Top Rock/Metal albums for the year 2022

vamp2syd

Well-known member
For me at least it was not really a great year in albums for 2022. I only came across two that I thought were great. Anyhow, we all have different tastes so this is my top 25 albums for the year 2022 based on my rating system. If there is one I missed and you think I will like it let me know and I will check it out......

My top 25 Studio Rock/Metal albums.... 2022

Rank/Name of Album/Band/Genre/rating

25 Flames of Perdition - Dawn of Solace m Doom Melod/Gothic 76.120
24 Equations for the Useless - Oreyeon m Stoner Prog \ 76.227
23 Pathos - Obsidian Sea m Doom 76.327
22 Fearsick - Inhuman Condition m Thrash/Death 76.379
21 Cult Classic - Dog Fashion Disco m Avante-garde 76.468

20 Soul Furnace - Black Lava m Death Blacknd 76.512
19 Order of the Goat - Stone Witch r Stoner 76.556
18 Tamashii No Yama - Et Moriemur m Doom Atmos 76.613
17 Rot Among Us - Acid Witch m Doom 76.680
16 Opvs Contra Natvram - Behemoth m Black/Death 76.900
15 Innate Passage - Elder r Prog Psych 77.010
14 Chasing Ghosts - Stabbing Westward m Industrial 77.060
13 Friends of Hell - Friends of Hell m Doom 77.223
12 Mild Conquest - Steams, The r Psychedelic 77.290
11 Tempest at the Gate - King Mountain r Heavy 77.305

10 Electrified Brain - Municipal Waste m Thrash Cross 77.311
09 Ethereal Tomb - Ethereal Tomb m Sludge 77.384
08 The Chariot - Valley of the Sun r Heavy 77.480
07 Return to the Void - Shape of Despair m Doom Funeral 77.627
06 Violate Consensus Reality - Psychonaut m Post 77.755

05 There's Only Black - Venom Inc. m Speed/Black 78.403
04 Sweet Evil Sun - Candlemass m Doom Epic 78.957
03 Regenerator - King Buffalo r Psych Heavy 79.584
02 Groupthink - Smoke m Stoner/Heavy Psych 81.013
01 Death Revival - Abyssus m Death 82.641
 
 
With all the genres nowadays I don't know what qualifies, if I remember correctly you're not a big prog fan so if what I list doesn't fit into your tastes I apologize. I'll also admit that at the age of 66 I simply don't listen to much doom funeral or black/death. There were a couple of exceptions:

Venom Prison-Erebos
Allegaeon-Damnum

I was working on a mix tape project via Spotify and these two bands popped up as possible suggestions so I gave them a try since I enjoy finding bands that I haven't heard of. There were others but after sampling a song or two I decided that they weren't for me.
 
With all the genres nowadays I don't know what qualifies, if I remember correctly you're not a big prog fan so if what I list doesn't fit into your tastes I apologize. I'll also admit that at the age of 66 I simply don't listen to much doom funeral or black/death. There were a couple of exceptions:

Venom Prison-Erebos
Allegaeon-Damnum

I was working on a mix tape project via Spotify and these two bands popped up as possible suggestions so I gave them a try since I enjoy finding bands that I haven't heard of. There were others but after sampling a song or two I decided that they weren't for me.

I'm actually getting more into prog and it seems like everything is evolving into prog nowadays.... My favorite band is Tool and I have really gotten into Opeth a lot lately in fact I just bought another Opeth album "Ghost Reveries" which is a top 50 all time album for me.

The way the genres are listed on my list are sort of backwards. "Doom Funeral" is actually Funeral Doom. I do it that way so if I need to list all the Doom bands on my spread sheet it makes it easier.

I have heard of the name Venom Prison but not sure if I actually have listened to anything from them. I have listened to two Allagaeon albums but not the newer one from 2022. I may have to check that one out.

I like music slower now that I am older. I've been getting into Heavy Psych bands like King Buffalo and Smoke as well as Doom and Stoner bands....
 
