Y'all know what time it is:

THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA METALLUM ALBUM OF THE YEAR POLL

How exactly does this work you ask? Why it's simple! All you need to do is:

Select your top ten:
This is very easy, all you need to do is choose your top ten albums of the year.

PM your top ten, in order, to me, BastardHead:
It's that simple, just make a top ten and send it to me, I'll take care of all the number crunching nonsense!

What happens next is that I will assign each position a point value, grand prix style, so that first place votes are seen as more valuable than second place, and so on. The point values are as follows:

1 = 25 points
2 = 18 points
3 = 15 points
4 = 12 points
5 = 10 points
6 = 8 points
7 = 6 points
8 = 4 points
9 = 2 points
10 = 1 point

That may seem confusing and semi random for people who don't follow F1, but the idea of the point system being set up the way it is is that consistency is valued over a lucky win. So an album with twenty third place votes will fare better than one with ten first place votes. Regardless, we want you to put some good thought into this. Every vote counts! The idea is to get a collective snapshot of what we, as MA forumgoers, see to be the best albums of the year. So give it a lot of thought and let your voice be heard!

As with all things, there are a few guidelines we ask you to follow, but they're all quite simple, common sense rules.

1) METAL ONLY!: This is for the METAL Archives, so it would be really friggin' weird if a bunch of non-metal clogged up the final chart. I don't care how great the new [insert hip crossover artist I missed this year] album is, metal only. This will be measured by whether or not a band is on the archives. I don't claim to know every band, but I'll crosscheck ones I don't know against the database here, and if they don't have a page, your whole ballot goes in the internetical trash. This is very simple. The only exception is for bands who are on the archives but released a non-metal album, simply because I'm not about to split hairs and listen to every single album myself to make sure they all qualify. In clearer terms: An album like Ulver's new album is fine, [hip new crossover] is not.

2) Make sure you vote for ten albums: If you can't think of ten great albums from this year, you don't really have any place deciding what was the best of the year.

3) Put your list in order: I'm assigning point values, it's important that they're in order. If you just give me something alphabetically with no determined ordering, I'll either just discard the entire ballot or change every vote to the new Burgerkill album out of spite. In the event of a tie, the album with more higher placed votes counts, so an album with ten votes all for fourth place will rank above one with a hundred and twenty votes only for tenth place, so please, order them!

4) New, original material only: So no live albums or compilations or anything like that. This is simply so no pointless "best of" release or something shows up. Those are never in play unless it's something totally rerecorded and treated as a new release, which to my knowledge is extremely rare, and if there is such a case that you loved and want to vote for, just use your best judgment as to whether or not it's a standalone release or simply a "best of" collection with a new vocalist or something. So full lengths, demos, EPs, splits, etc. are all fair game. Live albums, comps, box sets, rereleases, deluxe editions, etc. are not.

5) Only albums actually released in 2021: This should go without saying but I want to make it clear just in case. Be sure it actually came out this year, if you vote for some 2022 album because it was leaked in November, I will invent a way to slap you through your monitor.

6) One ballot per user: Again, should go without saying, but don't try to vote multiple times to inflate the numbers. I will notice and I'll just wipe your whole vote if you decide to be a numbskull.

7) Your account must have been registered before this thread was created: This shouldn't apply to pretty much all of you, but it's just to prevent duplicate sockpuppet accounts trying to game the system. Don't do that.

8) Don't be a dick: We're running on the honor system here, and I obviously can't police the intentions of everybody who votes, but please don't be a troll who votes in a bunch of crap you've never heard of for yuks. Nor should you vote in things you actually think are terrible as some weird form of protest. Nor should you vote the same album ten times. Nor should you vote for something your own band released. We're trusting you to take this seriously enough to have fun with this but not act like an idiot, just use common sense and don't waste our time.

