I agree...Ecstatic has the coolest avatar on the board, and possibly the coolest ever. It's a tossup between that and azal's pudding kid.
Other albums coming out this year: Anthrax (Metal Reviews called it a return to form), Overkill (11 out of 10 from Metal Hammer!), Metallica (there's always hope), Iced Earth (it's been two years, I'm sure Jon's written a few new riffs), Queensryche (Degarmo is back!), Testament (Cancer? What cancer?), Exodus (Provided Zetro doesn't leave AGAIN), Death Angel (reuinted and on the road), and Vio-lence (Hey, all the other SF thrashers are doing new albums...).
This rules.