As I sat here staring at the screen, trying to think of some sort of unifying theme for 2022, I pondered what took place throughout these past 12 months. I survived my first full year in a new high-pressure job that requires significantly more effort, perseverance and creativity to be successful than my previous one. My reignited obsession with video games from last year carried over into many hours spent nearly crushing my controller as I duked it out with frustrating but satisfying boss fights. I didn’t spend nearly enough time reading books. The number of concerts I was able to attend significantly increased and helped me feel like life was finally starting to get a little more normal. I spent more time traveling around to see family and friends than I had been able to during the last couple of years. I got married and celebrated that joyous occasion with nearly 170 people, including most of those very same family and friends I put so much effort into seeing throughout the year.

All while thinking through these things, I stared out the window, I checked my phone, I got up to get coffee, I talked to the cat, I stopped to look up some random bullshit online, I scrolled down to write a random blurb out of order, and otherwise distracted myself at every possible turn. At that point, I realized my theme for this year had been scattered thoughts and distractions. The pace of my job pushed me into thinking about roughly 15 things simultaneously. The constant pressure of wedding planning left my mind racing, trying to think through every possible detail even when there was nothing to be done at that very moment. In fact, I don’t think I ever got more than about 4 hours of sleep in a single stretch during the final two to three months leading up to the big day. That was in November, which means even now, I’m constantly thinking about finishing thank you cards, receiving and ordering wedding photos, getting name change documents in order, opening a joint bank account, how fucked we are for health insurance, and on and on. I have had an incredibly difficult time focusing on any one thing in 2022 and scattered thoughts have been my most constant companion.

Scattered Thought #1: Here’s an opinion that surely no other person should have. I don’t really like it when people say their spouse is their best friend. I realize there are folks whose circumstances have left them to truly only have each other, so it’s legit there. For the rest of you that have had a best friend for a chunk of your life, are they demoted now? You are back to just being a “friend,” sucka! Do you really think of your spouse as a friend? In my mind, those are two different and incredibly valuable roles. In particular, a marriage or long-term romantic relationship requires more types of love than a friendship and should be a connection that goes beyond friendship. You still need a best friend outside of your marriage as well, to keep you grounded, and well-rounded, and let’s be honest, we all need another outlet than a spouse. That friend can be a valuable break from a routine and often provide much-needed perspective. The best elements of friendship are absolutely part of any healthy marriage, but ultimately they’re just two different things to me. To say my wife is my best friend feels like a disservice to both her and my best friend of nearly 30 years. Is this an important topic? No. Am I going to mock you if you say your spouse is your best friend? No, I’m not that much of an asshole. It’s just one of those random things that has always rubbed me the wrong way for whatever reason and I can’t really articulate why very well, but scattered thoughts are what’s on the menu for today.

As I thought through my inability to pay attention to anything, I realized it very likely played into how often grindcore was a part of my year. Don’t get me wrong, that particular subgenre is having a banner year regardless of my listening habits. However, I think that shorter albums and tracks helped me along the way. When I needed a quick break from work, I’d throw on a little 15-minute barnburner and take a walk around the block. While waiting for my wife to get ready for a random wedding appointment, a quick burst of noise helped me stop pacing around the kitchen like an anxious dog at the vet. When sleep eluded me and caffeine couldn’t keep my eyes open, relentless blasting and piercing screams brought me back to life.

Scattered Thought #2: Is grind one of the most over-used words in modern English? It can be a type of dance, something done at a construction site, a skateboarding move, a subgenre of music, an element of gaming, a work descriptor, and probably five other things I’m forgetting. I’m calling a cease and desist for any new uses of grind!

Fret not, dear reader, grind albums do not account for the entirety of the list below. This year offered a healthy variety of styles and I joyfully wolfed them all down. You’ll find lengthy albums with wild influences just as often as you’ll find the most straightforward batterings our chosen music is so often known for. The year’s theme led to grind and grind led me to another theme for this article. Is your brain starting to hurt with all these tangents and circular thoughts? TRY BEING ME!

If you aren’t familiar, I like tying in some thematic element to my top 20, including horror movies and video games thus far. This year, I’m combining the two with one game that dominated my playing time to the tune of 96 hours (whoops), which occurred because in order to get 100% completion of the game, I definitely had to grind. I have always avoided From Software games due to their daunting difficulty, but my wife’s cousin campaigned hard for me to dive in and was even kind enough to walk me through the opening stretch of the game so I could get the hang of how to play. No, it wasn’t the Elden Ring bug that bit so many of you; it was Bloodborne that finally got me. The perpetual atmosphere of dread that combined gothic and Lovecraftian horror was engrossing, while the perpetually raised challenge kept me coming back for more. Each toppled boss felt like a significant achievement and the game so perfectly gave me just enough to make me feel like I could do it even when some diabolical beasty would one-hit me (sidenote: FUCK YOU, Watchdog of the Old Lords). The top-20 list that follows will equate each album to a character/creature from Bloodborne. Things are about to get really nerdy, and probably have some mild spoilers, so buckle up!

Scattered Thought #3: Something tells me everything I said above should equate to some sort of diagnosis. Feel free to skip telling me. I plan to continue living in ignorant bliss until I really screw something up. 

TOP-OF-MIND THOUGHTS

In honor of grindcore having such a phenomenal year, I would like to list out 10 albums that didn’t quite make my list but represent some of the cream of the crop from this year all the same. They are in alphabetical order and will receive no descriptions because grindcore is about getting to the point, dammit! If you like grindcore, you’ll love these. If you hate grindcore, try not being such a dummy.

Antigama – Whiteout

Days of Desolation – Circles

Deterioration – Retaliatory Measures

Ernia – How To Deal With Life And Fail

Homeskin – Cries Methodically (or any of his other 12 releases that came out this year)

No/Mas – Consume/Deny/Repent

Proudhon – Social Tympanum

Suffering Mind – Lifeless

Trucido – A Collection Of Self-Destruction

Whoresnation – Dearth

P.S. If you dig grind, Andrew Edmunds’ best-of list should be considered mandatory reading.

UNHERALDED THOUGHTS

As always, some other phenomenal albums got beat out for the limiting 20 spots we offer on our lists. While some of those like Suppression, Temple of Void or Undeath are surely familiar to you, I want to take a brief moment to highlight five awesome albums that haven’t gotten enough attention this year. Each will be accompanied by a quick, one-sentence review that hopefully entices you to check them out.

Obscene – …From Dead Horizon To Dead Horizon: Indy OSDM crew ups the ante on every aspect of their 2020 debut in addition to a touch more atmosphere and a big jump in the number of high-quality leads.

Soldat Hans – Anthaupt: One of the most dynamic albums of the year that will just as often elicit joy as it does heart-rending dejection.

Turian – No Longer Human: A raucous good time that doesn’t waste a single moment of its flailing 26-minutes of madness.

Urishiol – Pools of Green Fire: Do you wish Gigan would take more hallucinogens and lean even harder into their impossible-to-process alien journies?

Vermin Womb – Retaliation: From the makers of Primitive Man, come just as much noise but sped up roughly 1,000x and somehow even more pissed off.

INSPIRING THOUGHTS (20-11)

What follows are 10 albums that inspired me to keep clicking play. The albums that scratch a particular itch in a way that no other bands quite could in 2022 but didn’t nestle quite as deeply into my rapidly smoothing brain as the ones in the next section.

20. Karmanjaka – Gates Of Muspel

Bloodborne character: The Moon Presence

Bloodborne offers players three endings, two of which have you interact with an ethereal god called The Moon Presence, who comes floating down to greet you after defeating the “final” boss. If you collect certain secret items, you are treated to an extra dash of fun fighting this tentacled baddy. Karmanjka also utilized a secret ingredient to unlock a killer album – fun! Gates of Muspel is a hearty dose of melodic black metal that provides earworm riffs and memorable choruses that are made all the more impactful by a subtle undercurrent of power metal’s levity and fun without skipping over the heavy and grim.

