3) Between The Buried and Me – The Parallax II: Future Sequence (Metal Blade)

Not since Colors have I been so in love with a BTBAM album. The Parallax II is everything I’ve wanted since then. It has the prefect blend of awkward rhythms, heavy parts, off-the-wall genre inclusions, and memorable segments that will be hard to forget. This will be the one to bring back anyone that fell off with The Great Misdirect or Parallax I.

Recommended tracks: “Silent Flight Parliament” & “Bloom”

2) The Devin Townsend Project, Epicloud (Heavy Devy/Inside Out)
The fifth chapter in the DTP saga brings us to a very positive, love-filled place, and in this place, things are both epic and loud (I’m sure every blogger on earth has said something along those lines, but it really is true). Every song soars to unparalleled heights and rarely becomes cheesy. Even when it does hit a certain level of cheese, it is forgivable, because it is Devin Townsend.

Recommended tracks: “Kingdom” & “Where We Belong”

1) Ne Obliviscaris, Portal of I (Aural Music)

Not only is this album my number one for 2012, it has worked its way into my favorite albums of all time. If I describe them, the band sounds rather mundane, because the band is an atmospheric prog black metal band with a violin from Australia. However, the band’s songwriting ability is superb and the addition of violin to their already great music is simply amazing. It is like older Opeth merged with Alcest.

“Recommended tracks: “And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope” and “Forgot Not”