Top 40 Metal Albums of 2012: 20-11

20.  KREATOR: PHANTOM ANTICHRIST
There were a number of venerable thrash metal giants that released new albums this year.  A surprising number of them were very impressive.  Kreator is one of my favorite German thrash metal bands with a remarkably consistent output.  This release is not quite as powerful as their last couple of albums but still possesses that anger and razor-sharp riffing style that the band has perfected over the course of their long career.

19.  3 INCHES OF BLOOD: LONG LIVE HEAVY METAL
I have enjoyed a couple of 3 Inches of Blood's albums in the past, but after their second vocalist left the band, they seemed less exciting.  They kind of phoned in their previous album.  But on this one, the band sounds rejuvenated and possibly better than they ever have.  That is saying something in my eyes.  This album is a hell of a lot of fun, exactly what 3 Inches of Blood set out to do.

18.  OVERKILL: THE ELECTRIC AGE
Like Kreator, Overkill is another long-running thrash metal titan that released an incredible new album in 2012.  Overkill is quite possibly the most consistent thrash metal band going which is saying quite a bit.  Their recent albums have actually proven to be better than the Big 4 of thrash metal, not bad for a band that existed in their shadow for years.  Overkill never disappoints me.

17.  WEAPON: EMBERS AND REVELATIONS
Weapon is a band that I have heard great things about for years but never really checked out until this year.  Now I am kicking myself because I really enjoyed this one.  Weapon has a surprisingly original take on blackened death metal and can not easily be compared to other bands in their genre.  The music is ominous and powerful.  It is an album I come back to time and time again.

16.  ASPHYX: DEATHHAMMER
Martin Van Drunen has long been one of my favorite death metal vocalists.  I try to pick up every project that he is attached to.  Asphyx is one of the bands that is most associated with Van Drunen and their sound matches his psychotic roaring better than most.  This album is yet another reason why Van Drunen is one of the most influential death metal vocalists of all time.

15.  TESTAMENT: DARK ROOTS OF EARTH
The third longtime thrash metal band to release a strong album in 2012, Testament's newest is the best of the three and is also one of the best albums the band has released since Low.  It is one of the best thrash metal albums of the year and featured the terrific "Native Blood", a tribute to singer Chuck Billy's Native American ancestry.

14.  HIGH ON FIRE: DE VERMIS MYSTERIIS
High on Fire is one of the leaders of the stoner doom metal genre and they have once again shown why on this album.  Their last album had somewhat weak production but was otherwise a very strong release.  This album fixes the mistakes of the last album's production with a much meatier and heavier sound.  The strong production lead to an even stronger overall feel with this release.

13.  PARADISE LOST: TRAGIC IDOL
I have been a big fan of Paradise Lost for years, ever since I got Draconian Times for Christmas back in around 1996.  Unfortunately the band has not put out an album quite as impressive since that one including a long foray into gothic rock.  But unlike some bands that went that direction (ahem Tiamat), Paradise Lost has found their way back out of it.  This is easily Paradise Lost's best album since that one.

12.  WITCHCRAFT: LEGEND
Like Weapon, I have heard a lot of great things about Witchcraft over the years but simply never got around to checking them out.  I read great things about this release before deciding to pick it up as well, but I am definitely glad that I did.  This is another very strong album influenced mainly by the old school heavy metal masters.  It rocks, quite simply.

11.  CATTLE DECAPITATION: MONOLITH OF INHUMANITY
Wow.  I was not expecting to be blown away by a Cattle Decapitation album.  There were a ton of great death metal albums in 2012 and Cattle Decapitation was one of the strongest.  This was the first Cattle Decapitation album I ever checked out due to their politics and being a run-of-the-mill deathgrind band, but this album elevated Cattle Decapitation to the top of the pack.

Top 10 of 2012 So Far

We are a little over halfway through 2012 so here is a Top 10 list so far.  This was not too difficult to do because I have not been buying a lot of new music this year.

10.  PILGRIM: MISERY WIZARD
This is one I have not had a chance to put up a full review on yet.  I just got it a couple of weeks ago.  Pilgrim is a doom metal band with an emphasis on the doom.  Most of the tracks are incredibly slow but undeniably heavy.  There is not a lot of variation in the tracks, other than the rollicking final track, but once in awhile that's good.  Look for a full review very soon.

9.  EXUMER: FIRE AND DAMNATION
Another album with a full review soon to come.  Exumer is a longtime German thrash metal band who has recently reunited.  The band previously put out a couple of albums in the mid 1980's and this is their first album since.  I am not familiar with their earlier material but if it sounds anything like this, I will definitely be checking it out.

8.  16: DEEP CUTS FROM DARK CLOUDS
16 is a fairly brutal band in the sludge metal genre and is another group that it took me quite awhile to finally check out.  This is an incredibly infectious album although it does tend to drag a little at times.  16 is not as violently aggressive as Eyehategod but they are similar to Acid Bath.  16 shows us what real sludge metal sounds like.

