Music of 2012

[MadTinus]

I did a search and couldn't find a thread about this on this forum.

So, what are your musical highlights of this year so far?

Mine:
1. Naglfar - Téras (amazing album, never expected it. So powerful, such great songs, amazing performances, just awesome)
2. Testament - Dark Roots of Earth (an all-out great Metal album)
3. Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol (seemed a bit of a routine job after first listens, but it turned out a grower, great album)
4. Tenacious D - Rize of the Fenix (Amazingly good and funny at the same time. The D is back, nuff said)
5. Lana del Rey - Born to Die (great album filled with good pop songs with good singing and a nice 'vintage' (by lack of a better word) atmosphere)
6. Kreator - Phantom Antichrist (never a huge Kreator fan, but this album's really enjoyable, good riffing, good melodies, nice variation and Mille still knows how to spit venom)
7. Disquiet - Scars of Undying Grief (surprisingly good and enjoyable modern thrash album)
8. Atoma - Skylight (nice moody stuff, not as good as Slumber though)
9. Horrendous - The Chills (I hoped for a better album after the good demo, the drum sound is a bit weird)

Not sure where to put it yet:
Katatonia - Dead End Kings (I enjoy it, but I'm not overwhelmed, need to absorb it more)

Still looking forward to:
Daylight Dies - A Frail Becoming (new song sounds promising)
My Dying Bride - A Map of All Our Failures (new song sounds pretty good, might like this album after the previous 2 being disappointing)

Disappointments:
In Mourning - The Weight of Oceans (trying to be too proggy, losing edge)
Anathema - Weather Systems (following along the lines of WHBWH, which was also disappointing, it all just fails to move/impress me)

 

[xX M i A s M a]

My best of list is such a ball of clay, but here is the gist of it so far (no particular order except for the top slot):

Top for the year thus far:
Mgla - With Hearts Toward None
Ahab - The Giant
Black Breath - Sentenced To Life
Drawn And Quartered - Feeding Hell's Furnace
Ihsahn - Emerita
Krallice - Years Past Matter
Katatonia - Dead End Kings
High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
Pseudogod - Deathwomb Catechesis
Dodecahedron - s/t

EPs:
Agalloch - Faustian Echoes
Deathspell Omega - Drought
Adversarial/Antediluvian split EP
Inverloch - Dusk | Subside

Not sure where to place: (All good, just not sure how good)
Evoken - Atra Mors
Merrimack - The Acausal Mass
Infinitum - The Sixth Extinction
Secrets Of The Moon - Seven Bells
Dødsengel - Imperator
The Faceless - Autotheism

Very near to making the list, still might:
Pallbearer - Sorrow And Extinction
Sear Bliss - Eternal Recurrence
Torche - Harmonicraft
Ash Borer - Cold Of Ages
Horrendous - The Chills
Hour Of Penance - Sedition
Abyssal - Denouement
Cattle Decapitation - Monolith Of Inhumanity
Marduk - Serpent Sermon

Pleasantly surprised:
Cryptopsy - s/t
Cattle Decapitation - Monolith Of Inhumanity
Aborted - Global Flatline
High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

Shocked and appalled:
Psycroptic - The Inherited Repression
Circa Survive - Violent Waves
The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet

Still looking forward to:
Enslaved
Incantation
Anaal Nathrakh
Blut Aus Nord
Behexen
Weapon
Sylosis
Wintersun
Between The Buried And Me

 

[stefan86]

1. Katatonia - Dead End Kings
2. Anathema - Weather Systems
3. Infinitum - The Sixth Extinction
4. The Foreshadowing - Second World
5. Atoma - Skylight
6. Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol
7. Puteraeon - Cult Cthulhu
8. Black Breath - Sentenced To Life
9. Borknagar - Urd
10. Asphyx - Deathhammer

Pretty good: Candlemass, Cannibal Corpse, Resurgency, Grave, Overkill, Alcest, Unleashed

Disappointing: In Mourning, Psycroptic

 

[isolation_years]

faustian echoes agalloch was the biggest for me

 

[DarkGift]

cba to make a list as of now, but i love weather systems (anathema) and was very disappointed by the agalloch ep to begin with

