Every year is different, and the 2025 year-end poll was a reminder of that. Styles develop over time, bands age out and new ones come in. I look at this results and it feels transitional, but to some degree or other, doesn’t it always? Even when there’s a clear winner from day one — and it was about day three this year; last year as I recall was tighter among the top results; it varies — we see over time the development of styles, the ebbs and flows of trend, and the rise and fall of fortunes.

Thank you to the over 255 people who took part in this year’s poll. The elephant in the room for me is that that number is down from past years, but The Obelisk didn’t have a Facebook page for half of December, so promoting was more difficult than it’s been. Hard to put things in front of eyes, though I still managed. Thanks as well to Blues Funeral Recordings, Howling Giant, Black Moon Cult and others who also shared the link around and helped to promote. That is always greatly appreciated.

As I have many, many times over, here are the rules cut and pasted. They don’t change:

Anything from Jan. 2025 to whatever’s coming out between now and Dec. 31 is eligible. If something is out digitally now and physical later and you want to include it, do. Two lists are tabulated; one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.

Got it? Cool. Let’s jump in.

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Top 20 of 2025 — Weighted Results

1. Howling Giant, Crucible & Ruin (380 points)
2. Kal-El, Astral Voyager Vol. 1 (314)
3. Messa, The Spin (242)
4. Khan, That Fair and Warlike Form/Return to Dust (205)
5. Temple Fang, Lifted From the Wind (193)
6. Elder, Liminality/Dream State Return (147)
7. Naxatras, V (129)
8. Castle Rat, The Bestiary (127)
8. Lo-Pan, Get Well Soon (127)
9. Stoned Jesus, Songs to Sun (123)
10. Year of the Cobra, Year of the Cobra (121)
11. Black Moon Cult, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (119)
12. Conan, Violence Dimension (115)
13. Goya, In the Dawn of November (103)
14. Pelican, Flickering Resonance (100)
15. Seedy Jeezus, Damned to the Depths (94)
16. Maha Sohona, A Dark Place (89)
17. Bask, The Turning (88)
17. Faetooth, Labyrinthine (88)
18. Witchcraft, Idag (86)
19. Kryptograf, Kryptonomicon (82)
20. Kaiser, 2nd Sound (77)

Honorable Mention:

The next 10: Kadavar (I Just Want to Be a Sound), Paradise Lost, Margarita Witch Cult, Rwake, Godzillionaire, Slomatics, Psychonaut, Bone Church, Borracho, Yawning Man.

Notes:

I’m not mad about it. I’m not surprised to see Messa and Castle Rat feature prominently here, and I’m not surprised that Howling Giant came out on top. Obviously that’s one I agree with. Kal-El had a strong showing, arguing in favor of accessibility and largesse in heavy rock, and Khan making their presence felt seems appropriate here, pushing the style of progressive heavy rock forward as they are.

Some reliable veteran names in Elder, Lo-Pan, Stoned Jesus, Conan, Pelican, Witchcraft, Bask, and Year of the Cobra, and some upstarts in Black Moon Cult, Kryptograf, Kaiser, Maha Sohona and the aforementioned Messa and Castle Rat, I was glad to see Temple Fang show up big, kind of surprised Witchcraft didn’t get more love, but I guess time marches on. There’s a lot here to like, and accordingly, I like a lot of it. If you were to use this as a listening guide, one way or the other, your life would be improved.

Now to the raw votes.

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Top 20 of 2025 — Raw Votes

1. Howling Giant, Crucible & Ruin (91 votes)
2. Kal-El, Astral Voyager (76)
3. Messa, The Spin (62)
4. Khan, That Fair and Warlike Form/Return to Dust (48)
4. Temple Fang, Lifted From the Wind (48)
5. Year of the Cobra, Year of the Cobra (39)
5. Stoned Jesus, Songs to Sun (39)
6. Elder, Liminality/Dream State Return (38)
7. Conan, Violence Dimension (37)
7. Naxatras, V (37)
8. Black Moon Cult, Ophidian Future (The Children of Yig) (36)
8. Lo-Pan, Get Well Soon (36)
9. Castle Rat, The Bestiary (35)
10. Goya, In the Dawn of November (31)
11. Faetooth, Labyrinthine (29)
12. Kryptograf, Kryptonomicon (26)
13. Margarita Witch Cult, Strung Out in Hell (25)
14. Bask, The Turning (24)
14. Maha Sohona, A Dark Place (24)
14. Seedy Jeezus, Damned to the Depths (24)
15. Kadavar, I Just Want to Be a Sound (23)
16. Godzillionaire, Diminishing Returns (21)
17. Slomatics, Atomicult (20)
17. Yawning Man, Pavement Ends (20)
18. Borracho, Ouroboros (19)
18. Kadavar, K.A.D.A.V.A.R. (19)
18. Winds of Neptune, Winds of Neptune (19)
19. Bone Church, Deliverance (18)
19. Causa Sui, In Flux (18)
19. Dead Meadow, Voyager to Voyager (19)
20. Paradise Lost, Ascension (17)

