VLOG #1, AWARDS SEASON SUMMARY

The inaugural theNOISE Music Awards have come to a close, as has 2012, so thank you to everybody for reading and Tweeting  - it all helps, and I'm very grateful! Now, sit back and enjoy my first attempt at a vlog! The video quality is pretty bollocks and  I need to do something about it, but here we go...

As a final note for 2012 then, here's a rundown of how shit went down...

FALLEN HERO OF 2012; Mitch Lucker of Suicide Silence
A tribute over an award; RIP Mitch, you will be missed by the legions of SS fans everywhere.

BEST LIVE BAND; Marmozets

BEST EP/MINI-ALBUM; Marmozets; VEXED

BEST SONG; Muse; SURVIVAL

BEST BAND; Enter Shikari

BEST ALBUM; Enter Shikari; A FLASH FLOOD OF COLOUR

Happy New Year! x

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2012

It's arrived! The award I give the most importance to, because album reviews have been, are, and are to be, the backbone of theNOISE as it continues to exist. And the top spot was even harder to choose than Best Band; so much so that for the last couple of weeks since I began considering the top 10, the top 3 have changed around at least 8 times. And, even up to the point of writing this I changed the top 2 a fair few times. But I'm happy with my final choice. Well, obviously, as I've decided to take it to press finally. But anyway, please keep your arms inside the car at all times, the rollercoaster of excitement that is my album chart of 2012 is about to start...

10. The Gaslight Anthem; HANDWRITTEN

Beautifully written as ever, a sparkling album of gravelly rock and roll. 

9. Young Guns; BONES

 A band with an uncanny knack for producing anthemic songs, their 2nd effort ticks all the boxes on the boxes on the 'British Rock Gem' application form. 

8. Parkway Drive; ATLAS

 Brutal, moody and deeply thoughtful, this is metalcore's finest at the top of their game. 
Review

7. Deftones; KOI NO YOKAN

 Like being hit by a tidal wave in slow-mo - powerful, destructive but simultaneously sombre and beautiful.

6. Rolo Tomassi; ASTRAEA

 A cracking album, full of carefully orchestrated chaos.
Review

5. The Chariot; ONE WING

 Experimetal (see what I did there) at its absolute finest; ballistic and remarkably inventive, and above all brilliant.
Review

4. While She Sleeps; THIS IS THE SIX

 A pure metal record, deep with heavy brutality, contrasting melody and raw emotion. Stonking debut.
Review

3. Muse; THE 2ND LAW

 Diverse, over-the-top, clever and emotional; the height of modern prog.
Review

2. Baroness; YELLOW AND GREEN

Simply stunning. Intricately powerful throughout, a really special album. 
Review

1. Enter Shikari; A FLASH FLOOD OF COLOUR

 The jewel in the Shikari crown; thought-provoking and well-crafted with such a wide range of sound that they deserve to be a genre in their own right. 

It was nip and tuck between Baroness and Shikari for yonks. But I settled for Shikari in the end because while I could not separate the albums by merit of how good they were - both near-perfect in their own ways - I in the end judged it by how purely addicted I had been to the albums. Put it this way; I still don't pay for Spotify because I'm a tight bastard, and when AFFOC came out on January 16th, I exhausted the play count by that Monday afternoon and bought a copy in the evening (I spent the day looking for my bank card...). It's a triumph of an album, blending genres like there's no tomorrow (should've written this on December 20th) from dubstep to metalcore to beautiful pseudo-ballad (Constellations). So that's why it's theNOISE's Album of 2012. 

While I'm at it, some honourable mentions to the bands that didn't make it into the Top 10/that I meant to give time to reviewing but never got round to, and that had I been more organised/better at running a blog, would have had a place in an expanded countdown:

• Gojira; L'Enfant Sauvage
• Gallows; Gallows
• The Killers; Battle Born
• Neurosis; Honor Found In Decay
• Pulled Apart By Horses; Tough Love
• Architects; Daybreaker

And many more, probably. Stay tuned for my first vlog, to bring things neatly to a close! Hopefully.



