How the hell did Elfnøusnövoõunon get 163 points?? This must be rigged!

I just reread the OP, and...why am I the one to send all the hate mail to?

Got a rules question. Can you have a compilation if it collects only original material that was released in 2019? The example here is Compilation of Decomposition by Undeath. Has this exact scenario has come up before?

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Undeath/3540451166

That's a weird one but yeah, whatever, I'll let that one roll.

I agree with this. In the case of a tie, the number of lists an album makes it onto seems like a more significant achievement than how high up in the lists it is.

I guess it's where the comparison to F1 deviates, because every driver normally participates in every race. They don't get an extra accolade just for turning up on the grid at all - it's their job.

I can relate to this, I did the math and after spending more time catching up than I thought there is a lot of stuff I now want to order, adds up to at least 200 bucks!
Seems like I missed a lot of stuff when it came out this year.

On the tiebreaker stuff:
I honestly don't mind either way, the old system would keep it consistent with the other years, the new one puts a bit more focus on the community aspect giving multiple people agreeing on something a heigher weighting.

To keep the consistency, my mind says lets stick with the old formula. But considering the community aspect, I think the new way would be more... fair, because of the deviation between the the points according to the placing. I think we should try this second option this year.

Damn, I wish I discovered the Celestial Grave album earlier, would have for sure made it on my list...

I'm sure you can send any modification to BastardHead until the deadline.

Guess I will wait for him confirming that before doing it, already seems like a lot of work so I don't want to cause any extra complications.

Welp, sent in my list. 2 black metal albums, and 8 death metal ones. Guess this was just a death metal year for me

That was interesting for me to think about; 8 of the albums on my list are at least blackened and of those 6 are outright black metal.

As for the tie-breaking question - for one I'd say 'sticking to the method you've used before for the sake of consistency' is not a good reason as that's a way to ensure the methodology can never be improved. That said, I definitely think an album with 24 first place votes is more deserving of the higher spot than one with 40 3rd place votes, as an album with more high placed votes means more people think it's the stronger release, while the one with more votes has simply been heard by more people; the former is a better indicator of quality than the latter.

I don't really advertise it in the OP just because I don't want floods of redos throughout the thing, but I don't mind adjusting ballots as long as you send me the adjustments by the deadline. I've tweaked two or three ballots every year so far, it's not an issue to me really. So yeah go ahead and send an updated ballot if you want to.

How can I find previous years poll results?

I really should add that to the OP in the future.

2018
2017
2016

Cheers!

I wanted to see how Eternity's End did. 1 point! I guess that's what you get for relesing your album December 26.

The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos by Sulphur Aeon was released on 21st of December and ended up winning the 12th place... so I doubt the release date could affect the result in that way.

How hyped up and well known the band is probably makes a big difference. If it's a sleeper hit or a more up-and-coming band, it can take a few weeks for word to really get around about the album, so if it's a late release, by that point it may be too late for a band to make an impact in AOTY polls. For a band like Sulphur Aeon, where a lot of people around here already know about them and are anticipating the release, a late release date may not hurt them too much in the poll.

One of my first thoughts on clicking this thread was "I wonder if Lingua Ignota counts" haha

Edit: RIP Yerûšelem. I guess everything else I had in mind flies.

Not necessarily. It's only stronger relative to the rest of what they personally liked, and it's possible more people heard the former album but disliked it. Some people who put an album in third place might rate it a higher % than what other people would rate their first place pick. Those who put said pick in first might think it was an unremarkable year with less than 20 worthy albums and their first place got there quite easily, while it was a great year for the people who put the other album in third place out of over 70 they liked.

In your example I think 24 first place votes would already be enough of an honour in itself, so when it comes to breaking the tie it'd make sense to honour the album that achieved a wider appeal and made it onto a whopping 40 lists.

Well shit. I had that down as 2019 and put it on this years ballot. Japan on Boxing Day 2018 and worldwide in 2019 as I have just found out. BH, does that mean my whole list was tossed? If so I’ll resubmit.

I actually didn't even catch that since I'm familiar with the album myself and always assumed it was a 2019 release, I didn't even recall it getting a vote last year (I can only assume that, since I didn't know the band yet, I checked MA and saw 2018 and didn't look into it any further). It got the worldwide release in 2019, it's listed elsewhere as a 2019 release, as far as I'm concerned, it's eligible this year. Hell I'd say it was more of just a mere technicality last year than this year. Odd situation, but again, spirit over letter.

And for the record if there's ever a problem with your ballot, I'll let y'all know. I sound much meaner in the OP than I actually am, I'm not gonna throw your shit out and not tell you, lol.

Adjusted list is sent. Can't wait for the results!

Sounds good to me I will leave as is. Cheers and thanks for all the effort. I always look forward to the results and discussion.

Which one are you talking about?

Whoops, meant Mortiferum, the death/doom band which released their debut this year. These guys crush pretty hard.