• Last Rites Review
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19. Phantom Spell – Immortal’s Requiem

Bloodborne character: The Doll

Listening to Immortal’s Requiem feels like you’re being treated to a bard’s tale through an incredible fantasy adventure. The Doll acts as your primary guide, providing sage advice and your only source of upgrades, just as sole Phantom Spell member Kyle McNeill’s infectious voice will carry you through these twisting, towering and empowering prog tunes. I dare you to listen to “Seven-Sided Mirror” and see if that chorus is humming through your head for days after.

• Last Rites Review
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18. Triac – Numb Grief​-​stricken Animals

Bloodborne character: Rabid dog

Bloodborne’s rabid dogs are exactly what you think they are. In comparing a grind album to a rabid dog, Triac’s Numb Grief-Stricken Animals is exactly what you think it is. This is less than 20 minutes of ravenous bursting grind that’s scratching and clawing to break off its chain and rip out your throat. Triac’s tunes are so good that, like a rabies patient, you may just experience involuntary ejaculations of various persuasions.

• Missing Pieces Blurb
• Bandcamp

17. Human Cull – To Weep For Unconquered Worlds

Bloodborne character: Brick troll

Human Cull is another dose of grind on this ever-so-wonderful list, so speed is still the name of the game. Where they stand out against the others is the burly musculature of death metal that gives it extra strength and makes you think it’s bigger than its 22-minute run time. Despite that muscle and intimidating size, these 20 tracks go by faster than you expect and are just like getting smashed in the noggin with 20 bricks.

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16. Obsidian Sea – Pathos

Bloodborne character: Living Failures

Sure, Obsidian Sea is a doom band, but they keep things nice and odd with the perfect amount of psychedelic weirdness and proggy experimentation. They drop a meteor shower’s worth of riffs on you while the songs lumber around your ears. There’s a delightful blend of the familiar and the alien with their approach, making for a beautiful battle in a dark sky.

• Missing Pieces Blurb
• Bandcamp

15. Anatomical Amusements – Corporeal Kaleidoscope

Bloodborne character: The One Reborn

The album is called Corporeal Kaleidoscope, so how would I not pick the boss made entirely out of corpses? More than that, however, the format for the fight with The One Reborn should be VERY familiar to anyone who has seen the Tower Knight fight in Demon’s Souls. Anatomical Amusements’ approach to death metal should be VERY familiar to anyone that has ever listened to Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious. You needn’t fret that this is boring clone work, though, because this band shares a member with Pharmacist, so you know these Carcass-worshipping riffs stand on their own as some of the best from any band this year.

• Last Rites Review
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14. Cloud Rat – Threshold

Bloodborne character: Dark Beast Paarl

Threshold is an absolutely electric dose of grind. These 15 tracks are brimming with raw energy while throwing in subtle shocks of variety to each song to make it give it more dimensions than one would expect on the surface. The three-piece band produced the album themselves, recording it all live in a room together, making its raw nature all the more potent. Plus, Madison Marshall’s violent screaming sounds like she’s stuck in a perpetual lightning AOE attack.

• Last Rites Review
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13. Grima – Frostbitten

Bloodborne character: Martyr Logarius

Grima’s Frostbitten would be right at home being blasted from the top of a snow-capped castle providing a harrowing sense of dread across the land. Each song is like a deadly spell cast to steal your soul and chill your spine. This is black metal made for lightless lands filled with screaming demons ready to encase your innards in ice.

• Bandcamp

12. Mother Of Graves – Where The Shadows Adorn

Bloodborne character: Vileblood Noblewomen

You’re dropped in a barren land where only ice, snow and horror greet the eye. As you enter Castle Cainhurst, you hear the sound of women crying, but as you approach, that turns to haunted wailing. If these ladies were to hear Where The Shadows Adorn, they would surely say, “these guys get it.” This is the soundtrack to winter sadness with big riffs, aching keys and a mighty roar.

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11. Immolation – Acts Of God

Bloodborne character: Laurence The First Vicar

Laurence The First Vicar is essentially just a reskin of the Cleric Beast from the early part of Bloodborne, but that similarity is primarily a visual one as its attacks are ablaze in violent flames. Any Immolation album is essentially a reskin of what came before it. Still, Acts of God carries a certain diabolical fire that elevates it ahead of some of their other modern albums. Even with an hour-plus runtime, every note drips with lava and each riff is like a giant flaming claw to the ear. To hear “Noose of Thorns” live is to risk spontaneous combustion.

• Last Rites Review
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DEEP THOUGHTS (10-1)

Below you will find my 10 favorite heavy albums of 2022. These were the ones that traversed through every groove and synapse of my squishy brain until they made a home firmly rooted in the deepest parts of my mind. These were the ones I returned to often and found my self thinking about long after they finished spinning. There is top-notch creativity, hostility, immensity, intensity and so much more among these sterling candidates. Do yourself a favor and listen to every damn one of ’em!

10. DEKONSTRUKT – MENTALLY TRAPPED

Bloodborne character: Winter Lantern

Dekonstrukt is pissed the fuck off and Mentally Trapped is one of the most hostile albums you’ll hear this year. The mere sight of a Winter Lantern immediately incites madness that can cause your brain to burst. Hearing Mentally Trapped will immediately inspire you to turn into the Tasmanian Devil and whirlwind around your leaving room until you fly to pieces. Almost every band member contributes vocals of some sort to help further the chaotic nature of these cyclone bomb songs. Every instrument puts the gas pedal to the floor with reckless abandon making each song feel like a competition to see whether it or your ears will crumble first.

If you’re looking for wild flailing grind that’s rage incarnate, look no further.

• Missing Pieces Blurb
• Bandcamp

9. KEN MODE – NULL

Bloodborne character: Iosefka’s Clinic werewolf

When you first start Bloodborne, you find yourself in what appears to be an empty clinic with turned-over beds and blood on the floor. It’s eery and upsetting. As you look around, you might rightfully think, “this ungrateful place; something is broken. Something is fucked.” Eventually, you’ll stumble into a room and see a werewolf, that’s about three times bigger than you, stalking around and you need to get to the door. You have no weapons. The game has given you little to no instruction on how to fight. You will try. You will die. The game immediately shows you its lack of forgiveness and you will feel defeated before your character’s true misery has even begun.

Welcome to listening to NULL. KEN mode’s music has always been angry, but this work oozes misery and defeat. Turning Kathryn Kerr into a full-time member appears to have inspired her to try and create the most unnerving listening experience possible with hideous saxophone notes and a multi-tool’s worth of other noise-making notes. Jesse Matthewson’s vocals seem slightly less angry but that gap is replaced with a sense of despair. Every song feels like it was created from a part of the brain trapped by depression bordering on giving up. “Lost Grip” is the most harrowing 10 minutes of music recorded in 2022. If you go to Null looking for commiseration, its only response will be “It was a mistake to ask me for help.”

• Last Rites Review
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8. ASHENSPIRE – HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE

Bloodborne character: Micolash, Host Of The Nightmare

Speaking of misery, Ashenspire has been witness to a whole lot of it around the globe and wants to bring it to your attention. A title like Hostile Architecture should be all the clue you need to know Ashenspire has created a statement of righteous indignation blasting the current state of the world’s woeful lack of humanity. Alasdair Dunn unleashes brilliant rants in a manner, like, I don’t know, a lunatic who wears a cage on his head and runs room to room shouting about nightmares. The difference is these rants hit on real-life battles that our most oppressed groups face. Whether the song focuses on cycles of poverty, LBGTQ+ discrimination, using politics to divide or any number of other topics, Dunn delivers impassioned sermons that can only be described as moving.

