Let’s start the introduction to the list of my favorite albums of the year by stating the obvious: 2022 was the greatest year for new music in a long time. It took a while before the music industry got there. For a while during the first half of the year, I thought all the albums that have been made due to a global pandemic offering artists the time to write and record something good rather than rushing something out in between tours had been released already. And then came the flood. From late August onward, I was able to cover new releases in my Album of the Week reviews for nearly three and a half months straight.
Being able to cover such a steady stream of quality releases is something that has not happened since starting this weblog eleven years ago. Even better is the fact that established names and interesting newcomers were all part of it. Sure, not every new release by a big-name artist was a slam dunk – even my number one for this year appears to be fairly divisive – but it has been a while since there have been so many. Personally, I more or less spent the second half of the year either looking forward to a new release or enjoying one. Well, that and dreading the fate of the world, but apparently both extremes can exist simultaneously.
As a result, I have decided to continue last year’s change to extend my end-of-year list to twenty titles again. That should make up for the lack of an Album of the Week today due to the new year starting on a Sunday. Deciding which titles would not make it was more difficult than ever, but expanding the list to twenty-five sets a precedent I’m not sure I’m willing to bear the consequences of. Let’s start with my album of the year, which is likely to annoy half of the metal scene and I do not understand why.

1. Megadeth – The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!
Reactions to ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead’ seem to be evenly split between people who think it is the work of a tired band trying to relive their glory days and people like me, who think it is the best Megadeth album since ‘The System Has Failed’. My sneaking suspicion is that the former generally don’t like Megadeth much to begin with, because ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead’ is exactly what I want to hear from Megadeth. Sharp riffs, clever yet accessible compositions, excellent performances by everyone involved… And the album is remarkably consistent. Dave Mustaine is the only classic thrash musician who can still occasionally put out something that sounds like his classic work. ‘The Sick, They Dying… And The Dead!’ is one of those occasions.
Recommended tracks: ‘Night Stalkers’, ‘Célebutante’, ‘We’ll Be Back’, ‘Life In Hell’

2. Pentagram – Makina Elektrika
Turkey’s Pentagram had been touring with an expanded line-up including multiple former band members that appear on classic albums for several years now. The fact that they recorded a full album with that line-up was a pleasant surprise. Even more pleasant is the fact that the band makes excellent use of what every band member brings to the table. Especially the four lead singers make ‘Makina Elektrika’ a feast of varied approaches. Progressive metal with oriental touches, scorching thrash metal, powerful rockers and an acoustic ballad: they are all there and remarkably, they all sound like Pentagram. Pentagram is not exactly the most prolific band release-wise, but one canalways count on them for quality albums.
Recommended tracks: ‘Sur’, ‘Revenant’, ‘Maymunlar Gezegeni’, ‘Ödenmez’

3. Dana Fuchs – Borrowed Time
Admittedly, Dana Fuchs could sing over the sound of hospital equipment and I would still love it, but I really like the direction she and her band took on ‘Borrowed Time’. After a roots album (‘Bliss Avenue’) and a soul album (‘Love Lives On’), both fantastic by the way, Fuchs focuses on southern rock for ‘Borrowed Time’. Not unlike its predecessors, however, the result is far more varied than that description might suggest. There are still plenty of soul grooves and rootsy ballads to be heard, but it also has some of Fuchs’ hardest rocking material to date, with the incredible opener ‘Double Down On Wrong’ as the perfect example. And Fuchs’ gritty alto sounds fantastic over all of it.
Recommended tracks: ‘Double Down On Wrong’, ‘Curtain Close’, ‘Save Me’, ‘Blue Ridge Road’

4. Vorbid – A Swan At The Edge Of Mandala
Despite being vaguely aware of Vorbid, ‘A Swan At The Edge Of Mandala’ did not draw my attention until I saw the “for fans of” bit of its press release, which listed Megadeth, Opeth, Mastodon and Exodus as soundalikes. In reality, the palette is even more varied than that. The album sounds like a mixture of Vektor, Porcupine Tree and Enslaved, with maybe a bit of Death in the riff work, sounding more like a thrash-inspired progressive metal band rather than the proggy thrash of most bands Vorbid is compared to. ‘A Swan At The Edge Of Mandala’ is very adventurous and surprisingly listenable for music this complex and technical. It is admirable how Vorbid mixes familiar elements to create something unique.
Recommended tracks: ‘Ex Ante’, ‘Ecotone’, ‘Self’, ‘Derealization’

