Editorials
[Best & Worst ’12] Jonny Picks His Top 10 Albums Of 2012
And so another year comes to a close. 2012, just like any other year, you had your gems and you had your flops when it came to album releases. For this article, I’d like to give you my Top 10 albums of 2012 as well as several honorable mentions that didn’t exactly make the cut but were too good to leave unmentioned. So, read on to see my Top 10 Albums Of 2012!
Make sure to check out my worst 5 albums here.
JONNY’S TOP 10 OF 2012
10. Lamb Of God – Resolution (Jan. 24th, Epic Records)
Clocking in at #10 is Lamb Of God‘s Resolution, one of the earliest releases this year. What you have here is one incredibly catchy, groovy album with blistering metal riffs every which way you turn. The possibility that this might also be the last LoG album unintentionally makes it that much more fierce and immediate.
9. Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage (June 26th, Roadrunner Records)
The French extreme metal masters proved once again that they very well might be the future of metal. L’Enfant Sauvage is a punishing wall of intensity that walks that fine line between noise and beauty.
8. Petter Carlsen – Clocks Don’t Count (June 12th, Function Records)
This album would’ve slipped completely under my radar had I not seen Anathema make a post about how singer Vincent Cavanagh did guest vocals on one of the tracks. Listening to it, I found a gorgeous, rich album that shines as one of the best melancholic rock albums I’ve ever heard. If nothing else, the song “Even Dead Things Feel Your Love” would’ve landed Clocks Don’t Count on this list.
7. Carina Round – Tigermending (May 8th, Dehisce Records)
Another sonically diverse album that blends infectious rhythms with some heartbreaking moments of beauty, Tigermending is a journey that is wonderfully narrated by Carina Round and her stunning vocals.
6. Meshuggah – Koloss (Mar. 27th, Nuclear Blast Records)
If it’s sheer blistering, melt-your-face-off metal, there was no better album released this year than Koloss. The Swedish tech metal founders have once again proven their status as titans.
5. Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man (Oct. 22nd, Capitol Records)
One of the late releases of the year, The Huanted Man is nothing short of stunning. Bat For Lashes Natasha Kahn knows exactly when to fill the landscape with a wealth of instruments and when to dial everything back to the bare necessities. This is one of those albums that you put on and don’t touch a thing. Just sit back and enjoy.
4. The Gathering – Disclosure (Oct. 2nd, Dismanic Distribution)
This album slipped past me, only recently landing in my hands. But once I started listening to it, I couldn’t stop. It’s mixture of rock, pop, and electronic, all sprinkled with a sense of nostalgia and sadness. Oh, and I have to say how much I love that horns are used on this album. The first time I heard them, I was taken completely aback. It was so unexpected and yet fit so well. Now, I kinda want more horns on everything I hear.
3. Deftones – Koi No Yokan (Nov. 13th, Reprise Rcords)
The most recent release of the year is also one of the best. Koi No Yokan is Deftones at their strongest, mixing rich melodies with crushing distortion, all held together by singer Chino Moreno’s commanding voice. This release only proved how unstoppable Deftones really are.
2. Katatonia – Dead End Kings (Aug. 28th, Peaceville Records)
Much like Koi No Yokan, Dead End Kings is an album that mixes incredible melodies over fierce, vicious distortion. However, there is something about Katatonia that draws me in that little bit more. This album simply resonates with me on a deeper level.
1. Anathema – Weather Systems (Apr. 24th, The End Records)
Something about Weather Systems grabbed me more fiercely than any other album this year and hasn’t let go since. From the opening acoustic notes of “Untouchable Pt. 1” to the ethereal fade out of “Internal Landscapes”, Anathema crafted an album that is a celebration of life. In my eyes, this album has already earned the status of “timeless”.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Storm Corrosion – Storm Corrosion (May 8th, Roadrunner Records)
This prog masterpiece from Porcupine Tree‘s Steven Wilson and Opeth‘s Mikael Akerfeldt is a throwback to the glorious 70’s era progressive rock. Sinister and daunting, it’s a difficult album to “get” on the first try. But subsequent listens prove how intense and thrilling this album can be.
Stolen Babies – Naught (Sept. 18th, No Comment Records)
This album is insane, twisted, nightmarish, and unbelievable amounts of fun.
The Birthday Massacre – Hide And Seek (Oct. 9th, Metropolis Records)
I love this band and this album only added to that feeling. Infectious electronic rock with innocently sweet vocals, it’s well worth owning.
Twitch The Ripper – Colorblind (Aug. 14th, Metropolis Records)
Like I’ve said before, I have an unabashed love of the 80’s and the electronic pop that filled that decade. Colorblind hit that era and gave it a modern feel that simply made the music all that much more glorious.
Baroness – Yellow & Green (July 17th, Relapse Records)
While not what many Baroness fans were expecting to hear, Yellow & Green is still a fantastic piece of melodic hard rock. Songs like “March To The Sea” and “Little Things” get my blood pumping while “Eula” is one of the most arresting “ballads” (their words) I’ve heard in years.
Garbage – Not Your Kind Of People (May 22nd, Stunvolume Records)
I don’t think anybody was expecting Garbage‘s return to music to be as strong as it was. This album blew me off my feet and I still shake my head in disbelief when I think of how the band still has “it” after all these years.
Daniel Licht – Silent Hill: Downpour OST (March 13th, Milan Records)
Daniel Licht blew me away with this soundtrack. While the game had it’s flaws (that freakin’ combat!!!), one thing that it had plenty of was atmosphere. This was largely in part thanks to Licht’s phenomenal original score that breathed new life into what I felt was a dying series. I still listen to this soundtrack any time I’m driving in the rain or the rare foggy day rolls in.
Got any thoughts/questions/concerns for Jonathan Barkan? Shoot him a message on Twitter or on Bloody-Disgusting!
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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