Well, this is it. The end of Lists of the Void 2022. Before we get into it, I do want to thank all of my followers, new and old for just hanging out with me. I wanted to harbor a community of positivity and kindness in extreme music and I believe with the help of all of you, we have done that. I ultimately started Sounds of the Void, because, while I have an amazing wife, an incredible family, and many amazing friends, I don’t really have many people in my life that listen to this kind of music. So selfishly, I just wanted to talk about metal. And when you’re in your 30s it’s tough making new friends! So again, thank you so much for hanging out and talking shop. 2023 will be more of the same.
2021 was an incredible year for Death Metal, if you go back to my Top 10 of last year, you’ll see that. 2022, had some amazing Death Metal, but I think the numbers fall in favor of Black Metal having the better year. I believe that to be the case because a lot of incredible one-man Black Metal projects started during the pandemic are releasing full-length’s, EPs, and more Demos, and if they are like me, they are completely brain-broken due to the last couple of years and therefore the music is extra nasty.
That leads me to this. Life is hard. The last two years have made it even harder. Whether it be the isolation, dealing with the worst version of people in a job-related environment, or any number of reasons why we are seemingly all depressed these days. I hope you stay here. So much cool music is happening around us for one, and I personally want each and every one of you to enjoy it. With that being said, My absolute Love goes out to Trevor Strnad. Vocalist of The Black Dahlia Murder, and a huge advocate for underground extreme music. Rest in Peace.
Obviously, I didn’t want to bum anybody out. This list is fun, stupid, and absolutely meaningless. There is no official list of the best music of 2022, but our goal here is to make sure that people who are out there searching for new killer music, can find it right here. Without further ado…
Sounds of The Void Presents: The Top 50 Albums of 2022.
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50. Xentrix – Seven Words
Thrash Metal from The United kingdom
Listenable Records
49. Woe Bather – May Loneliness Consume You
Black Metal from Houston, Tx
Independent
48. Vaamatar – Medievalgeist
Black Metal from Los Angeles, CA
Iron Bonehead Productions
47. Trolldom – I Nattens Sken (Genom Hemligheternas Dunkel)
Atmospheric Black Metal from Sweden
Iron Bonehead Productions
46. Chaotian – Effigies of Obsolescence
Death Metal from Denmark
Me Saco un Ojo Records
45. Hibernus Mortis – The Monoliths of Cursed Slumber
Death Metal from Hialeah, FL
Blood Harvest
44. Mutilatred – Determined to Rot
Death Metal from Toledo, OH
Redefining Darkness Records
43. Obsidian Shrine – Bloodshed Under the Black Star
Black Metal from Nashville, TN
Negative Earth Records
42. Lord Valtgryftåke – Buried Under the Carved Runes
Raw Black Metal from Chile
Inferna Profundus Records
41. Vital Spirit – Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind
Black Metal from Canada
Independent
40. Vorga – Striving Towards Oblivion
Black Metal from Germany
Transcending Obscurity Records
39. Altars – Ascetic Reflection
Death Metal from Australia
Everlasting Spew Records
38. Hyperia – Silhouettes of Horror
Thrash Metal from Canada
Independent
37. The Chasm – The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow
Death Metal from Mexico
Lux Inframundis Productions
36. In Aphelion – Moribund
Black Metal from Sweden/Netherlands
Edged Circle Productions
35. Wrang – De Vaendrig
Black Metal from The Netherlands
Dominance of Darkness Records
34. Ellende – Ellenbogengesellschaft
Ambient Post-Black Metal from Austria
AOP Records
33. Gaerea – Mirage
Black Metal from Portugal
Season of Mist
32. Kampfar – Til Klovers Takt
Pagan Black Metal from Norway
Indie Recordings
31. Daeva – Through Sheer Will and Black Magic
Black/Thrash Metal from Philadelphia, PA
20 Buck Spin
30. Maul – Seraphic Punishment
Death Metal from Fargo, ND
Redefining Darkness Records
29. Trhä – Mã Héshiva õn Dahh Khata Trhândlha Vand ëfd Datnen Aghen Ecíës Drhãtdlhan Savd
Atmospheric Black Metal/Ambient from Texas
Independent
28. High Command – Eclipse of the Dual Moons
Thrash Metal/Crossover/Hardcore Punk from Worcester, MA
Southern Lord Recordings
27. Satan – Earth Infernal
Heavy Metal from The United Kingdom
Metal Blade Records
26. Herbstlethargie – Melancholie im Blattfall
Atmospheric Black Metal from Germany
Independent
25. Primordial Serpent – Kingdom of Darkness and Despair
Black Metal from Canada
Independent
24. Abhorrency – Climax of Disgusting Impurities
Black/Death Metal from Sacramento, CA
Independent
23. Ether Coven – The Relationship Between the Hammer and the Nail
Sludge Metal from Fort Lauderdale, FL
Good Fight Music
22. Cosmic Putrefaction – Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones
Death Metal from Italy
Profound Lore Records
