the Top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2022

 

In today's world we need the hateful nature of black metal more than ever. Here is the best of the current crop. As with years past I sort through the genre lists before making the overall top ten of the year list. I know many of you are ready for 2022 to be over with. Hate to break it to you but nothing is getting better next year. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. You can bitch and complain about your favorite band not being on the list. I listen to five new albums a day so yes, I heard your favorite album and was not impressed. No, I do not care what you think about it. I do hope you can find your next favorite on this list and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out audio on these guys. Anyways here are the top 10 Black Metal albums of 2022

10-Abhor- "Sex , Sex, Sex" 

The 8th album by this Italian black metal band, finds them in a similar place that captures a horror movie feel and pays homage to occult b-movies of the 70s and 80s.Their sound touches on a Mercyful Fate like place that also invokes a similar spirit to Acid Witch. The writing is very deliberate, and mood perfectly captured. The bulk of the blast beats are far and few between though they do show up from time to time

Abysmal Hymns: Abhor :"Sex Sex Sex"

 

 

9-Pamzerfaust-" The Suns of Perdition, Chapter III: The Astral Drain" 

If these guys are always as dark and sonically sinister as are on their 6th album, then I have been missing out. The lack of blast beats is inspiring and while the dense sound has a great deal in common with sludge, this still feels very much like black metal. While I like all the creepy elements of their sound that they have in play, The throaty roar of the vocals could also be applied to so sludge or death metal band as there is less of a scream to them than what you expect from death metal. This album captures one of the year's best evil auras. 

Abysmal Hymns: Panzerfaust :" The Suns of Perdition, Chapter III: The Astral Drain"

 

8-Freja - "Tides" 

This duo from the Netherlands is very interesting in their approach to atmospheric black metal. The have little in common with Deafheaven. Myrkur might be a better comparison at time with the female vocals are layered around the otherwise epic pounding that is burlier than anything the black gaze bands would do though they do weave in some cool melodic ambiance in the midst of their charge ahead. It made for one of the more interesting journeys into the darkness. 

Abysmal Hymns: Freja : "Tides"

 7-Deathspell Omega- "the Long Defeat" 

The French Black metal project's 8th full length. The bar is always high for these guys as they continue to make music that challenges both themselves and the listener. This album is both their most accessible work and some of the densest darkest atmosphere they have dug into in some time. The vocals are varied from a proclamation to croaks and gurgles. The bass tone is their sickest yet. They drape everything in dissonance. Not a depressive black metal band, but they touch on a similar gut-wrenching vibe

Abysmal Hymns: Deathspell Omega : "the Long Defeat"

6-Blut Aus Nord- "Disharmonium -Undreamable Abysses" 

Heading back into their darker heavier roots this French Black Metal projects returns to their sinful ways of summoning ancient evils by opening portals of sound for nameless horrors to slither from. Ripe with Lovecraft references, at times they are as close to a straightforward black metal as we have gotten from these guys in sometime, with that said we have to consider who is making this music and how in the past decade they have gotten further and further from convention. 

Abysmal Hymns: Blut Aus Nord : "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses"

 

5-Sigh- "Shiki"

Heavier and less progressive than their past few albums, they also offer up more blast beats in the first two songs than I have heard from these guys in the past decade. Not that they are back to being a black metal band, they dip into other styles of metal as well to create some of the most accessible grooves and head banging riffage t I have heard from these guys with dumbed down with less of the manic jerking into other styles, crossing a broad range of musical colors, but it is done in a more flowing organic fashion. It is the undercurrent of anger that earned their place back to this list. 

Abysmal Hymns: Sigh : "Shiki"

 

4-White Ward -" False Light" 

The third album from Ukrainian black metal band, starts off with a more typical aggression that might come to mind when you think of black metal. I was a huge fan of their 2019 album "Love Exchange Failure" in how it blended jazz with the genre. They continue to perfect what they embarked upon there, creating something that transcends the genre, while still being true to black metal's mood.

