Tuesday 1 January 2013

2013 Metal Hammer Calendar Challenge


December's issue of Metal Hammer brought with it a beautiful 2013 poster calendar. I realised throughout 2012 that I hadn't been very adventurous with my music tastes, I stuck to the bands I knew and just played their tracks over and over. I've never been great at discovering new bands myself, the ones I find tend to only have one song recorded in a studio, and while that's not a problem, I'd love to hear more than just one song on loop to get a better feel of the band's progression. As a way of expanding my music this year, I'm going to use this poster calendar and listen to an album or two by the featured band of the month. I'd like to specify listening to a different song each day but some of the bands probably don't have 28/30/31 songs.
So here are the bands in order of the month they feature in, and my first impressions of them:


January - Mastodon
I've heard loads about them before but I never found the motivation to look into them and listen to some of their stuff, so I'm excited for this month. Judging by their poster, they seem like my kind of thing, but don't judge a book by it's cover!
February - Miss May I
I've only heard their cover of Run This Town on the Punk Goes Pop albums, and I didn't like that song in the first place so that wasn't a great first impression, but I'm keen to give them a proper trial.
March - Ghost
Oh I do love Ghost. I missed them at Download but I'm definitely looking forward to this month, plus their poster is pretty awesome, I'll probably lop off the calendar bit at the bottom and stick this up once March is over, Ghost should hopefully be releasing a second album this year and if it arrives before March, I'll be one happy metal bunny.
April - Upon A Burning Body
Heard good things about these but again, I've never had the motivation to give them a try. Their bassist looks oddly like my future husband. Most of their tracks are named after movies, for example Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Donnie Brasco, Scarface... a band that loves movies as much as I do? Excuse me while I remove my clothing...
May - Parkway Drive
OH YES. Parkway Drive are quite a controversial band it seems and there are a few of their songs I adore, so I'm excited about this one!
June - Red Fang
I haven't actually heard of these guys before, but a quick Google tells me they only have two albums. Apparently they opened for Mastodon in 2011, so maybe this is a good sign.
July - Devin Townsend Project
God knows I've heard Devin Townsend's name thrown around like the world depends on it. Perhaps it does, I'm curious about this one, but I'm not sure what to expect.
August - Hell
This month's poster is actually an ad for Hell's Greatest Show On Earth which takes place in February. I've heard of Hell in passing (the band of course, not the sunny holiday location I frequent when reality gets a bit too much), but never their music. With a name like that, they have to be good, right?
September - Trivium
My precious... Saw them at Download, and every time I see their name, I hear the echoes of the crowd screaming 'dusk dismantled' along with Matt Heafy. I reviewed their album In Waves back when I started blogging and I can't wait for this month!
October - Five Finger Death Punch
Another one of those bands I'd love to say I've listened to but I haven't got around to them, so I'm excited for this one, plus this month is my favourite month of the year, so no doubt I'll have a good soundtrack while I'm dressing up for Halloween!
November - Slayer
asdfghjkl... Slayer are one of my favourite bands, the entire Reign In Blood album has become my soundtrack for walking to and from uni. The rumour mill says they're writing a new album due for release in 2013, so fingers crossed it's released by November! Most exciting month of this calendar methinks :)
December - Opeth
I loved Opeth when in my early teens but there came a time where they just disappeared off my radar. I'm looking forward to getting back into them, although this is a good year away, I'm already waiting impatiently for this one.

So I'll be posting at the end of each month what songs I've listened to and what my opinions were. I'm making extensive notes as I go along so be prepared for text-heavy reviews every month!

What do you think of the bands for this year?

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4 comments:

  1. You have a good mix of bands in there! It's been a seriously long time since I discovered any new music, I only tend to find new bands at festivals because I don't listen to the radio or read music magazines.

    I keep meaning to listen to Mastodon too. I saw the last five minutes of their set at Download one year and they were good. I think Opeth are definitely my favourite from the bands you listed! They are one of my favourite live bands.

    Looking forward to seeing what you think each month!

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    1. I've been the same throughout 2012, I just stuck with my old bands, and I'm excited to find some more through this! Yeah I've heard some strange comments about Mastodon, apparently they're like Biffy Clyro... But I totally agree with Opeth, I absolutely adored them when I was younger and I feel a bit stupid for letting them slip off my radar! Xx

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  2. Cant wait to read these! I love metal :) you going to DL this year? xox

    The Style Khaleesi

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    1. Hehe I can't wait to listen to them all! I wish I was going this year but I'm saving up for other things :( Are you going? Xx

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