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2011 was an excellent year. Logic says that 2012 won't be able to match it but you never know. Welcome to my continually growing list of 2012 albums (mostly metal albums), complete with links to my reviews. This list will only feature albums that I have written a review for. Recommendations encouraged.

All reviews originally written for Heavy Metal Haven.

9.5 - 10.0 - Masterpiece

Xandria - Neverworld's End - (Review) - 10.0
Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost in the New Real - (Review) - 9.9
Huntress - Spell Eater - (Review) - 9.8
Hysterica - THE ART OF METAL - (Review) - 9.8
Pythia - The Serpent's Curse - (Review) - 9.6

8.5 - 9.4 - Exceptional

Akphaezya - Anthology IV (the tragedy of Nerak) - (Review) - 9.2
Crystal Viper - Crimen Excepta - (Review) - 9.1
Pharaoh - Bury the Light - (Review) - 9.0
Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma - (Review) - 8.8
Epica - Requiem For The Indifferent - (Review) - 8.7
Mondrian Oak - Aeon - (Review) - 8.7
Eternal Deformity - The Beauty of Chaos - (Review) - 8.5

7.5 -8.4 - Really Great

Diabulus in Musica - The Wanderer - (Review) - 8.4
A Sound of Thunder - Out of the Darkness - (Review) - 8.4
Svartby - Elemental Tales - (Review) - 8.2
Amberian Dawn - Circus Black - (Review) - 8.0

6.5 - 7.4 - Good, Not Quite Great

Mortad - The Myth Of Purity - (Review) - 7.3
Eluveitie - Helvetios - (Review) - 7.2
Agruss - Morok - (Review) - 6.8
Unisonic - Unisonic - (Review) - 6.7

5.5 - 6.4 - Above Average/Good

Vismut - 13 - (Review) - 6.3

4.5 - 5.4 - Middle of the Road



3.5 - 4.4 - Below Average/Fans Only

Voices of Destiny - Power Dive - (Review) - 4.3
Skylark - Twilights of Sand - (Review) - 3.9

2.5 - 3.4 - Bad



1.5 - 2.4 - Very Bad

Lacuna Coil - Dark Adrenaline - (Review) - 1.8

0.5 - 1.4 - Utterly Dismal



0.0 - 0.4 - Worse than 50 Cent

My website, Heavy Metal Haven, runs on on-going top 100 albums of all time feature for our members to vote in. Here I share the top 10 of the 2nd Edition of the list, published on 15th July 2011.

1. Megadeth - Rust In Peace (156 Points)


Tags: thrash metal

2. Iron Maiden - Powerslave (140 Points)


Tags: heavy metal, nwobhm, traditional heavy metal

3. Metallica - Master of Puppets (114 Points)


Tags: thrash metal

4. Pharaoh - The Longest Night (103 Points)


Tags: power metal, uspm

5. Metallica - Ride the Lightning (93 Points)


Tags: thrash metal

6. Metallica - Kill 'Em All (89 Points)


Tags: thrash metal

7. Ayreon - Into the electric castle (75 Points)


Tags: progressive metal, progressive rock, rock opera

8. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (71 Points)


Tags: heavy metal, doom metal, proto metal

9. Blind Guardian - Tales From The Twilight World (70 Points)


Tags: power metal, speed metal

9. Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death (70 Points)


Tags: heavy metal, nwobhm, traditional heavy metal

View the rest of the list here - why? because I don't have the willpower to link all those artist and album pages

RE: This List Sucks!!!

It is a collaborative list, that is open to any genre of music. This edition had 22 contributions. Heavy Metal Haven is always updating it (well, whenever an update is warranted at least). If you are unhappy with the list, then I personally invite you to Register with us and leave a list of up to 30 albums in the appropriate forum topic. Please do not run down the list without at least being prepared to contribute to it. Thank you for your understanding.

I reserve the right to remove any comments on this entry that do not respect this.

I've never understood how certain types of douchebags seem to make up the majority of metal's fanbase on the internet. I mean, whereas in real life people listen to what sounds good to them for the fun of it, these types are in some contest to "out-elite" one another, outright shun certain styles e.g. "-core", "groove" (especially on shitty forums like Metal-Archives), praise only the most pedestrian, tepid shit that no one's ever heard of, and get into constant debates about how things that clearly are metal (e.g. Rammstein and nu-metal) are not. Oh, and don't forget, anything with melody or actual songwriting skills sucks, is "gay", "sugary" etc. I was once interested in metal but the douchebag fanbase put me way off. It's best for me to imagine that it doesn't exist and just try to enjoy the music on its own.