#5 Venom Inc. - There's Only Black

Venom Inc. is made up of past members of the band Venom from over the years. Venom was a huge influence on the Black Metal genre. Back then though Black metal sounded like Speed Metal with raspy vocals. Venom Inc. is stripped to the basics with a raw old school speed/black metal sound with some plain old Heavy Metal as well..... If you are a fan of the early days of Slayer then this should be right for you...... Here are a couple of tracks from that album........


 
#4 Candlemass - Sweet Evil Sun

Despite the many lineup changes Candlemass has been around for a long time and one thing has stayed consistent. Black Sabbath like riffing...... and Epic Doom!!!! I have heard a ton of Candlemass over the years and this album ranks about the middle of the pack for me from their discography.......

“Sweet Evil Sun is about hope, striving, adoration and failure. It's about all the personal battles that you have, but also the never-ending decay of humanity.
The record took over a year to make and there's not a bad track on it! We had a fantastic time recording it and are really looking forward to the release. It's Doom, It's Metal! It is the essence of CANDLEMASS put into one album!” ... Leif Edling


 
#3 King Buffalo - Regenerator

First time I heard King Buffalo I was hooked. They are deeply in the Heavy Psych genre which puts me in a hypnotic state. Great band to wind down to and just stare into the empty void of space.....

"psychedelic songcraft, melding progressive rhythms, drifting atmospheres and accompanying surges
of electricity, the new collection only further establishes them as one of the brightest lights shining in underground rock today"


 
#2 Smoke - Groupthink

Smoke is a band out of Virginia and this was their debut album and what an album it was. Just heard about them a month ago but this album came out in February..... This one is a bit more heavier than King Buffalo's and is considered Stoner/Doom Metal. It also has some Heavy Psych going on as well. More hypnotic like with some chanting vocals.... tuned down thick guitar riffs with fuzz. Great album, unfortunately it is completely sold out......


 
#1 Abyssus - Death Revival

Many bands with this name but these are the guys from Greece. Formed in 2012 they only have 2 factory full releases but a crap load of EP's and Splits which I need to explore. This album came out early in the year 2022 and from the first note I knew it was going to be the Death Metal that I enjoy. This is all old school and sounds much like on of my favorite death metal bands "Possessed". Every track on this album is great which makes this one #1 for 2022.

This is what is written about them/this album:
Info -
"Starting off as a band playing a much faster, thrashier and crustier version of Obituary, Greek death metal band Abyssus have come a long way. Their music is now absolutely formidable; it’s impeccably structured and flawlessly executed without any compromises on the vision. The passion and spirit are still there but channelled brilliantly, in a far more mature and powerful setting, with a sound that they’ve honed to perfection using liberal doses of thrash metal elements. While hearkening back to the glory days of the late '80s/early '90s, Abyssus do more than just revel in the recreation of that sound but imbibe elements unique to their music and create a compelling expression that not only does justice to it but sets standards on how it is to be done. To that effect, ‘Death Revival’ will go down as an iconic album where the style of classic death metal goes in this era.

For fans of - Obituary, Possessed, Slayer, Malevolent Creation, Death, Morgoth, Solstice, Deicide, Bolt Thrower, Hail of Bullets"


 
If you haven’t yet, give Spirit World “Deathwestern” and High Command “Eclipse of the Dual Moons” a listen. Both 2022 releases.
Spirit World is Slayer crossed with hardcore. High Command is thrashy with some black metal elements.

I think they’d make your top 25, especially since Municipal Waste did. I think both these albums blow that away and I’m a huge Municipal Waste fan.
 
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If you haven’t yet, give Spirit World “Deathwestern” and High Command “Eclipse of the Dual Moons” a listen. Both 2022 releases.
Spirit World is Slayer crossed with hardcore. High Command is thrashy with some black metal elements.

I think they’d make your top 25, especially since Municipal Waste did. I think both these albums blow that away and I’m a huge Municipal Waste fan.

Will do. I remember seeing the albums but not sure if I took a quick listen or not but definitely have not heard those albums.....
 
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