Yes, it's finally here! BravePicks 2011. Why so late? Cuz we're cutting to the chase. Normally we countdown throughout December, but this year we've filtered out the mediocre to give all the BraveWords.com faithful the cream of the crop - releases you may actually want to play more than once! So 'tis the season for BravePicks 2011 - The 12 Days Of Metal. We will be counting down until New Year's some of the finest slabs of metal this past year had to offer, voted by the devout scribes here at BraveWords.com! What does "slab" actually mean? We're talking studio albums. No compilations, rerecordings, live albums etc… Just pure metal, all killer no filler!

So let's rock …

2011 … The 12 Days Of Metal

11) MEGADETH – Th1rt3en (Roadrunner)

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It was nearly two years ago that MEGADETH's Endgame toppled the competition and arose as the Brave Picks 2009 Album Of The Year. And since then, Mustaine and Co. have reunited with Dave "Junior" (David Ellefson) and most certainly saw their stock price rise with the illustrious Big 4 frenzy. But the BraveWords.com scribes were lukewarm with the band's thirteenth record, hence it not even breaking the top ten this year.

BraveWords.com "Metal" Tim Henderson rated the album 7/10 on the BW&BK; scale and quoted Mustaine's interview with his label Roadrunner on the way the biz has changed: "I remember when I first got my first record contract," says the Megadeth leader, "being able to pick which four songs were going to be on which side of the record. And then the last time we went to the studio, we had a conversation where somebody had said that they wanted to have almost twice that many songs on the record, and I just laughed at how much things have changed, where a man can put almost his entire life's work into a record."

"Metal" Tim responded in his review (found here):

Things don't have to change Dave. Deliver us four songs a side and trim the fluff. You may be injured, but you don't have to bang your head physically, do it emotionally. But Megadeth aren't selling to me anymore, rather the kids who weren't born during the '80s heyday of the Big 4. But for credibility sake it still matters. "I am invincible," Mustaine growls on 'Public Enemy No. 1', but I'm not sure if it's true these days. A passable effort, but Megadeth are falling into the trap again. We need more bite, a bit more danger. Th1rt3en is too safe. Gimme blood, sweat and fear!

BravePicks 2011 … The 12 Days Of Metal

12) VALLENFYRE – A Fragile King (Century Media)

11) MEGADETH – Th1rt3en (Roadrunner)

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