2012
2012
My tastes seem to have changed quite a bit since I originally made this list. I have since updated it to better reflect my opinions of 2012 in retrospect. A well rounded and impressive year for metal.
1.
Indesinence
- Vessels Of Light And Decay
(10) (Death/Doom) Rated this thing a 6.5 in 2012. Relistened to it in 2014 and my opinion seems to have changed drastically. Doom is still a genre in which I'm trying to find my footing. But make no mistake: this is a fantastic album.
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5.
Elysian Blaze
- Blood Geometry
(9) (Black/Doom) Sounds like it was recorded through a sewer drain but this 2 hour beast is a journey that must be taken.
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6.
Igorrr
- Hallelujah
(9) (Cybergrind/Breakcore/Classical) God damn it. Just when I thought I had a grasp on what is considered bizarre these days, this thing comes around and mindfucks me.
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7.
Worship
- Terranean Wake
(9) (Funeral Doom) The masters of Funeral Doom have returned and do not disappoint.
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8.
Reverence
- The Asthenic Ascension
(9) (Orthodox Black) These Frenchmen have pulled no punches in creating a truly evil sounding album.
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10.
Ancestors
- In Dreams And Time
(9) (Stoner Prog) This album perfectly blends many of the sounds I have been into recently. Sludge, Doom and Prog elements come together harmoniously on one of the best releases I've heard in a long time. Fans of 70s style prog and stoner metal shouldn't miss this.
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11.
Royal Thunder
- CVI
(9) (Doomy Southern Psychedelic Blues) I can't stop coming back to this album. A little bit of Stoner Metal, a little bit of blues rock and whole lot of the soulful bellowing of singer/bassist Mlny (pronounced Melanie) Parsonz. The vocal tracking/layering on this album is fantastic. This is an all-around masterpiece.
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13.
Hail Spirit Noir
- Pneuma
(9) (Blackened Horror Folk) A short album at 37 min and change. This is black metal only in the loosest sense of the term. Tremolo picking and blast beats are rare, being replaced by folksy psychedelic riffs and keyboards. Also alternates harsh black metal vocals with Mikael Akerfeldt-esque clean vocals. I didn't really care for this album at first but most of these tracks have proved to be quite infectiously memorable and unique. Fantastic little album.
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17.
Desolate Shrine
- The Sanctum Of Human Darkness
(8.5) (Death) I'm adding this album retroactively, two years late, because I can. A fucking claustrophobia inducing monster of an album.
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24.
Astra (USA)
- The Black Chord
(8) (Psychedelic Space Metal/Neo-Prog) Straighforward reinterpretation of 70s style prog. Balances catchiness with depth and intricate songwriting. A more focused album than 2009s The Weirding while still finding space to meander. The guitar work is fantastic, the vocals are catchy without being irritating and the album pacing is top notch.
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27.
Pallbearer
- Sorrow And Extinction
(8) (Doom) Haunting traditionalist doom metal right here. Saw praise for this thing all over the web and was quite skeptical. Give this album a shot and you may very well be surprised at how great it sounds. This is one of my favorite vocal performances on a doom record.
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29.
Maeth
- Horse Funeral
(8) (Instrumental Psychedelic Stoner) As I listened to this 25 minute ep - which is free on their bandcamp page - I couldn't help but draw comparisons to Pelican. Albeit with a psychedelic and fuzzed out stoner approach.
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30.
Bosse-De-Nage
- III
(8) (Experimental Black) Think 90s post-rock band Slint meets WITTR. This album really came out of nowhere and caught me by surprise. The spoken word lyrics are haunting and surreal as if spoken from a dream-like trance.
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31.
The Faceless
- Autotheism
(8) (Progressive Tech Death) This is way more interesting than your standard tech death album. The guitars are able to convey emotion when necessary which is a rarity in tech death. The clean vocals get old pretty quickly though.
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35.
Gnaw Their Tongues
- Eschatological Scatology
(8) (Black, Noise) I feel dirty after listening to this. As in, in need of a shower. Fuzzy, disgusting and well done.
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43.
Agalloch
- Faustian Echoes
(8) (Atmospheric Black, Neofolk) Great track. I feel kind of bad rating a single song higher than some of these other full albums. But not really. It's streaming on their bandcamp if you haven't heard. Check it out.
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44.
Bend The Sky
- Origins
(8) (Instrumental Progressive Symphonic Djent) The lack of vocals and the inclusion of symphonic backing makes this djent not only listenable but enjoyable.
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45.
Woods Of Ypres
- Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light
(8) (Blackened Gothic Doom) This thing listens like a suicide note. The lyrics are so hauntingly, brutally honest. The songs cross from gothic doom to full on black metal at will and generally without leaving the listener feeling too disjointed.
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48.
