2012 was an unbelievable year for music. There were so many exceptional releases that I didn't even have time to get to all of them! Narrowing down my 10 favorite albums of the year proved to be difficult, but damnit, I did my best and here is my list!
10. Lamb of God- Resolution
Lamb of God has been recycling the same formula for their last few albums, but luckily for them and us, it's a good one! Resolution is a terrific headbanger that will satisfy any metalhead.
9. Abiotic- Symbiosis
Symbiosistook me by complete surprise in 2012. This album is BRUTAL. This release is full of catchy riffs and unbelievable musicianship.
8. Between The Buried and Me- The Parallax II: Future Sequence
I'm a long-time fan of BTBAM, and while I enjoyed their previous two albums, Parallax II is the best I have heard from the band sinceAlaska. "Telos" is without question on of my favorite songs of the year, and the middle breakdown in the song may be one of my favorite musical moments EVER.
7. Meshuggah- Koloss
There isn't a band out there that gets ripped off more than Meshuggah. There you unique style has basically created the "djent" genre of metal and Koloss expands on their signature sound wonderfully.
6. Whitechapel- Whitechapel
Whitechapelis an absolutely wicked album. It grabs you by the throat right from the start and doesn't let go at all throughout the listening experience.
5. Gojira- L'Enfant Sauvage
It was very difficult for me to not place this album higher on my list. I firmly believe that when folks look back on 2012 in metal, this will be the album that stands out. It's a classic!
4. Testament- Dark Roots of Earth
Aside from Slayer, no one carries the thrash flag around better than Testament. They continue to produce quality music album after album. If you can't find enjoyment out of this album, get bent!
3. Deftones- Koi No Yokan
As one of my most anticipated releases of the year, Koi No Yokan had a lot to live up to. It definitely did not disappoint. I feel that this is the bands best release since White Pony which is saying something as the band has always blown me away with their atmospheric alt-metal.
2. The Contortionist- Intrinsic
Every now and then a band comes around that embodies everything you like about music. In 2012, The Contortionist was that band for me. If there was a metal sountrack to outer space, this is it. Listen to The Contortionist.
1. The Devin Townsend Project- Epicloud
Devin Townsend is without a doubt my favorite musician. That being said, this choice must seem entirely biased. However, this is a brilliant piece of work that can bring a smile to even the hardest of hard-asses. I defy you to listen to this album without being uplifted! If you have a favorite album of 2012, listen to Epicloud and be prepared to trade up!
Make sure to listen to METAL IMPERIUM Saturday night from 9-Midnight to recap that year in metal that was!
Like everyone else in the rock community, I was pretty shocked when Jason Newsted left Metallica a number of years ago. During a recent interview, Newsted was asked if he would fill in for the band if something happened to current bassist Robert Trujillo. Newsted's answer was in a word...AWESOME!
"If they were cool and they were bros. Actually, here's the word, if they were "brofessional" about it and if they came as my brothers and they were professional with the meeting and they called the meeting and they're sitting there and looking me in the eye and the managers aren't around and we're doing this as we used to do every-f*cking-thing, with just us, and then the managers did what we told them to do… if it was like that again and the money was crazy, then I would consider it."
I would be jacked to see Jason back with the band! He threw down harder than anyone during his time with the group!
Nothing takes the joy out of the holiday season like death. Unfortunately, one of rock's own met death this past weekend while performing on stage. Ministry/Rigor Mortis guitarist Mike Scaccia died of a sudden heart attatck while playing a show on Saturday night. While I must admit I was never a huge fan of Scaccia's music, the situation takes me back to when DIME was murdered on stage. Anyway, rock out to some Ministry in honor of Mike to close out the year!
If you have ever seen Motorhead live, it was likely an experience you will never forget. Yes, the band is legendary, but the unbearable volume destroys your ears and sticks with you forever! The band is now giving you the opportunity to experience those painful soundwaves at your leisure! MOTORHEADPHONES! Brilliant!