BAND OF 2012

Well well then. The end of awards season is almost upon us, with this, the penultimate award to be...awarded...

Some of these awards have been easier to choose than others, but this one may be the most difficult. There have been lots of bands that have all had memorable/awesome/all of the above years, but ultimately there can only be one. Rather than do a conventional countdown, I will introduce the candidates and explain why I picked them as candidates. On with the show...

1. BARONESS; It's been a tumultuous year for the Atlanta, Georgia rockers. Touring since the start of last year, including a co-headline tour with Meshuggah and Decapitated (tbf never heard of them), appearances at festivals such as Roskilde, Sonisphere France and Orion and an extensive tour in support of recent album Yellow & Green, 2012 was shaping up nicely, considering that Y&G was a fantastic album. However, it all went south in very sudden fashion, when they were involved in a bus crash during the UK leg of their tour in August. Several broken bones, including some fractured vertebrae, and a lot of physical therapy later, and things are looking up for Baroness, as they look to get back on the horse. You wouldn't have blamed them for quitting after such a close near-death experience, but it's their passion for making music that is bringing them back, which is what's earned them this nomination.
2. ENTER SHIKARI; Success upon success for ES this year. At the turn of the year, their 3rd album A Flash Flood Of Colour debuted in the mainstream charts at #4, an unprecedented achievement for a band very far removed from 'mainstream' music. Then followed a solid year of touring, playing across the world in support of the album in headline shows and festivals such as Australia's Soundwave, South Africa's Oppikoppi Festival, Reading & Leeds, Pukkelpop, Rock am Ring, T In The Park, among many others. Then, after 6 weeks stateside supporting (really though?) Falling In Reverse, it was back to the UK and Europe for the Flash Flood Of Christmas tour. A relentless and highly successful year for Shikari. Oh, and I met Rou the other day in Norwich before a show and he was a lovely guy, even if I came across as a weird twat with a mouthful of Hula Hoops and a shopping bag containing only bran flakes.
3. MUSE; Not much explanation needed here; fantastic new album The 2nd Law and a huge European arena tour, as well as the announcement of 2013 summer stadium dates, it's been a busy few months for Muse.
4. MARMOZETS; For such a fledgling band, 2012 has been a breakout year for these lot. With the release of 2nd EP Vexed back in February, which was received with critical acclaim from assorted rock press, and not least of all garnering the prestigious EP of the year from yours truly. Ahem. But being picked up to tour with some big names has also marked their rise, doing shows with the likes of Young Guns, We Are The In Crowd and Your Demise during a Vans Off The Wall tour in autumn, festival appearances including Download and Reading, and being announced as supports for Feed the Rhino and Funeral For A Friend next year, it's been a year of upward trajectory.
5. ROLO TOMASSI; A year in which RT have had to adapt to a new lineup, with a replacement guitarist and bassist filling in where the original members left off to focus on university education; however, if new album Astraea is anything to go by, the adaptation process seems to have taken mere minutes. A major reshuffle that still produces the band's best album yet, and a successful UK/Europe tour - they've done well.

There are of course other bands that have had amazing years, but remember, theNOISE is but a tiny acorn in the forest of music press, so as it grows I will follow more and more bands, to produce at the end a wider selection of candidates. But, the one winner of Band Of The Year goes to...

ENTER SHIKARI!

It's been a top year for them, and they have established themselves as a big name in the UK's rock scene, and continue to make an ever-growing positive impression upon the world stage. Well done chaps, bring on 2013. And Rou, if you read this and happen to remember me, I'm not that weird. Well...

UPDATE; IAN WATKINS

Just a quick one; following a court appearance over allegations of child sex offences, Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins has been remanded in custody for 3 months, until March 11.
Initial Story

AWESOME THINGS COMING IN 2013

There will be many awesome things in 2013, the majority of which are yet to be announced, but here's a comprehensive* list of the things we do know are going to happen.

