The Quiet Resistance by Dutch band Nemesea is the first 10/10 album of the year. (It's metal, so Tone won't like it.) But it's interesting metal, bit more imaginative than your usual fayre. Not released in 2012, but I heard them the first time this year: April Rain by Delain and The Unforgiving by Within Temptation. Both amazing, near perfect metal albums. Curiously all Dutch bands. There must be something in the canals.
2012 has got off to a cracking start.
Chris