So much earlier (not long after the poll's conclusion, in fact) I did a bit of number crunching relating to the bands in the poll, instead of the years. I was waiting for BH to update his post with these but he's been busy with life as of late, so here were my findings -

NB: All data presented includes albums that wound up in the Rando Corner.


Absolute Totals





Mean PPAs, VPAs and PPVs


Quoted alongside the artists that had the highest Mean PPAs and VPAs are the artists that had the highest Filtered Mean PPAs and VPAs. As well, only the Filtered Mean PPV is given. They were filtered accordingly to give a different perspective on these metrics:

Filtered Mean PPA and Filtered Mean VPA both only consider bands that had more than one album. This was done pretty much because a band making it to the top off the strength of one album doesn't really say much beyond 'everyone rallied around their one great album of the '00s'.

Filtered Mean PPV only considers bands that had a minimum of 6 votes. A limit had to be placed somewhere as otherwise the winner of the PPV category would just be every single band that had a 1st place Rando Corner album; hence the normal Mean PPV is not quoted. The threshold is placed at 6 votes as this is the lowest number of votes any band that placed in the top 50 had.

For me I tend to view it as a Goldilocks sweet spot that a lot of my absolute favorites fall into. Interesting and different enough to be engaging, but not too intense and bizarre to be fatiguing. I'll explore the crazy, avant-garde stuff, and some of it may be enjoyable on some level, but I have too much of an ear for melodies and more common structures for the most insane material to really rise to the top.

Yes, this is similar to the way it works for me too.
This approach in getting into+listening to extreme metal is good and very helpful+effective for people who have difficulties with getting into more extreme subgenres+styles of metal music / or for people who prefer "moderately extreme" metal albums in general, and I am very grateful to metal bands and artists who have "moderately extreme" albums like these. Many of these albums are my all-time favorites as well.
Plus I'm always interested in some new discoveries in this direction.

But again, I've always thought that most listeners of extreme metal music generally do not consider "moderately extreme" albums the best/favorites (and this is also understandable to me).
I think this is especially noticeable when it comes to bands/artists that started off their discographies with some really extreme and inaccessible albums and then created some relatively accessible and a bit less extreme album(s) - in my experience, reviews for this album tend to be less positive/relatively negative.
I understand the reasons these relatively accessible and less extreme albums are less favorite/or disappointments for fans of more extreme albums, so when it comes to polls on MA, I feel that I should explain the reasons I vote for these "moderately extreme" albums (that are my favorites) and apologize for not voting for albums that are more extreme (and are therefore more impressive and interesting for fans that prefer more extreme albums by a particular band/or in general), that's it.

I didn't participate, but I'm pleased to see some huge favorites made the list, these ones in particular;

1. Opeth - Blackwater Park
3. Agalloch - The Mantle
4. Primordial – To the Nameless Dead
14. Kamelot - The Black Halo
29. Cradle of Filth – Midian
34. Manilla Road – Voyager
35. Lost Horizon - A Flame to the Ground Beneath
59. Angra - Temple of Shadows
61. Lost Horizon - Awakening The World
117. Summoning - Oath Bound
125. Immolation - Unholy Cult
201. Mastodon – Blood Mountain
247. Mastodon – Leviathan
291. Sabbat – Karmagmassacre
312. Solitude Aeternus - Alone

My only complaint right now is that Beherit - Engram (2009) didn't make the list, for me the best BM release since the glorious early 90's

This is probably true for a lot of people. Without necessarly making it about how accessible or hermetic a band is, there is something about bands that manage to be very engaging, creative, innovative and eclectic, while retaining a good musicality and flow to their music, with hooks, hamonies, melodies, etc.

I assume this is the reason why Agalloch were, and still are, so damn popular. On the surface, and if you don't dig into the music, it can be appreciated on a more casual level, just enjoying the ambience, the melodies, the chorus and instrumentation. But when you start digging, you realize that albums like The Mantle are deeply intricate, bringing together so many influences from so many different bands, artists and genres, in a blend that was never done, and more importantly, never done so masterfully before or since. In a way, Agalloch manage to ge more appealling to a larger number of fans, without sacrificing artistic integrity and quality, or playing poppish metal, then most of the artists they took influence from. That's not to say that these other bands or artists are bad, but there is something that Agalloch did, that Fields of the Nephilim, Sol Invictus, Death in June, Arcturus, Current 93 or most of the drone, ambient electronic and other niche genres artists they took influence from. Again, this is not taking anything away from these other artists, and I don't think they shouldn't change the way they play their music, but there is something very masterful and tasteful about how Agalloch managed to bring these together seemlessly, and still reach such a wide audience.

