Victor’s Top Ten Albums of 2022
Victor’s Top Ten Albums of 2022
By Victor Augusto
Hello, my ever-readers and friends! Here I am for one more top ten list, and that means that we survived one more crazy year.
Before I list my favourite albums, I must confess that I almost couldn’t make it considering how I was away from what happened in 2022 in terms of Heavy Metal releases. For personal reasons, I had to take time to put my chaotic life in chaos in order. I must say thanks to my Friends at Ever Metal staff to understand my lack of productivity. You all gave a lot of support to keep myself motivated!
Most of the bands on my list I put because I could review them, but there are always a few names that are an important part of my fan side of Heavy Metal, so here we go.
10. Phrenesy – Fears Apocalypse
My long-time friends from Hangover and Thrash Metal Phrenesy have finally released a new album. “Fears Apocalypse” is the result of what they conquered with powerful music and great parties with their friends. There are few Brazilian bands that really put in practice what we claim about union and inclusion of all tribes. For sure Phrenesy is one of them.
09. Megadeth – The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!
Thrash Metal is my favourite style, and I was curious how a new Megadeth album could sound after the addition of Kiko Loureiro. I know that is the second material with Kiko, but the previous one was already finished when he came to put his parts. This album still sounds like classic Mustaine music from the nineties, but he still can surprise us with his machine-gun way of playing riffs!
08. Deathgeist – Procession of Souls
My friends in Deathgeist offered what was the easiest and lightest experience to review that I’ve had in 2022. I mean light, because they don’t get complicated, despite being pretty heavy and brutal. “Procession of Souls” is a straightforward album! Organic sound with good and catchy riffs for lovers of good Brazilian Thrash Metal.
07. Sacred Sin – Storms Over The Dying World
Probably what most made me enjoy the new album of this Portuguese band is how their experience of decades on the road gave me a sensation of a band that knows exactly what they want to sound like.
Sacred Sin offers a good Death Metal which carries all the heaviness of this style, but they don’t let their music become massive or tiring. It is like listening to a Classic Metal band from the eighties, but in a Death Metal orientation!
06. Chrysalid – Back On The Streets
Emannuel Thorsen, the vocalist and the brain behind this amazing project called Chrysalid once said that we are like dreamers trying to realise what we dream. I believe these words really reflect my relationship with music and everything related to it. For Emannuel, he had one of his dreams coming true which was to bring life to this project after decades of working on it.
He had the absolutely hard task to invite many incredible musicians from all around the world, like Ralf Scheepers, Timo Tolkki, Tim Owens and Steve Grimmett. He also had another complicated task to compose songs to fit the identity of all these guys and the result is inspiring material. At least, it inspired me to keep fighting and not give up on music!
05. Splintered Throne – The Greater Good Of Man
The American Blues bassist/vocalist Lisa Mann has a kind of magic similar to what Ronnie James Dio had in his entire career. The magic of turning into gold whatever she touches. In this case, I am talking about music. She became part of the American Metal band Splintered Throne and despite already having a long career, Lisa helped them to offer an incredible album.
It is a pure Classic Heavy Metal album, like the best of Accept or Judas Priest. I really missed music like that. Nothing exacerbated, but it is very well done about composition, guitar work and Lisa gives a masterclass on her vocals!
04. Blind Guardian – The God Machine
Before I got contaminated by the Thrash Metal virus during my teenage years, I was a fan of Traditional Heavy Metal like Manowar and Iron Maiden. I remember when I discovered Blind Guardian with this mix of traditional Heavy Metal, but much faster than everything I’ve already heard. Sometimes, they sound even a bit Thrashy like in “Imaginations From The Other Side” (1995). Of course, their music had a few changes after many decades, but I still enjoyed their new face on the previous albums.
What made me dig “The God Machine” is exactly how they mixed the new elements with the old ones. After a long time, I’ve caught myself really hypnotised whilst hearing André Olbich, like we used to stay in the past. He is like a David Gilmour of Power Metal.
Blind Guardian are German masters that don’t disappoint their fans.
03. Krisiun – Mortem Solis
You often see me writing good words about Brazilian bands. Naturally, I receive many albums from them, because I still live in Brazil, but Krisiun is a different case. They became Death Metal masters around the world, and I had the honour to interview them this year.
Every new Krisiun album creates a good expectation for their fans because we know they will never disappoint us. “Morten Solis” is one of the band’s most mature albums with the perfect blend of an organic and clear sound together with all the brutal stuff they used to offer!
02. Caravellus – Inter Mundos
Maybe Caravellus hasn’t reached the proper world-wide fame yet, but I can 100% assure you that what they released is a masterpiece that could leave any famous band astonished to see these Brazilians playing.
“Inter Mundos” carries an intense history, full of cultural elements, mainly from the Northeast area of Brazil. It is so rich musically and literally. Although it has few parts of fiction, most parts of the history are related to exactly what the native Brazilians of this part of the country suffered in the past.
I’m not a huge fan of Progressive Metal, but “Inter Mundos” changed my conception about it. For sure it was one of the hardest reviews I’ve written, and this album made me feel that I am still able to go deep in the material. It also made me realise that I still love to do it.
01. Behemoth – Opvs Contra Natvram
I am writing this top ten list on December 30th, and I must confess two things. Just today I discovered that Behemoth had a new album and just today I listened to them. It was necessary to listen just once to have no doubts that they would perform in first place on this list.
What a brutal album! I felt that they rescued more of that aggressiveness from albums like “Demigod” with all the atmosphere from “The Satanist”. There was a long time that I was missing this energy in their music and now I just regret that I haven’t listened to it before this year.
Honourable mentions
Kamala – Forgive the weak (Single)
It is not an album or EP, but it is the first single of the upcoming Kamala album. Listen to it just once and this blend of Death Angel with Machine Head spirit will make you believe that Kamala will appear in the top ten list of 2023 when they finally release “Karma”.
As a long-time fan and friend of theirs, I am proud of their path so far. A band that is an example of dedication and they also inspired me to keep on this journey.
Sacramentia – IX
Young guys playing a good Death Metal, full of dense atmosphere to recreate the nine chapters of “9 circles of hell” from the book The Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri). Considering all challenges to record an album in a small city, without resources, I believe that their anger and passion for music is the key that made this album special!
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Victor Augusto and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
I’m seeing Splintered Throne tomorrow night (1/14/23). My good friend Jason Moser on Guitar has vastly improved his ax work since I first saw him with ST some 8+ years ago.
CAN’T WAIT!!
Wow thank you for listening to Splintered Throne, I’m so happy you liked it enough to be on your killer top ten list!! May 2023 be excellent to you!