Notes:

First of all, no honorable mentions for a top 20 that has more than 30 entries on it. Let’s be reasonable.

Not a ton of surprises here after the weighted results above, but some interesting shuffling of place in the top 10, with Year of the Cobra faring better on the vote tally than the points, and Khan and Temple Fang tying here. Given Khan’s proggy expanse and Temple Fang’s longform meditative serenity, I imagine them in league, like, “same team” for dudes pushing heavy forward. As will happen, there were more ties this time around, Khan and Temple Fang being the first, and I wanted to include those too since, I don’t know, it seemed fair and when you believe in things like basic process transparency you end up making a list that includes its own honorable mentions. I do, anyhow.

I am not unaware that someone voted for Black Moon Cult 20 or however many times, and it’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I know that the people who read this site are intelligent enough to look at what they see with a critical eye. I count the votes as they come in, and as I’ve said in years past, I respect the hustle. If someone else’s work means enough to you to vote for it 20 times, the least I can do is honor that. If it’s someone from the band willing to put themselves out there when all the lists are published, well, isn’t that also something to honor? “I wish I was old enough to feel ways about stuff,” as Fry once said.

Bottom line, it’s a good list, and years from now when I look back at it (and yes, I assume I’m the only person who will), I’ll be glad for the shape it took in representing 2025 in underground heavy, and I guarantee you I’ll still be discovering things from all the lists included below. Because it’s infinite, so far as my feeble people-brain can process, and every year brings more than you could ever hope to enjoy in such a limited amount of time.

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The same is true of life, at least in some ways.

It’s 2026 now, so we leave 2025 behind what feels like not a moment too soon in order to face the same terrible and stupid times, just with a different number attached. The happy news is the music is good, which is fortunate because if the last 12 months were anything to judge by, it’s going to need to be.

I leave you with everybody’s list. Note I forgot to include my own. Literally didn’t think of it until after the poll was closed. Idiota vagyok, one might say in Hungarian.

Always next year I guess.

Thanks for reading and click/push ‘read more’ to enjoy the lists.

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Read more »

[PLEASE NOTE: This post will remain on top of the page until the poll ends in January. New posts will appear underneath. Thanks for scrolling.]

It is time for my favorite post of the year. This one. And no, not just because half of it is copied over from last year with the rules and such — because I frickin’ love the year-end poll.

This has absolutely become my metric for what people have dug each year, and especially in the results post with all the lists, I still find stuff a decade later that people were hip to that I’m just discovering. As a resource, it’s priceless.

Thanks if you participate this year by adding a list of 20 of your favorite releases. Any social media sharing is deeply appreciated as well. The Obelisk’s Facebook page got suspended (again, for nothing), so I need all the help I can get spreading the word.

The form is here, and the rules are copied over from last year below that:

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Thanks for reading and taking part. Please share the link if you can.

The rules don’t change, except in what year it is: Anything from Jan. 2025 to whatever’s coming out between now and Dec. 31 is eligible. If something is out digitally now and physical later and you want to include it, do. Two lists are tabulated; one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.

I’m not saying it’s a throwaway, but don’t overthink it. Somebody other than me is laughing at that, I know. I keep notes all year of my top releases, and I still struggle sometimes to put a list together. Do your best, pick what feels right, and please have fun.

As always, my most heartfelt thanks to Slevin, without whom this site wouldn’t exist. Slevin puts together the poll every year, tabulates the results, and does so with the sweetest ‘you’re my friend so I don’t charge you for this and I probably should’ indulgence possible. His pick of the year seems to have been Butthole Surfers’ Electriclarryland. Fair enough.

Poll runs until Dec. 31, 2025. Barring disaster or if I decide to let it go a couple extra days, results will be out Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, along with individual lists.

Have fun, and thanks again!