And that's all there is to it! This thread is open for questions, discussions, and what-have-you until the results are posted in a new thread next year.. If you want to say "Hey guys, if you liked the new Vomit Sodomy record, be sure to check out the new Goat Fucking Moonpocalypse too!" or something, that's more than welcome! The more people know about great albums, the better! The whole idea here is to get a snapshot of how MA feels and hopefully to introduce everybody to some great stuff they may not have heard of before. I know in the past I've always asked you guys to not posts your lists in this thread for Reasons X and Y but honestly? Go ahead. I usually do pre-polls if there's a potential rule change but this time it's kinda obvious that I was the only person who gave a shit. I was always worried about lesser enthusiasm if something pulls ahead early or the results get too easy to guess or whatever, but the mid-year polls don't have this pointless restriction and everybody is happier for it and those are arguably more popular than these year end polls! Just PLEASE be sure to PM your ballots to me as well, since that's the only way I'll be able to truly keep track of them and get them all counted.


Lastly I'm not going to bother with Debut of the Year this year. It's never really been a popular sidebar anyway so let's just spare me the extra work and let y'all focus on the main course.


Polls are open until January 1st, 2022, MA time (so Eastern, or GMT -05:00). I NEED TO STRESS THAT THIS IS THE CLOSED TIME. Every year there are a few people who misinterpret the time as the 1st being the last day to submit, but really that's the day when you can't submit any further. The results should go up on the 1st if all goes according to plan, so it would be insane to still take votes while I'm in the several-hour process of transferring everything from the spreadsheet to a forum post. ONCE THE YEAR CHANGES, THE POLLS ARE CLOSED, PLEASE DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND THIS!

And yes I know there are always some people dissatisfied with this because some albums are released in late December, but we went through this entire song and dance before and I even put it up for a vote, and the way we've been doing it without incident for the past several years wound up winning anyway and I'm just not going through that whole jive again. Deadline is final. I'm sorry if you're dissatisfied. Please send all hate mail to jimbies (this joke is banking on him still being active in the five months since I've logged on).

Feel free to send me your votes whenever you feel comfortable with your list and I will post the results as soon as I can after they close, likely within the week (historically on the first day). Have fun and happy voting!


Y'all didn't think I wouldn't come back for the poll? Shame on you. I haven't really logged on at all for the last half-year but that's mostly because A) I've been Terminally Online since 1998 so I'm in the midst of a state mandated grass touching, and B) I'm just playing FFXIV every waking second of my life. But this poll isn't me begrudgingly coming back to uphold tradition, it's more an excited return because this is my favorite time of the year for this community and I wouldn't miss it for the world. xoxo

Holy fuck, you're actually alive. Figured napalm_satan would've been tasked with this if you didn't show up again.

There are a handful of releases I'm still waiting on this month, hoping most of them hit next week. Otherwise, I think I need to properly structure my list. My album of the year is a non-metal album that isn't even selected exception metal on here so I actually need to do some revisiting.

Hey mate, good to see you're back and you're doing well.

This is going to be tough this year so I'll have to sit on it for a short while....

This list might be harder than last year for me, especially since we got so many awesome albums this year. I do have some on my list already, but it's gonna take a bit for me to consider the others.

Also, welcome back, BH!

One of the things I was going to vote for is actually a compilation, fuck.

Already been thinking about this a bit, so have a good idea of my top 10. Gonna mull it over some more before the final submission.

Good to see that you're back, BH. I was contemplating mentioning something in the NP or FFA threads to see if anyone knew your whereabouts, and probably would have done so if it had gotten to the 2nd without any word.

I've already listened to way more '21 albums this year than last, but not as many as last year have stood out. So starting in the past week I've been working more on relistens, and my list is slowly coming together. If I had to submit today, this would be my ballot. I'll see how I'll feel by the end of the month.

Vetrar Draugurinn
Crypts of Despair
Ad Infinitum
Silver Talon
Swallow The Sun
Dark The Suns
Anette Olzon
Grand Cadaver
Deathswarm
Obscura

We're not doing debut of the year, but based on my list it's Silver Talon, with a nod to Grand Cadaver (sort of cheating since they're a supergroup of veterans). Interestingly, half my list is sophomore albums.

IT'S ALIVEE!!!!!

