Metal Underground.com

OpEd

Best Metal Newcomers Of 2012 Explored

There are a slew of new heavy metal bands popping up across the globe covering just about every imaginable sound, and plenty more appearing on the horizon. Thanks to easy access to digital tools and online methods of music distribution the metal scene as a whole has an exploding population, and every year we try to keep up with the best new talent in our year-end “best of” awards.

To help get you acquainted with the best new metal out there, we’ll be briefly covering the bands nominated by our contributors for the “Best Newcomer” category of Metalunderground.com’s recent 2012 awards.

Content manager xFiruath nominated the following acts for best newcomer of 2012: Nothnegal, Dodecahedron, Ne Obliviscaris, Kuolemanlaakso, and Abiotic.

Nothnegal

Unless we’re talking about a newly created band consisting of already-established members of the scene or some form of supergroup, it isn’t often that a completely new act launches an absolutely stellar debut album. On its first full-length expedition, the Maldives act Nothnegal twisted together melodic death metal, industrial, and symphonic elements into something unique and refreshing. Even when throwing in a few tracks with clean singing the heaviness never lets up, and the story of man vs. machine works very well with the musical style.

Recognizing these rising stars of the metal scene, the members of the band were even given an award by their nation’s president. Luckily Nothnegal isn’t taking any down time and is already working on a new album, which will reportedly include traditional instruments from the Maldives. It’ll be interesting to see where the band goes with that sort of sound, as the “Decadence” album didn’t have even a trace of a folk metal vibe. There’s no doubt about it – this is a group to look out for in the coming year and beyond.

Dodecahedron

Remember when metal used to scare the shit out of your parents and all the religious authorities? Well that time is back, as Dodecahedron doesn’t play any games with its intense black metal assault. The band produces some truly disturbing sounds, and is an absolute must-hear act if you like your black metal more along the lines of Deathspell Omega and far away from the Dimmu Borgir style.

Ne Obliviscaris

These Australian progressive death metallers have actually been on the radar of underground enthusiasts for some time, but it wasn’t until 2012 that a proper full-length debut album dropped. If you want your metal to go all over the map and back again, or if you dig the harsh/clean and heavy/soft dichotomy, this band deserves you as a fan. Frankly metal could use a lot more of this sort of eclectic adventuring in place of the horde of utterly interchangeable melodic hardcore or djent bands that hit the scene in 2012.

Kuolemanlaakso

Those Finns know how to properly metal it up, and they aren’t shy about appearing in each other’s bands or starting new ones altogether to try new things. While perhaps not creating quite as much buzz as Barren Earth did upon its creation, this group of tried and true metal vets (including a member of Barren Earth to boot!) shakes things up by taking the death/doom sound and running with it in a series of unexpected directions.

Abiotic

A young band to unexpectedly strike it big early on, Florida’s Abiotic is one of the few major label acts to break into the scene in 2012 that really grabbed my attention. Metal Blade found a teach-death wonder in these lads that know how to both play the unrelenting brutality and angle and work in the melody and atmosphere. If you want to a ride that’s utterly crushing for the entire duration, look no further than the band’s freshman full-length “Symbiosis.”

The next batch of nominated "best newcomers of 2012" from our contributors can now be read at this location.

Ty Arthur is a freelance writer who writes for both entertainment and technical instruction sites. An avid fan of many different forms of metal, he has been involved in reviewing music for several years and is currently a contributing editor for Metalunderground.com