Another year crossed off as the planet inches one more step closer to imminent destruction and chaos. We've lost musical heroes and watched Twitter turn into the internet dumpster fire, and from our lofty position at the centre of these two particular crossroads of music and tech, we're uncertain what's coming next.
Thankfully, we're not in the business of predicting the future, but instead we assess what's already past. In this instalment of our annual Favorites list, we assess all the musical output of 2022, and whittle it down to a list of the best 30 albums that were released last year.
Our team of writers vote for their individual top records, and using complex mathematics with a closely-guarded secret technique (spoiler: we just add everyone's scores together), we end up with a single, sitewide list. You can step through our efforts below and find out the albums we've rated most highly across all of 2022.
If you're a Spotify user, you can check the whole thing out here (minus one curiously-named band who are bravely avoiding the streaming giant) – read on to find out the albums we think were the best of 2022.
Overall list
1
Orville Peck
Bronco
Columbia
After three years, fringy-faced country mystery-man Orville Peck roared back into the scene with his sophomore album, Bronco. It takes the country sound Peck was inspired by—and paid tribute to on previous EP Pony—and makes it his own. Peck bolsters his growth as a songwriter with the lead single, "C'mon Baby, Cry." and the track allows Peck to let his voice soar and fill all the available space. He's pulled from other influences besides country too, like the Marabi-inspired track, "Lafayette", and even a cross between post-punk and country with album opener, "Daytona Sand." While Bronco can sometimes feel a little long and would have benefitted from toying with the sequencing, the album is still loaded with great material, and Orville Peck has clearly branched out from his indie/country origins and improved as a songwriter and vocalist. It will be exciting to see where he goes from here.
– Aaron H
2
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta
Clouds Hill
After 10 years of silence, the hiatus interruptus is no more and The Mars Volta have unleashed a new self-titled album upon the masses. Now, before we go any further, it should be understood that this album does not represent the Volta that was, but rather the Volta that is. This is not a bad thing. This is merely an augmentation of the already broad spectrum of sound created by previous albums like Frances the Mute and Octahedron. Brilliant albums to be sure, but not the sum total of what Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez were capable of. Some will find the quieter, more introspective nature of the album disconcerting, but its overall structure and narrative holds stronger than the schizophrenic, swirling maelstrom of past works. Through deeper cuts like "Palm Full of Crux" or album highlight "Equus 3" your understanding of what the band is trying to accomplish deepens. You may not “get it” at first, but when you do, it will be glorious.
3
Grumpster
Fever Dream
Pure Noise
Grumpster are a relatively young band from Oakland. They released a debut on Asian Man and jumped to Pure Noise for its follow-up, Fever Dream. While 2019’s Underwhelmed caught attention, they’ve taken the leap on their second LP. The band play DIY punk with a wide range of melodic influences. It’s singalong punk, but the 10 songs on this record all mix it up. It successfully channels the frustration of punk, the desperation of emo, and the emotional highs of pop but it avoids the predictable and tired tropes of those genres. The PR machine would probably call it post-grunge, power pop, indie-punk or something. I just call it singalong, low-profile honest punk. This record is a journey through insecurity, disappointment, isolation and finding resolution through self-awareness and empowerment. The themes are heavy and, honestly, mostly unhappy. But the strength that flows through Walsh’s voice and the layered melodies within the songs gives a sense of much needed relief as we live through difficult times. Fever Dream isn’t about a broken system or a broken people. It’s about the strength of people and finding peace of mind in the struggle.
– Loren
4
Sweat
Gotta Give It Up
Pirates Press
There’s an intangible energy that pulses through this record. It’s infectious, if saying that isn’t in bad taste nowadays. The same hooks that sound too similar on first listen…They take hold, set in in place, and, well, hook you. When it needs a pick-me-up, throw in some gang vocals and then a bridge. It’s not new, nevertheless it’s still refreshing because the band’s heart and message are so clear. The production is also perfect to get that across, with the raw backing vocals giving a live kind of sound. It has all the fury and the passion of hardcore from 10-20 years ago, but it’s more personal and emotive without getting cute about it. Gotta Give It Up feels like a product of the times: furious, angry and, instead of asking questions, it’s telling us the answer that’s right in front of our faces.
– Loren
5
Ghost
Impera
Loma Vista Recordings
Swedish theatrical rock outfit Ghost unleashed their fifth studio album entitled Impera at the beginning of March this year and for a little while the rock/metal community was saturated with interviews from Tobias Forge, not to mention everyone and their dog were posting reviews of this new album. Impera is about the rise and fall of modern day empires, and most of the album is a cleverly thought out playlist of Ghost at their most playful and accomplished. You don't have to love everything about Ghost, you don't even have to admit to yourself that there is some kind of draw towards them that you can't quite put your finger on but I can tell you now there is one Ghost song out there that will get stuck in your head.
6
An Abstract Illusion
Woe
Willowtip
At a chance recommendation of one of my best friends, I was introduced to An Abstract Illusion some three years or so ago. I was immediately hooked, as it would be obvious for someone with such an inclination for death metal. More particularly though, the melodic and progressive edge of their music was the actual selling point for me. On my first listen of the record, I was pretty much slack jawed and stupefied – I eventually conclude that Woe is simply monumental. There's no way around it. It boasts an atmosphere larger than life. It's massive and all-encompassing on what feels like a surreal scale. Not only was the wait worth it with peak and stuffed, and not only is Woe orders of magnitude beyond its predecessor, we are graced with one of the greatest metal albums of this year and possibly, of this decade.
