Further dispatches from The Heavy Metal Yearbook, wherein Eric, of the Heavy Metal 101 podcast (https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heavymetal101podcast), explores every nook and cranny of each year of heavy metal history, so that you can just sit back and enjoy the highlights:
I’ve been at this “Heavy Metal Yearbook” thing in some iteration or another for some time now, and it feels quite weird to be at the cusp of the here and now at long last. As one of those old guys always with at least one foot in metal’s past glories, it has been truly delightful to spend an increasing amount of time on the heavy metal of today (or, in this case, “yesterday”), and it has been incredibly rewarding. So, let’s do this! On with the heavy metal of 2022!
At this point, alas, less and less “legacy acts” are making truly meaningful new music. Many are still out there, and many of them are kicking ass, but the list of bands I grew up with who are making top tier new music in 2022 is vanishingly small. Still, there were a few releases worthy of note: It is well documented on the Heavy Metal 101 podcast that I love Stryper, and, love them or hate them, Stryper really are currently making some of the best music of their long and storied career. The Final Battle is yet another fabulous, catchy, surprisingly heavy entry into their rich discography. Check it out! Also of note, one of my favorite bands in the world, whose output has been maybe a bit spotty since 2009’s magnificent Destroy the War Machine, Warrior Soul, released a really great 2022 album, Out on Bail. If you’ve been snoozing on Kory Clarke and co.’s recent output, now is a good time to rectify that. Meanwhile, I’m not entirely sure what to do with Skid Row’s The Gang’s All Here, which doesn’t feel terribly fresh, but is A LOT of fun to listen to. The magic of their classics isn’t quite there, but they did come very close to bringing it all back, with Erik Grönwall providing a most impressive emulation of a young Sebastian Bach.
Let’s talk great death metal/death metal adjacent music from 2022! First off, one more “legacy” band (I can’t help it…I’m old). Immolation have been kicking ass since at least 1991, but 2022’s Acts of God sounds every bit as vibrant, evil, and brilliant as any of their classic releases. These guys just keep on keeping on! Arch Enemy hasn’t been around quite as long as Immolation, but they too are far from the new kids on the block. That said, on Deceiver they really seem to be kicking it into a new gear, and Alissa White-Gluz has never sounded better. However, I am not completely stuck in the past! For instance, I absolutely adored Undeath’s It’s Time…To Rise from the Grave. New school death metal at its very best! Additionally, I came face to face with a new sub-subgenre, to me, in this year’s exploration when I came across the “progressive/atmospheric deathcore/post-metal” (according to our good friends at Encyclopaedia Metallum) of Kardashev’s absolutely killer Liminal Rite. I think post death metal is probably the better label, but either way this was most definitely one of the best albums of 2022. Also of note: the insane, and just shockingly catchy virtuosity of Allegaeon’s tech death Damnum, as well as the top-tier deathcore (yes, us old guys can occasionally dig on some deathcore) of Lorna Shore’s Pain Remains.
Last but not the least, over in black metal land there were a few monumentally awesome releases by artists old and new: Abbath continues to kill it, with or without my beloved Immortal, and Dread Reever is yet another black and roll masterpiece. Abbath is the shit. No doubt. And yet, probably the best black metal of 2022 came from a one-man project that first came together in that very year, Blackbraid, the brainchild of Jon Krieger AKA Sgah’gahsowáh. If you missed Blackbraid I it is an absolute MUST listen. Wow. Another great group I stumbled across for the first time was NYC’s Black Anvil. Regenesis is on the catchiest end of the blackened spectrum, with soaring choruses which bring to my mind something of a black metal Cattle Decapitation. Very cool! Lastly, the indispensable Wiegedood released the absolutely unrelenting There’s Always Blood At the End of the Road. Is brutal black metal a thing? Because this is some truly fucking brutal black metal.
These just keep getting longer and longer, don’t they? What can I say? There’s a lot of amaze-balls music out there. And yet, I do like to choose a “best” metal album of each year. And, much as I loved all of the above, I didn’t have too much difficulty in picking my favorite (“best” is nonsense, of course) metal listen of 2022: The pitch-perfect post metal of Cult of Luna’s The Long Road North was just so, so, SO great. It’s like Neurosis at their very best, but without the awful, awful baggage. This is monumental stuff, and everyone should be listening to it.
#Stryper #warriorsoul #skidrowband #immolationband #archenemyband #undeath #kardashevband #allegaon #abbath #blackbraidband #blackanvil #wiegedood #cultofluna
For more fun-filled heavy metal chat, please do check out the Heavy Metal 101 podcast, available everywhere you like to listen! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heavymetal101podcast