Okay, nearly six months later and even no one really cares for it anymore and even especially no one asked for it anymore here it finally (...***no-comment***...) is coming crashing in: Manslaughter's Retrospection of 2011...

*** MANSLAUGHTERS's 2011 Retrospection ***

Hey folks, like the headline and the posting title announces it, with a delay of six full months and a few days here it finally is, the retrospection of the year of 2011. I first wanted to finish my not worked through record reviews of the year of 2011, like I've announced it at the very beginning of this very year of 2012... and so I did it... but without knowing when writing this first it would take me until now to do so... a fucking lazy bastard I am. But okay, anyhow, this year wasn't that lazy up here, yehp, so okay, let us take it like it is and this is that now comes the rerospection of the year of 2011, despise the fact if anyone wants or even needs this or not anymore, fuck if you've asked for it or not, haha;-). It's just to close 2011 finally also up here in a proper way.

Okay, about the blog 2011 latest from the middle of it on it went pretty much down the drain with maybe getting up a little bit again with late autumn, like myself as well as my private life in 2011, but again that's another story. But thanks to my new-but-also-not-so-new-anymore beloved girlfriend - she really made and makes the difference at the end of tha days - it and I finally came back on track again.
With great posts especially in the categories of ''Sports'' and the ''American Oi! History Series'' the year of 2011 back then started strong for the blog and the amount of viewers reached new high heights. Okay, the story went on and down and so just at the beginning of 2012 after I moved and got an own new internet access at home again slowly the blog became new life breathed in and so now it's going pretty strong again and finally also new ''Sports'' and also ''American Oi! History Series'' posts will finally see the light of the day pretty soon. Also a big bunch of new reviews on albums, zines, movies will come and some new stuff like self-experiments including me and supplements substances and other stuff, watch out for it;-). The blog is back at life respctively alive again, like myself, and so it shall stay.

We will see if and when new ''Gig Reports'' will come up here. Also over the last year I was at several great concerts (THE CRUSHING CASPERS, the JUNGLE TIGERS, STALKER, MALEVOLENT CREATION, the MARKUS MIX TAPE MILITIA, A TRAITOR LIKE JUDAS, etc. pp.) and alo this year great concert evenings with the DROPKICK MURPHYS, HERE I VANISH, the SKATOONS, PLATZVERWEIS, ILLDISPOSED, LIGHT YOUR ANCHOR, etc. pp. took place but somehow I totally missed out on writing some ''Gig Reports'' about them. MAybe the AGNOSTIC FRONT gig this month would be a good starting point with doing some ''Gig Reports'' again, we will see. But honestly I have to say that currently I don't really find the motivation to do some or just one of them, but we will see if and how and when this changes again but for your own best make sure to go and see the mentioned bands live on stage when you have the chance to do so.

2011 a lot of strong albums by old and new bands saw the light of the day as well as a big bunch of good to great (sometimes just for me) new bands popped up and a lot of bands like UNRECKONED, SNAKEDRIVER, ACTIVATOR, NOISE, HOST, NONE OF THE LIVING REMAIN, OUT CROWD, THORNZ, WORLD OF PAIN, xTRUTHx, xTRUTH INSIDEx, xIRON CURTAINx, and even many more you should really check out if you missed out on them so far, and beside my personal top ten albums you should make sure to also check out a lot of other 2011 album releases like for example the current ones of acts like CONDEMNED 84, 45 ADAPTERS, AS I LAY DYING (the review is still to come, btw), NICKELBACK, STOMPER 98, PUNISHABLE ACT, the first output of and on "A DYING BREED RECORDS", and some if not a lot of other good to great album releases of 2011.

And with this final words I will now just give you a quick and short overview over my top ten albums of 2011 and then that's it again. Like back then with the retrospection on/of 2010 I will keep this short, after all albums had been already more or less detailed reviewed by me for you up here. Okay, here we go again, Manslaughter's top ten of 2011...

