Extra Credit: Ludicra

Ludicra was a black metal/avant-garde metal band from San Francisco.  They formed in 1998 and sadly broke up in the summer of 2011.  The good news, however, is that the band's back catalog plus some live performances are available for free downloads at the Ludicra bandcamp page.
If you're new to Ludicra, then I'd suggest starting with the group's most recent release, 2010's The Tenant.  From there, simply work your way back.

Pass/Fail: Philip H. Anselmo / Warbeast

On the 4-song EP War of the Gargantuas, Phil Anselmo and Warbeast each offer up two new songs.  And if you were beginning to think that maybe Anselmo was starting to mellow out with age, then you were dead wrong.

"Conflict," Anselmo's first track, is massively heavy and angry.  Don't expect anything like what you heard on the most recent Down EP.  (I like The Purple EP, but this is quite a different animal.)  Next comes Warbeast's "Birth of a Psycho."  It gets off to a fast start and doesn't really let up, seeming to get better and more convincing as it continues on.  Anselmo's "Family, Friends, and Associates" follows, and while it is slightly less intense than "Conflict," it's still pretty extreme.  Listen for some pretty good guitar work around the 2-minute mark.  Warbeast finishes things up with "It," the stronger of the band's two songs and probably the third best track on the EP.

Extra Credit: Sküll

Sküll is a death/crust band out of Trondheim, Norway, that also incorporates elements of thrash, punk, and even a little sludge.
On the Sküll demo, we're given 7 songs in about 22 minutes.  And you'll hear no clunkers or duds here.  The first three tracks have more of a death/crust feel ("Vision apocalypse" is a bit sludgy), whereas the remainder of the demo has more of a thrash/punk feel ("Black Thrash Attack" couldn't have been better titled).
The Sküll demo is available as a free download from the group's bandcamp page, so be sure to check it out.

Class of 2013: Anticipated Albums

2012 was a pretty good year for music.  Let's hope that 2013 is even better.  With that in mind, here are my 10 most anticipated releases for 2013*:

Philip H. Anselmo - Rumor has it that this will be crushingly heavy.  If you're a fan of Pantera or Down, then this should be on your radar.

Cloud Nothings - These guys put out a great album in early 2012, and they're already back at it.  Reportedly, this new one will be noisier and less melodic than Attack on Memory.

Darkthrone - According to Fenriz on Peaceville's Darkthrone page, The Underground Resistance will contain “3 songs each, Ted's are flown from the universe of metal with his strongest voice ever so far. Songs of mine are torn from the wombs of the riders of rohan of metal; safely cradled in 1985 style”.

Final Exam 2012: Show No Mercy's Top 40 Metal Albums

Brandon Stosuy, who's in charge of Pitchfork's Show No Mercy metal column, recently made known his top 40 metal albums of the year.  Be sure to head over to the site to check out Stosuy's explanations for his top 25 as well as sample tracks from those records.  Go here for the detailed list.

Final Exam 2012: Le professeur de musique's Top Metal/Near-Metal Albums

And now it's time to reveal my top metal and near-metal albums of the year.  For the past few years, my music diet has consisted almost exclusively of releases from the metal world, and this year wasn't much different.  Although I didn't hear every metal record that came out this year, there were certain ones that ended up on heavy rotation.  And from these came my top twenty.

My number one pick came out of nowhere and blows me away every time I hear it.  This band's been flying under most people's radar, but it's about time these guys get the recognition they deserve.

So without further ado, here's my top metal/near-metal list.

Final Exam 2012: Le professeur de musique's Top Non-Metal Albums of the Year

Coming up with a list of my top 10 non-metal albums was a fairly easy exercise.  Coming up with a top 20, however, would have been much more difficult.  I didn't listen to a ton of non-metal records, mostly because there weren't that many that grabbed my attention and warranted repeated listens.  But the ones that did catch my ears are worth noting and are thus listed below.

Admittedly, I did not hear every record that came out this past year (nor do I wish to).  My number one pick is an album that got better and better each time I heard it early on.  And it's been a go-to record for much of the year.  The other releases from my top 10 are formidable and also merit your time if you're not already down.