twenty twelve, I guess

[larvtard]

Relatively speaking, I didn't go to many shows this year. The beginning of this year I was finishing up my 2nd semester at University of Vermont, which is located in the city of Burlington -- as you can imagine, not a hotspot for shows. (But, of course, there have been a bunch of good shows there this fall/winter, now that I'm back in Atlanta ) But I did see some cool bands, mostly small hardcore/screamo bands, and three national metal tours (as well as Tool in Boston).

-- Pianos Become the Teeth/Xerxes/locals
-- Loma Prieta/Birds in Row/locals
-- Withdrawal/Hollow Earth/locals
-- Spraynard/Paul Baribeau/locals
-- Every Time I Die/Terror/some shitty deathcore band/Former Thieves
-- Cannibal Corpse/Exhumed/Absymal Dawn/some forgettable tech-death band
-- Sepultura/Death Angel/Havok
-- Tool/YOB

Then I went to MDF for three days (Friday - Sunday). It was a cool experience, and I saw some good bands, but now that I've been to one music festival, I don't need to do another. There's no way I will ever stand watching music for 12 hours straight, even with sitting down between every single band. Plus, they all sem to sound the same after a few hours. Meh.

That being said, seeing Electric Wizard while high is probably the greatest experience of my life, and I'd say, albeit with a bit hesitation, worth the almost $400 in airfare, lodging, food, and tickets.

After I came back from Baltimore, I saw Ghoul and a few other bands, Ceremony and a couple local bands, and by then I was done with live music for a while. It could have been that MDF burned me out on live music, it could have been that the 30+ shows I had attended each year for the past few years had taken its toll on me, but I'm actually inclined to say I no longer got as much enjoyment out of live music because of a certain mood-regulating medication that I had just gotten on (which I still stand by as a good idea, live music be damned). I did see a few bands from Richmond later that summer (Parasytic, Windhand, someone else) and later that fall I saw Sunn 0))) and Lightning Bolt, which were both pretty cool shows, although both times I didn't feel the need to stay for the entire thing.

Anyway, without further ado:

1. Electric Wizard
2. Church of Misery
3. Noothgrush
4. Cough
5. YOB
6. Dragged Into Sunlight
7. Morbid Angel
8. Deviated Instinct
9. Morbid Saint
10. Terror
11. Lightning Bolt
12. Sunn 0)))
13. Birds in Row
14. Xerxes
15. Former Thieves
16. Windhand
17. Paul Baribeau
18. Absymal Dawn
19. Every Time I Die (actually would probably go farther up but I'm doing manual numbering here so fuck that)
20. Nasum

NEW #1: NEUROSIS

[energymetal14]

Originally Posted by larvtard

1. Electric Wizard
2. Church of Misery
3. Noothgrush
4. Cough
5. YOB
6. Dragged Into Sunlight
7. Morbid Angel
8. Deviated Instinct
9. Morbid Saint
10. Terror
11. Lightning Bolt
12. Sunn 0)))
13. Birds in Row
14. Xerxes
15. Former Thieves
16. Windhand
17. Paul Baribeau
18. Absymal Dawn
19. Every Time I Die (actually would probably go farther up but I'm doing manual numbering here so fuck that)
20. Nasum

Sweet list man! Lots of bands I want to see, and some that I saw that are great live.

[larvtard]

I listened to a shitload of demos this year. In hindsight, I don't know why I really waste my time on demos. They're usually shit-quality, even if the songs are good. And if the demo is really that good, I'll probably be hearing of the band in the future anyway. Most of these bands are pretty great at what they do, but what they do isn't terribly original, for the most part. I should probably work on filling gaps in my collection with essential artists I've never heard before giving every single "band" of 23-year-old losers from Miami working at Circuit City a chance. That being said, I did enjoy these demos to a fair extent. Here's what I got:

Iron Cages (2012 demo) -- RIYL from ashes rise

Sküll (demo) -- blackened crusty death

Mean Man's Dream (s/t) -- chaotic, sludgy hardcore

Aversion (fracture/divider) -- RIYL shai hulud

Skinfather (atheos) -- Entombed gone straight-edge, or something

WTCHDR (s/t) -- chaotic, sludgy, blackened, doomy hardcore, a bit rough around the edges

East Beast (s/t) -- RIYL naysayer

As We Were (a reason) -- melodic hardcore from Burlington (yep, seen 'em twice)

Old Lines (winter demo) -- RIYL ruiner, pulling teeth

VALVE (s/t) -- French, doom, clean vocals; beautiful

Lord Dying (demo) -- RIYL black cobra, bison b.c.

Self-Corruption (history of clowns) -- best grind demo this year, bar fucking none

Sorcerer's Pledge (demo) -- The avant-garde singer of Twitching Tongues takes on traditional doom, yes



-----
I'm pretty sure all of these bands have bandcamps, and the demos are mostly free, from what I recall.

