the Good 2012

After a year of moaning about things I supposedly love to an indifferent internet, it is always good to end the year on a positive note and there have been some real highlights for me personally this year. I would like to think this has been reflected in my end of year review for The Sleeping Shaman and the fact that this year I actually completed a top ten of best albums (compared to last years 7).

This won't be a list that everyone will agree with having spoken to various folks about the things released this year, but hey, it's an opinions game as always and this is mine:

10. Testament 'Dark Roots Of The Earth'




One of the greatest triumphs in recent rock history has to be the recovery from the Germ Cell Seminova strain of cancer by Testament frontman Chuck Billy. In 2008 I should have seen them play the small tent at Download, but in my defence I was very, very drunk and it seemed like such a bad idea.
The Foundation of Damnation however was a great comeback album and in 2009 I got to see them open for Megadeth and Judas Priest and they were by far the best band that evening.
This year saw them solidify their rightful place among thrash heritage with the release of 'Dark Roots Of The Earth'. Backed by drum titan Gene Hoglan and once again accompanied by one of the biggest egos to pick up a guitar in Alex Skolnick as well as original members Eric Peterson and Greg Christian  - it equals FoD in terms of majesty and goes toe to toe with classics like The Legacy.
Testament have delivered in Dark Roots another example of why they have been criminally over looked in comparison to the much over hyped Big Four, like Exodus, they are still making albums that kill the old way.
The only thing that gives me pause is the unnecessary, but not entirely unpleasant cover of Iron Maiden's 'Powerslave'… which is slightly weird.
Debate rages on about whether blast beats have any place on Thrash album like this; Er, yeah, cos they sound fucking great. Check the album out on Spotify or something if you don't believe me.

9. Black Magician 'Nature Is The Devil's Church'



Anyone who doesn't miss Cathedral is a chump.
There I said it and I wish I had paid them far more attention than I did when they were going.
The debut release both on Shaman Recordings and for Black Magician 'Nature…' goes some way to filling that gap. There are times on this album where they hit the heights of the earliest Cathedral recordings with it's crawling slow doom and a decent, but not plagiaristic vocal rasp.
Don't think for one minute that the band is a direct replacement for Lee Doran's departed heroes, Back Magician are very much their own band as well as giving the nod to their influences. This is seventies influenced, Hammond Organ flavoured, folk tinged Doom music for people who like their music dark and twisted.
This isn't here for the sake of nepotism, granted it doesn't throw up any new surprises to the doom genre, but what 'Nature…' does is deliver a quality listening experience that is both refreshing and timeless in it's genre.
Check it out - it's great. Better yet check it out on blood red vinyl, it's a thing of beauty.

8. Arc Of Ascent 'A Higher Key'



Spacey, stoner, prog, doom rockers Arc of Ascent delivered the follow up to their 2010 album Circle of the Sun this year and it was a belter.
At the risk of blowing my own trumpet here (oo er misses) rather than rehash it here, check out my review for The Sleeping Shaman, which was also featured on Roadburn festival's website as album of the day.
The Higher Key

7. Author & Punisher 'Ursus Americanus'



I'm a big fan of Tristan Shone and his Author & Punisher project.
His ventures into music and performance art are truly exciting in a musical and visual sense.
Again I am copping out slightly here but in a bid to convince you all at the end of the year that I can be a serious writer, here once again, is my review for The Sleeping Shaman.
Ursus Americanus

6. Shadows Fall 'A Fire From The Sky'



This is an album I have come back and back to this year.
In all honesty I thought the Shads would be joining God Forbid and Ill Nino on the list of formerly good bands I will not be listening to new material of anymore. However with the release of AFTS in the middle of the year my spirits were buoyed by the fact the band seemed to remember who they were finally. Sure they have accessible, almost beautiful melodies on tracks like Nothing Remains where guitarist Matt shows that frankly he is a better vocalist on backing than a fair few of his contemporary's lead singers, but then they have the full on death attack of tracks like the title song.
This album was a joy to listen to from start to finish, Bay Area influenced thrash, flavoured with a touch of hardcore breakdowns, gruff and clean vocals without veering into the Emo/Screamo bollocks territory and a production value and artwork that make it an album to be bought rather than stolen.
To cap it off they were awesome in the small tent at Download - one of the highlights of the weekend. Welcome back Shadows Goddam Motherfucking Fall.

5. Therapy? 'A Brief Crack Of Light'



People who know me well would have probably expected this release to be a little higher.
In truth I love Therapy? I actually went into a length rant on a football forum recently because someone on there filed Northern Ireland's finest under 'Bands From The Past Who Used To Be Great'. I felt obliged to inform them that Therapy? have not only churned out an immersive number of albums since Troublegum in 1995, but they have also been critically acclaimed.
Numerous times.
Yes, I know… my life is full of wonder.
Anyway, following 2010's incredible Crooked Timber album and the previous high quality outings I was expecting this one to leap out of the stereo and grab me. It didn't.
Instead Therapy?  produced one of their more quirky, off kilter, harder to listen to records and I struggled with it until I saw them back in April and they played a couple of tracks live. Since then the album has clicked and some of it is a real eye opening joy.
It'll never be my favourite album, but it has run pretty close this year for the sheer unexpected pleasure that connecting with this album has produced.

