Here we have a batch of stellar bands who just happened to shape the metal music landscape in 2012. The accomplishments made by the following acts cannot be underestimated, as metal as a genre continues to dominate the underground music world. Once again, we’ve got veterans facing new-school heroes for the title of Metal Band of the Year, and it’s the fans who will decide who deserves the award. Check out the 10 nominees in the Metal Band of the Year and be sure to vote in the poll below: Anthrax Having released ‘Worship Music’ in 2011, the thrash legends of Anthrax released ‘I’m Alive’ as a single in 2012, along with headlining the second stage at this year’s Mayhem Festival and touring extensively with Testament and Death Angel. ? ? ? As I Lay Dying Metalcore leaders As I Lay Dying had a strong year in 2012, releasing the album ‘Awakened’ to critical acclaim. The band turned the tracks ‘Cauterize’ and ‘A Greater Foundation’ into singles this year, along with performing on the 2012 Mayhem Festival. ? ? Between the Buried and Me Guitarist Paul Waggoner was hoping to create similar excitement for their 2012 album, ‘The Parallax II: Future Sequence’ that they conjured with ‘Colors’ in 2007. From fan reaction, Between the Buried and Me succeeded with their 2012 masterpiece. The prog metal act even gave fans a taste of ‘The Parallax II’ during the 2012 Summer Slaughter tour. ? Down Phil Anselmo and the rest of Down crunched their Southern sludge into an EP this year with ‘Down IV Part 1 – The Purple EP.’ Fans are absolutely rabid to check out these new tracks live, and they’ll get the chance to do so when Down hit the road early next year. ? ? Gojira The French mad scientists of Gojira absolutely exploded in 2012 with the album ‘L’Enfant Sauvage.’ The masterful album brought in a massive new group of fans while keeping the old ones happy, a feat that is among the most difficult of accomplishments for a progressive act. ? ? Lamb of God Having released ‘Resolution’ in early 2012, Lamb of God embarked on various tours before being stopped in their tracks by the arrest of vocalist Randy Blythe in the Czech Republic. Lamb of God persevered through the controversy, hitting the road once again later in the year to a red-hot ‘Welcome Home’ from fans. ? Machine Head Along with creating a more-than-impressive video for the song ‘Darkness Within’ in 2012, Machine Head treated fans worldwide to a string of live performances. After headlining a tour with support from Suicide Silence and Darkest Hour, Machine Head continued to play gigs with Dethklok, All That Remains and the Black Dahlia Murder. ? Napalm Death The British grindcore legends of Napalm Death blew away grind fans with their 2012 album, ‘Utilitarian.’ Having created one of this year’s most brutal and imaginative albums, Napalm took grindcore into a new realm proceeding their tour with Municipal Waste and Exhumed. ? ? Pig Destroyer After a five-year wait, grind masters Pig Destroyer released yet another pummeling triumph, ‘Book Burner.’ Under the influence of mastermind Scott Hull, ‘Book Burner’ showcases brilliant sonic attacks by all involved, including Kat Katz, Richard Johnson and broadcasting legend Larry King via his reading of Henry Miller’s ‘Tropic of Cancer’ audiobook. ? Testament Boasting one of metal’s most purely talented lineups, Testament crushed the world of thrash with their ‘Dark Roots of Earth’ album. The band made memorable videos for ‘True American Hate’ as well as ‘Native Blood,’ while touring with fellow thrash legends Anthrax and Death Angel. ? ? 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
As the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards continue, we turn our attention to full bodies of work — that’s right — the Rock Album of the Year. We’ve got 10 stellar discs in contention for the title and need your assistance in determining the best. We’ve got a mixture of major radio acts, door-busting female-led hard rock outfits, ’90s mainstays enjoying a career resurrection and a handful of lesser-known acts who deserve consideration for potential breakout releases. But in the end, the final word comes down to you. Check out the nominated albums, read our cases for each, and be sure to vote in the poll below: Baroness, ‘Yellow & Green’ It’s a shame that Baroness ‘ year was cut short due to injuries sustained from a bus