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.

Welcome to 2022. If you’re here, congratulations, thanks and good luck. The future rolls forward with us, over us. If we’re lucky, good music does the same.

The poll ran a little shorter than in 2020, when it started after Thanksgiving, and it ended a day or two sooner as well, but no matter. There were still 374 lists contributed and 1,687 separate album listings. Invariably that includes duplicates, but still, quite a number for a year at least half of which was thrown down a well of plague, canceled tours and pressing delays. Thank you to everybody who added a list or a pick or two picks or 10 or anything. You made my year, I shit you not.

As ever, 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 2021 — Weighted Results

1. King Buffalo, The Burden of Restlessness (542 points)
2. Monolord, Your Time to Shine (360)
3. Green Lung, Black Harvest (349)
4. Greenleaf, Echoes From a Mass (335)
5. King Buffalo, Acheron (318)
6. Domkraft, Seeds (269)
7. Mastodon, Hushed & Grim (235)
8. The Age of Truth, Resolute (218)
9. Kal-El, Dark Majesty (204)
10. High Desert Queen, Secrets of the Black Moon (199)
11. Kadavar & Elder, Eldovar: A Story of Darkness and Light (167)
12. Delving, Hirschbrunnen (160)
13. Thunder Horse, Chosen One (158)
14. Stöner, Stoners Rule (154)
15. Maha Sohona, Endless Searcher (137)
16. Hippie Death Cult, Circle of Days (124)
17. Jakethehawk, Hinterlands (121)
18. Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows, The Magnetic Ridge (117)
19. Spelljammer, Abyssal Trip (114)
20. Red Fang, Arrows (108)

Honorable Mention:
DVNE, Etemen Ænka (107)
Khemmis, Deceiver (106)
Alastor, Onwards & Downwards (104)
Heavy Temple, Lupi Amoris (104)
Plaindrifer, Echo Therapy (100)
Acid Mammoth, Caravan (97)
Blackwater Holylight, Silence/Motion (97)

Notes:

There were more in the 90s, but Acid Mammoth and Blackwater Holylight were the highest I could find and I figured that was enough. Good list. Some results here show bands campaigning, others not so much, but I’d see this list somewhere and nod agreement, so I’m not gonna fight it. In any case, the one-two seems pretty much undeniable, though the race between King Buffalo and Monolord was closer than these numbers make it appear. It wasn’t until the last week or two that The Burden of Restlessness really pulled ahead. My own list was much the same in terms of placement. For a minute there, I thought Green Lung was going to sneak into the number two spot as well.

I have to think Kadavar & Elder, Weedpecker (who were in the 80s, I think) and pretty much everything that came out last month other than King Buffalo’s Acheron was somewhat hurt by arriving late, but on the other hand I’m not going to delude myself into thinking release dates are or should be scheduled around Obelisk polls. Still, I’d have put a few of those higher, but then, there’s only so much room, isn’t there?

Top 20 of 2021 — Raw Votes

1. King Buffalo, The Burden of Restlessness (126 votes)
2. Monolord, Your Time to Shine (98)
3. Green Lung, Black Harvest (93)
4. Greenleaf, Echoes From a Mass (86)
5. King Buffalo, Acheron (78)
6. Domkraft, Seeds (71)
7. Mastodon, Hushed & Grim (57)
8. Kal-El, Dark Majesty (56)
9. The Age of Truth, Resolute (54)
10. Kadavar & Elder, Eldovar: A Story of Darkness and Light (50)
11. Stöner, Stoners Rule (44)
12. Delving, Hirschbrunnen (43)
13. Hippie Death Cult, Circle of Days (39)
13. Thunder Horse, Chosen One (39)
14. Maha Sohona, Endless Searcher (37)
14. Spelljammer, Abyssal Trip (37)
15. Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows, The Magnetic Ridge (36)
15. Red Fang, Arrows (35)
16. Jakethehawk, Hinterlands (34)
17. Acid Mammoth, Caravan (32)
17. Heavy Temple, Lupi Amoris (32)
18. Khemmis, Deceiver (31)
19. Blackwater Holylight, Silence/Motion (30)
19. Weedpecker, IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts (30)
20. Alastor, Onwards & Downwards (28)

Notes:

A couple ties here so I’m nixing honorable mentions — I’m fairly certain you get the point anyway. Everything else had fewer than 28 votes, but if you want to correct me on that and go through all the lists, please know you’re welcome. As always, some discrepancies between the point system and the raw votes, but even the top three were locked in, and if you want to switch Greenleaf and King Buffalo’s Acheron on a given day depending on your mood, well, I can relate to that too. Glad to see stuff like Acid Mammoth and Hippie Death Cult do well here, ditto that Kal-El and the Delving record. It was a good year. I’m not sorry it’s over, but that doesn’t make the music and less killer.

