Chris “Howard’s End” Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels,

An idea exists that metalheads don’t like to read, that we’re too busy pounding brewskis and sacrificing housecats to Satan to enjoy a good book, or that our stimuli-raped brains can’t take in media more intelligent than Robocop. Which, of course, is bullshit. Any hesher who has spent a night hunched over some Lovecraft knows that literature is metal as fuck, it’s just that a lot of “highbrow” literature is not terribly exciting, and a lot of it was forced on us in school. (I, for example, will never like E.M. Forster thanks to having to read Howard’s End in high school.) But headbangers shouldn’t despair—there are plenty of options out there. So for the discerning literary metalhead, I present these, my picks for the Most Metal Books of 2011, each one matched up with a song from 2011 that suits its atmosphere.

1. The Last Werewolf  by Glen Duncan The Berliner is dead—Jake Marlowe is now the last werewolf on earth. And even if he’s not being attacked by government-funded monster hunters and vampire illuminati, he still has his ever-present hard-on and nonstop diet of good scotch and smokes to deal with. In this smart, sexy, and darkly grandiose novel, Duncan (who looks like he just survived the goth apocalypse) brings us a charming definitive take on one of horror’s most underappreciated monsters. (Recommended Listening: The Black Dahlia Murder, “Moonlight Equilibrium”).

2. Black Metal Vol. 2 by Rick Spears and Chuck BB In the follow-up to last year’s graphic novel sensation, Spears and BB continue the story of the Brothers Stronghand, twin corpse-painted Hell barons who wield an ancient sword they discovered by playing a black metal record backwards. But now, in their attempts to reclaim the throne of Hell, they are faced with an unexpected foe: Satan himself. This slim volume of cartoon violence and mayhem is a fitting tribute to black metal’s ravishing grimness. (Recommended Listening: Midnight, “You Can’t Stop Steel”).

3. Crimes In Southern Indiana by Frank Bill America is not all cheesesteak and NASCAR. In the bubbling ancient cauldron of Heartland USA, terrible things go down—lovers murder each other brutally, meth is sold and consumed by the pound daily, guns go off randomly, human life is weighed cheaply. In this collection of short stories, Bill (gotta love an author with two first names) paints a picture of the dark means of survival that run through the gritty cut-throat underbelly of our own backyard. (Recommended Listening: The Atlas Moth, “Perpetual Generations”).

4. Murder In The Front Row: Shots From The Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter by Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew In this photographic diary, Oimoen and Lew chronicle their upbringing at Ground Zero of the thrash-metal movement in California, giving readers an insightful glimpse of a gritty, too-real world of speed and rebellion that created the entire concept of extreme metal. Includes words by Gary Holt and Machine Head’s Rob Flynn, as well as rad pictures of everyone’s favorite headbangers—Holt’s band, Exodus, Slayer, Testament, Anthrax, Vio-Lence, Possessed, Megadeth, and, of course, Metallica. (Recommended Listening: Toxic Holocaust, “Nowhere To Run”).

5. Zone One by Colson Whitehead Spend three days in the life of Mark Spitz, a lone disillusioned marine attempting the clean up of Chinatown in New York—now known as “Zone One”—after the zombie apocalypse. But sometimes it’s not even the walking dead that are the problem, but the infrastructure, the sponsor corporation’s new rules, the gossip between your fellow sweepers (though, in the end, it’s really the walking dead that are the problem). In a bold attempt to make a lowbrow genre literary, Whitehead presents a new kind of horror story, one drowned in great drifts of mediocrity, depression, and inevitable doom. (Recommended Listening: Machine Head, “Locust”).

6. Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries by Jon Kristiansen In late-’80s and early-’90s Scandinavia, one zine ruled the scene: Slayer, a thorny DIY mag dedicated to only the darkest of underground metal. Showcasing bands like Mayhem, Emperor, and Napalm Death long before they were big names, Metalion made Slayer a huge sensation among extreme metal’s forerunners; now, these awesome relics of extreme metal’s history can be yours in one fat, badass volume. (Recommended Listening: Ash Borer, “Rest, You Are The Lightning”)

7. Overkill: The Untold Story of Motörhead by Joel McIver McIver, author of books about Slayer, Cliff Burton, Randy Rhoads, and a number of other metallic subjects, here takes on the tale of the original speed-metal band, chronicling their rise to stardom in the ’70s and ’80s and the high-octane life and habits of its frontman, one Lemmy Kilmister. Full of humor and insight, Overkill is an intelligent and well-worded telling of a band’s life outside of the spotlight, accentuating the seamless merge of hilarity and personal drama that too often epitomizes the life of a band. (Recommended Listening: Skeletonwitch, “Of Ash and Torment”)

8. Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss The author of Hammer of the Gods and The Dirt takes you on a whirlwind tour of the rock climate, pulling unpublished excerpts from interviews with everyone from Lady Gaga to Slayer’s Tom Araya. Ride dirty with Snoop Dogg, rants mindlessly with Clown from Slipknot, take a white power walkabout through Skullbone, Tennessee, or just kick back and listen to Julian Casablancas from the Strokes give The Worst Interview Ever. It’s all right here, in this hyperactive ransom note of rock’s favorite reporter. (Recommended Listening: Necrocomicon, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”)

9. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver In this exciting and saddening family drama, we follow the unfolding story of Eva, a woman trying to get a glimpse into the mind of her son Kevin, who has just committed a brutal school massacre. The book looks into the horror and insecurity of being near, but unable to reach, a sick and terrifying mind, and let’s the reader get a bit more tangible grasp on the inner workings of both a poisoned family and a sociopathic killer. (Recommended Listening: Tombs, “To Cross The Land”)

10. Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell With Black Sabbath by Tony Iommi and T.J. Lammers In this tell-all volume, the guitarist who invented heavy metal tells the story of how it all began. Though a little light on the journalistic facts and sometimes maybe too forgiving (Iommi’s cocaine use in the ’80s is often written off as a little bit of fun), Iron Man is a familiar and engaging story about the all-too-human life of one of metal’s gods. (Recommended Listening: Hammers of Misfortune, “The Grain”).

An author, filmmaker, and journalist working in the horror genre, Jovanka Vuckovic is

What better way to ring in the New Year than with a little godless onscreen violence? As always, last year there were plenty of pointless-yet-entertaining big-budget remakes (The Thing, Fright Night 3D, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Straw Dogs), sequels (Paranormal Activity 3, Scream 4, Wrong Turn 4, Final Destination 5), and other genre-bending fare at the multiplexes (127 Hours, Super 8, Attack the Block, The Darkest Hour, Contagion). Then there were the big misses (Season of the Witch, Priest, The Rite, Red Riding Hood, Apollo 18, Dream House), which came and went like a fart in the wind. The original horror films–the ones that made this list anyway–lurked around the independent scene. Of course, that, too, is a mixed bag. There were movies I really wanted to like but didn’t (Red State, Burke & Hare, The Ward) and others I wish I could un-see (The Human Centipede 2, A Serbian Film). Then there was the abysmal straight-to-DVD drivel, which you should take care to avoid entirely (Hellraiser: Revelations, The Howling: Reborn). I’ve waded through the good, the bad, and the ugly to bring you a list of the year’s finest genre films. Here they are, in no particular order. Happy New Year!

The Skin I Live In
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Spain
Antonio Banderas stars as a research scientist who has developed a synthetic skin that he’s using on a guinea pig whom he alters to look like his dead wife. Obvious comparisons to Eyes Without a Face aside, The Skin I Live In is a unique, melodramatic art-house horror film that reveals its shocking secrets slowly. Not since David Cronenberg have surgery, sex, and violence frolicked in the same stained bed so skillfully. A must see.

Martha Marcy May Marlene
Directed by Sean Durkin
USA
Elizabeth Olsen (yes, the younger sister of the Olsen twins) walks the line between sanity and madness in a breakthrough performance as Martha, an ex-cult member who tries to re-enter polite society after having been brainwashed to ignore social values. Told in a style that’s reminiscent of Michael Haneke’s Funny Games, Martha Marcy May Marlene divided critics at festivals due to its ambiguous ending. Powerful and unsettling.

