Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com / Spencer Kaufman, Loudwire / Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Another year has brought us another barrage of songs to knock around your senses. After a great deal of thought, we've compiled our picks for the 10 Best Metal Songs of 2012. Along with tracks from bands such as Gojira , Testament and Between the Buried and Me , who released on some of 2012's best albums, we've also included songs by Anthrax and Machine Head , which were featured on 2011 albums, but officially released as singles this year. It's all about which bands truly shaped the musical landscape of 2012, along with who brought their songwriting skills to a whole new level with their latest offerings. With that in mind, we present our choices for the 10 Best Metal Songs of 2012: ? 10 'Darkness Within' Machine Head ? ? From: 'Unto the Locust' Although 'Darkness Within' is featured on Machine Head's 2011 album, 'Unto the Locust,' the song was officially released as a single in July of 2012. Accompanied by an incredible music video, 'Darkness Within' showcases the wide musical range of Machine Head, who parallel music and religion with the line, “ Music my savior, save me. “ Listen to 'Darkness Within' ? ? 9 'King of Days' High on Fire ? ? From: 'De Vermis Mysteriis' High on Fire 's 'De Vermis Mysteriis' album is packed with solid tracks like 'Serums of Liao' and 'Fertile Green,' we're going with disc's meatiest track, 'King of Days.' The band showcase their doom and sludge prestige in the seven-minute track, with Matt Pike staking his claim as one of metal's most powerful vocalists. With a bit of beauty as a kicker, 'King of Days' gives the listener guitar and bass solos, along with the 'time travel' drum theme repeated throughout the album. Listen to 'King of Days' ? ? 8 'Ghost Walking' Lamb of God ? ? From: 'Resolultion' Lamb of God took 2012 by the throat with the release of 'Resolution,' spearheaded by the first single 'Ghost Walking' a post-apocalyptic tale of no one left to save. The voice of Randy Blythe is in the spotlight as he tightens his serpentine twist with the words, “ Night blind on the shining path / Ghost walking in the aftermath / Hypnotized, 60 cycle hum / The broken cadence of a distant drum. “ Listen to 'Ghost Walking' ? ? 7 'The Wolf I Feed' Napalm Death ? ? From 'Utilitarian' British grindcore legends Napalm Death rejuvenated their creative prowess with their 2012 album, 'Utilitarian,' taking their songwriting craft to a more solid and progressive realm. Written about the 'rat race' of the business world, guitarist Mitch Harris shares vocal duties with the booming Barney Greenway, building up to an explosive chorus and supernatural bridge. Listen to 'The Wolf I Feed' ? ? 6 'I'm Alive' Anthrax ? ? From ' Worship Music' Anthrax's 'I'm Alive' was released on Jan. 4, 2012, just making the cut for this list and landing at No. 6. Housed inside the 2011 album 'Worship Music,' the song features singer Joey Belladonna opening with an infectious “ Whao-oah. ” 'I'm Alive' serves as proof that a veteran band like Anthrax can bust out new and fresh music three decades into their career. Listen to 'I'm Alive' ? ? 5 'The Bug' Pig Destroyer ? ? From 'Book Burner' “ I'm going to sing for you, a little off key perhaps, but I will sing. I will sing while you croak. I will dance over your dirty corpse. ” With this classic line from Henry Miller's 'Tropic of Cancer,' Pig Destroyer launch into 'The Bug,' one of the most powerful cuts from their 2012 full-length, 'Book Burner.' The band delivers unfiltered brutality with this track. Add in dueling vocals between J.R. Hayes and Kat Katz , and you've gone through a meat grinder of a sonic battering. Listen to 'The Bug' ? ? 4 'Piss' Pantera ? ? From: 'Vulgar Display of Power' Reissue A lost track from the landmark 'Vulgar Display of Power' album, Pantera 's 'Piss' is like a time capsule wrapped in solid gold. The overwhelming crunch of 'Piss' still feels unmatched by modern production techniques, reminding the world why Dimebag Darrell's guitar work remains so unmistakeable. Phil Anselmo delivers a crushing vocal performance, aggressively taking apart “ A self-centered procrastinator, attention seeker who's got nothing at all. ” Listen to 'Piss' ? ? 3 'True American Hate' Testament ? ? From ' Dark Roots of Earth' Testament are everything a thrash band strives to be. The 'Dark Roots of Earth' album was recorded by one of metal's most solid lineups: Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, Eric Peterson, Greg Christian and 'The Atomic Clock' Gene Hoglan. With that in mind, 'True American Hate' brings out the best in each performer, having crafted a classic thrash track that holds up in modern times against all possible competition. Listen to 'True American Hate' ? ? 