 |
1.
|
Lamb Of God - Resolution
A continuation of all things good on Wrath, plus some new wrinkles. I like. |
 |
2.
|
Wilds Forlorn - We, The Damned
This is beautifully composed Atmospheric Black. Flirting with the top spot. |
 |
3.
|
Dodecahedron - Dodecahedron
This is a debut? A little dissonance, a little ambience, a little straightforward blasting, a little total weirdness. Something for everyone! |
 |
4.
|
Monolithe - Interlude Second
Crushing. That is all. |
 |
5.
|
Liberteer - Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees
Cheesegrind? It certainly doesn't grate... |
 |
6.
|
Taranis - Kingdom
Boy can Attila Bakos sing! Following on strong from a stellar performance on Thy Catafalque's Rengeteg in 2011, the Hungarian puts out a cracker of his own. Genre-bending epic-ness abound! Though I couldn't help but think I was listening to a song from a Broadway or West End musical towards the end of "Storm". ;) |
 |
7.
|
Orange Goblin - A Eulogy For The Damned
Solid, enjoyable stoner stuff from the UK veterans. Great fun to just rock out to. |
 |
8.
|
Black Pyramid - Black Pyramid II
Quite liking this sophomore sludge effort. Surprisingly tuneful, with a touch of post-whatever flavouring. |
 |
9.
|
Therapy? - A Brief Crack Of Light
Troublegum it ain't, but this record ranges from the sublime, to the bizarre, to the decidedly patchy. |
 |
10.
|
Pharaoh - Bury The Light
I haven't listened to any new power metal for a looooong time, but seeing this get a lot of praise by other MSers, I gave it a listen. It's actually very, very entertaining. Epic and powerful without cranking the cheese factor to 11. The vocals sound a bit strained here and there, but otherwise a good performance. Enjoyed the Rush-isms on "The Year Of The Blizzard". |
 |
11.
|
Swallow The Sun - Emerald Forest And The Blackbird
First time I've ever bothered to check these Finns out. Seemed decent enough, if occasionally a bit saccharine in places. |
|
12.
|
Owlscry - Owlscry
Props to !J.O.O.E.! for this one. Wild, feral and lo-fi black with a distinctly doomy feel. Not an album you would choose to play at a wedding. Actually, some people on here might, now you come to mention it... |
 |
13.
|
Detrimentum - Inhuman DisgRACE
Who says we don't have decent death metal in the UK? Seriously impressed by this effort; it's got quite a few melodic turns, but still manages to retain a respectable amount of brutality too. Engaging lead guitar and a pretty varied vocal approach make this a solid modern death metal album with plenty of nods to genre staples. Listen. |
 |
14.
|
Chimp Spanner - All Roads Lead Here
Cross Uneven Structure with Joe Satriani and this is what you get. Impressive. |
 |
15.
|
Biohazard - Reborn In Defiance
This was surprisingly decent, and surprisingly energetic for what's basically a bunch of old men. A couple of dodgy vocal passages let the side down a bit, and the boring instrumental closer means the album fizzles out instead of punching you in the jaw and running away. |
 |
16.
|
Primal Fear - Unbreakable
I used to love Primal Fear, but drifted away from power metal in general as it all started to sound the same. Primal Fear always used to write Priest-worship songs which were decent enough in their own right. No change here - a mixture of quality songs with some more forgettable ones - but certainly worth a listen if power metal's your thing. If not, then I wouldn't bother. |
 |
17.
|
Kells - Anachromie
I don't go in for much female fronted stuff these days so I was expecting to dislike this big time. There is something about Anachromie - in addition to a healthy scattering of decent riffs - that I really liked. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it makes it one of the pleasant surprises of 2012 so far. Perhaps it's because I can't speak French well enough to understand the lyrics... |
 |
18.
|
Hexis - XI
New EP by these Danish black/post/sludge guys. Discovered by trawling Bandcamp. A good find - the swirling nature of the blackish elements of XI recall Deathspell and Blut Aus Nord, which can be no bad thing, can it! |
 |
19.
|
Alcest - Les Voyages De L'âme
This is a beautiful sounding record, but it does tend to wash over you somewhat - though I guess that's pretty much the point of Alcest. Some moments are downright bland, mind you. |
|
20.