Ørkenkjøtt
- Ønskediktet
(7.5) (Experimetal/Progressive) Blackwater Park-era Opeth worship is evident on this album. That being said, these Norwegians show a ton of promise as this album seems to barely touch on what they might be capable of.
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49.
Napalm Death
- Utilitarian
(7.5) (Deathgrind) Believe it or not this is the first and only album I have heard by Napalm Death. The album started off a bit slow but picked up on the fourth track and proceeded to blow me away the rest of the way. These guys have been on the scene for 30 plus years and still put their contemporaries to shame with their creativity and energy.
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50.
Nachtmystium
- Silencing Machine
(7.5) (Black) A little melody, a little dissonance, strong atmosphere and slight psychedelic leanings.
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Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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Comments
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 Posts: 3099 |
Posts: 3099
Consider me intrigued by that Ancestors album, been getting into the Stoner genre a lot more recently.
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I didn't know there was a new Witch Mountain. That's cool, I enjoyed South of Salem quite a bit. Gotta check it out.
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Posts: 498 Written by R'Vannith on 30.05.2012 at 17:34 Since you seem to have liked Astra's new album I really don't have any doubt that you'll like Ancestors' as well.
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Posts: 3099 Written by Neachy on 31.05.2012 at 02:30 Ah so it has a fair bit of 70's retro sound about then? If they do it as well as Astra did then I think you'd definitely be right.
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Posts: 498 Written by R'Vannith on 31.05.2012 at 11:42 It does. I'd be interested to see what you think of it. Apparently I'm the only person on MS who has heard this album and I personally think that's a terrible shame.
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Posts: 498 Written by IronAngel on 30.05.2012 at 22:58 It doesn't officially drop until June 12th.
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Posts: 3099
Finally giving that Ancestors album a listen and to say its unique would be an understatement I think, I've never heard anything like it. Its a lot to take in at the moment, at times the subgenre blending doesn't come together seamlessly but perhaps that will even out given a few more listens. My favourite at the moment is probably the piano driven "On The Wind", and those vocals on "The Last Return" are mesmerizing!
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Nice list dude, I like it when people put little descriptions in their lists 
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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Posts: 498 Written by R'Vannith on 29.06.2012 at 18:21 Glad to hear it man. "On the Wind" is certainly the one that hooked me as well. That guitar solo with the organ in the background is jaw-droppingly beautiful. I've been enjoying Conan and Behold! The Monolith which I found on your list. Stoner Doom ftw.
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Posts: 498 Written by Milena on 29.06.2012 at 19:04 Thank you. I've been lazy with some of my more recent additions to the list though. But it's a work in progress.
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Posts: 3553
I'm almost done listening to that Ancestors album. I can already say that it's one of the best (if not THE best) album of 2012
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Posts: 498 Written by Alex F on 03.08.2012 at 11:14 I'm glad to hear you like it. I definitely don't think this album has gotten enough attention.
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One of the best 2012 lists on the whole site. Kudos. 
---- In that case, man is only air as well.
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Posts: 4930
Nice list, I like the descriptions you put there. Made me finally check out Soen. And looked into this Step in Fluid business, but turns out it's actually a 2011 album that's listed wrong on MS. But seriously, would you really call Monolithe's Interlude Second generic? I've never heard anything like it. It's a pretty unique album both in their discography and in metal in general, I'd say. (I can see why it would be boring or unimpressive, though I liked it a lot.)
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Concerning you The Machine entry, since when have SOundgarden been on heroin?  And tbh this The Machine has a lot more to do witht he stoner by Kyusss than any of the grunge Soundgarden ever played
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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Posts: 498 |
Posts: 498 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 31.08.2012 at 04:39 I don't know if the members of Soundgarden ever did heroin or not. I just associate the grunge sound with heroin. It seemed clever at the time but I was trying to say that I thought they sound like Soundgarden playing stoner/psychedelic style. It's a pretty terrible description, I know. But they can't all be winners, right?
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Posts: 498 Written by Oaken on 29.08.2012 at 21:41 I really appreciate that. Thank you.
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Posts: 498 Written by IronAngel on 31.08.2012 at 02:05 Oh thanks for pointing that out. Step In Fluid has been removed. And regarding the Monolithe EP I listened to that album while I was at a baseball game so it did not receive my undivided attention. I kept thinking I was listening to Cult of Luna or Ixion. It didn't impress me much but I'm interested to hear their next full length nonetheless.
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Posts: 44
Love the addition of Wildernessking! Amazing album and a really spectacular South African band! Great list overall.
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AH! You listened to Bosse De Nage's latest album. That one was absolutely fantastic and easily my favorite BM full length of the year.
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Posts: 498 |
Posts: 498 Written by Alex F on 14.11.2012 at 18:32 Yeah I loved the drumming. Have you heard the album Spiderland by Slint? It was definitely an influence on III.
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