Well, here I am, sitting here with my computer, less than an hour left of the year 2006...  It's time to look back at what went on this year.  Because let me tell you, even though this year has gone by faster than I an keep track of, a hell of a lot has happened for me.  So, I've come up with a sort of "End of the year awards" thingy to do. :P

One of the most important things that's happened this year is that I realized that I have artistic talent.  Not only that, but I'm actually trying to get somewhere in my life with that now!  I've known that I want to get into the game industry, but I'm sure now that I want to go into the artistic side of things there.  No programming for me, thank you very much! :P

And now, for some silly awards...

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Okay, for this award, there's gonna be two different categories.  One will include albums that came out in the past year.  The other will encompass albums that I bought this year, regardless of how long ago they were released. :D

2006 BEST NEW ALBUM:  The Crusade by Trivium.  There were a lot of albums that came out this year that I really liked.  But the winner hands down is Trivium's new album.  I've had this album for less than a week, and it is simply amazing.  I highly recommend it to anyone who listens to metal, especially if you like old-school Metallica-style stuff.

Runner Up:  Karmacode by Lacuna Coil.  When I picked this album up several months ago, it totally took me by surprise.  This is probably one of my most listened-to CDs this year.  I didn't doubt that this album would be disappointing at all (I saw the band at Ozzfest and enjoyed their performance), but I was still shocked by this masterful album from this Italian metal band.

2006 ALBUM OF THE YEAR:  Demanufacture/Archetype by Fear Factory.  Oh my god.  Fear Factory.  What a band.  And these two albums by them have probably had the biggest impact on my musical tastes this year.  If you believe that people have souls, then you can say that I have sold mine to these industrial metal gods among mortals.  Since I first checked out Archetype from the library back in April, I have bought every single CD they have from Concrete to Transgressions, bought a shirt and wristband from their webstore, and traveled over 200 miles to see their only stop in my State on their latest tour.  This band has hit me hard this year.  Even harder than In Flames hit me last year, and that's saying something.  I cannot possibly pick a favorite between these two records, so they have come to tie for Album of the Year. :P

CONCERT OF THE YEAR

Okay, another split-category.  This time, I'll be comparing the shows I went to that were club or arena shows, and then the big festivals I went to.

INDOOR CONCERT SHOW OF THE YEAR: Machines at War tour (Fear Factory, Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Decapitated).  Okay.  The fact that Fear Factory was here was enough.  You know why.  But the other bands at this show were amazing in their own rights.  This was the most brutal concert that I have been to to date, and it is the first I've been to where I actually enjoyed seeing every one of the bands that were performing.  And even though I had to leave before Fear Factory was done with their set, they kicked my ass so hard that my ears were ringing for four days!!! :P  

Runner Up: Come Clarity tour (In Flames, Trivium, Devildriver, and Zao).  Early February, a friend and I went to see In Flames in a little music hall in Colombus, Ohio.  The show was simply amazing.  I was singing along and jumping around to every song I could, and I think I almost fell over on the guy behind me a couple of times. :P  Simply amazing.  Trivium and Devildriver also put on superb shows, so the $25 ticket was well worth it.

OUTDOOR CONCERT SHOW OF THE YEAR:  Ozzfest '06.  Ozzfest!!!  Yeah!!!  The main stage this year was enough to get me to go.  System of a Down, Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Hatebreed, Lacuna Coil, and Dragonforce.  I thouroughly enjoyed every one of these shows, and even worked myself into exhaustion for Hatebreed and Disturbed.  This will be a very tough lineup to top, but I can't wait for next year's Ozzfest. :D

Runner Up:  X-fest 2006.  This is only the runner-up show because it's the only other outdoor concert I went to this year.  Sadly, this show was disappointing.  Avenged Sevenfold was there, and that's who I went to see.  I was also interested in seeing Staind.  Avenged Sevenfold kicked ass.  Unfortunately, they weren't the headliners.  Staind was.  And Staind was, unfortunately, kinda disappointing.  I like their music, but they don't put on much of a live show... :(  This show is gonna have to pull some really awesome bands out of it's ass next year if they hope to get me to show up for a sixth year.

GAME OF THE YEAR

I've decided to make this category open to any games that I got this year, since I didn't really go out and buy a whole lot.  So, without further delay...

2006 GAME OF THE YEAR:  Jak X: Combat Racing.  Oh my.  Fear Factory dominated me on the musical front.  This game ruled the gaming front.  Jak X is probably one of the most addicting games I have ever played.  It's like Burnout with guns!!! :P  Since I got it about mid-September, I've dropped nearly 100 hours into this game, and I've only recently started playing it online. :P  This game also got me into the Jak & Daxter series, and made be drop $60 on the other three games. :P

Runner Up:  Guitar Hero 2.  Last year, Guitar Hero kicked ass.  This year, the second game takes everything that made the first awesome, and does it better.  More songs, more metal, and two player co-op!!! :D

And with that, I've managed to eat up enough time for the clock to hit midnight.  HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D  Now that I'm done looking back on the year that was, it's time to start enjoying the new one.  I'm gonna go eat Chex Mix, drink Mike's Hard Iced Tea and Cherry Pepsi, listen to heavy metal, and play Jak X and Guitar Hero 2 until I pass out!  Cheers! :D