Reports from the Underground: 2022 Albums of the Year

Chris’s Picks

10. Ashbreather – Hivemind (Canada)
Style: Progressive Metal. Sludge Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Dvne, Neurosis, Slugdge 

When I reviewed Ashbreather earlier this year I gave them a 7/10 and I’d like to formally apologise for being wrong. As infectious as its mind-virus concept, Hivemind is a narrative driven work of cosmic horror sludge metal with the gnarliest story concept I’ve come across in some time: space-travelling scientists splice their minds with extraterrestrial species in order to understand their neurology better, but when they splice minds with an alien insect hivemind the entire society is irrevocably and monstrously transformed. It’s one long track, a sludgy stew with a Russian doll structure, howling atmospherics, and pummeling riffs that all serve the grotesquely gripping story. 

Recommended tracks: Hivemind 
You may also like: Hath, Stone Healer, Anciients 

9. Lamentari – Clavis Aurea (Denmark)
Style: Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Symphonic Metal (Harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Enslaved

Ok, I’m cheating, it’s an EP, but Lamentari still haven’t bestowed an album upon us so this’ll have to do. The epic symphonic blackened progressive death metal sextet from Denmark delivered their sophomore EP this year, just as good as their debut, if not better. Clavis Aurea is a blistering follow-up; from the rapturous horns and tenebrous strings that open “Deisis” you know you’re in for an aural treat. Lamentari work with a real orchestra and the mix cares for that privilege as meticulously as it should; every instrument is so lovingly cradled, every voice cared for; it’s sonically orgasmic, a rhapsodic soundtrack to an apocalypse you’d best pray you never witness. 

Recommended tracks: Synodus Horrenda, Sede Vacante 
You may also like: Xanthochroid, Aquilus, Exanimis

8. Soulsplitter – Connection (Germany)
Style: Progressive Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Haken, The Contortionist 

Another sophomore (there are a lot of them in my top ten for some reason), on Connection, German quintet Soulsplitter confirmed their sound as a blend of Haken and The Contortionist’s styles with a vital, fresh quality. Exploring a theme of self-actualisation, from disconnection from the self to eventual reconnection, Soulsplitter deliver a soulful and mellifluous work of truly progressive metal that impresses at every juncture. The interplay of lead guitar and piano is what really impressed me with this album, there’s much to love, but it’s the way keyboardist Lewis Krumpschmid and guitarist Simon Kramer duel, duet and trade-off that really raises Connection to soaring new heights. 

Recommended tracks: Disconnected, Thrive, Erosion
You may also like: Umpfel, Effuse, Mental Fracture

7. Sikasa – Matter Earth (Croatia)
Style: Post Metal, Prog Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Ocean, Cult of Luna, Psychonaut

I hadn’t heard of Sikasa until they dropped this sophomore release, but I’m glad it brought them to my attention because Matter Earth is an intriguing work of crushingly heavy post-metal with a lot to recommend it. Led by guitarist, vocalist, and main songwriter Bruno Longfield whose grand vocal harmonies rival Stefan de Graef’s, Sikasa blend Opethian prog death with that familiar post-metal sound. They also throw in a bunch of folk instruments for good measure, providing moments of folk and even reggae amid the mountainous riffs and hurricane atmospheres. 

Recommended tracks: The Edge of Event, Where Giants Walk, Of Sulphur
You may also like: Hippotraktor, Pull Down the Sun, Seyr

6. An Abstract Illusion – Woe (Sweden)
Style: Progressive Metal, Death Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Persefone, Ne Obliviscaris, Kardashev

I’m not sure I’ve seen any band dominate album of the year lists quite like An Abstract Illusion have, and it’s deservedly so. Woe is an incredible symphony of intense, creative progressive death metal, weaving gorgeous synth, ethereal atmospheres, female cleans, and dark lyrics into an enormous concept album. Living up to the album’s title, “In the Heavens Above, You Will Become a Monster” is the only song of this year to truly make me weep, which is a testament to the incredible compositional and emotional power that An Abstract Illusion wield. 