21. Medieval Demon – Black Coven
Melodic Black Metal from Greece
Hells Headbangers Records
20. Vacuous – Dreams of Dysphoria
Death Metal from The United Kingdom
Me Saco un Ojo Records
19. Dream Unending – Song of Salvation
Atmospheric Doom/Death Metal from The United States/Canada
20 Buck Spin
18. I, Of the Trees and Wind – Cry of the Forest
Black Metal from Sweden/The United Kingdom
Independent
17. Graceless – Chants from Purgatory
Death/Doom Metal from The Netherlands
Raw Skull Recordz
16. Pestilent Hex – The Ashen Abhorrence
Melodic/Symphonic Black Metal from Finland
Debemur Morti Productions
15. Cryptic Hatred – Nocturnal Sickness
Death Metal from Finland
The Other Records
14. Phobophilic – Enveloping Absurdity
Death Metal from Fargo, ND
Prosthetic Records
13. Stormruler – Sacred Rites and Blood Magick
Black Metal from St. Louis, MO
Naplam Records
12. Night Hag – Phantasmal Scourge
Death/Doom Metal from Virginia Beach, VA
Rotted Life Records
11. Obscene – From Dead Horizon… To Dead Horizon
Death Metal from Indianapolis, IN
Blood Harvest
10. Mortuous – Upon Desolation
Death Metal from San Jose, CA
Carbonized Records
Last year Carbonized released one of my favorite albums of the year the debut album from Funeral Chant. Now they continue their trend by releasing Top 10 material with the excellent sophomore full-length from San Jose’s Mortuous. Although this is only their second full-length, Mortuous have been shredding around since the early 2010s, releasing demos and EPs that show off their specific form of guitar-centric death metal. You may be asking, “isn’t all metal guitar-centric?” Well, of course, but the way Mortuous operate you can tell guitarists Michael Beams and Colin Tarvin really put a lot of work into crafting the riffs and solos performed on this album. This release has something for everybody though. While not as unrelenting as their 2018 debut, Through Wilderness, Upon Desolation sees quite a bit of a grown-up sound to it with improved progression as well as more interesting song structures, while still maintaining that absolutely disgusting old-school vibe.
The intro track, Carved has one of the more infectious choruses and will have you screaming CARVED!! as you drive through your small town to pick up groceries.
9. Calderum – Mystical Fortress of Iberian Lands
Black Metal/Dungeon Synth from Spain
Death Prayer Records
If you’ve read this blog for any amount of time, you know I am a sucker for album art. Whether it’s classified by the masses as good or bad, it all elicits thoughts and emotions. Before I heard a note from Calderum’s second full-length album, I saw the artwork. I think I may have just been browsing Bandcamp, or perhaps one of my many friends on Insta posted about it. Either way, I had to know more. A guy in very traditional corpse paint crouching in a cave while holding a spike-laddened baseball bat (or is it a mace/flail)? Count me in! Also, purple logos… come on! I loved everything about it and I had to know more.
This solo black metal/dungeon synth project led by a vile and dark entity known only as Lord Mortuorum, really lets the subtle synths drive the music while backing it with absolute riffs for days. It’s punishing yet oddly mystical at the same time. I don’t want to sound like I’m repeating myself, but the riffs on this album are incredible and constantly progressing and evolving. Typical lo-fi black metal production, but it works well, just remember you turned the volume up a bit for this one before putting the next tape in.
Ultimately Calderum has it all. Great musicianship that masterfully blends Black Metal and Dungeon Synth, Killer art, and great representation. I said this may be a sleeper hit, and I believe I was right.
8. Pure Wrath – Hymn to the Woeful Hearts
Atmospheric Black Metal from Indonesia
Debemur Morti Productions
Indonesia has always had an incredible metal scene whether you know it or not. Whether it be old-school underground Death Metal legends, Jasad, or the beautifully atmospheric sounds from the number 8 artist in the countdown, Pure Wrath.
Blisteringly beautiful is the best way to describe this release. I know some people hate when I regard any extreme metal as beautiful, but, I’m sorry it is. Of course, I’m not going to say acts like Mutilatred or Woe Bather are beautiful because that isn’t part of the art. But if you can listen to Hymn to the Woeful Hearts and not hear absolutely beautiful music being ushered in by the cloak of ferocious and grandiose Black Metal, then yeah, maybe this isn’t for you.
But this release for the rest of us is emotionally captivating. We got a lot of that in 2022, as I’m sure you’ll see as the list comes to its conclusion in a bit, but one of the more authentic and honest approaches was from Pure Wrath. While certainly not a novice to the scene at all, Ryo, who is the sole performer on this piece approaches each and every moment with a freshness and a love for what they are doing, as if they are getting to convey it to us for the first time.