Beyond the incredible lyrics, Ashenspire delivers music that is equally powerful. While the primary instruments provide structure and direction for the song, it’s the inclusion of things like a choir or saxophone that really elevate these songs from great to incredible. The songs breathe, move and grow like they have their own life force separate from the band that made them. Hostile Architecture should incite social rage as it perfectly captures mistreatments of the current day. The sad part is this is a rally cry that all too likely will be needed for many years to come.

• Last Rites Review
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7. CULT OF LUNA – THE LONG ROAD NORTH

Bloodborne character: Giant Fishman (well sequence)

The Fishing Hamlet in Bloodborne has an open but crushing atmosphere to it. It’s blanketed in fog, every enemy is some moldy water-logged monster and each section of it feels sparse yet intimidating. At some point, you go down a well and start fighting a giant fishman that lumbers around but can jump clear across the area in a single-bound…then a second one shows up. It’s a delicate dance that uses heft, tempo and space to create one of the most memorable moments in the game, just as Cult of Luna uses those elements to create one of the most memorable albums of the year. A gigantic ship-hull-sized riff will crash into your ears and you’ll think, “my god, that’s the heaviest thing I’ve ever heard,”…and then another one shows up to give you the experience of being compressed into nothingness.

Cult of Luna has an uncanny ability to be crushingly heavy without being oppressive. They utilize open space and a sense of atmosphere to let both you and the songs breathe while maintaining a powerful heft all the same. Honestly, Cult of Luna’s music is relatively straightforward and not particularly complex. However, everything about it remains engrossing, particularly in its ability to focus on a sense of rage or despair while still giving little glimmers of hope along the way. To primarily rely on what seem like some of the most basic tenets of heavy metal but give them an emotional heft that matches the aural one is no small feat.

• No review, but Captain’s writeup in his best-of list is phenomenal
• Bandcamp

6. WORMROT – HISS

Bloodborne character: The Shadows of Yharnam

Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, three whackos drop surprise after surprise on you, changing up attacks on a whim to hit you with venom and fire in equal measure. Am I talking about The Shadows of Yharnam or Wormrot? The answer is yes.

This is slated to be Wormrot’s final album in their current three-piece form and they’re going out with their most diverse and interesting album yet. They’ve replaced the usual raw sewage ugliness of their previous works for a much cleaner sound. Add to that a wild mix of new elements like violins, black metal riffs and a myriad of other unexpected influences, and I will admit I was left scratching my head after my initial listen. With time the brilliance of Hiss unfurled. While 17-minute albums of pure blast fury are what made Wormrot who they are, this 33-minute exploration elevated them to a new level. It feels like they took every idea they ever castoff as “not being grind” across the last three albums and crammed it into their final one.

Surely, that means it’s a big mess, right? NOPE. It makes sense by not making sense. Each new twist and turn makes the basic grind moment all the more impactful. Wormrot is still a raging grindcore band but these old dogs managed to learn new tricks and they’re all the better for it.

• Bandcamp

5. THE OTOLITH – FOLIUM LIMINA

Bloodborne character: Lady Maria

Violins weave between doomy guitars like spiraling twisting staircases in a cold brick tower. A tower whose former purpose has been replaced by sentient experiments gone wrong. A band whose former self broke apart and reformed with fresh blood under a new banner. A woman of dignity once existed as a leader of hunters with her dance-like attacks and stoic presence fueling a battle that flows like a ballet of rending flesh. A resurrected group with voices that grip without being flashy providing an additional emotive tone to violins that weep.

Battling Lady Maria is a fight marked with beauty and devastation in equal measure. The Otolith picks up right where SubRosa left off leveling heartbreaking light against bone-shattering dark. Seek the transition from the minimalist gorgeous end of “Sing No Coda” as its skull gets dashed against the rocks under the crushing wave of heaviness that opens “Andromeda’s Wing.” Folium Limina is delicate and destructive and every time it attempted to destroy me was a moment cherished.

Sidenote: If you dig this style of adventurous doom, Messa’s Close absolutely needs to be in your queue.

• Last Rites Combined Staff List Blurb
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4. INANNA – VOID OF UNENDING DEPTHS

Bloodborne character: Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos

Inanna’s Void of Unending Depths takes the staples of Immolation’s style and drags them down to the bottom of the ocean. Like the Lovecraftian horror of Ebrietas, this album is not of this world as it creeps and sweeps from the depths of the darkest nightmare portions of unexplored waters. This creature is an amalgam of other monsters melted together in a hideous manner that can only be marveled at. Inanna’s attack is precise even while openly exploring; it’s loose but focused. The band can make you think of horrors unheard while hitting you with music made of familiar bones. There is a LOT to take in a while listening to Void of Unending Depths and that gives it even more value. You could listen to the nearly 14-minute closer “Cabo de Hornos” and feel like it was three times that length and a quarter of that length all at once. Each song feels like its own mini-sub journey to the deepest parts of the sea with James Cameron at your side, except Inanna didn’t need several billion dollars in special effects to create an award-worthy album.

• Last Rites Review
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3. AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION – WOE

Bloodborne character: Ludwig The Cursed, Holy Blade

Like a glowing green sword in a room drenched in blood, the softer beautiful moments in Woe are some of the most attention-grabbing and fascinating. Like Ludwig, who completely transforms mid-fight and ensconced in subtle upsetting details, An Abstract Illusion is more than meets the eye. The music morphs, builds, shifts and grows across its hour runtime, but utilizes a repeated melodic motif that provides a steady backbone to build off of. Putting a piano-driven softer track like “Blomsterkrans” right before the album’s most devastating song in “In The Heavens Above, You Will Become A Monster” was a choice that made each more impactful. You’ll hear stretches that make you think of Opeth or Between The Buried Me in the same song you might hear Beethoven or Pink Floyd.

Every player slides through a variety of styles between each song making every unpredictable turn a juicy morsel for the ears. Beyond their penchant for variety, it’s the attention to small details that makes Woe endlessly replayable. A one-off run on the keys can manage to make a transition feel 100x heavier. Woe is an album I reviewed and have steadily listned to with rapt attention since writing that review back in September. That should give you some idea of just how much there is to chew on here when you consider the previously provided context of my goldfish attention span.

• Last Rites Review
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2. HATH – ALL THAT WAS PROMISED

Bloodborne character: Amygdala

Everything about Hath’s All That was Promised is MASSIVE. The riffs are big. The production is enormous. The song structures build to huge climaxes. The choruses have huge hooks. The interplay between every instrument and the deftly layered mix makes everything feel bigger than something that could be accomplished by a few dudes and some by-the-numbers heavy metal instruments. The Amygdala is the largest boss in Bloodborne and although fighting one only occurs in a non-required location, they are hanging out on buildings all around the map, hitting you with lasers from afar. Hath having released this album early in the year left them as a looming threat to everything that followed. Each new metal album would try to provide a bigger experience and Hath would leap off the building with a multi-limbed assault and squish them like the paltry bug they are.

A lot happens in a single song on All That Was Promised, but it never feels like the million-note attack that it is. Each song is crafted with laser precision and flow that will make you feel more powerful just by hearing it. Listen to “Kenosis” and be prepared to feel like you could lift your house and chuck it to the other side of the planet.

• Last Rites Review
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1. KNOLL – METEMPIRIC

Bloodborne character: The Orphan of Kos

I could’ve chosen The Orphan of Kos for Knoll because both are essentially still fresh from the womb, but that’s a tertiary commonality at best. No, it’s the relentless intensity and unexpected weapons they use that truly bring these two into the same limelight. You probably never thought of weaponizing a placenta, but the good folks at From Software certainly did. You probably rarely think of putting trumpet in grindcore, but the good folks of Knoll certainly did. Its presence is relatively limited, but the moments where the trumpet blares into songs on Metempiric exhibit Knoll’s desire to create the most aurally assaulting music they can. Every note feels like it’s stealing part of the life force of brass instruments across the globe as the trumpet adds another ear-destroying layer to the din.