01.) SICK OF IT ALL - "NONxxvSTOP"
("Century Media Records"; CD)

(The legends celebrated 2011 their 25th birthday with this album packed up full with awesome re-recordings of some of their by far best classics to date. You need to have this soon to be a classic album of them full of already old but great new recorded classicks of them. An almighty album by an almighty band. Even if you now may think that this would just be a lame money cash in release you should check it out - best by buying it - because if you think so then this is a total wrong impression that you get of it by now. This is a pure platinum album and for sure one hell of an awesome Hardcore album. And with scoring last year on the second rank and this year taking the crown things are pretty good for the legends from NY city on the MANSLAUGHTER side of things.)

02.) AGNOSTIC FRONT - "MY LIFE, MY WAY"
("Nuclear Blast Records"; CD)

(Finally AGNOSTIC FRONT, the roughnecked warhorse veterans of NYHC - or other roughnecked warhorse veterans of the NYHC scenery with the above mentioned SICK OF IT ALL - came back in 2011 after - at least for me - too many years between their "WARRIORS" masterpiece and this one, their amazing MY LIFE, MY WAY" soon to be a classic album from/of 2011, an album that you desperately really need to have and call your own, a brilliant and also a soon to be a classic album and a real and true masterpiece. Make sure to check it out and make even more sure to call it finally your own if you still don't have it. Hm, but how cold ya and what is this telling us about you?)

03.) DROPKICK MURPHYS - "GOING OUT IN STYLE"
("Cooking Vinyl" / "Born & Bred Records"; CD)

(The grandmasters and legends from Boston and of Irish Folk inspired Streetpunk rooted Punkrock music were back on track again in 2011 to showcase to the world that they still know how to do it!!! This more or less concept album - based on a somehow realistic, somehow fictional concept story, for all what I got - is by far more Rock than Punk or PunkROCK than PUNKrock, inspired by Irish and American Folk music as well as BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - and no one else than the immortally great ''THE BOSS'' is a guest on this record - and this is just damn fucking great and it displays on and through a musical level that the DROPKICK MURPHYS are still a through and through Rock & Roll band as well as a through and through Working Class band, knowing their roots as well as knowing about the real deal, point and fact.)

04.) FRONTLINE SOLDIERS - "OATH OF LOYALTY EP"
("United Riot Records"; 7'')

(Way too short lived damn great American Oi! band from NYC that's sadly enough today already for quite a long while defunct again and this is a release of old and so far non-released songs and recordings of them. This band played OXBLOOD inspired and Old School New York Hardcore influenced hard hitting, brutal stomping and gladiatorial militant battle scarred American Brickwall NYC Oi! Oi! Oi! musick by grim and pissed off streetfight approved Skinheads from out of the gutters of the city that never ever sleeps. Patriotic and militant gladiatorial lyrics and heavy beating and hard stomping, harsh hitting and sharp cutting American Oi! Oi! Oi! music with this typical brutal and aggressve East Coast New York City edge to it that really is nothing else than a pure gold hit at its best. So make sure to get this album as soon as possible and as long as you can still do so because I think that this is pretty much limited so better hurry up if you still don't call it your fucking own.)

05.) THE TRADITIONALS - "STEEL TOWN ANTHEMS"

("Impact Records"; CD)
(Here's the current release and the 2011 full length album of this mighty Steeltown City Skinhead Veterans, and they are still perhaps pretty much the only ones that if you take the style, the sound, the mentality and the attitude  who can at least somehow partially fill the giant lack that the almighty THE ANTI-HEROS used to leave when they decided to go seperate ways. Sharp guitars, charismatic brutal sung vocals not dumb gruff shouting and growling stuff lik the cookie monsteron bad speed, a massive wall of tight bass and drums, fresh ideas, own identity and lyrics that carry weight and are outspoken on several different subjects and topics, having a laugh and having a say, that's what you get here and that's how it should be if we talk about Oi! Oi! Oi! music. Nothing left to say, just get this record and I really hope the new singer will last and that they will carry on for a long, long while to come. Cheers & Oi!)