I Saw the Devil
Directed by Jee-woon Kim
Korea
A serial killer (played by Old Boy’s Min-sik Choi) gets more than he bargained for when he kills the fiancée of a prominent special agent in this highly stylized, savage thriller from the director of A Tale of Two Sisters. Seeking vengeance, the grieving cop kidnaps his wife’s murderer, tortures him a little, then frees him only to track him down and torture him over and over again. Worth the price of admission for the wildly creative (and brutally bloody) taxicab scene alone. Merciless, uncompromising, and unforgettable.

The Woman
Directed by Lucky McKee
USA
Feminist filmmaker Lucky McKee (The Woods, May) examines the horrors of misogyny is this incendiary intellectual revenge film (co-written with Jack Ketchum) about a handsome family man and successful lawyer who kidnaps a feral woman and chains her up in the cellar. Beautiful, bizarre, and barbaric. As a primer, you can watch this video of a viewer’s extreme reaction to The Woman at the Sundance Film Festival.

Troll Hunter
Directed by André Øvredal
Norway
What do you get when you combine Cloverfield with Nordic Trolls? This very funny monster mockumentary. I know what you’re thinking: Trolls? Really? Just see it. And when you do, watch it with Norwegian subtitles lest you miss some great voice performances in this foreign creature feature. Great fun.

Cold Fish
Directed by Shion Sono
Japan
A teenaged girl takes a job at a fish store owned and operated by a couple who turn out to be much more than fish mongers. If you’re familiar with Shion Sono’s work (Suicide Circle, Love Exposure), then you already know what to expect from Cold Fish. This is totally bent Asia extreme serial-killer cinema at its best–equal parts disturbing and blackly comic. Make time for it, though, because like Sono’s other films, it’s overlong.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Directed by Eli Craig
USA
In this, the Three’s Company of horror comedies, two redneck buffoons run afoul of a gaggle of teen partygoers on spring break who misjudge the hillbillies as a threat. Grave misunderstandings give way to fountains of unintended violence. Hilarity ensues.

Amer
Directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
Belgium
This film has been doing the festival circuit since 2009 but became available on Blu-ray this year, and, boy, is it ever a doozy. If the films of Mario Bava and Dario Argento could make a love child, Amer would be it. A dizzying, non-narrative, near dialogue-free art-house experiment in avant-garde filmmaking, Amer shares as much in common with Un chien andalou as it does Strip Nude for Your Killer. Lush eye candy or psychosexual nightmare? You decide.

Stake Land
Directed by Jim Mickle
USA
Director Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street) retrieves the vampire’s balls from the Twilight franchise with this gory apocalyptic road movie. It’s about an orphan who travels through a vampire-ravaged America with a hunter known only as “Mister” on their way to find the last place of possibly unspoiled humanity. Imagine The Road meets True Grit meets I Am Legend on a very low budget and you’re sort of there. (Read Revolver‘s interview with Stake Land actor and co-writer Nick Damici here.)

We Are What We Are
Directed by Jorge Michel Grau
Mexico
An impoverished family of cannibals struggles to find new meat when their patriarch dies. Sound familiar? Although obviously reminiscent of Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jorge Michel Grau’s We Are What We Are is its own beast. A thoughtful but flawed exploration of the collapse of familial roles amidst a landscape of social decay in Mexico, We Are What We Are is more than the sum of its, er…parts.

Snowtown
Directed by Justin Kurzel
Australia
One of the many feel-bad movies of the year, Snowtown is a true crime film that centers on the unusual relationship between sixteen-year-old Jamie and his newfound father figure, John Bunting, who happens to be Australia’s most prolific serial killer–bodies in barrels and all. This is his Jamie’s harrowing story.

The Dead
Directed by Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford
UK
Following a zombie outbreak in Africa, Lt. Brian Murphy tries to make his way home in this beautifully shot, slow moving road movie. The Dead evokes classic George Romero with its political commentary and pacing, but most importantly, it succeeds at making slow moving zombies scary again. Great visuals.

