SS.org'ers, vote on the albums of 2009!

[Scar Symmetry]

BEST ALBUMS OF 2009:

1. Behemoth - Evangelion
2. Insomnium - Across The Dark
3. Karnivool - Sound Awake

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2009:

1. Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage
2. No new Necrophagist
3. No new Wintersun

BEST PRODUCTION OF 2009:

1. Devin Townsend - Ki
2. Behemoth - Evangelion
3. As You Drown - Reflection

 

[Scar Symmetry]

Animals as Leaders
Fleshgod Apocalypse- Oracles
Cattle Decapitation- The Harvest Floor
As You Drown- Reflection
(The Faceless- Planetary Duality came out in 2008, or I would vote for that)

Traces - Reflection Of A Forlorn Sun (Granted, it is an EP...)

 

[Blackhearted]

Best Album
Threat Signal's Vigilance-One of the few sophomore records I've heard that didn't disappoint. In fact, it's amazing. Although I preferred Jon's vocals on the first, the musical evolution that the new members have brought to the band more than make up for that fact. I love this album start to finish. I'm not sure if it exceeds the first, but it's the best album I've heard this year.
Biggest Disappointment
Lamb Of God's Wrath-It's actually a very good record, with the band reaching both forward and backwards in terms of style. However, it has two filler tracks, which is something I haven't heard from Lamb Of God for two albums. I was expecting perfection, and I was disappointed.
Best Production
Divine Heresy's Bringer of Plagues-Logan Mader Kills. Period.

 

[ire_works]

Best of 2009

1. Architects - Hollow Crown
2. Obscura - Cosmogenesis
3. Converge - Axe To Fall

Biggest Diappoinments of 2009

1. Despised Icon - Day Of Mourning
2. Behemoth - Evangelion
3. Unearth - The March

Best Production of 2009

1. Converge - Axe To Fall
2. Cattle Decapitation - The Harvest Floor
3. Chimaira - The Infection

 

[gatesofcarnage]

Best of 2009

1.Cannibal Corpse-Eviseration Plague
2.The Black Dahlia Murder-Deflorate
3.Born of Osiris-A Higher Place
4.The Fall of Troy-In The Unlikely Event
5.Obscura-Cosmogenesis
6.Keith Merrow-The Arrival
7.The Red Chord-Fed Through The Teeth Machine
8.Cattle Decapitation-The Harvest Floor
9.Between The Buried and Me-The Great Misdirect
10.Mastodon-Crack The Skye

Biggest Dissapointments

1.Killswitch Engage-Killswitch Engage

Best Production

1.Cannibal Corpse-Eviseration Plague
2.Chimaira- The Infection
3.Keith Merrow- The Arrival

 

[Scar Symmetry]

Keith should be pleased, he's getting a lot of representation in this thread!

 

[Thin_Ice_77]

Evidently, a lot of you haven't read the first post, only 3 from each catagory count.

 

[DDDorian]

Evidently, a lot of you haven't read the first post, only 3 from each catagory count.

Evidently you didn't pick up on how I acknowledged that people were gonna do that in the aforementioned post and that we're not voting on the friggin' Oscars, so give the backseat modding a rest, eh?

 

[Thin_Ice_77]

I did realise that because I actually read the first post. I just don't know why people are picking 10 albums when only three of them are going to count.

And I think it's great when someone says something about the rules of the thread and you tell them off but when everyone was bashing my choices, you sat there and did nothing. Yeah, you're a good mod

 

[DDDorian]

Those aren't the rules of the thread, they're the criteria by which I'll be tallying the votes. I don't really give a shit if anyone follows them or not, I just wanted to make the system clear so when (band x) doesn't win in January despite being mentioned the most times I can tell people to shut up. Also, you're a temperamental douche and if I or any other mod felt the need to intervene when you took offence to something we'd have no time left to attend to more important duties like deleting spambots or sending nudes to each other in the mod forum. Lighten up.

 

[DIOBOLIC5150]

Keith should be pleased, he's getting a lot of representation in this thread!

I'm pleased, shocked and flattered all at the same time. It floors me that some people would put my music in the same category as some of the amazing albums posted in this thread.

Here's mine-

1. Pestilence- Resurrection Macabre
2. Napalm Death- Time Waits for No slave
3. Mastodon-Crack The Skye

Honorable mention-

Cloudckicker- The Map is not the Territory and Portmanteau (both released in 09)

Biggest dissapointment- LOL @ Killswitch

 

[6o66er]

Best album - Lamb of God - Wrath
I like what they did with this album. It's opening some new doors for them and proved (to me) that they are maturing and still moving forward while also trying new things with their sound.

Biggest disappointment - Killswitch Engage - Self titled
I was just utterly unimpressed with this one.

Best production - Mastodon - Crack the Skye
I won't say I'm 100% behind the new direction they've gone, but it's one hell of a well-done album.

Best NEWS - Decapitated is working on new material.
This made my month I think. However, if they mess this one up, I'll be insanely pissed off.

