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Soundoffs 1
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Last Active 05-17-15 7:59 am
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Review Comments 19
| My Top 15 Albums Of 2012.
The best albums that I listened to this year. Narrowed down to 15 because these are the ones I rwill probably look back on and consider the most memorable to me, with the first 10 being my ralbums of the year and with the last 5 being honorable mentions. | | 15 |  | Converge
All We Love We Leave Behind
The most astounding thing about this album is that Converge have been around for so long that it felt like they crafted their
masterpiece over ten years ago, and then this album comes along and denies this theory. This album is the most erratic,
passionate and technically impressive album that the band has made, and the change in vocals is mostly for the better in
Jacob Bannon. Trading incoherent, albeit brutal screams for a more modern post-hardcore desperate yelling style of vocals in
many songs, as well as a few instances of singing, this album proves to be an amalgamation of all the best forms of hardcore
and metal. While the album is at its best on its best tracks, there are some tracks that are simply Converge, for better or
worse, and this holds the album back from its ambitions of redefining the band as a whole. Nevertheless, this is an excellent
album that will probably surprise a lot of people.
Cool Tracks: Aimless Arrow, Sadness Comes Home, Coral Blue | | 14 |  | Frank Ocean
Channel Orange
As a fan of Odd Future, I was made aware that Frank Ocean had potential to become a pop/R&B sensation if given the right
material and exposure. Channel Orange seems to be that kind of material, though I'm not sure he's had enough exposure just
yet. In a fantastic album that stomps all over the works of nearly all other pop singers today, and sets a new standard for
R&B music, Channel Orange is a catchy, infectious affair, that shows the best that Ocean has to offer. The biggest flaw of
this album is in the fact that it attempts to criticize many other pop conventions, lyricism and performers, despite being a
very obvious pop record, and even though it may be better than the average pop album, it still feels hypocritical and wrong
listening to a pop singer talk down to other artists of his genre. It'd be like if Green Day made an album about how punk has
become watered down. Nevertheless, the album is, in fact, a good pop album, which rarely happens nowadays. It should be
cherished as a diamond in the rough of terrible, awful, horrendous music.
Cool Tracks: Thinkin Bout You, Sweet Life, Forrest Gump | | 13 |  | Between The Buried and Me
The Parallax II: Future Sequence
One of the most ambitious progressive metal bands in recent years' new album, The Parallax II: Future Sequence, is a step up
from their last album and quite possibly their best release to date. Despite this, however, Between the Buried and Me still
have one key flaw as a band, and one that I can't get past: they attempt to be every genre, appeal to everyone, make
every kind of song, and play each and any kind of music thrown at them, at the expense of making a cohesive sound and
very often failing to make memorable tracks, with certain tracks from Colors and Alaska to be notable exceptions to this rule.
I enjoyed this album immensely and thought it was a step up and a growth for the band, but I still can't put it on my top 10
because this album showcases the same issues I have with the band as a whole, despite being a fabulous work. I simply
didn't enjoy it enough to get over those flaws.
Cool Tracks: Lay Your Ghosts To Rest, Bloom, Melting City | | 12 |  | The Ghost Inside
Get What You Give
The newest album from The Ghost Inside is a fabulous journey through all kinds of emotional torture and hardship, with many
lyrics focused on overcoming trials through touring, losing family members, and even being homeless. Through all this
emotional investment, however, The Ghost Inside seem to have toned down and become more laid back with what made
them known in the scene in the first place: a brutal, devastating band, with a sense of melody and unrelenting passion
thrown in. Singing is even present on this album, and it's even well placed and sparsely thrown in. Despite these new
elements and certain tracks being stellar, this album feels like a step back from Returners. Unlike other albums on this list, by
changing their sound, The Ghost Inside lost a little bit of steam and have put out a passable effort, but one that I feel hasn't
shown their full potential as a band.
Cool Tracks: Engine 45, Dark Horse, White Light | | 11 |  | The Chariot
One Wing
Although I am a fan of The Chariot, I couldn't include this album on my list of top ten albums simply because of the fact that
this album, like the Chariot's last, is less of an album and more of an experience in dissonance. While this was interesting on
Long Live, the formula has been repeated for this album, and other than intermission tracks and tracks of intense
experimentation, the songs take the form of being even more insane and out of control than the band usually are. Don't get
me wrong, this album is entertaining and impressive from a performance standpoint, but it isn't as worthwhile of a listening
experience simply because The Chariot have treaded this ground before. For new fans, this album will not have that issue,
but for everyone else, it'll sound like The Chariot, for better or for worse.
