Shit, yeah, I agree. I forgot about there being a separate results thread after.

1. Threshold - Legends of the Shires (No Wilson, no problem. An epic journey with basically no filler and everything exceptional)
2. Duskmourn - Of Shadow and Flame (Folky melodeath done correctly, with "unfriendly" production and some of the sickest melodies...)
3. Dodecahedron - Kwintessens (The eponymous track is worth the price of admission by itself. Not a song or a work of art, but an achievement)
4. Ascended Dead - Abhorrent Manifestation (Sick, twisted vocal delivery, non stop unrelenting death metal the way it should be)
5. Grima - Tales of the Enchanted Woods (Dark, melodic blackish metal with mid tempo stuff thrown in)
6. The Ominous Circle - Appalling Ascension (Brutal, with very interesting songwriting. The intro is too long, but the rest of the album kills)
7. Cold Insight - Further Nowhere (Beautifully depressing, especially "Close Your Eyes")
8.Dimman - Guide My Fury (EP) - These kids are like 20, lol wtf? Has the maturity of bands that have been around for 20 years or so)
9. Norrskold - Withering Virtue - The Second Chapter (Took me by surprise....riffs, riffs, and more riffs. Just wow)
10. Cover of Night - The Depths (Very dark and atmospheric one-man band from "The Road" in the USA)


DEBUT: The Ominous Circle - Appalling Ascension


This was an off year, like others have said, with a few tremendous albums, but mostly just a lot of strong recordings. A couple surprises, which I would NOT have predicted back in January, are the fact that I don't have Nokturnal Mortum or Summoning on my list. I also was shocked at how good this Threshold album is. It literally has been on my playlist every day since it came out. Given how good their track record is, especially Dead Reckoning and March of Progress, it probably shouldn't have surprised me. Overall, my tastes evolved in 2017, as I saw myself exploring the deepest recesses of the underground for extreme metal of any form. Next year should be awesome with Sulphur Aeon leading the charge with their highly anticipated 3rd album. I can't wait.

EDIT: I somehow forgot about my #2 album of the year in my first list so I had to edit and push everything down a slot which means Cannibal Corpse got knocked off. Duskmourn released a monstrous folky melodic extreme album that cannot be ignored. I knew something felt off when I was making the list and I'm glad I got it right.

That new Threshold really is awesome - though the 80 minute length prevents me from saying it's better than their very cool, consistent previous few albums. I'd put them all in the 90s somewhere though. What a great band.

Without giving much of my list away, the new Threshold is indeed high up there. It's so strange, too--Glenn is my least favorite vocalist the band has had, yet this could very well be my favorite album from them.

"Small Dark Lines," "The Shire Pt. 2," "Trust the Process," "Swallowed," "Snowblind," "Stars and Satellites"...so many exceptional tunes.

It's a tough choice, but Glynn is probably their best singer for me. He is a fucking powerhouse. They've never sounded heavier and more aggressive.

Every song is very good, yeah - though the 80 minute length can make it slightly daunting for an easy listen. It's not long enough to be a Book of Souls-like journey, but is longer than a typical album - an odd middle point that just feels like a slightly long album rather than a real mammoth epic - but it's a minor quibble and every song works anyway. For the Journey's concise runtime made it their best for me, but this new one is close.

It doesn't feel like 80 mins to me. It just flows pretty much flawlessly. Threshold is a unique band in that they've had, in my opinion, 3 stellar vocalists. I can't decide which one I like the best.

It's not in my list but guys, don't forget about the new Aosoth, it rips. I'm just a bit tired of their style.

Also, don't forget about Locust Leaves, it came out in February so it's not totally fresh but it's incredible.

Hell yeah, The Ominous Circle was the first album I bought in 2017. Agree with you on the intro, but man the rest of that album kills

I just bought one of their t shirts \m/

If you like it, make sure to check the Ascended Dead record. Totally chaotic death metal, it fucking slays.

I dunno why so many people complaining about this being a dry year... but then again I listen almost exclusively to death and black metal and all the bastard hybrids of both.
On death metal alone this year was gold. From veteran acts like Incantation, Cannibal Corpse, Belphegor, Immolation and even Morbid Angel (!!) releasing solid material, great debut releases from bands like Engulfed and The Ominous Circle, mighty returns like Akercocke, Shaarimoth and Excommunion, ear-rapping albums by the likes of Hideous Divinity, Benighted, Dying Fetus, you name it, you got it. Whatever your poison, death metal got you covered this year.

That being said, my number 1 spot goes to Elder and that masterpiece of an album.

Personally this was a down year for me too, but my potential candidates are like 80% death metal as well. Death metal killed it this year, but everything else struggled.

