Favorite albums of 2012

[Zehm]

The first thing that comes to mind is Wintersun's Time I. It's absolutely incredible. especially when you see the video of Jari deconstructing the orchestras. The melodic complexity is astounding.

 

[Keenan]

Anyone else enjoy Bonded By Blood's The Aftermath?

 

[D.Ingram]

No.

 

[Snyde]

Anyone else enjoy Bonded By Blood's The Aftermath?

Kinda? It was no masterpiece... Certainly not Album of the Year material IMO.

 

[Dungeon Vic]

After serious music listening for the past days and with many difficult moments of "this or that?" I finally wrote this down and sent it to work quickly before I changed my mind for the n-th time.

Nekromantheon - Rise, Vulcan Spectre
Tenacious D - Rize of the Fenix
Testament - Dark Roots of Earth
Aggression - Viocracy
Deathhammer - Onward to the Pits
Trail of Murder - Shades of Art
Slash - Apocalyptic Love
Threshold - March of Progress
Bio-Cancer - Ear Piercing Thrash
Heart of Cygnus - The Voyage of Jonas
Prong - Carved into Stone
Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage
Striker - Armed to the Teeth
Accept - Stalingra
Overkill - Electric Rattlesnake
Asphyx - Deathhammer
Pharaoh - Bury the Light
Tankard - A Girl Called Cerveza
Lich King - Born of the Bomb
Hexen - Being and Nothingness

These were the close-calls that were in and out of the list:
Orange Goblin - A Eulogy for the Damned
Tantara - Based on Evil
Candlemass - Psalms for the Dead
Forte - Unholy Power
Chronosphere - Envirusment
Thrashist Regime - Fearful Symmetry
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandoras Pinata
Black Breath - Sentenced to Life
Angel Witch - As Above, So Below
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Steve Vai - The Story of Light

...and I never had the chance to listen to the new Paradox. Also, Satan's Wrath, it just slipped my mind and I did not give it a listen. Kreator... I think I need a break from their identical sound now. It's good thrash but I just didn't have the appetite to listen to another Kreator.


All in all, except for Vektor, this was a better year for thrash than last year. Lots of quality stuff and with more character. Metal-wise (as in HEAVY METAL based on the 80s), it was a so-so year. I did not find one perfect ten album.

You should all check out Aggression from Spain. Tech thrash that draws influences from the 88-92 period of thrash, including the funkier and groove-oriented ones (and that includes the Coroner groove btw), very good songwriting, excellent musicianship. I only heard em very recently but they got me right away.

 

[Keenan]

Been listening to Gojira's L'Enfant Sauvage alot over the past few days. It's probably my #1 now.

 

[Snyde]

I'm not going to make a list before the new Mors Principium Est album comes out. I got really high hopes for that one.

 

[D.Ingram]

Shitty death, I completely forgot that Desaster's "The Arts of Destruction" came out this year

 

[Der Morgenstern]

Hellbringer - Dominion of Darkness
Satan's Wrath - Galloping Blasphemies
Weapon - Embers and Revelations
Terrorizer - Hordes of Zombies
Sonne Adam - Messengers of Desolate Ways
Lord - Ales Stenar
Ilsa - Intoxicantations
Ravens Creed - The Power

 

[D.Ingram]

I forgot about Hordes of Zombies. That said, I think that more falls into the 'less shit albums of 2012' catagory for me, as I thought it was slightly... bland? I dunno.

Also, haven't seen you post for a while mate!

 

[Snyde]

Alrighty, having listened to every record I wanted to listen to this year, its time to get cracking on this... I listened to more albums this year than any other year ever so I have to sift through a lot of stuff.. I have something posted sometime this week...

 

[Der Morgenstern]

I forgot about Hordes of Zombies. That said, I think that more falls into the 'less shit albums of 2012' catagory for me, as I thought it was slightly... bland? I dunno.

Also, haven't seen you post for a while mate!

Yep, been busy working and raising a little one. Not much time to post.

