SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER D.X. FERRIS, AUTHOR OF 33 1/13: SLAYER’S REIGN IN BLOOD

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #9 album, coming in with a total of 166 points…

Gojira, From Mars to Sirius (Listenable/Prosthetic, 2005)
Joe Duplantier – Vocals/Guitars
Christian Andreu – Guitars
Jean-Michel Labadie – Bass
Mario Duplantier – Drums
Produced by Joe Duplantier

In modern metal, water is the new fire. Mastodon, Isis, Gojira. Especially Gojira. Who knew that environmental concerns could be metal as fuck? Sure, Kreator, C.O.C., and others grazed on some eco-friendly themes back in the day. But these four French dudes make a full meal of it. And it’s not feel-good hippie shit. In Gojira’s threatened world, nature’s green is splattered with red blood. Metal is best when it’s elemental. From Mars to Sirius is a concept album that – if I follow correctly – relates an interplanetary quest to resurrect a dead planet. We’re talking life, death, and rebirth on a grand scale.
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SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER FREDDY CAI OF PAINKILLER MAGAZINE

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #10 album, coming in with a total of 163 points…

Opeth, Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner, 2005)
Mikael Åkerfeldt – Vocals/Guitars
Peter Lindgren – Guitars
Per Wiberg – Keys
Martin Mendez – Bass
Martin Lopez – Drums
Produced by Jens Bogren

To Opeth, Ghost Reveries might have just been another album, an opportunity to take its forcecful sound one step further. To me, it’s more like a full-length spell that has been put upon my head. This is one of those very rare albums of which I just can’t easily rid myself, like an ex you just can’t get out of your head.

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SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER CARLOS RAMIREZ OF NOISECREEP AND UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #11 album, coming in with a total of 162 points…

Deftones, White Pony (Maverick, 2000)

Chino Moreno — Vocals, Guitars
Stephen Carpenter — Guitars
Chi Cheng — Bass
Abe Cunningham — Drums
Frank Delgado — Sampling, Electronics
Produced by Terry Date and Deftones

1999 was the year that the Deftones truly created their own little universe. Their first two albums, Adrenaline (1995) and Around the Fur (1997), were both chock full of bombastic guitars, new wave kissed vocal lines, and post-hardcore informed arrangements and their wide-scoped sound helped the Sacramento, CA band find audiences in various facets of the underground music scene. After taking a break from a tour supporting the gold-selling Around the Fur, the group got into their rehearsal space to work on the material which would become their third album.

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We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #12 album, coming in with a total of 139 points…

Tool, Lateralus (Volcano Records, 2001)

Maynard James Keenan – Vocals

Adam Jones – Guitars

Justin Chancellor – Bass

Danny Carey – Drums

Produced by David Bottrill and Tool

I’m sitting in my living room with my B&W speakers cranked through my Krell stereo, listening attentively in complete darkness. I’m STONED. Half a song in and Tool’s Lateralus is every bit as great as I remember it being; dark, rich, lush, creepy, challenging, accessible; Adam Jones’ buttery smooth yet razor-sharp crunchy guitar of “The Grudge” cuts through my chest. Justin Chancellor’s groovy bass-slapping locks in with Dan Carey’s rhythmic, guttural pounding… they all come together in a furious sonic whirlwhind, and then there’s Maynard’s voice letting out a gut-wrenching, soul-destroying, 15-second long scream. Chaos unfolds by the second, yet it’s completely calculated and organized chaos, wrapping together into a neat, pounding, CRUSHING riff that twists your soul and body with every unexpected turn of the music, then it locks into one final chaotic coda and it ends. Is there one more turnaround? Nope. But there’s more madness around the corner. TOOL, motherfuckers, TOOL!

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We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #13 album, coming in with a total of 138 points…

Mastodon, Blood Mountain (Warner Bros., 2006)
Troy Sanders — Bass, Vocals
Brent Hinds — Guitars, Vocals
Bill Kelliher — Guitars
Brann Dailor — Drums
Produced by Matt Bayles and Mastodon

I guess dudes were nervous about Mastodon’s third album, Blood Mountain, ‘cuz it was the quartet’s first for Warner Bros Records. Which is kinda goofy since all the greatest, most epic-est concept albums are major label affairs. And beardy production aside, Blood Mountain fits right in among those records, and not a moment too soon. It sounds to me like two Sepultura cover bands on opposite sides of a basement, one (inexplicably) playing Voivod’s Nothingface and the other Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (for some reason). It has the former’s freakishly dynamic riffs and exoticism, the latter’s epic arc and devastating instrumental passages. All three albums share a pervasive and baldly cinematic sense of time passing; Blood Mountain shoots from a canon (“The Wolf Is Loose”) and ends 50 minutes/several days later with a mournful closing credits sequence (“Pendulous Skin”). By that point, our hero (whom we all visualize as guitarist/singer Brent Hinds, right?) has been swallowed by the mountain or encased in ice or raped by a tree. The listener has been through only slightly less.

