Wowee! Has it been twelve months already?! Time flies too quickly nowadays, and it’s yet again that I find myself sitting in front of the computer for what’s now the ninth time at the end of a year for Head-Banger Reviews with 365 albums for me to look back on very fondly with even more in the bag, and it’s been another magnificent year for lovers of heaviness everywhere! While it may not have been as jam-packed with releases from big bands, the underground has provided a true wealth of glory as it always does with 2022 standing out as something fierce that simply cannot be denied whatsoever for people like me. Having found myself drowned by work this year even as the excellent material still found its way to me and me to it, I don’t regret a single moment of it in any form whatsoever as it’s now that I can look back and feel proud of what I’ve uncovered and will continue to drift amongst for the rest of my life.
As with every year, there is nothing but mastery and fascination to be had around every corner should one simply look around. While the main course of these events lies tomorrow with the unveiling of my Top 30 albums of 2022, the albums that didn’t quite make the cut must be deserved for a while even though they didn’t make the final thirty, I cannot stress enough how difficult the list was to compile this year! It was the most difficult that I’ve had in several years with every slot having something massive, undeniable, and downright intoxicating to call its own such that I don’t think any of them have a single weak moment, and that applies to all of these as well! Of course, I am but one man behind all of these reviews so I cannot hear everything. This year I never found my way to the new releases from bands like Slipknot, Wormrot, Mother of Graves, Blut Aus Nord – the list goes on! I will discover these creations in my own time, and it’s with that I must mention I stand behind every single one of these albums completely. Simply because they didn’t make the final list doesn’t make them any less worthy of anybody’s attention. I can only hope these albums capture your imagination and attention as they did mine. Hopefully, they’ll do more.
For the ninth time – click the album and band name should you wish to be taken to where you can listen to it. There was much to look forward to in 2022 with the backlog just as endlessly interesting, and 2023 is already shaping to be a beast of mythical proportions! Thank you so much to all who have been there in any form for Head-Banger Reviews, and Happy New Year!
Thank you, and, please, enjoy!
Morgue Supplier – Inevitability
““Inevitability” is what happens when you approach utter chaos with a formulaic mind to bring about not just untold destruction but ultimate suffering pinpointed on the listener such that they’re left planted before the insanity, unable to escape no matter how hard they might squirm about.” (read full review here)
Warfist – Teufels
“…it’s the absolute entirety of “Teufels” that we’re able to see this band at their undeniable peak with their riffs all but viscerally intoxicating, wildly gripping right from the get-go, and undeniably fast such that it offers no reprieve…” (read full review here)
Viande – L’abime Dévore les Âmes
“…Viande crafted an utterly cavernous performance whose power is wildly intimidating right out of the gate with every ounce of the record going right for your throat for a quick but horrifically visceral execution only to instantly move on to the next victim, leaving a pervasive fresh trail of corpses in its wake.” (read full review here)
Cult of Luna – The Long Road North
“There has never been a better time to be a fan of this band with all the god-tier material that’s coming out at an astonishing rate with the peaks and valleys of this record sure to scratch any itch that one may have when falling into this record…” (read full review here)
Non Est Deus – Impious
“…a stupendous understanding of how to actually make it work in a cohesive manner while delivering a performance that’s as vicious as it is packed with one black metal anthem after another and it’s the very whole of “Impious” that immediately transforms into a compelling creation…” (read full review here)
Naxatras – IV
“A supremely dense creation that has more layers than any planet and so much more color in its sound than many of us could ever hope to comprehend, the epic nature of this record becomes apparent in just the first minute of the album with everything else that comes after it seeming like a dream come true for the modern love of psychedelia…” (read full review here)
Cosmic Putrefaction – Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones
“Even without the continuing story from the previous album and the harrowing realization of a feeble man before the overpowering will of uncaring gods that care not for his dying world, the very essence of “Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones” is nothing short of staggering…” (read full review here)
Haunter – Discarnate Ails
“The very throne of modern black-death metal is ripe for the taking for Haunter given what they’ve brought forth here, they simply need to snatch it.” (read full review here)
Sickle of Dust – Where the Sun Glare Danced
“…the very construction of “Where the Sun Glare Danced” instantly raises it above the competition even further as it’s right from the beginning that you can tell this is an experience of another caliber altogether…” (read full review here)
Arkheth – Clarity Came with a Cool Summer’s Breeze
“In a fashion that’s just as spectacular and outlandish as the work that came before it, the long-awaited fourth creation from Arkheth is something that is a true sight to behold that absolutely demands the moniker of unique.” (read full review here)
Absent in Body – Plague God
“…the darkness envelops your very entirety with the creatures that dwell within such obscurity always swirling around you, constantly teasing at the very edges of your consciousness with Absent In Body all but the perfect vessel to deliver a performance…” (read full review here)
Psycroptic – Divine Council
“As we find ourselves slowly drowning in all that the world of technical death metal continues to offer with new bands constantly coming around to raise the bar with veteran names always keeping us guessing as to just what else they’re capable of, Psycroptic’s return with this album is fitting…” (read full review here)
Moonlight Sorcery – Nightwind: The Conqueror from the Stars
“…from the epic scope of the rhythms to ripping solos that wouldn’t stop for the very ending of the world to how voracious and intoxicating every moment of “Nightwind” presents itself to be with the very magic of the EP lying in the simple fact that one cannot stop listening once entrenched with what Moonlight Sorcery has wrought.” (read full review here)
Lethal Outcome – Excessive Mortality
“Lethal Outcome has delivered grandeur on an immense scale with every piece of it coalescing to become what has to be a must-stop location for death metal fans in 2022.” (read full review here)
De Profundis – The Corruption of Virtue
“has to be considered as one of the most impressive creations of death metal that the year has seen thus far whether it be in the underground or beyond; De Profundis has truly made themselves out to be undeniable masters of death metal.” (read full review here)
Hellfrost and Fire – Fire, Frost and Hell
“…the exact sort of death metal that wastes no time whatsoever as it doesn’t simply dabble in the dark arts to bring for a promising but ultimately weak performance, but, rather, it’s Hellfrost and Fire that brings forth an absolute barrage of inspired darkness fueled gloriously by truly vicious riffage…” (read full review here)
Electric Moon / Kungens Män / ElonMusk / Kanaan – International Space Station (Vol. 1)
“It’s one thing to tap into the human’s sense of wonder and adventure in order to mentally transport them to amongst the stars where it feels as though anything is possible, but to craft a work like this is to achieve something that everyone involved should be immensely proud of.” (read full review here)
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