I threw in a disappointment of the year too: Steel Prophet. It's just no good, sounds like your standard British heavy metal band with a typical German singer. The dark, speedy USPM-sound is all gone.

What about a band that released two albums this year on the same date and they hadn't released any albums before that? Can I pick any of the two as my best new band?

I mean... did that actually happen? That's another oddity but yeah sounds good to me.

Two debut albums at once, that's pretty hilarious. I'd be trying to do some detective work, like do they have catalog nos in sequence or do they always list one before the other?

Submitted, now awaiting for the results impatiently! Turned out to be a pretty good year, and I had some trouble honestly figuring out this top 10.

Submitted! Here's mine:

1. Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
2. Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
3. Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
4. Coffins - Beyond the Circular Demise
5. Mortiferum - Disgorged from Psychotic Depths
6. Smoulder - Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring
7. Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - Mardom
8. Profetus - The Sadness of Time Passing
9. Kostnatění - Hrůza zvítězí
10. Mayhem - Daemon

I'll be interested to see how Obsequiae does. They're #1 for me by a mile and it actually seems like a lot of people are super into this album. I don't expect them to beat Blood Incantation or even - god forbid - Idle Hands, but I'm stoked this seems to be their most successful album yet. Really fucking strong year, at least for my taste!

List, done!

01. Skraeckoedlan - Eorþe
02. Moon Tooth - Crux
03. Horndal - Remains
04. Wormwitch - Heaven That Dwells Within
05. Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
06. Borknagar - True North
07. Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
08. Paladin - Ascension
09. Grand Magus - Wolf God
10. Avslut - Tyranni

---

Just outside the top 10:

Soen - Lotus
Sâver - They Came with Sunlight
The Drowning - The Radiant Dark
Fvneral Fvkk - Carnal Confessions
ORO - Djupets Kall
White Ward - Love Exchange Failure
Herod - Sombre Dessein
Numenorean - Adore
Alcest - Spiritual Instinct
In Mourning - Garden of Storms
Insomnium - Heart Like a Grave
Car Bomb - Mordial
Obsequiae - The Palms of Sorrowed Kings

Soen had the number two spot until I realized they aren't in the archives.
The number one spot was the only one that I was super sure of, no other album even comes close to Skraeckoedlans masterpiece.
For me, the year as a whole has been pretty mediocre.

And list submitted, I've given myself tinnitus in my left ear this morning listening to those last 6 albums on my overlong shortlist.

This year was a bit blah for me, probably from listening to too much. Only a couple of albums gave me any hints of excitement.

LAST DAY LAST DAY PLEASE DO NOT FORGET
LAST DAY LAST DAY GIVE ME YOUR BALLOTS

Every year we have people thinking they can turn them in tomorrow but NO. Midnight tonight, MA time (GMT -5:00), be there or be square.

As always there is an unofficial grace period lasting until "whenever I wake up" but don't count on it, be on time, save yourself the trouble.

done with my list even though i winged it a bit because ive been busy this month and im leaving before i could properly revisit everything.
1. Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
2. Traveler - Traveler
3. Tanith - Tanith
4. Mefitis - Emberdawn
5. Coffins - Beyond the Circular Demise
6. Profanatica - Rotting Incarnation of God
7. Krypts - Cadaver Circulation
8. Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
9. Impiety - Versus All Gods
10. Denial of God - Hallow Mass

beyond the top 10:

Honourable mentions:


My list:
10. Slow - VI: Dantalion
09. Cloak - The Burning Dawn
08. Wormwitch - Heaven That Dwells Within
07. Worsen - Cursed To Witness Life
06. Traveler - Traveler
05. Imperium Dekadenz - When We Are Forgotten
04. Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
03. None - Damp Chill Of Life
02. Idle Hands - Mana
01. Mgła - Age Of Excuse

My list.

1: Cult of Luna - A Dawn To Fear
2: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats' Nest
3: Baroness - Gold & Grey
4: Vader - Thy Messenger
5: Lunar Shadow - The Smokeless Fires
6: Véhémence - Par le sang versé
7: Asphodèle - Jours pâles
8: Insomnium - Heart Like a Grave
9: Deathspell Omega - The Furnaces of Palingenesia
10: Idle Hands - Mana

Funnily enough, you have 5 albums in your top 10 that I found maybe the most disappointing compared to the hype they generated. 1, 2, 8, 9, 10 were all disappointments for me to various degrees. Vehemence and Lunar Shadow were pretty great for me as well tho. And I might have to give at least Cult of Luna another listen sometime.

It's no secret that I only really care about trad metal, so my list is a bit monotone. That said:

1. Mirror - Pyramid of Terror
2. Idle Hands - Mana
3. Traveler - s/t
4. Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
5. Tanith - In Another Time
6. Terminus - A Single Point of Light
7. Ray Alder - What the Water Wants
8. Gatekeeper - Grey Maiden
9. Fortress - s/t
10. Pounder - Uncivilized

Those top three are *really* close for me; the ordering of them is almost arbitrary.