Not so far into the year yet, but untill now the new Aura Noir sticks out, I guess!

The new one from Dark End is magnificent. Le Grand Guignol Book I. A must for all fans of epic black metal.

The new Process Of Guilt album is absolutely brilliant, and dare I say that they've beaten Neurosis at their own game. Well not beaten actually but it's a fact that this might be the best Neurosis sounding album ever, and yes I'm putting it atop anything done by Cult Of Luna and Isis, two bands whom I adore.

The album is due to be released on the 1st of May but a new song can be heard on their Bandcamp page, the rest... you'll just have to wait a couple of weeks and take my word that it's that good!

Album of the year for me, only thing that could take it out of the gold medal would be Gorguts or Neurosis themselves.

Xandria's "Neverworld's End" was a huge surprise for me. I thought Xandria had done it all after releasing "Ravenheart", but Manuella Kraller's vocals take the band to a whole new level. Highly enjoyable! My favorite from 2012 so far!

Cannibal Corpse - Torture
Demoncy - Enthroned is the Night
Aura Noir - Out to Die
Hellvetron - Death Scroll of Seven Hells

I highly reccomend all of the above.

Hadn't heard of the band until March of this year, and it is really good. High recommended.

Don't feel like searching through the thread, just listen to these.
Hesper Payne's The Strange Tale Of Samuel Gonzalez http://hesperpayne.bandcamp.com/album/t ... l-gonzalez
Outcast's Awaken The Reason http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZ8Kxf6TNA
Ahnengrab's Omen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLgyE4d5b1k
Tort's self titled http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cebAWfZcv84
Fisthammer's Devour All You See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FTTHAu9SLg

Spawn of Possession's "Incurso" is great in my opinion.

Full Album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41QIUpKqyVQ

I couldn't resist waiting for the release date, so I listened to the new Cattle Decapitation and holy shit, this has quite easily climbed the top of my personal favourites list. I never heard anything like those half-clean vocals before, they are almost too often used on the album, but then again, the way they are used is perfect. "Dead Set On Suicide" is such an incredible song.

I've been doing my homework, listening to shitloads of 2012 stuff and so far this is what I'm loving along with notes I'm keeping in a Word document:

Sigh- In Somniphobia (Avant-garde)
Masterpiece, a nightmarish journey where every song has its own personality. Like a mix of older and newer elements of Sigh.
Borknagar- Urd (Progressive/Viking)
Absolutely gorgeous vocal work from Vintersorg, Vortex and Lazare. Easily their best work since The Olden Domain. More interesting songwriting and occasional symphonic keys.
Asphyx- Death Hammer (Death)
Stylistically as expected but an even stronger album than the last. Massively heavy and doomy in some parts, thrashy in others. Disgusting vocals and amazing guitar tone.
Dark End- Grand Guignol - Book I (Symphonic Black)
Symphonic black with muscle, a good substitute for Anorexia Nervosa since their demise. Chanting vocals are amazing, tons of charisma, surprising technicality.
Overkill- The Electric Age (Thrash)
Basically Ironbound Part 2, not that that's a bad thing. Strong all the way through, good balance of choppy thrash and oldschool groove.
Vesperian Sorrow- Stormwinds of Ages (Symphonic Black)
Epic, grandiose, melodic and unpredictable. Guitar leads are a highlight, drums a little too clean.
Naglfar- Teras (Melodic Black/Death)
Solid as always from Naglfar,not surpassing their best work but on par with their last couple. The band is at its best when it incorporates slight death metal elements.
Desaster- The Arts of Destruction (Black/Death/Thrash)
Bad, dirty black/death/thrash fun. Maybe a little more unhinged and blacker than the last album. The variety between the songs really contributes to the overall score.
Akphazeya- Anthology IV: The Tragedy of Nerak (Avant Garde)
Improvement from the debut, a little darker, less playful sound overall. Excellent avant-garde metal with jazz influences. A softer Unexpect.
Screaming Savior- Infinity (Symphonic Black)
Very similar to Chthonic in parts, though with more bombast overall (a la Turisas). Tracklisting could've been rearranged to bring in more diversity early on.
Ram-Zet- Freakshow in Wonderland (Avant Garde)
Still not as strong as the band's best work but a step in the right direction after last time around. Probably the most interesting male/female mix of vocals in metal.

I've got the new Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death in the mail and I expect both of those to be in the same league. It'll be tough narrowing down a top 10 at the end of the year.

Basically this is what I've rated 8/10 or above. Aborted, Barren Earth and Hour of Penance aren't far off.

Exactly my impression. The heir to Anorexia Nervosa has arrived.

I'm a die hard Lacuna Coil fan, and while I was a little skeptical of "Dark Adrenaline" it didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would. It isn't Unleashed Memories or Comalies, but it's a start and I'm excited they're going back to their roots. It almost makes me want to forgive them for Shallow Life...lol

Hmm, heard so far:

Pharaoh - Bury the Light - Awesome, a furthering of their already great vision and scope.
Unisonic - s/t - Catchy and fun, if substanceless and inconsistent
Dragonforce - The Power Within - Another catchy Dragonforce album
Xandria - Neverworld's End - Very well done symphonic metal, just as good as classic Nightwish really
Accept - Stalingrad - Awesome trad metal, with mighty riffs and soaring choruses
Sigh - In Somniphobia - Not as good as their old works, but we'll see if it grows on me
Blaze Bayley - The King of Metal - Really mediocre aside from "The Black Country," which is a great song

Still need to get:

Overkill - The Electric Age
Cannibal Corpse - Torture
Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol
Running Wild - Shadowmaker
Horrendous - The Chills
Wrathblade - Into the Netherworld Realm
Avenger - Bohemian Dark Metal
Asphyx - Deathhammer

Waiting for:

Sonata Arctica - Stones Grow Her Name
Crystal Viper - Crimen Excepta
Huntress - Spell Eater
Dezperadoz - Dead Man's Hand
Delain - We Are the Others
Steel Assassin - WWII: Metal of Honor
Omen - Hammer Damage
Mercury Tide - Killing Saw
Firewind - Few Against Many
Sabaton - Carolus Rex

Had no idea Dezperadoz, Omen or Steel Assassin were releasing new material. Hails to the 'upcoming albums' feature, then.

edit: A new fucking Mercury Tide? Holy shit. Dirk Thurisch's mighty return?

