It’s hard to believe that it’s been another year already. It seems just like yesterday that I was looking back on 2011 and thinking, “I wonder if 2012 will be as cool of a year as 2011.” I can definitely attest to the fact that 2012 was without a doubt my best and favorite year here at The Great Southern Brainfart. 24 interviews, over 30 shows, and countless albums submitted to the site later, 2012 is drawing to a close and leaving me with more amazing memories than I could fit into even the biggest book ever seen.
2012 was the year that I not only found some of my new favorite bands but even got to see a few of them live. I finally got to see the great Brave put on an amazing performance at the Pathfinder Metalfest IV. At that same show, I discovered a few brand new favorite bands in Draekon, Machinage, and Lorenguard. That same night, I got to witness While Heaven Wept completely annihilate faces and prove themselves to be the masters of doom that they truly are. An Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper double bill was enough to make my head explode but add onto that smoking, facemelting shows by Graveyard, Rival Sons, and the triple threat of Anthrax/Testament/Death Angel and you have a wake of gooey, melted faces. 2012 was an unforgettable year for metal shows. Hell, just picking my Top 10 Shows this year was damn near impossible.
I was lucky enough to interview some legendary (and my favorite) metal people like Dio/Black Sabbath/Kill Devil Hill drummer Vinny Appice, prog metal mastermind Arjen Lucassen, and the legendary goddess of metal Doro Pesch. I had the opportunity to speak with Michael Lardie of Great White who I’ve been a fan of since I was in junior high, and I even got to speak with some buddies such as Tony and Pepe of Kyng and Andrew of Gypsyhawk. This years interviews were all amazing experiences for me. I feel like I have really grown into myself as an interviewer and I am lucky to say at each of these interviews the subject seemed to be engaged and enjoying themselves. Just the fact that Vinny Appice turned our 20 minute interview into an hour long chat spoke volumes to me. Having him say, “Dude, this is fun talking to you” meant the world to me.
While all of these things were truly magical experiences that made 2012 such an awesome year for me, none of this would be possible without you, the reader. I want to thank my forever loyal readers. You were all so supportive and at times vocal in 2012, more so than in past years. I truly love interacting with you all and I love it so much that you all still manage to like me and respect me for speaking my mind even when I’m saying shit that you don’t agree with. One of the things I always promised to do with this site was to speak my mind regardless of what people think. That, to me, is what makes for a good website. I’m not saying I’m great and all but that I find that my favorite websites and writers are the ones that speak their mind without any kind of care of what their readers might think. This is what makes us metal heads such as special tribe. We are an outspoken and very critical bunch of bastards and I appreciate you all enjoying what I do.
Until 2013, keep your heads up, your horns up, and always keep it metal!
Don de Leaumont
Editor at The Great Southern Brainfart
2012 – Atlanta, GA
Yes. That is a Poison clock hanging on my wall in the background of the above photo. Get over it.
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