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2012 was a great year for good music. It was hard to keep up with it all, and we really didn't even scratch the surface of so many releases that were available. Some of the larger labels don't support the smaller radio and webzines like Gothic Paradise, so we try to keep up the best we can. However, we do get great music from many wonderful labels and independent artists. By far the most active label that we work with has been AF Music releasing a ton of great new wave, indie, post-punk and gothic rock. Some real highlights have included the gothic rock bands Golden Apes, Arts of Erebus, Terminal Gods, Brotherhood and Red Sun Revival amongst so many others. Metropolis Records remained strong, pretty much holding the monopoly on goth / industrial music in the United States with the exception of COP International with their few releases and Projekt Records which continues to focus more on the ethereal side of things. Art Of Fact in Canada has brought some great releases to the North American market this year as well. Highlights from these labels include several of our "best of 2012" selections as well as Assemblage 23, Decoded Feedback, Dead When I Found Here, Legend, Saltillo, The Razor Skyline, Chiasm and many others. Some of the toughest choices included sitting down and deciding who had the "best" releases of the year, in reality, any reviews we do are the best that we've picked up. We sift through dozens of submissions each week and listen for hours on end to the albums and submissions we receive over and over again. It's a lot of fun discovering great new music and always enjoyable to hear the great artists we've grown to love release their follow-up albums year after year.

Our focus on our two radio shows remains strong and they have been doing great again this year as we continue going strong bringing only the best music to our listeners. For most of the year we were sitting at #2 and #3 even up against sites and apps like Pandora and Spotify. We look forward to another great year on the radio. Download the latest live365 app and listen to our radio show on the go on your iPhone, Android, iPod or other wifi or wireless enabled devices.


Best Releases of 2012

Finally we get to the content that our readers and listeners are really interested in. Following is a list of the best releases out of hundreds that have been released throughout the year. As states above, making these decisions were tough and putting them in order even harder. Some of these will appear on other lists throughout the world, some lists are based on sales, etc. We use a combination of the above, but all in all it's just a judgement call based on quality, talent, creativity and saturation in the market. Here they are, hopefully your favorites for the year are listed here as well:

img The Birthday Massacre - Hide and Seek - This album was fantastic and highly anticipated for the year. We really experienced the full package with this album as we also watched the band play live while on their tour supporting it. They built on their solid foundation and really expanded on it for a stellar work, definitely one of the best for the year.
img Dead Can Dance - Anastasis I think this may have been one of the most anticipated and highly aclaimed albums of the year. Since the band has gained such legendary fame across so many different genres and it has been so long since their last full-length official release, it was no surprise that the news of this album caused a huge stir throughout our scene. And after listening to it in depth and reviewing it, I have to admit that it wasn't for naught.
img Aura Noctis - Vitae Proelium This talented project appeared on our Best of 2011 last year with the release of their debut album. This year we have their excellent follow-up work which is absolutely stunning, combining all of the great features we enjoyed from their first work and built on it, adding new musicians and really creating a masterpiece.
img Red Sun Revival - Running From The Dawn - Amidst the onslaught of great bands in the gothic rock revival, this one stood out the most to me. Their sound is similar to Fields of the Nephilim and Garden of Delight at the peak of their career, yet it has a much more emotional aspect to it that is incredibly addictive.
img Arcana - As Bright As A Thousand Suns - For me this album was almost as big of a deal and highly anticipated as Dead Can Dance, and this without as long of a wait since the previous release. Though similar in style, Peter and co. have really established a name for themselves with their own tried and true sound. This latest album stands out as one of the greats from their large discography and definitely a highlight for the year.
img Longing For Orpheus - Somnia - This is a new project to the pages of Gothic Paradise and a welcome one at that. As far as dreamy, female-fronted ethereal electronica music goes, it's pretty hard to beat this album. Similar in style to Sleepthief and Falling You we have another great addition to our collection with this work and another highlight for 2012.
img Brotherhood - Turn The Gold To Chrome - As one of the bands appearing with a great gothic rock style this year, it was a pleasure to feature this band among others. This album really includes some of the great classic styles we've grown to love over the years, yet they definitely have their own unique fingerprint in the scene and this is another great addition to the scene.
img Chiasm - 11:11 - Chiasm has long been a favorite here on the pages of Gothic Paradise with Emileigh's fragile vocals mixed with a powerful experimental electro-industrial sound. With this album we were presented with eleven new tracks building on the solid foundation that is so easily identifiable as Chiasm.
img Artesia - Wanderings - In the realm of neo-classical and fairyworld music we get a broad range of musical styles and talents. With this album from Artesia we saw the song structures take on an otherworldly, spellbinding style that one might find similar to an epic movie soundtrack as easily as on a small French label released to a world of dark-clad folk.
img AF Music - Join The Darkside, We Have The Music - It's not often we include a label compilation as a best release for the year, but this album is really packed with some real gems. Highlighting selections from many of the great releases we received through this label this year, it was definitely a great highlight and is a fantastic way for fans to get a taste of what's available.


Best Newcomer of 2012

Red Sun Revival - This new band also appears with a best album in 2012 with Running From the Dawn which served as our introduction to their sound. Our only hope is that we can expect several new albums from them for years to come with their new classic gothic rock style.


Radio Top 10 of 2012

We're taking a little different twist on the top 10 this year, so what we have here are the best rated tracks of all of those broadcasted throughout the year that were released or at least new to Gothic Paradise within the past year (and late 2011). These are the top 10 out of literally hundreds of selections we've aired that were released during that time. Each week we calculate and post the top 10 for the week and from each of these we've tallied up the best for the year.

Club Radio Best of 2012
  1. The Naked and Famous - Young Blood - Passive Me, Aggressive You
  2. System Syn - Ordinary Life - All Seasons Pass
  3. The Birthday Massacre - One Promise - Hide and Seek
  4. Terminal Gods - God Child - Electric Eyes
  5. Dead When I Found Her - No More Nightmares - Rag Doll Blues
  6. The Razor Skyline - Vittoria - Dark Water Oasis
  7. Grendel - Timewave Zero - Timewave: Zero
  8. Daybehavior - A Train to Moscow - Follow That Car!
  9. Third Realm - Diabolic Crush - Beyond Good and Evil
  10. The Birthday Massacre - Leaving Tonight - Hide and Seek
 Ethereal Radio Best of 2012
  1. Artesia - The Gaels - Wanderings
  2. Poets To Their Beloved - Interstellar Reunion - Interstellar Reunion
  3. Longing For Orpheus - Fire - Somnia
  4. The Eternal Fall - Ich Denk an Dich - Emptiness Vol. 1 & 2
  5. Sleepthief - Mortal Longing - Mortal Longing
  6. Priscilla Hernandez - Northern Lights - The Underliving
  7. Artesia - Wanderings
  8. Longing For Orpheus - Ghost - Somnia
  9. Saltillo - Veil - Monocyte
  10. Dead Can Dance - Return of the She-King - Anastasis
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