The Innkeepers
Directed by Ti West
USA
Ti West’s lighthearted spookfest about two employees (and amateur ghost hunters) putting in their last shift at a century old haunted inn was a crowd-pleaser on the film festival circuit last year. It isn’t actually being released in theatres until February 3, 2012, but it hit VOD on December 30th so I encourage you to order it. Support independent filmmaking. Please don’t torrent.

We Need to Talk About Kevin
Directed by Lynne Ramsay
USA
OK, so it’s not a horror movie per se, but it’s by far the most depressing film of the year. Tilda Swinton stars as a grieving mother who has raised a misanthropic sociopath (played by Ezra Miller) who tortured her and her family before going on a killing spree at his high school. A deeply disturbing dramatic thriller not for the faint of heart.

Honorable Mentions: Rubber, Absentia, The Last Circus, Wake Wood, Hobo with a Shotgun, Black Death, Insidious.

*All films were released in North America in the 2011 calendar year.

1. Black Sabbath reunite
The rumors had been swirling for a while, but it seemed like every time things were looking good for a reunion of the original lineup of the original metal band, someone came in to dash the hopes of pretty much every headbanger on the planet. And then it happened: a press conference hosted by Henry Rollins and featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward, announcing not only a world tour together in 2012 but also that they have been working on a new album together! Never say die, indeed.

2. The West Memphis Three are freed
In the 18 years since the West Memphis Three—three men who, as metalhead teenagers, were convicted for the allegedly Satanic-ritual murder of three young children—were first arrested, their case has galvanized heavy-music fans the world over. Everyone from the aforementioned Henry Rollins and Metallica to Pearl Jam and Marilyn Manson—who spoke at the 2010 Revolver Golden Gods Awards on their behalf—had gotten behind their cause, but as appeal after appeal was denied despite mounting evidence of their innocence, that cause did not appear very hopeful. Then, this August, the seemingly impossible happened when the WM3 were finally released from prison. Justice, long overdue.

3. Judas Priest play on American Idol, embark on farewell tour
If a Sabbath reunion and WM3 release seemed unlikely going into 2011, then Judas Priest performing on TV’s most popular show and pop music’s biggest forum seemed like just about the closest thing to a sign of the apocalypse that we could imagine. Well, then maybe the end is, in fact, nigh in 2012, because Priest did take the Idol stage this year, rocking with finalist James Durbin in front of the some 30 million viewers who tuned in to see the season finale. Sadly, we know that the end is nigh for Priest themselves, who played the first leg of their farewell tour this year. But at least Rob Halford & Co. are going out with a bang.

4. Dave Mustaine plays Metallica songs onstage with Metallica
The double takes continued this year when Dave Mustaine took the stage with Metallica earlier this month to play five ‘Tallica classics as part of that band’s 30th anniversary. Dave jamming on Diamond Head along with all the other members of the Big 4 was one thing. This, a whole other level of jaw-dropping. Can’t we all just get along? Why, yes, we can.

5. Metallica records album with Lou Reed
If Metallica’s series of 30th-anniversary shows this December was one of the most badass things these tried-and-true metal badasses have ever done, then their collaborative album, Lulu, with art-rock kingpin Lou Reed ranks up there among the most head-scratchingly bizarre moves they’ve ever made. “I am the table.” And we are dumbfounded.

6. Slipknot play first shows since Paul Gray’s death
After the passing of founding bass player and major songwriter Paul Gray in 2010, it was unclear whether Slipknot would pack up the masks and jumpsuits and call it a day or if they would forge ahead. This summer the band–who were the subject of a Revolver special issue this year–returned to the stage and did it in triumphant fashion, paying respect to their fallen bandmate and to their own origins, while looking ahead to the future. Which includes highly anticipated shows in the U.S. next year.

