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The Encyclopaedia Metallum ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2022 RESULTS

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BastardHead
Worse than Stalin

Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2005 7:53 pm
Posts: 10629
Location: Oswego, Illinois

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:07 pm

As always, before we start, I just wanna say: I love you fuckin' dorks.

Welcome back once again to the year-end event where we throw down to decide the best albums of the year! We have once again continued the upwards trajectory we've been on since the start, breaking both the voting records for the sixth consecutive year. This year we had 244 total eligible ballots cast for 811 individual albums! This is the most amount of ballots we've ever gotten, and the most individual albums voted for in a year end poll (the mid year polls tend to wipe the floor with those numbers simply due to having much wider fields of eligibility, but the 2000s poll had 810 so this is now the second highest poll ever, behind the nearly insurmountable 979 albums for the 2010s poll). You guys came to play, and I'll save my rambling bullshit for the end because I know what you're here for. This is!

ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2022

***DISCLAIMER*** Like the last few years, I'm only going to be inputting the Meshuggah tabs alongside the top ten to showcase the vote distribution instead of the for the entire list. It just takes an outrageous amount of time to do that for all of them so I don't bother anymore. But of course, this also means that I now just post the spreadsheet I used all month so y'all can just see inside the sausage casing yourselves. So enjoy, here is the read-only link to the whole damn spreadsheet itself. Have at it! I do want to go back and put in the point totals at least but I'm gonna cut this corner to get this posted before I finish up some chores. All the info you could possibly want is in the aforementioned link but I'll get that data point out here at least, just hang tight.

Blind Guardian - The God Machine: 7-3-8-4-5-3-3-2-1-3 = 502pts
Immolation - Acts of God: 6-5-6-5-5-3-4-1-3-2 = 500pts
Negative Plane - The Pact....: 6-6-2-0-4-3-9-0-4-3 = 417pts
Sumerlands - Dreamkiller: 8-5-1-2-3-2-1-0-6-2 = 395pts
Voivod - Synchro Anarchy: 4-10-2-2-1-1-1-2-3-0 = 372pts
White Ward - False Light: 5-4-3-2-4-3-1-4-1-1 = 355pts
Sigh - Shiki: 5-4-4-3-1-4-2-0-1-2 = 351pts
Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses: 3-2-3-6-3-0-2-4-3-7 = 299pts
Messa - Close: 3-5-2-4-1-3-2-0-0-4 = 293pts
Autonoesis - Moon of Foul Magics: 4-2-4-2-4-2-2-0-0-1 = 289pts