7.  OVERKILL: THE ELECTRIC AGE
One of the most consistent thrash metal bands in the history of metal, Overkill has never put out a bad album and this one is certainly no exception.  Overkill continues to put out fantastic album after fantastic album.  While this is something of a step down from their last release, it is still a phenomenal album.  Overkill deserves a lot more notoriety than they get.

6.  3 INCHES OF BLOOD: LONG LIVE HEAVY METAL
Once a very promising band, 3IOB took a big step backward when one of their vocalists left and threw the band's sound in disarray.  But this album finds the band realizing their sound once more and gleefully enjoying their take on classic metal.  This is an excellent return to form for the band.

5.  KREATOR: PHANTOM ANTICHRIST
The most recent album from this list, I picked this one up in the final week of June so it just barely made the cut for consideration here.  Since pulling out of their tailspin in the early 2000's Kreator has put out a number of great brutal thrash metal albums.  Kreator is still going very strong after all this time.

4.  ASPHYX: DEATHHAMMER
Martin Van Drunen is one of my favorite extreme metal vocalists and this is just another reason why.  Asphyx was one of the more compelling early death metal bands, particularly with their infusion of doom metal elements.  Aspyhx has not been back together long but they have put out some amazing work in the time they have.

3.  AURA NOIR: OUT TO DIE
I cannot believe it took me so long to discover Aura Noir.  Blackened thrash metal is one of my favorite genres and Aura Noir is considered one of the better bands in the genre, and for good reason.  Their music is raw and infectious and recalls early Venom and Sodom.

2.  GOATWHORE: BLOOD FOR THE MASTER
Goatwhore has been one of my favorite bands for a long time now and they just keep getting better.  Each album is an improvement on the one before it and this one is no exception.  Their sound is more streamlined but that does not mean it is any less intense.  This is a neckbreaker from start to finish.

1.  CHRISTIAN MISTRESS: POSSESSION
The top metal album of the year so far has come from a somewhat unexpected place.  This is only the band's second album so far but the band has a very bright future.  They play a brand of NWOBHM-influenced retro metal.  Their songwriting skills are top-notch and the vocals are incredible.  A terrific album from start to finish.

Initial Impressions: Asphyx: Deathhammer

Asphyx has always been one of my favorite old-school death metal bands.  Part of this has been the presence of Martin Van Drunen behind the mic and part has been the band's less conventional sound.  The band went on hiatus for several years and re-emerged with Van Drunen back in tow in 2008.  This is the band's second full-length since re-forming.

Asphyx's sound joins old school-style death/thrash with doom metal elements.  What results is a crushingly heavy album that stands up well to the band's prior material.  The album title is definitely a good description of the music found therein.

Of course no discussion of Asphyx would be complete without a discussion of Van Drunen's vocals.  Van Drunen is one of the great death metal vocalists and he continues to show why on this album.  His psychotic wailing is on full display here.

Asphyx continues to put out great albums.  They have been one of my favorite death metal bands for some time and this is yet another great album from them.

My Favorite Metal Band from the Netherlands

Yes, I am repeating another pick from the Top 100, but seriously what do you expect? The Netherlands proved to be a particularly fertile ground for death metal in the early 1990's. Vocalist Martin Van Drunen has been in a number of bands but really seemed to make his mark with Asphyx. His psychotic wailing fit the band's doomy and gloomy sound pretty well. Picking just one band was very difficult for this country because there are a lot of good bands and a lot of them sound pretty similar. Asphyx wins out because it is the best work Van Drunen has done to date.

NOTABLE SCENES: Death metal.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
God Dethroned
Hail of Bullets
Nox
Prostitute Disfigurement
Sinister
Thanatos

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 8: Asphyx

I had to get a Martin Van Drunen project in here somewhere and this seemed like the most likely group to do it. Asphyx existed before Van Drunen, but it was his manic, death-shrieking vocal style that really set the band's sound in stone. The band plays a slower style of Scandinavian death metal that helped propel the death/doom genre. Asphyx's sound is heavy, dark and powerful. This is truly the sound that made death metal the most extreme music in the early 1990's and it still holds up great today.

FAVORITE ALBUM: LAST ONE ON EARTH

Random Thoughts: Martin Van Drunen

If I had to pick a favorite death metal vocalist, my pick would be Martin Van Drunen. Van Drunen has fronted several bands over the years and is something of a hired gun since he has rarely started any of them on his own. However, the Dutch singer has provided vocals for Pestilence, Asphyx, and Hail of Bullets as well as Comecon and his own band Submission. Van Drunen is so highly esteemed in the death metal genre that he was even brought into Bolt Thrower for several years while Karl Willets was out. He never actually recorded an album with Bolt Thrower but performed for several tours.

Van Drunen's vocal style is very distinct, made up of deeper-register, manic screaming. He also utilizes a lot of vocal sounds that are not words, similar to the grunts Tom G. Warrior is known for. Van Drunen was at his best in the early years of Asphyx, a band that played a style of death/doom that was virtually unheard of at the time.

Van Drunen currently fronts both Asphyx and Hail of Bullets after Asphyx recently reunited. Hail of Bullets will release their sophomore album later this fall. I am very much looking forward to it.