Abysmal Hymns: White Ward : "False Light"

  3-Watain-"the Agony and Ecstasy of Watain" 

Their 7th full length finds Watain continuing to show how they change and yet stay the same with each album. The production is crisp and big without losing what makes them sound like themselves. In fact, if you stripped away a lot of the symphonic tones from Dimmu Borgir's earlier work comparisons can be drawn sonically. They have often been accused of sounding like Dissection and I think those comparisons are long gone here. If you are a fan like I am then this is what you want from them. 

Abysmal Hymns: Black Metal History Month- Watain : "the Agony and Ecstasy of Watain"

  2-Darkthrone- "Astral Fortress" 

Watain put out an album that was what I expected from them, Darkthrone put out an album I did not expect from them and that is how they earned the number two spot. On their 19th album it's good to hear these guys get back in the direction of black metal. If they had pumped out another tribute to Celtic Frost or a Venom sounding punk album, I would have been less surprised. This more blackened offering is not them trying to recreate what they did in the 90s, but a darker turn from where they were already heading.  

Abysmal Hymns: Darkthrone : "Astral Fortress"

1-Black Anvil - "Regenesis" 

This was tough. At the end of the day New York's blackened trio charged out of the gates with a great deal of power, but the scope of what they do and how finely keened their songwriting is this time around is what earned them the number one spot over bands that I might be a bigger fan of. So, it speaks very loudly that repeated listens to this album were able to sway me away from fine albums by bands I am more connected to. These guys were always ok in my book, and I enjoyed what they did, but this time they have taken it to the next level when it comes to the epic scope of the black metal they have created here 

Abysmal Hymns: Black Anvil : "Regenesis"

the Top 10 Metal Albums of 2022 ... so far

This year has half slipped away from us. More comprehensive of what has been released than you might expect, considering that I am already getting promos for August releases in my in-box. There is a fair cross-section of genres represented as we have doom, industrial, thrash, prog, death metal, and black metal, with that said my three big sub-genres doom, black metal and death metal, each have two entries apiece. Still no word on a solid release date for the new King Diamond, so that gives all of these albums a solid shot for the number one spot at the end of the year, depending on how they grow on me.  I make the overall top ten for the year and at this rate December will be here before we know it. What makes them the best is how much I actually listen to them. I guess we will see how these albums hold up over the course of the year.  I am posting links to the reviews if you want to check these albums out.

10-Gwar - the New Dark Ages" 

If you thought in 2022 this band would be out of ways to push the envelope you would be wrong. In fact, I imagine more audiences will be offended and they did this while making a really great album that is full of weird twists in directions away from what you expect from these guys while delivering the goods when it comes to what you want from a Gwar album,

Abysmal Hymns: Gwar : " The New Dark Ages "

 

9-Voivod-"Synchro Anarchy" 

Their 15th album finds the Canadian prog metal god fathers continuing on the path they began with "Target Earth" back in 2013. The riffs winding around varied forms of palm muted tension on a dynamic journey to the center of a cyborg mind. They are true to the sound they began crafting in 1984, though it has shed all the early punk grit. There is more groove than thrashing.

Abysmal Hymns: Voivod : " Synchro Anarchy"

8 - Famyne-"II: The Ground Below" 

hear echoes of Candlemass in lead singer Tom Vane's delivery, they have carved their own dark doomy place out with the impressive sonics here. The grungy touches that reach out from the 90s coloring these songs.

 

7-Temple of Void - "Summoning the Slayer" 

Their 2020 album "the World That Was" landed in my top 5 death metal albums of the year. They have continued to evolve their songwriting past even that point.  Maturation can be felt in how they take both their doom influence and their death metal influence and rather than worry about creating a sound, write great songs.

Abysmal Hymns: Temple of the Void : " Summoning the Slayer"

 

 

6-Decapitated -"Cancer Culture" 

The Polish band's 8th album finds them blending enough groove to balance out the more technical elements of what they do. This is the top contender for best album title of the year. Not the most brutal when it comes to death metal, there is a fair amount of melody buried in the guitar with the drumming the most technical aspect of their sound. Considering the dude has been playing since he was 12 that makes sense. Not breaking new ground but continuing to perfect what they do.