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This was a fun one to watch. Yeah, they’re all fun, but as it started to unfold, there were really five records that could’ve run away with it. Then of course, four, then three, two and here we are. I left the poll open a couple extra days, I don’t know, because it seemed like the thing to do? I’ve definitely run it longer, but someone did email — today, after it closed, of course — to tell me it was lame that it was still open. Fair enough, internet.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this poll (even that guy? especially that guy.), and maybe shared the link or spread the word in some way. I pushed this poll less than I have in years past, in part because I hate being on social media any longer than I have to or obsessively inevitably am anyway, and in part because I was busy, but as enjoyable as I think the poll is — it’s always a favorite of the year for me, honestly — I’m pretty turned off at this point by the state of the ‘internet persona’ and have no desire whatsoever to project otherwise about myself. The hi-now-I’m-a-brand thing holds zero appeal for me at this point in my life. Happy to grab band news and go back to perusing who’s selling vintage strategy guides for SNES games, thanks. I’m not trying to sell anything here, and if I was, it would be myself least of all.

Anyhoozle, if you like heavy rock and roll, sit tight because there’s a fair bit of it here. As always with the poll, there are two lists, amd now is where I cut and paste the part about how the weighted results work:

You submit your list of up to 20 favorites. Anything from the start of 2020 to the finish is eligible. There are two lists, one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.

Everybody got it? Me neither, and it’s been years. Onward, to lists! And death!

Top 20 of 2024 — Weighted Results

1. Slomosa, Tundra Rock (404 points)
2. Greenleaf, The Head and the Habit (360)
3. Lowrider & Elephant Tree, The Long Forever (350)
4. Fu Manchu, The Return of Tomorrow (263)
5. Psychlona, Warped Vision (256)
6. Slift, Ilion (244)
7. High on Fire, Cometh the Storm (241)
8. Blue Heron, Everything Fades (208)
9. Rezn, Burden (195)
10. Blood Incantation, Absolute Elsewhere (194)
11. High Desert Queen, Palm Reader (190)
12. 1000mods, Cheat Death (169)
13. Gnome, Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome (167)
14. Sergeant Thunderhoof, The Ghost of Badon Hill (159)
15. Orange Goblin, Science, Not Fiction (137)
16. Valley of the Sun, Quintessence (136)
17. Black Pyramid, The Paths of Time Are Vast (126)
18. Monkey3, Welcome to the Machine (117)
18. Sundrifter, An Earlier Time (117)
19. Heavy Temple, Garden of Heathens (114)
20. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Nell’ Ora Blu (103)

Honorable Mention:

The next 10, in order: Abrams, Sacri Monti, Chat Pile, Delving, The Obsessed, Opeth, Brant Bjork Trio, Lord Buffalo, Mammoth Volume, Thou and Free Ride. That’s more than 10, but there was a tie.

Notes:

One tie on the list, which I actually always kind of like since it lets me sneak another record in. If that sounds crazy for a post that ends with everybody’s individual list — trying to squeeze in one more — I understand that.

This list is different from mine and I have absolutely no qualms with it (the lack of Brume notwithstanding; get on that, people). Slomosa number one? Shit yeah. That record’s great and the next generation of heavy rock is already starting to take influence from the Norwegian four-piece’s warm, organic and upbeat heavy style. Greenleaf after? Well they’re masters of the thing, so shit yeah again. Not lost on me that those two bands co-headlined in Europe this Fall. What a show that would’ve been to see.

It goes from there. The Lowrider/Elephant Tree split, which was my number one, had a solid showing here as well. Wrangling all the entries spelled differently was a task I wasn’t looking forward to, and sure enough, it took some doing, but there and from then on, I stand by the numbers. If you want to do your own tally (you don’t), the lists are after the “read more” jump, as always. Otherwise, I don’t think you can look at that top 10 and, even if it’s not the same as yours, argue too vociferously against it. It is not short on Blues Funeral and Magnetic Eye Records, between Greenleaf, Psychlona, Blue Heron, Lowrider/Elephant Tree, High Desert Queen, Heavy Temple and Mammoth Volume and Abrams in the honorable mentions, but the votes were what they were. I can’t help it if Jadd puts out good shit at such a staggering rate. And I just looked back — apparently I made the same joke last year too.

Moving on.

