It's been a good year indeed! Dev^3, Animals as Leaders, Cynic, and many more that I am missing but don't want to spend 10 minutes thinking over You guys pretty well nailed it with your lists.

Was hoping for Meshuggah, Gojira & Tool as well, but so far those are all looking good for 2012. Speaking of, there had better be some good metal shit released on December 21st of next year

I've got to say, given the number of big bands releasing stuff this year, I thought it was going to be an amazing year, but it didn't end up quite as amazing as I hoped...there hasn't been enough great heavy stuff either

I gotta say, I've sort of had this feeling as well. Plenty of excellent, even superb, releases this year; most just didn't age as well as I hoped they would. So, my list is relatively short because I'm only including what I feel were the very best this year had to offer:

(In no particular order)

Dev - Decon (lived up to the hype; incredible)
Dev - Ghost (lived up to the hype; incredible)
Ulver - Wars of the Roses (initially very disappointed; now, like it more than Perdition City. Blasphemy, I know)
Leprous - Bilateral (this one came out of nowhere; a most pleasant surprise)
Unexpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning (superb as usual; proved The Incident was a fluke, at least in my eyes)
Burial - Street Halo EP (even at just 20 minutes, so good)
Moby - Destroyed (always had a soft spot for him; I think this might arguably be his best)
Ex-Wise Heads - Schemata (wonderful ambient/jazzy/experimental album from Colin Edwin, Porcupine Tree bassist, and Geoff Leigh)

...and that's really about it. Some comments on other releases:

Opeth's Heritage was a huge letdown; can't even begin to describe how disappointed I was by it, and I loved Watershed. Dream Theater's latest was frustratingly average, though Breaking All Illusions was both refreshing and absolutely great. Wolves in the Throne Room wrote one good song in Thuja Magus Imperium, then bottomed out on the rest of Celestial Lineage... though I'm not really a hardcore fan anyways, so I didn't feel too let down. Between the Buried and Me put out a pretty good release in the form of The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues, as did Sun Caged with The Lotus Effect. Radiohead's latest was great, just haven't listened to it in a while... and the same goes for Getting Paid, by Zechs Marquise. Lastly, I haven't heard Mastodon's The Hunter or Bass Communion's Cenotaph, but I intend to pick them both up in a few days time.

Definitely an odd collection of releases, but I haven't been focusing on new music as much lately as I have been older stuff. Next year is already looking promising, though - new Ihsahn (w/Dev!), Gojira (three releases in the works!), Meshuggah, The Mars Volta (hey, I'm hopeful), Katatonia, Alcest, Storm Corrosion (will it live up to the hype?), Porcupine Tree (supposed to be another change in style, which excites me after The Incident); Mothlite, Sigur Ros, The Dillinger Escape Plan, T.R.A.M.'s debut, and probably a few more I forgot to mention.

new Ihsahn (w/Dev!)

Where did you hear about this?

new Ihsahn (w/Dev!)

Where did you hear about this?

yes, where

I'm in the same boat as those who have said they haven't listened to much this year. Deconstruction and Ghost are the runaway winners, I love both depending on mood, though I listen to music more when I'm driving than anything which gives Decon the edge.

Some of the mentioned:

Symphony X ~ Iconoclast, good album, I just can't get into a Symphony X album as well as I did The Odyssey though. Major annoyance that they made it just too long to fit on one disc.
Within Temptation ~ The Unforgiven, good album, I forget how good it is every time I put it in.
Protest The Hero ~ Scurrilous, doesn't resonate with me the same way the last two did. Great band, something seems to be missing from this one though
Evergrey ~ The Glorious Collision, I'd say slightly better than Torn, which was worlds better than that mess of a Monday Morning Apocalypse, but I still don't think they'll reclaim their former glory (a'la Recreation Day and Inner Circle).

Thinking about it, this has kind of been a year of releases that make me wish some bands could be as good as they used to be.

I didn't realize the new Nightwish was out already, gotta listen to that. Also failed to listen to some new albums I'm pretty sure I'd like (Mastadon, Opeth, Psychostick, I'm sure there's more).

I don't really have an excuse I guess for not checking out a lot of new music this year. I have been pretty preoccupied with the Devin Townsend Project conclusion.

Best shows this year (I've been to surprisingly few):

DTP in Regina (finally!)
DTP set opening for COB in Saskatoon
Evergrey in Regina (one of the best vocal performances I've witnessed, been waiting a long time to see this band).

new Ihsahn (w/Dev!)

Where did you hear about this?

yes, where

He mentioned his involvement in an interview from November:

http://mindequalsblown.net/2011/11/inte ... -townsend/

According to Shining's Facebook, Jorgen Munkeby is on board again too, which can only be a good thing after After.

According to Shining's Facebook, Jorgen Munkeby is on board again too, which can only be a good thing after After.

I read on Twitter a few days back that he's already done his parts. Made me go "ooooh nice!".

I used to be a Symphony X fan, but I really just can't get behind what they've done with Iconoclast. With PL it was still alright, but now I feel like they've gone too much into the the modern heavy metal territory and lost what made Divine Wings, Twilight in Olympus and V such great and unique albums. Iconoclast isn't exactly bad, but it's not what I want to listen to at this stage.