7. Phil Anselmo performs Pantera songs onstage for first time in a decade
His surprise appearance at this September’s Metal Masters Clinic 2 was a heavily guarded secret (which the Revolver staff may have been privy to, if not behind), but when Phil Anselmo stomped onto the stage and banged through absolutely rip-roaring renditions of Pantera’s “A New Level” and “Fucking Hostile” backed by Kerry King, Scott Ian, David Ellefson, Frank Bello, Mike Portnoy, and Charlie Benante, it resounded around the metal world. And only made us mourn more deeply the senseless death of Dimebag Darrell and the fact that a Pantera reunion is utterly impossible. If you weren’t there in September, kick yourself. Now.

8. Evanescence release first album in five years, debut at No. 1
One of the best-selling hard-rock acts of the last decade, Evanescence had all but fallen off the map when they returned with this year’s self-titled album and the relevance of their gothy nu-metal-infused sound was very much in question. Consider that question definitively answered as the record debuted at No. 1 on the charts and the group hit the road to overwhelmingly sold-out shows–not to mention the fact that frontwoman Amy Lee was voted by Revolver readers to be the single Hottest Chick in Hard Rock. Amazing accomplishments all, for a band that clearly had been very much been missed.

9. Anthrax release first album in eight years
It has been a tumultuous decade for the thrash legends, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and while their trials and tribulations did nearly take the band down, Anthrax endured and reasserted their place among metal’s best with the critically acclaimed Worship Music, not to mention their ass-kicking sets at this year’s Big 4 shows.

10. Avenged Sevenfold dominate the Revolver Golden Gods awards
Absolutely proving their supremacy among their generation of hard-rock and metal bands, and completing their inspiring rise-from-the-ashes story since the death of founding drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, Avenged Sevenfold claimed the 2011 Revolver Golden Gods as their own. They all but swept the fan-voted awards, including the biggest trophy of the night, for Album of the Year, and crushed with their closing set, which featured guest turns by GN’R's Duff McKagan and Pantera’s Vinnie Paul. All hail the heirs apparent.

11. Disturbed go on indefinite hiatus
They are the only rock band to have four consecutive records debut at No. 1, other than Metallica and Dave Matthews Band, so when Disturbed announced, while headlining this summer’s Mayhem Fest, that they would be going on “indefinite hiatus,” fans were understandably shocked. But then, what better time to go out then when you’re on top? Only time will tell if the bandmates are just taking a break or if they’ve broken up—but there’s no arguing that these guys have earned a little rest.

12. Metal goes dubstep
It was this year’s biggest trend in heavy music—the fusion of metal and the electronic-music style known as dubstep—and while, like any trend, it led to some less than stellar music, it also led to our controversial pick for 2011 Album of the Year, Korn’s The Path of Totality. We at Revolver hate it when we see heavy music getting stagnant and conservative—music needs to evolve and cross-pollinate to stay vital—so we’re excited that everyone from Five Finger Death Punch to Asking Alexandria to Periphery are experimenting with dubstep and exploring alternative definitions of “heavy.” And it’s cool knowing that the style’s biggest producer, Skrillex, is a friend of hard rock and metal, having gotten his start fronting screamo band From First to Last and, this year, collaborated on the new Korn record. Let’s see where this new hybrid takes us in 2012.

13. System of a Down play first shows together in five years
In late 2010, System of a Down, one of the last decade’s most unique and innovative metal bands, announced that they would be reuniting to play shows after a five-year hiatus. When the first of those performances finally came to pass, in Canada this May, SOAD proved that they had not missed a beat. Welcome back. And make a new record. You know you want to.

14. Atreyu go on indefinite hiatus
In the 12 years since their formation, SoCal’s Atreyu have morphed from metalcore pioneers to a more straight-up hard-rock outfit, and they’ve graced the cover of Revolver more than a few times along the way. So when, this year, the bandmates broke the news that they would be putting the band on ice, it was a bummer, no question. The consolation is that the members are not exactly sitting on their hand since the decision: Frontman Alex Varkatsaz has a new band in the works with Bleeding Through’s Brendan Schieppati, called I Am War; drummer-vocalist Brandon Saller now fronts Hell or Highwater; and guitarist Travis Miguel has new project Fake Figures.