I started re-listening to 2017 stuff at the weekend but will be sure to send my list again. Enjoyed the results last year and thought they were more relevant than the magazine lists. I thought it was a decent year for metal especially the more extreme stuff.

Lol, i only heard maybe 5 or so releases from 2017. I still live in the 80's. Anyway my number 1 for this year is Lovebites Awakening from Abyss. These petite Japanese Females fucking slay. The guitarist Duo remind me of the guitar battles of old between Tipton / Downing- Smith/ Murray- Hanneman/ King.

My opinion is that the poll souldn't be closed until half january 2018. Otherwise, every release comin' out in these days is authomatically excluded from the list, there is no chance to listen deeply to it and have a strong opinion. First one comin'to my mind is the Evilfeast album, which appears to be a stand-out release but it's too close to n.y.d to be considered.

Also... a question about release date: is it concerning about physical release or is it the digital one happening first which it counts? I'm speaking particularly of Fractal Generator debut, on cd this year but seemingly digitally released som times ago.

I will edit this post later, just to give some little ideas probably my list will be including (in no particular order, as for now, and with painful choices to leave some of them out) Kassad - Faces Turn away; Dumal - The lesser gods; Saqra's cult - Forgotten rites; Sentient Horror - Ungodly forms; Sale Freux - Vindilis; Nightbringer - Terra Damnata; Hetroertzen - Uprising of the Fallen; Draugsol - Volada Land; Woe - Hope attrition; Nemesis Sopor - MMXL; The Great Old Ones ‎– EOD (A Tale Of Dark Legacy); Sorrowplagues - Homecoming; Synodic - Infinite presence in a violent multiverse; Sutrah - Dunes; Blaze of Sorrow - Astri; Suffering hour - In passing ascension

The newest arrivals I haven't listened enough to... but Horrified - Allure of the fallen and Mediis Tenebris ‎– Là où les Hommes se perdent are gainin' prestige.

Best newcomers: Jera - Jera; Grauen - В небесном источнике

Meanwhile, Shroud Ritual - Five suns instrumental progressive death/black/whatever-else metal has hit me back in the head again... impossible to not even mention this great album. Unbelievable it hasn't been released on physical cd yet. Labels, where are you?

LOL!!! record: new Cradle of Filth. Who ever thought they should have sounded again like "Dusk and her embrace"?
Cheers


THis is what I sent:

1) Kassad - Faces turn away
2) Suffering Hour - In passing ascension
3) Sale Freux - Vindilis
4) The Great Old Ones ‎– EOD (A Tale Of Dark Legacy)
5) Nemesis Sopor - MMXL
6) Shroud Ritual - Five suns
7) Nightbringer - Terra Damnata
8) Saqra's cult - Forgotten rites
9) Horrified - Allure of the fallen
10) Mediis Tenebris ‎– Là où les Hommes se perdent

Best newcomer : Jera - Jera

All other bands I listed in the thread are worthy entering this list tho'.

As imagined, Evilfeast album is a killer one but I've given only two listens... too few to enter the highlights of one year.
Very impressing music comes with Silence (Arg) - Placelessness; Sacred Son - Sacred Son is a great album too (don't be drawn to error by the cover), but I'm waiting for the vinyl, so I'll listen to it better in 2018

All the best, no fucking xmas wishes

Ayreon- The Source
Unleash the Archers- Apex
Wolfheart- Tyhjyys
Wolves in the Throne Room- Thrice Woven
Orden Ogan- Gunmen

Best debut

Satan's Hallow- s/t

Overall an ok year. The last two had a lot more releases that I loved.

Shit. Just sent mine in and completely forgot about this album. Oh well.

The latest by Serenity in Murder is incredible as well, speaking of Japanese metal. Might end up in my #1 slot.

lol what the fuck dude, i havent heard like half those bands

Yeah, but it's just a bit of fun. CradleofBurzum was saying the same thing but it's honestly just a harmless poll.

I'm going to do my list but I'm waiting for a couple more to arrive, which should be soon. Then I'll make my list, which will be hard because I've been unusually prolific this year - nearly 100 purchased albums!

Fuck yeah.. gonna wait a few weeks to post mine but that Duskmourn will be at or near the top. Absolutely killer album.

Closing the poll at the end of the year is ok because the people who won't be able to listen deeply enough to form a strong opinion to things released at the end of the year will be balanced out by the people who have an immediately strong reaction to those same releases which might otherwise have been tempered by further listening.

Either way it's just a top ten list. Just think of it as a spur of the moment thing and throw on the first ten things that come to mind. It's only meant to be a snapshot of what people were thinking at the moment, not a binding judgement for all posterity.

