All black metal, all day! Everyday! Say it with your chest!
A couple quick things:
1) Anything that has been released in the later part of December is going on a “Best of December” list. I got tired of having something released at the very end of the year tearing up my year end, and giving me that feeling of having to shoehorn something into a list based on name and hype. Hate Forest did it to me two years ago, and now threatened to do it again this year, among other bands. I’m sticking to my guns on this from here on out!
2) I have a lot of favorite EPs for the year, but my list focuses on FULL LENGTH ALBUMS. Why showcase appetizers when I can showcase the full meals?
3) I had to dig deep on this one this year. As easy as it could have been to thrown the “name bands” on this list, I had to really sit and think about what albums I actually listened to fairly often this year. Not all the name bands got a lot of spins from me. I no longer feel the need to throw all of the “name” bands out there on my list just to echo popular opinion. I hope my list gets people wondering, and hopely you’ll find some new gems for your ears and your collection.
With that out of the way, here are my personal picks for the top black metal albums of 2022:
Something in the water right now in the UK. Absolutely crushing, aggressive Vampyric black metal with riffs for days, and the still not common occurrence of a woman leading the charge and crushing black metal vocal patriarchy with a stellar performance.
From Vancouver BC we have face melting melodic black metal with tales of anguish of the Native American tribes, with awesome musical moments straight from a Spaghetti Western movie.
Let these Slovakians take you on a journey deep into the forests, to mingle with the spirits, and said journey delivered in a musical package that reminds one of The Shadowthrone, For All Tid, Bergtatt, and the like.
This Austrian project returns to deliver six new hymns of cold, rather melodic, and dare say uplifting atmospheric black metal. IMO, the best album since Existenz.
Don’t let the weird, almost electronica intro fool you, this is by far some of the most well executed Pagan black metal you’ll hear this year, bar none. Musicianship to production is stellar.
From the frosty realms of Arizona comes an ode to all things grand about the Swedish melodic black metal scene circa 1994 thru the early 2000’s. They pay homage to Vinterland, Sacramentum, and Unanimated as much as they do Dissection.
You want riffs? A lot of riffs? A lot of *catchy* riffs? In everything that can be whitewashed in black metal fury? Look no further. Every instrument shreds to pieces on this.
USBM from Portland, Oregon that is severely overlooked. It’s melodic, it’s raw, it’s catchy, it’s some of the best Pagan-themed stuff coming from the US.
Another great Finnish band, delivering the type of epic as all hell blackened metal that hasn’t hit me this hard since the first few Moonsorrow albums. Nods to Bathory and other greats as well. Music to hike mountains with (speaking from experience).
Savagely melodic and riff forward Greek black metal that pays far deeper homage to the Finnish greats than their classic country mates. If you missed out on this one, I am sorry.
Black metal this repetitive shouldn’t be THIS DAMN GOOD. And add exclusively clean vocals to the mix, and you have something truly unique and hypnotic. I cannot get enough of this. I expect no less from Italian great Gionata “Omega” Potenti. Dude doesn’t know how to make bad music.
These Finns are here to remind you that aggressive and atmospheric 1990’s Scandinavian black metal is here to stay. Top notch performance all the way around. The perfect companion piece with sister band Korpituli.
This is German black metal on a truly large scale. The pace never goes beyond mid-tempo, but the riffs are furious, and the tone somber. It pulls you in deep and does not want to let go.
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03) FIRN – Frostwärts
This is a relatively new melodic and folk tinged German Pagan black metal project, created by the man behind Heathen folk project Waldtraene, and also involved in Folk rock/metal greats Odroerir. This flew far too far under most radars this year. ‘Epic’ is an overused word in this genre, but sometimes it’s the only one that fits.
This mysterious Swedish project reared its ugly head all the way back in January to bless everyone with a 3rd album of serpentine riffs, blast beats and deep, dark atmosphere to get lost in. These four tracks flow into one another and by no means feels like a 40 min experience. The holding power it had over the year cannot be denied. If not for my #1 coming out a month later, this could have easily taken the crown.
Once again, the UK comes through. I probably have listened to this album the most of any this year, and I still can’t grow tired of it. Raw black metal that draws inspiration from both the Finnish and French black metal scenes, and has an underlying punk aesthetic that sometimes comes fully to light on tracks such as ‘Netherstorm Of Purple-Velvet Khaos’. Absolute perfection. Ask anyone who knows me, they’ll probably tell you I have been incessantly pimping the HELL out of this one, and should surprise absolutely noone to see this on top of the heap.
BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2022 will continue.
