Last year was apparently a time many venerable metal/hard rock bands decided to experiment wildly with their sound (Morbid Angel, Opeth, Korn, Queensryche, etc.), which often resulted in very mixed critical reception (and that’s putting it mildly). Perhaps as a result, many bands elected to go back to their roots in 2012. Testament remembered the melody they were so successful at blending into their sound back in the late 80s/early 90s; The Sword shed their grandiose sci-fi concepts and more radio-friendly sound; Van Halen touched up and released demo tracks that were several decades old; and so on. More often than not, this decision resulted in an album worthy of the band’s legacy (Overkill, Accept and Kiss released albums that might not be remembered as their very best, but still a far cry from their worst work). Some band’s new releases, however, suffered because they were just a little too predictable and too been-there, done-that (Fear Factory, Kreator, Lacuna Coil). But just as often, a band that’s been around the block a few times was able to take what made them special and modernize that sound just enough to create an album that is at once a valentine to their original core fan base while still reaching legions of brand new fans (Rush is rocking harder than ever almost four decades since their debut album; The Darkness went back to basics; Marilyn Manson’s goth-metal sounded more exciting and dangerous than it has in years). But the (electric?) crown goes to Testament, who in my opinion released the year’s finest album: a masterpiece that celebrated all facets of the band’s sound over the years, while still stretching their musical boundaries. Anyway, without further ado, here are my favorite forty hard rock and heavy metal albums of 2012, in order:
1. Testament - Dark Roots of Earth
2. Down - Down IV Part I - The Purple EP
3. The Sword - Apocryphon
4. Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth
5. Overkill - The Electric Age
6. Corrosion of Conformity - Corrosion of Conformity
7. Lamb of God - Resolution
8. Rush - Clockwork Angels
9. Accept - Stalingrad
10. Adrenaline Mob - Omerta
11. Kill Devil Hill - Kill Devil Hill
12. Halestorm - The Strange Case Of...
13. Slash - Apocalyptic Love
14. Sister Sin - Now and Forever
15. Marilyn Manson - Born Villain
16. Philm - Harmonic
17. The Darkness - Hot Cakes
18. Fear Factory - The Industrialist
19. Kiss - Monster
20. Aerosmith - Music from Another Dimension
21. Hellyeah - Band of Brothers
22. Lacuna Coil - Dark Adrenaline
23. Soulfly - Enslaved
24. Mark Tremonti - All I Was
25. Kreator - Phantom Antichrist
26. Lita Ford - Living Like a Runaway
27. High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
28. Jeff Loomis - Plains of Oblivion
29. Napalm Death - Utilitarian
30. Ministry - Relapse
31. Corrosion of Conformity - Megalodon
32. Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage
33. The Offspring - Days Gone By
34. Ugly Kid Joe - Stairway to Hell
35. As I Lay Dying - Awakened
36. Steve Harris - British Lion
37. Dragonforce - The Power Within
38. Bleeding Through - The Great Fire
39. Orange Goblin - A Eulogy for the Damned
40. Running Wild - Shadowmaker
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