2 'Telos' Between the Buried and Me ? ? From: 'The Parallax II: Future Sequence' Between the Buried and Me have stormed through 2012 with lots of touring along with a brilliant new album, 'The Parallax II: Future Sequence.' 'Telos' was the first track revealed by the band, and guitarist Paul Waggoner calls the track “the meat” of the record. BTBAM have continued into 2012 with their twisted concoctions, 'Telos' containing progressive and technical death metal with zone-out space blues and an epic crescendo containing but one word: “ Rebirth. “ Listen to 'Telos' ? ? 1 'L'Enfant Sauvage' Gojira ? ? From: 'L'Enfant Sauvage' French metal masters Gojira are the breakout metal act of the year for 2012, even with an incredible wealth of material released throughout the last decade. The title track of their 2012 album, 'L'Enfant Sauvage' hits the listener immediately, revealing its importance the second it hits your ears. Somehow Gojira have created a unique mix of progressive brutality and massive accessibility, and for this, they stand tall with the top metal song of 2012. Listen to 'L'Enfant Sauvage' ? ? What's Your Favorite Metal Song of 2012? Which one of our picks is your personal favorite? Is there a song that you feel we missed. Let the arguing commence in the comments section below: ?
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 ]
Jeff Gross, Getty Images The members of Black Sabbath may not be the rock miscreants they were in their 20s, but Ozzy Osbourne is fine with that, as it’s brought the group back to what initially mattered to them in the first place — the music. Osbourne spoke with the New Zealand Herald about the differences between the Sabbath of old and what’s happening now and how age has brought some perspective. The vocalist says, “What’s different now is that none of us get drunk or stoned or any of that stuff. We’re all clean and all in control of ourselves. We’re not intimidated by each other. There are no arguments, and it’s the way [that] it should be. But when we were kids, we had egos. When you’re 21 and you get some success it takes a while to get your head around it.” Osbourne explains that the egos, the spoils of success, the alcohol and drugs, the groupies and everything else that comes with being in a successful rock band is hard enough for just one person to deal with, but having survived all that, he’s happy to be rocking again with his longtime friends. “We’ve done it all,” says Osbourne. “So what it boils down to now is the music — and that’s what got us where we are in the first place. We have come through the other side, we’re still able to work together, and that’s where the enjoyment comes from. It’s been a lot of fun making this record.” The singer says, “It’s been more than 30 years since I really worked seriously with the guys. We had a try a few years back but nothing really came of it. But for some reason the timing is right and we’ve done about 15 songs.” At present, the band is eying an April 2013 release for their new studio album. Osbourne concludes, “Black Sabbath is very unique in the respect that nothing is formulated. It’s very unpredictable. I just hope the people who have waited all these years aren’t disappointed.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/black-sabbath-continue-recording-new-album-reveal-vinyl-box-set-details/” title=”Next: Black Sabbath Detail Vinyl Box Set” align=”center”]
Epic A day in advance of its Nov. 27 release, the single-disc 20th anniversary edition of Rage Against the Machine ‘s self-titled debut album is streaming at AOL Music . ‘Rage Against the Machine – XX’ includes three live tracks. There are also other editions of ‘XX’ available. The massive 20th Anniversary Edition Deluxe Box Set includes two CDs, two DVDs, one 12? 180gm vinyl LP, one 40-page booklet and a two-sided poster. The 20th Anniversary Special Edition has two CDs and a bonus DVD featuring six tracks in an oversized softpack. Additionally, a 12? 