Reports from the Underground: 2022 Albums of the Year

Sabrina’s Picks

10. Bríi – Corpos Transparentes (Brazil)
Style: Avant-garde Metal, Breakbeat, Progressive/Atmospheric Black Metal, Atmospheric Drums (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Thy Catafalque, Lucid Planet

This is an album that we might not have ever heard of if it wasn’t for Andy, partially because this isn’t at all your traditional prog outfit, furthermore, this almost isn’t even metal. I say the latter not because I’m a run-of-the-mill Metal Archives mod, but because this album doesn’t have any guitar. So, what does it have? Oooh boy. This is a one-song, instrumental epic completely led by ominous electronics, blackened screams, and progressive drumming; almost like the Thy Catafalque of dark Brazilian folk, but again, without guitars.

After listening to this, I went through Bríi’s catalog to find that he has two other similar albums, however, Corpos Transparentes is definitely the most condensed and mature of the three. Hence, this is a really good place to start. I’d strongly recommend this to people who say “Prog has nothing new to add anymore! Everything in the genre is just derivative X and derivative Y!” I doubt you’ve heard anything quite like this before. 

Recommended tracks: The whole one-track album
You may also like: Oksät, Vauruvã, Kaatayra

9. Obsidious – Iconic (Austria)
Style: Prog Metal, Technical Death Metal, Power Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Obscura, Black Crown Initiate

It’s weird to think that this band is as underground as it is. Evaluating the quality of the band’s technical instrumental performances, vocal hooks, accessible songwriting, and crystal clear production, I would not at all be surprised if this band had 50k monthly listeners on Spotify. I think this underappreciation is due to the fact that Obsidious don’t put all their stock in one camp, for instance, they are not fully grounded in the tech death community as much as they are in the prog metal community. It seems like the only people who know about this are those who are already fans of the parent band Obscura, which is sad because Obsidious is really good and quite different from Obscura in interesting ways. I’d recommend this to anybody from fans of Necrophagist to Caligula’s Horse.

Recommended tracks: Under Black Skies, Iron & Dust, Iconic, I Am
You may also like: Eternity’s End, Christian Muenzner, Augury

8. Atomic Symphony – Hybris (Switzerland)
Style: Progressive Metal, Power Metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Epica, Symphony X, Dream Theater

There aren’t many underground traditional prog metal bands that get me excited as there used to be, I think partially because extreme progressive metal is generally more forward thinking nowadays. However, there are some albums that are just so well made that I have to acknowledge them and Atomic Symphony is a prime example. Here you’ll find solid riffs, progressive and cohesive song structures, and a fantastic vocal performance in the form of catchy choruses and immersive verses. There are some 9/10 albums with obvious flaws but this one has none, perhaps focusing on building their longer songs to more exaggerated climaxes might lead to better pay offs.

Recommended tracks: Nightfall, Oath Taker, Hybris
You may also like: Caveat, Royal Hunt

7. Ashbreather – Hivemind (Canada)
Style: Prog Metal, Sludge Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Mastodon, Gojira, Edge of Sanity

I know about this band partially because their drummer is a well known prog metal nerd online, having now nearly 4,500 albums rated, he seems to know just about every mainstream prog metal album under the sun. And when we look at their Spotify page to scour their influences, they have probably one of the most comprehensive prog sludge playlist I’ve ever seen. So, what does this say about the music of their sophomore album, Hivemind? Well, this monster has marinated more prog metal influences than one can taste by the untrained ear. This definitely has a lot of sludgy Mastodon-esque riffs and vocal passages, there are also plenty of audible Opethian and Floydian parts, however, these only manage to scratch the surface of their sound. Imagine if Crack the Skye era Mastodon was more extreme (with death metal growls and post metal builds and atmospheric passages) and more of those technical “Quintessence” riffs. 

Recommended tracks: IV, V, IX, X
You may also like: Anciients, Left Hand Perspective, Cobra the Impaler, Dvne, The Erkonauts

6. An Abstract Illusion – Woe (Sweden)
Style: Progressive/Technical Melodic Death Metal, Black Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Ne Obliviscaris, Opeth, Kardashev

When someone says a band is “Opethian” what they probably mean is that the band creates stark sonic temporal contrasts between varieties of harsh, heavy, and distorted sounds and clean, soft, and melodic sounds. This is something that An Abstract Illusion (AAI) do exceptionally well in their long-anticipated sophomore album. What you’ll find here are gorgeous guitar tones, wonderful and lush soundscapes that build to busy climaxes, torment laden screams reminiscent of Thy Light, and all the blast beats that you can ever want. 

However, Opeth did a lot more than just create sonic contrasts, they also wrote albums that are loaded with hooky riffs. When you go back and listen to any album between Orchid and Ghost Reveries you will not only find excellent riffs but you’ll see that Opeth had a way of riding the quality of these riffs out. And for bands to carry Opeth’s best torch moving forward, they should be mindful of all the aspects that made Opeth great. And to my fellow reviewers’ potential dismay, the riff-writing is one of the weaker aspects of AAI’s style when compared to other bands like Wilderun, Descend, The Reticent, or Disillusion. Despite this criticism, this album has unanimous praise for a reason and I would still call this one of the best albums of the year in underground prog metal. 

