BravePicks 2012 is behind us and it's time for the scribes to speak. For the next few days we will share individual lists from each devout metalhead here at BraveWords including their Top Ten Albums, Top 3 Brave Embarrassments (always a fan fave!), Top 3 Concerts, Metal Prediction For 2012, What/Who Needs To Stop In 2013 and a short overview of the year. Here we go...

 

 

David Perri's Top Ten Of 2012

1) WOODS OF YPRES - Woods 5: Grey Skies And Electric Light (Earache)

2) VARG - Guten Tag (NoiseArt)

3) ANAAL NATHRAKH - Vanitas (Candlelight)

4) RAGE NUCLÉAIRE - Unrelenting Fucking Hatred (Season Of Mist)

5) CRYPTOPSY - Cryptopsy (Deafen Society)

6) GOATWHORE - Blood For The Master (Metal Blade)

7) KONTINUUM - Earth Blood Magic (Candlelight)

8) MOONSPELL - Alpha Noir (Napalm)

9) DYING FETUS - Reign Supreme (Relapse)

10) BLINDED BY FAITH - Tchernobyl Survivor (Galy)

Top 3 Brave Embarrassments

1) MONUMENTS – Gnosis (Century Media)

Emo kids who cut their teeth listening to MESHUGGAH on YouTube in 2010 try to write a dance record... and it's actually as embarrassing as you'd think.

2) KONTRUST – Second Hand Wonderland (Napalm)

Sort of what out-of-touch Soviet radio rock probably sounded like in 1990.

3) BLACKLODGE – MachinatioN (Season Of Mist)

Ever wish MARILYN MANSON collaborated on a black metal record? Wish no more.

Top 3 Concerts

1) SKELETONWITCH - Mavericks - Ottawa, ON

2) CHILDREN OF BODOM - Metropolis - Montreal, QC

3) GHOST - Théâtre Corona - Montreal, QC

Metal Prediction For 2013

SKID ROW reunites with Sebastian Bach; egos are bruised when the reunited Skid Row realizes that very few still care.

What/Who Needs To Stop In 2013

Labels, in hopes of cashing in on a trend, signing bands that sound and look like GHOST.

Thoughts on 2012...

Like last year, 2012 was a time with no trend à la nu-metal or metalcore to malign with misguided glee, even if djent, and where it comes from philosophically, continues to be misunderstood and bastardized by the likes of PERIPHERY and MONUMENTS. These ears perceived 2012 to be a year that sought authenticity and roots, what with bands either returning to form or writing next-generation revival of their most listened to (and analyzed) sub-genres: scene veterans MOONSPELL, DYING FETUS, CRYPTOPSY and BLINDED BY FAITH all wrote records that recalled the moments they were initially heralded for, while RAGE NUCLÉAIRE executed an album that is ritual and devotion to the romantic ideal/abyss that is black metal listened to on cassette. Hell, even CRADLE OF FILTH delivered a NWOBHM-inspired punk record, and labels right and left (hand path) scrambled to sign collectives that sound and look like GHOST, that band recalling the authenticity of MERCYFUL FATE's first wave black metal and the entangled roots of BLUE OYSTER CULT. Seems fitting that as groups become more and more reliant on ProTools and the artifice of inhuman blasts and way-too-fast riffing, an entire sub-element of metal would counter that and return to a time when metal sounded like it could be played in a falling-apart club in front of 75 people instead of at branded and sponsored theatres ready and able to seat thousands and then charge $11 for a beer while doing it. I'm all for progress, but a conscious return to where you came from to create new, inspired art isn't as backwards-looking or nostalgic as it sounds.