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Top 20 of 2024 — Raw Votes

1. Slomosa, Tundra Rock (102 votes)
2. Greenleaf, The Head and the Habit (93)
3. Lowrider & Elephant Tree, The Long Forever (88)
4. Fu Manchu, The Return of Tomorrow (71)
4. Psychlona, Warped Vision (71)
5. High on Fire, Cometh the Storm (66)
6. Slift, Ilion (64)
7. High Desert Queen, Palm Reader (57)
7. Rezn, Burden (57)
8. Blue Heron, Everything Fades (55)
9. Gnome, Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome (50)
10. 1000mods, Cheat Death (49)
11. Blood Incantation, Absolute Elsewhere (46)
11. Sergeant Thunderhoof, The Ghost of Badon Hill (46)
12. Valley of the Sun, Quintessence (41)
13. Orange Goblin, Science, Not Fiction (39)
14. Black Pyramid, The Paths of Time Are Vast (38)
14. Brant Bjork Trio, Once Upon a Time in the Desert (38)
14. Monkey3, Welcome to the Machine (38)
14. Sundrifter, An Earlier Time (38)
15. Heavy Temple, Garden of Heathens (36)
16. Ufomammut, Hidden (31)
17. Delving, All Paths Diverge (29)
17. Lord Buffalo, Holus Bolus (29)
17. Sacri Monti, Retrieval (29)
18. Abrams, Blue City (28)
18. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Nell’ Ora Blu (28)
19. Mammoth Volume, Raised Up by Witches (27)
20. Big Scenic Nowhere, The Waydown (26)
20. Free Ride, Acido y Puto (26)

Honorable Mention:

Here’s some more: The Obsessed, The Lunar Effect, Causa Sui, MR.BISON, Thou, Opeth, DVNE, Bongripper and Sons of Arrakis. They were all pretty close. I kind of figured 29 for a top 20 was good and left it at that.

Notes:

Again, I don’t see much to fight with here, and it feels like the poll found a pretty solid representation for things like the crossover appeal of Blood Incantation and Opeth as well as a decent mix of newer and older bands between the two lists. Nothing is ever going to really be entirely comprehensive, but however many years from now when I look back on this and re-read this sentence, at least I can know I was down with it at the time.

The picture isn’t much different between the weighted results and the raw-vote tally, though Psychlona got a boost in the latter, I guess. And I was glad to see Fu Manchu high on the list (I felt like they should’ve been higher on my own) and that stuff like Sacri Monti and Mammoth Volume and Big Scenic Nowhere could get on. I don’t think I missed anyone, but if you do a count and see I’ve got something wrong, just reach out and let me know. I assure you no one has been slighted on purpose.

Not a ton of disparities between the lists — there are more ties here, which happens — but if I walked into your record store, venue, living room, car, etc., and you were playing nearly any of this shit front to back, I’d want to be your friend.

That’s a nice thought. Let’s leave it there.

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Thank you for reading.

I didn’t know what 2024 was going to bring and I am accordingly ignorant of the next 12 months. I wish you health and joy and good music.

Beyond that, I guess that’s it for 2024? Nah, I’ll probably still be reviewing stuff from last year in a Quarterly Review this June, but whatever. Thanks for reading, and before I turn you over to the ‘read more’ doodad and all of the lists that made up this poll — I’m in there too — thank you if you took time out of your day to be part of this. That means everything to me and I do not take it for granted.

Alright, off you go. Thanks again and have a great year. Here’s to whatever’s next.

Read more »

[PLEASE NOTE: This post will remain on top of the page until the poll ends in January. New posts follow underneath. Thanks.]

I have to admit to feeling somewhat clueless as to where this poll is headed. Some years it’s so blanket obvious that I feel silly even putting it up — though even then it’s fun, which is why I do anyhow — but there seem to be so many different directions this year’s poll could go between traditional styles in stoner, doom, etc., and the experimental, established acts and generational newcomers. There are more than a few acts I’m very curious about and have been for months now, and some records I feel like I’ve been sweating about all year that need more love. What’s it gonna be?

Rules and whatnot follow the form below:

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Thanks for reading and taking part. Please share the link if you can.

The rules don’t change, and like most of the post, they’re cut and pasted from last year: Anything from Jan. 2024 to whatever’s coming out between now and Dec. 31 is eligible. If something is out digitally now and physical later and you want to include it, do so. Two lists are tabulated; one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.

If you’re not sure what counts or what to include, remember this is for your enjoyment. Stress about your top 20 if you want — I know I’m stressing about mine — but remember that the point here is to enjoy the thing. Debate is great, passion is the driving force of everything, but let’s keep debate civil and don’t give yourself too hard a time either.