180gm vinyl edition that has a picture disc and a facsimile reproduction of the original LP has been remastered and will be available, sans bonus tracks. With band members doing interviews to promote the release, the big question has been if there will be any new Rage Against the Machine material. The answer, at least in the short term, is no. Guitarist Tom Morello says some band members just are not ready to start working on a new album. “When bands make albums, it’s because everybody wants to, and that’s not the case with Rage Against the Machine at the moment,” Morello explained recently. “Everyone in the band gets along very well, we consider each other friends and comrades in arms, but people sometimes don’t feel ready to do it. I don’t have one minute of one day that’s not filled with music, or politics, or family. If at some point Rage were to get it together to work more, I would be open to that, but that’s not on the table right now.” [button href=”http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/2″ title=”Listen to ‘Rage Against the Machine – XX’ Here” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire It’s been quite a year for DevilDriver , as they began 2012 as part of the Metal Alliance tour with Arch Enemy and recently finished up a massive U.S. trek with GWAR. During DevilDriver’s stop in Brooklyn, N.Y., we caught up with frontman Dez Fafara , who dished on the band’s new album and expressed his excitement about joining Napalm Records’ roster. He also took a look back on DevilDriver’s 2011 release ‘Beast.’ How would you describe your relationship with GWAR and the rest of the roster on this tour? We’ve been friends with GWAR for a long time; we toured with them six or seven years ago it was one of the funnest tours we ever did. We know everybody, we know the Cancer Bats really well, we’ve toured with them before – it was my ideas to put the Bats on as well and it ended up happening so it’s been really killer so far. Everyone’s just hanging out and having a great time. No doubt you have toured with numerous bands but is there one band or musician you would love to tour with that you haven’t gotten a chance to tour with yet? We did some shows with Metallica but they were festivals but I would love to do a Metallica tour – every band is going to say that. Other than that, there’s a lot of artists out there that I would still love to work with of course. With all of this touring what is one thing you must bring on tour with you, no electronics? I bring my own blankets because there’s been a million musicians sleeping in those bunks and on those mattresses so I bring my own blankets, my own sheets, my own pillow, my own everything. If you tour like we do and I take the same bunk every time in different buses. Any creepy findings in one of your tour buses? Oh yeah, I got really ill about a year ago on a tour and they couldn’t figure out why was so ill. It was about two weeks into it and I was coughing up black s—t, we finally stripped my bunk down and we turned over the bunk and the whole thing – the bottom was covered in black mold. Somebody had spilled a drink in there or whatever and left it over the course of time and it was just getting me really sick. Other than that I’ve never experienced other creepy crawlies, you’ll see spiders in buses sometimes but we tend to let those guys out and let them live ‘cause they’ve already had a hard road. Congratulations on your new home of Napalm Records – what made your guys decide on this move? They have passion. I think when the whole folding of Roadrunner was happening, they were … letting a bunch of other people go – I had been there a long time, I think they decided, I decided, we all decided that it was just time to part ways. Napalm has a massive amount of passion for heavy metal, they love the band. When we met with the owner, he was like “I love the band.” He knew songs and it was like okay, “This is a guy who’s entrenched in our music so we want him behind it.” We’re also with Roadrunner still overseas in Australia and New Zealand so it’s good to be with them still over there. The United States label itself has changed and I forsee in the next year, it’s just going to fold completely in probably to Warner, I would imagine. With people in the UK that I’ve worked with forever, press people and others – when they lose their job, it’s time to go, start over and I’m not afraid of that. A lot of people are afraid of moving into a new house but it’s awesome to do and decorate it new and make it happen again, make it feel alive so that’s what’s happening with DevilDriver and Napalm right now. We’re excited for the record, they’re excited for the record – I think Napalm needs a flagship in the United States and I think we could be it for them and I think their press people and they think we could be it for them, too. We’re going to go gunnin’ with this next record and see the numbers – I’m predicting both higher sales and a higher chart position than what Roadrunner offered us. So we’ll see. What’s the progress on the next album? Songs are all written – I’m six songs in right now, written, we’ve got two covers that we’re going to be doing. We’re looking at a late fall – sometime between late August and late September, kind of hard to quote me right because we’re