We’ve really enjoyed having Madam X on board the H.M.S. AMG this year and we hope she keeps her necro, dominatrix self around for a good long time! Here are her thoughtful picks for Top Ten(ish) albums of 2012. Read and rejoice!
Reviews
Record reviews
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: So Much for Nothing – Livsgnist
Madam X feels like 2012 was a weak year in the depressive, suicidal black metal department. This unheralded little disc from So Much for Nothing helped her get through without having to torture small animals and such, for which we are all thankful.
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Killing Joke – MMXII
Killing Joke has had a long and strange career. Through trends, hard times and trauma, they kept the music flowing and the ideas weird. F.A.G. is here to give you a window into their latest opus, MMXII, which seems to use Roman numerals properly.
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Nightmare – Burden of God
Steel Druhm will never be your beast of burden. Bourbon maybe, but never burden! Anywho, you might have missed a pretty nifty power metal album called Burden of God by French act Nightmare. Steel doesn’t want that to happen.
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: A Forest of Stars – Shadowplay for Yesterdays
We sent Madam X to join the very exclusive gentlemen’s club founded by A Forest of Stars. She fit in better than expected and now we can’t get her to leave. At least she left us with this here review.
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Oceans of Time – Faces
Even the mighty Steel Druhm needs help sometimes and without the help of you, the loyal AMG readers, he would have missed out on this little power-prog gem. Steel Druhm hates being helped!!
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: The Night Flight Orchestra – Internal Affairs
Lost in the diarrhea-like flood of bad deathcore and pretentious doom metal released in 2012, a little band from Sweden released a gem of old-school, adjective-less rock ‘n roll. The album in question is Internal Affairs by The Night Flight Orchestra, a quintet that just happens to include vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid and guitarist David […]
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Aeternam – Moongod
The point of Things You Might Have Missed is to point out great records we didn’t cover in time, which wasn’t exactly the case with Tenacious D, but definitely is the case with Aeternam’s 2012 offering Moongod. We never received promo of this record ahead of time – but it appears to have been released […]
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: The Songs of Townes Van Zandt – Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till & Wino
Steel Druhm sang the praises of an acoustic set by power metal heroes and now he’s back pimping out even more acoustic stuff. Maybe all that headbangin finally caused brain damage or maybe he’s good at finding acoustic stuff by metal guys. We report, you decide!
Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix
So, let me start by saying that Jack Black isn’t funny. Now that we have that out of the way, you can take this little blurb for what it is: a reminder that this record did get released and that it didn’t eat a big fat dick. In fact, I’ve always had a really weird relationship to Tenacious D because while I think that Jack Black is really not funny even a little bit (no, I mean really, I never laugh at his stuff essentially ever), the music on these records is actually really solid, neo-classic rock. This is obvious from about a minute and a half into title and opening track “Rize of the Fenix,” where the pure Kansas riff and the chorus that evokes that sweet time in popular music when musicians could write songs, play instruments and be famous even if they looked like Steve Perry. It was a magical time we’ll never get back.