Initial Impressions Threesome

Boy I need to catch up on my latest album purchases. I haven't discussed most of my last month's purchases yet and I have a stack of about 10 CDs that I have yet to even listen to. Damn trials taking all of my time.

WORMED: PLANISPHAERIUM

I'll be frank, this album is fucking weird. Essentially, Wormed is a slam death metal band with a strange futuristic atmosphere, kind of a Fear Factory meets Devourment type of vibe. The music really is as weird as that description makes it seem. There is just a massive wall of noise emanating from the speakers on this album, it really is good music to piss off your neighbors. Sounds like something that might be fun to try.

The vocals are extreme, and that's a major understatement. The vocalist for Wormed takes Demilich's vocalist's frog croaks and further deepens them, producing an incomprehensible belching groan. It's pretty amazing really. They do get a little tiring after awhile, but an album of this length is easily listenable.

The music is chaotic, which is fairly typical for the slam death genre, and of course it features lots and lots of breakdowns, oh I'm sorry SLAMZ. Although, Wormed may not be quite as adamant as to their inclusion in this genre as other bands are.

All in all, I enjoy the album, as I do enjoy some slam death occasionally. It's not a genre to think critically about, it's just fun.

ASPHYX: DEATH...THE BRUTAL WAY

Martin Van Drunen reunites his band that he formed after he left Pestilence. Oddly, Pestilence also reunited this year, but not with Van Drunen as vocalist. Van Drunen recently also sang for the band Hail of Bullets which was mostly made up of members of Thanatos performing odd school Swedish styled death metal.

Asphyx was one of the early bands in the death/doom movement, although their death metal influences significantly outweighed the doom elements.

Van Drunen is one of my favorite death metal vocals. He does not simply use a deep growl, he tends to sound even more psychotic, as if he were some sort of a ravenous beast tearing into flesh for a feast. That's a hell of a description right there. Age has not slowed Van Drunen in the slightest as his vocals are just as chilling as ever.

The guitars feature the familiar buzzsaw tone for which the Swedish death metal bands have become known. The album has the overall feel of an early 1990's death metal album, which is perfectly fine for me. All the elements are present to make this a damn strong modern death metal album. Welcome back Asphyx. This is truly one of the better comeback albums this year, which is saying a lot as there have been several strong comeback albums.

NEGURA BUNGET: OM

Negura Bunget is pagan black metal at its finest. Pagan black metal is often far more focused on atmosphere than other black metal bands. The riffs are slightly more restrained and there are often long periods of ambient-like music. The music is not as aggressive and the lyrical themes are typically centered around nature or mythology. Negura Bunget is from Romania, one of the major countries for pagan black metal bands.

This album is a typical album for the genre, and it is probably one of the best more recent examples of it. Negura Bunget's playing is powerful, atmospheric, and emotional, all at the same time. The vocals are often delivered in a hoarse growl but do occasionally change dynamics.

The only real problem here is that the instrumental, ambient parts could be decreased or made a little shorter. When the band is concentrating on delivering a song, they are quite good, but that can sometimes be lost in the random noise that is often present. This is quite a good representation of pagan black metal, but as its genre has some issues, so too does this band.

Strange Album Covers: Pt. 4 Horror Continued

Here we are with yet another entry in this series. I have to head back to my hometown for the weekend for our engagement party so I wanted to do something really quick.

LUNA AD NOCTUM: DIMNESS' PROFOUND

Luna Ad Noctum is a little-known symphonic black metal band with a gift for creepy album covers. This is the best one featuring a woman handing her child to a very large ghostly apparition. The music is basically Dimmu Borgir with a little bit of death metal flavoring. Not bad, just not overly memorable. The album art is amazing though.

ASPHYX: LAST ONE ON EARTH

Amazing art from an amazing band. I think we have a zombie priest here, but I am not totally sure. The art is extremely creepy though. Asphyx is a band from Holland and features one of my favorite vocalists, Martin Van Drunen, just after leaving Pestilence. The music is dirgy death/doom, one of the early examples of the genre.

LORD BELIAL: ENTER THE MOONLIGHT GATE

Lord Belial is another band well-known for their creepy covers. This one is a little more atmospheric than some of their others, but eerie nonetheless in the feeling of oncoming danger. Lord Belial is a blackened death metal band, for the most part. This particular album is closer to black metal, but they would add more and more death metal influences over time.

ANGELCORPSE: THE INEXORABLE

I can't quite tell what's going on here, but we have several swirling demons, or just one with many heads. The title of the album is in reference to demons that cannot be exorcised, so that's the idea I guess. Angelcorpse is a blackened death metal band from Kansas. Lots of evil from Kansas you know, Angelcorpse, Fred Phelps, etc. The music is most similar to groups like Dawn of Azazel and the Australian war metal scene.

DARK FUNERAL: THE SECRETS OF THE BLACK ARTS

Another atmospheric horror cover of several wraiths pushing and pulling a wagon with something godless inside. I used to see this album all the time at Best Buy but for some reason never picked it up. Dark Funeral is a good example of the Swedish black metal scene, a scene derogatively referred to as Norsecore for its constant blast beats and emphasis on speed and thundering riffs rather than atmosphere. A similar band is Marduk.