Part of my admission process as a
musical journalist for Tzeeeac included the promise to boldly create a musical
top that no one has created before. Also, imagine having to make this god-awful
promise while standing with my knees on chrismukkah-colored glass shards and
with my right hand glued to The Book of Heavy Metal. It’s no easy feat, I tell you, and I’m glad I
had the strength of character to be accepted.
With that said, I’ve decided to
comprise three short lists each with three choices (again, it’s a magic number and I
very much like it). They will be called, in no particular
order: Release of The Year (ROTY), Fail
of The Year (FOTY) and Musical Discovery of The Year/Gem of The Year (let’s say
GETY). And since I’ve posted them in this order, let’s have at it the same way.
First up,
ROTY Category:
3. Epica - Requiem for the Indifferent
These guys have become something in the vein of
Amon Amarth: They keep releasing the same record every time, yet it never gets
old. And I’ll be damned if I have something against that: the music is great
for head banging, their live shows are a blast (I’ve seen them twice and will
definitely see them again) and Simone is putting the H in Hot, as always.
What’s there not to like?
2. FusionCore - Permanent Voyage
Up and coming Romanian rockers flying under the
moniker FusionCore have put out a smashing debut that incorporates elements of funk,
jazz and even metal, with lyrics sung in three languages. A very exciting album
to listen to that will appeal to music lovers anywhere. See if this hits the
spot for you.
To top that, there a free download at the
following address
Get it
while it’s hot!
1. Tetrafusion - Horizons
After two previous full albums, these american
proggers have settled in a comfortable formula and have found a style that
defines them, pretty much unique in the genre, and this nifty EP stands proof
to that. I’ve talked about them before on Tzeeeac (here’s the link) and I’m happy to award them the title for
Release of The Year. Good jobs guys, and let’s hear a full album in 2013. You
deserve to make it big!
Get the EP here!
More on the blind side, the FOTY Category:
2. Between the Buried And Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
Get the EP here!
More on the blind side, the FOTY Category:
3. Katatonia - Dead End Kings
After the excellent Night is The New Day, I was
expecting something truly amazing from these guys. Instead I got Dead End
Kings, a record which is not bad by any means, but that doesn’t really go
anywhere. The songs have no true identity and just plod along at the usual pace
for a Katatonia release. I have listened to this album many times while on the
train ride to/from work and the only redeeming quality about it seems to be that
I sleep very well with it as background music. Here’s one of the better tracks:
2. Between the Buried And Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
Being a fan of BTBAM’s early work mostly, this
album was something that I listened to purely as an informative action. Based
on the EP that precedes it, I didn’t expect to like it that much, yet it
managed to quickly become one of the most annoying albums that I have laid my
ears upon. Therefore, inclusion in this list was made mandatory. Again, link to
one of the better tracks:
More on the album here.
1. Swallow The Sun - Emerald Forest and the Blackbird
Let’s disregard for a moment the silly album name and I’ll try to give you some relevant info. From the moment STS posted a sample of their next release on their website, all I did was check for updates time and time again to hear more of it. It was awesome and jaw-dropping and it reminded me of The Plague of Butterflies. It was my most highly anticipated album for 2012. But they were secretive and until release day came upon us, the common folk, nothing much was shared. Suffice to say I couldn’t sit down and have more than 3 listens of this album without the music unwillingly turning into background noise.
The rehash of old ideas complemented with the lack of originality in all the compositions made for the most bludgeoning borefest one could never have asked for. Just listen to this:
Ten minutes of music that go nowhere and most of the times I lose interest half-way into the song.
With that said, I’m forced to crawl back to
their debut release, The Morning Never Came. More on that here
And finally,
the GETY Category:
3. Gojira - L’Enfant Sauvage
I’m not
going to try and come up with excuses of why I didn’t listen to Gojira before;
let’s just say that it slipped by me in more ways than one.
This
album hit me like a train could hit a 70’s convertible: leaving a giant pile of
wreckage behind. The rawness of the production, the uncomplicated music (only
guitars, drums and harsh vocals), the massive concentration of mind blowing
riffs per minute and the fact that it all sounds like Arch Anemy, early day
Chimaira and Amon Amarth got together for a jamming session, it all makes for
an exhilarating ride that I have subconsciously been waiting for in a long
time.
It just can’t get any better than that.
2. Uaral - Sounds of Pain…
There’s
really only one word to describe this album: DAT.ACOUSTIC. GUITAR.
1.
Kauan - Any release
This band did to me this year what Year of No
Light did in 2011: that is make me completely oblivious to any other forms of
music, burying myself in the scenery painted with the blood and sweat of only
two people. At over 20 hours of airtime gathered in just about three weeks,
considering I don’t have much time to listen to music as I did in the past
years, it should give you enough of an insight of how invested I have become
into this band. Any song from any of the four releases is good enough to be
featured here, and since in my last post I’ve talked a little about records one
and three, I’ll just choose a tune from their latest offering, Kuu.
I just
wished I would have found them earlier.
And
that’s about it with my 2012 musical ramblings, now excuse me while I go and
email Anton from Kauan for some t-shirts.
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