7
Cave In
Heavy Pendulum
Relapse Records
Holy shit, Cave In are back and better than ever! With the loss of long-time bassist, Caleb Scofield, I'm not sure anyone knew exactly what the world had in store for Cave In after 2019's, Final Transmission. The band recruited Converge's, Nate Newton, and it's clear how perfect a fit he is for the band and a suitable fill-in for Scofield. The band delivers their best album in years and arguably the best in their career. It's heavier and it's sludgier, but it doesn't shy away from throwing in those tasty melodic riffs. It's comforting to know that Scofield is still present on the album, having provided one of the riffs from "New Reality" as well as the lyrics for "Amaranthine."
– Aaron H
8
Blut Aus Nord
Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses
Debemur Morti Productions
Throughout their existence, Blut Aus Nord have left no stone unturned. In their latest form they explore the majesty of psychedelia, beginning with 2019’s Hallucinogen and its melodic, rock-infused quality. Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses turns the table, keeping psychedelia at the core but acting as a distorted counterpart. Instead of the direct approach of Hallucinogen, Blut Aus Nord dive into the bitter and mind-bending world of the Lovecraft-ian mythos, delivering one of their darkest and most oppressive works to date.
9
Unsanitary Napkin
All Billionaires Are Bastards
AlwaysNeverFun, Limbless, Slimebag
This album is something to behold. Every now and then you listen to a band and don't just hear something that is good, no, instead you hear something that makes the adrenaline pump through your body like crazy and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. All Billionaires Are Bastards is one such album. Once I read a story about a soldier that took all the amphetamines of his entire regiment so he would have enough energy for the task ahead of him. I imagine if that task was to play a punk album dealing with a whole range of issues that pissed him off, the outcome would sound something like this. I was blown away by this album, in case you hadn’t noticed by now. It is one of those albums that I am sure I will return to often and it is already in my most played albums on bandcamp. I highly recommend you give this a try too.
– Dennis
10
Brutus
Unison Life
Sargent House
Hitting hard towards the end of the year is the Belgian trio of Brutus. Unison Life is a collection of songs that take you on a journey through pain, heartache, joy and downfall. Its emotive current is fed through vocalist/drummer Stefanie Mannaerts’ kinetic playing and affecting voice, bringing tangible life to songs that are twisted through post-rock and sludge. Brutus are hard to categorise but it’s clear that they are at the top of their proverbial game with this record.
– Cheryl
11
Amorphis
Halo
Atomic Fire Records
Amorphis as a band have been going for over 30 years and this is the year that they bring us their new album Halo, a worthy finale to the trilogy of Under The Red Cloud (2015) and Queen Of Time (2018) and the fourteenth studio album of their career. The Finnish six piece have delivered this 11 track monumental album combining stories through magical lands based on the Finnish and Karelian legend of Kalevala (translated as "Land Of Heroes"). The songs are fantastically well structured, created from the heart and lyrically penned from a world of fantasy and imagination which provides us the listener with the pure progressive/melodic escapism we all crave from Amorphis.
12
The Anomalys
Glitch
Slovenly
How does Glitch fit into Slovenly Recordings' back catalogue? Think 1960’s noisy garage rock with the amps turned all the way up and the speakers partially blown out. It’s rough and tumble, rollicking and up-to-no-good rock ‘n’ roll. While the melodies are clean, everything else is dirty, weathered and drenched in sweat. It’s probably what you thought rock ‘n’ roll meant until 50,000 genre subcategories made the whole thing confusing.
– Loren
13
The Chats
Get Fucked
Bargain Bin
A completely unmarketable, or at least un-mass-marketable, name graces the cover of The Chat’s third album -- Get Fucked. That’s it. That’s the thesis of the album. Get Fucked sneers colloquial digs at ticket inspectors and stingy bosses. If you have to Google what Boggo means, you’re on the wrong side of the class war. But don’t let the title fool you; the Aussie trio’s sound is tighter than ever: precise to the point of militarism. Lead singer Eamon Sandwith’s singing swings closer to barking than melody but carries the sound of the punk generation of yesteryear. Sabotage or brand maintenance, Get Fucked is a high decibel, sticky to the touch, serving of old school punk. The Chats are poised for a major breakthrough; however, if they have any say in it, they may stay underground for a bit longer. At times Get Fucked is repetitive, almost verging on formulaic, but snotty vocals and tight instrumentals elevate the album and strike the perfect balance between melody and punk authenticity.
– Delaney
14
Chat Pile
God's Country
The Flenser
The soundtrack of our times! Chat Pile have seemingly crawled out of the underworld and delivered one of the most hard hitting records in recent memory. The punk lineage is undeniable, a no bullshit attitude unafraid of confronting the ugliest and most damning aspects of today’s world. Emotions run wild and genres get lost in this cruel mix. Sludge injections add to the devastation, an industrial perspective details a dystopian state and extreme metal by way of blackened additions complete a destructive blend, with God's Country mirroring an auditory Molotov cocktail.
15
Diamanda Galas
Broken Gargoyles
Independent
Diamanda Galas - Broken Gargoyles-Hauntingly beautiful orchestrated chanting from the daughter of darkness. Seeping into your soul for eternity. Diamanda embraces you with her cold outstretched arms and icy breath diving deeper into your psyche than most.
