It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Blurst Of Times. 2012's Best...

2012 was a year plagued with REALLY bad records, yet some truly stellar ones. New bands came to the party, while some older ones showed us all how it's done. It's almost poetic how good the Code Orange Kids debut LP is and hearing the proud J Bannon from Converge talking about how much he loves them. Meanwhile, Converge wrote a record that crushed nearly everyone else, including the young upstarts he's promoting and putting out on his own Deathwish label. A seminal band from my youth returned with a solid record, while others kept churning out others in long line of killer LP's.

No more bullshit. Here's my Best of 2012 list. Enjoy and support bands/labels. Without your money, they don't make records. Without those records, you will be forced to listen to radio rock and pop swill. And Pop Country. Think about it.

1. Deftones- Koi No- Yokan (Warner Bros.)
2. Converge- All We Love We Leave Behind (Epitaph/Deathwish)
3. Lamb Of God- Resolution (Epic)
4. Soundgarden- King Animal (Seven Four/Universal)
5. Pro-Pain- Straight To The Dome (Goomba Music)
6. OSI- Fire Make Thunder (Metal Blade)
7. Mark Lanegan- Blues Funeral (4AD)
8. Brad- United We Stand (Razor & Tie)
9. Witchcraft- Legend (Nuclear Blast)
10. Father John Misty- Fear Fun (Sub Pop)
11. Every Time I Die- Ex-Lives (Epitaph)
12. Crippled Black Phoenix- (Mankind) The Crafty Ape (Mascot)
13. Band Of Skulls- Sweet Sour (Vagrant)
14. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis- The Heist (self-released)
15. High On Fire- De Vermis Mysteriis (E1)
16. Nonpoint- Nonpoint (E1)
17. Shearwater- Animal Joy (Sub Pop)
18. Katatonia- Dead End Kings (Peaceville)
19. Code Orange Kids- Love Is Love // Return To Dust (Deathwish)
20. Gaza- No Absolutes In Human Suffering (Black Market Activities)
21. Demon Hunter- True Defiance (Solid State)
22. Split Cranium- s/t (Hydra Head)
23. Rush- Clockwork Angels (Anthem/Roadrunner)
24. I Am Heresy- I Am Heresy (Magic Bullet)
25. The Unwinding Hours- Afterlives (Chemikal Underground)

Honorable Mentions to the following:

Early Graves- Red Horse (No Sleep)
The Sword- Apocryphon (Razor & Tie)
METZ- METZ (Sub Pop)
Baroness- Yellow & Green (Relapse)
Gojira- L'enfant Sauvage (Roadrunner)
Melvins Lite- Freak Puke (Ipecac)
Meshuggah- Koloss (Nuclear Blast)

Best EP's:

Down- Down IV (Down Records)
Crosses- EP II (self-released)
The Melvins- The Bulls and The Bees EP (Scion AV)
Marriages- Kitsune (Sargent House)
Pelican- Ataraxia/Taraxis (Southern Lord)
The Company Band- Pros & Cons (Weathermaker Music)

Looking forward to these in 2013:

Tomahawk
Cult Of Luna
Clutch
Alice In Chains
Pearl Jam
Palms
Mark Lanegan
Steven Wilson
Satchel
Killswitch Engage

...and finally seeing Tom Petty live. C'mon, you fucker!