As ever, I extend deepest gratitude to you for participating and to Slevin, who put together this poll and every year fields the “hey it’s poll time” text from me with grace and kindness and generosity. Thank you.

Poll runs until Dec. 31, 2024. Barring disaster or if I decide to let it go a couple extra days, results will be out Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, along with individual lists.

Have fun, and thanks again!

—

We have arrived at the beginning of a new year, and it is accordingly time for the results of the 2023 Year-End Poll. I don’t know what 2024 will hold, but if I had to hazard a general guess, I’d say probably a bunch of cool-ass music? Just going by the last however-many years, mind you. Underground heavy rock, in new and established artists and bands, is flourishing now, on multiple continents and across multiple generations. Still waiting to see more 25-and-unders, but youth wants to play fast. It’s how punk rock happens.

But whether you’d obliterate yourself against a wall of bong-hued tone-age or spaghettify your brain in a cosmic impulse wash, your back was covered in 2023, as individual bands and whole styles continued a forward progression toward ends it’s not possible yet to know. A big part of the story for me is and just-about-is-always the interplay between newer and older bands — who puts out what, who tours with whom, etc. — but on pushing sound into different stylistic grounds alone, 2023 was a headspinner.

I could go on here, but there’s a lot to do. Here are the rules for the thing:

As ever (and I mean that, since this part is cut and pasted from last year), two polls were posted. Raw votes and points. For reference, here are the same rules that I’ve been cut and pasting for however long: You submit your list of up to 20 favorites. Anything from the start of 2020 to the finish is eligible. There are two lists, one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.

And here’s the thing:

Top 20 of 2023 — Weighted Results

1. Acid King, Beyond Vision (438 points)
2. Dozer, Drifting in the Endless Void (410)
3. Howling Giant, Glass Future (360)
4. Green Lung, This Heathen Land (355)
5. Domkraft, Sonic Moons (267)
6. Baroness, Stone (214)
7. REZN, Solace (211)
8. Church of Misery, Born Under a Mad Sign (207)
9. Hippie Death Cult, Helichrysum (182)
10. Dopelord, Songs for Satan (178)
11. Graveyard, 6 (150)
12. Ritual King, The Infinite Mirror (150)
13. Black Rainbows, Superskull (146)
14. Mutoid Man, Mutants (144)
15. Saint Karloff, Paleolithic War Crimes (127)
16. Hail the Void, Memento Mori (122)
17. REZN & Vinnum Sabbathi, Silent Future (120)
18. King Potenaz, Goat Rider (119)
19. Fire Down Below, Low Desert Surf Club (117)
20. Mondo Drag, Through the Hourglass (105)

Honorable Mention:

Restless Spirit, Swan Valley Heights, Kind, Desert Storm, Gozu, Bongzilla, Khan, Kanaan, Margarita Witch Cult, Kadabra and Spirit Adrift were the next bands on the list. Queens of the Stone Age were there as well, spelled 75 different ways across different lists.

Notes:

Not much to argue with. No ties. I’ve gotten used every year to there being one or two ties in each list, and it’s kind of a way for me to sneak in a couple extra releases here and there, but not for the points tally this year. Remember, this awards points based on where people rank a given record, and Acid King were pretty unanimously the top pick throughout the month. They took the top spot and were given a challenge both by Dozer and Howling Giant at various stages, but it was clear Beyond Vision would come out on top. Obviously I agree as well.

I’m glad to see up and coming bands — Howling Giant, Green Lung, Domkraft, Hippie Death Cult, Ritual King, Saint Karloff, Hail the Void, REZN, Fire Down Below — taking up so much real estate on the list alongside the returning Dozer and familiar names like Acid King, Baroness and Church of Misery. Look for some of these to become headliners in the next few years, and the records they put out in 2023 will be part of why. And thank you for taking the time to send a list if you did.

