Oh no, I meant the unidentified doom band. That's what got me curious, to witness those melodic leanings on another band. I'd sure like to hear that one if you remember the name. I get what you mean about the structuring and it does sound a bit more constructed than just some eerie chords being repeated.

Wow! A lot of new bands for me, hun? Thank you, guys lol

There have been a ton of great death metal releases this year. I just recently heard the new Cattle Decapitation and it is fucking amazing. Add that to the releases from Ataraxy, Nephelium, Asphyx, and even the surprisingly good Aborted album and this has been a great year for death metal. It has also been a pretty good year for doom. Mortalicum and Hooded Menace both released great albums, as did Witchcraft. My top ten is going to be very competitive this year.

Ectovoid's Fractured In The Timeless Abyss was really good, there were some solid well done Death, Black and Thrash albums out this year but no real classics that won't be forgotten/unlistened-to by this time next year. That's a big problem I have with metal now, everything is good, it's almost too easy to do a decent album, but nothing kicks your fucking ass, not mine atleast.

Nah, I meant they're similar to one another for me. To be entirely fair though, I could just be talking out of my ass because I've listened to Sedition like twelve million times this year and I've only spun Incurso a handful. I prefer HoP's approach I suppose, they're just completely over the top and ridiculous and that's the reason I've always loved the band.

Coils of Entropy is indeed quite an album. I've been trying to let people know about how good and raw that album is.

The year is coming to an end and the 'best of 2012' lists would be compiled soon. I've already posted in this thread earlier this year. Anyway, of late, the 2012 albums that I've been listening to a lot lately are:

Rage Nucleaire - Unrelenting Fucking Hatred
Out of most of the black metal releases this year, this caught my ears. I like the production and the music is unrelenting for lack of a better word.

Dantalion - Return to Deep Lethargy
Nice soothing black metal with an inclination towards ambient sounds. At par with their previous releases

Absvrdist - Illusory
Really good grind side-project from the drummer of the Faceless.

Bloodshot Dawn - Bloodshot Dawn
It's the band's debut album and they really kicked the groove into this piece of work. Groovy-thrash/death metal.

Omotai is really good. May be one of my favorite sludge releases this year along with Lento.

Really? Other than the first song relentless is the last thing in the world I would describe the album as. It's quite moderately paced, and is built mostly around very melodic trem work, other than the full on vocals and the rather ill fitting non stop blast beating it's pretty timid. Not to say it's bad, I like the melody and the Bathory-esque sense of sweeping majesty, it just isn't "unrelenting", and has very little fucking hatred, it really billed itself as something it isn't with the pre-release hype. It'll definitely have a place on the lower end of my best of list still, even if it isn't in contention for the absolute top spots.

Really enjoying Nephelium - Coils of Entropy.
I've had it for a while but never really paid it any attention. I'm listening to it now and its very good, so thanks guys for bringing them up again

Katatonia's Dead End Kings is so damn good; it has grown on me a lot over time, really. I already consider it to be maybe the very best album released this year. Pure sorrow and lament. And I also think it is their strongest work in the "Depressive-Rock" phase, alongside with Tonight's Decision.

The new Neurosis sounds perfectly fine, although not extremely astonishing or anything. I'm reasonably satisfied with it.

Forgotten Tomb's album was terrible and did pretty much nothing right, while Neurosis released an awesome and well layered album which seems to become more interesting with every listen. It's been a tear if extremes.

I thought Forgotten Tomb's wasn't utterly terrible after the first song's groovy bullshit (And to see reviews claiming THAT is what FT's doom influence is ) the band at least seemed to have some resemblance to it's old self. Totally half assed and not worth the time by any stretch, but not terrible, just irredeemably mediocre, the band is dead methinks.

Regarding the new Forgotten Tomb, I really liked Under Saturn Retrograde, which was my very first record from FT (and my ONLY one, until now), but I was really disappointed in And Don't Deliver Us From Evil; the production, performances, etc., aren't bad in any way, but the songwriting just didn't hook me at all like with Under Saturn. Major step back in catchiness and emotion there.

Ha, Smalley get onto the first three, those are the only worthwhile ones. Although don't anticipate the whole catchy pop metal band that they want to be that they really went for hard with Under Saturn. Despite trying so hard for three albums now they've never written a clean hook as moving as the single "I'm just waiting for the punishment due" line on Loves Burial Ground.

So I recently stumbled across a band called Stormrider, and their new album The Path of Salvation. Now, judging by that name and the fact that their vocalist is a dead ringer for Matt Barlow, you could be forgiven for thinking it'd be a lame Iced Earth wannabe. But holy crap this one came out of left field for me. It's so fast and energetic and over the top, while remaining entirely based on solid riffing instead of epic keys or wacky melodies. It's like the Brain Drill of power metal. Check it, for realsies.

No Satan's Satyrs? Wild Beyond Belief! is definitely one of my fav records of the year. Have you heard that sound?! I just love that raw, garage-y sound, the feel of the ''band'' abusing their instruments. And the music is a sweet combination of dirty rock/doom with some punk influence here and there. You know, the type of music to play at full volume and rock the hell out of it. The opener (and first available track) Sadist 69 hooked me on like I was rarely hooked on for a first listen.

Didn't know they had a new one - Just one more reason to check out a more than just a couple of their songs, I think. I'll listen to it when I get the chance, and probably some of their other stuff too, I can't for the life of me remember how it sounds, despite knowing I've listened to it before.

Dehumanized - Controlled Elite is a damn good slab of death metal. It has some slam and BDM stylings to it, but probably appeals to the more true death metal crowd also. Their first album since 1998 and I think they did a hell of a job. The cover sucks, though.

