My "Can't Think of Anything Witty for the Title" 2012 thread

[Natrlhi]

Well done, brother. You listened to some great stuff last year, and I also like a lot of the albums that appeared on here. Your list had some interesting choices, too. For example, I never would have ranked Unleashed that high. I gave it four stars when I reviewed it, and I still think it deserves that ranking, but it's not their best work at all, and I liked their previous album much more. You ranked Anaal Nathrakh quite high compared to me, but I still liked it very well. Also, I ranked Pallbearer and Pig Destroyer higher than you did, but we both liked them so who cares, right?

On the other hand, I agree with you that Xibalba was heavy as fuck, Hour of Penance was wonderfully brutal, Black Breath was just all-around fanfuckingtastic, and Royal Thunder was nearly perfect.

Your surprise fun pick for me was Dethklok. Wow, did you rank that higher than anyone I've seen...but ya know what? You're kinda right! That one was a nice surprise for me as well. It's actually quite good, and not only is it technically solid, but it's catchy and fun as well. I didn't rank it anywhere near as high as you did, but the more I think about it, maybe I forgot how good it really was when I made my list. Nice job having the balls to put an album like that in your top ten.

[kalfitegrdan]

Originally Posted by Natrlhi

Well done, brother. You listened to some great stuff last year, and I also like a lot of the albums that appeared on here. Your list had some interesting choices, too. For example, I never would have ranked Unleashed that high. I gave it four stars when I reviewed it, and I still think it deserves that ranking, but it's not their best work at all, and I liked their previous album much more. You ranked Anaal Nathrakh quite high compared to me, but I still liked it very well. Also, I ranked Pallbearer and Pig Destroyer higher than you did, but we both liked them so who cares, right?

On the other hand, I agree with you that Xibalba was heavy as fuck, Hour of Penance was wonderfully brutal, Black Breath was just all-around fanfuckingtastic, and Royal Thunder was nearly perfect.

Your surprise fun pick for me was Dethklok. Wow, did you rank that higher than anyone I've seen...but ya know what? You're kinda right! That one was a nice surprise for me as well. It's actually quite good, and not only is it technically solid, but it's catchy and fun as well. I didn't rank it anywhere near as high as you did, but the more I think about it, maybe I forgot how good it really was when I made my list. Nice job having the balls to put an album like that in your top ten.

Honestly, I'm not as well versed on Unleashed as I should be , which might be why Odalheim is high on my list as I don't have as much to base it off. Also, in hindsight, Pallbearer should have been a bit higher on my list. I guess I really just didn't give it as much time as it deserved. As for Dethklok, I just hold them at a higher regard than most people as I rank their first two albums in my top albums of all time, so I was bound to love this one as much.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to check out my list and comment! I eagerly await seeing your list, no matter how long it takes to get out.

[kalfitegrdan]

Biggest Disappointments of 2012

These are nowhere near the worst albums, just one's that I was expecting to be better.



5. Terrorizer - Horde of Zombies

Just like everybody else, I love World Downfall and consider it a grindcore classic, but unlike everyone else, I also really liked their second album, Darker Days Ahead. I just couldn't get into this one though. This whole album is just really bland death metal that isn't necessarily bad, but there's just nothing memorable here for me.



4. Nile - At the Gates of Sethu

This album suffers from the fact that the previous album, Those Whom the Gods Detest, was just too good that there was almost no way for this album to live up to it. Hopefully, this will just be a transition album between Nile masterpieces.



3. Stick to Your Guns - Diamond

Half of this album is really kick ass hardcore (even a little kick ass melodic hardcore) and the other half is really bland and boring melodic metalcore/scenecore bullshit. Against Them All might be one of my favorite songs of the year still though.

Highlight: Against Them All

Lowlight: Beyond the Sun (Has potential to be a great track, but the chorus is absolutely horrible and ruins it.)



2. The Faceless - Autotheism

If I wanted to listen to the new Between the Buried and Me album, I would have just done that. To me, this album was just The Faceless playing BTBAM. I miss the spacey tech-death of Planetary Duality. I thought that The Faceless were one of a kind and didn't need to make an excessive change like this. I dunno, as long as they're writing what they want, I guess. I liked the album a little bit more after I listened to it 3 or 4 times, but I still find it disappointing.

Highlight: Hymn of Sanity

Lowlight: The Eidolon Reality



1. Napalm Death - Utilitarian

I went in expecting another blistering album by Napalm Death, but instead got what I thought was a too experimental and avant-garde approach to grindcore. It's just not what I'm looking for with a Napalm Death album. There was way too much melodic singing for my taste as well.

Highlight: Epidemic Pox (I fucking love John Zorn)

Lowlight: Wolf I Feed (Would be a cool song, but the clean vocals kill it for me)

[dcmetal108]

I thought the new STYG album was phenomenal all the way through.