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Top 20 of 2023 — Raw Votes

1. Dozer, Drifting in the Endless Void (108 votes)
2. Acid King, Beyond Vision (104)
3. Howling Giant, Glass Future (93)
4. Green Lung, This Heathen Land (91)
5. Domkraft, Sonic Moons (74)
6. REZN, Solace (59)
7. Church of Misery, Born Under a Mad Sign (58)
8. Baroness, Stone (55)
9. Dopelord, Songs for Satan (51)
10. Hippie Death Cult, Helichrysum (48)
11. Black Rainbows, Superskull (47)
12. Ritual King, The Infinite Mirror (43)
13. Graveyard, 6 (40)
13. Mutoid Man, Mutants (40)
13. Saint Karloff, Paleolithic War Crimes (40)
14. Fire Down Below, Low Desert Surf Club (35)
14. Kind, Close Encounters (35)
15. Mondo Drag, Through the Hourglass (33)
16. Hail the Void, Memento Mori (31)
17. Margarita Witch Cult, Margarita Witch Cult (30)
18. Gozu, Remedy (29)
19. Bongzilla, Dab City (28)
20. Swan Valley Heights, Terminal Forest (28)

Honorable Mention:

Tidal Wave, Khan, Kanaan, Kadabra, Acid Magus, Slomatics, Borracho, Dead Feathers, Kadabra, Blood Ceremony, Desert Storm and REZN & Vinnum Sabbathi were close here.

Notes:

This is the first time in the however-many years I’ve been doing this poll — I think I started asking people for favorites in 2010? — that the ranked submissions and raw votes tallies don’t match in the top spot. That is to say, what happened here is that Dozer got more votes than Acid King, but enough people had Acid King in or near their top spot that it ranked higher than Dozer on the other list. That’s a new one. Both bands are legends. Take your pick, call it album of the year and embrace the utter lack of argument you’re likely to get.

The same applies about up and comers here, and I dig the spread of styles across the list, though we’re definitely in heavy rock territory with that top five. It’s encouraging how universal the Howling Giant record turned out to be, and Domkraft’s strong showing is indicative of how much that Swedish trio got very much right in their sound this year. Look out for Hail the Void and Margarita Witch Cult over the next few years, as their next releases will tell the tale of who they are as bands, and I’ll say the same for Saint Karloff and Ritual King as well. That Ritual King album was a gem. I’m glad to see it here.

Hard to ignore the influence of Jadd Shickler here. Dozer, Acid King, Howling Giant, Domkraft, Dopelord, REZN & Vinnum Sabbathi and Restless Spirit were all Blues Funeral Recordings and Magnetic Eye Records releases, and those names are everywhere. It was a landmark year for both labels in which Shickler is directly involved.

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Thank you. That’s the last thing I want to say. Thanks to you for reading, to The Patient Mrs. for staying married to me, to Slevin for making this thing, and to everybody who puts out and promotes this music that helps make days worth getting through. We keep going. Help each other. Thank you.

After the jump you’ll find the lists that were turned in. Thanks again to everyone who took part here and shared the link throughout December. Happy New Year and new music to come.

Read more »

[PLEASE NOTE: This post will remain on top of the page until the poll ends in January. New posts will appear directly underneath. Thanks.]

Best post, best time of the year. I’ll admit the year-end poll kind of snuck up on me in 2023 because, well, that’s pretty much everything, but I’m glad we’re here and I know there’s a ton of music that’s come out in the last 11-plus months worth celebrating.

I’m extremely excited to see what people select as the best offerings of the year, not the least since I don’t consider Album of the Year to be a settled issue for me personally. It’s always a pleasure to watch the lists roll in and see the frame of the year take shape. 2023 has been overwhelmingly packed with releases, and I can imagine a tight race for the top spot. Our maybe I’m wrong and everybody will just turn in the same five records over and over. That’s fun too.

Every year is different. What were the highlights of your 2023?

Rules and whatnot follow the form below:

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Thanks for reading and taking part. Please share the link if you can.

Same rules as always and here they are cut and pasted from last year: Anything from Jan. 2023 to whatever’s coming out between now and Dec. 31 is eligible. If something is out digitally now and physical later and you want to include it, do so. Two lists are tabulated; one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.

I said this last year too: If you’re not sure what counts or what to include, please know that the intent here is to be as open as possible. In all things, when you can, err on the side of inclusion. If you’re the only person who votes for a thing, so much the better to turn other people onto it.

As ever, I extend deepest gratitude to you for participating and to Slevin, who even amid a move to Chicago and needing this crap like a hole in the head generally continues to support the site and help it run every now and again. Thank you.

Poll runs until Dec. 31, 2023, unless I decide to give it an extra day. Barring disaster, eesults will be out Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, along with individual lists.

Have fun, and thanks again!

