2012 has been a pretty amazing year for Pittsburgh Music Magazine, hell it was the year of our inception. Many of you may have noticed that although we cover all genres around here, two of our writers are pretty serious metalheads. To try to narrow down the top 5 metal moments of 2012 is a pretty hard task, it was a very good year for releases in the genre that very few are brave enough to adore outloud and even fewer truly understand. Metal has progressed and has so many classifications at this point that one needs Sam Dunne’s charts from VH1 and Wikipedia just to wade through it all. Trust this writer, it has been an amazing year in music, and just keeping up with all that is going on in the little niche of tunes I adore can be no small task. So with further adieu, here are PMM’s Top 5 Metal Masterpieces of 2012:
1. Hands down without a doubt, Between the Buried and Me’s: The Parallax 2 Future Sequence is the metal record of the year. With an unbelievable mix of prog metal mastery, this band refuses to slow down and seems to only get better. Many of their peers think the same, just check out some different band comments on Facebook (i.e. Mike Portney (Faith No More/ Ozzy) or Scott Cowan (Deception of a Ghost)). Brutal one second, soothing the next, piercing and thought provoking all the next…don’t miss this one whatever you do.
2. The “comeback” of the year was The Deftones. Many of you probably expected me to say Soundgarden, and that is definitely honorable mention, but Chino and crew have come back with a vengeance. Koi No Yokan is the best since White Pony and is ear bending from first note…like they never went away. Sickeningly talented and devastatingly brilliant.
3. Witchcraft, the little doom/stoner rock band from Sweden, swept me off my feet this year with Legend. A bit Queens of the Stone Age meets Sabbath and Deep Purple thrown in with some Soundgarden grungy mix. It’s 70’s metal with a new twist.
4. French metallers Gojira provided the soundtrack for our trip from Pittsburgh to Cleveland to catch this years Mayhem Festival. Un-freakin-believable. I still can’t get enough of this record and everytime I listen to it, I feel as though I discover more. Best thing they have ever put out to date, solid from end to end.
5. So many could sit at this spot. And I am going to totally cheat…a four way tie. Periphery, Battlecross, The HAARP Machine, and Deception of a Ghost are all “newer” bands that have infected me this year and made me a loyal fan. Please check these guys out and tell them we sent you when you go see them…for they all bring it big time live. Go buy ALL their CD’s now- you won’t regret it!
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