Satan - Earth Infernal
Wormrot - Hiss
Darkthrone - Astral Fortress
The Chasm - The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow
Amorphis - Halo
Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture
Deathspell Omega - The Long Defeat
Ares Kingdom - In Darkness at Last
Evil Invaders - Shattering Reflection
Ghost - Impera
Misþyrming – Með hamri
Riot City - Electric Elite
Cauldron Born - Cold Steel for the Necromancer
Pharmacist - Flourishing Extremities on Unspoiled Mental Grounds
Sonja - Loud Arriver
Autopsy - Morbidity Triumphant
Stratovarius - Survive
Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society
Imperial Triumphant - Spirit of Ecstacy
Blackbraid - Blackbraid I
Drudkh - All Belong to the Night
Aeviterne - The Ailing Facade
Threshold - Dividing Lines
Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain
Inanna - Void of Unending Depths
Watain - The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain
Véhémence - Ordalies
Kreator - Hate Über Alles
Fellowship – The Saberlight Chronicles
Cult of Luna - The Long Road North
Allegaeon - Damnum
Hath - All That Was Promised
Gevurah - Gehinnom
Kvaen - The Great Below
Moonlight Sorcery – Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity
Devil Master - Ecstasies in Never Ending Night
Wake - Thought Form Descent
Revocation - Netherheaven
An Abstract Illusion - Woe
Luzifer - Iron Shackles
Sakis Tolis - Among the Fires of Hell
Grand Belial's Key - Kohanic Charmers
Steel Inferno - Evil Reign
Phobophilic - Enveloping Absurdity
Megadeth - The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!
Persefone - Metanoia
The Antichrist Imperium - Volume III: Satan in His Original Glory
Grenadier - Trumpets Blare in Blazing Glory
Hammers of Misfortune - Overtaker
Wędrujący Wiatr - Zorzysta staje oćma
Ripped to Shreds - Jubian
Destruction - Diabolical
Haunter - Discarnate Ails
Wiegedood - There's Always Blood at the End of the World
Horn - Verzet
The Halo Effect - Days of the Lost
Aara - Triade II: Hemera
Power Paladin - With the Magic of Windfyre Steel
Gaerea - Mirage
Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Star One - Revel in Time
Wilderun - Epigone
Avatarium - Death, Where Is Your Sting
Decapitated - Cancer Culture
Ataraxy - The Last Mirror
Trhä - vat gëlénva!!!
Belphegor - The Devils
Wolf - Shadowland
The Otolith - Folium Limina
Ultha - All That has Never Been True
Fer de Lance - The Hyperborean
Undeath - It's Time... to Rise from the Grave
In the Woods... - Diversum
Trial (Swe) - Feed the Fire
Oceans of Slumber - Starlight and Ash
Battle Beast - Circus of Doom
Heaving Earth - Darkness of God
Nocturnal Triumph - Nocturnal Triumph
Early Moods - Early Moods
Razor - Cycle of Contempt
Worm - Bluenothing
Saxon - Carpe Diem
Daeva - Through Sheer Will and Black Magic
Verberis - Adumbration of the Veiled Logos
Faceless Burial - At the Foothills of Deliration
Venator - Echoes from the Gutter
Meshuggah - Immutable
Scarcity - Aveilut
Nechochwen - Kanawha Black
Protector - Excessive Outburst of Depravity
Borealis - Illusions
Origin - Chaosmos
Sanhedrin - Lights On
Disillusion - Ayam
Suppresion - The Sorrow of Soul Through Flesh
Saor - Origins
Darkest Era - Wither on the Vine
Skull Fist - Paid in Full
Grima - Frostbitten
Spell - Tragic Magic
Stormruler - Sacred Rites & Black Magick
Djevel - Naa Skrider Natten Sort
Soilwork - Övergivenheten
Molten Chains - Orisons of Vengeance
Dark Funeral - We Are the Apocalypse
Arch Enemy - Deceivers
Seventh Wonder - The Testament
Fallujah - Empyrean
Deathhammer - Electric Warfare
Saidan - Onryo II: Her Spirit Eternal
Kampfar - Til klovers takt
Lorna Shore - Pain Remains
Asunojokei - Island
Panzerfaust - The Suns of Perdition - Chapter III: The Astral Drain
