In many ways, 2012 could be called the Year of the Woman in hard rock and metal. In genres of music that have long-been male dominated, a handful of female-fronted acts stole the show this year, making the Rock Goddess of the Year an especially intriguing category in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards. The women below are some of rock music’s most respected artists and front some of rock’s most popular and critically acclaimed bands. Last year’s winner, Sharon Den Adel, has been left off this year’s ballot, as 2012 was a relatively quiet year for her band Within Temptation. That leaves it open for a new artist to claim the coveted crown of Rock Goddess of the Year. Check out the seven nominees below and be sure to vote in the poll below: ? Amy Lee, Evanescence After returning to the scene in 2011 with their self-titled third album, Evanescence traveled the world in 2012 to support the effort. In addition to touring overseas in the first half of the year, the band headlined the Carnival of Madness tour in the United States over the summer. All the while, the band was led by the ethereal and beautiful voice of Amy Lee . ? Angela Gossow, Arch Enemy Arch Enemy toured the world in 2012 in support of their 2011 album, ‘Khaos Legions,’ as frontwoman Angela Gossow led the charge. The band filmed their fall 2012 Latin America tour for an upcoming 2013 DVD. With a combination of beautiful looks and brutal vocals, Gossow has been leading the Swedish death metal band since 2000. ? Cristina Scabbia, Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil unleashed one of the best albums of 2012 with ‘Dark Adrenaline.’ The Italian band joined Megadeth, Motorhead and Volbeat on the 2012 Gigantour. With a stunning voice and gorgeous looks, the band’s co-vocalist Cristina Scabbia is among the finest female singers in rock or metal. Catch Lacuna Coil on tour with Sevendust in 2013. ? Emily Armstrong, Dead Sara Dead Sara were one of the breakout bands of the year, topping our list of the Best Rock Songs of 2012 with their powerful single ‘Weatherman’ off their self-titled debut disc. As the Los Angeles act’s frontwoman, Emily Armstrong’s powerful vocals are only matched by her uninhibited stage presence. Catch Dead Sara on tour in 2013 with Muse. ? Jill Janus, Huntress Los Angeles heavy metallers Huntress delivered their debut album, ‘Spell Eater,’ in 2012, led by the seductive and talented Jill Janus . The singer describes the band’s music as ‘vicious but melodic,’ and plans on ‘conquering the world one metalhead at a time.’ Huntress toured relentlessly in 2012, and have signed on for some major 2013 festivals. ? Lzzy Hale, Halestorm Did anyone on this list have a better year than Lzzy Hale ? Her band Halestorm became the first female-fronted act to top the Active Rock chart with their single ‘Love Bites (So Do I),’ off their 2012 album ‘The Strange Case Of …’ In addition, the lovely Lzzy & co. toured nonstop in 2012, including stints on the Mass Chaos and Carnival of Madness treks. ? Maria Brink, In This Moment In This Moment unleashed their latest album, ‘Blood,’ in August, and have since taken the world by storm. Led by sultry singer Maria Brink , the band scored a Top 10 rock single with the disc’s title track, which was accompanied by a seductively stunning video. Maria & co. were also one of the standout acts on the 2012 Uproar Festival tour. ? ? Voting for the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards closes on Jan. 15 at 11:59 PM EST. Fans can vote once per hour, so keep coming back to make sure your favorite band wins! Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/rock-titan-of-the-year-2012-loudwire-music-awards” title=”Next: Vote for Rock Titan of the Year” align=”center”] Get Notified When Winners Are Announced Enter your email address below to receive the daily Loudwire newsletter, which will include notification of our full list of winners in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards, as well as the top stories in rock and metal. Email
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe has been out of Czech prison since Aug. 2. Although back home here in the United States and free to tour nationally, the next step of Blythe’s criminal proceedings has been put into effect. The State Attorney’s Office in Prague officially indicted Blythe on manslaughter charges on Friday, Nov. 30, which means that Blythe will likely stand trial in the near future. According to Czech news source Novinky.cz , the District Court now has three months to either set a trial date or to delay the hearing in lieu of further investigation. If convicted of manslaughter as a result of his future trial, Randy Blythe could face 5-10 years in prison. Blythe has publicly stated that he will not hide out in the United States if summoned for a trial in