The Orphan of Kos relentlessly pursues you in a quest to destroy your chosen hunter, leaving you perpetually on your heels searching for any brief window to breathe and heal; Metempiric is sonically the same unleashing barrage after barrage of woozy guitars from three different players, piston-backed drums and droning noise to create songs your brain can’t physically process in a single listen. Even the eight-minute closer that utilizes more open space and focuses primarily on noise is oppressive as hell. Top all that off with Jamie Eubanks’ throat-shredding screeches, which are only slightly less fucked up than the Orphan’s, and you have an album that absolutely bristles with intensity.

• Last Rites Review
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BRAINSTORMING THOUGHTS

EPs and demos are most often an opportunity for bands to announce themselves or experiment outside of their standard styles. Like a good brainstorm, there should be a myriad of ideas thrown onto the board. The 10 releases below are the ones the heavy metal company would gladly turn into a full campaign or product launch.

10. Tormentor Tyrant – Tormentor Tyrant

Do you like Deicide’s first three albums? Tormentor Tyrant blast out a delightful dose of OSDM but their preferred 90’s death metal legend is Glen Benton rather than Trey Azagthoth or Christ Reifert like so many of their fellow lovers of moldy oldies.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

9. Septic Vomet – Infected Cadaveric Slaves – Demo Tape 2022

As Andrew Edmunds pointed out in his review below, Septic Vomet has the best utilization of samples from the past 12 months. They implement the opening moments of the Evil Dead remake and have the music kick in just as the seemingly innocent woman goes full demon. From there, it’s hideous vomit-slick grind spliced with a few more perfectly-timed samples. It’s gross, it’s fast, it’s wonderful.

• Last Rites Review
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8. Mournful Congregation – The Exuvia Of Gods – Part I

Chances are you’ve already heard Mournful Congregation before deciding to read the words of a chucklefuck like me. Of course, that means you already know what’s in store for you here: Massive riffs that pass by more slowly than a body rots in a church graveyard. Despondency continues to be Mournful Congregation’s primary product and they continue to package it much better than most.

• Last Rites Review
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7. Dressed In Streams – Vande Mataram

The root of Dressed in Stream’s music is black metal, but this is a particularly abrasive take on the genre. It’s atmospheric, but that atmosphere is caustic, where the music is like an IV of acid searing through your veins, muscles and flesh to produce a harrowing end. This is noisy, angry and potent, just as a 30-minute song inspired by India’s fight for independence should be.

• Bandcamp

6. Ancient Death – Sacred Vessel

I don’t blame you if you looked at that guy from the Blue Man Group getting groped on the cover and decided to skip Ancient Death. This is where I urge you to reconsider and not judge a book by a bad cover. There’s just as much classic death metal riffage as there is doom death’s lumbering crush on Sacred Vessel. An exceptional knack for playing with tempos, killer leads and a vocalist that knows how to be a proper weapon in a deathly arsenal make for one hell of an EP.

• Bandcamp

5. Vulgar Mephitis – Vulgar Mephitis

Vulgar Mephitis assaults listeners with a brand of brutal and technical death metal that will leave them looking precisely like ol’ lasagna face on the EP cover.

• Bandcamp

4. Deliriant Nerve – Uncontrollable Ascension

This is one of two EPs released by Deliriant Nerve and both are worth your time. Uncontrollable Ascension‘s 12 minutes of blistering grind doesn’t rely only on chaotic blasting noise; it hits with actual songs and various riff styles, making it one of the most memorable grind releases of 2022.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

3. Moonlight Sorcery – Piercing Through The Frozen Eternity

If you read my Missing Pieces blurb below, you’ll see that I claimed Piercing Through The Frozen Eternity was 2022’s best EP. As you can see, I’ve made a liar out of myself. Don’t take that #3 ranking as a knock against Moonlight Sorcery because it’s more of a note that the next two EPs were just that damn good. Moonlight Sorcery’s icy black metal is warmed by guitars that absolutely shred. Blazing leads are piercing through the frozen riffs with a sense that the person playing could go on for eternity. Even the riffs feel like they’re constantly on the edge of exploding into another lead.

• Missing Pieces Blurb
• Bandcamp

2. Cosmic Hearse – Exalted Terror

If you like Afterbirth’s album Four Dimensional Flesh, there’s a good chance you might enjoy Cosmic Hearse’s Exalted Terror. While the execution is different, both bands ply their utter brutality with the alien. Exalted Terror opens with a pure blasting assault, but once it starts getting weird, it only gets weirder, making each passing song more fascinating.

• Bandcamp

1. Defect Designer – Neanderthal

Defect Designer’s Neanderthal is a maelstrom of death grind that’s at once sophisticated and impressively ignorant. There are sharp tempo changes, complex rhythms, fleeting leads and a general sense of a masterfully crafted insanity. The music here is just as bonkers as the phenomenally strange cover.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

SLIGHTLY LESS HOSTILE THOUGHTS

Naturally, heavy music is my favorite kind of music. The mind, however, needs more than heaviness to prosper. It’s important to listen to music outside of our beloved metals and not just because variety in life is essential. No, it’s important to hear other types of music to see what else the world has to offer and gain a broader understanding of music that can provide fascinating context to your listening habits. The world is made of many colors and I, for one, love to experience as many of them as I can. Below are five albums outside of the realm of heavy metal that I couldn’t put down.

5. Kaleidobolt – This One Simple Trick

You’ll notice below that I reviewed this album earlier in the year despite that fact that it doesn’t really qualify for the top-20 metal list above. While it falls outside the purview of what we normally cover, it was still written about because Kaleidobolt’s frenetic psych rock should appeal to a large portion of the heavy-music community. This One Simple Trick is a wild-tempered explosion that’s heavy metal in mind rather than sound.

• Last Rites Review
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4. Darkswoon – Bloom Decay

The gothic side of music has been a newer exploration for me. On the surface, you’ll hear inspirations from the likes of Nine Inch Nails or Radiohead in Darkswoon’s music, but surely there are deeper and better references here that my untrained ear is missing. Regardless, Bloom Decay’s electronic pulses come from a black somber heart that makes for one hell of a listening experience.

• Bandcamp

3. Getšemane – Viimaa

Viimaa will make you smile. These Finns have assembled a phenomenal cast of songs that run, bounce, jive, boogie, cheer, explore and rock like the psychedelic prog-rock of the 70s. If you’re looking for a good time, give Getšemane a call.

• Bandcamp

2. Amanda – Weltenraum

Weltenraum only gives listeners two lengthy songs, but what they may lack in runtime, they more than make up for in prog-rock quality. That genre tag, more often than not, makes me think of noodly bright weirdness, but Amanda offers a more serious type of exploration that feels grounded in bleaker emotions while still exploring a wide gamut of musical ideas and styles.

• Bandcamp

1. John Patton – Soul Connection

This one is cheating a little bit because Soul Connection was originally recorded in 1983 but received a re-release early this year. I don’t care when this came out because it was one of my most listened-to albums. Even that 80’s release date seems wrong when you listen to Soul Connection because everything about feels like it’s from a decade or two earlier, as funkiness and groove abound. Patton will go on lengthy organ solos just as often as he lets the guitar or trombone wander and wail. This album is a bright and joyous romp that was exactly what I needed when a break from the darkness was desired.

• Bandcamp

RECALLING THOUGHTS

You can’t listen to every album ever made. You’re probably trying your damndest to but there just isn’t enough time in a single life to do it. In fact, you can’t even listen to every new metal release in a single year; we’re gifted with too much of it. As such, I inevitably come across a handful of albums from the past that stick with me as strongly as something brand new. Below are five albums that were new to me in 2022 that I think you might also enjoy.