crash, but that doesn’t lessen the fact that ‘Yellow & Green,’ the band’s third album, was one of the year’s standout efforts. With ‘Take My Bones Away’ and ‘March to the Sea’ leading the way, this double-disc offered heavy rock with a sense of subtlety. ? Dead Sara, ‘Dead Sara’ Every year there’s the search for a new voice, and Dead Sara ‘s Emily Armstrong, with the emotion-filled rasp of a modern-day, hard-rock Janis Joplin, made her presence known. ‘Weatherman’ became the breakout single, but the remainder of their self-titled debut is a stellar effort, front-to-back. ? Deftones, ‘Koi No Yokan’ Deftones ‘ resurgence in recent years only continues with ‘Koi No Yokan,’ a magnificent disc led by the mood-shifting single ‘Tempest’ and the all-out aggression of ‘Leathers.’ The band, who’s made a career about exploring dynamic, continue to click on all cylinders with the highs, lows and atmospherics we’ve come to love. ? Halestorm, ‘The Strange Case Of…’ Sophomore slump? Never! If anything, Halestorm made significant strides with their second release ‘The Strange Case Of …’ ‘Love Bites (So Do I)’ was the kind of anthemic rocker that most bands would kill for and the angsty ‘I Miss the Misery’ struck a chord with listeners. ? Lacuna Coil, ‘Dark Adrenaline’ The ever-evolving Lacuna Coil actually took a step backward into their past, much to the delight of fans of their more gothic-sounding early years. ‘Dark Adrenaline’ connected with the lead single ‘Trip the Darkness,’ while the infectious drumbeat of ‘Fire’ was undeniable. There’s a comfort level and joy within almost every track. ? Marilyn Manson, ‘Born Villain’ Marilyn Manson , at least creatively, rediscovered his niche this past year. The ‘Born Villain’ album was reminiscent of the albums that made him a huge success in the ’90s, with the lead single ‘No Reflection’ sitting alongside the best tracks of his career. Other highlights included ‘Slo-Mo-Tion’ and ‘Hey Cruel World.’ ? Serj Tankian, ‘Harakiri’ After experimenting with a variety of styles in recent years, Serj Tankian ‘s return to rock was widely hailed. The vocalist provided a distinct point of view on a majority of his songs, with ‘Harakiri’ speaking to environmental concerns with aggression and ‘Figure It Out’ showing unrest with many of our corporate leaders. ? Shinedown, ‘Amaryllis’ Shinedown followed up ‘The Sound of Madness’ with another hits-filled set in ‘Amaryllis’ that’s definitely connecting with audiences. The topical ‘Bully’ was an early-year hit that not only delivered a message, but some ear-candy hooks to rope you in. Other standouts include the earnest ‘Unity’ and the in-your-face rocker ‘Enemies.’ ? Soundgarden, ‘King Animal’ Soundgarden showed no rust with ‘King Animal,’ there first album in 16 years. ’Been Away Too Long’ is the band’s new battle cry, signifying their official return with a track that connects as well as some of their biggest hits. ‘Non-State Actor,’ ‘Bones of Birds’ and the recently previewed ‘Rowing’ also show that the group is back to cranking out quality music. ? Stone Sour, ‘House of Gold & Bones Part 1′ Stone Sour ‘s ‘House of Gold & Bones, Part 1′ is highlighted by the double-single, ‘Gone Sovereign’ and ‘Absolute Zero,’ which provide the story of a man on a downward spiral. They’re both aggression personified. However, songs like ‘Taciturn’ and ‘Tired’ deliver a more melodic, yet no less powerful, statement. ? 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-album-of-the-year-2012-loudwire-music-awards/” title=”Next Category: Metal Album 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
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
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
Michael Scott Slosar, Wind-Up Records Oklahoma-based rockers Aranda unleashed their latest full-length album, ‘Stop the World,’ earlier this year. After touring with bands like Theory of a Deadman and Hinder and playing major summer fests, the guys are as busy as ever after inking a deal with Wind-up Records. Now, Aranda are premiering behind-the-scenes footage from their recent photo shoot exclusively on Loudwire (watch below). Aranda feature brothers Dameon and Gabe Aranda, who have been writing and playing music together since they were young lads. The two recently released their latest single, ‘One More Lie,’ and it’s already starting to climb the Active