Ephilexia - Skeleton War

Chill post rock
https://ephilexia.bandcamp.com/album/skeleton-war

Turns out the new Current 93 album is excellent.

Top 12:

1: David Maxim Micic - Bilo IV - prog metal/djent/ambient/fusion

The long-awaited follow-up in his series of eclectic albums, it's worth the wait. There is nothing else like it, with brilliant playing and tasteful orchestral flourishes.

Highlight - "Cry"



2: Kate Havnevik - Lightship - electronic art pop

Something of a mixture of Bjork and Imogen Heap, somehow she never attained nearly the popularity, yet the quality is at the same level, with experimental, yet very melodic pieces.

Highlight - "Space Ark"



3: Red Handed Denial - I'd Rather Be Asleep - progressive metalcore/post-hardcore/djent

They seem to get better with every album, it's tricky to pick a track, there are so many. Imagine if Periphery was less noodly, more focused, and had better vocals.

Highlight - "Father Said"



4: Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror - darksynth

My favorite album of his so far, it hits all the right notes of modernized aggressive 80s nostalgia. Not as representative of the album, but "Stabat Mater" with Sylvaine guesting is probably my favorite track, very spacious and melancholy.

Highlight - "Paradisi Gloria"



5: Sylvaine - Nova - blackgaze/ethereal wave

After guesting with them, she's doing Alcest better than Alcest now.

Highlight - "Mono No Aware"



6: Giant Walker - All in Good Time - prog/alt rock/metal

Everything they do is really enjoyable, but hard to describe. It's nothing particularly experimental or groundbreaking, yet they don't really sound like anyone else, which is a goal not enough bands achieve on their debuts, but they have.

Highlight - "Coda"



7: Morphide - Anhedonia - alternative metal/djent

Really atmospheric and engaging, I'm liking this newer wave of bands like them and Spiritbox who take after early TesseracT. "Panopticon" also received heavy play this year.

Highlight - "Catharsis"



8: Emily Jane White - Alluvion - ethereal wave/singer-songwriter/folk

Her best album yet, her style has become rather hard to classify, but it's very rich and poignant.

Highlight - "Battle Call"



9: AEries - Arcanum - prog/alt metal

Really lush songcraft with modern influences that proves this style is still viable.

Highlight - "U763"



10: Darkher - The Buried Storm - ethereal wave/doom folk

This whole area of folk that blends influences from ethereal wave, doom metal, post-rock/metal and such has been one of my favorites in the last few years, and Jayne is one of the premier practitioners of it.

Highlight - "Where the Devil Waits"



11: Zola Jesus - Arkhon - art pop/darkwave

When I want gloomy but poppy electronics, she's one of the best at it.

Highlight - "Undertow"



12: Yaatri - Lucid - jazz/fusion/Hindustani classical

An exquisite tapestry of sounds, there are endless layers of deep textures to unpack for many listens.

Highlight - "Vipassana"



Honorable Mentions:

40 Watt Sun - Perfect Light
*A.A. Williams - As the Moon Rests
Alter Bridge - Pawns & Kings
Animals As Leaders - Parrhesia
Atrium Carceri & Kammarheit - Colossus
*Autumn's Grey Solace - Therium
*Avishai Cohen - Shifting Sands
Bjork - Fossora
*Celldweller - Satellites
Charlotte Wessels - Tales From Six Feet Under Vol. II
*Dreadnought - The Endless
Envy of None - s/t
Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter
First Aid Kit - Palomino
Halestorm - Back From the Dead
Hatchie - Giving the World Away
i_o/Lights - Warehouse Summer
Ithaca - They Fear Us
*Kaipa - Urskog
King's X - Three Sides of One
Knight Area - D-Day II: The Final Chapter
Lights - PEP
Lisa Batiashvili - Secret Love Letters
Mecha Maiko - NOT OK
Mindwarden - Timeless
Minuit Machine - 24
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway - Crooked Tree
Moriah Woods - Human
Projected - Hypoxia
Punch Brothers - Hell On Church Street
*Pure Reason Revolution - Above Cirrus
Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory
Setyoursails - Nightfall
Shaam Larein - Sticka en kniv i varlden
Sharon Van Etten - We've Been Going About This All Wrong
SZA - SOS
*Tears For Fears - The Tipping Point
*Tedeschi Trucks Band - I Am the Moon: I. Crescent
The Birthday Massacre - Fascination
The Hellacopters - Eyes of Oblivion
The Interrupters - In the Wild
Tigran Hamasyan - StandArt
*triosence - Giulia
*YAYA Kim - a.k.a. YAYA
Zguba - Znoj