Abysmal Hymns: Death is June - Decapitated : " Cancer Culture"

5-Author & Punisher - "KRÜLLER"

Having long championed this project so was looking forward to this album.  There is a dark hazy multi layered sonic wall of synths that reminds me of Type O Negative. The smoother croon of vocals from Shore adds to this comparison.. The more experimental touches that detract from the song writing are balance out by the songs where he really goes above and beyond by striving to push himself as a singer and a song writer rather than just being the guy who makes music with machines

Abysmal Hymns: Author & Punisher : "KRÜLLER"

4-Puppy- "Pure Evil"

 Of all the albums on this list this one sits on the fence to being hard rock, if by hard rock we are talking about grunged out alternative from the 90s. That said it is more metal than old Smashing Pumpkins and often rivalling Soundgarden's heaviest moments.

Abysmal Hymns: Puppy- " Pure Evil"

 

3-Messa-"Close"  

The opening track feels like a very logical progression in the next step of the band's songwriting, there are new tricks up their sleeve as forays into jazz and progressive rock color the dismal blues inflected exploration of their shadowy souls. They continue to knock it out of the park. 

Abysmal Hymns: Messa : "Close"

2- White Ward -"False Light"

The third album from Ukrainian black metal band, starts off with a more typical aggression that might come to mind when you think of black metal. I was a huge fan of their 2019 album "Love Exchange Failure" in how it blended jazz with the genre. Midway into the first song they get into that. Rather than it being two colors they switch back and forth the best moments are where the two are blended, it's black metal being tasteful, which is just weird to type. 

Abysmal Hymns: White Ward : "False Light"

  1-Watain - 'the Agony and Ecstasy of Watain"

With their 7th full length Watain continues to show how they change and yet stay the same with each album. The production is crisp and big without losing what makes them sound like themselves. This album shows the band willing to grow while being true to who they are. Not sure how they hell a black metal band is going to put out a better album this year,

Abysmal Hymns: Black Metal History Month- Watain : "the Agony and Ecstasy of Watain"

White Ward : "False Light"

 The third album from Ukrainian black metal band, starts off with a more typical aggression that might come to mind when you think of black metal. I was a huge fan of their 2019 album "Love Exchange Failure" in how it blended jazz with the genre. Midway into the first song they get into that. Rather than it being two colors they switch back and forth from I am going to listen more to the moments where the two are blended.  Not a huge fan of the idea of a 13-minute opening track they have crafted something that keeps your attention and never overindulges into sprawling drones of blasting. "Salt Paradise" brings in both Jay Gambit from Crowhurst & Executioner's Mask along with trumpets to add to the mood that is expansive drift on a desolate beach after a storm. 

The blast back with a renewed fury on "Pheonix" which brings the moments I want where the sax glides over the metallic moments rather than having to flip the switch to turn the metal off.  Around the five-minute mark the sax takes over the melody as the band drops down into more of a tense hovering beneath it before rising back up to devour the melody with a wrathful attack. They ebb the song down into a more synth heavy ambiance with sampled dialogue.  "Silence Circles" takes a similar dynamic as the previous song but twists it into something darker and more dissonant. My favorite moments might be when the sax gives a call and response by using intervals more common for metal guitar than sax. 

This album has a few ambient interludes booking the songs that I am going to ignore for the purpose of the review, but one does set the stage well for the melodically moody take on post-punk that is "Cronus".  The metal still circles the song and eventually explodes as you might expect it to.  The screamed vocals when they come have purpose and rather than an obligatory layer of humanity crying out, contribute to the song. The title track comes closest to what they did on their previous album, though the metallic parts are bigger and more in your face. At almost 15 minutes that's a great deal to absorb, and I am going to need a few more spins of it to fully digest it all, but it is impressive and works off of what this band is excelling at on this album. There is more straight forward metal here but done in a very tasteful manner that serves the song rather than just battery to your ears for the sake of it.  I will give this album a 10 and see how it sits with me. 

the Top 10 Progressive Metal Albums of 2019

It's that time of year again, to sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, then use them, to compile the top 10 albums of the year. Later in the month I am making  the top 10 lists for the decade,. Let's make something clear if you clicked on this looking for Dream Theater, then you have the wrong blog,. There are no power ballads here.Progressive mean there has to be progress, change not working off a formula. Not doodling to hold you over til the guitar solo. It was hard enough this year finding ten artists in their respective genres, but I did it.  As in  past years I am  giving a brief explanation as to why these albums stand over their peers in lower positions on the list. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Sure you can bitch and complain about your favorite band not being on the list. However  I listen to five new albums a day so yes I heard your favorite album and was not impressed. No,  I do not care what you think about it.   I do hope you can find your next favorite on this list  and  have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out audio on these guys. Anyways here are the top 10  prog metal  albums of 2019 .