HeavenDuff, thanks for sharing your point of view.
This is not what I meant, but when it comes to "softer and lighter" albums (both metal and non-metal), I think it works for me this way too.
Hmm.., I think it works for me in a similar way when I listen to a Japanese post-rock/math rock band toe (their albums have a mix of ''technical'' drumming and melodic guitar playing): their music is pretty enjoyable, and I also admire the musicians who created and mixed the complexity of the uncommon time signatures, the intensity of the drums and the beauty of the guitar melodies.

But for me it is significantly different when it comes to extreme metal albums because all these components/characteristics that make an album less accessible (such as not catchy/non-melodic metal music, complex/chaotic song structures, odd time signatures, extremely fast/slow guitar and drum playing, some too strange and atypical sound(s) of electric guitars/drums, dissonant metal music, adding harsher/darker non-metal elements (from more extreme kinds of electronic music/samples), weird electro-distorted vocals/voice samples, too 'inhuman' harsh vocals, non-melodic singing, etc.) tend to feel much more intense on these albums. All these components/characteristics not only make an extreme metal album more challenging ''technically"/mentally but also they make an album more uneasy listening physically and emotionally, and this is especially noticeable and difficult for me when it comes to extreme metal albums that have more aggressive/unsettling mood and atmosphere.
I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain this more clearly (and I think it's subjectively anyway).
Yes, I'm more of a fan of melodic music (both metal and non-metal) and simpler song structures, but this is not only because this music is more easy to listen to but also because it tends to sound and feel more "peaceful" and "safe" than non-melodic/chaotic music. Of course, there are some "creepy/horror/nervous" kinds of melodic music that can make a song/album even more unsettling, so it doesn't always work that way. But when there are some melodic songs/parts/elements on an extreme metal album that (remotely) resemble "soothing sadness/beauty'' kinds of melodies, there are more chances for me to get into this album. Maybe this is a little irrational but this is how it works for me.

But I also need to say that (relative) melodicism of music/singing and simpler/more common structures are only parts of what the description "moderately extreme" is for me, because there are also lyrics/imagery/general mood of an album that can also be "as extreme and unacceptable as possible", and in most cases I am not able to separate the music from the ''way too extreme'' lyrics/imagery.
The album "Human Antithesis" by Void of Silence that I voted for in this poll is one of my all-time favorite "moderately extreme" metal albums because I like the music (both the sound of the music and the songwriting are impressive and interesting for me) and the vocal performance on the album (and the lyrics on the album-titled song are one of my all-time favorites), and also because it is one of the very few "martial industrial-inspired" metal albums I was able to get into (both musically and lyrically).
But it's also understandable to me why fans of more extreme metal music prefer some other "martial industrial-inspired" metal albums that sound much more intense and harsh.

I'm doing exactly this and running a 70s poll on another forum right now, with slightly relaxed criteria. However, it was on the cards all along given practically every year from 1980 onwards has been polled individually there, while the 70s years obviously weren't worth doing individually. We have polled every damn year of the 70s individually for non-metal though!

Personally I think people's picks and the results will be reasonably fascinating as I'm a big fan of that era, but each to their own. I have quite a lot more favourites from the 70s as a whole than from any individual year of the 80s.

If you guys are interested, there is this Facebook page running a best albums of the decade contest for the 2000's and a lot of the top ranking metal albums we had in our poll are contenders in it, including Blackwater Park, The Mantle, To the Nameless Dead, Brave New World, Panopticon, Imaginary Sonicscape, Ashes Against the Grain, Monotheist, The Black Halo, Dopethrone, Below the Lights, Dead Again, and so on and so forth.

If it's of any interest to you, here's the link. Support the metal bands
https://www.facebook.com/The-Greatest-A ... 4400747679

This page aligns so much with my general music tastes across all genres. I love the pairings of the polls. It's reminding me of music I liked a lot or what was adjacent to what I like currently. Thanks for sharing.

It's also great to get to know some other good music. In the 2000's I was shapin my metal tastes, and it made up a good chunk of the music I listened to (maybe 70 to 80% of everything I listened to), so it's nice to catch up on stuff I might have missed back then. I discovered Modern Mouse and got more into Beach House and The Flaming Lips, and I'm hoping to have some time to listen to other albums in the match-ups.

As for metal music itself, I think the people who are voting are more aligned with artsy rock and alternative stuff, and some hip-hop, so I don't know how well metal albums with fare, even those that are ranked very well on RYM.

You're right. Imaginary Sonicscape is about to be eliminated, and Monotheist and A Sun That Never Sets are already out of competition...

Necromanced because here's the top 300 in RYM list form:


https://rateyourmusic.com/list/neilpeartjr/metal-archives-top-300-albums-of-the-2000s/