*Close to top 12

And some EPs:

Spiritbox - Rotoscope
Shedfromthebody - Destruction/Breathing/Healing
Sara Gazarek - Vanity
Vila - Liminal Space
GoGo Penguin - Between Two Waves
Marissa Nadler - The Wrath of the Clouds



Mega props for those two. Chelsea Wolfe is basically the centerpiece of probably my favorite musical scene of recent years, and with her not releasing a proper album this year, EJW and Darkher are great substitutes to hit on some of that feel. Beach House and some loosely similar music (Hatchie, Weyes Blood, sometimes Lana Del Rey) have its moments, but something about them that I can't quite put my finger on prevents them from being as high up on my lists. Some of the other albums on your list sound interesting as well.



Yeah, the synthwave/darksynth scene over the past decade or so has been another of my favorites, and while I didn't listen to nearly as much of it last year as the previous few, this one was just too good to not spend a fair amount of time with.

Given how slow my music discovery was in 2022 (and I only ramped it up to make a list for the end of year poll here) there's very few albums I heard this year that weren't on the Archives. By no means is this an AOTY list because I just have not listened to nearly enough music from this year to attempt to make one of those for all genres. Here's all the dope ones I did manage to listen to though, split between the metal-adjacent stuff and the rest:


HEALTH - DISCO4 :: PART II
They're back with the second half of this series of collaborative singles and tracks (this is actually very slightly archived due to one such track being with Lamb of God.) Like the first half it's a varied and yet remarkably cohesive and generally very consistent crop of tracks - being able to weave all of these collaborators together to make such a consistent and cohesive album that flows well is admirable. Continuing to love their creativity and versatility when it comes to taking their dark, industrial/electronic sound and making it mesh with the likes of Poppy, Nine Inch Nails, again LoG, The Body... as well as their willingness to branch out generally.

La Roche - Liye Liye
Nyege Nyege scored another home run with this one, with a very interesting, unique and often atmospheric blend of traditional Congolese music and electronica. Much of what this label puts out is dope and well worth a listen and this is no exception.

Lalalar - Bi Cinette Bakar
Tomcat mentioned this album earlier (I heard it through him) and yeah, new territory indeed. Turkish folk, electronic music, dance music and funk blend together to make something super special and unique here. The album is a little too long (they tacked on every single they'd put out up to that point I believe) but is still well worth a listen.

Petrol Girls - Baby
This one was a hit with online music fans and with good reason. Super politically charged, in your face and very versatile, creative feminist hardcore/post-hardcore. Amazing album and very much something we needed in 2022, philosophically.

Yeule - Glitch Princess
Another hit with online fans for good reason; their blend of glitch music, synth-pop, ambient, various other electronic styles and their focus on isolation, dysphoria, longing for comfort, loss... all hit incredibly hard. Very interesting, creative and at times beautiful stuff. Amazing album. Apparently streaming versions of this album have a 4 hour ambient track after the core album as a bonus track, I've yet to listen to that though.


Metallic Stuff

Architects - the classic symptoms of a broken spirit
I think at this point it's clear they're sticking to their alt metal sound after their somewhat divisive 2021 effort For Those That Wish to Exist, and honestly I think they do a better job of it here even if I enjoy that album a fair bit. This thing is tight, aggressive, has great, heavy, clear production, lots of catchy choruses, dope riffs, good lyrics, and that general dystopian attitude that seems all too fitting right now. Fans weren't too hot on this one but if you're in any way interested in the alt metal revival we've been seeing lately, give this album a listen.