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All the lists submitted will follow the ‘Read More’ tag below. There are plenty of them, so dig in as you will. Thank you to everybody who submitted, to the people who shared the link, even to the bands out there hustling to get people to add them as picks. I think that’s a perfectly valid way to go. In any case, your ongoing support is very much appreciated. Thank you, about 374 times over.

And a final thank you to The Patient Mrs. and to Slevin, the former of whom indulges me daily with time to work on this site and the latter of whom I bug for shit all the time and usually feel pretty terrible about it. Both of them, suffice it to say, have better things to do, so thank you.

Lists follow. My heart goes out to whoever listed their name as three poop emojis.

Read more »

I have been looking forward to this for months. I always do, but I’m extra curious to get a look at everybody’s favorite picks from 2021, and I feel like it might be close when it comes to how the final list shakes out. There’s been so much creative ground being broken, it’s awe-inspiring and humbling at once.

To that point, yes, there are still some really good records to come in the next couple weeks. I know. This post will be here until Dec. 31. If you’re holding a spot for something, that’s fine. But I want to give people as much of a chance as possible to add their favorites to the poll, and that means posting this sooner. If I waited until Dec. 31, it would be silly, and by January, everybody’s head is tired of lists, my own included. So just trust me. I’ve done this before.

Maximum participation is encouraged and appreciated. Thank you.

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Thanks for being part of this. Please share the link if you can.

Same rules as always: Anything from Jan. 2021 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.

Poll runs until Dec. 31, 2021. Results go up Jan. 1, 2022, along with all the individual lists. I am not kidding when I say this is my favorite post of the year. It will be on the top of the front-page for the next month.

As ever, the Year-End Poll would not be possible without the diligent and respected efforts of Slevin behind-the-scenes. Every year like clockwork I bug him with an email or a text about the poll — and I’ll do so again when it’s time to do the final tally — and he’s never yet told me to screw off, which it only feels like he’d be increasingly within his rights to do. Thanks dude. You’re amazing.

And thank you one more time as well. Let’s have some fun. We’ve all earned it.

The world is a different place than it was a year ago on Jan. 4. One can say the same of any year, but it’s a question of scale. My interest isn’t in philosophizing or preaching to you — much; ha — but there’s a good chance your life is substantively different than it was a year ago. For good or bad. Please know that if you can see these words, or if you can’t, I wish you well.

With the ever-appreciated help of the Ever-Indulgent & Long-Serving Official Obelisk Tech Coordinator Go Ahead And Print That Shit On A Business Card, Slevin, the 2020 poll went up I think after Thanksgiving and came down, lazily, on Jan. 2. In the past I’ve been pretty strict on that. This time, less so. In the end, there were an astonishing and humbling 544 lists submitted, with over 2,100 separate album listings. Some of that is different spellings — ‘s/t’ as opposed to ‘self-titled’ or variations like that — but it’s still an astonishing amount of music, as you can see for yourself after the jump in everybody’s list.

As ever, two polls 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 2020 — Weighted Results

1. Lowrider, Refractions (865 points)
2. Elder, Omens (594)
3. Elephant Tree, Habits (560)
4. All Them Witches, Nothing as the Ideal (557)
5. King Buffalo, Dead Star (492)
6. Psychlona, Venus Skytrip (381)
7. Slift, Ummon (365)
8. REZN, Chaotic Divine (305)
9. EMBR, 1823 (208)
10. Stonus, Aphasia (195)
11. Dopelord, Sign of the Devil (179)
12. Pallbearer, Forgotten Days (178)
13. Kind, Mental Nudge (165)
14. Acid Mammoth, Under Acid Hoof (164)
15. Brant Bjork, Brant Bjork (151)
15. Causa Sui, Szabodelico (151)
16. Forming the Void, Reverie (149)
17. Slomosa, Slomosa (138)
18. Oranssi Pazuzu, Mestarin Kynsi (133)
19. The Atomic Bitchwax, Scorpio (131)
20. Ritual King, Ritual King (126)

Honorable Mention:
Big Scenic Nowhere, Vision Beyond Horizon (125)
Spirit Adrift, Enlightened in Eternity (118)
Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou, May Our Chambers Be Full (113)
Sigiriya, Maiden – Mother – Crone (110)
Motorpsycho, The All is One (107)
Yawning Man, Live at Giant Rock (105)
Hum, Inlet (104)
Geezer, Groovy (100)
Lord Buffalo, Tohu Wa Bohu (100)

Notes: People know their stuff. There seemed to really be consensus around a few releases — the top picks here — and then everything else kind of filled in from there. I agreed with the top pick and had some other things in different spots, and I had King Buffalo as an EP (which it wasn’t, but I took the out), but there was little to argue with. Cool to see Slift do so well. That album got a lot of love throughout the year and seemed to really resonate with people. Ditto Psychlona. And I’m glad to know I wasn’t the only one who thought Slomosa were onto something cool as well. Good list.