 

[Scar Symmetry]

I think Killswitch Engage has almost definitely won the Biggest Dissappointment award

 

[ilyti]

Best:
DT - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Guilt Machine - On this Perfect Day
Megadeth - Endgame
Stream of Passion - The Flame Within
Karl Sanders - Saurian Exorcisms
Devin Townsend - Ki

Biggest disappointment: can't think of one. Pretty slow year both for good and bad albums.

 

[Variant]

There's a lot of stuff I haven't had a chance to sample yet (and won't likely until next year) but here's there rundown of what I heard and liked:

BEST ALBUMS OF 2009:
OSI - Blood
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Nahemah - A New Constellation
Between The Buried And Me - The Great Misdirect
Mastodon - Crack The Skye
Devin Townsend - Ki
Sybreed - The Pulse Of Awakening

This year was a heyday for the resurgence of long-format, conceptual, progressive music. Granted, I haven't heard much from the new Dream Theater, or Muse, or a few other similar-mindeds lauded... but I found all the above to be completely engaging end-to-end, and grew nicely on reapeated listenings. The stuff, IMHO, that makes for a great album. 'Blood' was the one album that I played the utter crap out of (was Porcupine Tree's 'Fear Of A Blank Planet /// nil recurring' in 2008), it just never got old. My bandmate and I picked up 'Nahemah' on a whim... a dark, textural prog metal band from Spain, and it turned out to be quite excellent.

OTHER GENRES:
Off the top of my head, I was pleasantly surprised how the "backbone" DEATH METAL / GRINDCORE bands inadvertently pumped out some of their best work this year. Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Nile, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Napalm Death, Brutal Truth, Agoraphobic Nosebleed all spit out solid albums. I was also caught off-guard (and hopefully some mainstream people too) but a couple of excellent UNDERGROUND HIP-HOP artists popping their heads up into the cesspool that is mainstream hip-pop... that being Cage and P.O.S.' respective releases. I only hope this infection starbursts though to eradicate the glam-rap era.


BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2009:
I can't think of much that disappointed me so far as album expectations go. Frankly, I'm really, really, really, completely and utterly tired of pop music being the only thing that gets to be popular. There have been hugely popular albums for decades now, that made record companies millions, that weren't even close to being pop music. I don't really care how it's guised, the hip-hop, R&B, indie, tween-rock, Green Day-punk, stripper-country, etc. of today... its all shades of pop brown: A lot of it, painfully unmemorable, and not the least bit catchy. There's just too much out there that's not even good at being pop that gets spintime.

Then there's the fact, that 90% of anything mentioned in non-pop venues just being a shitpile of terrible "indie" bands, most of which amount to mediocre songwriters with crappy fuzz pedals and three-week beards... singed to major labels or their subsidiaries. Someone please nuke the Pitchfork server.

And, finally, here in metal land, the hyphen-core thing (note my avatar) could really die down a bit if it kindly would. Okay, okay, there's obviously a place for death metal songs watered down into painfully predictable hardcore/punk structures, but I just don't buy into most of it not being a poseur clone-fest, with ten-million bands materializing seemingly overnight. I take it back, you all are unique and individual snowflakes... at least try to be for the sake of music in the future.

BEST PRODUCTION OF 2009:
Honestly, I liked OSI's 'Blood'. The mix of really full, snap-to-grid tight guitar tones, seamless blends of organic and electronic percussion sounds, and some of the most varied & articulated sub bass I've heard on an album, make it a stand out for me. The production here was simply an extension of the music and done very well.

 

[Axel]

Best of 2009:

Avatar - Avatar
One Without - Thoughts of A Secluded Mind
Rammstein - Liebe is fur alle da
Helltrain - Rock 'n' Roll Devil
Ex Deo - Romulus
Exivious - Exivious
Hypocrisy - A Taste of Extreme Divinity
Paradise Lost - Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us
Behemoth - Evangelion
Amarna Reign - Atonement

Disappointments of 2009:
Winds of Plague - The Great Stone War
Born of The Osiris - A Higher Place

Best Production of 2009:
Avatar/Rammstein

 

[Aeszvidel]

Best of 2009:
Animals As Leaders - S/T
Sybreed - The Pulse Of Awakening
Katatonia - Night is the new day
Swallow the Sun - New moon
Insomnium - Across the Dark
Keith Merrow - Both EP's

Haven't listened to anything thats disappointed this year.

Honourable Mentions:
Amorphis - Skyforger
Augury - Fragmentary Evidence
BTBAM - TGM
Cain's Offering - Gather the faithful
Dream Theater - BC/SL
Ensiferum - From Afar
Gorod - Process of a new decline
Kalisia - Cybion
Miseration - The Mirroring shadow
Scar Symmetry - Dark Matter Dimensions
Sonata Arctica - The Days of Grays

 

[liamh]

Biggest Dissappoint:
Gorgoroth-Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt

 

[controversyking]

Best Album or New Album

Animals as Leaders by Animals As Leaders

Biggest Disappointment
Behemoth - Evangelion

 

[synrgy]

I'm always playing catch-up. I think all the albums I purchased and loved in 2009 were actually made in 2008.