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SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER ROB PASBANI OF METAL INJECTION

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #14 album, coming in with a total of 124 points…

System of a Down, Toxicity (American, 2001)

Serj Tankian — Vocals, Keyboards
Daron Malakian — Guitars, Vocals
Shavo Odadjian — Bass
John Dolmayan — Drums
Produced by Rick Rubin, Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian

You know how certain songs or albums trigger memories for you? Well, System of A Down’s sophmore release, Toxicity, definitely brings me back to the late summer/early Fall of 2001. I immediately remember being drunk, joy riding with friends and screaming the chorus to “Deer Dance” at the top of my lungs. I remember the day we got the advanced copy of the CD at my college radio station and how I couldn’t believe how heavy this album was. I remember listening to it non-stop for literally three months straight. I have never done that with an album before or since.

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SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER CHRISTOPHER R. WEINGARTEN OF 1000 TIMES YES

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #15 album, coming in with a total of 117 points…

Nachtmystium, Assassins: Black Meddle, Part 1 (Century Media, 2008)
Blake Judd – Vocals/Lead Guitars
Jeff Wilson – Rhythm Guitars
Zion Meagher – Bass
Tony Laureano – Drums
Produced by Nachtmystium & Sanford Parker

Is it OK to like this band because “hipsters” hypothetically like this band?

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We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #16 album, coming in with a total of 115 points…

Machine Head, The Blackening (Roadrunner, 2007)
Robb Flyn – Vocals/Guitars
Phil Demmel – Guitars
Adam Duce – Bass
Dave McClain – Drums
Produced by Colin Richardson

With 2007′s The Blackening, Machine Head stormed back with a resounding shotgun blast from years of wallowing in irrelevancy, catapulting themselves back into metal’s mainstream with unanimous praise from longtime fans and critics alike. It’s not that Machine Head’s post Burn My Eyes efforts were downright terrible… actually, yeah, it pretty much is. While Machine Head could’ve spent the ’90s waving the “true metal” flag alongside Pantera, instead they chose to join the rap-metal circus and drown in a sea of mediocrity. With the addition of Phil Demmel on guitar for 2003′s Through the Ashes of Empires things started to turn around, culminating in The Blackening, an album that may end up standing as Machine Head’s career-best work.

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SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER AMY SCIARRETTO OF ROADRUNNER RECORDS AND NOISECREEP

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #17 album, coming in with a total of 113 points…

Hatebreed, Perseverance (Universal, 2002)
Jamey Jasta – Vocals
Sean Martin – Guitars
Lou “Boulder” Richards – Guitars
Chris Beattie – Bass
Matt Byrne – Drums
Produced by Matt Hyde

It took five years – FIVE!!! – for Hatebreed to follow up their classic, 26-minute opus, Satisfaction is the Death of Desire, with Perseverance. Making the fans wait till they were starved and parched probably would have served the band well even if the music wasn’t so toe-to-the-nuts, knuckle-draggingly brutal. Hatebreed fans were so desperately desiring new tunes from the band as we waited in the wings while Hatebreed wrestled themselves away from their label, Victory Records.

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DBR’s ace comment on our 19th Best Metal Album of the 21st Century… So Far (Mastodon’s Remission, for those keeping score at home) made me chuckle:

I remember hearing “March of the Fire Ants” for the first time on a Headbanger’s Ball compilation when I was a teenager and even though it took me a while to realize I actually liked it, that riff would get stuck in my head for days.

deedily deedily doo, deedily deedily doo, etc.

Deedily deedily doo; dead on, amirite???

It also got me thinkin’. What other metal onomatopoeias are there that are absolutely instantly recognizable? Aside from the obvious classics (“Smoke on the Water,” “Iron Man,” etc). So let’s play a little game here. Post your phonetic representation of a metal riff as a comment but do NOT post the name of the band or song — then let other commenters guess what song it is in the replies to that specific comment (yay threaded comments!). Go!

-VN

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #18 album, coming in with a total of 110 points…

Lamb of God, New American Gospel (Prosthetic, 2000)
Randy Blythe — Vocals
Mark Morton — Guitars
Willie Adler – Guitars
John Campbell — Bass
Chris Adler — Drums
Produced by Steve Austin and Lamb of God

Any fan attending any Lamb of God show in the last nine years has had absolute confidence in one aspect of the set list: they’re going to close with “Black Label.” It has been such a staple for the band that I can say with utmost certainty that should they continue for another nine years, this song will never go unplayed. Why would they rob their fans of the perfect closer? From the tension building intro with that insistent piccolo snare (dundundun pop pop pop pop pop pop dun dundun) to the crippling breakdown, there is so much finality in the song that an encore would undermine it completely. It’s the goddamn encore-annihilator! This is your last chance to dance, motherfuckers!!! This song makes teenagers want to rush each other to butt heads. When I was  just a wee sprite and I first saw the video, I thought I had finally discovered death metal. “Black Label” is violently heavy.