[larvtard]

SPLITS

Caravels/Gifts From Enola - Well Worn

Absolutely fantastic. Caravels play screamo -- a more mellow kind, as opposed to the chaotic emo-violence ala Orchid -- and Gifts From Enola play semi-epic screamo-influenced post-rock. Would probably be in my top ten of the year if I counted splits.

Alaric/Atriarch

let's trip on acid in a gothic rainbow of death

Full of Hell/Code Orange Kids

Two of the best hardcore bands right now on their own split, omg. Both of these bands' material are chaotic and sludgy as hell.

Full of Hell/Calm the Fire

I much prefer Full of Hell's material on this one. Also, Calm the Fire is awesome.

Grinding Halt/Suffering Quota

Both bands play really killer grind, with influences from crust, screamo, and doom/sludge. Haven't listened to this one for a while, though.

---------------

EP's

Power Trip (s/t) -- If you haven't heard these dudes, you're totally missing out. Best thrash band next to Vektor to come out in the last decade and they don't even consider themselves to be metal. (i.e. they only tour with hardcore bands)

Down (purple) -- I've never paid much attention to Down, but if this EP is any indication, I should probably start. Some of the best stoner rock/metal I've ever heard in my life.

Suburban Scum (hanging by a thread) -- this is why I listen to hardcore

Graf Orlock (los angeles) -- Another killer record from this "cinema-grind" act. They don't even need the film samples anymore, though: the music is good enough on its own without a gimmick.

Protestant (reclamation) -- God I fucking love Milwaukee hardcore. RIYL masakari, tragedy, modern life is war

Rape Revenge (paper cage) -- 16 songs in 10 minutes, powerviolence, pretty sweet

The Swan King (pay to pray) -- It's such a shame that these guys don't even have 600 listeners on last.fm; they're one of the most original-sounding, unique even, bands I've heard in years. I think. Maybe. It's possible that I'm just new to this genre. Anyway, these guys play noisy post-hardcore.

Pharaoh (this house is doomed) -- crusty, fucking APOCALYPTIC sludge, oh my god, absolutely pummeling, brilliant

Inter Arma (destroyer) -- These guys are great, loved their first album sundown. I've always described them as "stoner black metal," not sure if that fits, or what

Snakes (please kill me now) -- this is, like, an even more pissed off sleepwell deconstructor. kinda generic, though

Fvck Mountain (ep) -- Noisy grind/chaotic hardcore, something like that, but these guys are different, man

Trenchfoot (endless disgust) -- This is nothing new; if you've heard one crusty hardcore record, you've heard this... but at the same time, they're doing something cool which I like

Slash Dementia (wheels of babylon) -- "hey nasum, I like the things you do. hey nasum! if I could I would be you" - slash dementia

Calvaiire (rigorisme) -- mathcore from France, I don't know why I felt it necessary to say where the band is from, maybe because I don't have anything else to say, but probably because I haven't listened to it in a while

Hunger (reparations/sick) -- REPARATIONS REPARATIONS.... REPARATIONS
RIYL ceremony, minor threat, music (yeah it's that good, fuck me)

Dredd (recurring nightmare) -- this is crusty hardcore, and hence, I like it, there's really nothing more to be said here that's already been said, even if it hasn't actually

A Thousand Words (sinner) -- melodic, dissonant, mathy, love

Truth Inside (best times) -- RIYL mindset, heavy shit

Agalloch (faustian echoes)

Eternal Sleep (lessons) -- fuckin' great hardcore from Pittsburgh, beatdown meets crust, me gusta

[larvtard]

FULL-LENGTHS

GOD

Cloud Nothings -- Attack On Memory
Every Time I Die -- Ex Lives
Baroness -- Yellow & Green
Converge -- AWLWLB

SUPER-DUPER awesome

Tragedy -- Darker Days Ahead
Lord Mantis -- Pervertor
Enabler -- All Hail the Void
Royal Thunder -- CVI
Chelsea Wolfe -- Unknown Rooms
Dragged Into Sunlight -- Widowmaker
Narrows -- Painted
Gaza -- No Absolutes in Human Suffering

GREAT

Black Breath -- Sentenced to Life
Code Orange Kids - Love is Love//Return to Dust
High on Fire -- Les Vermis Mysteriis
Trash Talk -- 119
Atriarch -- Ritual of Passing
Matt Elliott -- The Broken Man
Primitive Weapons -- The Shadow Gallery
Ceremony -- Zoo
Unsane -- Wreck
Amenra -- Mass V
Loma Prieta - IV
White Lung - sorry

JUST A LITTLE LESS GREAT

Crocus -- Our Memories Dress Me in a Dead Lust
Vilipend -- Inamorata
Young Hunter -- Stone Tools
Everything Went Black -- Cycles of Light
Goatwhore -- Blood for the Master
Desaster -- Arts of Destruction
B L A C K I E -- Gen
Ghostlimb -- Confluence
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats -- Blood Lust
Aesop Rock -- Skelethon
Kowloon Walled City -- Container Ships
The Love Below -- Every Tongue Shall Caress
Rise and Fall -- Faith
Mgla -- With Hearts Towards None
Nile -- At the Gates of Sethu
Gojira -- L'Enfant Sauvage
Anaal Nathrakh -- Vanitas
Municipal Waste -- The Fatal Feast
Fire & Ice -- Not of this Earth
Guilty Thompson and Apollo Brown - Dice Game