Recommended tracks: In the Heavens Above, You Will Become a Monster | Tear Down this Holy Mountain | Blomsterkrans | Prosperity
You may also like: Hands of Despair, Countless Skies, Burial in the Sky, Alustrium

5. Ashenspire – Hostile Architecture (Scotland)
Style: Progressive Metal, Avant-garde Black Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Sigh, Imperial Triumphant, White Ward, Ihsahn

Don’t let Andy scare you off with his strong endorsement of this album, for being avant-garde black metal, this is actually quite accessible. Ashenspire’s debut is an eclectic, avant-prog, saxophone-led album not dissimilar to what Papangu released a year before but instead of the album being about the ecological collapse of Brazil’s wildlife, this is about urban infrastructure used to oppress the working class. This has exceptional lyrical deliveries, diverse incorporations of strings, choral, and jazz elements, and hard-hitting, cacophonous dissonant sections. Clearly, elements for all kinds of prog and metal people are here which is why it has garnered uncontroversial praise from critics. If you haven’t heard this yet, where were you last year?

Recommended tracks: The Law of Asbestos, Cable Street Again, Apathy as Arsenic Lethargy as Lead
You may also like: A Forest of Stars, Papangu

4. Psychonaut – Violate Consensus Reality (Belgium)
Style: Post Metal, Prog Metal, Sludge Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Ocean, Intronaut, Neurosis

As somewhat of a connoisseur of the gritty textures of sludge riffs, and of the hard-hitting builds of post-metal, and progressive songwriting sensibilities, Psychonaut’s debut airing now over four years ago seemed like a rare gift curated for fans like me. Now, with their sophomore album, Violate Consensus Reality, they pretty much made an aesthetically identical replica of their debut album but now with tighter songwriting choices and a change in lyrical themes. Taken at face value, both albums match up quite similarly but what was once a beacon of innovation is now becoming a bit of a trope itself. Whether Psychonaut are able to conjure up something new again with their third release or continue adding content to their formula, I’ll still love them either way. 

Recommended tracks: Interbeing, Towards the Edge, Violate Consensus Reality
You may also like: Dvne, Hippotraktor, Sikasa, Dreadnought

3. Charlie Griffiths – Tiktaalika (England)
Style: Progressive Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Haken, Devin Townsend Project, Between the Buried and Me, Dream Theater

I love Haken; after this year I’m strongly considering the possibility that Charlie Griffiths is the main band member responsible for what I love about Haken’s music. From his solo album Tiktaalika, Griffiths’ presented the groove-laden riffs, bizarre soundscapes layered with vivid melodies, wacky synth-tones and instrument choices, uncommon time signatures, and candid hard-hitting climaxes that I love from Haken. 

Though it’s always cool having Tommy Giles Rogers on a prog metal album, this one, in particular, would probably have been more unified with the set of vocalists who sang on tracks three through six, both because those were simply the best songs but also I’m not sure how well “Under Polaris” and “Arctic Cemetery” really fit together with the middle.

Recommended tracks: Dead in the Water, In Alluvium, Luminous Beings, Digging Deeper
You may also like: Novena, Richard Henshall, Luna’s Call

2. Anarchÿ – Sent​ï​ence (US-MO)
Style: Progressive/Technical/Neoclassical Thrash Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Vektor, Revocation, Coroner, Symphony X

This was kind of a great year for progressive thrash! Voivod released their best album in decades, Toxik came back from the dead to release a banger, and like every year, we have a solid handful of Vektor clones. However, the one band that came out by far on top for me is the magnum opus Anarchÿ, an album I never would have expected from a band that released just but a small EP the year prior. Where do I begin with describing this album? This is essentially a riff-lovers dream album; this is the motherload of technical and headbanger jams; some of the riffs that these guys came up with on here are absolutely glorious, there are dozens of them, and all quite distinct. And the epic: “The Spectrum of Human Emotion”? Talk about a great prog epic. This song reminds me of a modern “Black Rose Immortal” but thrash. This song has grumbly fretless bass, neoclassical guitar chords, S-tier transitions (occasionally in the form of jump scares), xylophone-esque keyboards, synth-strings, thrashy chuggs, and even djenty chuggs.

The reason why this is not my number-one pick is that the vocals, though typical for thrash metal, are not as amazing as some of their contemporaries mentioned above. Also, the album does take about twenty minutes to pick up momentum but once they get going, this thing is a wild ride. I’d strongly encourage people to check this album out. 

Recommended tracks: The Spectrum of Human Emotion, Abstract Lexical Abyss, The Greatest Curse
You may also like: Canvas Solaris, Paranorm, Venus, Hammers of Misfortune

1. Wilderun – Epigone (US-MA)
Style: Symphonic Metal, Prog Metal, Melodeath (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Devin Townsend, Persefone

When Epigone was first released, I had a growing resentment toward all of the people preemptively calling this their album of the year; I mean, the year has only just begun, is it really time to pack up our bags now? To my dismay, those people were right… at least in part. Though there were other great albums this year, Wilderun had managed to outdo their competition before their arrival. But are we really that surprised? Opeth left behind a monumental progressive death metal legacy that hundreds of bands are scrambling to pick up the pieces of. And for one band to come out on top is a hell of an impressive feat of its own. As much as I have qualms with some of their structural and sonic choices, Wilderun manage to change up their style while riding that peak that preceded Epigone.

Recommended tracks: Identifier, Passenger, Woolgatherer, Exhaler
You may also like: Lör, Iomair, Aquilus, Xanthochroid

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