the Czech Republic, despite the potentially horrific outcome. “I feel ethically responsible to go back there and face this charge,” declared Blythe in a recent interview with WTVR in his hometown of Richmond, V. “[The victim’s] family right now is in a lot of pain, and they deserve some answers. To lose a child is the worst possible thing a human can go through. I want my name cleared. I have to go around the world and tour, you know? That’s what I do. I’m not going to hide here. I’m an innocent man. I’m going to go to court and see what happens.” The controversial arrest of Randy Blythe stems from an incident in which a man died nearly a month after he sustained a head injury following an apparent stage fall while attending a Lamb of God concert in the Czech Republic in 2010. Video of the incident has been posted online, although there have been questions as to whether or not the man shown in the footage is in fact the deceased fan. Blythe spent five weeks in a Czech prison over the summer as several legal proceedings delayed his release on bail. Update: Lamb of God’s manager has issued a lengthy response to the news of Randy Blythe’s indictment. Click below to see his entire statement: [button href=”http://loudwire.com/lamb-of-god-manager-responds-randy-blythe-czech-republic-indictment/” title=”Lamb of God’s Manager Responds to Randy Blythe’s Indictment” align=”center”]
Who says the music video is a dead artform? MTV may not show them anymore, but thanks to the Internet, bands can still deliver some stunning clips, as evidenced by the nominees in the Metal Video of the Year category in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards. We’ve got five nominees for this category, and in these videos you’ll be exposed to time travel, phallic evisceration, octopus transplants, assault rifles, Jesus Christ’s motorcycle-riding twin brother and much more. Check out the nominated videos and be sure to vote in the poll below: Dethklok, ‘I Ejaculate Fire’ Dethklok are metal’s most beloved animated band, and in their video for ‘I Ejaculate Fire,’ a pharaoh receives pleasure from a demon woman, giving the Egyptian leader the power to eviscerate anyone and anything with his naughty bits. ? High on Fire, ‘Fertile Green’ It’s hard to believe that High on Fire made a video as good as this song ‘Fertile Green’ itself, but the motorcycle riding, time traveling, clairvoyant, stillborn brother of Jesus Christ made it happen with some tripped out imagery to top it off. ? Job for a Cowboy, ‘Tarnished Gluttony’ This video is legitimately terrifying. If you’re easily disturbed by creepy and violent imagery, you may want to skip this one. Otherwise, this incredibly detailed video from Job for a Cowboy offers fascinating subtextual commentary on the nature of man and religion. ? Machine Head, ‘Darkness Within’ Machine Head ‘s video for ‘Darkness Within’ may have the best production standards of any metal video released this year. Along with style, the video for ‘Darkness Within’ contains a full serving of substance. ? Pig Destroyer, ‘The Diplomat’ High on Fire and Dethklok aren’t the only acts to feature time travel in their music video; Pig Destroyer toyed with the concept, as well, for ‘The Diplomat.’ In this vid, a deranged businessman introduces assault rifles to psychedelic primates, with brilliant results. ? Voting for the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards closes on Jan. 15 at 11:59 PM EST. Fans can vote once per hour, so keep coming back to make sure your favorite band wins! Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. Get Notified When Winners Are Announced Enter your email address below to receive the daily Loudwire newsletter, which will include notification of our full list of winners in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards, as well as the top stories in rock and metal. Email
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire It’s no secret many Korn fans were bummed when Brian ‘Head’ Welch left the band, but he is set to reunite with the group for a couple of shows in 2013 after playing a one-off gig at the Carolina Rebellion festival this past year. ‘Head’ is set to join Korn for their dates at next year’s German rock festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park. The gigs will be his first full sets with the band since 2004. Loudwire had the opportunity to catch up with guitarist Munky on last week’s ShipRocked cruise, and he talked all about his excitement for the upcoming German Festival dates and jamming out with ‘Head.’ Munky also expressed his optimism for ‘Head’ eventually rejoining Korn permanently, but makes it clear that they don’t want to rush anything and still have a long road ahead of them. “He’s our brother, to be able to have him onstage with us is a great thing. He’s one of the members of the band that helped define this sound.” Munky Talks About Reunion With Head [button href=”http://loudwire.com/korn-welcome-back-guitarist-brian-head-welch-for-two-2013-shows/” title=”Next: Korn to Reunite With Head for Two Germany Gigs in 2012″ align=”center”]