New albums from;

• Paramore; Paramore (April 9th)
• Killswitch Engage; ? (April)
• Queens Of The Stone Age; ? (shrugs)
• Biffy Clyro; Opposites (January 28th)
• Bring Me The Horizon; Sempiternal (early 2013 but unknown)
• Animals As Leaders; ? (shrugs)
• Everything Everything; Arc (January 14th)
• 30 Seconds To Mars; ? (unknown but expected by summer)

Download Festival

Muse's Summer Stadium tour

Fall Out Boy reunion**

Mastodon are set to enter the studio to record the follow-up to 2011's The Hunter, but don't expect anything soon - expect another year's tour before we see a new album.

I'll add things as I come across them, but these are the main things I'm looking forward to. Of course, there are/will be tours attached to all the above new album releases, so fingers crossed for UK dates from the foreign bands.

* I'm lying. Comment below if there are any glaring omissions and I will gladly un-omit them, which is to say, add them to the list.
** I'm lying again, although I had a strange dream where it happened but I was Pete Wentz.

TOP 10 TRACKS OF 2012

Let there be no ado about this - a brief countdown of my top 10 songs from this year, more or less rated on how addicted to them I got. Set? Let's dive in.

10. Muse; UNSUSTAINABLE

The first we heard from The 2nd Law, containing (in my opinion) one of the best bits of music Muse have ever written (in the middle section), and all told a breathtaking live intro.

9. The Chariot; FIRST

The highlight of my 10/10 rated album from the mental metalcore pioneers. Metal x spaghetti western is all I'll say. Genius.

 

8. Rolo Tomassi; OLD MYSTICS

Full to the brim of shredtacular riffs and general brilliance.

 

 7. Parkway Drive; DARK DAYS

Brooding from the start, a killer riff, some brutal breakdowns and powerful vocals, it's PWD at their best.

 

6. Biffy Clyro; STINGIN' BELLE

A joyously triumphant song, and that's before the bagpipes come in. It's just awesome.

 

5. While She Sleeps; SEVEN HILLS

Everything that makes WSS good - heavy power with melody, emotion and an anthemic chorus.

 

4. Enter Shikari; GANDHI MATE, GANDHI

An absolute gem that continues to set ES apart. Dubsteppy beats, hardcore breakdowns and a classic Rou rant.

 

3. Marmozets; GOOD DAYS

I'd have settled for a song's worth of the opening sexalicious bass hook, but no, everything's awesome too. Way to keep getting better, guys.

 

2. Baroness; EULA

Lyrically clever, beautifully complex; an outstanding song.

 

1. Muse; SURVIVAL

A rousing, intentionally ridiculous but brilliant piece of Olympic bombasticness.

 

So, something Marmozets didn't win? I am still in possession of most of my marbles. Butt I just loved Survival so much, it was over-the-top, inspiring, but at the same time almost a pastiche of itself. The perfect Olympic theme, and a microcosm of why Muse are modern prog rock/the natural successors to the mighty Queen.

 

 

TOP 5 EPs OF 2012

Getting into the meaty bit of my mighty awards season now, into EPs/mini-albums (but come on, they're just longer EPs, really). I've heard a good few this year, and though I didn't get many reviews out for them, I'm doing something anyway. So here goes...

 

5. Cold Summer; WAKE

ReviewWell-developed mix of post-hardcore and rock stylings.
 

4. Blitz Kids; NEVER DIE

Big, inspirational rock, though seems to lack a little of their earlier quirky flair.

3. Voragan; CHAOS DREAMS

Review
Ambitious and well-formed first release from fledgling melodic death metal quartet.

2. Mestis; BASAL GANGLIA

 

Intelligent and complex twiddly goodness from visionary guitarist Javier Reyes, of Animals As Leaders/TRAM fame.

 

1. Marmozets; VEXED

Unpredictable, mental and downright genius from the future of the UK's punk/rock scene.

 

 

So, chalk up Marmozets' second theNOISE award, to go with their Best Live Band gong, prizes that are uber-valuable and worth their weight in Unobtanium. So I just made this, and will shortly be adding an appropriate one to the Live Band post (click on Best Live Band above to be zipped straight there); I hereby award Marmozets with theNOISE's 2012 Best EP/Mini-Album Trophy. Or a NOISY, if you prefer. It'll totally catch on, just you wait.