Metal Monday: Looking Forward to 2012
posted in: Rock
Last week we covered the things we want most from the metal world in the coming year, some of which were things we already know are going to happen”we just hope it’s not for the worst (except Axl Rose, poor guy). Outside of the metal Christmas list, there are some happenings in the coming year that we’re especially amped for, and now we’re going to tell you all about them so you can be excited too!
First, the whale-loving Francophones Gojira will be releasing their follow-up to The Way Of All Flesh”one of our absolute favorite metal records of 2008. Over the last decade Gojira have steadily built a fanbase with their unique brand of rhythmic and forceful metal. The band really got their big break opening for Metallica a few years ago, and just recently signed to Roadrunner Records. If you didn’t already know who Gojira were, you certainly will now. There is a good chance this record will see itself in a lot of top album lists for 2012 if the band’s previous sucess is any indication of things to come.
Obviously, Gojira aren’t the only band releasing a highly-anticipated album in 2012. Perhaps the most anticipated metal album of 2012 is the upcoming Black Sabbath album. We briefly covered this in last week’s metal Christmas list, but let’s think a bit more about it. Ozzy Osbourne released an album called Scream in 2010, which was okay. More importantly, Ozzy didn’t sound like total garbage on the recordings and this gives fans hope for the upcoming album. Now, can you remember the last album that the other 3/4 of Sabbath put out? Under the moniker Heaven & Hell, the Dio version of Black Sabbath released an album called The Devil You Know and it was fantastic. Who knows if they’ll be able to play well at live shows at this point, but there’s reason to believe that the album the band records will be at least “pretty good.”
Tool hasn’t really done much of anything to garner a new fanbase in the last six or so years, so the response to the band’s new tour was a bit lukewarm. Many of Tool’s fans have seen them already and don’t expect them to put on the same caliber of show this time around. As for speculation about a new a new Tool album, your guess is as good as ours. If you follow Tool closely, then you’re certainly aware that Tool like to mess with their fans by posting fake news and such. We’re going to avoid hopping onto the “new Tool album” bandwagon until we actually hear it.
For underground fans and grind freaks, the most exciting prospect of 2012 are the series of Nasum farewell shows. Nasum happen to be one of the most well-revered and respected grindcore bands of the last five years, but they disbanded in 2004 following the loss of their vocalist/guitarist Mieszko Talarczyk to the Indian Ocean tsunami. The band decided that they won’t continue on with Nasum in Mieszko’s absence, but opted to do a number of “farewell dates” for what would have been the band’s twentieth anniversary in 2012. According their web site (where you can also find tour dates), “No cheesy reunion, no new albums, no epitaph for Mieszko. We will play only a few cities and festivals in a limited number of disruptive, unruly concerts.”
No doubt there will be a whole lot more fantastic things happening in 2012”these are just the biggest and/or best events we already know about. Is there metal news you’re really stoked about that’s happening in 2012 that we haven’t covered here? Make sure you fill us in below, since we want to be in the know!