Music can be a listening pleasure as well as a visual experience, and for the 2012 Rock Video of the Year honors, we’ve got five clips that truly embrace the art form to enhance the stories told in song. It was a pretty aggressive and dark year for our finalists, as we’ve got some brutal beatings, violent and bizarre demises and alternate realities providing a haven for the video stars. You can check out the nominated videos, then be sure to vote for your favorite in the poll below: Chevelle, ‘Hats Off to the Bull’ Forgive Chevelle is they seem a little punchy. The band members took a beating during the filming of ‘Hats Off to the Bull,’ where they’re at the will of an [mostly] invisible foe who is having their way with them. ? Marilyn Manson ‘No Reflection’ Take Marilyn Manson , put him in a darkly lit room at a dinner table with numerous scantily clad women and you’ve got the makings of an attention-grabbing video. As expected with a Manson video, it’s equal parts erotic, horrific and in this case, deathly. ? Slash, ‘Bad Rain’ Slash ‘s slinky single ‘Bad Rain’ has strip club written all over it, but in the animated video for the track we get to see a more sinister version of the temptress and her ultimate motivations for cozying up to the customers and it’s not pretty. ? The Sword, ‘The Veil of Isis’ Leave it to The Sword to provide a fantastical tale of a young woman bogged down by the reality of her poor downtrodden world who is transported a magical land with the help of a street prophet in ‘The Veil of Isis’ clip. ? The Used, ‘I Come Alive’ The Used tell a dark and violent tale with their ‘I Come Alive’ video, which follows a young boy who is first beaten by his peers and then roughed up at home by his abusive father. But rather than take the beatings, he exacts a violent revenge on his tormentors. Voting for the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards closes on Jan. 15 at 11:59 PM EST. Fans can vote once per hour, so keep coming back to make sure your favorite band wins! Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/metal-video-of-the-year-2012-loudwire-music-awards/” title=”Next Category: Metal Video of the Year” align=”center”] Get Notified When Winners Are Announced Enter your email address below to receive the daily Loudwire newsletter, which will include notification of our full list of winners in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards, as well as the top stories in rock and metal. Email
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Move over zombies, there’s some new competition in the quest for world domination in the form of Sebastian Bach . The raucous frontman is brewing up a rock ‘n’ roll takeover of his own with an upcoming live DVD/CD set aptly titled ‘Abachalypse Now.’ The special release is jam-packed with never before seen footage that’s all been remixed and remastered for optimal quality. The footage includes Bach’s performances from 2012’s GrasPop Festival in Belgium, his full set from Hellfest in France and his show at Club Nokia in Los Angeles that originally aired on AXS TV. While the exact details are still being kept under wraps including the track listing and table of contents, Bach weighed in on the special release, saying: “I am so excited for all of you to witness and experience ‘ABachalypse Now.’ We have included three recent concerts and the footage is totally kickass! It’s remixed and remastered for full audio and video quality. The performances and energy of the crowds are killer throughout the DVD and you really feel like you are at the shows. Prepare yourselves for the coming ABachalypse – now!” ‘Abachalypse Now’ is due out on Frontiers Records in the Spring of 2013. The former Skid Row frontman released his last solo disc ‘Kicking & Screaming’ back in September of 2011. The disc was produced by Bob Marlette and made the top 75 of the Billboard Top 200 Chart. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/sebastian-bach-jeff-george-new-guitarist/” title=”Sebastian Bach Picks Jeff George to Fill Vacant Guitarist Spot” align=”center”]
Metal music was at it’s finest this year, and the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards category of Metal Song of the Year features 10 incredibly diverse tracks from a wide-range of bands. We’ve got veteran metal acts going against the young craftsmen of today’s metal music landscape, but the voting is all up to you, the fans. Which tune will you pick as the Metal Song of the Year for 2012? Check out the nominated songs and be sure to vote in the poll below: Anthrax, I’m Alive’