In all seriousness, good to see you back BH. This'll be an interesting one. I'm already anticipating that Aquilus' Bellum I will be my AOTY, even though it's coming out late (holy fuck, 3 more days. God fucking damn it fuck). The Ruins Of Beverast will be up there too.

This is the first year I've actually decided to actively keep tab on new material, namely to participate in this poll, but also because I felt that I've often missed out on great new stuff, and well, because there is something interesting in just "exploring" again, and not waiting for an album to be already hyped and popular before looking into it.

So here's a list of the stuff I'm considering for my top 10, as of now. Of course, I still have stuff on my "albums to listen to" list, so there is nothing final. The order is how I'm roughly ranking them right now, but it is subject to change, of course.

Panopticon - ...and Again into the Light
Dvne - Etemen Ænka
Spectral Wound - A Diabolic Thirst
Frozen Soul – Crypt of Ice
Ungfell – Es grauet
Darkthrone - Eternal Hails......
Carcass - Torn Arteries
Wormwitch – Wolf Hex
Archspire – Bleed The Future
Blood Red Throne – Imperial Congragation
Seth – La morsure du Christ
Wolves in the Throne Room - Primordial Arcana
Tribulation - Where the Gloom Becomes Sound
Dream Theater - A View from the Top of the World
Devoid of Thought – Outer World Graves
Fulci – Exhumed Information
Cannibal Corpse - Violence Unimagined

And here are some of the "maybes"

Autarcie – Apogée.Ivresse.Agonie
Fluisteraars - Gegrepen door de geest der zielsontluiking
Iron Maiden – Senjutsu
Issolei – Cilicium
Lugubrum – Bruyne kroon
Replicant – Malignant Reality
Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Noktvrn
Hate - Rugia
Kayo Dot - Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike

Feel free to make recommandations I might like if I missed something. We still have a month for this, don't we!

After lurking around and using this site for over ten years, I've finally decided to come aboard and register today!

The Album of the Year polls are my biggest reason for registering. I definitely appreciate that the point system is set up like Formula One.
I've made it a point to listen to a lot of music released this year just in case a really good album comes by.

A year ago, I came across Dimhav - The Boreal Flame, featuring the Mighty Daniel Heiman of Lost Horizon fame on vocals. It has an average 95% here, a YouTuber gave it a 10/10 in every category, and I was sad to notice that it never got any votes the year it came out.

With that being said, there is a handful of albums I've come to really enjoy this year:

Stam1na - Novus Ordo Mundi (Prog/Thrash)
Need - Norchestrion: A Song for the End (Prog)
Ghosts of Atlantis - 3/6/2/4 (Symphonic Melodeath)
Odd Dimension - The Blue Dawn (Prog)
Kanonenfieber - Menschenmuhle (Black/Death) This one, because of how meaningful it is in telling how atrocious World War I was
Shade of Memories - Glaciers of Tomorrow (Prog/Heavy) This would've been my vote for Debut of the Year if we were having one this year. Very Catchy, Very Eccentric
Eclipse - Wired (Heavy) Gotta love Erik Mårtensson's skill and passion combined
Marius Danielsen's Legend of Valley Doom Part 3 (Symphonic Power Opera) Lots of guest vocalists, like Daniel Heiman, Melissa Bonny of Ad Infinitum, etc. A very strong resemblance to The Lion King and The Lord of the Rings
Servants to the Tide - Servants to the Tide (Epic Doom)
Wheel - Preserved in Time (Epic Doom) Pleasantly surprised another frequent concert attendee likes them too
Warrior Path - The Mad King (Power) Featuring Daniel Heiman
Aeon Zen - Transversal (Prog) Excellent vocals. Lots of key changes. No breaks in between each track
Turbulence - Frontal (Prog)
Terra Odium - Ne Plus Ultra (Prog)
Iotunn - Access All Worlds (Prog/Melodeath) I've seen a few commenters declare this to be AOTY or AOTY Candidate

I believe all of these are worth considering. What do you think?

This year's not looking so promising for me. There was only 1 album that I outright loved, and then that's followed a bunch of albums that are just good but not great.