5. Carlos Viola – Blasphemous Soundtrack

I must admit that I rarely dive into soundtracks of any persuasion, but when one hooks me, those hooks go deep. The music in Blasphemous so perfectly matches the look and atmosphere of the game, that it deserves dedicated listening time. Soft guitar moments against various instruments that chime can feel at once religious and sinful. There’s a sadness and beauty that seeps through every track.

• Bandcamp

4. Agusa – En annan v​ä​rld

Consisting of only two tracks surpassing 20 minutes each, En annan v​ä​rld is an exceptionally engrossing prog album. There are massive peeks and valleys as the music flies, meanders and twists around a beautiful blend of melodious and symphonic notes. Just as it would take a long time to uncover every detail of that intricate album art, Agusa has created an album you’ll want to sit with for long stretches over and over to let each subtle passage have the time to fully unfurl in your mind.

• Bandcamp

3. Intestine Baalism – An Anatomy Of The Beast

OSDM existed in Japan in 1997? Of course, it did, you silly nonce! As one would expect with tunes from Japan, there is a bit of an odd twist that helps this album have more character than a lot of its peers at the time. After months of listening to this one, I’m not quite sure how this has managed to go without the designation of being a classic. If you love death metal from its infant heyday, you’ll want to add this one to your collection.

• Bandcamp

2. Miles Davis – Get Up With It

One of my favorite things about Miles Davis’ music is that there is an immense variety of styles throughout his career. I have absolutely fallen in love with the weird and funky compositions on 1974’s Get Up With It. One stretch can have keys that sound like a psychedelic nightmare version of stereotypical porn music, and the next can have a bass line that I’m convinced Koji Kondo stole when composing music for early Mario games. This album is an engaging, enthralling experience across its entire two-plus hours.

• YouTube

1. Papangu – Holoceno

We all love our good friend Lone Watie, but sometimes he hoards music like Smaug does treasure. He had the audacity to rank this as his #1 album of 2021 and never once mentioned it to any of the rest of us before that list went live. RUDE! I’ll forgive him, though, because that meant this was a New Year’s treat to myself that has continued to be a steady joy for the entirety of this year. To say Papangu is eclectic would be an understatement. Honestly, I’m not even going to describe this further because I want you to experience the surprises Holoceno offers as fully as possible. Even if you don’t end up liking Papangu, you’ll still walk away knowing you experienced something unique and fascinating.

• Bandcamp

NOT-SO-SCATTERED THOUGHTS

Not-So-Scattered Thought #1: I want to give a special thank you to the folks that make up the Last Rites kingdom. There is a steady stream of chatter among us that I engage in daily, which inevitably lifts my spirits in both big and small ways. The passion for music that you can clearly read on this site is only matched by their passion for taking care of each other. I am so happy and grateful to have this great group of genuinely wonderful people in my corner. I can’t imagine the much less interesting life I would’ve had over these past few years if I hadn’t submitted my parchment of application or had they opened the murder holes in the castle entrance to drop boiling pitch on my head as a rejection.

Not-So-Scattered Thought #2: I can’t believe anyone actually reads anything I write, so thank you to any and all of you that have ever clicked through. The times those reads turn into a conversation are even better, only bested by those rare occasions where I find out someone bought an album specifically because of a review I wrote. Those moments are incredibly flattering. One of my favorite things in the world is sharing the music I love with other people, so thank you for being part of my joy. 

The post Best of 2022 – Spencer Hotz: Wait, Why Did I Come In Here? appeared first on Last Rites.

Now to that damnable listing!

FIRST OFF, PRECIOUS ITEM

20. Darkthrone – Astral Fortress

Astral Fortress seems like the culmination of everything Darkthrone has been trying to do since Arctic Thunder, not to mention a huge bounce back after the relative weakness of last year’s Eternal Hails (………). The doom, grit, subtle remnants of black metal, and trad riffing all combine in a killer, surprisingly deep, and undeniably cozy example of the veteran duo’s old metal.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

19. Mortuous – Upon Desolation

It was a banner year for death metal of myriad sub-styles. For Mortuous, that style is molten. It hits a big spot when blasting and rapidly rumbling, but Upon Desolation really digs its hooks in when offering either a nasty, mid-paced Autopsy trudge or going full doom/death at the speed of a slow, inexorable lava flow. At times it’s like Incantation caught the My Dying Bride sadness, straight down to the strings.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

18. Daeva – Through Sheer Will and Black Magic

From my review: “Through Sheer Will and Black Magic is a wickedly fun slab of blackened thrash that is as loaded with details as it is lacking in pretension. Like the best bands playing this stuff, Daeva manages to play controlled chaos without sounding under control, but rather animalistic and murderous in their intent, as it should be.”

• Bandcamp

17. Species – To Find Deliverance

There’s been a bounty of techy thrash to enjoy in recent years, and Poland’s Species is another great act to add to those rankings. The jazzy bass, progressive song structures, and generally clinical class of the musicianship bring the brains, while the biting, attitude-infused vocals, slick leads, and twitchy, stop-start riffs and rhythms provide the fun.

• Bandcamp

16. Antigama – Whiteout

Antigama has slowly grown from a really great, robotic/sci-fi disciple of Napalm Death into a beastly force, and Whiteout might be their greatest achievement. It’s certainly the heaviest thing they’ve ever released, as if their entire goal was to out-brutalize Time Waits for No Slave in about two-thirds of the running time. Grindcore gets faster, punkier, and more political, but it’s rarely as leveling as Whiteout.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

15. Stangarigel – Na severe srdca

Do I love Na severe srdca because a certain moment reminds me of the Final Fantasy VI soundtrack as much as the full album calls back to things like Bergtatt and Vikingligr Veldi? Quite possibly. That’s the beautiful mysteriousness of music, that a little melody can cross platforms, continents, and decades to bring a smile. Another huge win for the ever-expanding Malokarpatan family.

• Bandcamp

14. Static Abyss – Labyrinth of Veins

Autopsy fans were pigs in shit this year with both a great new record from the full band and this surprise from half of the band. Chris Reifert is joined by new Autopsy bassist Greg Wilkinson on a gleefully gross and hefty slab of doomy horror death. As with Autopsy, Static Abyss is bonkers fun without sacrificing any of that putrid, rotting, corrupt, filthy, disgusting, nasty, vile, repugnant, slimy atmosphere. “Mandatory Cannibalism” might be the best death metal song title of the year.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

13. Meshuggah – Immutable

From my review: “Immutable is ludicrously heavy, enthusiastically weird, mind-warping, and just outright cool. Plus, despite it being their longest offering at nearly 67 minutes and definitely meandering in a couple spots, it carries one of their clearer arcs outside of Catch Thirtythree.”

Immutable might not even place in the top half of my Meshuggah rankings if I did such a thing (we all know I do such a thing), and yet here it is. From the swell and explosion of “Broken Cog” and solo in “Kaleidoscope” to the lengthy and monstrous instrumental “They Move Below,” this is another win on this band’s peerless plateau. Meshuggah forever. (But not Meshuggah 4/4-ever.)

• Bandcamp

12. Sigh – Shiki

The legendary Sigh has long been a pinnacle of consistency in terms of quality, but when they manage to surprise they find that extra level. Shiki is an almost shockingly aggressive album for this stage of their career, with Mirai Kawashima giving one of his most charismatic and manic vocal performances. This record is the type of infectious, big music that metalheads think should be filling up arenas because we’re often too obsessed to realize how weird it all is. And hot damn, the leads!

