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My favorite albums of 2012.
*Now separated into a 'metal' and 'non-metal' section. (non-metal is at the bottom of the list).
Soon to be added: Clocks, Kiko Loureiro, Lich King, Deathmole, Sylosis, Leonard Cohen, After Oblivion, Panzerballett, Coronado, Striker, Dethklok, The Sword.
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Created by:
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Moose
| 16.02.2012
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1.
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Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
[9.3/10, Progressive Metalcore]. On my first listen, I only made it half way through the album. It was too much to process all at once. Three of four listens later it all made sense, and I was absolutely hooked. The is BTBAM at their finest, pushing the boundaries of music further, once again. |
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2.
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Hypno5e - Acid Mist Tomorrow
[9.0/10, Prog Metalcore/Ambient]. Melancholic post-rock meets progressive metalcore. Slow melodic clean sections meander along, only to be torn apart by heavy Gojira-like guitar riffs, with some complex djent-style stuff thrown in for good measure. The order of the songs feels perfect too, meaning its great to listen to the whole album in one sitting, for full effect. |
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3.
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The Faceless - Autotheism
[9.0/10, Progressive/Technical Death Metal] Planetary Duality was amazing, yet the bar has been raised even higher with this new release. Still recognizably The Faceless, but with many new dimensions. One of the best albums of the year for sure. |
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4.
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Gorod - A Perfect Absolution
[8.9/10, Tech Death]. For a lot of tech-death bands, technicality means the loss of character and depth in their music. Not Gorod. While amazingly technical, the music remains interesting, diverse and creative. |
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5.
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Save Us From the Archon - How Terrible, The Undergrowth's Jaws That Tangle
[8.8/10, Technical/Instrumental Prog]. At just 33.5 minutes, and being purely instrumental, the music must be pretty amazing to get such a high rating right? Its none-stop, start to finish, highly intense and technical, yet without a single element of wankery. Top notch musicianship though - amazingly so for such a young, unknown band. Oh and it's one of those concept albums where the end of each song blends into the start of the next. Similar bands: Scale The Summit, Animals as Leaders, Protest the Hero. |
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6.
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Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas
[8.8/10, Black/Grind]. Oaken: "Blending the brutal aggression of death metal, the atmospheric melancholy of black metal and the sick craze of grind". Excellent description, excellent album. |
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7.
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Aborted - Global Flatline
[8.7/10, Melodeath/Grind]. My first time listening to Aborted, pushing my tolerance of extreme music a little bit further. At first the vocals were a too much, but many listens later, I've come to enjoy them along with the rest of this wonderfully technical and ferocious album - one of my favorite's for the year. |
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8.
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Meshuggah - Koloss
[8.7/10, Technical Thrash]. For me it's the slow, groovy/djenty riffs that make the album so great, rather than the fast paced/crazy time signature tracks (eg. everyone else's favorite song "Marrow"). |
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9.
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Periphery - Periphery II: This Time It's Personal
[8.6/10, Progressive Metalcore/Djent]. As most Metalstormers have already pointed out, the vocals have improved from the debut, and in my opinion the songwriting has too. At 68 minutes it's a lot to digest in one go, but that's hardly worth complaining about. Highly recommended for fans of the djent/prog genres. |
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10.
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Lich King - Born of the Bomb
[8.6/10, Thrash]. Fast, aggressive, technical thrash with an attitude. Head-banging guaranteed. Highly recommended for fans of Exodus, and/or new wave bands like Warbringer/Havok. |
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11.
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Whitechapel - Whitechapel
[8.5/10, Deathcore]. Riffs, riffs and more riffs from the triple guitar attack of a band, who with this release, have managed to change my perspective on deathcore. |
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12.
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Bloodshot Dawn - Bloodshot Dawn
[8.2/10, Progressive Death/Thrash with some 'gothenburgy' melodics ala Scar Symmetry/Arch Enemy]. This album has two things in abundance - chuggy guitar riffs great for headbanging, and long, complex guitar solos. What more do you need. |
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13.
