December | 2022 | thursdayaddams

The Best Metal/Rock Tracks Of 2022

A rundown of the best metal/rock releases of 2022

After losing a large part of 2020 and 2021 to the global pandemic, music in all forms has come back with a vengeance, meaning there has been a whole flood of amazing new releases throughout 2022. Whilst it goes without saying that terms such as ‘best’ will always be subjective, here in my opinion are just some of the strongest metal and rock releases from the past year – I’ve included a rundown of my favourite tracks, and a brief summary of the best albums, EPs and music videos of 2022, with a playlist featuring all the tracks listed here.

HEALTH & Lamb of God – Cold Blood
The first of a handful of collaborative efforts I’ll be listing here, this one marries Lamb of God’s intense brand of groove metal to HEALTH’s atmospheric industrial rock. Taken from HEALTH’s DISCO4 (PART II) album, which sees them working with a number of artists across multiple genres, other highlights include the opening track featuring Poppy, ‘Dead Flowers’ (released as a single in 2021).
https://youwillloveeachother.bandcamp.com/album/disco4-part-ii

Thou & Mizmor – Prefect
Taken from their collaborative album ‘Myopia’, which takes Thou’s savage sludge and puts it through a black metal filter courtesy of Mizmor. Here on the opening track, the sounds of both acts are on display to full effect.

Ritual – Pandemonium (featuring Anneke Van Giersbergen)
Taken from their EP ‘Enigma’, the Herts alt-metallers were able to enlist former frontwoman for The Gathering Anne Van Giersbergen to provide some additional guest vocals for their catchy track ‘Pandemonium’. Other tracks on the EP also feature contributions from Dianne Van Giersbergen and Devin Townsend, among other guests.
https://thetrueritual.bandcamp.com/album/enigma

Praetorian – Ode To A Drink Driver
Taken from their 2022 EP ‘A Deluge of Bad Faith’ the Herts sludge metallers have been busy building up their profile over the past year, having performed well at Metal 2 The Masses, and look set to continue into 2023. Best experienced live! https://praetorianuk.bandcamp.com/album/a-deluge-of-bad-faith-2

Everest Queen – The Burial
The closing track to their 2022 album ‘Murmurations’, this track features joint vocals from drummer Brad Cook and guitarist Tom Clements (also vocalist for the aforementioned Praetorian) harmonising to stunning effect. https://everestqueen.bandcamp.com/album/murmurations

Tribe of Ghosts – Reign
The latest example of Brighton post-metallers TOG’s continued evolution, their second 2022 single ‘Reign’ is a dramatic piece of industrialised post-metal with dual vocals from TOG founder Adam Sedgwick and their newest member, vocalist Beccy Blaker.
https://tribeofghosts.bandcamp.com/

Red Light Acid Test – Senseless
The latest in a series of singles from RLAT, ‘Senseless’ seems the London/Herts rockers blend catchy stoner riffs with a post-punk delivery – think Kyuss meets Royal Blood.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/150suJJQ9RN6MLoJNZ50ww

King Like Mom – Tantrum
This was actually a track that landed on me via a random Spotify stream. This is US rockers’ first recording, set appear on their debut release, it’s a slow-building dramatic track that could be described as post-rock with an undercurrent of doom. Ones to watch I think – at the time of posting this article online, the debut EP was just being released.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2uhoCODbNwzUsYB06tNqOd

Inanimus & Elyvilon – Guilt
Another random discovery in recent months, ‘Guilt’ is one of my favourite tracks from what has instantly become one of my favourite albums of 2022 – ‘Martyrdom’, the debut album from sludge//post-metal act Inanimus, which also features contributions from dungeon synth artist Elyvilon.
https://inanimus.bandcamp.com/album/martyrdom

Loathe & Teenage Wrist – Is It Really You?
A 2022 re-working of a previously-released Loathe track, this new version sees Loathe’s chilled, shoegazey metal blended with Teenage Wrist’s equally gazey post-grunge, to stunning effect.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4G9wSdX0klmoHfjm9i6DLd

Gutlocker – Man Too Proud
The collosal closing track of groove/sludge metallers Gutlocker’s debut album ‘To Be Alive’. Despite clocking in at over 12 minutes, it never outstays its welcome, with LOG-style riffing and frontman Craig McBrearty’s fierce clean-to-growl vocal range.
https://gutlocker.bandcamp.com/album/to-be-alive

Gaupa – Moloken
Checked out this act after seeing their name in the line-up for the 2023 Desertfest in Camden – if you can imagine Bjork fronting a proggy stoner metal act, you’d be getting warm. This is featured on their new album ‘Myriad’.
https://gaupaband.bandcamp.com/album/myriad

Denali – Deathless
Taken from the self-titled debut EP from Herts supergroup Denali, which features members of Countless Skies, Elysian Divide and Everest Queen. It’s strong enough that any track could’ve ended up listed here really. Plying a progressively-minded death-doom and already landing festival slots all over the country, it’s a good start.