I did not get the deluxe version but god damn, Book Burner is fucking awesome. This was not the album I expected Pig Destroyer to make after releasing The Phantom Limb. The riffs keep churning... Just so many riffs. This one will definitely make my top 10 list. Quite a return.

I actually picked Book Burner up a long with the new Anaal Nathrakh album but I have not listened to it yet because I cannot stop listening to Book Burner.

The new Shining was actually good. I guess it was largely panned because at this point it's predictable and they're not breaking new ground but the songwriting is still strong, the clean sections haunting, and the solos rule.

Jute Gyte's new one is really good guys and it came out last month.

http://jutegyte.bandcamp.com/album/senescence

You should all listen D:

I've only tried Jute Gyte's Isolation from this year, seemed far too melodic and straight forward for me, none of that noise influence or Anaal Nathrakhy violence that made Young Eagle such a ripper of an album. What direction is Senescence in?

But as for something that I am going nuts over, Monolithe III is giving me parapism, it's something unlike anything in the funeral doom scene. It's like funeral doom with ADD, it just burns through riffs, I swear the first 12 minutes has at least 40 riff changes, and it doesn't let up til about the 35 minute mark. It's insane, I've never heard such densely packed doom as the first half our of this, jumping from rolling droning, the swaggering death doom, to melodic leads, to clunky tremolos, to atmospheric keys, the solos, to random piano breaks, to grooving tom rolls all crazy unending waves of riffage, hell even when a riff does last for more than 15 seconds a new instrument or a new keyboard harmony or lead guitar lick is added every few bars, it's absolutely relentless. This album has more going on in it than any funeral doom album ever made, hell it has more things going on than any doom album regardless of styling, it's amazing. At around 35 minutes there is a bit more of a traditional bit for four or so minutes with only two or three major riffs, then at 42 minutes you get an actually break from the metal with some ambiance for twenty seconds, and from about the 47 minute mark it gets a bit traditional again for the closing. And that's pretty much it for breathers on this album. Seriously, I've never even imagined a funeral doom band that would keep up the riffing and ideas for thirty five sustained minutes and only use ambiance for twenty seconds in a fifty two minute album, it's insane. And you'd think there would be no atmosphere here, but no, this thing can be dark and brooding, beautiful, and in the case of a lead melody based period around the 22-25 minute mark it can be downright triumphant. But who cares about moodiness, this is a funeral doom album that is all about riffs, and I've never heard anything as full of them as this, any ten minute period on this album has more riffs than the entire new Elysian Blaze, it's fucking incredible.

^Well that sounds pretty promising, I'll be expecting good things from this record.

On another note, Drottnar's new album has recently leaked. Pretty similar to Welterwerk though quite a bit shorter. Dunno why they took 6 years to write it.

The new Paragon is awesome. Crushing, metal-spiked, leather-clad heavy metal of the highest order.

Who likes black metal, check out Medico Peste. I preferred their demos to this one

I know you posted this months ago, But.

YES!

Wow, that sounds fantastic. I have a raging hard-on for the new Elysian Blaze so Monolithe III will have a hard time topping that one for me but you've definitely rekindled my interest in Monolithe with this post. I ordered a copy through Season of Mist, let's hope those bastards don't take a month to ship my copy

I agree. It's WAY better than seemed at first impression.
By the way, this thread is dying pretty fast since the album was out:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=92553

Let's continue there.

Let me add Ofermod's Thaumiel to the list. Its death metal edge is more prominent than of Tiamtü, production is a lot better and the songwriting got back on the orthodox BM path (where Tiamtü was a good metal record but nothing more). YouTube has the songs Black Gate and Prayers Unto Warped Eternities, the rest was blocked by Spinefarm. The re-recording of Chained to Redemption isn't fucked up which is a bonus. On a side note, Kvarforth does clean vocals on Undead Moon and it's actually worth something.

Have started to gather and compile this year's releases for my "Top 10 of 2012". Twentyone potential records this far, and I suspect the number will increase with one and a half month left.
Let the weeding out begin...

The new Bloodbound is pretty shit, easily the worst album of their career with songs that go nowhere and don't really do much beyond the occasional good chorus, of which there are maybe 3 or 4 on the whole album...eh, feels really rushed overall.

What? Really?

Well, guess it's a good thing I never got around to checking it out.

Yeah, a lot of it is just interminably boring. The first song is catchy and so are the last few, but a lot of it just reeks of 'we wrote this in a week.'

*points to review in sig*

But really Emp's right. It feels kinda rushed and cliched but at the same time it's full of big and stupid anthems that are just a ton fun to sing along to. "Son of Babylon" sounds exactly like Bon Jovi but I don't care at all, it's so catchy and fun. I certainly like it, but I can see how previous fans wouldn't.

Yeah, I'm going to be doing this soon, too. Weeding out - that's the tough part.

I'd like to post a top 10 as well, about time since I've been posting here so long and have never done one! Still a few releases I want to check out before I begin, though.

The new Mob Rules is solid. It sounds almost exactly like their last one, though, only not as epic, so that doesn't win it any points...but it does have great production values and Klaus Dirks' best vocal performance ever; he just shines on this. It'll probably grow on me a little, too.

Sample track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD5Xumj1YxM

Witch Mountain's EP was ace. Two really strong and memorable songs in their signature style that rival anything on their last one. Seriously though, two songs is too short. It's over before it even really begins, but it sure makes you hit that replay button.

I'm doing a similar list...and man is it tough! So many good albums already in 2012. Mine will probably be a top-20 or so. Question: are you using an umbrella of 'death metal'; leaving out certain genres; or including some you may not otherwise have? For example, I'm not sure if I'll include strict genres like 'grindcore' but probably will include anything with 'death' in the genre and also BDM, slam, and perhaps death/doom. I won't be including melo death, or black metal. Curious what others are doing...