Jan 9, 2013
First show of BEST OF 2012, counting down to #2! NEXT WEEK: the rest of the best, plus the #1 album of 2012!!
Best Production for a Death/Crust/Hardcore Band: Black Breath
Crisp production showing off how tight this band is
Endless Corpse: Black Breath (Seattle) Album: Sentenced to Life (0:28-4:54)
Best Soulful Vocals from a Swedish God that Every Chick Wants to Make Out with: Graveyard
Last year’s Hisingen Blues was my #2 album. Graveyard has more soul than most bros.
An Industry of Murder: Graveyard (Sweden) Album: Lights Out (7:30-11:26)
Best Saturday Afternoon Record: Sons of Tonatiuh
A modern twist on Fugazi: Hard tight guitar riffs, powerful vocalist layered all layered with heavy tone
Colors Run Red: Sons of Tonatiuh (Atlanta) Album: Parade Of Sorrow (12:00-17:29)
Best Sludge Band Under the Radar: Stoneburner
Stoneburner has great hooks; on the same record label as Batillus which will hopefully get their name out there
Marriage: Stoneburner (Portland) Album: Sickness Will Pass (18:09-25:20)
Best Use of Organ and 80’s Horror Music: Hellwell
Mad scientist vocals on top of the most original soundtrack of last year
Acheronomicon II. The Heart Of Ahriman: Hellwell (Kansas) Album: Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin (26:26-31:33)
Best Instrumental: Sardonis
Rich complexity in just mere instrumental
Entering the Woods: Sardonis (Belgium) Album: II (32:07-36:44)
Best Blackened Death with a Bangladeshi Lead Singer: Weapon
Relentless
Vanguard of the Morning Star: Weapon (Calgary) Album: Embers and Revelations (37:34-41:51)
Best Industrial: eyeswithoutaface
Modern club music for people in an asylum
Grotesque Tableau: eyeswithoutaface (Toronto) Album: WARGUTS (42:16-46:31)
Best Punk Band to go Heavy: Tragedy
Embarrassing story between me and dude from Tragedy does not keep me from listing their album
To Earth Like Dust: Tragedy (Portland) Album: Darker Days Ahead (47:34-51:38)
Band to Release a New Album that Beats all Their Previous Albums: Witchcraft
Jammy, gorgeous, great production finally
Deconstruction: Witchcraft (Sweden) Album: Legend (52:16-57:22)
The #2 album AND Best Hardcore Album of the Year: Converge:
Converge did not rest on their history and legend to sell this album. This is top notch and if it is your first time listening to them, you can only imagine how great all their other albums are. Crushing.
Sadness Comes Home: Converge (North Shore, MA) #2 Album of the Year: All We Love We Leave Behind (58:26-END!)
Listen next week for the rest and countdown to #1!!