7. White Ward – False Light
Experimental/Post-Black Metal from Ukraine
Debemur Morti Productions
I first heard White Ward in 2017 when their first full-length album, Futility Report was released. At the time I was listening to a lot of Cascadian Black metal, and this was a recommended album from I believe Reddit. That album blew me away. While not as stereotypically Cascadian as some of their peers, this band brought to light a post-black metal experience that makes that genre label lose all elements of its cringe past and legitimized it.
At their heart, however, they are an undeniable black metal band with incredible musicianship and aren’t afraid to bend the rules of the genre. This release immediately shows off the saxophone which is something that nobody should be hiding from. I know when people think of a sax player in a metal band they immediately got to Rivers of Nihil, but, and no offense to them, they can’t hold a candle to White Ward.
When I saw they were releasing new material I was so excited because this band offers such a unique experience and this album continues that trend. The opening track, Leviathan, alone is such a journey that honestly I added it to my spreadsheet for album of the year talk right as that song was ending. But then it kept going, filling me with emotions, and feelings as if each note satisfied an individual aural nerve that hadn’t been stimulated in years. The lead guitar work is riveting without the need to be super flashy. It all just fits perfectly into these 8 tracks of music. I can’t think of a better way to spend an hour.
That Sax! Damn this album is sexy!
6. Sedimentum – Suppuration Morphogénésiaque
Death Metal from Canada
Me Saco un Ojo Records
There is absolutely nothing sexy about this album. Sedimentum released two of the absolute best modern Death Metal demos in 2019 and early 2022 respectively before giving us this pure Death/Doom massacre. Within the first seconds of the first track you know what you are getting yourself into, which is some of the most hateful, disgusting, and brutally guttural metal 2022 had to offer.
I hate comparing certain bands to other bands that pre-date them or to sounds that pre-date as well because I feel like it is taking away originality from the release, but it must be said that the influence of Finnish Death metal bands like Demilich is extremely apparent in this Canadian 4-pieces debut.
Punishing, never-ending assaults, whether it be blisteringly fast blast beat-backed shreds, and chugs, or that slowed down uncomfortably doomy sound that reigns down like pure Hellfire upon the listener, create this Hellish atmosphere that is nothing but pure, unadulterated filth. And that makes this release utterly brilliant. In a year where Death Metal took a back seat compared to last year, we have records like this.
5. The Gloomy Radiance of the Moon – When the Nameless Stars Serenade Your Ravenous Usurpation of the Blackness
Symphonic Black Metal from The Netherlands
New Era Productions
First of all, that artwork is beautiful. I missed the vinyl release of this, but rest assured, I asked Santa for it.
The Gloomy Radiance of the Moon’s sophomore release is something that went completely under my radar this entire year. In fact, I’m not entirely sure when I first heard the album but I am fairly sure it was due to an Instagram story from Phantomslaughter of Worm fame. Maybe not though. However it came to me, I’m glad it did. This album is wonderful.
Right off the bat, I’ll let you know, it is insanely synth heavy, with quite the lo-fi production. What that does is cause a dizzying whirlwind of symphonic evil that envelops your soul and gets into your system. If you listen to it with a focus on the synth, it’s almost as if you’re listening to a very speedy Dungeon Synth record, but when you strip it down, it’s a Limbonic Art esque release, but if Fenriz was producing it.
I know nothing about the artist, other than it is a one-man project that released their first EP in 2020. I said it above, if we have anything positive from 2020, it’s a surplus of one-man bands. But the mystery is part of the charm of this release. It’s quite the conundrum as to why I repeatedly went back for this album, but it is something that just stays with you. And evil carnival that you’ll never escape.
4. Nechochwen – Kanawha Black
Folk/Black Metal from West Virginia
Bindrune Recordings
Bindrune Recordings is a label that is the epitome of quality over quantity. What the lack in releases they make up for almost every one of them is an absolute classic of their respective genres. I became familiar with the label in 2015 when I heard Panopticon’s masterpiece, Autumn Eternal, which is probably my favorite metal record of the 2010s. From there I of course wanted to check out the rest of their roster, and the other band that stood out to me was Nechochwen. That same year they released an incredible full-length called, Heart of Akamon. I was in love. I became obsessed with bands identified as, “Cascadian Black Metal”. Their lyrics meant something. It was incredible-sounding music that took you on a journey that was different than everything else. it wasn’t just darkness, war, satan, etc. They were singing about historical atrocities and real people in real aspects of time. It told a story not told in black metal or really anything outside of storytelling folk music.
In the seven years since their last full-length, they have released a couple of splits (one with Panopticon) and a live album. But in 2022 in a post-pandemic world where so much ugliness has come to life, they deemed us worthy of a new release titled Kanawha Black.