Cool Tracks: Forget, Love., Speak | | 10 |  | Stone Sour
House of Gold and Bones - Part 1
Ever since the album Come Whatever May, Stone Sour have proven to be more than just Corey Taylor's side project when
not making music with Slipknot. This proof is tested on this album, the first part of the double album House of Gold & Bones.
In what could have been an acoustic album or a psychedelic album in experimentation, justified by it being based on a
concept, Stone Sour have decided to riskily craft a hard-hitting, heavy rock album that walks a fine line between being
melodic and crushing. Corey Taylor hasn't sounded this pissed off since Slipknot's earlier albums; however, most of the anger
blends in with his singing as well as the fewer screams on this album. Through this emotion, Taylor submits his best work as a
vocalist in years, and the band's music helps to showcase it very well. The tracks are varied, with guitar solos and riffs and
composition from many different genres throughout. One can only hope that the second part of this double album is as
surprisingly good as this.
Cool Tracks: Absolute Zero, Influence of a Drowsy God, Last of the Real | | 9 |  | Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
The Heist
This duo has become a force to be reckoned with in modern hip hop, and no album proves this more than their newest and
first full length, The Heist. Macklemore is not just a pissed off, angry white rapper in the vein of Eminem, but he's also not the
silly partying type of Asher Roth. He fits snugly in the middle, with many songs off of this album being silly and standard hip
hop lyricism, to more Drake-esque introspective and personal tunes that detail his struggles with addictions, big spending and
growing up in a lower class Seattle neighborhood. You feel a connection with Macklemore upon listening to this album, and
Ryan Lewis's beats and samples only help to further increase the creativity of the album, showcasing his lyrics in interesting
ways through classy as well as refined production. It is through that connection that this album becomes so enjoyable in
every track. No matter which tone or which beat is used, it's easy to root for Macklemore to overcome his trials, as well as to
show off all of his swagger to the ladies his songs refer to, and Macklemore will become a major player in hip hop to come if
he fulfills his highest potential that this album shows he obtains.
Cool Tracks: Thrift Shop, Gold, Starting Over | | 8 |  | Parkway Drive
Atlas
When people think of Australian metalcore, Parkway Drive are usually the first band people think of, and for good reason.
Always releasing consistently good material that most often is held above their peers in the genre, Atlas is no exception to
Parkway's ever growing catalogue of worthwhile songs. This album takes the sea theme of Deep Blue and expands it to
encompass the entire planet, and as a concept album about a man struggling to find aid for a dying world, it excels in evoking
a believable, emotion-charged message. Not only does this concept help propel the album to Parkway's best, but the music is
more varied than ever, succeeding in feeling like a full, cohesive piece of work rather than an overly ambitious, watered-down
production that Deep Blue felt like. Atlas is a collection of some of the best songs Parkway have written since their debut,
and is more than worth the listen.
Cool Tracks: The River, Atlas, Sleight of Hand | | 7 |  | Meshuggah
Koloss
Meshuggah are famous for releasing metal that is not only technical and unique, but also unrelenting and focused. With metal
that could be described more as a heavy scalpel, calculating and efficient, rather than a jackhammer, wild and frantically
intense, Koloss takes what made obZen a standout album and modifies it into something that could be considered more of an
exercise in endurance, both on the part of the listener and of the musicians, and like a patient ice sculptor, it picks away at
the form of the work inch by inch, shaping it all the way to the album's conclusion. Even though it may be slower paced and
not as innovative or mindbending as the last album, it's still an interesting listen and a feat of musicianship to behold.
Cool Tracks: The Demon's Name is Surveillance, The Hurt That Finds You First, Demiurge | | 6 |  | Coheed and Cambria
The Afterman: Ascension
With yet another lineup change in the form not only a new bassist, Zach Cooper, but also the return of original drummer Josh
Eppard, Coheed and Cambria return to the scene dropped from their major label and releasing the first of The Afterman
albums on Claudio Sanchez's new label. With all these changes, it's surprising and comforting to see that Coheed haven't
changed their sound for the worst. The return of the original drummer helps to showcase an old-school Coheed sound on a
few tracks, but most of the album sees the band stretch creatively even further than they did on their last album. Always
impressive in composition and melody, The Afterman: Ascension is a step up from their last two efforts, but nevertheless it
isn't as satisfying of a listen as the others. This is most likely due to it being the first half of a double album, but this doesn't
hurt the album as badly as it could have. It's still a great album, but it shouldn't be ruled out or judged further until the
companion piece is released in February.