15. Ministry re-form
Ministry’s breakup never seemed particularly set in stone. After all, their “final” album, 2007′s The Last Sucker, was followed by not one record of covers and remixes but two—not to mention a 2009 live album. Still, it was hard for any fan of the seminal industrial-metal band not to be excited when main man Al Jourgensen announced in August that the group would not only be touring in 2012 but releasing a new, original studio album, fittingly called Relapse. Lead single, “99 Percenters,” hits iTunes on December 23.

16. Life of Agony frontman Keith Caputo transitioning gender to female
It might just be the biggest “WTF” revelation in a year full of “WTF” moments: the news that Life of Agony vocalist Keith Caputo was becoming a woman, Mina. As with Priest’s catalog after Halford came out of the closet, now we hear LOA’s songs just a little differently.

..And finally, Revolver releases 100th issue.
Is it 2011′s biggest story? No. But it might be for us here at Revolver. We’ve been told repeatedly over the years that rock is dead, metal is dead, the music industry is dead, print media are dead. So to make it to 100 issues—100 real, tangible, bathroom-ready printed issues—feels like a real accomplishment. And maybe even more importantly, it feels like a big, fat middle-finger to all the disbelievers, doubters, and haters who didn’t think we would make it. Fuck you. And thank you to all our readers who have stuck with us, whether for all 100 issues, or only for this year’s six. You rule. Happy holidays.

Let’s also take this moment to recognize the photographers, credited below each photo, who risk life and lens to go in the pit and capture the mayhem as it happens. For those about to shoot, we salute you!

5) Rammstein, “Mein Land”

4) Opeth, “The Devil’s Orchard”

3) Asking Alexandria, “To the Stage”

2) Falling in Reverse, “I’m Not a Vampire”

1) Puscifer, “Man Overboard”

Puscifer’s Maynard James Keenan on being No. 1: “A tip of the swashbuckler hat to the Digital Ninja, Mr. Meats Meier of 3D Artspace, for his fantabulistic work on this clip. Thank you so much for assisting us in turning it up to 11, sir.”

You can catch Puscifer live early next year at the dates below:

February
23                           Austin, TX                            Long Center for the Performing Arts
25                           Baton Rouge, LA                  River Center Theatre
26                           Memphis, TN                       Orpheum Theatre
28                           Nashville, TN                       Andrew Jackson Hall
29                           Louisville, KY                      Brown Theatre

March
1                             Pittsburgh, PA                     Byham Theatre
3                              Cincinnati, OH                    Taft Theatre
4                              Indianapolis, IN                  Murat Theatre
6                              Kansas City, KS                  Kansas City Music Hall
7                              Omaha, NE                         Omaha Civic Auditorium
10                           Edmonton, AB                     Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
11                           Calgary, AB                         Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
13                           Vancouver, BC                    The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
14                           Portland, OR                       Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
18                           Escondido, CA                    California Center for the Arts

Chris “Weird Biker” Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels,

December is the harvest time for metal journalism. That’s when all of us misanthropic black-clad fucks put together our end-of-year lists, going over our entire musical diet for the last 12 months in an attempt to compile a decent final 10. And while it’d be easy to do a best/worst list, I want to take the high ground and not point out a Worst Album list. That’s just petty. (My 10 best of 2011, if you’re wondering, are: All Pigs Must Die, the Black Dahlia Murder, Tombs, Origin, Toxic Holocaust, Ash Pool, Revolting, Vreid, Hate Eternal, and the Atlas Moth.)

Artwork, however, is different. If your album is bad, fine. You know who you are, probably. When it comes to the music, let’s let it die—everyone’s made a Cold Lake in their lives, so let’s be the bigger man about it.* But there’s no excuse for shitty artwork. In fact, if your album sucks, the least you can do is put something really fucking amazing on the cover (for instance, I’ve always been 50-50 on Lair of the Minotaur, but their covers are damn cool). And unlike your music, which we all know sucks, your stupid choice of artwork is fair game for public condemnation. So here are my picks for this year’s Six Best and Worst Album Covers.

The Six Best Album Covers of 2011

1) Book of Black Earth, The Cold Testament Yes. With this cover, Seattle’s death-metal masters found a perfect image to describe their enthralling brand of fuzzy blackened death metal. If this doesn’t become a back patch soon, someone has to die.