Ulver - Wars of the Roses (initially very disappointed; now, like it more than Perdition City. Blasphemy, I know)

Wars of the Roses is good, but it can't possibly top Perdition City for me. I think it deserves more listens, but it's just not as intense as their best material although it does have the haunting quality to it, which I like.

I thought some people here might be interested in this little video I made. Top 5 most epic songs of 2011

[youtube]VkndO7gifzY[/youtube]

some great lists here, but here is the most important one; mine:

EXCELLENT:
Sólstafir - Svartir Sandar (!!!)
YOB - The Great Cessation
Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax / Hypersleep Dialogues
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Leprous - Bilateral

VERY VERY GOOD:
ICS Vortex - Stormseeker
Opeth - Heritage (needs time, but opens up)
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Ulver - Wars of the Roses (initially very disappointed; now, like it more than Perdition City. Blasphemy, I know)

Wars of the Roses is good, but it can't possibly top Perdition City for me. I think it deserves more listens, but it's just not as intense as their best material although it does have the haunting quality to it, which I like.

I'll be totally honest; Perdition City would probably be my favorite if not for the way it drops off after The Future Sound of Music... after that, the album just totally looses itself until Nowhere/Catastrophe. 35 minutes of absolute quality before that, marred by filler for most of the rest of the album. Doesn't take away from how awesome the first five tracks are, obviously, but it really hurts my view of the album overall. You're right about Wars, though; it's not quite as intense as some of their other material, but it's more... brooding, I guess. There's this spectral/eerie/melancholic rainy day quality to it that I just love, and that trait sets it apart from much of the other material in their discography. I still think Blood Inside (arguably my favorite album of all time) and Shadows of the Sun stand head and shoulders above it, sure; but they're two different beasts entirely, making comparisons difficult...

I didn't realize the extent at which my taste in music was at odds with most people on this forum! Yikes! Most music that I got into this year is from previous years. But here's my list for this year:

The Weeknd - House of Balloons
DJ Shadow - The Less You Know The Better (I dislike a lot of the album; the rest of it I love)
DTP - Deconstruction
Phonte - Charity Starts at Home
letlive - Fake History
Thursday - No Devolucion
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2
Tune Yards - W H O K I L L

Lots that I still need to check out - Opeth, M83, Mastodon, Yuck, Tom Waits, Burial, Protest the Hero
Jury is still out on the new The Roots.

[djskrimp]

I didn't realize the extent at which my taste in music was at odds with most people on this forum! Yikes! Most music that I got into this year is from previous years. But here's my list for this year:

The Weeknd - House of Balloons
DJ Shadow - The Less You Know The Better (I dislike a lot of the album; the rest of it I love)
DTP - Deconstruction
Phonte - Charity Starts at Home
letlive - Fake History
Thursday - No Devolucion
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2
Tune Yards - W H O K I L L

Lots that I still need to check out - Opeth, M83, Mastodon, Yuck, Tom Waits, Burial, Protest the Hero
Jury is still out on the new The Roots.

Not at odds at all. Just "more sausage for the tasteh gumbo", I'd say.

I listened to a bunch of the recently listed top-albums of 2011 which sounded interesting for me (Craft, Decapitated, Animals As Leaders, Unexpect, Hate Eternal, The Atlas Moth, The Human Abstract, Disma, Mastodon). I don't care for Opeth and Dream Theater anymore.

I liked Craft because they sound like Satyricon and i'm not sure about The Atlas Moth and Unexpect yet. That's all for me. Everything else was enervating wankery, yellery or just boring, formulaic stuff (for me).

Oh, forgot about Skeletonwitch, that was quite okay for a few listens, but it never catched me (bought it anyway). Maybe i should listen to the Shinings again, but i don't know... i kind of lost my hope in great music. Maybe Meshuggah, Gojira, Testament and Devin can restore it in 2012!?

So Deconstruction was the best of 2011 for me although i did't like it as much as most of Dev's other stuff.

^I think you just obviously didn't check the right stuff. As a year of metal, though, I have to say this year was meh. But I don't listen to much extreme metal anymore so that might be it..

I forgot to mention that I thought that Pain of Salvation - Road Salt Two was very good too.

2012 ought be good with a new Alcest, Cynthesis, Devin, possibly even friggin Scott Walker, Tool, Wintersun and Disillusion. <--- Holy SHIT if all those come out in 2012.

^I think you just obviously didn't check the right stuff.

I guess you're right, but don't know what else could be interesting.

Forgot to mention Xerath, Dekadent and stOrk. Liked a few things about them, Xerath got the most plays, but obviously it wasn't enough to remember...

Aaand i forgot Thot. I was quite stoked about them and bought their album immidiately after listening to a free stream, but it got maybe 5-6 plays after that...

There is quite decent music out there, but nothing could really catch my attention for longer. Devin has just ruined everything else...

(PS: Chthonic, Obscura and Origin had interesting moments, too - but in the case of Origin and Obscura i liked their previous albums more and the new ones didn't add much)