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

11. Immolation – Acts of God

From my review: “At times it seems like these songs are designed around getting to the solo, but that might just be a reflection of how well Immolation shapes a song climax around a lead, not to mention the fire behind these sessions. As a band they seem capable of growing out of any single element into something larger until it becomes some preposterously intense vortex of blasts, dissonant riffs, and death growls.” Is it their best album in a while? Yes! Maybe! Who cares! It rules.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

TIME FOR SOMETHING INCREDIBLE

10. HEAVING EARTH – DARKNESS OF GOD

Czechia’s Heaving Earth made one of the year’s great leaps on Darkness of God, their third full length, graduating from a very good Immolation disciple (speaking of those Yonkers greats) to a band really moving death metal in new directions. The Immo influence remains, obviously, along with some of Ulcerate’s slipperier take on the style, but it’s combined with a prog songwriting complexity, some Necrophagist-style tech, and an ludicrous level of detail. It’s rare for death metal to be so meticulously crafted and still seem like a playground for the immensely talented musicians putting it all together. Although in fairness, the soloing rarely feels like it’s meant to rock your socks off. Rather, it carries that Bob Vigna seriousness of purpose, and even the bass soloing has a kind of space age malevolence to it. Darkness of God is an intense, spiraling, dissonant, tension-driven beast of a record that is just undeniably cool for every second of its run time, and one that fans of any style of death metal would be loath to miss.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

9. BORIS – HEAVY ROCKS

From my review: “…that energy is just undeniable. Most tunes sparkle like a livewire, with Atsuo shifting between rolling heft and d-beat drive, Wata’s and Takeshi’s riffs moving between everything from trad metal (“Ruins”) and straightforward punk to layered, psyched out passages and even hints of surf rock (“Cramper”). The vocals ‒ mostly delivered by Atsuo and Takeshi ‒ also run a full gamut, from their typically punky singing to gang shouts and even near-death growls on the pulsating and industrial “Ghostly Imagination,” a tune that also offers a big dip into HEAVY doom at one point. “Question 1” likewise offers a crucial change of pace in the middle, offering a lush shoegaze passage between bookends of aggressive but melodic and hooky metal.”

The Heavy Rocks mode of Boris has certainly expanded quite a bit since the first entry a full 20 years ago, but what never changes are the traits put right there in the title. The latest (which is one of three new 2022 Boris albums) sees the band working at the height of their powers, proving again why they are such an institution and why, no matter their mode, they’re a towering rock and roll force.

• Bandcamp

8. BLIND GUARDIAN – THE GOD MACHINE

The seven years since Beyond the Red Mirror is the longest gap between proper Blind Guardian albums, a span that saw Hansi Kürsch and André Olbrich finally completing their Twilight Orchestra project. Perhaps pushing the orchestral element of Blind Guardian to its fullest extent left the band with extra unrealized heft, as The God Machine contains their fastest, most direct, and most intense material since about the first half of the 90s. And it’s all the better for it too, offering a constantly killer set of anthemic, riff-loaded tracks that are each as memorable as the next. It’s all that bombastic, rollicking, classic Blind Guardian, but filtered through some of the extra sheen and flourishes they adopted in all the years since. I challenge you to find a better heavy metal earworm in 2022 than the chorus of “Secrets of the American Gods,” or a better case of The Masters Doing Masterful Things than The God Machine. This one caused instant smiles all around the LR HQ watercooler.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

7. BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS –
ABOMINATION OF THE FLAMES

When recommending Abomination of the Flames to a friend, I described it as “Black Seeds of Vengeance, but inside a volcano.” Not that Nile’s classic sophomore album isn’t plenty molten itself, but Beyond Mortal Dreams really seem to embrace combustion (as if the title and “late stage Doom boss” album art weren’t clues). Every element of this album, from the rumbling riffs and rhythms and Azagthothian lava leads to the long doomy passages and demonic vocals, seems hellbent on, well, damning the listener. This is seriously evil death metal, but it’s not without super catchy riffs, the occasional hook, and some spryness when needed. Even the surprising injection of Cynic-ish robot vocals just sound like another underworld entity out for your soul. Infernal death metal of the highest order.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

6. VALBORG – DER ALTE

From my review: “At both different times and all at once it might sound like a punk version of Triptykon, a gothic take on Godflesh, and a death metal reimagining of The Cure. Valborg might have a stripped down sound, but Der Alte is positively wild, and it ought to go without saying that despite all the violent music, creepy gothic passages, and unrelenting rhythms, it’s a helluva fun ride that will absolutely rock your socks off… …Sure, it’s downright demented, but it’s also rock and roll in all the same ways that Rocket to Russia was rock and roll. Nothing but riffs, rhythms, great vocals, and that unmistakable feeling that this is unsuitable for “proper” society. Delightfully unsuitable, barbaric, uncouth, and rude in all the best ways.”

What else could I possibly say about Valborg that I haven’t said a dozen times over the years? One of my current favorite German exports keeps at it in what is probably the best album run of their career. A colossal blast.

• Bandcamp

5. AUTONOESIS – MOON OF FOUL MAGICS

Following up an album as dense as was Autonoesis’ 2020 debut with something even more sprawling is a bold move, but Moon of Foul Magics fulfills and expands upon the colossal promise of its predecessor. The decision to start up an album full of proggy, techy extreme metal with a song that most closely resembles Black Sabbath’s “Solitude” is one clue that this record spreads out somewhat, as are the shorter, more straightforward heavy metal thunder moments (“Raise the Dead,” specifically), and the material that feels like an homage to the score of The Last of the Mohicans (“Valhöll”). But at its core this is still wickedly techy black/death/thrash with an immense scope, wowing with precision riffs, a glorious sense of melody, and timely, triumphant solos. The key term there is “wowing,” as there is nary a moment when I’m not driven to quote Butch Cassidy: “I couldn’t do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who ARE those guys?” So I guess this album conjures images of Daniel Day Lewis and Paul Newman. Handsomest album of 2022!

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

4. HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE – OVERTAKER

Admission: Overtaker is not what I wanted from a new Hammers of Misfortune album. I wanted that Metallica-plus-Queen-and-Maiden vibe of most of their records, but as Mick once sang, sometimes getting what you want and need are very different things. Overtaker is an absolutely nutty album. The performance of returning vocalist Jamie Myers? Borderline demented. The shift to utterly ripping thrash for the album’s foundation? Bonkers. A set of tunes that largely eschew the longer form prog opuses in favor of shorter bursts of violence? Wackadoo. There are still a lot of the typical Hammers traits ‒ regardless of the speed at which he plays, John Cobbett has one of the most recognizable riff styles in metal, Sigrid Sheie’s keys still give the album a big injection of 70s rock, and the inherent progness remains ‒ but that change in speed and aggression really results in a wild ride. The band leaves the city for the high plains of Montana and delivers the least pastoral music of their career. Positively bananas.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

3. MESSA – CLOSE

I was pretty into Messa’s previous album Feast for Water, but unlike some of my pals around here, I wasn’t quite gaga. I wanted to be gaga. Well, I’m definitely gaga over Close. Is it that things are a tad more spread out? Or that supernaturally talented vocalist Sara Bianchin somehow keeps getting better? Maybe that the heavier parts are heavier, the quieter parts quieter, and the whole thing is overall more stylistically varied? That surprise grindcore song? Probably a bit of all of it, really. (Okay, it’s not the grind song, but it’s not not the grind song…) Messa’s music is true beauty, but it’s a very heavy beauty, both sonically and emotionally, a blend of hazy-hefty doom and gorgeous downtempo rock that is progressive in stature if not necessarily sound. It’s a (mostly) slow album that goes by quickly despite being over an hour long. Messa is squarely in that everything-turns-to-gold zone, seemingly at the peak of their powers but potentially just getting started. Stunning, irresistible mastery.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

2. ARTIFICIAL BRAIN – ARTIFICIAL BRAIN

If there was an award for leveling up one’s game, Artificial Brain might just get it for their self-titled record. These Long Island skronklords improved every part of their sound, from a batch of riffs and motifs that always manage to shift and twist without repetition to the individual performances and overall balance of a very busy sound (a lot of credit for which obviously goes to the studio work of Finn Jansen and Colin Marston). But it’s in the songwriting and ideas departments where Artificial Brain really hits a home run. Each of these 10 songs tells a unique tale, sometimes contrasting tension in the guitars with melodious bass (“Celestial Cyst”) and at others taking the Artificial Brain sound farther into black metal terrain than ever before (“Embalmed with Magma”). There’s always some brutal smash, nutty solo, inhuman guttural, fury of blasts, or magical melodic revelation right around the corner. All the countless secrets and details really give this record a sense of excitement, and helped it get better with each of the countless listens I’ve given it since its release back in June. Nothing short of a goddamn tour de force, this one.

