GMD Poll: Top Ten Albums of 2009

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Amorphis is riffless shit. CRJ has far more energy and spontaneity than Amorphis ever did.

Your idea of what constitutes "riffs" is arbitrary and meaningless. I remember you gave a good score to Iced Earth's "Dracula" in the mixtape game, even though that song consists mostly of just vamping on a simple D5-A5 chord progression.

Nobody has made much on par with ABBA.

But I listen to this EP a lot, considering I'm not exactly a fan of her.

I don't even know whether those songs are even remotely likely to be amenable to me, considering I didn't actually tell you which songs by ABBA I find enjoyable, which I have attached below:

 

[CiG]

Well I 100% love ABBA's entire body of work, so maybe we shan't see eye to eye on pop music in general.

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

That's true. Nevertheless, I have a more nuanced view of pop music than simply to say that it sucks, even though Mort seems just as loathe to acknowledge that as he is to acknowledge that non-white people can be racist.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Your idea of what constitutes "riffs" is arbitrary and meaningless. I remember you gave a good score to Iced Earth's "Dracula" in the mixtape game, even though that song consists mostly of just vamping on a simple D5-A5 chord progression.

I didn't praise that song for its riffs though, but for its melodies and aggression. Still better riffs than

 

[CiG]

That's true. Nevertheless, I have a more nuanced view of pop music than simply to say that it sucks, even though Mort seems just as loathe to acknowledge that as he is to acknowledge that non-white people can be racist.

Mort is not exactly renowned for his nuanced and subtle views, so I'm hardly surprised that he is not taking your views into account beyond some black and white interpretation of it.

But I'm not really sure an opinion of pop music that is intended just for fun and dancing requires such a kind of view. She obviously and blatantly makes music for teenyboppers after all.

In the end, while I do think her music is fun and enjoyable from what I've heard, it has nothing on the mastery of early Amorphis, it has especially nothing on Tales from the Thousand Lakes.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

I didn't praise that song for its riffs though, but for its melodies and aggression. Still better riffs than

"when you can't remember why you stopped listening to a band and then you remember"

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

I didn't praise that song for its riffs though, but for its melodies and aggression. Still better riffs than

Right, but you implied that all of Amorphis' oeuvre is riffless, which is blatantly false:

 

[no country for old wainds]

riffs is like the one thing that album does have haha. it's pretty lacking in substance though, too thinly written in terms of layers/textures for my tastes. give me the EP any day, the dense, murky, filthy sound suits those tunes so much better.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

1. Vektor - Black Future
2. Nokturnal Mortum - The Voice of Steel
3. Be'lakor - Stone's Reach
4. Children - Hard Times Hanging at the End of the World
5. The Chasm - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm
6. Ulcerate - Everything Is Fire
7. Believer - Gabriel
8. Isole - Silent Ruins
9. While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose
10. Saxon - Into the Labyrinth

@HamburgerBoy Thanks for reminding me of Gabriel.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

This is my favorite one on Skyforger, beautiful melodies

 

[Atomic Tide]

I 100% love ABBA's entire body of work.

Likewise! So, Agnetha or Frida? I've pretty much always favored Agnetha, but Frida is pretty awesome, as well.

 

[Atomic Tide]

Having a hard time with ranking these, sorry...

Vektor - Black Future
Heaven and Hell - The Devil You Know
Saxon - Into the Labyrinth
Funebrarum - The Sleep of Morbid Dreams
Tribulation - The Horror
Ensiferum - From Afar
Portal - Swarth
Teitanblood - Seven Chalices
Gorgoroth - Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt
Voivod - Infini

 

[CiG]

Likewise! So, Agnetha or Frida? I've pretty much always favored Agnetha, but Frida is pretty awesome, as well.

Agnetha just based on looks.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

The Karelian Isthumus is by far the best Amoprhis record, nothing else they have done even comes close.

 

[Phylactery]

riffs is like the one thing that album does have haha. it's pretty lacking in substance though, too thinly written in terms of layers/textures for my tastes. give me the EP any day, the dense, murky, filthy sound suits those tunes so much better.

You're lacking in substance. The EP is better yeah with that disgusting guitar tone, but The Karelian Ithmus is still a good death metal record. I've never considered it one of the best ever like some do, but I've always liked it quite a bit.

 

[Phylactery]

1. The Chasm - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm
2. Excoriate - On Pestilent Winds...
3. Grave Miasma - Exalted Emanation
4. Arckanum - ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ
5. Nokturnal Mortum - The Voice of Steel
6. Beherit - Engram
7. Cruciamentum - Convocation of Crawling Chaos
8. Katharsis - Fourth Reich
9. Embrace of Thorns - Atonement Ritual
10. Ignivomous - Death Transmutation

Outside of number 1 there isn't really an order, but I thought I'd make it easier for Old Wainds.

Honourable mentions:
Slugathor - Echoes from Beneath (Might replace Ignivomous with this, will listen to them both again to decide)
Funebrarum - The Sleep of Morbid Dreams
While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose
Vorum - Grim Death Awaits (this is fun, but not much lasting value)
Infinitum Obscure - Sub Atris Caelis
Altar of Oblivion - Sinews of Anguish

Relistened to Teitanblood - Seven Chalices and the Impetuous Ritual record but I'm still not hearing the greatness. The Teitanblood especially was so hyped when it was released, but never did that much for me.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Outside of number 1 there isn't really an order, but I thought I'd make it easier for Old Wainds.

i'd prefer to treat the bottom 9 as unordered if your ordering is just completely arbitrary, but 'sup to you.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

I'm surprised that more people aren't putting that Griftegard album on their lists. I'm also kinda surprised so many people like that Beherit album. I remember it being VERY polarizing when it first came out.

 

[no country for old wainds]

beherit were always polarizing, but polarizing albums tend to do pretty well in these polls. i know quite a few people who consider it their best work and even the best BM album of this century.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Yeah, me.