So could the message be any clearer on 2000’s New American Gospel when it appears as the opening track? Mike Tyson v. Hector Mercedes – 1985. First Round Knockout.

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SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER BEN APATOFF OF APATOFF FOR DESTRUCTION & METAL INJECTION

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #19 album, coming in with a total of 109 points…

Mastodon, Remission (Relapse, 2002)
Brann Dailor – Drums
Brent Hinds – Guitars/Vocals
Bill Kelliher – Guitars
Troy Sanders – Bass/Vocals
Produced by Matt Bayles

Mastodon’s first album erupts with a sound bite from Jurassic Park before unleashing twelve auditory beasts that absolutely wipe the floor with any CG Tyrannosaurus Rex.  From hectic, abrasive mathcore (“Crusher Destroyer”) to spacey, slow-building epics (“Trainwreck”) to a monolithic Thin Lizzy cover (“Emerald,” worth tracking down on the re-release,) four then-unknown southerners who’d barely discovered clean vocals already sounded like they could pull off everything.

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SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER BRAM TEITELMAN OF THE SYNDICATE & METAL INSIDER

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #20 album, coming in with a total of 105 points…

Shadows Fall, The War Within (Century Media, 2004)
Brian Fair – Vocals
Jonathan Donais – Lead Guitars
Matt Bachand – Rhythm Guitars
Paul Romanko – Bass
Jason Bittner – Drums
Produced by Zeuss

In 2009, “metalcore” is a polarizing word. Mainly because the fusion – of metal and hardcore, of screamed and sung vocals, of Sweden and America – is a cliché by now, a dead horse that’s been beaten by countless formulaic bands that forgot to write actual songs. Go back almost exactly five years, however, and the sound was as close to a revolution in metal as there has been this decade. Killswitch Engage’s The End of Heartache made an impressive debut at #21 on Billboard’s top 200 chart in May of 2004, but on September 28th of the same year their New England brethren Shadows Fall’s fourth album, The War Within, did them one better, debuting at #20. While neither of the New England trifecta of those two bands and Unearth would probably want to label themselves as “metalcore,” they represent the heights of the genre, for better or worse.

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We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. We begin today with the #21 album, coming in with a total of 104 points…

Slipknot, Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses (Roadrunner, 2004)
Corey Taylor – Vocals
Mick Thomson – Guitars
Jim Root – Guitars
Paul Gray – Bass
Joey Jordison – Drums
Shawn Crahan – Percussions
Chris Fehn – Percussions
Sid Wilson – Turntables
Craig Jones – Samples, Media
Produced by Rick Rubin

It’s always good when you stir shit up right out of the gates, y’know?

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Enough with the teases. Here’s the real deal.

Back in April, we polled 57 musicians, managers, label reps, publicists, and writers from within the world of metal (including the staff of MetalSucks) for the 21 Best Albums of the 21st Century… So Far. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009 (Yes, we’re aware that technically the century didn’t start ’til 2001. But we decided not to be dicks about it.). Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album pick being awarded 21 points, their #2 album being awarded 20 points, their #3 album being awarded 19 points, and so on and so forth. Then, once all the ballots were in, we tallied ‘em all up and compiled the final list based entirely on which albums had scored the most amount of points.

Starting Monday, we’ll be counting down the list one album a day, starting at #21 until we reach the #1 album in July. In addition to the MetalSucks staff, we’ve recruited some cool guest writers – including contributors to Decibel, Revolver, Metal Injection, NoiseCreep, and many others – to blog about each album.

Of course, the list is sure to incite a great deal of heated debate amongst you MetalSucks Maniacs. If nothing else, the results are fascinating – a look at the best records of the past nine years, as democratically selected by the people intimately involved with the creation of the music we all love.

All the ballots will remain under lock and key, to be viewed only by Axl and Vince, to ensure that everyone voted honestly, without fear of being judged or alienating friends or business associates – so while we can tell you who got to vote in the poll, we can’t tell you who each individual voted for.

After the jump, check out the complete list of the panel of voters.  Keep in mind that these are just the people who responded to the poll in time for our deadline – in fact we probably invited twice as many people to participate – but we still think it’s a pretty fantastic gathering of metal insiders.

And starting Monday, we’ll let you see which albums they voted for…

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