5. Bywater Call – Remain
Rootsy rock with excellent songwriting is something I love, but the scene isn’t full of great songwriters. Fantastic musicians galore, but not many bands in the scene have original material as good as Bywater Call’s. The musical interaction of the Canadian septet is highly engaging and it helps that the band has a singer as good as Meghan Parnell, but that would have been meaningless if the songs on ‘Remain’ weren’t this good. My go-to comparison for this type of music is always The Black Crowes, but Bywater Call is far more soulful and Parnell’s voice carries a distinct gospel flavor on anything she does. There might be more room for spirited jams when you see Bywater Call in concert, but ‘Remain’ is all about memorable hooks and strong melodies.
Recommended tracks: ‘Let Me Be Wrong’, ‘Falls Away’, ‘Bring It Back’

6. Magma – Kãrtëhl
‘Kãrtëhl’ was announced as an optimistic album. Within the world of Magma, that usually isn’t a reason to look forward to a release. Personally, I prefer Magma at their dark, apocalyptic best. Fortunately, despite certainly being a bit more positive-sounding than recent Magma releases – most notably the impenetrable ‘Zëss’ – ‘Kãrtëhl’ is also one of their better albums released this century. Drummer and band leader Christian Vander welcomed more input from other band members than usual, resulting in a varied album that really profits from what other band members bring to the table. Not just compositionally; the musicianship on ‘Kãrtëhl’ is excllent and gives the album a slightly more jazzy vibe rhythmically than the usual militaristic fusion. I do prefer the album’s darkest moments though.
Recommended tracks: ‘Ẁalomëhndêm Ẁarreï’, ‘Ẁïï Mëlëhn Tü’, ‘Hakëhn Deïs’

7. Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings
Alter Bridge struck such a perfect balance between stadium rock and modern metal on ‘Blackbird’ and ‘AB III’ that any release that followed was disappointing in some shape or form. Quality is guaranteed when Alter Bridge releases something, but ‘Walk The Sky’ was too rock, while ‘Fortress’ and ‘The Last Hero’ were too metal. ‘Pawns & Kings’, however, finds a near-perfect balance again. The crushing downtuned riffs keep the band grounded in contemporary metal territory, but the melodies and – perhaps most importantly – Myles Kennedy’s incredible voice are allowed plenty of space to create memorable rock earworms. It also helps that it is about ten minutes shorter than the average Alter Bridge album. That allows ‘Pawns & Kings’ to be all killer, no filler.
Recommended tracks: ‘Fable Of The Silent Son’, ‘Holiday’, ‘Sin After Sin’, ‘Last Man Standing’

8. Joanne Shaw Taylor – Nobody’s Fool
There are many reasons why I love Joanne Shaw Taylor’s music. Her warm, husky alto sends shivers down my spine. Her guitar solos are spiky and fiery, yet surprisingly economic, while her riffs bring together blues, rock and soul in a satisfying way. Most of all, however, it was her songwriting that made me a fan. This happened upon hearing the very eclectic ‘Almost Always Never’ and ‘Nobody’s Fool’ has a similar philosophy. It is not concerned with impressing the blues crowd, but instead focuses on extremely well-written songs with a lot of personality and emotion. Blues is still there, but so are southern rock, americana, pop and a generous helping of soul. One of her most surprising albums to date and a very impressive one as a result.
Recommended tracks: ‘Just No Getting Over You (Dream Cruise)’, ‘Bad Blood’, ‘The Leaving Kind’

9. Seikima-II – Bloodiest
Kabuki rock demons Seikima-II had done multiple tours after the break-up their silly lore had demanded, but a full album of original material was out of the question. Until last year. ‘Bloodiest’ should not have been as good as it is. It feels like an anthology of all the styles Seikima-II has attempted through the years, with thankfully a strong focus on the traditional heavy metal of their earliest days and the melodic stadium rock of the mid to late eighties. The album isn’t quite as good as their classic work, but it simply is another Seikima-II album. In a world with so many disappointing or downright embarrassing reunion releases, isn’t that really all we can hope for?
Recommended tracks: ‘Koryotaru Shinsekai’, ‘Mighty Punch Line’, ‘Jigoku No Kane Wo Narasunowa Omae’