2) All Pigs Must Die, God Is War You know what’s great? When your favorite album of the year has hands-down one of the coolest covers of all time. My No. 1 record of 2011, ladies and gentlemen, and it bears this breath-taking cover, courtesy of artist Florian Bertmer. It’s good to be the king.

3) Autopsy, Macabre Eternal This is one of those covers that’s comical to describe: Two zombies carry a giant stone skull towards an almost-completed statue of the Grim Reaper. Best part? That’s pretty much what the album sounds like.

4) Mhorgl, Heresiarch Until recently, I hadn’t heard of Australia’s Mhorgl, but not only is their brand of black thrash totally badass, the cover of their new record is a Miltonian flurry of demons, devils, wraiths, and fallen angels. When you stare into this abyss, it screams, “Charge!”

5) Chthonic, Takasago Army There’s something about a soldier carving a symbol into his forehead with a huge knife that touches me deep inside. The question is, what character is he carving? This album’s about Taiwanese soldiers, who spoke Mandarin Chinese, fighting for the Japanese! Then again, it might just be an inverted cross.

6) Mastodon, The Hunter Here, the Georgian metal titans left the world of over-the-top van-side illustration and had themselves a Communist Party. I mean, come on, how cool is this 3-D multi-jawed beast-creature? And look at the new logo—insane!

The Six Worst Album Covers of 2011

1) Cradle of Filth, Evermore Darkly Do you guys remember the Cradle of Filth I remember? The band that would put bathtubs full of blood and nude women on their albums, who put out the ‘Jesus is a cunt’ shirt? Remember that? So why does this album have a chick on a park bench for its cover?

2) Wayne Static, Pighammer You know what, I love this album title. It has so much potential to inspire a good cover—oh. Oh, you…you just want a picture of you, with scars, in a kimono. Oh, that’s, that’s cool…no, really, it shows a lot of…erm. Well.

3) Decapitated, Carnival Is Forever Yikes. I don’t know where they were trying to go with this cover, but Decapitated really fell short here. It seems like it’s really trying to say something, but…I dunno. It’s like a parody of a nu-metal album cover. Not a fan.

4) Sebastian Bach, Kicking and Screaming You really have to wonder about these hair-metal dudes sometimes. Like, was it the drugs? Was it the weird biker/homegrown sexuality being bred in the ’80s? What happened, once upon a time, that made them possibly think shit like this looks cool?

5) Limp Bizkit, Gold Cobra I like it when album art says something. For instance, when an album features a morbid sigil by Wes Benscoter, it says, “Good times ahead.” When it’s covered with Vince Locke’s unholy zombiescapes, it says, “This is a Cannibal Corpse record.” And, in the instance of Gold Cobra, it says, “Urinate here.”

6) Lou Reed & Metallica, Lulu To be fair, I’ve never heard this album, only the criticism of it, so for all I know the music rules. But man, how much did they pay the beret-wearing Sarah Lawrence sophomore who made this piece of shit? (Answer: Too much.)

*Actually, I have to be a dick about the new Morbid Angel. Sorry guys, big fan of your stuff, but you really shat the bed with the lights on with this new record.

Revolver

5) Falling in Reverse, “The Drug in Me Is You”

4) Avenged Sevenfold, “Buried Alive”

3) Asking Alexandria, “Not the American Average”

2) Black Veil Brides, “The Legacy”

1) Alesana, “Circle VII: Sins of the Lion”

Alesana’s Shawn Milke on Being No. 1

“On behalf of Alesana, I would like to thank our fans for displaying their undying support in helping to make ‘Circle VII: Sins of the Lion,’ the sixth chapter of our Dante Alighieri–influenced concept record A Place Where The Sun Is Silent, the Song of the Year at Revolver magazine’s website. In this chapter, our protagonist, the Wanderer, plunges hundreds of feet below the Earth in an attempt to rescue the beautiful and haunting woman he has been chasing, the Temptress. He comes face to face with an unspeakable horror, the Fiend, as he finds himself submerged and trapped in a boiling sea of blood.