I feel so dispirited and tired, looking at the contenders on my list. I dunno if I can even put together a Top 10 with any genuine enthusiasm.

I still have quite a few albums to go through so I'll probably hold off until the last minute to submit a top 10. Fingers crossed I don't forget!

Great year for music, but have to say my metal list might be kinda dull this year. Definitely know my number 1 and 2, but not entirely sure about the remaining 8 hahaha

OH NOEZ, it's that time of the year again ^^

I have a question: the EP of my own project was released digitally in late 2020 but physically in 2021. Does it count?

Nah, just kidding, some kind soul already voted for it last year and I had just been reminded of the Heathen situation (2009 release in Japan, 2010 in the rest of the world, afaik).

Time to brew up list...my favourite album of the year is the Smith/Kotzen - selftitled, which is, well - not metal.

Solid recommendations in this thread already, and I definitely slept on this particular one which is weird because anything Adrian is on is must check out for me. My album of the year is probably Spiritbox - Eternal Blue, not metal enough for this site though. So barring that one, probably Dying Wish - Fragments of a Bitter Memory. I feel sort of stuck in the past for picking it, it's just straight up NWOAHM-style metalcore ala 2005, but goddamn it kicks ass at what it does.

Super looking forward to people's lists and thanks for doing this Bastard <3

I have a top ten but we'll see how I feel about it, went months without really listening to metal, as always fuck Covid in the ass.

I'm still gonna participate, but I definitely haven't been keeping up with new released in the last 6 months. Hope to check out some more stuff before making my list

I'm voting Mastodon 10 times. Again.

this is gonna be a really tough list year personally - i'm currently at 252 '21 releases listened (including eps, a few demos, and non-metal) and no albums really jumped out as definitely landing in the top spots over everything else. gonna have to do some serious re-listening

I had high hopes for a 2021 creative explosion after the onset of the never ending pandemic, but the year was a bit dry for me and my tastes. Hopefully 2022 is the year

I've been listening to a lot of the new albums this past month, and I've already have a rough draft of my top 10. Still need to listen to some of the ones I missed and I'm waiting for new P.H.O.B.O.S. Oh, and do not sleep on the new Abysmal Grief. It might be their best one yet!

This is a very interesting year for me since I was away from MA for half the year, which means for the first time since like 2007 my listening hasn't been influenced by you guys and my list has so far been formulated almost entirely in a vacuum. So there's a very real chance that I might lovebomb an album y'all haven't even talked about and the #1 on the year might be something I've never even heard of. Interestingly, I also feel the same way as a lot of you so far it seems. This really was the Year of the 7/10. The vast, vast majority of albums I checked out this year were perfectly fine but didn't really stand out beyond just fine. Loads of competency but comparatively little magic. There were maybe five or six albums that I thought were instant contenders with maybe four more that really grew on me off the top of my head. This month is going to require a ton of relistens.

Lots of stuff this year that may make the list. Half of it at least is already occupied but the few remaining spots will be torture. I'm gonna hand in my ballot a little before the deadline I'm guessing.

These are the definites but no idea about the order yet:
Nekromantheon, Cryptosis, Kenn Nardi, Obsolete, Pharaoh, Carcass.

Other than that, it's about 15 albums that could make it. Mental Devastation has been monopolizing my interest the past days.

But my biggest gripe is the fact that I can't vote for Demoniac - So It Goes. It's the album that I listened to the most (and still do regularly) and got me quite enthusiastic. But apparently it's a 2020 release, even though it was only released in Chile in that year, 2021 for the rest of the world. In any case, that is one FANTASTIC BEAST of an album and more people should listen to it.

In situations like this I'm pretty lenient. If the release is split over the year mark I'm totally fine with counting it for 2021. I wouldn't if it had a digital release in 2020 and then a small local run in 2021 or something but I can't think of any examples where that has played out anyway.

So, it goes? (ba dum ts!)

Actually, I see a difference between discogs and here. According to here, it was only Chile in 2020 and the rest of the world (digital and CD) was January 2021. According to Discogs the european CD was also 2020 (December, one month later than the Chilean version).

