2012 Albums: US Release Dates & Ratings
| Date | Band | Album | Label | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/02 | Lvcifyre | The Calling Depths | Pulverised | |
| 01/10 | Mouth Of The Serpent | Manifest | Self-released | 9.5/10 [Review] |
| 01/10 | Nightwish | Imaginaerum | Roadrunner | 8/10 [Review] |
| 01/10 | Vise Massacre | Expendable Humans | Gorilla The Horse/Earsplit PR | 9/10 [Review] |
| 01/13 | Witchaven | Sacrificial Burnt Offering | Morbid Reality | 9.5/10 [Review] |
| 01/17 | Abysmal Dawn | From Ashes [Reissue] | Relapse | |
| 01/17 | Almah | Motion | AFM | |
| 01/17 | Birds In Row | Collected | Vitriol | |
| 01/17 | Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters | Bikers Welcome! Ladies Drink Free | AFM | |
| 01/17 | The Devil’s Blood | The Thousandfold Epicentre | Metal Blade | 9/10 [Review] |
| 01/17 | Everything Went Black | Cycles Of Light | Lost Shepherd/Prosthetic | |
| 01/17 | Iron Saviour | The Landing | AFM | |
| 01/17 | Nekromantheon | Rise, Vulcan Spectre | Indie | |
| 01/24 | Abigail Williams | Becoming | Candlelight | 9.5/10 [Review] |
| 01/24 | Aborted | Global Flatline | Century Media | 9/10 [Review] |
| 01/24 | Behold The Monolith | Defender, Redeemist | Self-released | 10/10 [Review] |
| 01/24 | Lamb Of God | Resolution | Epic | |
| 01/24 | Nothnegal | Decadence | Season Of Mist | |
| 01/24 | Primal Fear | Unbreakable | Frontiers | 9/10 [Review] |
| 01/31 | Alcest | Les Voyages de L’Ame | Prophecy | 10/10 [Review] |
| 01/31 | Black Pyramid | Black Pyramid II | MeteorCity | |
| 01/31 | El Caco | Hatred, Love and Diagrams | Indie | |
| 01/31 | King Giant | Dismal Hollow | Graveyard Hill/The Path Less Traveled | |
| 01/31 | Liberteer | Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees | Relapse | |
| 01/31 | Metallica | Beyond Magnetic EP | Warner Bros. | 2.25/10 [Review] |
| 01/31 | Ram | Death | Metal Blade | |
| 01/31 | Skin Like Iron/Nails | Split EP | Self-released | 10/10 [Review] |
| 02/07 | Psycroptic | The Inherited Repression | Nuclear Blast | 8.5/10 [Review] |
| 02/14 | Blood Ceremony | Blood Ceremony | Metal Blade | |
| 02/14 | Goatwhore | Blood For The Master | Metal Blade | |
| 02/14 | Earth | Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II | Southern Lord | 9/10 [Review] |
| 02/14 | Orange Goblin | A Eulogy For The Damned | Candlelight | 10/10 [Review] |
| 02/28 | Christian Mistress | Possession | Relapse | 10/10 [Review] |
| 02/28 | Corrosion Of Conformity | Corrosion Of Conformity | Candlelight | 9.5/10 [Review] |
| 02/28 | Eluveitie | Helvetios | Nuclear Blast | |
| 02/28 | Napalm Death | Utilitarian | Century Media | |
| 02/28 | Opera IX | Strix Maledictae In Aeternum | Agonia | |
| 02/28 | The Safety Fire | Grind The Ocean | Century Media | |
| 02/28 | UFO | Seven Deadly | SPV | 9.5/10 [Review] |
| 02/28 | Veil Of Maya | Eclipse | Sumerian | |
| 03/13 | Adrenaline Mob | Omerta | Elm City Music | |
| 03/13 | Cannibal Corpse | Torture | Metal Blade | |
| 03/13 | Epica | Requiem For The Indifferent | Nuclear Blast | |
| 03/13 | Soulfly | Enslaved | Roadrunner | |
| 03/27 | 3 Inches Of Blood | Long Live Heavy Metal | Century Media | |
| 03/27 | Meshuggah | Koloss | Nuclear Blast | |
| 03/27 | Saint Vitus | Lillie: F-65 | Season Of Mist | |
| 04/24 | Enabler | All Hail The Void | Creator-Destructor/Halo Of Flies | |
| 04/24 | Paradise Lost | Tragic Idol | Century Media | |
| 05/08 | Nate Hall | A Great River | Neurot Recordings | |