10-Meads of Asphodel - " Running Out of Time Doing nothing"

 It opens darker more industrial sound. They are almost like Sigh in the sense each song is dramatically different. There is still a darker mood over this with some more Coil like vocals. Unlike previous releases this is less pounding and the guitars sit kind of weirdly in the mix.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-meads-of-asphodel-running-out-of.html

9-Pensees Nocturnes- GRAND GUIGNOL ORCHESTRA"


Circus black metal, is bound to sound like Mr. Bungle. They don't prove me wrong in this theory. The French are always doing weird shit like this . They swing back and forth from operatic singing to growls of anguish. Blast beats are thrown in.the concept of what they are doing translates well in the finished product almost more prog weirdness than black metal. They are demented enough to beat out Meads of Asphodel.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/02/black-metal-history-month-pensees.html

8-OXXO XOOX- "Y" 


 The 3rd album from this Igorr lead project uses electronics that makes dipping into another brand of metal seem as easy as pressing an esc key on a sonic glitch. The fact that doom is the sound the return to despite covering a great deal of ground over the course of the song says a lot to me about what they are going for here. Darker than the first two bands sits them pretty at number 8.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/12/oxxo-xoox-y.html

7-Dreadnought- "Emergence"

 The jazz like drumming and the lapses into dissonance provide a suited juxtaposition to the smoothly sung female vocals. Plenty of your standard prog trappings are in place, though with less of the expected guitar solos.

6-White Ward- "Love Exchange Failure

" This album grows on me with each listen. What they have created proves to be a unique experience and finds the band improving their blend of jazz and black metal. Not the first time jazz and metal meet, this time around it does so in a more atmospheric manner that stays true to both genres being melded . This is putting the progress in progressive, more so than the long and winding road Dreadnought takes you down.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/08/white-ward-love-exchange-failure.html

5-Liturgy-"H.A,Q.Q"

 Hunter is back with something closer to the kind of experimental black metal that you want from this project, even if it comes in practice burst that might owe as much to grind core ... think the Locust here. Greg Fox left some big shoes to fill but Leo Didkovsky who also plasy with Kayo Dot measure's up. More spastic than past releases I admire these guys pushing past conventions. One of the few albums that is as far out in left field as White Ward, these guys just lock into more grooves that punch the point home.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/11/liturgy-haqq.html

4- Kayo Dot - "blasphemy"


 Toby Driver is the main creative force behind this project . They are like a more avant garde version of Leprous. This time around we find them after they have obviously smoked a shit ton of weed. this is not the most metallic album of their career. It does have hefty undercurrents of metal. Moodier and with song that coax you in more the abrasive nature of Liturgy. https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/09/kayo-dot-blasphemy.html



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3- Opeth - "In Cauda Veneum" 


 One of the best post death metal efforts. It is not fragile prog, but dark and with a biting edge. Mikel's voice sounds better here and this is not the heaviest album on this list, but it does pack considerable punch as needed. The beat out Kayo Dot by virtue of their superior musical skills.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/09/opeth-in-cauda-venenum.html

2- Bask- "III"


This North Carolina band merges prog with their brand of stoner rock, with a great deal of moody melody. It's two minutes in before the heavier side starts to show. When they fully commit the results are powerful as the big riffs counter balance the soulful vocal. The coolest thing to me is the underlying current of country / Americana which helps set them apart from the other bands on this list. They wrote catchier songs than Opeth this time around.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/11/november-doom-bask-iii.html

1- Baroness- "Gold & Grey" 