[kalfitegrdan]

Originally Posted by dcmetal108

I thought the new STYG album was phenomenal all the way through.

The really bad clean singing ruins the album for me. The only song I like it on is Against Them All.

[smearCampaign]

You make it sound like Napalm released a prog album. And your favorite track was Everyday Pox, but the album was too experimental? To each their own, but it was my favorite album of the year. It took a few listens to grow on me, but I can now listen to that album on repeat and not get bored for a moment. Also their "clean" vocals remind of Burton Bell, but I've always liked Fear Factory, so that wasn't really a turn off for me. And obviously ND is one of my favorite bands ever so I'm biased.

You are dead on about Terrorizer, Nile and Faceless IMO. I've never listened to any STYG. Killer top 25 too.

[kalfitegrdan]

Originally Posted by smearCampaign

You make it sound like Napalm released a prog album. And your favorite track was Everyday Pox, but the album was too experimental? To each their own, but it was my favorite album of the year. It took a few listens to grow on me, but I can now listen to that album on repeat and not get bored for a moment. Also their "clean" vocals remind of Burton Bell, but I've always liked Fear Factory, so that wasn't really a turn off for me. And obviously ND is one of my favorite bands ever so I'm biased.

You are dead on about Terrorizer, Nile and Faceless IMO. I've never listened to any STYG. Killer top 25 too.

Everyday Pox is mainly my favorite because I love John Zorn and he is the perfect kind of avant-garde to add to a grind album. I dunno, I should probably throw it in and listen to it again, but it just completely caught me by surprise and I only ended up listening to it 3-4 times before I gave up on it back a month or so after it came out. I'm not huge on Fear Factory, so that might be why I wasn't too keen on 'em.

At least we agree on some things though. Thanks for checking out the list, man.

[kalfitegrdan]

Best Albums that I Bought Last Year That Weren't Released in 2012

1. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
2. Vastum - Carnal Law
3. Sadus - Chemical Exposure
4. Cobalt - Gin
5. Demolition Hammer - Epidemic of Violence
6. Mastodon - Leviathan
7. Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane
8. Autopsy - Mental Funeral
9. Atheist - Unquestionable Presence
10. Avantasia - The Scarecrow

[kalfitegrdan]

Gonna lazily attempt to rank my top 50 songs with 1 per artist.

1. Royal Thunder - Whispering World - Tied for "Riff of the Year" with #11
2. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us
3. Smash Potater - Smash Potater
4. Cattle Decapitation - A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat
5. Ufomammut - Oroborus
6. Teenage Bottlerocket - Cruising For Chicks
7. Anaal Nathrakh - Forging Towards the Sunset
8. Agalloch - Faustian Echoes
9. Overkill - Save Yourself
10. Converge - Aimless Arrow
11. Pallbearer - Devoid of Redemption - Tied for "Riff of the Year" with #1
12. Corrosion of Conformity - The Megalodon
13. Orange Goblin - The Filthy and the Few
14. Cancer Bats - Road Sick
15. Alcest - Faiseurs de Mondes
16. Asphyx - Deathhammer
17. NOFX - I Believe in Goddess
18. Baroness - March to the Sea
19. Stick to Your Guns - Against Them All
20. The Men - Open Your Heart
21. Death Grips - The Fever (Aye Aye)
22. Xibalba - Hasta La Muerte
23. Dethklok - I Ejaculate Fire
24. Evil Ways - Evil Ways
25. If These Trees Could Talk - Red Forest
26. Accept - Hung, Drawn and Quartered
27. Unleashed - White Christ
28. Biohazard - Vengeance is Mine
29. Grave - Winds of Chains
30. Big Chocolate - Blue Milk
31. Black Breath - Sentenced to Life
32. Make Them Suffer - Maelstrom
33. Cannibal Corpse - The Strangulation Chair
34. 3 Inches of Blood - Leather Lord
35. Derketa - Rest in Peace
36. Goatwhore - Collapse in Eternal Worth
37. Abominable Putridity - Lack of Oxygen
38. Napalm Death - Epidemic Pox
39. Abigail Williams - Ascension Sickness
40. Dying Fetus - From Womb to Waste
41. Eluveitie - The Siege
42. Dragged Into Sunlight - III
43. Deathspell Omega - Abrasive Swirling Murk
44. Hour of Penance - Sedition Through Scorn
45. Enter Shikari - Meltdown
46. Beneath the Massacre - Left Hand
47. Sabaton - Carolus Rex
48. Spawn of Possession - The Evangelist
49. The Faceless - Hymn of Sanity
50. Disfiguring the Goddess - Sleeper