Huzzah, good riddance to another weird year, not only on both personal and professional fronts which basically prevented me from engaging in music writing, but also in terms of metal itself. Weird in the sense that multiple previous EOY luminaries released albums that failed to resonate, while bands that had not clicked for me on earlier albums decided to surprise me. Amidst all the oddity, there was thankfully a degree of cosmic justice and continuing reliability, as old favorites released their best work to date while relative newcomers delivered on the promises and potential for greatness that were teased on their initial releases. Without further ado, here are my 15 favorite metal albums of 2022.
Autarkh III is a mind blowing collective of musicians that are pushing metal far beyond its boundaries. This week, July 23 to be exact, the band will be performing at Complexity Fest 2022 located at Patronaat in Haarlem, Netherlands. And on this same date will be offering a special vinyl version of Roadburn Redux 2021, which we covered as our Album of the Month when it was digitally released back in April. If you’ll remember, this album is an alternative timeline to their debut Form In Motion and in a different musical context so, the words ‘pushing beyond boundaries’ takes on new and exciting meaning. Just ahead of their performance and vinyl release, Anton and Buke sat down with the band for a wide ranging discussion surrounding these events. We now bring you this conversation in its entirety so grab your beverage of choice, a seat, and enjoy. Also included below is a teaser so be sure to check that out along with the conversation.
We’re doing something a little different for this, our 240th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist. Around the 9C offices the jibberjab has been about mid-year favorites (maybe you’ve read a few of ourposts), and so I decided to ask each of the folks on staff to supply me with a track from their favorite metal (or metal adjacent) album this year.
I’m not gonna say who picked what, but I can say all of these choices righteously rock. And there was one album that was a three-way tie among the staff (what can I say, Corey, Josh and I have excellent – and similar – taste) so in instances of duplicates we let one person pick the track and the others would choose from their second favorite album. So settle in and crank it LOUD, and enjoy some of the best music to come out so far in 2022, including cuts from Saor, Pyrithe, Zeal & Ardor, A Pregnant Light, Nite, Kreator, Wilderun, Tzompantli and a bunch more…
Today I was this many years old when I found out Hällas released a new album, so we’re kicking off the 226th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist with a track from the incredible Isle of Wisdom, followed by some righteous early 70s proto-metal I’ve been playing nonstop the past few days.
Lest you think it’s nothing but underground and garage rock from before you were born, the loyal 9C staff have you covered with the more extreme stuff. Aton kicks us off with some new Werewolves, Autarkh III, and Enphin. Josh and I have been gushing over the latest from Wo Fat, so here’s a dose of what to expect when their new album explodes, as well as tracks from Demonical, Tenebro, Lord Belial, Hurakan, and a Motörhead classic. Vincent goes for the outer reaches with some Cremation Lily, The Callous Daoboys, Egregore, and a killer live cut from site favorite Kowloon Walled City. Buke goes decidedly old school with Manowar, Demilich, Sepultura, Darkthrone, and MSG. Finally Angela brings the proceedings to a close with the new single from Astronoid and tracks from Vattnet and Soft Kill, followed by a KILLER old cut from Thou. Really…we should have more Thou in our lives.
Weird random though for the morning: although we’re often nostalgic for things from our youth, sometimes the things from our youth are not things from our youth, you catch me? I don’t know; I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Maybe it’s the music, so many new albums coming out that capture so succinctly the signatures of the sounds that came before it (*cough* Ghost) I’m caught in a revelry of the past. Don’t fear, though: I won’t let it influence the 222nd edition of the Nine Circles Playlist too much…
…but I will a little, kicking it off with a certain massive popular band who finally went all in on the hard rock/pomp of the 80s (*cough* Ghost). But man, if you haven’t also heard the latest from Drug Church get thee to a computer and rectify that post-haste. Hits the 90s indie hardcore rock so good, and they’re from my old stomping grounds of Albany, NY to boot. Elsewhere Anton brings up Siberia, Vital Spirit, and Autarkh III to get the nasty flowing. Vincent continues to champion site favorite Absent in Body and throws in some new music from Devil Master and Egregore as well as Bootblacks. Josh takes a break from his non-stop listening of Impera to get down with the OTHER site favorite Zeal & Ardor but also manages to make room for Corpsessed, King Dude, and a pair of outlaw country tunes, including the latest from Paul Cauthen. Buke can always be counted on with some choice classic cuts, and he does not fail this week, serving up some vintage KISS and Rainbow, but also hits with new cuts from Rammstein and Deathwhite (there’s some Anvil in there, too). And Angela comes in to remind that if the first quarter of 2022 was already stacked tooth gills with great music, we just got the new Messa, a new single from Conjurer, and the latest from Chelsea Wolfe.
Nine Circles 