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Before the Arsies Begin…

Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s)

Dear Arse & Ziggles:

As always, I can’t wait for the Arsies to begin. As the suspense builds, I thought I should point out something you may already have noticed: The Arsies is anti-establishment. And that’s not just an opinion statement, I can prove it. Nick Cusworth at Heavy Blog Is Heavy aggregated the best-of metal lists from major metal websites (Stereogum, Loudwire, Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, SPIN, Decibel, LA Weekly, Apple Music, Metalsucks, Metal Injection, Metal Hammer, and Pitchfork) to produce one mega list representing the views of the “metal establishment.” The following table compares the results of this list with the 6th Arsies. The lack of overlap is astounding. There are only 8 matches (25% of the Arsies list), and one of them, the new Iron Maiden, was not even on the original list.

RankBand -- Album6th ArsiesBoydTaken from:
3Baroness -- Purplehttp://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2015/12/23/2015-best-of-meta-list/
10Bell Witch -- Four Phantoms
32Between the Buried and Me -- Coma Ecliptic1
16Bosse-de-Nage -- All Fours
47Bring Me the Horizon -- That’s the Spirit
18Cattle Decapitation -- The Anthropocene Extinction
48Cloud Rat -- Qliphoth
21Clutch -- Psychic Warfare
34Dead to a Dying World -- Litany
1Deafheaven -- New Bermuda
26Elder -- Lore
49Enslaved -- In Times1
43Failure -- The Heart Is a Monster
13Faith No More -- Sol Invictus
22False -- Untitled
8Ghost -- Meliora1
41Halestorm -- Into the Wild Life
6High on Fire -- Luminiferous
4Horrendous -- Anareta
38Intronaut -- The Direction of Last Things1
12Iron Maiden -- The Book of Souls11
24Khemmis -- Absolution
25Killing Joke -- Pylon
30Krallice -- Ygg Huur
29Lamb of God -- VII: Sturm und Drang11
11Leviathan -- Scar Sighted
45Lucifer -- Lucifer I
19Marilyn Manson -- The Pale Emperor
7Mgła -- Exercises in Futility
37Mutoid Man -- Bleeder1
17Myrkur -- M
14Napalm Death -- Apex Predator -- Easy Meat1
44Noisem -- Blossoming Decay1
23Obsequiae -- Aria of Vernal Tombs
5Panopticon -- Autumn Eternal1
9Paradise Lost -- The Plague Within
28Prurient -- Frozen Niagara Falls
20Refused -- Freedom
27Royal Thunder -- Crooked Doors1
42Sannhet -- Revisionist
36Sarpanitum -- Blessed Be My Brothers
31Satan -- Atom by Atom
33Skepticism -- Ordeal
35Slayer -- Repentless1
46Slugdge -- Dim & Slimeridden Kingdoms
2Tribulation -- The Children Of The Night
50Vastum -- Hole Below
40Vattnet Viskar -- Settler
15VHÖL -- Deeper Than Sky
39Windhand -- Grief’s Infernal Flower
Matches86

* Taken from http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2015/12/23/2015-best-of-meta-list/

On a much less important note, I also included a list of the 50 original studio albums I bought in 2015 for comparison. My tastes also come out as anti-establishment, but this may largely be due to the fact that I listen to more Japanese metal than anyone probably should.

RankGroupTitleThis is a list of the original studio albums released in 2015 that I bought.
?Abigail WilliamsThe Acusser I don't know if I will ever have time to rank them, but I removed two poor choices to make it a list of 50 albums.
?AgonistEye of Providence
?AldiousRadiant A
?AmorphisUnder the Red Cloud
?ArmageddonCaptivity and Devourment
?AvatariumThe Girl with the Raven Mask
?Battle BeastUnholy Savior
?Black Dahlia MurderAbysmal
?Blind GuardianBeyond the Red Mirror
XChaos MagicChaos Magic
?Children Of BodomI Worship Chaos
?Chris CafferyYour Heaven Is Real
?CrossfaithXeno
?Crystal LakeThe Sign
?CyntiaWoman
?Devil You KnowThey Bleed Red
?EnslavedIn Times
?Fear FactoryGenexus
?Gacharic SpinMusic Battler
?Ghost CriesMelum Primus
?HelloweenMy God Given Right
?HuntressStatic
?Iron MaidenThe Book of Souls
?KamelotHaven
?Kiske & SomervilleCity of Heroes
?Lamb of GodSturm Und Drang
?Mary's BoodBloody Palace
?MelecheshEnki
?Metal AllegianceMetal Allegiance
?MoonspellExtinct
XMotor SisterRide
?MotorheadBad Magic
?Napalm Death Apex Predator-Easy Meat
?NightwishEndless Forms Most Beautiful
?Once HumanThe Life I Remembered
?Parkway DriveIre
?RaglaiaCreation
?RavenscryThe Attraction of Opposites
?Rie a.k.a. SuzakuNoah's Ark
?Royal ThunderCrooked Doors
?Serenity In MurderThe Higest of Dystopia
?SighGraveward
?SlayerRepentless
?SoilworkThe Ride Majestic
?SoulflyArchangel
?StratovariusEternal
?SurviveHuman Misery
?Swallow the SunSongs of the North I, II, & III
?Symphony XUnderworld
?Trans-Siberian Orchestra Letters from the Labyrinth
?TriviumSilence in the Snow
?W.A.S.P. Golgotha

I hope you guys had a great Christmas and have a happy new year!

This post has a response:
January 4, 2016 Re: Before the Arsies Begin… avatar
That's some excellent analysis, JaPaBo. I can't argue with the math! What I can say, however, is that I don't intentionally go against the grain per se. If anything, I...