1.Devin Townsend - Epicloud

2.3 Inches Of Blood - Long Live Heavy Metal

3.Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth

4.Threshold - March Of Progress

5.Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve

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2012 has been such a great year for metal releases. So in honor of that, here is my personal favourite Albums of 2012.

1.Indesinence - Vessels Of Light And Decay

2.Faal - The Clouds Are Burning

3.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

4.Enochian Theory - Life... And All It Entails

5.Eternal Deformity - The Beauty Of Chaos

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1.Orden Ogan - To The End

2.Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost In The New Real

3.Heavy Metal Perse - Aikakirjat

4.Headspace - I Am Anonymous

5.Tenacious D - Rize Of The Fenix

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Because I reached the word limit on the previous list, and don't want to lose my quite excellent in-depth descriptions. Those without descriptions are from my other list.

1.Sylosis - Monolith

2.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

3.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

4.Abigail Williams - Becoming

5.Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Area 52

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1.Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion

2.Dead Can Dance - Anastasis

3.The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet

4.Anathema - Weather Systems

5.Ihsahn - Eremita

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1.Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata

2.OSI - Fire Make Thunder

3.Beyond The Bridge - The Old Man And The Spirit

4.Dissona - Dissona

5.Devin Townsend - Epicloud

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Updated as the year goes on...

1.Be'lakor - Of Breath And Bone

2.Oddland - The Treachery Of Senses

3.Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

4.Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve

5.Enslaved - RIITIIR

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Another year, another favourites of the year list... But hopefully this will be more complete than the previous years ones. Rather than making a massive list of everything I have listened to, I'll be as selective as possible. I've only started listening to 2012 releases since February, so I'll be playing catch up throughout the year as my time is limited. I've only gone through 556 releases this year properly as of 07/01/2013, so the list can only expand! If you feel strongly about certain albums released this year and it's not here, be sure to leave a comment! Feel free to make a list that's exactly the same =P

1.CSSABA - Underground Lo-Fi Songs

2.Indesinence - Vessels Of Light And Decay

3.Monolithe - Interlude Second

4.Nadja - The Primitive World

5.In The Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad

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Other good lists with some melodic metal in them:
strade's - R'Vannith's - Unhealer's - Lkoturnindrin's

Will only add 7.5+ releases, so this won't be a gargantuan list... last year saw maybe forty or so releases I thought of as 7.5+'s, a lot of them rated only at the end of the year, and some not rated at all due to the extensiveness of pre-MSA listening sessions... if you want to stalk my "bad" ratings, they're all in my album votes.

1.Enochian Theory - Life... And All It Entails

2.Dissona - Dissona

3.Big Big Train - English Electric 1

4.Headspace - I Am Anonymous

5.Beyond The Bridge - The Old Man And The Spirit

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My top 2012

1.Blind Guardian - Memories Of A Time To Come

2.Kamelot - Silverthorn

3.Sabaton - Carolus Rex

4.Moonspell - Alpha Noir / Omega White

5.Katatonia - Dead End Kings

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1.Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

2.Amiensus - Restoration

3.Mors Principium Est - ...And Death Said Live

4.Deftones - Koi No Yokan

5.Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

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