10. Incidense – Collide
‘Collide’ is Incidense’s first album in more than a decade, but it fits current developments in the prog scene perfectly. While the heavy riffs keep Incidence firmly in the progressive metal realm, the lines between progressive rock and metal are fading, creating a much stronger blend in the process. Within that blend, Incidense excels at emotional songwriting. Incidense’s songs aren’t long because they are vehicles for virtuosity, but because they have intense stories to tell. Singer Peter Meijer is the perfect narrator for those stories. François Koopmans’ riff work has a pre-Dream Theater vibe that lifts Incidense to a higher level than many contemporaries, despite being every bit as heavy and pulsating.
Recommended tracks: ‘Descent’, ‘Inner Enemies – Part I’, ‘Blinded’

11. Xentrix – Seven Words
Despite knowing and liking Xentrix, I was not expecting ‘Seven Words’ to be anywhere near as good as it is. ‘Bury The Pain’, their first album since reuniting, was a solid contemporary thrash metal album, but nothing spectacular. ‘Seven Words’, on the other hand, may even rival Xentrix’ classic material. This is one solid, consistent slab of timeless thrash metal that doesn’t pander to the old school nostalgia circuit, but doesn’t sound too modern either. It may help that Xentrix never went for breaking speed records, opting for clever songwriting and memorable hooks instead. Newcomer Jay Walsh has a voice that sounds nearly identical to his predecessor Chris Astley at times, which contributes to ‘Seven Words’ sounding pleasantly familiar, yet fresh and relevant.
Recommeded tracks: ‘Seven Words’, ‘Spit Coin’, ‘Behind The Walls Of Treachery’

12. Sisters Of Suffocation – Eradication
On each of their three albums to date, Sisters Of Suffocation has changed up their formula a bit, but their overall dedication to catchy, memorable death metal has not changed. After the fairly modern-sounding ‘Humans Are Broken’, ‘Eradication’ is notably more old school, without sacrificing any of their varied songwriting. As such, ‘Eradication’ moves back and forth between borderline thrash metal, pummeling old school death metal and the occasional technical or atmospheric passage. The album also has a flow that works remarkably well; there is never too much of one type of death metal, but the album also doesn’t become disjointed. The greater amount of guitar harmonies and solos is very welcome as well. A new highlight in the band’s career and absolutely worth hearing.
Recommended tracks: ‘Hide In Plain Sight’, ‘Being Prey’, ‘Cannibal Soulmate’

13. Dir En Grey – Phalaris
After the unbelievable piece of crap that was ‘The Insulated World’, I was ready to give up on Dir En Grey. Ever the idiosyncratic band, however, every Dir En Grey album could end up sounding completely different than the previous. That is exactly what happened here. ‘Phalaris’ reins in Kyo’s vocal madness a bit and focuses on a satisfying balance of melancholic melodies and meaty modern metal riffs. The album’s lengthy bookends are the obvious highlights here, with opener ‘Schadenfreude’ being a progressive metal monster and closer ‘Kamuy’ an unpredictable, atmospheric semi-ballad. Thankfully, ‘Phalaris’ is infinitely more dynamic than its predecessor, which means there is plenty of unpredictable brilliance in the intervening 44 minutes as well.
Recommended tracks: ‘Schadenfreude’, ‘Kamuy’, ‘Utsusu, Bouga Wo Kurau’, ’13’

14. Decapitated – Cancer Culture
‘Cancer Culture’ captures that creative spark that I thought Decapitated had lost after ‘Canival Is Forever’. These days, death metal this creative often drops the aggression the genre is known for. ‘Cancer Culture’ is clever, but also cathartic when it needs to be. Wacław ‘Vogg’ Kiełtyka has a rather unique approach when it comes to guitar solos and that side of him is more present on the album than it has been in a long time. The amount of rhythmic variation also lifts ‘Cancer Culture’ to a higher level. Newcomer James Stewart knows exactly when to be technical, when to blast relentlessly and when to go for more open grooves. The result is a highly dynamic modern death metal album that towers above the rest of the genre.
Recommended tracks: ‘Just Another Cigarette’, ‘Cancer Culture’, ‘Hello Death’