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Mendel - Subliminal Colors
[8.1/10. Instrumental/Shred/Classical/Djent] Young Dutch guitarist combining Loomis-like shred with classical piano passages and some nice heavy djent riffs. Pretty impressive debut, ending with a 25 minute epic. |
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14.
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Witchcraft - Legend
[8.1/10, Stoner Metal]. Led-Zepplinesque melodic stoner metal from Sweden. On par with Graveyards Hisingen Blues from '11. Excellent chilled out music for a hungover Sunday. |
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15.
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Outcast - Awaken the Reason
[8.0/10, Prog Death/Thrash/Djent] French progressive death with elements of djent and thrash. Start with somethng prog/industrial thrash like Gojira/Fear factory, add some djenty riffs, and a large dose of Sikth-like vocals, guitar effects and general obscurities. Oh and some pretty awesome guitar solos too. |
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16.
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C.B. Murdoc - The Green
[8.0/10. Technical Post Thrash/Death]. Add the tags of black metal, hardcore and a little djent to that already lengthy genre description. The result? An aggressive, high intensity album well worth checking out for fans of modern death metal. |
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17.
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Exotic Animal Petting Zoo - Tree of Tongues
[8.3/10, Experimental Mathcore/Post Rock]. One of those genre defying bands. Another reviewer put it nicely with "A smattering of shoegaze on a framework of melodic mathcore". Strong Sikth and Dillinger influences. Has taken me a number of listens to fully appreciate. |
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18.
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Stephan Forte - The Shadows Compendium
[Instrumental/Shred, 7.9/10]. Sure to please any fan of 'Underworld' era Adagio. Magnificent classical-infused shred. |
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19.
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Revocation - Teratogenesis
[7.9/10, Thrash/Death]. A return to the form of Resistance is Futile. Not that COF was a bad release, but it had a kind of 'artificial' modern sound. This is pure thrashy-death awesomeness which has me very excited for their next full-length. |
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20.
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Cloudkicker - Fade
[7.8/10, Instrumental Post Rock]. "Alcestian" instrumental goodness, with one of the smoothest and 'warmest' guitar tones I've ever heard. Generally sad/whimsical sounding music which somehow has a happy feeling about it. The kind of album which sends your mind years into the past, reminiscing on good old times. |
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21.
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Psycroptic - The Inherited Repression
[7.8/10, Tech Death] Another new band for me. Similar in style to my favorite album from last year (Ouroboros - Glorification of a Myth), with amazing technicality, especially in guitars. Opening track is a standout. Still, well worth checking out for all death metal fans. |
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22.
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Psygnosis - Anti-Sublime
[7.8/10, Prog Death/Ambient/Electronic] An unusual brand of Progressive Death Metal, from France, with strong atmospheric/ambient/black influences. I say their sound is unusual because of the combination of modern sounding keyboards, synths and percussion against the more traditional raw vocals and heavy guitar riffs. Clean vocals can be a little weak at times, but still, a very interesting and original album. |
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23.
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Cattle Decapitation - Monolith of Inhumanity
[7.8/10, Death-grind]. The most intense and 'brutal' album on my list, right at the limit of what my taste in music will tolerate. For grind, this is really experimental and dynamic, exploring lots of different genres. |
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24.
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Fear Factory - The Industrialist
[7.8/10, Industrial] Not bad. Not bad at all. Fear Factory have recaptured some of their old form, and the first half of the album is truly quite spectacular. Great riffs, great vocals. If the album finished with a 9 minute epic, rather than 9 mintues of ambience, this would easily make my top ten. |
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25.
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Chimp Spanner - All Roads Lead Here
[7.7/10, Instrumental Djent] A really nice little instrumental djent album from a super talented multi-instrumentalist, pushing at the boundaries of music once more with his futuristic ideas and sounds. |
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26.
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Jeff Loomis - Plains of Oblivion
[7.7/10, Instrumental/Shred,] Good, but it's no 'Zero Order Phase'. Or perhaps, due to it's similarity to that album, this new one just seems 'old'. |
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27.
