The spirit of the ancients wisp and wind towards you filling you with mana from above. Soon, you're roaring with full voice: "I am the Alpha and Omega..."
#6
The Faceless - Autotheism
How in the actual fuck did The Faceless outmaneuver both Gojira's vein-popping fret noodling and sweep away Devin Townsend's dominion over all which lies beyond the fringes of heavy metal? In the same year both release records? Artful in execution and inventive in scope, The Faceless wed together sublime flanks of careening vocals, trammeling percussion played in impossible time strictures, mind-fucking riffs and trippy saxophone blasts somehow making it all work. Incredibly well. Impossibly well. In view of their uncanny ability to churn out inhumanely fast scales as if they’re emanating from the big top of a devil’s carnival, Canadian circus freaks Unexpect may as well pack up their box of psychotic tricks and go home. How do The Faceless create fierce yet doleful technical death metal so engaging upon first listen? I can almost hear the dejected trudge of Gorguts and Cynic back towards their drawing boards. How do they craft music so intricate yet make it seem effortless in practice? It's confounding. Polyrhythms segue into blinding lead breaks, haunting vocal marches and back again. Your brain scarcely has time to catch up, but you're glad you're along for the ride. Autotheism stands inarguably as the finest extreme progressive metal opus since Green Carnation’s Light of Day, Day of Darkness. Utterly, utterly brilliant.
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The Top 10 Metal of 2012
#7 - Be'lakor - Of Breath and Bone
#8 - Baroness - Yellow & Green
#9 - Rush - Clockwork Angels
#10 - Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve
The Honorable Mentions