Let's make it official, does it count or not?

Been thinking about my top albums and most of the ones that really thrilled me weren't metal. There was plenty of good metal too though.

I’ve started putting together my Top 10 for the year. No idea on the order just yet or what will be my top choice but I’m looking forward to checking out stuff that passed me by earlier in the year.

That’s pretty much how I’ve felt this year. There’s been lots of great alternative (for lack of a better description) records this year especially post-punk kind of stuff. I normally do a Top 10 non-metal albums list in addition to a Top 10 metal one and I know that the former will be much harder to be put together than the latter.

Just keeping my eye on this thread for recommendations for last-minute listening but I think I've, more or less, solidified my top 10 for this year already. Like BastardHead said, this was pretty much the year of the 7/10.

Aside from Pharaoh and Iron Maiden, my top albums of anything for this year include Mdou Moctar, Sleater Kinney and St. Vincent, likely Lingua Ignota too.

I still need to check out the albums by Mdou Mostar and Sleater-Kinney. I’ve heard good things about both of those. St Vincent is definitely a contender for my non-metal list. I’ve really enjoyed the albums by Dry Cleaning, Snapped Ankles, Wolf Alice, Amyl and the Sniffers, Sons of Kemet and Black Country, New Road. As for metal, Enforced, Carcass, Darkthrone, Gojira and Wolves In The Throne Room are all likely to be on my list.

Yeah that's fine, go ahead.

salute for doin this as always, my guy

I don't even know a lot of those, there's always so damn much to check out in a year. I'll look some of em up.

Anyone with any early predictions?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the following will do quite well (this is NOT my personal list)
Iron Maiden
Darkthrone
Cannibal Corpse
Carcass
Cradle Of Filth
Spectral Wound
Panopticon
Tribulation
Enforced
Unto Others
Helloween
Obscura
Gojira

As always, i'll be interested to see who included the albums from accepted bands that ARE NOT metal releases (last year I had Ulver on my list. Will a band like Night Flight Orchestra make people's lists this year? Can't wait to find out.)

the marfa tapes, abba's new album, and kingfish ingram's 662 would probably do well on my list if it wasn't just for metal releases

for anyone interested in still checking out some not completely obvious stuff, i'll throw out a few band names i've liked the releases of this year:
ildaruni (hellenic black)
avtm (proggy/techy death/thrash)
cicada the burrower (avant/post-black)
diskord (avant-death)
rothadás (death/doom)
the silver (post-black/death)
stump tail (southern rock/death/black)

i'm sure some of these will end up on my list, but no idea yet which or how many, as there are plenty of other contenders (like 1914, gatecreeper, tribulation, ...)

This is pretty much where I was maybe a month ago. Fortunately, a batch of later November releases added a few salient albums, and starting to do some relistens in the past week has made a few albums start to separate from the pack like I hoped it would. Still, the differentiation doesn't feel as strong as it did last year. Part of why I'm embrangled at Decibel and others submitting their lists in early November (maybe even late October) is that even if you've stayed on top of release dates and listened to a lot (and had early access to some albums), it still doesn't give you much time to reflect on and absorb everything. That takes time. The next month is still going to be like drinking from a fire hose. These lists would ideally be done a few months into the next year. I know my '20 list would look a little different now than it did last November/December.



Yeah, my non-metal list is significantly stronger than my metal one. Getting a top 10 for jimbies' informal thread in The Tavern is going to be murder. I'll probably need at least 20 honorable mentions. Last year it was closer to an even split, this year it's like 75% non-metal.

That's what I was thinking, I was a bit disappointed with a few biggies that I had high hopes for (Exodus, Imp Naz, Lock Up, Carcass). Granted, I can't remember all the albums that came out this year so I'll no doubt miss a few. I think I'll spy on everyone esle to see what they submit

Woah, cool, I'll have to kick something off my preliminary list to make room for it then.

Also, welcome back.

I'm probably going to be submitting my list quite late because the new Loudness album will drop on December 29th 2021 and I want to listen to the new record of one of my favourite bands to verify whether it deserves to be among the greatest records of the year.