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As with last year, I’ve decided to create two definitive lists recording my favourite discoveries this year – the black metal list to stay on brand for this site, and the non black metal list because I’m really not as kvlt as I should be. These are the albums I kept coming back to for more, the ones that really stuck with me; in my opinion, that’s the mark of a great album. Even if it’s not technically the best thing ever written, if you enjoy the hell out of it and can’t put it down, it’s done something right. So, without further ado…
This year was the year I stuck my head into deep waters of the raw side of black metal, undoubtedly due in no small part to the unrelenting chaos of the world around us. Whilst mostly diving into past releases I’d missed, Ascend Towards the Moon’s debut instantly grabbed me with its beautiful-yet-haunting artwork, chaotic-yet-calming riffing and a pervasive sense of otherworldly mystery; I’ve found myself often returning to it to kick off raw binges as the days continue to grow bleak.
An album I reviewed quite recently, Winterlore earns its place on this list by being a thoroughly satisfying listen time after time. The band isn’t reinventing the wheel, but they certainly don’t hold themselves out as attempting to do. Instead, all the fun and drive of the riffier classics from the second wave (think Immortal) is competently refreshed for the modern day and sprinkled with a touch of epic scope. I do tire a little of the fuzzier production, especially when compared to the shining mixes elsewhere on this list, but it’s totally appropriate for the style and is easily looked past. After all, when the riffs are this fun, why would you complain?
Essential tracks: ‘Eternal Defiance’, ‘Dark Tempest’, ‘Spears of the Dead’
A relatively straightforward melodic black release, Spectres from the Old World really shone for me with its replayability being one of its major assets. Boasting exactly the production you’d want from an album like this – clear and professional without softening any of the bite – Dark Fortress conjure a cold yet catchy landscape that never feels as long as its 58 minute runtime, helped by a variety of sub-textures that support the blackened assault and ensure it doesn’t get stale. Similar releases in the meloblack field (such as Naglfar) failed to grab my attention this year, and in a way it’s quite difficult to quantify why. What is clear is that Spectres is a riff-tastic whirlwind of an album, and it’s a blast every time I listen.
Essential tracks: ‘Coalescence’, ‘Pulling at Threads’, ‘The Spider in the Web’
I wrote up this album back in May, in which I stated that “it’s a record that grows with each listen, new nuances revealing themselves every time”. I am clearly a wise man blessed with exceptional foresight (or just lucky), as my appreciation for Ruadh’s second full length album still continues to grow. My various criticisms still stand, but the fact remains that I’ve gone back to the record time and time again this year, and expect to continue to do so for years to come – and it’s a truly enjoyable experience every time.
Essential tracks: ‘The Rock of the Clyde’, ‘Only Distant Echoes Reign pts 1-2’
Released right at the beginning of this hellspawned year, Between Land and Sky has been an ever-constant presence at the top of my AotY playlist right from its release. Described by many as pagany black metal in the vein of Havukruunu or Moonsorrow, the album may lay its foundations in that world, but develops and builds colossal heights that incorporate influences from beyond any one subgenre. The guitar work is excellent throughout, supported by very natural sounding drums and a variety of organic, subtle folk timbres. It’s an album that feels bigger than the 45 minute runtime, and as such does require a certain mood to want to engage with the story it has to tell – but when that mood is struck, few other releases this year can match it.
Essential tracks: ‘The Ardent Passage’, ‘Karakorum’, ‘Those Who Are Long Gone’
Describing itself as “Quarantine Fraud Metal”, due to being recorded in two swift weeks during the early days of lockdown, you’d be well within your rights to assume that this self-titled debut would be filled with anger, frustration, and haunting loneliness. That, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. A magnificent and triumphant release, the joyous synth layers couple with the (mostly) instrumental atmoblack foundations to create something that brings ambient “nature black metal” bands like Eldamar and Lustre to the mind, but the inherent sense of uplift composed and woven through the production sets the project on its own path and brings hope to the heart; perhaps intended as a reminder to us all that these days of disease will end soon.
Malist are unique. Billed as melodic black metal yet far more ambitious than just that, To Mantle the Rising Sun is a masterclass in creating an atmosphere across an album that sounds truly different to anything else. Sure, there are identifiable influences at play, but the way sole member Ovfrost combines and constructs songs makes a sound that is definitively this band and no one else. It’s an impressive feat for a band that’s released two albums in little over a year since emerging from the shadows, and I predict huge things on the horizon for them.