If you sat down and watched 5 movies this weekend, I bet Christopher Lee would be in 3 of them! The man has been in everything! Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, James Bond...those are just a few of his more known roles. At age 90, what is there left to do when you've conquered Hollywood? Well, obviously you move onto the Christmas metal market! Check out some audio of Lee's "Heavy Metal Christmas"!
Alice in Chains is without question one of the most important bands in my life. They were one of my gateway bands that influenced my current tastes and preferences. When they came out with new music a few years back, I couldn't believe how awesome they still were! Well, nothing has changed because the band released a new song this afternoon and it is BALLS! Check it out for yourself below!
You dread it more than anything. It's slow. The weekend seems lightyears away. MONDAY. The worst day of the week! Cheer up though, Cat Daddy, because this is the last Monday of your life, for Friday is the apocalypse! It's finally here! We have waited years for this day, and now we can all go out in a gory blaze of glory!
Unfortunately, basic logic tells us that the world won't end on Friday. It seems that some blowhard convinces all the sheep of the world at least once a year that the end is imminent. What I find interesting is that everyone spoke of the 2012 apocalypse for years in advance, and once the year actually arrived, the talk has been minimal. Is that because everyone realizes how ridiculous the entire notion is? Well, whatever the case is, you're going to have to goto work next week. Live or die, lets use this as another excuse to party hard on Friday!
Metal is easily the most misunderstood genre of music. Most view metal musicians as hard ass monsters that rape kittens and burn down churches. While that is not entirely untrue, most metalheads are colossal pussies! This FedEx commercial shows the true nature of headbangers everywhere!
Since Kurt Cobain's death, Nirvana has been entirely absent from the music world. However, that could all change tonight! Rumors are floating around that Paul McCartney will front a reunited Nirvana tonight at a Hurricane Sandy benefit concert in New York City. What the what? Paul McCartney? I have always been a huge fan of his, but fronting Nirvana? Should be wild!
As a life-long fan of Batman (who isn't?), I must say that The Dark Knight Rises was my favorite film of 2012! The character of Bane was flawlessly executed, and made the old version from the 90's look more ridiculous and absurd than ever. What if Bane hadn't been so well done and bad ass though? Well, here is what the movie would have been like!
I spent this past weekend in Minneapolis and had a kick-ass good time! That is until I tried to leave the city and couldn't! The sky pooped out 15-17 inches of snow on the the city Saturday night while I was sleeping, quite harshly ushering in winter for real.
The last time it snowed this much in Minneapolis, this happened!
As a newcomer to the FM area, I had no idea what to expect when it came the scenes around here. However, I must say that I am rather impressed with Moorhead a.k.a, METALHEAD, MN! Everytime I cross the river into METALHEAD, something extraordinary happens! Just the other day when I was getting my hair cut, my stylist entirely randomly asked if I liked Dethklok and Machine Head! What a bad ass! Then earlier today, I traveled into METALHEAD to make a plasma donation, and my phlebotomist asked me if I was into Red Fang! What the hell? METALHEAD rules!
If I would have ever looked at METALHEAD on a map, I would have pieced this all together much sooner!
Metallica's new DVD, "Quebec Magnetic" is dropping December 10, but you can get a taste of the madness early with this newly released footage! Check out this clip of "Master of Puppets!
Parents used to dread going to animated films of any kind with their kids, but now they love it! The reason for this is that it seems as if all the jokes are directed towards adults now-a-days! I don't even know how children enjoy new movies targeted towards them...at the same time, I don't care! To make one animated movie series even better, it appears the mighty MASTODON are working on a song for the upcoming prequel to "Monster's Inc.", "Monster's University"! Kick ass! And weird? Who cares! I can't wait!
Well, the title spells it out. Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe has officially been indicted on a manslaughter charge in the Czech Republic. Blythe said earlier this year that if necessary, he would return to the area to stand trial. BAD IDEA! Blythe now faces up to 5-10 years in prison. This news seemed inevitable, but man, it's hard to swallow now that the time has come! Back in August, I was lucky enough to catch Randy and Lamb of God perform their second show following his release from prison at Knotfest. It was definitely bad ass and the vibe was unreal! Check out this clip from the crowd to experience the epicness!