 The stakes were high as this was the first album after their Grammy nominated "Purple Album" and their first with new lead guitarist Gina Gleason. Their live show sold me on these songs then it grew on me. It was pretty ambitious , but they pulled it off. Very pristine production wise and a glimpse into their more introspective side .The winding sinew of the grooving riffs earned them the number one spot.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/06/baroness-gold-grey.html

White Ward : "Love Exchange Failure"

This band returns with their sophomore album, I forget what they do so the smooth jazz like tones were not what I expected going into this and they prove only the calm before the storm . Then they hurtle into blast beats four minutes into things. I prefer the darker build they lean into at the six minute mark. They pound on it more like a hardcore band than black metal.  More of a modern take on black metal than you might think would come out of Ukraine. The compositional structure of the song is pretty ambitious.  They return to jazz at the beginning of "Poisonous Flowers Of Violence". This is more short lived than it was with the opener. There are more post- rock like sounds, which at this point are more common place in black metal so not a unique. Despite it not breaking any new ground for the genre they are good at what they do.  There are some cool riffs, but you know the rule around here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make, so they bend the rule by throwing a sax in.

There are some sonic atmospherics to "Dead Heart Confession" not enough to gain my attention until the song breaks down to a darker jazz section five minutes in. Jazz takes over the beginning of "Shelter" though there are weird noises in the background to fore shadow the inevitable return of the blast beats. This is really more of an interlude that leads into the more minimal free form jazz of "No Cure For Pain"  At four minutes in they return to the metal. This time it's more thrashy and free of blast beat. The vocals stay at a similar snarl.The drummer for this band is really on point , even more than what is expected of black metal. There are also guitar solos which at one time were not as frequent in black metal, but are becoming more common place. I do  like when they blend the jazz as another layer to the metal. There are even sung vocals in the final minutes before it returns to jazz.

Female vocals come into play on "Surfaces and Depths" .  The song slinks along flowing into the more dynamic builds. Then things get much more moody as male vocals croon in the distance. The harsher vocals return and they continue to blend jazz with their metallic side, though in a darker manner that I prefer. The vocals change into a throatier tone more like sludge. They also pulls out an  epic chugging riff that impresses me . I will give this album an 8.5 , it is a unique experience and finds the band improving in the blend of jazz and black metal, not sure if it is something I will lsiten to on a regular rotation , but enjoyed the listens I got out of this thus far. Comes out September 20th on Dembur Morti .


5.2

White Ward : "Futility Report"

This band from the Ukraine uses a wide range of atmospheric touches to delve darkly into their songs. They do this using samples , electronics and even sax. There is more jazz present on the first song than their is black metal so these guys are hard to define. They do blast into a double bass driven section with coarse growls. There is a more blackened straight forward onslaught of metal on "Stillborn Knowledge". It does ebb back down into that jazzy place. I found myself looking forward to these moments as the metal sections were much less novel. The sax lines over the swells of distorted chords is the one thing that gives their metal moments a trait that sets them aside from the hundreds of other bands who do this. There are some shimmering post rock parts and shredding guitar sections so a range to touch upon the taste buds of many a metal head.

"Homecoming" starts with a more jazz like touch and a really great guitar solo is layered upon it. I don't normally get into guitar solos, but this has a very Frank Zappa like quality to it.It builds into their more middle of the road version of black metal, but for what it is still works. "Rain is the Cure" is a jazz interlude that could have been the intro for the more Enslaved like charge into "Black Silent Piers". This works off the typical epic metal gallop into battle. This does work its way beack into the cross roads of where their black metal sides meets their jazz side and the results prove to once again find this project at their best when residing here, as the blast beats that follow could come from anyone. The title track starts off with them on a more straight forward metallic path that is hardly as inventive what they have done earlier in the album. They do throw some electronic elements in at the end of the song but it seems more like an afterthought rather than the next logical place for the song to go.

I think these guys hit on some stellar moments, I feel when they really got mired into the metal they lose their sense of identity and it could be anyone unless the jazz touches of experimentation are there, they show they can write songs, so sometimes the metal sections feel like they are taking the easy way out. Regardless the over all result is still impressive enough in its high points for me to give this a 8.5.