Metal Awards

Andy's Top 15 albums of 2012

  1. Overkill - The Electric Age
  2. Candlemass - Psalms For The Dead
  3. Pallbearer - Sorrow And Extinction
    Pallbearer's debut album really belongs in the Surprises of the Year section too, as no one, especially me, saw it coming.
  4. Killing Joke - MMXII
  5. Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth
  6. Kreator - Phantom Antichrist
  7. Witch Mountain - Cauldron of the Wild
  8. Pale Divine - Painted Windows Black
    Some of this album's riffs and choruses are STILL rattling around in my head!
  9. Sear Bliss - Eternal Recurrence
  10. Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry
  11. Antestor - Omen
  12. Suicidal Angels - Bloodbath
  13. Ahab - The Giant
  14. Fear Factory - The Industrialist
  15. In Mourning - The Weight Of Oceans
Andy's Top 5 surprises of 2012

  1. Hung - Hung
  2. Dawnbringer - Into the Lair of the Sun God
  3. Pilgrim - Misery Wizard
  4. Crimson Shadows - Glory on the Battlefield
  5. Conan - Monnos
Andy's Disappointment(s) of 2012

  1. Eluveitie - Helvetios
    I expected a lot more from this band based on their earlier output. Their songs have simply gotten too slick and blastbeat-driven.
Andy's Joke(s) 2012
  1. Steel Panther - Balls Out
    I know, they're supposed to be a joke...but I cried instead of laughed. Definitely a novelty/party act.
Andy's words about 2012
  1. 2012 was a great year for metal in general, especially doom and thrash metal. While I was hoping for more power metal albums, I was mostly doomed to disappointment...but to make up for it, Candlemass released one of its finest albums to date, we got a fifteenth Killing Joke album, there were endless black and doom metal gems released this year (including Pallbearer's left-field hit and a strong sophomore album from my state's own Witch Mountain), and best of all, an Overkill album that shows that their amazing comeback is no fluke. In 2013 I hope to see an even more prevalent trend towards innovation. Some of the newer acts are clearly maturing and coming up with some new ideas, and I can't wait to hear what they are up to. It seems that the field of metal keeps getting wider and more interesting (though maybe that's just my taste), and the sheer amount of good (and sometimes truly great) releases makes it difficult for me to choose even on a day-to-day basis what to listen to first. As a brand new reviewer I look forward to bringing you more of the dark fruits of the genre this year on a weekly basis, and I wish you all the very best in 2013.