Hate Forest - Innermost
Behemoth – Opvs Contra Natvram
Mizmor/Thou - Myopia
Bran - Odcházení
Archgoat - All Christianity Ends
Hangman's Chair - A Loner
Mournful Congregation - The Exuviae of Gods, Part 1
Sadist - Firescorched
Paganizer - Beyond the Macabre
Cloud Rat - Threshold
Imprecation - In Nomine Diaboli
Destroyer 666 - Never Surrender
Armory - Mercurian
Stangarigel - Na Severe Srdca
Cosmic Putrefaction - Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones
Schizophrenia - Recollections of the Insane
The Temple - Of Solitude Triumphant
Dream Unending - Song of Salvation
Tony Martin - Thorns
Visions of Atlantis - Pirates
Vermilia - Ruska
Septicflesh - Modern Primitive
Malthusian/Suffering Hour - Time's Withering Shadow
Konquest - Time And Tyranny
Toxik - Dis Morta
Swampborn - Beyond Ratio
Miscreance - Convergence
Esoctrilihum - Consecration of the Spiritüs Flesh
Marrasmieli - Martaiden Mailta
Scorpions - Rock Believer
Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9
Cauchemar - Rosa Mystica
Terzij De Horde - In One of These, I Am Your Enemy
Conan - Evidence of Immortality
Candlemass - Sweet Evil Sun
Assumption - Hadean Tides
Inexorum - Equinox Vigil
Gudsforladt - Friendship, Love and War
Bloodbath - Survival of the Sickest
Friends of Hell - Friends of Hell
Ash of Ashes - Traces
High Command - Eclipse of the Dual Moons
Mirror - The Day Bastard Leaders Die
Spiter - Bathe the Babe in Bats' Blood
A Pale December - Death Panacea
Heltekvad - Morgenrødens helvedesherre
Tome of the Unreplenished - Earthbound
Glemsel - Forfader
Kardashev - Liminal Rite
Eric Wagner - In the Lonely Night of Mourning
Nite - Voices of the Kronian Moon
Cloven Hoof - Time Assassin
Vital Spirit - Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind
Critical Defiance - No Life Forms
Therion - Leviathan II
Chaotian - Effigies of Obsolescence
Hissing - Hypervirulence Architecture
Hell Fire - Reckoning
Kathaaria - To Be Shunned by All... As Centres of Pestilence
Midnight Rider - Beyond the Blood Red Horizon
Soulfly - Totem
Nostalghia - Au milieu de l'hiver
Vio-Lence - Let the World Burn
Temple of Void - Summoning the Slayer
Incandescence – Le Coeur De L'homme
Shadow of Intent - Elegy
Vorga - Striving Towards Oblivion
Soreption - Jod
Sedimentum - Suppuration morphogénésiaque
Abhor - Sex Sex Sex (Ceremonia Daemonis Antichristi)
Dragonland - Power of the Nightstar
Månegarm - Ynglingaättens Öde
Spiritus Mortis - The Great Seal
Elder - Innate Passage
White Rune - Dawn of the White Rune
Woods of Desolation - The Falling Tide
Lifvsleda - Sepulkral Dedikation
Det Eviga Leendet - Reverence
Tòmarùm - Ash In Realms Of Stone Icons
Brymir - Voices in the Sky
Skid Row - The Gang's All Here
Predatory Light - Death and the Twilight Hours
In Aphelion - Moribund
Raptore - Blackfire
Celeste - Assassine(s)
Tchornobog/Abyssal - Split
Bâ'a - Egrégore
Metalian - Beyond the Wall
Owls Woods Graves - Secret Spies of the Horned Patrician
Sumerian Tombs - Sumerian Tombs
Boris - Heavy Rocks
Parish - Parish
Black Fucking Cancer - Procreate Inverse
Corpsessed - Succumb to Rot
Devin Townsend - Lightwork
Eliminator - Ancient Light
Luminous Vault - Animate the Emptiness
Sphere - Blood Era
Shape of Despair - Return to the Void
Krisiun - Mortem Solis
Konvent - Call Down the Sun
HammerFall - Hammer of Dawn
Sisyphean - Colors of Faith
Come to Grief - When the World Dies
MMXX - Sacred Cargo
The Troops of Doom - Antichrist Reborn
Emissary - Emissary
Horns & Hooves - I Am the Skel Messiah
Tankard - Pavlov's Dawgs
Pensées Nocturnes - Douce Fanges
Jade - The Pacification of Death
Exhumed - To the Dead
Wolfheart - King of the North
Marc Urselli’s SteppenDoom - SteppenDoom
Trollfest - Flamingo Overload
