Rocking.gr Top 30 for 2012

24/12/2012 @ 14:31

It's that time of year again...

Rocking.gr's editors picked up their favorite albums for 2012 and here we present the ones that made it to the Top 30.

As always, a lot of different genres are represented, from alternative rock to extreme metal. Listed below are the greatest albums of 2012 according to the editors of our site. Enjoy.

30. Slash - Apocalyptic Love
	"Apocalyptic Love" is mainly comprised of songs that are ideal for small, sweat-riddled, in-door venues. Roses and velvet are good and all, but this is an almost literal call to arms, which are clearly still loaded.

29. Propagandhi - Failed States
	In shorter, yet faster songs, Propagandhi manage to bring together a storm of riffs, melodic solos, amazing vocal deliveries and frenzied rhythm sections, that all result to an amazing experience.

28. Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
	The love and admiration he received during his final, extensive, tour lead Cohen to one last creative outpour, and he did everything but hold back.

27. Shinedown - Amaryllis
	Shinedown simply wrote some of the best rock songs 2012 had to offer, consequently releasing one of the best rock albums of the year. This album clearly concretes their current position in the hard-rock business.

26. Gazpacho - March Of Ghosts
	"March Of Ghosts" is a straightforward album, with shorter compositions, filled with diversed sounds and emotional peaks, but everything always revolving around the familiar warmth of Gazpacho's albums.

25. Om - Advaitic Songs
	The result is 100% OM, but OM who have made a gigantic leap forwards, OM who experimented and prevailed.

24. Amenra - Mass V
	Every musical theme causes an intense, unprecedented eagerness for what will follow. And every time they're proven right. Each note is exatcly where it should be, causing the right feeling, at the right time.

23. Mgla - With Hearts Toward None
	"With Hears Toward None" is a record with a mysterious and unique 'beauty'. Like its trying to narrate forbidden and scary stories with a peculiar, yet seductive, way.

22. Accept - Stalingrad
	"Stalingrand" starts exatcly where its predecessor finished, with their distinct and trademark sound having a constant presence, while all the elements that the fans love in Accept appear in generous amounts.

21. El Doom & The Born Electric - El Doom & The Born Electric
	The cunningness of Burst, the atmosphere of Opeth, the straight roughness of Mastodon, the clouds of St. Vitus, the retro sounds of early Deep Purple, the experimentations of King Crimson... Norway...

20. Swans - The Seer
	This is the album we have been waiting for for 30 years. "Sheer" is an album full of masterpieces, hitting inconceivable amounts of inspiration, with sounds that send chills to every inch of your body.

19. Enslaved - Riitiir
	"Riitir" is yet another stellar album from the Norwegians. From the beautiful front cover, the melodies, the experimentations, the combination of different elements to a whole lot more, this album breathes an authentic air, a pride and a unique beauty.

18. Nightstalker - Dead Rock Commandos
	Catchy, yet not mainstream, Nightstalker put together ten songs in a totally cohesive manner, that allows the album to flow without letting you down for even a minute. The songs' length leads the listener to the only available solution, to repeat over and over again, until he has unlocked the majecty of "Dead Rock Commandos".

17. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I
	An extremely interesting and thrilling album which keeps you tense for its entire 70 minutes of duration. In terms of performance it is flawless and the compositionsare perfected down to the very last detail.

16. Rival Sons - Head Down
	"Head Down" comes to certify the bands musicianship, their steady upwards trajectory and the successful way in which they revive the long-loved vintage aesthetics, which is no easy task.

15. Mumford & Sons - Babel
	Mumford & Sons are one of today's biggest bands and they are well worth your time. Let yourselves free through their natural sounds and find yourselves stomping together with their bass drum.

14. Stone Sour - House Of Gold & Bones - Part 1
	Stone Sour release their most solide album to date. "House of Gold & Bones - Part 1" is a prime example of the fine dynamics modern heavy music has to give.

13. Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage
	Gojira's fifth album, with the mysterious French title "L'Enfant Sauvage", offers yet yet another triumph, as the band present proof of it's never ending talent.

12. Bob Dylan - Tempest
	"Tempest" will be remembered as one of Bob Dylan's darkest albums. At the same time, it will be remembered as one of the best of the last period of his colossal career. Good Ol' Bob did it again.

11. Rush - Clockwork Angels
	This is an album that rewards the persistent listener and gives Rush fans one more weapon in their arsenal of proving how good they are. Excellent musicianship, tracks well-worthy of being apart of future setlists, and a refreshing concept that demonstrates that the bands have no plans on playing it safe and steady.

10. Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol
	"Tragic Idol"s' Paradise Lost sound fresh, melancholic, dark and show exactly how contemporary gothic/doom metal is supposed to be played. "Tragic Idol" represents a worthy successor of "Draconian Times".

9. Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
	Despite their 20 years in the music scene, Converge continue to impress with the freshness and their unique ability to release albums that both sound and are pioneering. "All We Love We Leave Behind" is another piece of art.

8. Goat - World Music
	Monolithic sound with an underlying post-rock-like melody tha turns into garage of the highest aesthetic, as if Isis took to the mountains, while taking a pit-stop in Byzantine to study chants, and finally leaving Buddy Miles to finish the song. Have you actually heard anything like this before?

7. Pig Destroyer - Book Burner
	Hardcore, thrash, death metal, punk and sludge, all of these have been utilized in order to form Pig Destroyer's vision,with an end result of monumental songs for grindcore.

6. Soundgarden - King Animal
	There are albums that you listen to repeatedly just to enjoy them, and there are albums that you listen to repeatedly just to figure out what is going on. Soundgarden managed to create an album that definitely combines the two.

5. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill
	A real journey through the artist's mind who somehow enables us to 'live' the music just how he envisioned it, dragging it out from the depth of our own souls, like we have already heard everything before.

4. The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
	This album was written to be your companion. It was written to be boomed through your car stereo with windows down and the miles flying by. It was written by a band with real soul and heart for people who understand them and relate to them. It was written simply because it had to to be written, because its true and honest, and if that sounds like something that hits too close to home, it was definitely also written for you.

3. Jack White - Blunderbuss
	"Blunderbuss" is a record that you can listen to throughout, without it letting you down for a second, even on its first spin. No wonder why I can't wait for what Jack's next heartbreak has to offer.

2. Dr. John - Locked Down
	It's a fabulous album that includes all the elements of Dr. John's music as well as his homeland's. Funk, soul, African, Blues, voodoo and psychedelic are all here, combined in a magic way, through Auerbach's retro, and at the same time modern, point of view, performed by a top class band.

1. Witchcraft - Legend
	If you focus on the music and the emotions it evokes, not the path it took to be created, then you should definitely recognize the quality of "Legend". Sometimes fierce, sometimesmellow, the Swedes turned everything around and came out with something beautiful.