The Top 10 Albums of 2012 - Part II

      Happy new year to all of my readers! I hope you all had a great holiday, and weren't too hungover at work/school. Let's finish the countdown we started last time!


      6. Best Album: Post-hardcore

         Contestans: Enter Shikari (A Flash Flood of Colour), I See Stars (Digital Renegade), Silverstein (Short Songs), Sleeping with Sirens (If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack)

          Contrarily to other genres, post-hardcore this year was rather bleak with regards to new material. It's usually harder for post-hardcore bands to make it these days, as innovation becomes more and more difficult. However, this year also saw rapid evolution from past giants as Johnny Craig quit Dance Gavin Dance, and Craig Owens rejoined Chiodos, formally disbanding his band Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows (DRUGS).
          In any case, I have to give the award for best release to Enter Shikari. In a scene where electronic elements have become the norm (Risecore, I'm looking at you), the British group's relentless attempt to make the fusion work has finally paid off. Incorporating less heavy elements than electro-heavy bands like Woe Is Me and I See Stars, Enter Shikari nevertheless masterfully manipulated the two genres into their own unique sound. Flash Flood presents itself as a hardcore-influenced rant, taking a healthy dose of inspiration from multiple genres - which, at its core, is what post-hardcore truly is.
         
          Winner: Enter Shikari (A Flash Flood of Colour)

 
      7. Best Lyrics

          Contestants: Motionless in White (Infamous),  The Chariot (One Wing), The Ghost Inside (Get What You Give), Every Time I Die (Ex Lives), The Contortionist (Intrinsic)

           This category is, for me, one of the more important ones on this countdown. The heavier genres of music often get a bad rap for cheesy, whiny, or fake lyrics. Thus, when a band actually has believable lyrics (read: ones that don't make me roll my eyes or wince), it's definitely a strong point in the band's repertoire.
            Frequent readers know that I tend to laud Motionless in White for having fairly eloquent lyrics, but this year they weren't quite the best of the bunch. Instead, I have to give the title to Every Time I Die - Ex Lives steadfastly continued the band's penchant for bitingly sarcastic lyrics with the added bonus of a little humor here and there When the band isn't funny, they're incredibly scathing - 'Touch Yourself' is a blistering commentary on religion. 'Underwater Bimboes from Outer Space' opens the record with an attack on the modern scene. It's this ability to bite, tease, and criticize that sets the band apart from the flock of metalcore releases this year.

           Winner: Every Time I Die (Ex Lives)

      8. Best Instrumentals
          Contestants: The Word Alive (Life Cycles), Art By Numbers (Reticence: the Musical), Devin Townsend Project (Epicloud), Deftones (Koi No Yokan), Veil of Maya (Eclipse)

         Similar to the last category, instrumentals are often what can make or break an album. As hardcore derivatives, metalcore and post-hardcore don't need to have the most complex riffs or most face-melting solos, but you can't play bar chords and chugga chugga constantly. Additionally, as a mix of metal and hardcore, you'd expect metalcore to have more of a focus on instrumentals - another unfortunate failing in the modern scene. But, in any case, this section is a salute to the best instrumentalists of 2012.
          As far as complexity and sheer prowess goes, Veil of Maya have this game in the bag. The band brings a brutal amount of time signature variation that constantly keeps you on your toes - all the while maintaining an overall rhythm in such a way that's mind-boggling. That's saying nothing of the guitarwork - which is as fast and complex as the rhythm section. 'Punisher' features a breakdown within a breakdown.
           However, you don't just have to be flashy with your instruments to have good instrumentals - in the catchiness game, this is Deftones' category. With a flawless segue away from the nu-metal stupidities of yesteryear, Koi No Yokan is one of the most fun and catchy albums of the year. Since you can't really judge one kind of instrumental over another, I have to give this one to both.

      Winner: Veil of Maya (Eclipse)/ Deftones (Koi No Yokan)

        
      9. Biggest Breakout
        Contestants: Motionless in White, Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, Of Mice & Men, Miss May I, Like Moths to Flames

         Say what I will about Warped tour, it is quite a publicity machine. The tour gets a huge amount of press and if bands land the contract, it's guaranteed that they're going to the bank. For this reason, as much as it pains me to say, it's probably going to be scene bands having the biggest breakouts of the year, if only because they get the most attention at Warped - Black Dahlia Murder are playing this year, and they're probably not going to get any magazine attention.
           When all the facts are considered, I have to hand it to Miss May I this year - they really hit the nail on the head. Touted as one of Warped's biggest names, the band managed to evade the mediocre reviews leveled at At Heart and front Warped, a tour organized by AP, one in Latin America and another in Europe all in the space of about six months. If that's not a breakout, I don't know what is.

        Winner: Miss May I 

  
         10. Most Changed
             Contestants: Obey the Brave (Young Blood), Texas in July (Texas in July), Devin Townsend Project (Epicloud), Chelsea Grin (Evolve EP)

             At first glance, which bands have changed the most seems like an easy decision - obviously it's Chelsea Grin, right? What could possibly beat going from pig squeals to cleans, right? Wrong. All artists change from album to album (unless you're REM or Coldplay), whether it's for better or for worse is what we're trying to figure out.
            For starters, Texas in July definitely deserve a shoutout for their comeback from the complete mediocrity of 2010's One Reality and the return of actual riffs. But in the grand scheme of things, I have to give it to Obey the Brave for the degree to which the band members - Miguel Lepage and Alex Erian in particular - completely renovated their previous style. Erian was the former frontman of deathcore giant Despised Icon, and Lepage played bass for a similar sounding local Montreal band called Blind Witness. Young Blood, however, isn't so much of a comeback as it is a complete transformation - both bands quit at their prime, and there was very little to improve on. With Obey the Brave, the band shifted not only to a more metalcore sound, but also towards a remarkable sense of optimism - a rarity in -core genres indeed.

          Winner: Obey the Brave (Young Blood)

                            
          That concludes the top albums of 2012! This is shaping up to be one hell of a year - and you can be sure I'll be there the whole way through.