NOT BAD (enjoyable, but no pressing need to re-listen any time soon)

Bison B.C. -- Lovelessness
Sylosis -- Monolith
Birds in Row -- You, Me, & the Violence
Lamb of God -- Resolution
haarp -- Husks
The Sword -- Apocryphon
Neurosis -- Honor Found in Decay
Ruckus -- Of Malice and Man
Dreaming Dead -- Midnightmares
This Gift is a Curse -- I, Guilt Bearer
Black Sheep Wall -- No Matter How It Ends
You Bred Raptors? -- Hammond
Scott Kelly -- The Forgiven Ghost in Me
Conan -- Monnos *AMAZING guitar tone*
Horn of the Rhino -- Grengus
METZ -- s/t
Wizard Rifle -- Speak Loud Say Nothing
Pinkish Black -- s/t
Exumer -- Fire and Damnation
Strife -- Witness a Rebirth
The Men -- Open Your Heart
Japandroids -- Celebration Rock
PxDx -- Book Burner
Mickey Napalm -- Stream of Unconsciousness
Menace Ruine -- Alight in Ashes (weird as shit)
Torch Runner -- Committed to the Ground

I figured that was easier than ranking them....

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Early Graves -- Red Horse
Struck by Lightning -- True Predation
Cancer Bats -- Dead Set on Living

[christopher]

I just checked out Fvck Mountain and Rape Revenge. Some really cool shit, thanks man.

[slapguitarer]

Originally Posted by larvtard

FULL-LENGTHS

Young Hunter -- Stone Tools

[larvtard]

Originally Posted by christopher

I just checked out Fvck Mountain and Rape Revenge. Some really cool shit, thanks man.

you got it dude!

Originally Posted by slapguitarer

reminds me a lot of Subrosa

---------------

All right, so obviously I didn't just listen to 2012 music this year. I actually listened to quite a few cool bands. Here are my top 25 artists I played this year, according to Last.fm:

1 Every Time I Die
421 plays

2 Ceremony
368 plays

3 Orchid
330 plays

4 Nasum
296 plays

5 La Dispute
277 plays

6 Touché Amoré
258 plays

7 Terror
255 plays

8 His Hero Is Gone
247 plays

9 Modest Mouse
178 plays

10 Brand New
163 plays

11 Joy Division
159 plays

12 Trash Talk
144 plays

13 Slayer
139 plays

14 Enabler
132 plays

15 Mastodon
123 plays

16 Young and in the Way
122 plays

17 Death
121 plays

18 Tragedy
115 plays

19 Loma Prieta
112 plays

20 Converge
108 plays

20 Municipal Waste
108 plays

22 Pig Destroyer
105 plays

23 System of a Down
103 plays

24 Modern Life Is War
101 plays

25 The Beatles
97 plays


----
and now I'm done, adieu

[dcmetal108]

Originally Posted by larvtard

you got it dude!



reminds me a lot of Subrosa

---------------

All right, so obviously I didn't just listen to 2012 music this year. I actually listened to quite a few cool bands. Here are my top 25 artists I played this year, according to Last.fm:

1 Every Time I Die
421 plays



----
and now I'm done, adieu

I have 1351 plays of ETID this year and rising.

[larvtard]

Originally Posted by energymetal14

Sweet list man! Lots of bands I want to see, and some that I saw that are great live.

'preciate it

----------------

Looper (10/10) -- awesome plot, great performances, JGL is in it, etc.

The Dark Knight Rises (8.75/10) -- not as good as its predecessor, but that's asking a lot. JGL is amazing in this as always

Argo (8/10) -- Sure, there are some parts near the end that had me facepalming and thinking to myself "there's no possible way this actually happened," but Affleck really did a swell job at building up dramatic tension.

Django Unchained (6.5/10) -- entertaining movie, but I still don't really get Tarantino. Dude needs to learn the art of "get to the point."

21 Jump Street (6.5/10) -- pretty funny

Lincoln (6/10) -- Good performances and everything, I just found it excessively long and not much going on

Men in Black III (5/10) -- 'tis okay, wasn't really expecting much in the first place though

Ted (4.5/10) -- meh, I'd rather just watch an episode of Family Guy.

Skyfall (3.5/10) -- absolutely no substance whatsoever. a bore

Project X (1.5/10) -- I acknowledge that there are many comedy films where I don't understand the humor per se, but I understood the jokes here. They just weren't funny.

Still need to watch End of Watch and The Master.

Also, I've updated a bunch of the music lists with new albums if anyone's interested.