“It is an incredible honor to be recognized not only by our fans, but also by the staff at Revolver. It was already a surreal feeling to be included on a list of such talented musicians and songwriters, but to walk away crowned the winner is something for which we will be eternally grateful. A special thank you to Epitaph Records, The Artery Foundation, and our amazing team of loyal followers at the Alesana Army and Alesana Art.”

Gary Moore
Thin Lizzy
Died February 6
Guitarist for Irish rockers Thin Lizzy during several periods, Moore is more renowned and revered as a solo blues axman, whose playing reverberates in the six-string work of everyone from Slash to Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt. Metallica’s Kirk Hammett even cites him as one of his top five guitar influences, pointing to the solo in “Master of Puppets” and riffs he wrote for “The Unforgiven” as being inspired by Moore.

Phil Vane
Extreme Noise Terror
Died February 23
Vane made his name as the absolutely ferocious vocalist of pioneering UK crust-punk outfit Extreme Noise Terror, with whom he helped spearhead the late-’80s grindcore movement. He even briefly fronted grindcore originators Napalm Death, switching places with singer Barney Greenway, who appeared on ENT’s Damage 381 before returning to NP.

Mike Starr
Alice in Chains
Died March 8
The original bassist of Alice in Chains, Starr’s tense, throbbing bass lines underpinned classic grunge-metal albums like Facelift and Dirt. After splitting with the band while it was touring in support of the latter album, Starr formed supergroup Sun Red Sun alongside former Black Sabbath members Ray Gillen and Bobby Rondinelli, and later toured with Days of the New.

Scott Columbus
Manowar
Died April 4
Columbus was the longtime drummer of battle-metal barbarians Manowar, and his playing style was fittingly brutish: The skinsman pounded what he called the “Drums of Doom,” a kit made of stainless steel because his hit so hard that when he used standard kits, they had to be replaced too regularly.

Seth Putnam
Anal Cunt
Died June 11
The sick genius/retard behind Anal Cunt and grindcore micro-blasterpieces including “Women: Nature’s Punching Bag” and “Body by Auschwitz,” Putnam was extreme metal’s shock-rock provocateur bar none. He also famously feuded with Cannibal Corpse/Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes (culminating in the AC tune “Chris Barnes is a Pussy”) and provided backing screams to songs on Pantera’s The Great Southern Trendkill.

Mario Comesanas
December Aeternalis, Low Road
Sirius-XM Liquid Metal, Revolver magazine
Died June 13
Hired in 2006, Comesanas was Revolver‘s longtime promotions director and our man on the road with Mayhem Fest from 2008 to 2010. A DJ on Sirius-XM’s Liquid Metal channel, he was a diehard champion of heavy music, as well as a musician in his own right, singing for death-metal outfit December Aeternalis and hardcore band Low Road, which was recording its debut with producer Joey Z, of Life of Agony, at the time of Comesanas’ passing.

Michael “Würzel” Burston
Motörhead
Died July 9
Guitarist for the mighty Motörhead from 1984 to 1995, Würzel laid down the licks on rumbling punk-metal landmarks like Orgasmatron and Rock ‘n’ Roll. He got his nickname while in the army, but Lemmy gave him the umlaut. At the time of his death, he was working on an album with his new band, Leader of Down.

Jani Lane
Warrant
Died August 11
One of the great frontmen of ’80s glam metal, Lane will probably be best remembered for the song and video, “Cherry Pie,” if not for bedding and wedding the clip’s smokin’ starlet, Bobbi Brown. In more recent years, the vocalist had gone solo, appeared on VH1′s Celebrity Fit Club 2, and toured with Great White.

Cory “Flattus Maximus” Smoot
Gwar
Died November 2
Adopting the role of Gwar’s red-faced, white-dreadlocked, dinosaur-shoulder-padded alien guitarist, Flattus Maximus, in 2002, Smoot was considered by fans as the “True Flattus” since he was the longest serving axman to play the character. He was also a major songwriter on the four Gwar albums he played on. After his death, bandleader Oderus Urungus announced that the character Flattus Maximus would be retired.