Exactly. Hindsight and later discoveries are powerful things, especially when whatever poor sod I nominated for the #1 spot back in 2014 would obviously be stomped into the ground by Mary's Blood's debut album until the crater is so deep you can see Hell. And Nightwish's 2015 offering would have to sleep with one eye open lest Mary's Blood's follow-up album should slice its throat open in the dead of night.

Yes, excellent year for death metal (quietly a great year for black metal too, I'm noticing my preliminary year end list is backloaded with a ton of black metal).

Speaking of death metal, I hope no one misses out on Bufihimat's debut full length. An absolutely devastating piece of grinding death metal with some tasteful experimentation here and there. An impressive work, you can tell the years of dedication to creating this record paid off. There has been zero mentions of them on the forum, so that's why I'm bringing the name up.
https://bufihimat.bandcamp.com/album/i

Fascinating! I found this to be my favorite year for speed/thrash since early '90's with amazing albums from Antichrist, Vulture, Stalker, Condor, Midnight, Vampire, and more. Yet personally most of the death metal I heard this year was underwhelming.

Spoiler, but this is going to find it's way somewhere on my list. Love seeing it on yours. I found it fascinating. The lyrics are profoundly sad.

2017, the year of old hoary death metal bands making hoary old plain average death metal albums. Just kidding! I dug most of them.

There was some good doom metal in 2017 too. Pallbearer and Below come to mind, but death metal seemed to dominate this year. Dominated most of my list TBH. There were a couple good prog metal releases also from Threshold and Sons of Apollo's debut

Finding death metal conquering my list as well. Even beyond my top ten, there were a lot of great death metal albums this year - Cannabis Corpse, Left Hand Pass; Phrenelith, Desolate Endscape; Entrails, World Inferno. These are strong albums, but lost to a few others that I found myself going to frequently, and enjoying even more on repeated listens.

Last year seemed to be dominated by thrash, though I don't remember being quite as psyched about them albums as those at the top of my list this year.

Some interesting traditional metal albums as well. Was surprised how much I liked the new Accept - Rise of Chaos. Again, not top 10 material, but a fun listen nonetheless.

Damn, I might have to make a list simply for death metal.

Glad this was mentioned. Really solid album, though the last two proper tracks pale in comparison to the first song "Light (Fos)." Certainly a project to keep an eye on.

Most of the death metal albums I heard all had the same Portal/Demilich hybrid sound. droneriot made a great point in his Demilich review how it's like that band came from a universe where time runs backwards and they were the most generic brutal tech death metal band in the world because all the death metal bands for years now have been playing catch up with all the ideas they crammed into one little album twenty-four years ago... As for Portal becoming the other cornerstone of death metal... I guess it's a simple way to make a "big" sound?

Obviously I'm more of a black metal fan anyway, but black metal this year seems much more varied with a nice mix of styles all making it into the running for top ten lists.

So many to chose from. Had to eliminate a few newcomers from my list and non-metal stuff.

Just sent mine in. Of the albums from bands/artists I seek out, there are only two I have yet to hear-Witchery and Nortt. I highly doubt these would make the list (Nortt might be an honorable mention).

Will post my list (with more detailed thoughts) as well as my honorable mentions, biggest disappointments, and my non-metal list/honorable mentions/biggest disappointments in the results thread.

Do you guys have an official worst album poll/discussion, or is it just best albums?

Anyways, I'm looking forward to participating for the first time! Shame that Endeligt is coming out so late, though... I still have to listen to that, Kong Vinter, Kwintessens, Deep Calleth Upon Deep, and Gunmen so I can make a confident decision.

I wouldn't be able to make a very good Worst of 2017 list because I tend not to give albums I hate more than a single listen, and I quickly put them out of my mind so I wouldn't be able to rank them or justify their positions. :V

I think for a lot of people, Worst of 2017 would be a waste of time. If there's a handful of shitty albums, who cares which is worse than the others?

Eh, looking back I have no fucking clue why I said "poll" but I sometimes like listening to terrible albums. I can laugh at them, I can analyze what went wrong with them, and my enjoyment of genuinely good albums can increase by listening with them.

Here are the worst of 2017 that I heard...

Havok - Conformicide
Musically ungraceful and annoying with awful vocals and lyrics. Just so bad.

Wintersun - The Forest Seasons
Overblown, bells and whistles pompous garbage - superbly unintelligent, silly music.

Serious Black - Magic
I've loved urban breed for as long as I've been into metal, and this just killed me. Awful crap.

Dragonforce - Reaching for Infinity
Another old favorite of mine descends into essentially try-hard, directionless garbage.

Battle Beast - Bringer of Pain
Utterly shallow, plastic music. Just not good and it's a shame - their old stuff had potential.

I think we should stop posting lists in here until after the results are tallied and posted to prevent further submissions from being influenced or prejudiced.