06.) IN FLAMES - "SOUNDS OF A PLAYGROUND FADING"
("Century Media Records"; CD)
If you would have told me before I listened to this album that I would ever be a fan of a certain IN FLAMES album and that this album would make it also even way up high in my top ten list of albums of a year I would have started laughing and declared you to a weird nutjob or something else like this. But in 2011 it truly happened with this amazing multi-layered and diverse album that in so many ways damn fucking truly convinced me in a nearly phenomenal way, something that  I would never have expected to come respectively happen so, but so is and goes life and if you ask me that's more than just good. Enough words, discover this album by yourself, it's fucking great!!!)

07.) RISE AGAINST - "ENDGAME"
("DGC Records"; CD)
A band that I never really had on my radar, just listened to an older record years ago respectively before this one here and even this old album pretty much convinced me they flew again out of my radar very soon. In 2011 this finally seemed to have been a giant mistake and an epic fail of me, because this very album here is modern Punkrock from the U.S.A. in perfection and surely nothing less, point and fact. And everyone who is now maybe thinking something like that this would be non sense should keep his or her mouth shut, and ears and mind open and should take some good listens to this great album, period.

08.) STALKER - "SPIT ROCK AND GIRL"
("D.I.Y."; CD)
(A through and through (at least still currently) one hundred percent do it yourself band from my hometown hood Goslar or how we do call it Goslar Rock City, haha. ;-) This is really outstanding and damn fucking bloody great Rock & Roll music somewhere between ENTOMBED and JOHNNY CASH with a female singer that sounds like AMY WHINEHOUSE on Punkrock (and not on bad drugs and deadly doses of alcohol), full of attitude and a giant huge own identity, not your ordinary run of the mill bullshit Rock & Roll or Punk & Roll cliché circus crap of today, and also for sure no wanna be MOTÖRHEAD clone band, and that's just damn amazing and great. So check this band out and discover them and support them, they are more than worth it.)

09.) BROILERS - "SANTA MUERTE"
("People Like You Records"; CD)
(After the totally and incredible highly overrated precursor album I had not many and especially not high expectations on this very album here, but what the guys did here was and still is surely just great and multi-layered, diverse, well-versed and high skilled as fuck and a truly through and through pure gold album, a stand-alone mixture out of THE CLASH, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, Folk music, SKA, Punkrock, Rock & Roll and anthemic good healthy Pop music in a very positive way. Everyone who's not a total nutjob should and would not expect a Oi! Punk return and comeback by this band and if you listen to this very album here you would also never ever ask for this to happen, period.)

10.) EARTH CRISIS - "NEUTRALIZE THE THREAT"
("Century Media Records"; CD)
Oh, looking at the record label that released this album it seems like it was a pretty good year for this record label - at least up here on this very blog - with scoring in putting all in all three records in the top ten list of 2011 of your good old boy Manslaughter-Andy. Congratulations go out to "CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS". This album surely is a damn great album by a still today fucking legendary and pretty important band, these militant metallic Vegan Straight xxx Edge Hardcore warhorses still totally fucking rule and that/this they have prooven once again and one more time with this giant monster of an album that's blasting through and tearing down every fucking resistance. So make sure that you check out this album promptly.)

That's it, my top ten of 2011. Now you know the deal, haha;-). And also 2012 already started very good with great new or newly discovered bands like SHADE OF MANKIND and SUFFER THE PAIN (check out the interviews with both bands up here, make sure you do so) and also awesome and amazing new albums like the new releases of WOLFBRIGADE, NEW HATE RISING, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, BIOHAZARD, RUNNING WILD, STRONG ISLAND BOOTBOYS, the HARRINGTON SAINTS, the new release of "A DYING BREED RECORDS", and the great "A BETTER TOMORROW" four way split 7'' release (already reviewed up here recently). So you see there's a lot more new stuff to come, so watch out. More soon again, and some fresh stuff and no very late retrospection;-). But anyhow thanks for your interest in reading through this long, long overdue article, you're the best:-). Cheers & Oi! Oi! Oi!