Cool Tracks: Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute, Mothers of Men, Key Entity Extraction II: Holly Wood the Cracked | | 5 |  | Death Grips
The Money Store
Death Grips are not a hip hop group that can be easily digested upon listening to one single. They are a band of extremes,
with animalistic and tonally harsh production qualities, and with vocals that sound like Homer Simpson tweaking on meth, but
through all of this, the brilliance of their music can still be heard. With songs that are catchy, even though they shouldn't be,
with a wide range of beats, samples and overall pretty creative DJing and drumming, and with lyrics that vary from the violent
and masochistic to the introspective and contemplative, The Money Store is not an album that can be summed up in a single
sound or a single interpretation. While it is more than likely the weirdest and most sonically challenging album on this list, it is
because of this that it excels in being an enjoyable, rewarding listen. You won't hear anything else like it.
Cool Tracks: Hustle Bones, I've Seen Footage, The Cage | | 4 |  | Soundgarden
King Animal
Nobody ever thought this album would actually happen, but lo and behold! Many other people, myself included, thought this
album would be so diluted and feature a tired, older Soundgarden no longer attached to their great 90s sound, but lo and
behold! King Animal is fantastic, and the best Soundgarden has released since Superunknown. Not only keeping their
trademark "slightly out of tune and off, but still rocking" sound, but showing that it can be stretched to many other genres
not fully explored before, such as folk, modern indie rock and even more Zeppelin-esque 70s rock and blues, King Animal is an
accomplishment. The fact that it is an album that delivers from a band thought long dead and buried is enough to place this
album on bests of the year lists, but Soundgarden takes it one step further by crafting an album that is more than just the
remains of a band long past their prime.
Cool Tracks: By Crooked Steps, Worse Dreams, Rowing | | 3 |  | Every Time I Die
Ex Lives
One of the most recognizable bands in the small, but noticable wave of southern rock-metal fusion bands (and ironically
coming out of New York), Every Time I Die release what could possibly be considered one of their defining albums. Ex Lives is
an album as furious as it sincere and concerned with the well-being of the human race, lyrics take turns from a wide range of
topics, including religion, the discouragement of political bias, as well as the dangers of police brutality and the overly
controlling nature of a too-powerful government. While these topics have been addressed before by many bands, they fit
nicely within the context of Keith Buckley's vocals, and the music of Every Time I Die has always complimented those well.
Possibly the best hardcore album this year, it is a testament to the best of the genre and also a important commentary on
society from the band.
Cool Tracks: I Suck [Blood], Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow, Drag King | | 2 | | Periphery
Periphery II: This Time It's Personal
Periphery burst onto the progressive metal scene with a triumphant debut album, and return this year even stronger than
ever with their second, aptly and efficiently titled Periphery II. Whereas many bands would take their second album as an
oppurtunity to more develop their sound and even tone down and experiment with their first album's sound further, Periphery
decides to further push the limits of not only the technical capabilities of each member, but also the range of sounds that
they can come up with while still playing in 20-sided-dice time signatures and maintaining the correct amounts of melody and
dissonance. The result is as insane as it is entertaining, and Periphery succeed where many other sophomore slumps fail.
Cool Tracks: Scarlet, Luck As A Constant, Mile Zero | | 1 |  | The Elijah
I Loved I Hated I Destroyed I Created
Make no mistake: this is an album for album lovers. Taking apart the album song by song would be unfair to the work as a
whole, not just because the album's singles sound nearly identical to each other, but also because this is an album and a
sound that needs to be heard in its entirety to be understood not only mentally but emotionally. Not simply conforming to
modern screamo-whatevercore, The Elijah take their sound from an ambient, almost orchestral background and are able to
push it forward into a more modern, post-hardcore, indie-rock sensibility, with vocals complimenting the instruments both
with screams of the former and singing of the latter. The album feels soaring in the best places and restrained in areas where
it delivers a dramatic effect for doing so, and it's one of the most underrated and underappreciated, as well as one of the
best, albums of the year.
Cool Tracks: I Loved, In Fear, I Destroyed | |
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