Essential tracks: ‘The Ultimate Possession’, ‘Tempest of Sorrow’, ‘To Stifle the Fire in the Eyes’
Having been quite underwhelmed with previous full-length Unity, I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy A New Dawn a great deal, but I was curious to see how the band’s debut on Northern Silence Productions had turned out. And how wrong I was. The album is, simply put, gorgeous. The artwork is warm and hopeful, and a perfect mirror to the six songs contained within. There’s a greater emphasis on clean vocals, which are stronger this time around and match the lush textures of the synth and guitars (clean often layered with distorted), which additionally makes the (quite frankly occasional) uses of harsh vocals far more notable. Everything about this album seems purposeful, and intended to invoke a warm feeling of beauty; atmospheric-post-black-gaze has a new champion, and this is their dawn.
Essential tracks: ‘Heart of the Forest’, ‘Along the Waves’, ‘Wanderer’
Another album that’s been pushing for a podium finish since January, this is an exceptional record. I struggle to come up with meaningful comparisons because the truth is that I haven’t heard anything quite like it. The Metal Archives seem to suggest that Saor and Sojourner are the closest to a match, but aside from not shying away from folky instrumentation alongside the metal and ethereal female vocals I’m not sure how accurate the comparisons really are, nor do they do justice to just how special this album is. Dzö-nga truly consolidate their own sound and identity and emerge as a colossal epic titan, triumphantly standing over almost all others.
Essential tracks: ‘The Death of Minnehaha’, ‘The Song of Hiawatha’, ‘Flames in the Sky’
Beaten only by my top choice for non-black metal this year, Winterfylleth’s latest effort struck a massive chord with me. Following on from their controversial acoustic effort in 2018, this album showcases everything I love about the band. From the sombre-yet-savage riffing, to the tender folky interludes, to the mighty man choirs that bring majesty without excessive cheese, it’s somehow truly embodied with a sense of English nature and history that personally resonates with me like few other sounds can. It’s a feat that Winterfylleth have always been able to pull off, but never quite as triumphantly as this.
Essential tracks: ‘Misdeeds of Faith’, ‘A Hostile Fate (The Wayfarer pt. 4)’, ‘In Darkness Begotten’
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HONOURABLE MENTIONS (because this year was too good to fit into 10): Morwinyon; Havukruunu; Forlorn Citadel; Vredehammer; …And Oceans.
Kicking off the non-black metal section come Lorna Shore, who merge earth-shatteringly stupid deathcore breakdowns with… well, black metal. It’s a similar approach to that taken by Carnifex, but in my opinion every element is executed far more effectively here. The tremolos and blasts are frosty when they appear, yet leave centre stage for the catchy hooks and aforementioned massive mega beatdowns (seriously, just try not to laugh during the final section of ‘Death Portrait’). Certainly by no means to everyone’s tastes, I can’t help but love the straightforward “fuck it, let’s be idiots” approach combined with the genuine technical proficiency on show from all the members. A fun album.
Essential tracks: ‘Death Portrait’, ‘This is Hell’
I’ve been waiting for this album since I discovered power metal. Fairyland’s Score to a New Beginning was one of the earliest records in the genre that I truly loved and would listen to religiously, swept up in the symphonic fantasy world. It also served as a springboard into so many other bands in the wider power metal genre, as I realised that I truly do love the cheese. Eleven years after ScoreFairyland are back with another slab of symphonic wonder; and whilst it’s by no means the best thing I’ve ever heard, it’s true and faithful to the classic Fairyland spirit and serves as a worthy companion to that hallowed album.
Essential tracks: ‘Heralds of the Green Lands’, ‘Hubris et Orbis’, ‘Alone We Stand’
This is by no means the perfect release. There are two intro tracks for some reason, an interlude, and a finale. Most of the songs top seven minutes, which is quite odd for big cheesy symphonic power. But when the songwriting and production is as good as this, you can forgive the excessive length. There are some massive choruses throughout the album and the stellar vocals of Tommy Johansson portray the fantastical pirate world perfectly. The album goes a long way in developing the ambitious original concept world that the band have created, and it’s all too easy to slip into the soundtrack and immerse yourself.
Essential tracks: ‘The Land of Xia’, ‘Zera’s Shadow’, ‘Some Day Soon’
Having loved previous album Tarot (the best album of 2017), I was initially quite lukewarm on Redneck Vikings From Hell. The band was leaning a bit more into the tongue-in-cheek aspects of their aesthetic, there were a couple of softer tracks, and closing with an 11 minute instrumental seemed… uh, bold. However, I just kept coming back for more, and essentially realised that I actually just didn’t care about those previous statements. It’s a fun ride through Finnish-styled melodeath territory – as if Wintersun knew how to not take themselves too seriously – and the variety created throughout the album by the inclusion of some softer cuts makes for an interesting and dynamic journey. It’s got big singalong moments, it’s got irresistable headbanger riffs, and it’s got moments of pure, raw emotion. It’s quintessentially Æther Realm, and they’re quite simply a force to be reckoned with.