Is there a single metal forum out there where I can find tolerable people with normal tastes, and not some try-hard pissing contest bullshit? Other than going to the individual forums of the bands I like, and even those seem to draw in one or two douchebags who stick around making a thousand posts and spread their bitterness like a cancerous tumor.

Iconoclast is the eighth full-length album from US Progressive/Power Metal act Symphony X, which was released in 2011. Ever since The Odyssey (2002) the gaps between Symphony X albums have been quite long, and this is their first offering since 2007’s Paradise Lost. Like the last time, they’ve returned with a slightly new take on their sound. The album has been released in two editions; a one CD version which features nine tracks, and a 2CD ‘special’ edition which features a total of twelve, some of which are slightly re-ordered on this version. For reviews I normally base my judgement on the regular edition however in this case I intend to make an exception, as the 2CD version is actually the album as it is intended to be by the band. As far as I’m concerned if you’re holding a copy of this and there’s only one disc in the case you’re holding an incomplete album, and you need to take in back and demand your second disc! Now onto the review proper.

Symphony X is one of those bands that has never disappointed me. With perhaps the exception of their self titled debut since that didn’t feature long-time vocalist Russell Allen (who is pretty much a staple of the Symphony X sound), the band has never delivered an album that wasn’t at least solid to my ears (The Damnation Game), and most of the albums went beyond being solid into the realms of being truly exceptional (pretty much everything else). Even when they changed their sound a bit on Paradise Lost to be more heavy hitting than on earlier albums, especially in Allen’s vocals, they still managed to produce something amazing that sat just as well with their older material. With Iconoclast Symphony X continue going in the direction that Paradise Lost began, resulting of one of the heaviest albums in their catalogue.

Read the rest of this review at my website

Fri 29 Apr – Rage live in Athens

Rage - Grave Digger - The Silent Rage

http://www.metalkaoz.com/live-reports/1234-rage-fuzz-club-athens-gre.html

When metal was born, in the late 60's and early 70's, they didn't have the same equipment for making extreme distortion with their amps, they had to push the limit and doublejack their speakers. It doesn't get more metal than that. Pounding all the sound you can make from what you have available.

Let's start with a real classic of the classics, Deep Purple - Fireball


And then a really heavy one, considered the first heavy metal song by many!
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath


One of the finest, heaviest and most powerful metal monsters..
Judas Priest - Dissident Aggressor


And we can't forget the german metal legends either!
Scorpions - He's a Woman, She's a Man


And then the band where Scorpions' little brother Michael ended up:
UFO - Rock Bottom


Noone can ever forget the divineness that is Dio and Blackmore:
Rainbow - Kill The King


Remembered as progrock giants, but they made their metal in the old days!
Rush - Anthem


One of the first speed metal acts of the 70's, one hell of a man!
Motörhead - Bomber


Enjoy the riff-power of this one!
Budgie - Breadfan


On of their wild ones. A crazy metal classic!
Uriah Heep - Free'n Easy


Late 70's metal anthem of the best kind!
Saxon - Judgement Day


Known for experimenting in all rock genres, Queen actually began their career as a heavy metal monster:
Queen - Stone Cold Crazy


Well, hope you got some good experiences, and some of you may had a great introduction to the purest form of metal; the original 70's heavy metal! Hope you enjoyed this entry and have found yourself some good, classic metal bites to share with your friends!

Stay heavy
- Izzystone

It is with a heavy heart and a serious case of regret, that I inform you my friends that this wonderful musical talent is no longer with us. According to BBC Northern Ireland he passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning, in his hotel room at Costa Del Sol in Spain, where he was on holiday.

Gary Moore was a very special talent, starting off with his old band Skid Row and later his solo career as well as a contributing artist in Thin Lizzy,Colosseum II , Scars, G-Force and BBM.

I was introduced to his music by a training buddy of mine, when I was only 13 years old, back in 1981. From the very moment I heard his special techniques and his truly phenomenal sound, I was hooked and looked in anticipation for everything he ever contributed. Who can ever forget songs like Parisienne Walkways, Empty Rooms or Out In The Fields? Not to mention all the other music he added his special talents to.

I always meant to travel to see him play live, but unfortunately it never came to be and the closest I ever got was watching his live shows on VHS videos and DVDs, as well as listening to his live albums from various eras. The more I learned to play the guitar over the years, the more I came to realise how far ahead he really was in terms of technique, style, feel and all the other wonderful descriptions of musical interpretations. He was my unwitting mentor, idol and someone I aspired to learn from.

His music will never die, his legacy will remain untarnished forevermore.
Thank you for the memories maestro, I'll keep your songs in my heart for years to come.

Yours forever humble
Tomas Thrainsson