15. Chaos Control – Call Of The Abyss
Usually when a band fades away after an EP, it is never to be heard from again. Chaos Control released one in 2001 and more than two decades later, a debut album followed. And it’s shockingly good as well. ‘Call Of The Abyss’ isn’t just a labor of love by some friends making their demo material available; it is an excellent progressive power metal album. The at times surprisingly aggressive music is heavily inspired by Queensrÿche, but there are clear hints of Nevermore and – in the more traditional power metal songs – Helloween as well. The riff work and lead guitar work is often spectacular. ‘Call Of The Abyss’ may have been even higher on the list if it didn’t have so many songs with guest singers. Toshinori Mitunaga is good enough to carry this by himself.
Recommended tracks: ‘Karma’, ‘Fatal Disaster’, ‘Lost’

16. Threshold – Dividing Lines
Threshold is an interesting band to categorize. Sonically and arrangement-wise, they appear to be a progressive metal band. The songwriting, however, often suggests they are a fairly adventurous hardrock band with frequent dense prog sections. Few prog bands have such catchy earworms of choruses. And ‘Dividing Lines’ plays to Threshold’s melodic strengths more than any album since the departure of the late Andrew McDermott. Glynn Morgan’s sandpaper vocal cords give the music a more ballsy vibe than it would have had with a cleaner singer. A group of musicians as skilled as Threshold also tends to come up with a much greater deal of variation in rhythms, riffs and atmospheres than the average AOR band, which is ultimately what makes ‘Dividing Lines’ one of the best Threshold albums to date.
Recommended tracks: ‘Let It Burn’, ‘King Of Nothing’, ‘Complex’

17. Queensrÿche – Digital Noise Alliance
Most Queensrÿche discussions these days devolve into picking sides. Despite the nasty details, however, I am glad Geoff Tate fell out with the rest of the band, because it resulted in Michael Wilton and Eddie Jackson recording their best music since the mid-eighties. ‘Digital Noise Alliance’ isn’t quite as consistent as its two predecessors, but might appeal to the progressive metal crowd who considered those albums leaning too much to the USPM side of the spectrum. While ‘Digital Noise Alliance’ does have a few relatively straightforward metal tracks expertly sung by Todd La Torre, there are a few more daring and experimental compositions here and the songs in general are allowed a bit more room to breathe. However, excellent guitar work and strong melodies still rule the day here.
Recommended tracks: ‘Nocturnal Light’, ‘In Extremis’, ‘Behind The Walls’

18. Erja Lyytinen – Waiting For The Daylight
Blues queen or songwriting genius? ‘Waiting For The Daylight’ is the ultimate proof that Erja Lyytinen has more strings to her bow than just her mastery of blues guitar. In fact, the album is best when Lyytinen and her band are furthest away from the blues. Pop, rock, even a bit of jazz: as long as Lyytinen can add a good guitar line and a melody that stays with you, nothing is out of bounds. Even more impressive is how she tackles all of these styles without the album sounding like a messy affair with little sense to it. Those who listen to Lyytinen primarily for her guitar work don’t need to worry though: there are still plenty of rootsy riffs, tasteful leads and raw slide solos here.
Recommended tracks: ‘Run Away’, ‘Diamonds On The Road’, ‘Waiting For The Daylight’

19. Ashes Of Ares – Emperors And Fools
Very early in 2022, Ashes Of Ares finally released an album that lives up to the reputation of its members. While I suspect Matt Barlow and Freddie Vidales have an even better album in them, ‘Emperors And Fools’ is full of powerful, dramatic heavy metal with lots of room for Barlow’s impressive range and theatrical delivery. Despite still being mostly mid-tempo, ‘Emperors And Fools’ is far more varied in atmospheres and rhythmic approaches than the first two Ashes Of Ares albums. A few songs are much more aggressive and propulsive than anything the band has released before, which serves as a nice foil to the melancholy of the other material. Very promising.
Recommended tracks: ‘Monster’s Lament’, ‘The Iron Throne’, ‘Be My Blade’

20. Slash – 4
‘4’ is the sound of Slash’s dream coming true. He always wanted to record an album live in the studio. Nashville-based producer Dave Cobb finally allowed him to. Cobb asked Slash not to over-rehearse the songs, which causes the album to lack the tight, hooky songwriting that created the likes of ‘Anastasia’, ‘Bad Rain’ and ‘Boulevard Of Broken Hearts’. This is almost entirely compensated by the enthusiastic performances of everyone involved, which also cause the album to slowly grow on you. Something about the collaboration between Slash and Myles Kennedy just occasionally creates magic and there certainly are such moments on ‘4’. But the interactions between the musicians make this record feel alive and spirited.
Recommended tracks: ‘Whatever Gets You By’, ‘Spirit Love’, ‘Call Off The Dogs’