Chat Pile - God's Country
Yet another hit online and man it deserves it. This band's previous EPs are also very good but they push it even further here. Their expressive (at times theatrical), commanding and passionate vocals really sell the incredibly dark ('Grimace...') and powerful ('Why') lyrics on alienation, societal issues, mental illness, helped along with the wild sludgy noise rock they've built their name on that draws from Jesus Lizard, Godflesh, Albini, Swans, even Korn at times... it's an amazing album. Definitely something anyone even remotely interested in what it toys with should check out.

Ithaca - They Fear Us
A very dope metalcore/alternative metal album - very strong and creative riffs, great production, great songwriting, a powerful vocal performance with well-executed cleans and a serious emotional punch (that you really feel live; I saw this band play live back in August and they brought the house down.) It's nice to see them change up from their (also great) debut The Language of Injury which was far more a mathcore album.

KEN Mode - Null
This band continue to churn out excellent album after album of sludgy noise rock; their brand of it is more focused on pummelling hardcore/metalcore than the aforementioned Chat Pile (and more focused on intensity than emotional punch) and this album continues to bring great riffs, great songwriting, great vocals etc. to the table - just everything you could want from an album of this type.

Static Dress - Rouge Carpet Disaster
The brand of '00s revivalism going on here - screamo, post-hardcore, emo, metalcore - will not be for everyone but personally, they really really sell it. Great performances, production and songwriting across the board, and a very interesting sound to boot that revitalises these old mainstay sounds of rock and metal. Tons of fun.

Vein.fm - This World is Going to Ruin You
I guess this is kind of along the same lines of '00s revivalism though with decidedly different genres - taking metalcore/hardcore/industrial and blending it with alternative and nu metal, into a supremely aggressive, dark and dynamic experience. Even more creative than their excellent debut Errorzone, this thing goes incredibly hard - amazing album.


Beach House

Beach House - Once Twice Melody
Yeah this thing deserves its own section. What... what can I even say about this album man. If I did have an AOTY, by default it would have to be this. Anyone remotely familiar with my listening habits this past year and in general will know how much this band means to me in general - thousands of scrobbles and hundreds of hours spent vibing to their music... many lonely and sad nights, many euphoric highs, they're just a band for all seasons, a comfy throw pillow for your heart, with an incredible knack for songwriting, lyricism, production, atmosphere, emotional punch, everything. They're also great at teasing out subtle variation within their trademark sound they've remained dedicated to for their entire career, keeping things fresh but still very much being the band you always loved.

All of these things apply to this album. Nearly 4000 plays of its tracks over the past year (and I only started listening to it once the full album dropped in February, not when the first three chapters dropped in late 2021 and Jan 2022, as it had a chapter-by-chapter release), this 4 chapter, 18 track 85 minute double album makes for some of their most cinematic, regal, ambitious and just heavenly work to date. Every song on this album is amazing and either an excellent extension of their trademark sound or a serious change of pace; no matter what sounds and ideas they go for they always land. I never knew I needed Beach House going synth-pop ('Finale', 'Hurts to Love' (and specifically goth synth-pop on 'Masquerade', very unexpected)), ambient pop ('Another Go Around', 'Many Nights'), acoustic folk ('Sunset', 'The Bells'), or making an out-and-out shoegazey rock song ('Only You Know') in my life, but they did and I can't get enough of it. This whole thing is their first self-produced work too and it came out sounding incredible. This is not only music to die for, it's music to die to... if I had to select the last album I could hear before I die, this would be it. And if I had to select a song, it'd be a toss-up between 'Superstar' and 'Over and Over' which are some of their longest and most ambitious songs ever, and are quite literally perfect songs. The emotions wrapped up in this album and its lyrics, Victoria's singing... it's the stuff of dreams. I'm so glad this album exists. Thank you, Beach House.

Yeah, this was a really solid album. I especially like "Fluorescent".