 

[D.Ingram]

Guess I've got that to look forward to

 

[Alteredmindeath]

Fuck I can't even remember its been a fucked year

 

[Snyde]

Here we go:

Top 15:
1 - Katatonia - Dead End Kings
2 - Kreator - Phantom Antichrist
3 - Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Ame
4 - Mors Principium Est - ...And Death Said Live
5 - Kamelot - Silverthorn
6 - Wintersun - Time I
7 - Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol
8 - Asphyx - Deathhammer
9 - Gorod - A Perfect Absolution
10 - Tremonti - All I Was
11 - Cannibal Corpse - Torture
12 - My Dying Bride - A Map Of All Our Failures
13 - Ihsahn - Eremita
14 - Killing Joke - MMXII
15 - Spawn of Possession - Incurso


Bottom 5:
1 - Sonata Arctica - Stones Grow Her Name - This is so bad its funny.
2 - Ensiferum - Unsung Heroes - Props for being the most boring folk metal record I ever listened to.
3 - Fear Factory - The Industrialist - Baaaad drum machine job...
4 - Destruction - Spiritual Genocide - Stop releasing the same album over and over, kthxbai.
5 - Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud - "I love you, I love you I need you Ill always be around you I love you, I love you I need you Ill always be around you" Okay devin, I get it... "Animals, animals am I lucky! Animals, animals am I lucky! Animals, animals am I lucky!" ............

 

[zerostatic]

Been a good year for metal, what are your favorite albums thus far? Also, any killer releases in the upcoming months that I should look forward to?

My favorite albums that have been released this year are the following:

1) Testament - Dark Roots of Earth. I am really impressed with this album. Favorite songs are A Day in the Death, Throne of Thorns and Last Stand for Independence. The bonus tracks are also a nice treat.

2) Cannibal Corpse - Torture. Another brutal album from CC. Nothing new here, but it works and sounds great.

3) Cattle Decapitation - Monolith of Inhumanity. Saw these guys live a few months ago and they put on a really intense, heavy show. The album is also very brutal with some crazy vocals.

4) Huntress - Spelleater. Traditional heavy metal with a female vocalist. I have seen them twice this year and I am really enjoying this album. I have heard complaints about the vocals but I love this vocal style.

5) Meshuggah - Koloss. Fun to listen to with catchy grooves and amazing technical playing. One thing that helps Meshuggah rise above the crowd of imitators and copycats is that for the most part it is always about the song and setting the groove.

Let me add the following albums:

Angelus Apartrida - The Call
Cryptopsy - S/T - A great comeback album for these guys.
Sylosis - Monolith - Some great thrash here. I am surprised I haven't heard more about this band. I discovered this late in November and have been rocking it consistently since then.
Asphyx - Deathhammer - This was my first Asphyx album and I am very impressed. I went through their back catalog and this is one of my favorite bands that I discovered this year.
Grave - Endless Procession of Souls
Kreator - Phantom Antichrist

I had mixed feeling about the new Kreator, but I have listened to it a lot and I think it finally wore me down. The new Bonded by Blood is alright, I am digging the new vocalist, it is a shame the album lacks the energy of their debut album. I enjoyed the new Overkill, but I think some of the songs are too long. Some great riffs, but when they go on for over six minutes I get bored.

With all that said, I don't think anything that was released this year will ever be considered a classic or essential metal album.

 

[D.Ingram]

I'm quite surprised to see a lot of people ranking Kreator and Testament so high.

 

[Snyde]

I really enjoyed the whole new Kreator sound, being grander and more epic (in the proper sense of the word) in scale. It felt like a concept album, really. Millie's performance is the best since... hell, since Coma of Souls or Extreme Aggression. Doesn't hurt that the album is chock full of ripping riffs and especially melodies (I love me some melodies).

The reinvention of their sound really took me by surprise especially after Hordes of Chaos, which was kind of dull, and with PA they manage to give something fresh to the thrash scene instead of the same old shit (I'm looking at you Destruction!).

 

[Caveman Ninja]

Kreator was my album of the year.

 

[I-TEND-TO-DIE]

Kreator was my album of the year.

same here. I also think the songs from Phantom Antichrist work out better live than actually on the album but still it's a solid album. Some decent tracks are United In Hate, the title track and Civilization Collapse.
Maybe it still needs a few spins..