Top 20 of 2020 — Raw Votes

1. Lowrider, Refractions (203 votes)
2. Elder, Omens (151)
3. Elephant Tree, Habits (147)
4. All Them Witches, Nothing as the Ideal (134)
5. King Buffalo, Dead Star (107)
6. Psychlona, Venus Skytrip (104)
7. Slift, Ummon (97)
8. REZN, Chaotic Divine (84)
9. Dopelord, Sign of the Devil (58)
10. Pallbearer, Forgotten Days (56)
11. Kind, Mental Nudge (54)
12. Acid Mammoth, Under Acid Hoof (50)
12. EMBR, 1823 (50)
13. Brant Bjork, Brant Bjork (49)
14. Forming the Void, Reverie (46)
15. Causa Sui, Szabodelico (45)
16. Stonus, Aphasia (43)
17. The Atomic Bitchwax, Scorpio (41)
17. Ritual King, Ritual King (41)
18. Kryptograf, Kryptograf (38)
18. Spirit Adrift, Enlightened in Eternity (38)
19. Big Scenic Nowhere, Vision Beyond Horizon (37)
19. Slomosa, Slomosa (37)
20. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou, May Our Chambers Be Full (36)

Honorable Mention:
Oranssi Pazuzu, Mestarin Kynsi (35)
Black Rainbows, Cosmic Ritual Supertrip (31)
Geezer, Groovy (31)
Lord Buffalo, Tohu Wa Bohu (31)
Sigiriya, Maiden – Mother – Crone (31)
Yawning Man, Live at Giant Rock (30)
Motorpsycho, The All is One (29)
Hum, Inlet (26)

Notes: This one’s pretty clean and in line with the points. Same deal. Lots of big feelings about Lowrider, Elder, Elephant Tree, All Them Witches. Note the difference in votes between numbers eight and nine. Hell, note the difference between one and two. As much as you’re ever going to have clear agreement on anything, that might be it. All along, this was really a race for that number two spot. Lowrider were ahead by the time the poll had been up for a day, and though they pulled away as December wore on, none of the others were really a threat at any point, though it was a late surge for Elder that put them over Elephant Tree. No doubt that last-minute get-out-the-vote campaign (didn’t happen) paid dividends. In any case, aside from having to chase down typos for The Atomic Bitchwax and Causa Sui, this was relatively easy to put together, so I’m sure I’ve got it all wrong. Ha.

—

Just about time to send you off to peruse everybody’s list. And there are plenty of them. Before you dive in, I want to reiterate my deep appreciation for everybody who took part in the year-end poll for 2020. It was a massive year for albums — had to be since there weren’t shows — and I feel like these lists captured well the variety of what’s out there and the sheer quality of it. Thank you for being a part of that, and for reading as always.

And one last thanks to Slevin for his help in coordinating this on the back end as well. Dude is invaluable, amazing, and a good friend.

Lists follow the jump, and here’s the jump:

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My favorite post of the year, every year. I’ll spare you (for now) the wax philosophy on what a year it’s been in general terms, but I genuinely believe we’re existing in a golden age of heavy music that, years from now, subsequent generations of fans will look back on the diversity of sounds and talent and geography and ideas and will wonder at the time that was, much as younger fans do now of the ’90s, and older fans of the ’70s.

You know the drill for the poll. There are 20 slots below. Fill out as many as you want — 20 should be easy to fill, but if you only feel strongly about five records, that’s fine — and hit enter. Your email is asked for to prove you’re human and will not be stored or added to any list or sold or whatever.

Same rules as always: Anything from Jan. 2020 to whatever’s coming out between now and Dec. 31 is eligible. 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.

Results are compiled and painstakingly checked to account for typographical anomalies, then beamed into a spreadsheet to go up Jan. 1, along with everybody’s individual list in one massive explosion of love for music that, if it doesn’t fill your bucket, you may not have a bucket to begin with.

Let’s do it:

The year-end poll would never be possible with the diligence in technical coordination of Slevin, whom I miss dearly in these days of social distancing. I hope my thanks travels virtually since I can’t buy him bread and beer to show my love.

Thanks for your participation. Please share the link if you can.