GMD Poll: Top Ten Albums of 1996

[RadicalThrasher]

Has the next year up already been determined?

 

[no country for old wainds]

9) Morningrise by Opeth
Shadows skulk at my coming...

"Morningrise is their best IMO, sure the songwriting is a mess overall, but it has the best individual moments I think. Parts of it remind me of Final Fantasy 7." - @Phylactery

Chosen by:
zabu of nΩd (#2)
crimsonfloyd (#2)
spikes77 (#4)
Talos of Atmora (#5)
EternalMetal (#6)

 

[no country for old wainds]

eh maybe i should've listed it. it's hard to feel anything about an album i've probably genuinely listened to 100 times.

BLOOD ON ICE is probably the best viking-era bathory in my book, kinda surprised it's not higher but i guess it's never been that popular compared to HH or even TWILIGHT.

Has the next year up already been determined?

nope

or HAS it......

 

[no country for old wainds]

8) Bleeding by Psychotic Waltz
Wait at the corner for a white electric caterpillar ride, take us to the other side...

"Great band, Bleeding was my fav by far." - @MetalAges

Chosen by:
HamburgerBoy (#3)
Burkhard (#3)
Talos of Atmora (#3)
alex76 (#4)
Baroque (#4)

 

[no country for old wainds]

sorry for the small cover art, there's like nothing on google lol

 

[no country for old wainds]

7) Dol Guldur by Summoning
The crownless shall again be king...

"I think "Dol Guldur" is the best." - @Oblivious Maximus

"I literally cannot enjoy Summoning, no matter what I tell myself or what anybody tells me. I've tried countless times to get into Dol Guldur and a couple of their other releases, because everybody tells me how amazing they are. But I can't get past my aesthetic revulsion." - @Cythraul

"Yea, Dol Guldur is def. the best Summoning release. It contains the best insturmental passages that set the perfect mood for me." - @Dazed and Brutal

Chosen by:
Anom@nder Rake (#3)
Master_Yoda77 (#3)
Vilden (#3)
Phylactery (#3)
Vegard Pompey (#4)
crimsonfloyd (#6)
no country for old wainds (#8)
rms (#8)

 

[Phylactery]

eh maybe i should've listed it. it's hard to feel anything about an album i've probably genuinely listened to 100 times.

.

Pfft, I've listened to FAFtS, Deathcult and TRitSiO like 100 times and they still give me all the feels.

I'm more surprised that BAN didn't make your top 10 or honourable mentions. Especially since you listed the inferior Ultima Thulee in 1995 iirc.

 

[no country for old wainds]

6) Psychostasia by Adramalech
No soul could pass this three-headed dog...

"Adramelech -psychostasia for example is outlandish abstract and intricate with original riffs without being akward." @Death Delirium

"Slumber of Sullen Eyes is a lot more crushing but there's something about the riffs on Psychostasia that I just can't get over. It's brilliance." - @Manic Ferocity

Chosen by:
Anom@nder Rake (#1)
EternalMetal (#1)
Mort Divine (#2)
-CyanideChrist- (#2)
TechnicalBarbarity (#3)
zerostatic (#3)
ClichéUserName (#4)
Slayed Necros (#5)
Vilden (#7)
Talos of Atmora (#7)
Vegard Pompey (#9)

 

[no country for old wainds]

Pfft, I've listened to FAFtS, Deathcult and TRitSiO like 100 times and they still give me all the feels.

I'm more surprised that BAN didn't make your top 10 or honourable mentions. Especially since you listed the inferior Ultima Thulee in 1995 iirc.

the HMs aren't necessarily my 11-20, i wanted to cite some lesser known stuff - it would probs be in there otherwise. i do prefer UT these days though, plus this is a stronger year for me than '95 was.

my main surprise with yours was not initially including vinterland haha, given the amount you've talked about it around here i thought you'd have it top 5 easily.

 

[Phylactery]

I love the Vinterland album, but not as much as the best from Sacramentum, Dawn or probably even the first Dissection. The album isn't consistently great, with parts of it that just don't resonate with me. Still awesome, though. It wouldn't have made the top 10 if I hadn't edited my list! I caused the 3-way tie haha.