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Kreator - Phantom Antichrist
[7.7/10, Teutonic Thrash] Another solid album from the Teutonic Thrash Metal masters, who have had a very consistent last decade or so. Similar to Enemy of God, but shorter (meaning its a more 'rounded' listening experience), more melodic, and with slightly more aggressive vocals. After all that, I still think Enemy of God is a superior album though. |
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28.
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Trepalium - H.N.P.
[7.5/10, Death Metal] The French jazz-infused death metal masters have produced another solid album here. Surprisingly straight-forward though, with less experimentation than what I would expect from these guys. Sadly my favorite song on the album is their Pantera cover - I'm Broken. |
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29.
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Jean Baudin - Solace
[7.5/10, Instrumental Bass] One of the worlds most recognized bass players, Jean Baudin - 11 string extraordinaire, presents a beautiful little collection of solo compositions. Although highly technical at times, this album certainly doesn't classify as metal.. but it is a mesmerizing listening experience. Good 'chill-out' music. |
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30.
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Soen - Cognitive
[7.4/10, Prog/Alternative] The individual elements in this album are amazing. Technical, precise drums. Loud, skilled bass playing. Excellent vocals, which almost steal the show (despite the obvious Maynard similarity). I guess top notch musicianship is to be expected given the star-studded line-up. I got bored of it pretty quickly though, perhaps because of the simple song structure. |
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31.
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Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage
[7.3/10, Prog Death/Thrash]. The fact that Gojira are one of my favorite bands means this release is probably my biggest disappointment of 2012. Its not terrible, and has a few great tracks, but its just a bit...boring. Lacking in technicality and creativity in comparison to previous releases. |
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32.
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Sacred Serenity - Synapse
[7.3/10, Progressive Metalcore]. Occasionally cheesy Metalcore made more than bearable by excellent musicianship, and strong progressive elements. |
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33.
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Soul Cycle - Soul Cycle II
[7.3/10, Instrumental Tech/Prog Metal + Djent elements]. Great album for all lovers of instrumental music along the lines of Loomis's solo stuff, but with less 'wankery'. A consistent album - perhaps too consistent, in that it's all a bit the same. That would be my only complaint. |
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34.
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Wintersun - Time I
[7.3/10, Extreme Folk/Power]. It's not that it's a bad album, I've just outgrown this kind of music a bit, and would prefer to listen to everything above it on this list. Their debut is far superior imo. |
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35.
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3 Inches of Blood - Long Live Heavy Metal
[7.3/10, Heavy/Power]. Basically a lesser version of their 2009 release, Here Waits Thy Doom. That's the way I see it. Very similar style, and an all-round solid album.. just doesn't grab me like HWTD did. |
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36.
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Lamb of God - Resolution
[7.2, Thrash/Groove] Awesomely groovy and riff-laden as always. Another solid album, but not really anything new or mindblowing here. If you enjoyed Wrath, then you should like this album too. |
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37.
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Cryptopsy - Cryptopsy
[7.2/10, Grind/Death Metal]. Fast paced, intense death metal with some Grind elements, and a few touches of Jazz. Pretty solid album, but not outstanding - I'll probably forget about it soon enough. |
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38.
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Becoming the Archetype - I Am
[7.2, Progressive Metalcore]. They know what the hardcore kids want, and they're giving it to them. The album is a bit generic, is what I'm suggesting. Lots of breakdowns. Still ok, but no Dichotomy. |
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39.
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Zombiekrig - Den Vänstra Stigens Ljus
[7.1/10, Thrash]. A pretty decent (slightly blackened) melodic thrash album, packed full of catchy riffs, and with harsh (native tongue) vocals. A fun listen, reminiscent of Kvelertak. |
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40.
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Alcest - Les voyages de l'âme
[7.1/10, Shoegaze/Post Rock] As much as I love Alcest, I have to agree with the majority of other Metalstormers about this album - it doesn't compare to its predecessors. A few tracks are real standouts, and rate among Neige's best. Others are let downs however, which hurt the overall flow of the album (Beings of Light should have been 5 minutes shorter imo). |
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41.