• Last Rites review
• Bandcamp

1. ASHENSPIRE – HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE

From my review: “…Hostile Architecture is a scathing indictment of the exploitative, exclusionary, discriminative, and otherwise destructive practices by the powers-that-be (or powers-that-would-be) in advanced capitalist (or otherwise brutal) societies, things anyone with even the slightest eye outward sees in far too great of quantities today. The lyrics range from pinpoint accusations to poignant metaphors, never indulging the kind of cheap sloganeering designed purely for crowd interaction… …It calls to mind everything from Negură Bunget to SubRosa and later Swans—at different times disorienting and captivating as it spirals up into a climax of violins, blasts, relatively simple riffs, and determined, almost preaching vocals… …So yes, the music is damn well good enough that if you really wanted to try to appreciate the record on only its instrumental and melodic terms, you could certainly try, but why would you only focus on half of the picture? Why would you, or how could you ignore the words when Dunn (and everyone else) delivers them with such resolve?”

I ask myself this question about a lot of message-forward or political music with which I fail to form a deeper connection, but with Ashenspire, the words only ever strengthened my love of their music. It helps that their messages are both incredibly important and tangentially related to my own work, and that their music is so gorgeous, diverse, and extravagant, both of which explain why I connected so much with Hostile Architecture. No record has been as much on my mind throughout the year, both musically and lyrically. That certainly describes a personal album of the year, if you ask me.

• Bandcamp

BEHOLD, SKINNY SORT!

Nothing like a good EP to introduce yourself, and a good half of my Short Stuff list this year is Hello-How-Ya-Doings from pretty new acts. Young or old, it’s all gold.

10. Sleeper Ship – The Gateway

“What if Devin Townsend, but with a splash of power metal?” seems to have been the simple question Unleash the Archers’ Andrew Saunders sought to answer with his solo project Sleeper Ship. The slick, escapist vibe, chunky/atmospheric riffs, shreddy leads, and even Saunders’ vocal style owe a lot to the Band era of Devin’s solo career, and who doesn’t need more of that?

• Bandcamp

9. Vulgar Mephitis – Vulgar Mephitis

This article has thus far had a drastic shortage of grossness, so please to be introducing yourself to the debut from Pittsburgh’s Vulgar Mephitis. Brutal, greasy, almost-but-not-quite-slamming death metal with ample guitar squeals, rhythmic twitches and trudges, and borderline “What was he thinking?” vocals. This is what comes out when you open the Ark of the Covenant.

• Bandcamp

8. Defect Designer – Neanderthal

My first thought about Neanderthal was that it sounded like Diskord emulating Human Remains (plus Atheist, Ripping Corpse, etc.), which made sense when it became clear that half of Defect Designer is actually in Diskord. Theirs is a twisted, sometimes grindy, sometimes very melodic, and greasily techy (fretless bass and all) brand of death metal—demented, catchy, and manic, just how you ordered.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

7. Silurian – End of Ordovicia

From my review: “End of Ordovicia lives up to and surpasses any expectations created by Silurian’s associated acts [Sunless, Obsolete, Suffering Hour, and others]. This is a wild, thrilling little EP that ought to appeal to a wide swath of listeners, not to mention a massive whetter of appetites for whatever might come out of the Silurian camp next.”

• Bandcamp

6. Greyhawk – Call of the Hawk

Picking up right where the tremendous Keepers of the Flame left off, Call of the Hawk is more triumphant, fist-pumping, infectious, Feggishly theatrical, and just-epic-enough power/trad. Great melodies, killer leads, and a constant urge to drink BBQ beers while wearing enough denim to clothe a small Canadian city—what else do you need?

• Bandcamp

5. Bat Magic – Ritualia Festum in Ichor Noster

The follow-up to Bat Magic’s wicked good debut EP offers more of their killer black metal mix: harsh rawness, that spoo-OOOO-ky haunted mansion vibe, a fair amount of melody, and real chops in both musicality and composition. It shocks with its savagery before slowly revealing how classy and sophisticated it is, which is ironically the opposite order of events during an evening at Castle Dracula.

• Bandcamp

4. Moonlight Sorcery – Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity

When your melodic black metal cover is that certain shade of blue you better come correct with the frozen temps, and Finland’s Moonlight Sorcery is damn near absolute zero. Like a much faster Summoning raised on Far Away from the Sun and driven to bursts of neoclassicism, Moonlight Sorcery is positively overflowing with both an understanding of and love for this material. Captivating and gorgeous.

• Last Rites Missing Pieces Entry
• Bandcamp

3. Heruvim – Shadowheart

What I wrote for our EP list: “Ever get the feeling that a band’s sound is made just for you? Ukraine’s Heruvim brings a mix of Edge of Sanity’s swaggery bigness (the chorus in the title track feels right off of The Spectral Sorrows), peak Amon Amarth’s driving force, and a Cannibal Corpse level of riff technicality. So everything ‒ from the massive growls and towering, beefy riffs to the enthusiastic double kick drums and smooth soloing ‒ speaks right to a 90s (melo)death metal heart of hearts.”

• Bandcamp

2. Worm – Bluenothing

Worm mainman Phantomslaughter cleaned house prior to this new EP, and in the tradition of the MLB trade deadline, made his strengths stronger by bringing in Phil Tougas (sorry, “Wroth Septentrion”) to shred all over the place. Bluenothing might only be 27 minutes long, but it’s probably the most diverse Worm offering yet, ranging from regal funeral doom to pummeling doom/death and even a bit of symphonic black metal on closer “Shadowside Kingdom.” Worm remains one of the coolest things currently crawling out of the Everglades.

• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp

1. Ancient Death – Sacred Vessel

I didn’t hear Sacred Vessel until about a month ago and it hit me like a ton of bricks. As with #3 on this list, Ancient Death brings that “Is this made just for ME?” vibe, combining more of that wicked Edge of Sanity bounce and bombast with both an extra touch of tech (mostly in the form of Jasmine Alexander’s fretless bass), complex song structures, and some true doom/death passages. Ancient Death possesses an almost Autopsy knack for tempo changes and timing, with riff variations and solos perfectly meeting the moments and vocalist Jerry Witunsky always understanding when to keep the growls low and when to unleash a bitter, throat-shredding scream (or even some creepy singing). This is a stupidly good debut from a band that hopefully is already working on a follow-up.

• Bandcamp

SEEK CALMNESS

Okay, maybe not always calmness, as a few of these albums would qualify for the metal lists for some folks (heck, one did). But if the point is to highlight as much good music as possible, sometimes a guy stretches some definitions. So behold, my Occasionally Closer to Metal but Usually Farther from Metal List of “Non-Metal” Albums of 2022.

10. Clutch – Sunrise on Slaughter Beach

Not even this Clutch superfan was too impressed by the overproduced and bloated Book of Bad Decisions, so when its follow-up proved to be lean, efficient, and surprisingly diverse, I will admit feeling more than a little relief. Sunrise is exactly the type of album that Clutch should be making at this point: no-nonsense, natural, and imbued with their uncut and immortal rock fury.

