Best of 2022

 4) The Antichrist Imperium - Volume III Satan In His Original Glory

"I would very much like to play live to be honest, logistically it would take some work and unfortunately with life/jobs/mortgages etc… It comes down to money, but fingers crossed in the future we can align the planets and make it happen."

This is Matt Wilcock, lead guitarist of The Antichrist Imperium describing the unlikelihood of playing live with his band because of logistical issues. Those logistical issues are simply their drummer David Gray lives in London and Matt lives in Melbourne. Listening to this album it's a somewhat unbelievable revelation that these men are very rarely in the same room together. There's a very intimate presence here, like they've painstakingly sweated over little details to make a more cohesive whole together.

In reality The Antichrist Imperium is an example of professional musicians at the top of their game doing what they need to do to produce honest music. David Gray is an atomic clock blasting in perfect time. Matt Wilcock's tremolo speed puts a hummingbird's feeble attempts at levitation to shame. These men are incredible artists who will never be honored with a Grammy, will never be able to earn a living from their life's ambition, will never be able to retire comfortably enough to teach their talents to the next generation. Those listening now better listen well because no matter how offended you are by the album art, this is the absolute bleeding edge of musical ability. Anyone not paying attention is going to lose their chance when these men find themselves too tired to keep giving status quo the middle finger.

Best of 2022

 5) Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain

This album reminds me of my self-indulgent preamble to the year in that I've witnessed a lot of people cheating, I've witnessed myself cheating, to make a buck, to avoid making waves, to avoid unpleasantness. Lies are just a way of getting past an uncomfortable moment so we can move on to the next one. Maybe this moment will be a good one, one we can share with friends with total honesty.

Keeping this lens in mind, why would a band create music like Artificial Brian's self-titled release? If they were trying to cheat they would've picked a more agreeable style and presentation, they would've tried to consider what would be profitable, what would be relatable in order to make money. They didn't. Given the current state of artificial intelligence one might assume that all art is subject to a taking over by the artificial, but that should only be a concern for profitable artistic expressions. For creations that depend on the catharsis of creation, AI generation doesn't compete. The purity in creation for emotional catharsis is required to be a solely human endeavor because those seeking catharsis don't want or need help in expressing their emotion. They work tirelessly to do it because the catharsis is more important than any meaningless monetary reward (as long as they can pay the rent). This album is an expression, real, tangible, organic. I personally love the irony on display here, a band named Artificial Brain releasing some of the most human music imaginable.

Best of 2022

 6) Helpless - Caged in Gold

When looking around for an honest to goodness grindcore record this year I kept seeing Wormrot held on high as if it were the best grind release of the century. It may very well be a juvenile adherence to rebellion that kept me from liking that record, but damn it I just didn't. It felt a little too clean, a little too polished, a little too adult when my expectation of grind is that it's fucking rough around the edges, ugly, sloppy, difficult to swallow. Helpless is exactly to my taste. Giving credence to my childish banality I did feel a bit prideful when scanning through lists toward the end of the year. This one was never mentioned, not once. Shame on the masses for their ignorance of the true underground, shame on me for caring. 

Best of 2022

 7) Wake - Thought Form Descent

It's rare for a band to start out in one place stylistically and over time evolve into something different while still keeping pieces of that original identity. Usually bands start somewhere, evolve a little and slowly die as they run out of ideas, or worse yet sell out by adding a bunch of clean choruses and wearing cool clothes <cough>In Flames</cough>. Wake started out as a crusty, grindy hardcore band and now they're playing something more akin to blackened death metal. There are still glimmers of their early crusty years though which is exactly the thing that makes them special. They have no contemporary in the current space they occupy because they keep challenging their own vision of what heavy music sounds like and I'm personally hoping the keep it up. Who knows where they'll end up before the journey is over.

Best of 2022

8) Cave In - Heavy Pendulum

There's only one thing wrong with this record. There are too many great songs on it. It's too jampacked with winning ideas, catchy constructions, viral hooks, so much so that it's a legitimate struggle to get through in a single session. When originally trying to confirm if this was list material, I found myself starting it at different places and seeing if one or two songs was enough to judge it, but no matter where I started, every track stood out as memorable. It was a very unusual experience to realize that at this late stage in their career, there are so many fresh ideas still left in the tank. Of course some of this might have to do with the untimely death of vocalist/bassist Caleb Scofield and the band's attempt at keeping his memory alive, keeping the integrity of the band intact. Regardless of the reason, this album is killer top to bottom, it's just too damn long.

Best of 2022

 9) Verberis - Adumbration of the Veiled Logos

Up until December, this spot was occupied by Deathspell Omega, begrudgingly. It wasn't a great record, somewhat plodding and directionless, so I thought number 9 was appropriate, but I was only going to put them here out of loyalty, not the best reason. Luckily in December I was looking at Ulcerate's metal-archives page curious what they were up to. Lo and behold I found out Ulcerate's virtuosic drummer was attached to the line-up on this record. Upon the first few spins my begrudging loyalty was eschewed for an album actually worthy of this position. Verberis has a very similar feel to Deathspell Omega, blasting dissonant black metal occasionally capitalizing on well placed atmospheric interludes, and in the year 2022 they have the better album.