Rock songs chart. Aranda recorded ‘Stop the World’ with Chicago-based producer Johnny K, and earlier this year, Gabe told Loudwire it was a killer experience. “First of all, the facility he’s got is pretty amazing. It’s like an old six-story building so the ambiance there is just really cool, from a creative perspective it’s something else to draw from even if it’s subconsciously,” he said. “Johnny himself, I mean his work speaks for itself, the accolades that he has. “With us it was primarily more about honing us in on something real direct, stylistically we tend to be all over the place so on this record we tried to do something a little more straight ahead rock and stick with those roots. Overall, it really benefited us to work with him.” Pick up Aranda’s ‘Stop the World’ at iTunes , and check out video of their photo shoot below: Watch Behind-the-Scenes Footage from Aranda’s Recent Photo Shoot
Michael N. Todaro, Getty Images / Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com – It’s been a great year in rock music, with new discs from Deftones , Soundgarden , Halestorm and more. Take a look at our Best Rock Albums of 2012. [ Loudwire ] – If you’re wondering where albums from metal acts like Down , Lamb of God and Gojira rank among the year’s best, check out our list of Best Metal Albums of 2012. [ Loudwire ] – Former Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss Lives bassist Nick Oliveri has suddenly found himself back in both band’s plans. [ Loudwire ] – Dave Grohl will be using the mic for hosting rather than singing as he launches a new radio series based on his ‘Sound City’ documentary. [ Loudwire ] – Sevendust have laid out their 2013 plans, complete with an album release date, new single announcement and a trek with Lacuna Coil announced. [ Loudwire ] – Meshuggah are ready to pack up and cross the pond to rock the masses in 2013 with a series of North American shows. [ Rock Music Report ] – The Black Keys are no longer in a legal tussle with Pizza Hut and Home Depot. [ Diffuser.fm ] – Pussy Riot will end the year as one of the entertainers in the hunt for Time magazine’s “Person of the Year.” [ Diffuser.fm ] – Rumor has it that the Rolling Stones will welcome “Slowhand” himself, Eric Clapton , for their next London performance. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – This qualifies as a “get.” Paul McCartney will guest on the Christmas episode of ‘Saturday Night Live.’ [ Ultimate Classic Rock ]
MagnaCarta.net / Andrew H. Walker, Getty Images Geoff Tate has yet to play his first gig with his newly created Queensryche lineup and already he’s down one member. Tate revealed earlier this year that former Megadeth and King Diamond guitarist Glen Drover would be part of his version of the band, but Drover has just announced his exit. Back in early September, Tate revealed that Drover would join Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer, former Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo, keyboardist Randy Gane, and Tate’s onetime Queensryche cohort Kelly Gray in a reconstructed lineup so that he could continue playing his band’s music after being ousted by the other Queensryche members earlier this year. Drover said in his exit statement: I am really sorry to say that I have decided to bow out of Geoff Tate’s Queensryche. I was very excited about doing this gig initially, but learned in the past week or so that it’s in my best interest not to do this right now. I feel really bad for those who were excited about the idea, and to Geoff himself, who, I have to say, was very nice to me on my past trip to Seattle. I, of course, am very disappointed for arriving at this point, and making this decision, to say the least. I sincerely wish the Geoff and the band all the luck on what they do in the future. Tate and his former bandmates have been locked in a legal battle over the rights to the Queensryche name and both have received permission from the presiding judge in the case to use the moniker until a final decision is rendered. At present, Tate is promoting his ‘ Kings & Thieves ‘ solo record, but he has hinted at touring with the new lineup next year. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/geoff-tate-wins-court-ruling-continue-using-queensryche-name/” title=”Next: Geoff Tate Wins Court Ruling to Continue Using Queensryche Name” align=”center”]