Essential tracks: ‘Cycle’, ‘Lean into the Wind’, ‘One Hollow Word’
Another band following up on excellent previous albums, I saw a lot of online debate as to whether Unleash the Archers had indeed managed to do that with Abyss. Dousing their melodeathy take on power metal with a heavy dose of slick synths, there’s no questioning that Abyss is potentially the best produced album of the year. The attention to detail is staggering, and the result is deeply enjoyable to listen to. However, it is a surprisingly bottom-heavy album. With a couple of missteps in the first half of the album it falls a little short of the magnificent triumph that was Apex, but some of the cuts on the latter half of the album are just sensational, and I’ve gone back time and time again.
Essential tracks: ‘The Wind That Shapes the Land’, ‘Soulbound’, ‘Carry the Flame’
Whilst I am listing all these new releases, 2020 was really the year I developed an unhealthy obsession with ’90s Blind Guardian (something I’m honestly surprised hadn’t happened sooner). As such, Persuader’s Necromancy came at the perfect time to knock me off my feet. The album just rips, with hard hitting heavy/power riffs and a fantastic vocal performance that isn’t afraid to stray into harsh vocals when the song demands impact. Whilst a little light on the obvious hooky choruses that you might find in the poppier end of power metal, it’s the kind of album that grabs you straight away and has you fired up and headbanging for all 44 minutes.
Essential tracks: ‘Scars’, ‘The Curse Unbound’, ‘Raise the Dead’
Continuing the Hansi worship on this list, Judicator have received a lot of attention for their latest opus, Let There Be Nothing. Previous album The Last Emperor became a strong favourite of mine the moment I heard it, with its slightly hookier approach to that traditional Blind Guardian sound, vocalist John Yelland’s extraordinary voice and harmony writing, and excellently written First Crusade themed lyrics. Let There Be Nothing plays to my historical interests even more strongly with its Byzantine concept and, whilst the individual songs are generally a bit less memorable than on the previous record, it’s a wonderfully immersive concept album. Furthermore, the title track and album closer has to go down as one of the songs of the year – that chorus is absolute weapons grade material.
Essential tracks: ‘Let There Be Nothing’, ‘Gloria’, ‘Let There Be Light’
Whereas I enjoy Lorna Shore’s approach to deathcore primarily due to its sheer stupidity and fun, Viscera earn their place on this list for different reasons; it’s just breathtakingly good. The riffs combine elements from technical death metal and similar areas seamlessly with the deathcore breakdowns; the harsh vocals are solid and well deployed, whilst the clean vocals have no right to be as good as they are; and the 35 minute runtime has forced them to cut out anything unnecessary and still deliver a dynamic, intense experience. It’s yet another example from recent years that proves deathcore is evolving beyond the meaningless chugs into an interesting genre with serious metal credentials – and I’ll die on that hill.
Essential tracks: ‘Delilah’, ‘Immersed in Ire’, ‘Affliction’
If you’re aware of the backstory behind this album, you’ll know it’s a miracle that it managed to come out at all, but the 20 year struggle to bring it into the daylight gifted the band with the opportunity to have Yannis Papadopoulos (Beast in Black) on the mic; and the man delivers the performance of a lifetime. Atop an expansive musical tapestry that varies between trad/heavy power riffs, soft, tender acoustic moments and everything between, Yannis draws us into an emotional journey that captivates the listener entirely. It’s a very different album from the hook-centric singles-orientated metal of his other project, and fans who love singalong power metal probably won’t enjoy this as much. However, if you’re willing and ready to give yourself entirely to the concept and submerge yourself in the musical layers for the runtime, it’s one hell of an experience.
Essential tracks: ‘Damned for All Time’, ‘Lonely Man’, ‘Scared to Cry’
Forgetting musicality for a moment; an album hasn’t made me feel such introspective and deep emotions as this since Asira’s Efference in 2017. Glow is an absolute triumph, merging the moody melodeath leanings of Finnish heavyweights like Insomnium with the atmospheres and dynamic range of post-metal. The songwriting is progressive yet accessible, with huge climaxes and vulnerable, raw moments woven together seamlessly. All the members are clearly highly proficient, but the real star of the show goes to clean vocalist Phil Romeo’s soaring tenor, adding a transcendent quality to the already ethereal nature of the album.
Essential tracks: ‘Tempest’, ‘Zephyr’
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HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Sylosis, Dark Forest, Omnivortex, Fellowship, Bring Me the Horizon, Eternal Champion, Megaton Sword
…and if you’ve made it this far, I released two things this year. I’m bloody proud of both of them, and whilst I can’t put either in my lists (because that’d be frowned upon), I think they’d be absolute contenders if they were by someone else.
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