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First, happy new year. There’s an element of ‘whew, we made it’ behind that and plenty of ‘here’s looking forward to more good music,’ so take from it what you will. In any case, I hope you’re well and whenever you find this or it finds you, that continues to be true.

This post is a big deal for me. Like I said when the poll went up on Nov. 28, I use these posts, these lists, for years after the fact, sometimes just to find bands for a Friday Full-Length, sometimes to check out how ahead of me other listeners are (generally very) and invariably to help me get a glimpse of where the people within The Obelisk‘s reach are when it comes to what’s been enjoyed most over this stretch of time. This poll has run for well over a decade now, and I love it every time. That is only because of your contributions to it, so thank you.

As per the back end of the poll app, there were at least 1,700 separate album entries (more actually, but I’m trying to account for typos on lists, etc.) and 420 (ahem) total list entries to the poll in 2022 (that’s up; I was stoked to pass 400), about 20 of which, including mine, came in just yesterday. I’m going to take that as a reminder to share the link on New Year’s Eve again and hope to remember. I can’t say the results are a surprise, but it was exciting to watch them unfold, and I’ll try to explain a bit of why in the notes below. First, a refresher on how this works:

As ever (and I mean that, since this part is cut and pasted from last year), two polls were posted. Raw votes and points. For reference, here are the same rules that I’ve been cut and pasting for however long: You submit your list of up to 20 favorites. Anything from the start of 2020 to the finish is eligible. There are two lists, one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.

That’s how the magic happens. Here’s the magic:

Top 20 of 2022 — Weighted Results

1. Elder, Innate Passage (676 points)
2. King Buffalo, Regenerator (647)
3. Clutch, Sunrise on Slaughter Beach (274)
4. Wo Fat, The Singularity (260)
5. Messa, Close (228)
6. Cave In, Heavy Pendulum (201)
7. Colour Haze, Sacred (197)
8. The Otolith, Folium Limina (179)
9. Earthless, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (170)
9. Sergeant Thunderhoof, This Sceptred Veil (170)
10. Freedom Hawk, Take All You Can (163)
11. Psychlona, Palo Verde (155)
12. Sasquatch, Fever Fantasy (155)
13. Conan, Evidence of Immortality (144)
14. Telekinetic Yeti, Primordial (138)
15. Steak, Acute Mania (135)
16. Nebula, Transmission From Mothership Earth (131)
17. Vitskär Süden, The Faceless King (125)
18. My Sleeping Karma, Atma (118)
18. Samavayo, Pāyān (118)
18. Valley of the Sun, The Chariot (118)
19. Russian Circles, Gnosis (116)
20. Ruby the Hatchet, Fear is a Cruel Master (113)

Honorable Mention:

Mammoth Volume, Half Gramme of Soma, Somali Yacht Club, Birth, Motorpsycho, Cult of Luna, Smoke the Light, Ecstatic Vision, Caustic Casanova, Geezer and Gnome were all pretty close here.

Notes:

You can see the story for yourself here in the numbers. All along, it was Elder and King Buffalo vying for that top spot, and the reason they’re so close in the points tally is because one or the other was regularly on the top of somebody’s list. That was consistent the entire time the poll was up, and everything else was behind it, almost to a different scale. I can’t remember another time when poll results were so much about two bands with such a clear drop-off to everything else. The moral of the story I guess is people really liked Innate Passage and Regenerator.

Those were my one and two as well, so I ain’t arguing, but you can see a ton of stuff behind that that’s killer as well. I was curious for most of the year how Telekinetic Yeti would end up, and they did well. That’s a band I expect big things from their next time out, and no, I’m not just talking tonally, though certainly that as well. With the backing of Ripple Music, Vitskär Süden’s The Faceless King also seemed to provoke strong feelings from its listeners, Psychlona killed it, and I was glad Steak’s Acute Mania made it here, since the scope of that record/comic book/maybe-movie/etc. is still fleshing out. Plus some standards in Clutch, Wo Fat, Cave In, Colour Haze, Earthless, Freedom Hawk, Sasquatch, Nebula, My Sleeping Karma, Valley of the Sun, Russian Circles and Ruby the Hatchet? Nothing wrong with that.

