgerBoy

"It's my least favourite of the classic era Autopsy albums" - @CASSETTEISGOD

"Mental Funeral is without a doubt Autopsy's second best album, and depending on my mood sometimes I think its their best." - @Krow

"Well, I have listened to Autopsy for example. I don't mind their instrumentation, it's not bad for me. But again, I feel the vocals are a major turnoff. It might sound strange, but yes, I would prefer clean vocals on top of their instruments. Either that or no vocals at all." - @Gutterspawn (lol remember this guy)

Chosen by:
Krow (#1)
Slayed Necros (#2)
crimsonfloyd (#2)
ClichéUserName (#2)
Master_Yoda77 (#3)
Anom@nder Rake (#4)
zerostatic (#4)
no country for old wainds (#5)
EspaDa (#5)
Phylactery (#9)
Sirjack (#10)
TOTAL POINTS: 74

1) Like an Everflowing Stream by Dismember
Blood colours my thoughts...

"Alright I have to ask already, what is so great about Like an Everflowing Stream that almost everyone everywhere loves it? I can barely get through a single song without cringing because of how naive and predictable everything comes out." - @Blind Guardian

"Often brilliantly showcasing the Sturm und Drang sensibility that made the Swedish style unique, the passion and energy and often unalloyed viciousness of this album are both infectious and irresistible. " - @Mornelithe Planetary Eulogy Clark Carpenter Falconsbane

"I find the vocals on Like An Everflowing Stream to sound obnoxious and forced at times. The drum production is also way too low in the mix making the album fail to have the crunch that death metal should have. If it weren't for the superb riff-work and songwriting (which are obviously more important), I'd hate the album." - @Manic Ferocity

"Like an Ever Flowing Stream is Swedish death metal perfection. Much better album than Left Hand Path(which i really like). The album just rips from top to bottom, not a single weak track, which is more than can be said about the overrated LHP ... it deserves to be on every list of top 25 death metal albums." - @TechnicalBarbarity

Chosen by:
Slayed Necros (#1)
EspaDa (#1)
crimsonfloyd (#1)
zerostatic (#2)
Atomic Tide (#3)
ClichéUserName (#3)
Anom@nder Rake (#3)
TechnicalBarbarity (#5)
rms (#5)
Sirjack (#7)
Manic Ferocity (#9)
alex76 (#9)
-CyanideChrist- (#10)
TOTAL POINTS: 84

 

[CiG]

"I somewhat agree with Ozz, I like other Immolation albums but if I had to have just one, it'd be the debut." - @CASSETTEISGOD

Fucking hell, I don't agree with this anymore.

 

[no country for old wainds]

yeah i've also moved away from a similar opinion lol

 

[Vegard Pompey]

The RYM list has been updated with 1991, 1981 and 2009.

 

[no country for old wainds]

nice, that was fast

 

[Vegard Pompey]

I am the god of data entry.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

The top three saved this list, but overall, one of the weaker lists that have been created for a "classic year." An overrated Morbid Angel album (oh wait, that's all of them), an overrated Immolation album (weakest of the first 5, by far), and an overrated Entombed album (see Morbid Angel). Bolt Thrower hasn't ever done anything for me, but to be fair, I haven't given them a lot of time, so I'll withhold a strong judgement there.

 

[CiG]

If you think the list is weak, it's probably pretty strong.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Other than forgetting Human, he called out most of the weak links. Still a nice list though, can't really complain since it was obvious those albums would all make it on (though I'm surprised Suffocation didn't at all, poor TechBarb).

 

[CiG]

I don't think any of it is weak, even the stuff that made it in that I didn't vote for is strong material.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Horrorscope is objectively better than every death metal album on this list put together.

 

[CiG]

Horrorscope is objectively better than every death metal album on this list put together.

You're objectively retarded.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

My doctors' notes show that you're objectively correct.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Yeah, Effigy not being on here pretty much voids this whole list.

 

[no country for old wainds]

people just reeeeally don't care for BDM here, even peak level BDM. it came 13th for the record. on the other end of the DM spectrum, THE RACK not making it is also pretty gay if you ask me.

 

[Phylactery]

Indeed. The Rack fucking slays. The title track is almost everything I want from death metal; torturous, morbid and fucking disgusting. Where did it come overall?

Don't care all that much for Effigy. It's obviously a good album but I never want to listen to it.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

The Rack is boring as fuck like holy shit.