This album is beautiful. In a world of darkness, this is the light we need. They definitely took a step back on the black metal aspects of the album and the native American aspects are still very present, but now we are presented with doom riffs and 70’s style prog rock that isn’t just Kansas worship. You can tell so much love not only for the music but also for the story that this album represents.
I can’t pick out one track to listen to give you a full sense of what this album is. Maybe, The Murky Deep, but I implore you to listen to this one from start to finish.
3. Undeath – It’s Time… To Rise from the Grave
Death Metal from Rochester, NY
Prosthetic Records
Zombie androids… Do I really need to say anything else?
Undeath was the very first band I saw love, post-Covid. They were the opening act for the, “Up from the Sewer” tour with The Black Dahlia Murder and others. I had heard their first demo and their first album the previous year and I liked it. I liked their approach to Death Metal. A great blend of OSDM and that newer-school sound, but I just liked it (202o was bullshit we all know that. Now I really enjoy their work on that album. But that first demo is perfection). I think however the crowd was kind of awkward, and that was because this was a lot of people’s first time back in the pit of a metal show. But everybody was respectful. On a side note, earlier this year I saw them again after, It’s Time… To Rise from the Grave came out, and the cobwebs were gone and it was a very fun and enjoyable experience.
Nothing special to the approach on this album. It’s a solidly written Death Metal record. But that’s OK! Because the music presented on this album, is in my opinion the best Death Metal released in 2022. The lyrical content is peak perfection of the genre. I mentioned before about Zombie Androids with weapon attachments. Again, I shouldn’t have to say more, but this record is fun! So many bands take themselves way too seriously, and therefore their fans do as well, and sometimes it works, but for somebody like me, I like to see people having fun with their art and Undeath does it better than most.
2. Blackbraid – Blackbraid I
Atmospheric Black Metal from the Adirondack Mountains, NY
Independent
Late last year I heard an album from an Indigenous black metal project called Lionoka. The album is called Tales of Triumph and it is an excellent album that I recommend to everyone who enjoys black metal of any kind. With Lionoka on my mind a lot at the end of last year, beginning of this year, I began exploring native and indigenous music of all kinds, as I have always had great respect for their existence, but I have truly begun to see who these people are in 2022. Their lives, their struggles, their pain, and their happiness. It was inspiring in so many ways and I discovered so many great projects. One of them was Blackbraid. I first heard the single, Barefoot Ghost Dance on Blood Soaked Soil, and was blown away. I wanted more. But that’s all we had. For so long I kept up with so many others that were stepping outside of what is considered normal in our genre and thriving at it, with quiet anticipation for the first full-length album from Blackbraid.
I was not disappointed. Every track tells a story of perseverance in a forgotten existence. Even the instrumental interludes provide a backdrop of appreciation and beauty unmatched in black metal. So much of what this album is is deeply special. This is an album that will make you feel and make you feel deeply. Love, sorrow, pride, passion, and heartache.
1. Véhémence – Ordalies
Epic/Melodic Black Metal from France
Antiq Records
About a month before Ordalies came out, I was exposed to Véhémence for the first time with their frankly fantastic and near-perfect album, Par le sang versé. I was blown away. To my luck I saw they were releasing a new album in early March. I pre-ordered and instead of that good ol’ diminishing return, you get when you discover an incredible new band, I was greeted with that same joy and excitement that I felt when I heard their second album. One of the greatest examples of Medieval-themed Black Metal.
I’ll be honest, I’m not super familiar with the other bands some of the members have outside of Véhémence, nor do I really know much about the band at all, outside of the limited information on their Bandcamp, and Metal-Archives page. And I also don’t speak French, so I’m kind of in the dark here. I also don’t like a ton of newer heavy folk-inspired metal, but Véhémence does everything absolutely right. They create this organic atmosphere with minimal resources. Outside of the standard Guitar, bass, and drums, you have a fife, and some light synth work, but I am talking minimal. Yet within their presentation and excellent songwriting and musicianship, you are easily teleported to Medieval France and battling with a flaming sword as the album art displays. This shows that musicianship as well as creative song structure can absolutely build a world you want to fight for.
I’ve talked about the musicianship, but the vocals are incredible as well. Not a lot of effects to them, and rather they are dirty or clean they sound insanely smooth and fit perfectly with the music that is supporting the vocals behind it, and vice versa.
If listening to this album isn’t enough to convince you why it should be number one, then it should be the songwriting skills and musicianship displayed on this album. Simple, and absolutely sweeping beautiful, and pummeling.
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So what do you think? Did we nail it? Did we absolutely butcher it? Let us know in the comments below, or even better, come join the party over on Instagram to tell me how much of a fool we are.
Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Hopefully, we can keep talking about metal next year.
Stay Disgusting.
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