I found it a large step down from the two albums before it - It seemed very thin, uninspired and unexciting.

I think my favourite album of this year so far has been Black Breath - Sentenced to Life, although Pharaoh and Overkill are definitely right behind it.

Pharaoh's Bury the Light was a great album; much better than I had originally expected (since I'm not too big a fan of prog power). But it's not exactly perfect, and not all tracks are equally good. Still, the ones that are good are REALLY FUCKING good.

Aura Noir - "Out to Die." Excellent black/death/thrash, a little thrashier and nastier than their last album (which I also liked).

Timeghoul - "1992-1994 Discography." I'm biased since I helped on that re-release but fuck it, great music is great music. These demos were too good to stay buried forever.

Christian Mistress - "Possession." Great heavy metal with understated but perfectly fitting raspy female vocals, and solid songwriting. One of my new favorite bands.

Napalm Death - "Utilitarian." Been a long time since I really listened to a Napalm release, but I got this on a friend's recommendation and it's excellent.

Antichrist - "Sacrament of Blood." The LP was out in 2011 but the CD in 2012, and since I'm a CD guy, I'm counting it. Great Blasphemy-ish band - don't be thrown by the primitive cover art.

Occultation - "Three and Seven." Negative Plane-related awesomeness with the eerie feel of some 60s and 70s prog and hard rock, like Goblin.

Nekromantheon - "Rise, Vulcan Spectre." There will never be another "Darkness Descends" but I'm happy that a few bands, like this one, are still trying.

Emptiness - "Error." Excellent and extremely unique black/death... some of the darkest music I've heard recently.

You had me thinking the Swedish Antichrist had another album out.

Sorry, not the same ones. It's just one of those obvious band names that can't help but be used by multiple bands. (Speaking of which, ever try to look up any band called Torment? I think that name needs to be retired.)

Haha, another "popular" name would be Legion. But I'll stop digressing now.

So how is Stalingrad?

Stalingrad kicked some major ass, especially "Shadow Soldiers." I haven't heard "Blood of the Nations" so I can't compare but if it's anything like the new one I see why people loved it.

It's good enough to cancel out that wretched Running Wild abortion.

The new Rage album is good. I haven't actually liked a Rage album in about half a decade, but this one is actually solid, and even though some songs have weak choruses, the riffs are damn fine, the production is the best they've had in years and the energy is through the roof.

It'll be hard to sit through...




...because that's how hard it'll kick your ass.

Listened to the new In Mourning and the new Before the Dawn last night. Both solid releases that top their initial predecessors in my opinion. The new In Mourning in particular, was a nice breath of fresh air in comparison to Monolith. Great job on their part in capturing an oceanic theme. Very enveloping and emotionally draining throughout.

Highly agreed, even though I loved Monolith. This new one has an incredibly solid three track streak of openers. It's the final track that's only iffy for me, and that's mainly in that it was placed at the end.

I noticed that too. As much as I like the track, it just seemed so.... out of place I guess. It just kind of falls off with that abrupt ending.

My preference would be "A Vow to Conquer the Ocean" placed at the end (even have its named changed to "Voyage of a Wavering Mind" in my opinion), but even the track before "Voyage...", "The Drowning Sun", would fit well. When they released the ~5 minute sample, I had it in my head that the clean break in "A Vow..." was actually from the final track, but no.

Anyway, just damn happy that they were able to create a third good album. Would have been a little pissed if they went with the nautical theme but didn't attempt to make it sound like such. But they did, and I'm .

listening to the new gory blister now at track 5 (of 10) - sounds like fairly generic, slightly wanky, but pretty decent tech death... maybe i'll warm up to it

^ very good album.

Personally I'm holding out for the new Katatonia and Gojira albums.

I checked out In Mourning's new album after hearing good things about it. Is the band always this boring? Also, the production is incredibly sterile. It has no bite whatsoever.

To Gojira fans, this is what I feel.

Yeah, Gojira sucks too.

No they don't actually. They're one of the most forward thinking bands today in metal. You probably don't like them just because they're more popular now than they were 5 years ago.

You do realize that both his and your statements are dependant of personal taste don't you?!

Wait, opinions can be objectively right now?

Gojira's fucking awesome, but I realize that they're an acquired taste. CheesusCrust's statement is ridiculously immature, though.

He's a troll trying to get a rise out of everyone, at least based on his other posts.

And yeah, I agree with that. It took me awhile to get into Gojira as they just felt, so... bland for me at the start, they just didn't click. Even to this day I still don't care for much of their pre-FMTS material. I can see how people may dislike them. Personally, big fan of their later work, can't wait for their new album.

I only just got into Gojira recently, I did not bother to check them out because the name of the band was off putting to me but I was always curious. I have not heard anything of theirs pre-FMTS but I can I say I highly enjoy the newer material.. I just think there is some really enjoyable songwriting with a touch of Steve Tucker era Morbid Angel which I really enjoy.

The pre-FMTS material is pretty boring, really, though From Mars to Sirius is pretty killer itself. I think their real masterpiece is The Way of All Flesh. I find it pretty much flawless in every way. In fact, I've listened to it every day at least once for three weeks now, so yeah...