I started this last year in an effort to effectively calculate what we, the Metal Injection writers, were collectively fans of. For 2017, I decided to employ the same strategy as last year—a two-step approach. This initial count does most of the work. Using this method effectively keeps writers on a level playing field no matter how many albums they listed—at least through the first stage. To give you a little bit of a "behind the scenes:" the lot of us are constantly sharing music that we find and like with each other. This consequently leads to many of us liking similar albums. These common picks created interesting results for the end of the first round. It also made the second round a nailbiter for certain positions.
Submissions were down this year overall, creating a smaller sample size.We had 16 writers turn in lists this year compared to 18 from last year. Genre-specific column lists were also excluded. That means whatever Chris picked for The Monday Grind, Austin for Tech Death Tuesday, or myself for Funeral Doom Friday aren't included. These lists also varied in size and content—ranging from 10 to 40 picks and featured dozens of different albums. I cross-referenced every list to find common albums and determined which albums appeared most frequently.
Naturally, there were ties between albums. This created "tiers" of albums that immediately capped how high or low an album could finish on a list. Step two was an effort to break ties between albums within these tiers. I took the average position of each album within each of the tiers determined from step one and ultimately discovered Metal Injection's collective album of the year. Last year we gave the belt to Khemmis' Hunted. It won album of the year for a very good reason—that album kicked literally all of the ass. Now let's see who gets the belt this year…
20. Paradise Lost – Medusa
19. Moonspell – 1755
18. Primitive Man – Caustic
17. Code Orange – Forever
T-15. Integrity – Howling, for the Nightmare Shall Consume
T-15. Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival
14. Mutoid Man – War Moans
13. Archspire – Relentless Mutation
12. The Faceless – In Becoming A Ghost
11. Spectral Voice – Eroded Corridors of Unbeing
10. 3teeth – <shutdown.exe>
9. Igorrr – Savage Sinusoid
8. Yellow Eyes – Immersion Trench Reverie
7. Ne Obliviscaris – Urn
6. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy
5. Spirit Adrift – Curse of Conception
4. Mastodon – Emperor of Sand
3. Pallbearer – Heartless
2. Power Trip – Nightmare Logic
1. Converge – The Dusk In Us
The Dusk In Us appeared on six lists—the most of any record—and actually held the highest average position amongst albums that appeared on at least three lists. In short, Converge dominated writers' lists this year. Congratulations to Jacob, Kurt, Nate, and Ben on another riveting and successful album!
Are you wondering how some of these bands did so well? Check out all of the writers' submitted lists in our Best of 2017 section. Happy New Year!
