fearsick

I had this enormous amount of words set to open this thing but opted for… not that. We’ve all lived through another year so there’s no need to reiterate. Instead, I’ll say that 2022 was great for me. It’ll be one of those years I’ll look back on as one that changed things for the better and I’ll have extremely fond memories of it for reasons I can’t mention here. But, I’ll also look back on it as a tremendous year for metal. And it doesn’t matter what strain you dig as pretty much all of it had a banner year. I know it seems like we’re a broken record saying that every year, but 2022 was damn strong. If you don’t feel the same, please rewind and revisit and get back to me. Otherwise, welcome to all the things that made a huge difference for me throughout the year and what was my 2022 soundtrack, what made the biggest impact…whatever, you get the idea. This list of 18…, wait…you ask “why 18?” Well, branding of course. We’re Nine Circles so you’ll get my top 9 and my 9 honorable mentions… and a few special mentions. 9C, as it was. So, let’s do it…

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Believe it or not, there was a time when death metal didn’t have 2,060 different strains and most of it came from a select few geographical areas. For those of us that recall and/or experienced that time knows that while the genre was death metal, the Floridian strain particularly was a shit ton of fun to listen to because of its simplicity, groove, seriously thick bottom end, and very memorable tracks; the music served the songs and the songs served the music. When Inhuman Condition released their debut Rat God last year, it was clear THEY remembered and consequently put out one of the best straight ahead, no frills death metal albums of 2021 and it was of the Floridian strain which hasn’t been very successfully trodden in years. And now with Fearsick, they pile on with sicker riffs, heavier groove, and some serious swamp ass attitude. You may decide to flip the page now since you know where my head’s at on this one, and that’s ok, but I’m sticking to my guns and confident at least one of you will soldier on (thanks mom).

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