Kai vs. RYM metal charts: 1997

    1997 was the year trad metal/power metal should have taken America back by storm.  But thanks to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, corporate fuckery and a desire to keep America stupid and intolerant towards Europeans, that never happened and bred the way for something far, far worse.  Strangely enough, despite nu-metal's revival we've gone through three years of it's period and not a single album from that field has popped up in rateyourmusic's top 10.  I have an unfortunate feeling one of them is gonna pop up, but perhaps no more.  Let's go holy diving....


1. Emperor- Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk

    Oh!  Ok. I mean, I don't agree that this is the best metal album of 1997, but it's better than what I thought would show up here.  Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk is also definitely a drop off compared to In The Nightside Eclipse (the super cluttered production doesn't help), but it's still something of quality.  I suppose the interesting thing is despite being hi-fi like Dissection and Sacramentum, this sounds nothing like those bands.  Yay for individuality I guess?  For my take on the best black metal album of 1997, check out Necrophobic's Darkside.

Should this album be on a top 10: Yes

Would this album make my top 10: Yes


2. Deftones- Around The Fur

    Moar like tonedef amirite (I'm what the 2394th person to make that joke)?  Fuck you, China.  Fuck you for poisoning the metal well with this crap.  Deftones had their run and died their appopriate death of mediocrity along with Limp Bizkit.  You'll noticed that despite nu-metal's "death," Korn, Linkin Park and System of A Down had no issue staying in arenas.  Hell, Papa Roach somehow managed to squeeze what, 40 years out of their Iron Maiden riff ripoff?  Point is, before tiktok brainwashing the world thought Chino Moreno's voice was the most annoying thing ever so left it in the proverbial rubbish bin where it belonged.

Should this album be on a top 10: hehehe oh wait you're serious, let me laugh even harder- AAAAHAHAHAHA

Would this album make my top 10: hehehe oh wait you're serious, let me laugh even harder- AAAAHAHAHAHA


3. Electric Wizard- Come My Fanatics....

    I like Electric Wizard but I don't remember a note of how this goes. And oddly enough that's more points against Come My Fanatics than it is a death or black metal band because death/black metal is strangely (and stupidly) anti-song.  Like how are you a doom metal band and don't have any long-lasting riffs?  Hell, the only thing I do remember is the "You hate the police, don't you?" sample.  

Should this album be on a top 10: Yes

Would this album make my top 10: Yes


4. Intestine Baalism- An Anatomy of the Beast

    So I've decided rather than do my snotty "who" entry with the first thing I'm not familiar with, I'm actually gonna listen one such album and give it a fair shot.  So what is An Anatomy of the Beast then?  Well, it's death metal right out of Japan.  Now you think that would be just spectacular and original.  After all, Sigh is black metal out of Japan,* and nothing sounds like that album, so this will be the same, right?  Well....you like Ross Dolan's voice kids? Cos that's who vocalist Seiji Kakuzaki sounds like. I won't say musically it sounds like Immolation....half the time.  The other half of the time is some Swedish death metal section thrown in. Sometimes it sounds like Entombed, sometimes it sounds like In Flames (well, it's what In Flames wish they would sound like).  And hey, it works!

Should this album be on a top 10: You know what, why not?

Would this album make my top 10: To be determined...


5. Strapping Young Lad- City

    I definitely predicted this would be here. Dare I suggest City is to thrash what Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk is to black metal.  I don't quite click with Strapping Young Lad.  I recognize Devin Townsend as quite possibly the most talented musician in metal, but aside from an acoustic duet with Anneke Van Giersbergen, nothing he does really clicks with me. It's cool that he decided to mix thrash with industrial, and let me tell you, when people tell you this thing is chaos, they ain't kidding. (Though he forgot thrash is supposed to have guitar solos). Hell, if you want to play the whole "metal is whatever the most extreme thing is ever" game (which I think is a dumb game), this still makes the Slaughter To Prevails and Lorna Shores sound like Poison.

