With only a few major releases to cover this week, it it being the middle(ish) of the year, we decided to tease our end-of-the-year list extravaganza with a look at what we have as early contenders. Our personal lists vary quite a bit, and for some (like Brian) there are going to be many releases that need to be weeded through before the lists are made. However, I think we all agreed that The Devastated put out the worst album of the year so far…and God help us if something worse comes out. Anyway…to top off this week’s show, we also take a little look into the future, previewing some songs off of some forthcoming albums.
Reviews: Nile – At the Gates of Sethu ; Periphery – Periphery II
Singles: As I Lay Dying – “Cauterize”; Katatonia – “Dead Letters”; Testament – “True American Hate”
The Sideshow Podcast 
“Extra listens have not been rewarding.” While you said this statement in the context of Periphery, I feel that way about L’Enfant Sauvage from Gojira. After the first two listens, I thought the album was very good, but further listens have not revealed the album to be any better. A few songs have bubbled up, such as The Gift of Guilt and that 2 minute instrumental, but as a whole the album has not revealed itself to be anything special for me after about 5 listens.
As for the new Periphery, it’s still too early for me to form opinions on it, but I can say that I feel like I am not as big a fan of their first album as everyone else seems to be. Their first album was good, but I think it gets unjustifiably held up as a stellar album by everyone else. Is it because they are at the forefront of the djent movement and everyone wants to get on board with that? Is it because they play 7 and 8 string guitars and actually have lyrics? Is it because they showed potential and people hope they get better? Whatever the case may be, they are still a band I am certainly going to continue to follow even if they aren’t one of my favorites.
2012 has so far been a year of surprises for me. Two of my favorite albums are ones that I would never have expected to like, those being Cattle Decapitation and Nightwish. And two of my other favorite albums are from bands that I hadn’t even heard of at the beginning of the year, those being Allegeon and Alcest. 2012 might be shaping up to be a year without any releases from the biggest bands in metal. By biggest, I don’t mean the best but rather I mean the most successful acts with the largest fan bases. The Big 4, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, none of them have any releases planned for 2012 (that I know of). Bands such as Mastodon, Machine Head, and Opeth all had releases last year, so it doesn’t look likely they’ll have something this year as well. Lamb of God and Meshuggah might be the biggest bands to have releases in 2012.
And finally, I like this quote from Nick: “Apparently if I pull my head out of my ass I actually like some other music.” I think that can apply to a lot of us, myself included.
Funny, because it took me a few listens to really get into the new Gojira. I can’t say I am still discovering new things or anything like that, but I think it is just a really damn good album and very enjoyable to listen to.
I see what you are saying about Periphery’s first album…and it is for those reasons that I think the new album is superior in every way. It shows all of the strengths of the first album while doing everything better, expanding upon the skills of the band.
I have found that the last few years have provided awesome releases from either new bands or young bands growing up. This year seems to be taking that to another level.