Over the past few weeks, we’ve been celebrating the best albums that came out in 2012. However, while the past year was packed with great music, 2012 also had its fair share of unbelievable moments. Some were joyous surprises, while others were downright horrifying. All in all, though, each moment resonated throughout the metal community.

With that in mind, we decided to list the top 10 moments that presented the biggest surprises of 2012 (along with a few honorable mentions). Click on the page numbers below to see which shocking events made it onto this list, then let us know which moments startled you the most this year in the comment section below.