just looking for that release space but I believe that’s when the time is going to be. So this is the last time DevilDriver will be in the United Stated at least until September, October of next year. We’re taking a whole year away from the States to just let it marinate and then come on back on the new record. What do you think the vibe will be like for this new album? Every record is different, that being said I thought ‘Pray For Villains’ was kind of an out of the box record for us, I thought ‘Beast’ was a weird out of the box record for us – we’ve kind honed back in to where we are. This new record sounds a lot like the first three records, it’s got an intense groove to it and I’m really happy – the writing is going extremely well. That being said I think we’ve laid back on our laurels right now and be like, “We’re a groove band” the fans started calling us The Groove Machine, The California Groove Machine – everybody needs a title, we’ll take that one and we’re going to give them that on the new record for sure. It’s been well over a year since the release of ‘Beast.’ Looking back on it, what does Dez the music fan love about that album? A weird record for us, I’m not going to lie, when I sat down – the arrangements everything, it was a weird record to write. When it came out we knew it was just an out of the box, aggressive record for us and it got a lot of positive feedback. All of the accolades that it got, I didn’t know if I expected that reaction. Now looking back in hindsight, we needed that, we to just do something apart from ourselves and that’s what has led us now to where we are with the new record which is like, “Let’s really hone in on the songwriting on this one, let’s make sure the arrangements are really tight.” Everyone’s really excited. Looking back on ‘Beast’ we worked really hard, we toured really hard on it and it did what it was supposed to do for us which was put our sound out there in a unique way and make sure that we didn’t follow any kind of course of anybody else and we laid our own path, which we’ve been doing since we started. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/gwar-brooklyn-tour-stop/” title=”Check Out Photos of DevilDriver Performing in New York City” align=”center”]
MJ Kim, Getty Images – Scott Weiland is confident he will reunite with Velvet Revolver . [ Loudwire ] – AC/DC ‘s ‘Back in Black’ leads the list of inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [ Loudwire ] – Machine Head ‘s Robb Flynn is ready for action after his recent hernia surgery and announces the band’s tour return date. [ Loudwire ] – Green Day will give fans a preview of their upcoming ‘Quatro’ documentary in a highlights special to run over the next month. [ Loudwire ] – Are you ready for Black Friday? Listen to this list of songs to blast on Black Friday and consider yourself prepared. [ Loudwire ] – Ill Nino have revealed the dates for their North and South American tour. [ Rock Music Report ] – Metallica reveal the story behind their ‘Frantic’ song. [ Ultimate Metallica ] – Beck has a new album en route next year. [ Diffuser.fm ] – The Rolling Stones are welcoming back two familiar faces — Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor — for their London shows. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Jimmy Page details the story behind the band’s attempts to continue Led Zeppelin ‘s reunion. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ]
Warner Bros. – Avenged Sevenfold ‘s M. Shadows says the band’s next album has a “Sabbath / Zeppelin” feel while revealing the timetable for its release. [ Loudwire ] – All That Remains ‘ Mike Martin discusses the ‘A War You Cannot Win’ album, while the band offers up a militaristic theme for their new ‘ Stand Up ‘ video. [ Loudwire ] – Linkin Park have announced their #GivingTuesday clean energy promotion, plus they add an award to their trophy case. [ Loudwire ] – Wendy Dio says early detection appears to have been key in Tony Iommi ‘s cancer recovery. [ Loudwire ] – James Iha says “never say never” when it comes to reunion talk with the Smashing Pumpkins . [ Loudwire ] – Catch footage of Metallica performing ‘And Justice for All’ in Mexico City. [ Ultimate Metallica ] – Bad Brains have dedicated their new album, ‘Into the Future,’ to late Beastie Boys MC Adam Yauch . [ Diffuser.fm ] – Aerosmith have denied rumors of any internal strife on their ‘Global Warming’ tour. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Bon Jovi have revealed the dates for their 2013 North American tour. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Porcupine Tree have served up a new two-disc live album called ‘Octane Twisted.’ [ Rock Music Report ]