 

[stefan86]

lazyassmaddafakka

 

[xX M i A s M a]

was very disappointed by the agalloch ep to begin with

t(-.-t)

 

[stefan86]

pwned

 

[DarkGift]

t(-.-t)

bunch of boring black metal stuff. should've gone with something more ashes or the white stuff

 

[xX M i A s M a]

or the white stuff

Not surprised at all

 

[stefan86]

<3

 

[DarkGift]

the white stuff <3

 

[stefan86]

heheh

 

[winters epilogue]

Shocked and appalled:
Circa Survive - Violent Waves

Shocked and appalled by Violent Waves? I only spinned it twice but I was enjoying it a good deal more than Blue Sky Noise...

Anyway, I'm really behind on music this year (the lists so far have reminded me of that face), but here's my short contribution...

Top albums so far [heavy metul]:
Author & Punisher - Ursus Americanus
Cattle Decapitation - Monolith of Inhumanity
Dodecahedron - s/t
High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
Ihsahn - Emerita
Krallice - Years Past Matter
Lord Mantis - Pervertor
Gaza - No Absolutes in Human Suffering
Old Man Gloom - NO
Sigh - In Somniphobia

Top albums so far [not like black-rose-immortul]:
Aesop Rock - Skelethon
Eyvind Kang - The Narrow Garden
mewithoutYou - Ten Stories
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Storm Corrosion - s/t
Swans - The Seer
John Zorn - The Gnostic Preludes
John Zorn - Templars In Sacred Blood

EPs:
Anywhere - s/t
Deathspell Omega - Drought
Melvins - The Bulls & The Bees
T.R.A.M. - Lingua Franca

Looking forward to:
Blut Aus Nord, Converge, Deftones, Devin Townsend Project, Enslaved, Neurosis, Pig Destroyer, P.O.S.

 

[xX M i A s M a]

Shocked and appalled by Violent Waves? I only spinned it twice but I was enjoying it a good deal more than Blue Sky Noise...

I only put one play into it, but it bored the piss out of me. I suppose I'll give it another go, just for the sake of due diligence.

 

[PhlegethonVeins]

I refuse to number things, or throw up brackets just yet, so i'm just going to throw in all that made a big impact on me and i'm feeling will make or be considered in my year end mentions.

Ihsahn - Eremita
Sigh - In Somniphobia (these two are battling for my top spot right now...thats about all I know for sure)
Pallbearer - Sorrow & Extinction
Mgla - With Hearts Towards None
Katatonia - Dead End Kings
Aborted - Global Flatline
Drawn & Quartered - Feeding Hell's Furnace
Dodecahedron - S/T
Formloff - Spyhorelandet
Marduk - Serpent Sermon
Deathspell Omega - Drought
Agalloch - Faustian Echoes
Inverloch - Dusk | Subside
Hour of Penance - Sedition
Mares of Thrace - The Pilgrimage
Ahab - The Giant
Necrovation - s/t
Desecresy - The Doom Skeptron
Silencer - The Great Bear
Something i'm forgetting in this off the top of my head list.


Releases INC i'm sure will make a splash for me -

Enslaved, Blut Aus Nord, Hooded Menace, Subterranean Masquerade

 

[DarkGift]

isn't sigh that asian symphonic black metal band that sounds like cradle of filth on drugs?

 

[stefan86]

cradle of filth on drugs <3

 

[Tumn]

Excited for the new Cryptopsy, promos all blow away the last pile of shit, glad they're being smart.

 

[winters epilogue]

I only put one play into it, but it bored the piss out of me. I suppose I'll give it another go, just for the sake of due diligence.

Ah, that makes sense, it's a slower record. I'll take slow over "I Felt Free" any day, though.

isn't sigh that asian symphonic black metal band that sounds like cradle of filth on drugs?

Yeah, that's probably them that you're thinking of. They rule.

Excited for the new Cryptopsy, promos all blow away the last pile of shit, glad they're being smart.

I've only heard the two or three tracks they've released - definitely sounds like a musical return to form. I don't think I'll ever love Matt McGachy's vocals but I'm looking forward to giving the whole thing a spin.