Metal Awards

Alex's Top 15 albums of 2012

  1. Therion - Les Fleurs du Mal
    Call me crazy, but I think this was one hell of an effort
  2. Khors - Wisdom of Centuries
    And now to my Ukrainian picks of the year ... they did not disappoint, both Khors and Munruthel, I could just switch places b/t these two
  3. Munruthel - CREEDamage
    See the comment for Khors
  4. Wolfbrigade - Damned
    Energy brimming to the top in this grindcore package
  5. Pale Divine - Painted Windows Black
    Heavy and beautiful
  6. Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandoras Pinata
    Call me crazy again
  7. Dreaming Dead - Midnightmares
    Putting both death and melodic in the same sentence properly
  8. My Dying Bride - A Map Of All Our Failures
    I felt total connection with this album
  9. Superchrist - Holy Shit
    Once in a while, when my mood is right, I can have a softer side
  10. Vintersorg - Orkan
    The comeback is on, right?
  11. Lacrimosa - Revolution
    Metal or not, I am a fan, and not ashamed of it
  12. Accept - Stalingrad
    There is still gun powder in these old bags
  13. Les Discrets - Ariettes Oubliées
    I liked this better than Alcest, but the latter Les Voyages De L'Ame deserves to be mentioned here (a clever way to use 1 slot to list two albums)
  14. Altar of Oblivion - Grand Gesture of Defiance
    Significant jump forward for this Danish crew
  15. Black Messiah - The Final Journey
    Significantly better than I thought it would be, melodies are infectious
Alex's Top 5 surprises of 2012

  1. A Sound of Thunder - Out of the Darkness
    My "discovery of the year" classic heavy metal band
  2. Windfaerer - Solar
    Melodic black metal with some folky touches
  3. Lahmia - Into the Abyss
    In the year when Dark Tranquillity does not release an album, this was solid melodic death metal
  4. Dawnbringer - Into the Lair of the Sun God
    Could have been #15 in the alist above, but I got it a spot here
  5. Heidevolk - Batavi
    I am surprised myself that I am following these folks
Alex's Disappointment(s) of 2012

  1. Witchcraft - Legend
    I could not put Firewood down, this is no Firewood
  2. Korpiklaani - Manala
    Creative crisis? But the live show I saw this year was great
  3. Wodensthrone - Curse
    Loss had me in tears
  4. Grand Magus - The Hunt
    Not as bad as some say, but not their best either
  5. Ensiferum - Unsung Heroes
    See above
Alex's Joke(s) 2012

  1. Ministry - Relapse