Recommended tracks: In the Heavens Above, You Will Become a Monster; Slaves; Prosperity
You may also like: Lamentations, Wills Dissolve, Countless Skies

5. Aeternam – Heir of the Rising Sun (Canada)
Style: Progressive Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Orphaned Land

Few bands would take on the task of chronicling the birth of the Ottoman Empire in 1299 and following it all the way to the sacking of Byzantine-held Constantinople in 1453, but then few bands are as ambitious as Aeternam. Heir of the Rising Sun is a grand undertaking but Aeternam make it look easy. Achraf Loudiy’s crisp harshes and soaring cleans are the driving force, with blistering Wilderun-esque riffs, epic choir and string accompaniment, haunting flute laments, and colour from a variety of folk instruments (oud, bouzouki, baglama) all adding to the grandeur. It’s that rare thing: a sonically overwhelming paragon of its genre that also manages to bring history alive. 

Recommended tracks: The Fall of Constantinople, Where the River Bends, Beneath the Nightfall
You may also like: Winterhorde, Riverwood

4. Charlie Griffiths – Tiktaalika (UK)
Style: Progressive Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Haken, Textures, Between the Buried and Me

The fascinating thing about the solo projects from the Haken boys is that we get to see what each member brings to the table stylistically. Richard Henshall’s the jazz minded one, Ross Jennings is the pop icon, and Charlie Griffiths proves he’s the hard metal wizard. Tiktaalika explores palaeontology and evolution in the riffiest way possible, aided and abetted by guest vocalists Tommy Giles, Vladimir Lalic, and Daniël de Jongh; it’s a densely woven record of motifs and themes which overlap, reprise, and recur on each other time and again, just like the weft of prehistory, the formulaic fecundity of biology. Catchy, confident and complex, Griffiths has crafted an album that stands alongside Haken’s best. 

Recommended tracks: Arctic Cemetery, In Alluvium, Crawl Walk Run
You may also like: Richard Henshall, Novena

3. Psychonaut – Violate Consensus Reality (Belgium)
Style: Progressive Metal, Post Metal, Sludge Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Ocean, Cult of Luna

Having proven themselves on their epic debut Unfold the God Man, hopes were high for Psychonaut’s sophomore and boy did they deliver. Violate Consensus Reality is an absolutely massive album which cuts away the sprawl of their debut in favour of a more focused sound that tackles societal malaise with calls for a radical shift in perspective and understanding. The sincerity with which they impart that vision is palpable—it’s weird for an album this heavy to be so optimistic, but I grok this expansive vision of paradigm shift which feels universal and resonant. Groovy (in the heavy metal riff sense and the hippyish sense). 

Recommended tracks: Violate Consensus Reality, All Your Gods Have Gone, Hope
You may also like: Sikasa, Hippotraktor, Seyr

2. Disillusion – Ayam (Germany)
Style: Progressive Metal, Melodic Death Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, In Mourning 

A powerful, haunting career-best from Disillusion cemented their place on this list. Ayam is a fathomless thematic concept album exploring a “dreams are oceans” metaphor that ebbs and flows through violent aggression and more contemplative passages as changeable as the sea itself. Thanks to producer Jens Bogren, an always brilliant band now sound perfect, with ambient and orchestral additions glimmering brightly and elevating the overall compositions to grandiose new heights. Capturing the ethereal nature of dreams is a difficult feat, but Disillusion manage it brilliantly, evoking a sense of being trapped between worlds; an ambiguity that suggests we’re not quite awake, not quite asleep, and adrift in a place deep within us that we know hides meanings we’ll never fully intuit. And what all that new age navel-gazing on my part means is that I don’t fully understand Ayam, which is exactly the reason I love it.

Recommended tracks: Am Abgrund, Longhope, Abide the Storm
You may also like: Countless Skies, Perihelion Ship

1. Wilderun – Epigone (US-MA)
Style: Progressive Metal, Death Metal, Symphonic Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, 

We were seven days into 2022 when my favourite album of the year dropped, and nothing ever came close to touching it. Following hot on the heels of their 2019 opus Veil of Imagination, Epigone is a beautiful, rousing epic work of metatextual symphonic death metal; an exploration of the artistic temperament and the pitfalls of creation, covering distraction, smoked forms of inspiration, tortured artists, the role of dreams in creativity, and much more. Denser and more nuanced than its predecessor, Epigone is an extraordinarily rewarding album that I haven’t stopped spinning ever since it came out. Wilderun are 3 for 3 on symphonic prog death masterpieces, let’s hope they’ve got a fourth for us. 

Recommended tracks: Passenger, Distraction I-III, Woolgatherer
You may also like: Aeternam, Disillusion, Aquilus

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