|
Blood Of The Spectre - Blood Of The Spectre
Saw the artwork on Bandcamp and thought "Ooh, this looks cool!" Then saw the metalcore tags and went into closed-minded mode and thought "Uh-oh, maybe not." Downloaded it anyway and actually, it's not half bad. Only the occasional chug-a-lug breakdown and some really nice bits and pieces. Still not a huge fan of this vocal style, but I will be keeping an eye on these guys. |
 |
21.
|
Savage Messiah - Plague Of Conscience
A solid, if unspectacular Thrash/Power effort from the UK. Will probably listen again. |
 |
22.
|
Unisonic - Ignition
Much more of a Pink Cream 69 flavour than Helloween, but nice to have Kiske & Hansen working together again. And Kiske sounds better than ever. |
|
23.
|
Hiemal - Demo IV
Imagine a desolate, frozen wasteland. Perhaps even a dark forest. The atmosphere envelops you and your mind drifts off into the ether. Then you are rudely awakened by a swarm of angry bees, buzzing around your head. Hiemal is like that too: beautiful, wide-open soundscapes -> irritatingly patchy guitar tone. A shame, because music like this should be enjoyed through a pair of headphones. |
 |
24.
|
Wolfsbane - Wolfsbane Save The World
Was surprised to find these guys not featured on MS given the identity of their singer. Or maybe that's why they're not? ;). Anyway, this is a bog-standard, by the numbers hard rock album, nothing more, nothing less. Good to see Blaze keeping busy at least. |
 |
25.
|
Nothnegal - Decadence
This is going on at the bottom because it rather passed me by on first listen. On paper it has a lot going for it - Marco Sneck; being from the Maldives - but I hear very little special at the moment. |
 |
26.
|
Anathema - Weather Systems |
 |
27.
|
Rush - Clockwork Angels |
 |
28.
|
Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth |
 |
29.
|
Marillion - Sounds That Can't Be Made |
 |
30.
|
Meshuggah - Koloss |
 |
31.
|
Blut Aus Nord - 777 - Cosmosophy |
 |
32.
|
DragonForce - The Power Within |
 |
33.
|
Lurk - Lurk |
 |
34.
|
Tort - Tort |
 |
35.
|
Chaos Dei - Arising From Chaos |
 |
36.
|
Eluveitie - Helvetios |
 |
37.
|
Enslaved - RIITIIR |
 |
38.
|
Kreator - Phantom Antichrist |
 |
39.
|
Murder Construct - Results |
 |
40.
|
Destruction - Spiritual Genocide |
 |
41.
|
Asphyx - Deathhammer |
 |
42.
|
Accept - Stalingrad |
 |
43.
|
High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis |
 |
44.
|
Grave - Endless Procession Of Souls |
 |
45.
|
Neurosis - Honor Found In Decay |
 |
46.
|
Psilocybe Larvae - The Labyrinth Of Penumbra |
 |
47.
|
Psycroptic - The Inherited Repression |
 |
48.
|
Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone |
 |
49.
|
Ørkenkjøtt - Ønskediktet |
 |
50.
|
Immolation - Providence |
 |
51.
|
Revocation - Teratogenesis |
 |
52.
|
Raw - Rodha |
|
53.
|
Australasia - Sin4tr4 |
|
54.
|
Brokel - Anthems Of Heresy |
 |
55.
|
M-81 - Astral Pilgrimage |
 |
56.
|
Napalm Death - Utilitarian |
 |
57.
|
Overkill - The Electric Age |
 |
58.
|
Neurotech - Decipher Vol. 1 |
 |
59.
|
Wolves Carry My Name - Amongst Ruins And Ashes |
 |
60.
|
Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I |
 |
61.
|
Deftones - Koi No Yokan |
 |
62.
|
Wintersun - Time I |
 |
63.
|
Soulfly - Enslaved |
 |
64.
|
To-Mera - Exile |
 |
65.
|
In Mourning - The Weight Of Oceans |
 |
66.
|
Saturnus - Saturn In Ascension |
 |
67.
|
Oddland - The Treachery Of Senses |
 |
68.
|
In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad |
