Top 15 Albums of 2012 – Colum Bell

//Top 15 Albums of 2012 – Colum Bell

Top 15 metal albums of 2012

When Colum isn’t turning up late to review gigs in his home town of Brighton you’ll generally find him hidden in the darkness of the crowd on the lower floor of the Camden Underworld.  A lover of all things Japanese, his tastes in metal are as wide as his world travels, but regardless of genre it’s the impeccable pick of the crop.

Top 15 albums of 2012

15. High On Fire – De Vermis Mysteriis

High On Fire De Vermis Mysteriis

 

14. Wodensthrone – Curse

Wodensthrone – Curse

13. Old Man Gloom – No

Old Man Gloom - No

 

12. Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind

Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind

11. Wolfbrigade – Damned

Wolfbrigade Damned

Album stream here on Brooklyn Vegan.

10. Aldebaran – Embracing The Lightless Depths

Aldebaran – Embracing The Lightless Depths

 

9. Ahab – The Giant

Ahab The Giant

8. Anhedonist – Netherwards

Anhedonist Netherwards

 

7. Orange Goblin – Eulogy for the Damned

Orange Goblin – Eulogy for the Damned

 

6. Ereb Altor – Gastrike

Ereb Altor Gastrike 

 

5. Conan – Monnos

Conan Monnos 

Conan’s first full length debut is certainly the primal barbarian riff fest that we were all hoping for. You can’t just can’t help headbanging to tracks such as Battle in the Swamp! The albums success has helped propel them to being one of the most talked about underground bands around! Slay some orcs and raise your tankards to Conan!

 

4. The Secret – Agnus Dei

The Secret - Agnus Dei 

These Italians’ 4th full length manages to surpass the excellent Solve Et Coagula with a much more angrier, darker and punishing album. The best blackened hardcore release of the year for me!

 

3. Neurosis – Honor Found In Decay

Neurosis – Honor Found In Decay 

Neurosis’ latest was bound to be in many year end lists but I have to admit it didn’t instantly stand out and took a while for me to really get into. However the more I listened to it the more I took in and appreciated all the fine layers that goes into crafting another great Neurosis album.

 

2. Evoken – Atra Mors

Evoken – Atra Mors 

From listening to the opening of Evoken’s latest and their first with Profound Lore (who get my vote for the record label of the year), I was blown away by their monolithic epicness. The sweeping keyboards and diverse riffs ranging from haunting melodies to crushing slabs of doom show that this is a classic funeral doom album that further defines Evoken as veterans of the genre.

 

1. Enslaved – RIITIIR

Enslaved – RIITIIR 

The 12th album from Norway’s finest viking influenced extreme metal band. I really am amazed at how Enslaved manage to better themselves after each release. While some may not be keen on the larger focus on Herbrand Larsen’s clean vocals I think it just elevates Enslaved into a new realm of epicness. You can hear references that go back to greats such as Below the Lights and Isa. Stand out tracks such as Thoughts Like Hammers, Roots of the Mountain and the epic finale Forsaken, show that Enslaved really are ahead of their peers.

 

Honourable mentions – Sigh – Insomniphobia, Deftones – Koi No Yokan, Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage, Grand Magus – The Hunt, Monolithe –III, Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction, Ash Borer – Cold of Ages, Maveth – Coils of the Black Earth, Lord Mantis – Pervertor,  Switchblade – S/T, Eagle Twin – The Feather Tipped the Serpents Scale.

 

Top 5 gigs of 2012 (No festivals included, otherwise Roadburn would win every year!)

Skepticism, Pantheist – London – 19th January

Opeth – Union Chapel  – London – 16th November

Nasum, Black Breath – London – 25th September

Converge, Touche Amour, A Storm of Light, The Secret  – Brighton – 1st December

Boris – Brighton – 4th December

 

Check out Matt Hopkins’ Top 30 albums and top 5 demos of 2012 here

Check out James Hibbert’s Top 20 albums of 2012 here.

Check out Rich Price’s Top 15 albums of 2012 here.

Check out Gary Luke’s Top 60 releases of 2012 here.

By |2013-01-03T00:00:00+00:00January 3rd, 2013|Top Tens & More|0 Comments

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