4. Neurosis 'Honor In Decay'



Put simply, Neurosis are great and this album is yet more proof.
Don't Believe This Me?
Try this one.
Never easy listening this album was surprisingly accessible for one of theirs - less dense than Given To The Rising, more mellow than Through Silver In Blood, yet as complex and dark as you could hope for, it was a close run battle for third.

3. Deftones Koi No Yokan



Winning the competition for most irritating title of the year Koi No Yokan (Premonition of Love) is the second album not to feature original bassist Chi Cheng as he is still in a semi conscious status following a near fatal car crash. However the comeback album Diamonds Eyes saw long time friend Sergio Vega step in and help the band produce a body of work that, compared to the two previous below par albums, put the band back on a critical upswing.
If that album drew comparisons to their earlier works, then Koi No Yokan offers a direct comparison the seminal White Pony album. Incredibly atmospheric with riffs as heavy as concrete elephants, swirling ambient electrics, angular rhythms this album cements their return to firing on all cylinders.
That said I was skeptical the first time I heard it, but this album is definitely a grower with immediate stand out tracks like Leathers slowly being replaced by the far superior Gauze and Rosemary that keep adding layers of depth and dimension to the listening experience.
Simply put, this album is one of the best of the deftones career, yet alone year.

2. Lamb of God 'Resolution'



It seems strange to think back to the beginning of the year and Lamb of God were actually in the media for their music… anyway for those who have short memories before they became an advert for how corrupt a justice system in a former Soviet Block country can be, they actually released an album called Resolution.
At the turn of the year this was exactly the thing needed to knock Machine Head's Locust of top spot on my stereo and LoG delivered one of their finest albums since The Ashes Of The Wake. Seemingly more focused than Wrath, more diverse and forward thinking than Sacrament, this was a massive statement of arrival in the big time. Lamb of God made an album that cemented their place at the top of the food chain - the likes of Ghost Walking and Insurrection are anthems made for festival pits, King Me is a monster of a track that towers over previous epics and they open with a sludge/thrash one - two punch to the face.
It's a shame this has been forgotten in the saga of the year. It has now been confirmed that Randy will face trial in February of next year, I hope that this is a matter that can be concluded quickly so LoG can get back out on the road and tour this album as the set at Download was far to short to do Resolution any justice.

1. Vision Of Disorder 'The Cursed Remain Cursed



I have got to admit several came close this year. LoG, Deftones and Neurosis could have all been contenders for the top slot this year, but one album for me stood head and shoulders above the rest and that was The Cursed Remain Cursed.
Having spoken to a few people about it, a view was expressed that it was a '90's Hardcore album'… they are not wrong about that in a sense, it is.
However it is a very special one.
Not only is it a damn good album and a reminder to your Nu Metal's, Metalcore's and Emo's how good really heavy, melodic metal music can be at a time when everything seems so soulless, but it is also an incredible comeback from a band who never fulfilled their potential the first time around.
I have waxed lyrical elsewhere about this album, but no other piece of music has made me as joyous this year. The sheer face melting anger, the off kilter melodies.
Maybe it's because it reminds me of being 19 again. Maybe I have just had the kind of year which at times could make St Frances of Assisi kick babies and from the moment Loveless came on I was granted an outlet for all that frustration and aggression. Maybe I am just so glad that a band I once thought gone forever was back and not only making albums again but making some of the best material of their career.
They were always head and shoulders above anything released in the nineties and for me there is only one album with as many play counts on my iTunes this year.
It is this one.

So that's it.
Another year bites the dust.
Providing we all survive through today next year promises to be a bumper one again.
Early interests include a new Alice In Chains album, a preview track is already streaming online, Tool are reporting that material for a new album is 'half done' which means maybe, maybe next year, but more likely 2025.
Maiden are returning to Donington 25 years after headlining for their first time and will be playing the Maiden England set - this will be the musical highlight of my year.
And History Towers faves Earthtone9 will unleash the Pledgemusic funded new album.

But I can't go without commenting on the breaking news that Lost Prophets singer Ian Watkins has been arrested and charged on pedophilia.
In a rare moment of considered thought, the British justice revolves around the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty' and as such I shall abstain from passing comment on the case, but having met Watkins several times I thought he was a cunt before all this.

Right, if this is it folks I'll see you on the lake of fire, because if I am fucked for writing this, you are sure all damned for reading.
Catch ya in the New Year...