• YouTube

9. The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention

No, it isn’t a new Radiohead album, but damn if it isn’t a great effort from Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood that I might end up eventually enjoying more than a few Radiohead albums (it’s definitely better than the debut and King of Limbs at a minimum). Shedding their far more famous band name seems to have liberated Yorke and Greenwood to return mostly to a rock format, but with a lot of the weirdness they embraced over the past few decades in Radiohead. They’re almost allowing themselves to have fun. Almost. (They’re probably having a blast.)

• Bandcamp

8. Scorpions – Rock Believer

From my review: “Rock Believer is the best Scorpions record in at least 30 years. It isn’t perfect, nor is it likely to suddenly vault them back to superstardom in a very different rock and music business landscape, but considering how much of their later studio output just seemed like an excuse to get back on the road, it has to be considered at least a moderate triumph.” Big cheers to Rudi, Klaus, and the gang for this gigantic grin and out-of-the-blue surprise.

• YouTube

7. Björk  – Fossora

Has anyone done more to condition pop music fans to the avant-garde than Björk? Fossora manages to be both supremely catchy and borderline antagonistic in its rejection of conventional song forms and sounds. Like Utopia before it, this sees Björk indulging orchestral instrumentation, using clarinets, oboes, flutes, and strings in unconventional manners all over the place, sometimes over pulsating electronic beats and sometimes over songs that almost resemble chamber music. It’s all accompaniment for her voice, which here ranges from additional backing textures and almost freeform singing to her legendary roar. It’s either pop music at its weirdest or weird music at its poppiest. It’s certainly gorgeous and captivating, so ultimately it’s Björk as hell.

• Bandcamp

6. Niechęć – Unsubscribe

Niechęć is a jazz rock ensemble from Poland that plays a bonkers cool mix of slick, hip as hell 70s fusion and trippy alt/prog/post rock, calling to mind everything from Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock to Weather Report and even Goblin (and surely many others of which I’m less familiar). But their boldness and command is all their own, allowing them to shift from oddball hammering to sexy sax features to freakout guitar solos and back to calm, escapist piano tickling, sometimes all in one song. Impossibly rad stuff.

• Bandcamp

5. billy woods – Aethiopes & Church

One half of Armand Hammer, rapper billy woods, double-dipped on his deeply thoughtful but super smooth hip-hop with two new platters in 2022, one produced by Preservation (the drifty and deeply forward-thinking Aethiopes) and the other by Messiah Musik (the relatively more immediate and beat-oriented Church, credited to billy woods x Messiah Musik). Both feature a wide variety of backing instrumentation and sample sources, giving woods’ deep lyrics and subtly shifting flow a diverse and at times uneasy and almost dreamlike vibe in which to play, particularly on Aethiopes. When he isn’t scathingly offering glimpses of daily pains and joys and struggles and all the other tiny moments in the city, he seems to be carrying all of those experiences on his own shoulders, communicating an air of exhaustion that is often just beneath the surface of his voice. Regardless of the setting on both of these brilliant albums, the result is beautiful and brutal.

• Bandcamp

4. The Cult – Under the Midnight Sun

Ian Astbury, Billy Duffy, and company are now three albums into their strongest run of material since the 80s, and Under the Midnight Sun is the best of the bunch, with Astbury’s voice in particular showing no signs of age. It’s also the gothiest album they’ve done since probably Love, lush and smoky and absolutely gorgeous from the opening notes to the finish of the stunning, closing title track. It’s hardly surprising that a band whose popularity peaked during Thatcher’s reign isn’t getting much attention in 2022, but with an album this good, it’s also a damn shame.

• YouTube

3. Shaam Larein – Sticka En Kniv I V​ä​rlden

Between The Cult, this album, and the top of this list, my lighter listening in 2022 was dominated by gothier vibes, and Shaam Larein’s latest record firmly belongs in the witchier side of the conversation. Vocalist Shaam Larein herself (for whom the band is named) brings a big “possessed Siouxsie Sioux” presence to Sticka En Kniv I V​ä​rlden (Swedish for “stick a knife in the world”), while her backing band plays a lush, hazy blend of post-punk, death rock, and bits of doom. Sometimes the album gets extra riffy and at others it plays within a really drifty zone, but at all times the band is in tune with Shaam’s dynamic shifts and massive charisma. The swell from eerily playful to commandingly damning during “Murderer” in particular begs for ears.

• Bandcamp

2. Porcupine Tree – Closure/Continuation

Those years without Porcupine Tree quite frankly felt strange. Core members Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri, and Gavin Harrison all stayed busy with other projects and solo works, but the full band took a nearly 13-year break from the studio. The long awaited return was worth it and more; Closure/Continuation is the sound of a band confident to write naturally without worrying about being bold or adventurous (a strong contrast to The Incident). It’s their least heavy album in over two decades, focusing more on embracing textures, the slow development and layering of melodies, and an overall sense of feeling content, even when it’s rocking with some intensity. They no longer have to prove their brilliance; they’re brilliant because they are. The result is a supremely comfortable and at times peaceful but nonetheless extremely deep prog rock record. An extremely welcome return, indeed.

• YouTube

1. Darkswoon – Bloom Decay

Bloom Decay makes a strong argument to be my favorite album of any style all year. Darkswoon offers a stunningly gorgeous combination of synthy, danceably pulsating dreampop, a mix of goth minimalism (The Cure variety) and touches of shoegaze in its guitars, and an absolutely entrancing vocal performance from primary songwriter Jana Cushman. Each of these nine tracks contain at least one WOW moment from Cushman, who seamlessly shifts from pained and haunted (and haunting) to uplifting and almost celebratory. Sometimes the record is dense and intense, as on the Killing Joke-esque first half of “This is a Void,” and at others it’s more expansive, as during the slow crescendo of “Twist the Knife.” Always it is beautiful and irresistible, full of meticulous music that somehow seems to emerge from the band effortlessly, and a dazzling showcase for both Darkswoon as a band and the immense talents of Cushman.

• Bandcamp

WHY IS IT ALWAYS SURPRISE ATTACK?

Two of the year’s greatest surprises saw two long-beloved artists push their sounds to a couple of their farthest (and opposite) places. Neither quite fits into the lists above, so they get this special place. After all, they’ve always commanded a special place.

Blut Aus Nord – Lovecraftian Echoes

Yes, Blut Aus Nord put out a proper new album this year in Disharmonium, and it was fine enough, but didn’t make much of a dent in my listening habits. Give me this surprise release instead, this Not New Album of past material created recently for some forum called the Order of Outer Sounds. The origin isn’t nearly as important as how it sounds, which is right back to The Work Which Transforms God mode (God Mode, for sure). This is Blut Aus Nord in their ultimately nightmarish form, weaving darkness and unknowable malevolence in a way only Vindsval has at a few points in his lengthy career. Horrifyingly awesome and awesomely horrifying.

• Bandcamp

Devin Townsend – Lightwork

Lightwork wasn’t so much a surprise in its existence ‒ Devin spent plenty of time discussing its recording and impending release ‒ but its content is a fresh new realm for the man behind the music. Devin’s lightest moments in the past, such as Ghost or Ki, felt specifically designed to achieve a certain end; very “session” type records meant to achieve a certain extreme during an experimental phase. On Lightwork, by contrast, Devin wrote a set of songs that feel familiar in their structures and melodies; songs that could be far heavier if that was where his mind was. But never before has he been so confident exploring his naturally poppy, delicate side, allowing such lightness to infiltrate his music. It’s a strong contrast to all the bombast and self indulgence of Empath, and in many ways it feels like a calm reflection of the crazier bursts of brilliance he wrote during his 20s. More than anything, it’s a warm blanket of goodness for all who might welcome it. Pure Devin.

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• YouTube

It feels right to close things with Devin. Thank you for reading, friends. Please choose the side of love and hope. Embrace goodness and kindness.

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