Rituals – Oceans Subside
Whilst the verses are reminiscent of mid-period Korn (around the ‘Untouchables’ phase), it’s the melodic chorus that had me coming back to this. Taken from the ‘Show Me the Signs’ EP.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6zaggWMA34L6ag8GRa8pHh

Lyoness – Know Thyself
More homegrown talent – some catchy, laid-back rock ‘n’ roll from Herts act Lyoness, taken from their EP ‘Fools Gold’.Sadly, this act will be splitting at the end of the year.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3md9lv29JIMkyzhkhCahXT

Giant Walker – The Fact In Fiction
Taken from their debut album ‘All In Good Time’, it’s a solid album which has spawned five singles and videos. Giant Walker are at the more energetic end of the prog-rock spectrum, with a much more ‘immediate’ feel to their tracks.
https://giantwalker.bandcamp.com/album/all-in-good-time

Oceans of Slumber – Hearts of Stone
Another track with a strong air of drama, this is taken from OOS’s fifth album ‘Starlight And Ash’. Classed as ‘New Southern Gothic’, it’s melodic progressive metal with soulful vocals and a gothic edge.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7yyNmqnrEITs2vz3NXsmxz

Frayle – Bright Eyes
Continuing the gothic theme, this time from a doom angle – ‘Bright Eyes’ is featured on Frayle’s second full-length album ‘Skin & Sorrow’. In their own words, it’s “music for the night sky”.
https://frayle.bandcamp.com/album/skin-sorrow

Profiler – Miserable
Taken from their self-titled debut EP, this Bristol alt-metal trio know how to write a catchy tune.
https://sharptonerecords.bandcamp.com/album/profiler

Graphic Nature – Killing Floor
Sounding like a hybrid of Ted Maul and early Slipknot, if this year’s EPs were anything to go by, next year’s debut album is going to be fierce.
https://graphicnature404.bandcamp.com/ or https://open.spotify.com/album/6xj91HWUFxs1KHlNtFBapJ

Knife Bride – Grenade
One of three standalone singles released in 2022 by the Brighton-based quintet, their brand of self-labelled ‘slut metal’ yields some catchy tunes. Here’s hoping there’ll be an album soon.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/34THm21WWzzr69EetTmnVG

Lamassu – Know Your Gods
Proof that very occasionally, social media algorithms can get it right, as this tune actually found me – set to appear on the Australian band’s second album in 2023, it’s a grunge-meets-sludgey stoner rock number that lies somewhere between Soundgarden and Melvins.
https://lamassuband.bandcamp.com/

Slipknot – Yen
A band who require no introduction, this is a standout track from the Iowa masked metallers’ recent album ‘The End, So Far’.

Tallah – well, everything!
It’s actually impossible to pick just one highlight from this, Tallah’s second album ‘The Generation of Danger’, as it’s full of hooks. Part of the current US ‘nu-core’ movement, imagine a manic blend of ‘Iowa’-era Slipknot, Sikth and Mudvayne, and you’d be getting close to what this offers. But, if pushed, singles aside I’d say let’s go with ‘Wendrid’.
https://tallah.bandcamp.com/

Horehound – Hireath
The opening track to their’ Collapse’ EP, the Pittsburgh metallers’ fourth release, it’s a blend of dark brooding sludge and gothic post-metal that’ll lodge itself in your brain.
https://horehound.bandcamp.com/

Absent In Body – Rise From Ruins
Taken from the supergroup’s debut EP ‘Plague God’, this cut succeeds in being both cinematic and claustrophobic, a crawling blend of sludge and post-metal. From a group featuring current and former members of Amenra, Sepultura and Neurosis, you’d expect nothing less.
https://absentinbody.bandcamp.com/

The Otolith – Sing No Coda
The new act featuring former members of SubRosa, this grandiose piece is a nice reminder of what happens when you incorporate a string section into metal. Taken from their debut album ‘Folium Limina’.
https://theotolith.bandcamp.com/album/folium-limina

Assimilate – Suffer In Silence
Here’s a bonus shout-out to some more home grown talent, whose album ‘Suffer In Silence’ came out in December 2021 and subsequently could’ve been missed out from many end-of-year charts for last year, hence an inclusion here. A solid album and decent live performers to boot, here’s an album worth checking out, a hybrid of alt-metal, emo and post-hardcore.
https://assimilate.bandcamp.com/

In summary, here are my overall top albums, EPs and videos of 2022.

Albums
Tallah – The Generation of Danger
Inanimus – Martyrdom
Giant Walker – All In Good Time
HEALTH – DISCO4 Part II
Gaupa – Myriad

EPs
Ritual – Enigma
Praetorian – A Deluge of Bad Faith
Profiler – self-titled EP
Denali – self-titled EP
Graphic Nature – Killing Floor
Horehound – Collapse

Videos
Ritual – Pandemonium (see above)
Praetorian – Ode to a Drunk Driver (see above)
Tallah – Shaken, Not Stirred – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMUpyVSUZcY
Tallah – For The Recognition – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TB9tz1Wwpw
The Callous Daoboys – A Brief Article Regarding Time Loops – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83tyqlZn1oo

For all the Spotify users out there, here’s a handy little playlist with all these tracks: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/4cKF00OPC8j9mOWEhGWykb?utm_source=generator&theme=0

December 19, 2022 | Categories: Music, Writing | Tags: 2022, alt-rock, alternative, bands, metal, Music, music blog, review, rock, underground music scene | Leave a comment

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The Best Metal/Rock Tracks Of 2022

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