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Aerodyne Flex - Transmissions
[7.1/10, Progressive Metalcore/Djent] There are an abundance of djent bands these days. There are the really elite ones (Periphery, Textures, Vildhjarta, Uneven Structure), and then there are a whole heap of 'second tier' bands - playing decent music, but not really doing anything new. For me, Aerodyne Flex fall into the latter category. |
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42.
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Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata
[7.0/10, Symphonic Avantgarde] More of a 'guilty pleasure' than a band I take completely seriously. Still - an interesting and enjoyable listen. If you're a fan of the band/genre, you'll probably love it. |
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43.
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Anathema - Weather Systems
[7.0/10, Atmospheric Rock] I was amazed by this album upon first listen. Perfect vocals over some of the most beautiful musical melodies. But when I listen to softer/nonmetal music like this, it usually has to be either intrumental, or abstract. This album is just a little too 'normal' sounding for me. |
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44.
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Buckethead - Electric Sea
[6.9/10, Instrumental/Acoustic Rock]. I've been a huge fan of Buckethead since discovering him 5 or so years ago, and since then, he's released about 14 albums. It seems, he has no desire to produce a perfect album, just to make as many as possible. If he condensed each 3 cd's down into 1, keeping the best songs, you'd have an amazing album. Alas, Electric Sea has a few standout tracks, while the rest are just 'good'. Still a nice album, with some real emotion here and there..good study/relaxation music. |
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45.
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Devin Townsend - Epicloud
[6.8/10, Progressive/Industrial]. I loved Deconstruction - dark, progressive and experimental. Epicloud on the other hand, is far too generic. The middle section of the album saves it a little I'll admit (the remade 'Kingdom' is the standout). |
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46.
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The Korea - Chariots of the Gods
[6.8/10, Djent/Metalcore]. Debut album of The Korea, a Russian progressive djent-core band. Not nearly as intelligent as Februss, nor as brutal as Masstaden.. more of a djent 'guilty pleasure'. A warning: Some people may find this to be too "core", and also, all of the vocals are in Russian (strangely, I see this as a good thing though). |
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47.
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Cannibal Corpse - Torture
[Death Metal, 6.5/10]. Raw, brutal and messy - while I generally prefer my death metal to be technical and progressive. Needless to say, not my cup tea. |
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48.
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49.
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50.
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~~NON-METAL: |
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51.
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52.
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Sigur Ros - Valtari
[8.6/10, Ambient/Post Rock]. I guess my musical tastes are progressing, and now encompass the weirdness of Icelandic post-rock/ambient/bowed guitar playing/falsetto vocalled band Sigur Ros. I'm absolutely hooked on their latest work, Valtari. An ethereal album of shear beauty and emotion. |
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53.
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Susanne Sundfor - The Silicone Veil
[8.4/10, Singer-Songwrite/Electornic]. Amazing norwegian female vocalist, mixing beautiful melodies with modern electronica. |
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54.
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Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman: Ascension
[8.3/10, Progressive Rock]. Another solid, extremely catchy, concept album from these guys. |
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55.
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Lights Out Asia - Hy - Brasil
[7.8/10, Ambient/Electronic/Post Rock]. Crap. Another non-metal album in my list, what's going on! Apparently I like ambient music now too. This album is all about big atmosphere's, and big emotion, but with a minimalist approach. Gently sweeping synth melodies, distant echoing drum-beats, and effect laden delayed guitars. Kinda shoe-gazy I guess. |
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56.
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Brice Plays Drums - Man The Animal Cannon
[7.8/10, Jazz/Progressive]. Warning - this is not metal - but it is proggy, and these guys are pretty amazing musicians. If you like bands like The Mars Volta, then check this band out. |
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57.
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Muse - The 2nd Law
[7.7/10, Rock]. A mix of Queen, Michael Jackson, and George Michael.. with some dubstep thrown in. That description may sound terrible, but this is a decent (not-too-commercial) modern rock album, with plenty of experimentation. |
Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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