Music expert Metalhead presents the list of albums he can't wait to listen to!—Sparkitors
In just the first two weeks of January, my Facebook feed has been flooded with a ton of my favorite bands (old and new) announcing that, yes, they're bringing out new albums this year, and yes, they're going to be the most amazing ones yet. Here are five albums I can't wait to get my hands on.
5. MxPx: Plans Within Plans (MRI/Rock City, April 3)
MxPx is probably one of my favorite punk bands—yes, even more so than Green Day—and their ninth album Plans Within Plans is going to be their first since 2007. It also marks the band's 20-year anniversary—yep, they've been together for twenty years. It's been quite a while since MxPx gave us any really good new stuff, and April 3 should go down in history as one of the most important days in punk rock. Sure, the formerly blue-haired high schoolers are over 30 now, but nothing short of arthritis is going to stop them from making those shirtless, tattooed, mohawked freaks start moshing again. Read the official press release right here.
4. Manafest: Fighter
(BEC Recordings, April 10)
For the majority of you who don't know, Manafest is a former skateboarder-turned-rapper from Canada who uses a ton of hard rock and punk elements in his beats. His last album The Chase was one of the best of 2010, and he just announced the release of his fifth effort, Fighter, in April. Knowing this guy's style, we can expect more heavy guitars, banging drums, and unmatched white-rapper flow. Check out the album trailer here.
3. Nine Lashes: World We View
(Tooth & Nail, February 14)
I covered these guys on the 5 Bands You Need to Know Part IV article a few months ago, along with their uber-awesome lead single, Anthem of the Lonely. In the months since, they gave us a February release date and an amazing new song called Get Back (which has nothing to do with either the Beatles or Demi Lovato, by the way). Think Breaking Benjamin, Red, and Thousand Foot Krutch mixed together and made more radio-friendly. Despite being released so early in the year, I can tell that this is going to be one of the best rock albums of 2012.
2. Blessed by a Broken Heart: Feel The Power
(Tooth & Nail, January 24)
This group is another new signee to Tooth & Nail Records, and they are really, super, very, uber-good. Do you like metal? The 80's? Good clean headbanging fun? Then you will LOVE BBABH. They combine 80's style hair metal with modern shred and feel-good lyrics and a bit of screaming (but not too much). They've premiered three songs from the album—Deathwish, Forever, and Shut Up and Rock—and every one is like diving into a pool of awesome. While it's raining even more awesome. Get an ice pack for your headbanging injuries and go Feel the Power!
1. Thousand Foot Krutch: The End is Where We Begin
(Independent label, sometime in March)
If you've been on this site for a while, you may have seen my post about Thousand Foot Krutch and know how amazingly headbobbingly awesome of a hard rock band they are. The End is the band trying their hand at a completely fan-funded record (and they beat their goal by $70,000...those are some loyal fans!), and thanks to ongoing studio updates and free songs, we already know what the record's going to sound like; TFK is going all over the board, from typical radio metal to huge rap/party rock tracks to power ballads to everything. Trevor McNevan, lead singer, has said that the record has "some of the heaviest and lightest stuff we've ever done", and I can't wait to hear it all. There are three songs you can listen to right now—the title track, Courtesy Call, and War of Change—and they're all really good reasons to FREAKING GET THIS ALBUM.
You have my word that by July I will own all of these albums, and I hope you guys like them enough to pick one up!
Which of these albums are YOU most excited about?
Related post: The Hit List: Thousand Foot Krutch
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