The Number One album of 2012

The Number One album of 2012

Before we start the Countdown of 2019 we look back at those past 10 years of Stoner HiVe. We know it is now the eleventh edition of the Countdown. But we celebrate 10 years. 10 years of heavy riffs, romps and stomps! 10 years of heavy magic! That all started back in 2009 when the blog started, just so we would have a vehicle to count down the best 20 albums of 2009. The edition of 2012 had 56 lists to tally which of course made the outcome even more valid then when we started three years earlier. That list, deduced out of the lists sent in by 56 heavy music fiends,  started with Major Kong – Doom For The Black Sun on Number 20. It featured Graveyard and their Lights Out album on Number 3 and the amazing Kadavar album by well, Kadavar on Number 2. For the entire Top 20, visit the Countdown So Far post on Stoner HiVe… But what album ended up on the Number One position back in 2012... We wrote:

“I guess there’s only one way and one place to end this list truly righteous and beautifully poetic. For it is the year of Sweden and of a lust for that vintage feeling of musical magic. So it is fitting that these guys that sparked so many of the bands we listen to ended up on the Number One position. For they themselves honor the music that inspired them and most of the other great releases this year. With twenty points more than Kadavar they pay homage to the heavy and darkened sounds of yore and exhume a dusty brown air of nostalgia but never one that is stale or forlorn. In fact their vintage atmosphere has a loud and modern feeling to it. Which is something they might have to thank their new members for. It is mystical music that speaks of ancient legends and conjures up visions of true artists fighting their way out of kaleidoscopic straightjackets of their own making. And cast away they dare to take flight in a new fashion that takes some getting used to. But once the buttons are buttoned; it is snug and fits like a glove!”

And we were honored to have Madman Tony Maim revisit the album and yell something about it in our ears… “After a five year absence, Witchcraft returned with an album that took them from their retro-rock roots into a band that sounded modern and heavy. A cleaner sound that kept the distortion up but the muddiness at bay. I seem to remember a lot of old time fans did not like this change but then, as now – grow up. I like it when bands evolve and do not keep churning the same album out again and again. These tracks have stood the test of time and writing this review gave me an excuse to blast it out again at full volume.”

Witchcraft – Legend

(For the rest of the Top 20 of 2012, that very first one, visit the Countdown So Far post on the blog...)