Top 20 of 2022 — Raw Votes

1. Elder, Innate Passage (160 votes)
2. King Buffalo, Regenerator (144)
3. Clutch, Sunrise on Slaughter Beach (77)
4. Wo Fat, The Singularity (75)
5. Messa, Close (65)
6. Colour Haze, Sacred (55)
7. Cave In, Heavy Pendulum (51)
8. Earthless, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (49)
8. The Otolith, Folium Limina (49)
9. Psychlona, Palo Verde (48)
10. Freedom Hawk, Take All You Can (47)
11. Sasquatch, Fever Fantasy (45)
11. Sergeant Thunderhoof, This Sceptred Veil (45)
12. Nebula, Transmission From Mothership Earth (42)
12. Telekinetic Yeti, Primordial (42)
13. Valley of the Sun, The Chariot (39)
14. Conan, Evidence of Immortality (37)
14. Ruby the Hatchet, Fear is a Cruel Master (37)
14. Steak, Acute Mania (37)
16. Mammoth Volume, The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites (35)
16. Russian Circles, Gnosis (35)
16. Somali Yacht Club, The Space (35)
17. My Sleeping Karma, Atma (34)
18. Vitskär Süden, The Faceless King (31)
19. Samavayo, Pāyān (30)
20. Geezer, Stoned Blues Machine (29)

Honorable Mention:

If the list went to 21, it would include Motorpsycho, who got 27, if it went to 22, it would have Stöner and probably others who got 26 votes, and if it went to 23, there’d be room for Birth, Ecstatic Vision, Gnome, Hazemaze, Naxatras and Stone Nomads, who got 25. Everything else was fewer votes than that, but there were still strong contenders throughout, and I’m sure my tally is imperfect.

Notes:

Can’t argue with this list, though it’s different from my own once you get past the top two. About those, you can see pretty clearly the drop in votes after King Buffalo. I watched the tally for all of December — because that’s precisely my idea of fun — and it was Elder and King Buffalo all the way, right from the start, and only really in the last week that Elder began to pull ahead to as much as they have here. This kind of consensus is rare and a thing to be appreciated.

Incumbency I think helped Clutch, Earthless, and others here, but it’s cool to see Wo Fat get a good look since their album ruled and though I’m not into Cave In, I know a lot of people are, so good for them too. I had The Otolith higher, but admittedly, that record’s pretty dense, and cheers to Psychlona’s desert style for catching ears, and to Freedom Hawk for living up to their own e’er-reliable standard. And though it’s just outside the top 10, one shouldn’t discount what Sergeant Thunderhoof accomplished on This Sceptred Veil either. Put them on tour with Boss Keloid stat and hail an up and coming legion of British heavy prog. Two or three more bands included and some clever critic is inevitably going to start calling that a ‘wave.’

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Now we get to the (other) good part. The lists. Before I turn you over to that, I want to say thanks again to everybody who participated in this year’s poll. To Slevin for managing the back end of it, to The Patient Mrs. for, well, her patience with my dedicating time that I’d otherwise be probably doing more useful things with to it, and to you one more time for reading. I’m humbled and crushed as if by Conan’s bass tone by your support. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

All lists follow after the ‘read more’ jump. Who’s ready to be overwhelmed?

Read more »

My favorite post of the year, every year. It never fails that, now even a decade after starting to do these year-end polls, I always go back and can find something new. Or a band comes up and it turns out they’d been included in someone’s list all along. Or even just watching the votes come in throughout the month of December. This is raw fun, as far as I’m concerned. I hope for you too. What’s the point otherwise?

Take however many of your favorite releases of the year you want (up to 20, sorry; gotta draw the line somewhere) and list them below. Careful of spelling, etc. All results are tallied and will be posted on Jan. 2 with everyone’s list. It’s going to be a blast. This has been a great year for music in a wide variety of styles.

That said, whatever you want to include is welcome. Doesn’t have to be heavy, or rock, or whatever. It’s all welcome, and thank you. I can’t wait to see the results.

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Thanks for reading and taking part. Please share the link if you can.

Same rules as always: Anything from Jan. 2022 to whatever’s coming out between now and Dec. 31 is eligible. If something is out digitally now and physical later and you want to include it, do so. Two lists are tabulated; one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.

If you’re not sure what counts or what to include, please know that the intent here is to be as open as possible. In all things, when you can, err on the side of inclusion. If you’re the only person who votes for a thing, so much the better to turn other people onto it.

Persistent, deep gratitude to Slevin — as always — for his efforts setting this up every year. I don’t have a lot of friends. Dude is a treasure, a scholar, and someone I love dearly.

Poll runs until Dec. 31, 2022. Results go up Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, along with all the individual lists.