Should this album be on a top 10: Yes

Would this album make my top 10: No


6. Esoteric- The Pernicious Enigma

    "I wouldn't be so esoteric if you weren't so lethargic."  Well, the band is British, so the title is on brand I guess.  

Should this album be on a top 10: ....who?

Would this album make my top 10: ....who?


7. Ocean Machine - Biomech 

    The other Devin Townsend beloved project that came out in 1997 which I'm completely clueless on.  This is looking like it's gonna be the first RYM top 10 where I know less than half the entries.  Still, I see it discussed in enough circles so I'll give it a pass.

Should this album be on a top 10: Sure

Would this album make my top 10: No


8. Ulver- Nattens Madrigal: Aate Hymne Til Ulven I Manden

    Whoa, I forgot about this record.  I've never been an Ulver fan, but this was their one album I could tolerate.  Keyword there being could.  This sounds like what people who hate black metal think it sounds like.  You really can't appreciate the expertise that Burzum and Darkthrone have with lo-fi production until you hear how piercing and grating this sounds.  Hell, this is worse than Great Southern Trendkill when it comes to grating production.  And at times it just sounds so....happy.  Like Deafheaven.  Heh, no wonder this album has "stood the test of time" according to the youth.  This is probably the album I dislike the most that I will grudgingly admit belongs on a top 10 of the year.  Maybe.

Should this album be on a top 10: Yes

Would this album make my top 10: No


9. Misery Index- Assuck

    Never heard it, but that title tickles me.

Should this album be on a top 10: No

Would this album make my top 10: No


10. The Gathering- Nighttime Birds

    I just now realize that their seminal record Mandylion doesn't appear in the 1995 top 10.  Likely because it got downvoted by the Kendrick hipsters because they saw it was the popular one, but this one goes untouched because they don't care.  Eh, I suppose 10 is fine for this, but considering what's above it (and what's not on the top 10 at all), this is just completely ass-backwards.

Should this album be on a top 10: No

Would this album make my top 10: No


Closing thoughts: I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for this project.  I've told myself that if it ever gets to a point in the 00's or beyond where I don't see a single album I like in RYMs top 10 once, that might be where I stop.  Now that's not the case here obviously, but there's no album on this list that I love. 

    Once again, there's barely any black metal here, considering the late 90s (much to the chagrin of the innovators) was when the genre blew up in international popularity.  Yeah Emperor's here but come on that's a given.  No Gorgoroth?  No Immortal?  No Necrophobic? Not even Dimmu Borgir? I also figured we'd at least see Hammerfall, given that Glory To The Brave has the acclaim of "bringing back real heavy metal," but given how much generic crap they've been putting out for decades, that might lead people to believe that Hammerfall were never good.  Tis a shame.  No futher nu or alt-metal albums on this top 10.  So it's got that going for it.  Which is nice.

My unordered top 10:

BRUCE DICKINSON- ACCIDENT OF BIRTH

CHILDREN OF BODOM- SOMETHING WILD

ELECTRIC WIZARD- COME MY FANATICS………

EMPEROR- ANTHEMS TO THE WELKIN AT DUSK

GAMMA RAY- SOMEWHERE OUT IN SPACE

GORGOROTH- UNDER THE SIGN OF HELL

HAMMERFALL- GLORY TO THE BRAVE

HYPOCRISY- THE FINAL CHAPTER

NECROPHOBIC- DARKSIDE

NIGHTWISH- ANGELS FALL FIRST


What?  Don't look at me like that.  Just because Tuomas hates it doesn't make it bad.  Hell, given the crap Nightwish have put out in the last 10 years, I'd say him disliking it makes it good.


*and fuck RYM for not putting Scorn Defeat in it's top 10 for 1993.  Yeah I know it wasn't on my top 10, so what? It's still better than Individual Thought Patterns!


It'd be nice if Townsend hired a soloist, just sayin.

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