Wall of Sound Presents: “2022 YEAR IN REVIEW” – By Writer Andrew Kapper
Well, another calendar year confined to the history books. With the peak of Covid (seemingly) having passed, 2022 has seen an unparalleled influx of new music hit our eardrums. From black metal giants, to the underground’s hottest young talent, this year was almost too good for heavy music – it took some real soul-searching to whittle down ’22’s finest releases into a concise list. With the promise of more new music on the horizon, bring on 2023!
TOP 10 RELEASES OF 2022
10. Revocation – Netherheaven
9. Dark Funeral – We Are The Apocalypse
8. Baest – Justitia
7. Darkthrone – Astral Fortress
6. Behemoth – Opvs Contra Natvram
5. Chelsea Grin – Suffer In Hell
4. Watain – The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain
3. Greg Puciato – Mirrorcell
2. Animals As Leaders – Parrhesia
1. I AM – Eternal Steel
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Goatwhore – Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven, Absent In Body – Plague God, Kublai Khan TX – Lowest Form of Animal, Belphegor – The Devils, Decapitated – Cancer Culture, Terror – Pain Into Power
TOP 10 SONGS OF 2022
10. Kublai Khan TX – ‘Swan Song’ (feat. Scott Vogel)
9. Darkthrone – ‘The Sea Beneath the Sea of the Seas’
8. Artificial Brain – ‘Celestial Cyst’
7. Behemoth – ‘Versus Christvs’
6. Belphegor – ‘Virtus Asinaria – Prayer‘
5. Baest – ‘Gargoyles’ (feat. Trevor Strnad)
4. Animals As Leaders – ‘Thoughts and Prayers’
3. Greg Puciato – ‘Never Wanted That’
2. I AM – ‘The Iron Gate’
1. Watain – ‘Serimosa’
TOP 5 MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2022
5. Dark Funeral – ‘Leviathan’
4. Greg Puciato – ‘Lowered’ (feat. Reba Meyers)
3. Gutrectomy – ‘Apocalyptic Squirt Tsunami’
2. Rammstein – ‘Adieu’
1. Behemoth – ‘The Deathless Sun’
BEST GIGS OF 2022
Aussie Bands – Cog, Disentomb
International Bands – I AM, Kublai Khan TX, Sanction, KISS, The Black Crowes
FAVOURITE CONTRIBUTION
Getting to talk to legends like Nergal, Tommy Thayer of KISS and Darkthrone’s Nocturno Culto, as well as covering the great new albums from Animals As Leaders, Watain, Chelsea Grin, Behemoth and others!
FAV NEW BAND DISCOVERED IN 2022
I AM – loved the first singles off their latest album Eternal Steel, and the young Texan’s blew me away when they opened the Thy Art Is Murder on the Human Target tour in September. I’ve never heard a group perfectly balance contemporary heaviness with such an old-school/traditional heavy metal edge before.
NEXT BIG AUSSIE ACT TO WATCH IN 2023
Nicolas Cage Fighter – their powerful debut The Bones That Grew From Pain was one of the best Aussie heavy releases of the year. Their diverse style delves into metalcore, groove metal and death metal, and with the huge backing of Metal Blade the Ballarat quartet has all the potential to be this country’s next breakout act!
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2023
New music, tours, Dune: Part 2 and Knotfest of course!
Written by Andrew Kapper @andrew_kapper