Thought you'd all be shocked that The Chasm didn't make my top 10 since I'm a huge fanboy, as you've all probably realised! Surprised it was number 2 on your list tbh, Great album, but I can't claim it's the best death metal album of 1996.

 

[Baroque]

The best albums are going to be outside of the top 10 this time around. Looking forward to the double digit contenders list

 

[no country for old wainds]

5) Filosofem by Burzum
Suddenly... life has new meaning...

"Are you fucked up or something? How can you deny the greatness and influence of Hvis Lyset Tar Oss or Filosofem?" - @EspaDa

Chosen by:
Master_Yoda77 (#1)
EspaDa (#2)
Phylactery (#2)
-CyanideChrist- (#3)
crimsonfloyd (#3)
TechnicalBarbarity (#4)
no country for old wainds (#4)
Mort Divine (#4)
Vilden (#5)
EternalMetal (#5)
rms (#9)
spikes77 (#9)
Serjeant Grumbles (#10)

 

[The Ozzman]

The best albums are going to be outside of the top 10 this time around. Looking forward to the double digit contenders list

I'm looking forward to the next year actually. Hope the next isn't another dud year

 

[Phylactery]

The best albums are going to be outside of the top 10 this time around. Looking forward to the double digit contenders list

Nah, the best album of 1996 has won by a landslide. And rightfully so.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Thought you'd all be shocked that The Chasm didn't make my top 10 since I'm a huge fanboy, as you've all probably realised! Surprised it was number 2 on your list tbh, Great album, but I can't claim it's the best death metal album of 1996.

no country for old wainds circa 2006 wouldn't have listed it so why would you?

more and more these days i favour flawed but unique/intermittently amazing albums over stuff that's consistently strong in a safer way. 'tis a mess though, this i can't deny.

ugh i'm starting to regret not putting oxiplegatz even higher, not that it would've mattered i suppose.

 

[Phylactery]

Old Wainds circa 2006 sounds like he had superior taste . I mean nearly the entirety of your list for this year and HMs is black metal.

 

[EspaDa]

Oh yeah, my first quotation here. I didn't even remember I had said something like that. That was perhaps directed towards HamburgerBoy.

 

[no country for old wainds]

4) None So Vile by Cryptopsy
I long to feel the dark caress of your cloven hooves...

"That was THE Tech Death album of the 90's. It had the craziest drum performance on a Death Metal album for the time, and the vocals are the craziest I've heard in Death Metal. Lord Worm had a pretty varied vocal style. The gurgle/exhale (or whatever the fuck it is) in the Slit Your Guts slam is unbelievable... The last 32 seconds of Benedictine Convulsions made me question if he is even human. None So Vile, in my opinion, is easily on par with Altars of Madness, and should be on the list of essential albums easily. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know a damn thing about Technical Death Metal or Death Metal in general." - @Spiderchrist

Chosen by:
TechnicalBarbarity (#1)
zerostatic (#1)
Atomic Tide (#1)
Krow (#1)
HamburgerBoy (#2)
EternalMetal (#2)
Sirjack (#3)
EspaDa (#3)
crimsonfloyd (#4)
CASSETTEISGOD (#5)
-CyanideChrist- (#5)
Satanstoenail (#5)
alex76 (#9)

 

[no country for old wainds]

Old Wainds circa 2006 sounds like he had superior taste . I mean nearly the entirety of your list for this year and HMs is black metal.

i don't understand this post lol, you're probably the most obsessed with BM of anyone here and were yourself saying how this is primarily a good year for BM.

anyways, my 92 list had 7 DM albums. the DM from this year doesn't hugely resonate with me for the most part, even in cases where i admire the craft (i.e. the above).

 

[Phylactery]

That's what I'm saying - you've said that 10 years ago you were pretty much exclusively listening to black and death metal. I'm guessing that's when you got into most of the albums that made your list.

But then again, there's very few albums from this year that stand out in other genres.