Global Domination

GD's verdicts - Best of 2012: Sokaris

17/12/12  ||  Sokaris

1. Sigh: In Somniphobia

Sokaris:

1. Sigh: In somniphobia

Sigh unfurl a heady opus that combines the best elements of their last four albums with a bizarre blend of bold sounds and moods. Anthemic guitar harmonies, analog keyboards, galloping riffs, twisted sampling, jazzy saxophone solos, twisted world music and more than I could put into words all fit into a larger picture of nightmarish dementia and psychedelic dreamscapes. A sonic odyssey if ever there was one.

Album cover of the year as well, the vinyl release of this is the most beautiful 12 inch object in my home that’s not attached to me.

Transfiguration Fear

2: Dark End: Grand guignol – Book I

A fairly obscure blip on the metal radar, but the sterling reviews the band keeps receiving are creating a beacon for those on the lookout for quality symphonic black metal. With such attention to detail (that bleeds over into the general packaging and conceptual elements of this release) Dark End is able to craft a dark, epic album that shows a masterful grasp of the style.

Gigantic booklet with tons and tons of text and art all housed in a slipcase. The album also came with a fragment of handwritten lyrics inside a wax-sealed envelope, a magic certificate (hey I didn’t ask) and ceremonial incense. Here’s where I make a joke about having a great package.

Pest: Fierce Massive Slaying Grandeur

3: Anaal Nathrakh: Vanitas

The album that Anaal has been threatening to make all along. Pushing outward in every direction like a fiery explosion and blazing new ground along the way. Disgusting inhuman shrieks, chilling riffs, death metal grooves, soaring cleans and industrial elements all find their way into Anaal’s cauldron.

In Coelo Quies, Tout Finit Ici Bas

4: Cannibal Corpse: Torture

Well the old bastards still have some life in them. While “Evisceration plague” was mostly disappointing, “Torture” shows a much more (re) animated Corpse, bursting at the seams with demented aggression.

I’m including a link to a live performance on this one partly because it’s how I first heard the song this year but mostly because Metal Blade must patrol Youtube like sharks.

Scourge Of Iron

5: Borknagar: Urd

The return of ICS Vortex was a welcome addition to the band and Borknagar get perfect marks across the board on the vocal front of this album. However, the music is a step up as well, better crafted, more epic and more dramatic. Somehow, keyboardist Lazare ends up singing more as well.

So much beautiful man voice.

Frostrite

Honorable mentions:
Chaos Inception: Collision with oblivion
Dudes from Alabama doing Krisiun better than Krisiun.

Enslaved: RIITIIR
_This will be at the top of all of the beard metallers’ lists. Unlike something like Baroness, it will actually deserve it.)

Puturaeon: Cult Cthulu
_Great year for retro-Swe-death, these guys come out on top. Cthulu speed, gentlemen!

Asphyx: Deathhammer
Exactly what I expected, give me ten more albums like this from Van Drunen and crew. Ya bastahds!

Accept: Stalingrad
I really can’t believe how well Accept does without Udo. I doubt he can either.

Emptiness: Error
This is so goddamn dark. That’s the extent of any review of Emptiness.

Worst shit Lord K made me listen to for Audio Autopsy:
Halestorm: The strange case of
Even Jem and the Holograms are an edgier girl rock band than Halestorm.

In This Moment: Blood
(Otep + Hatebreed + Something Even Worse) x Fake Boobs = Profit?

POD: Murdered Love
Linkin Park: Living things
Even when I was young, misguided and loved nu-metal I didn’t like these bands.

Major disappointment of 2012:

Nile: At the gates of Sethu

Though Nile doesn’t seem capable of putting out an out and out “bad” album I easily see this as the weakest in their discography. The best songs on here don’t even touch what the band did on “Annihilation of the wicked” or even their last album.

Major surprise of 2012:

Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody: Ascending to infinity

I’ve been making fun of Rhapsody for years and years (and probably still will) but this album really grabbed me. I suppose the common complaint is that the band is cheesy but at this point listening to a Rhapsody album and being upset about the presence of dairy is like getting pissed off that pot smoke is ruining the Pink Floyd laser light show you’re trying to enjoy.