Misery Index - Complete Control
Evergrey - A Heartless Portrait
Altars - Aescetic Reflection
Dark Millennium - Acid River
Wind Rose - Warfront
Ultra Silvam - The Sanctity of Death
Lord Belial - Rapture
Knoll - Metempiric
Matenrou Opera - 真実を知っていく物語
Misanthropæ - Untitled
Stryper - The Final Battle
Lord Vigo - We Shall Overcome
Tomb Mold - Aperture of Body
Witchslayer - Witchslayer
A Sound of Thunder - The Krimson Kult
Coldworld - Isolation
Jani Liimatainen - My Father's Son
Vórtize - ¡Tienes Que Luchar!
Amon Amarth - The Great Heathen Army
Doublegeddon - Geddon Dangerous
Falls of Rauros - Key to a Vanishing Gate
Queensrÿche - Digital Noise Alliance
It Doesn't Get Better - It Doesn't Get Better
Mico - Zigurat
Ufomammut - Fenice
Hulder - The Eternal Fanfare
Wampyrinacht - Night Of The Desecration: Les Jardins De Nyx
De Profundis - The Corruption of Virtue
Deserted Fear - Doomsday
Xentrix - Seven Words
Lustre - A Thirst for Summer Rain
Firtan - Marter
Rotten Tomb - Visions of a Dismal Fate
Kontact - First Contact
Live Burial - Curse of the Forlorn
Order of Nosferat - Nachtmusik
Species - To Find Deliverance
Graceless - Chants from Purgatory
Slaegt - Goddess
Pure Wrath - Hymn To The Woeful Hearts
Pyrithe - Monuments to Impermanence
Midnight - Let There be Witchery
Pestilent Hex - The Ashen Abhorrence
Abyssus - Death Revival
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter - Wilde Kinder
Te Ruki - Marako Te Ruki
Truchło Strzygi - Gwiezdny Demon
Desecresy - Unveil in the Abyss
Dreamtale – Everlasting Flame
Judicator - The Majesty of Decay
Molder - Engrossed in Decay
Arrayan Path - Thus Always to Tyrants
Eruption - Tellurian Rupture
Traitor - Exiled to the Surface
Universally Estranged - Dimension of Deviant Clusters
Venom Inc. - There's Only Black
Innumerable Forms - Philosophical Collapse
Astronoid - Radiant Bloom
Abbath - Dread Reaver
Malevolence - Malicious Intent
Nocturna - Daughters of the Night
Thormesis - If Mania Never Ends
Psycroptic - Divine Council
Edenbridge - Shangri-La
Sabaton - The War to End All Wars
Aequorea- DIM
Animalize - The Meat We're Made Of
Church of Disgust - Weakest is the Flesh
Vauruvã - Por Nós da Ventania
Fallen Sanctuary - Terranova
Mathan - Darkroot Tzantza
Coscradh - Nahanagan Stadial
Bomber - Nocturnal Creatures
Monasterium - Cold Are the Graves
Seizure - Forbidden Tales
Validor - Full Triumphed
Beyond Mortal Dreams - Abomination Of The Flames
Fugitive - Maniac
Kostnatění - Oheň hoří tam, kde padl
Tzompantli - Tlazcaltiliztli
Ad Noctem Funeriis - Abyss, Fire, Brimstones
Bedsore / Mortal Incarnation - Split
Miss May I - Curse of Existence
Doldrum - The Knocking, or the Way Too Long Album Title
Vacuous - Dreams of Dysphoria
Lunar Spells - Demise of Heaven
Astral Tomb - Soulgazer
Black Death Cult - Diaspora
Induction - Born from Fire
Kaarne - Rubicon
Vimur - Transcendental Violence
Jungle Rot - A Call to Arms
Maule - Maule
Midas - Midas
Obsidious - Iconic
Corpsegrinder - Corpsegrinder
Lordi - Abusement Park
Morbific - Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm
Crowbar - Zero and Below
Mortuous - Upon Desolation
Downcross - Hexapoda Triumph

After three hundred and thirty eight non-rando entrants, we finally have a winner and boy was it a close one. Throughout the entire month, the #1 spot was never truly secure. Negative Place, Voivod, and Blut Aus Nord all held the title early, which Blind Guardian and Immolation steadily and consistently crept up on them. By the last few days of voting, BG and Immo were trading the top spot with each other after nearly every ballot. There's a pretty nice gap between those two and the rest of the top field because the last day saw them both pull ahead and dogfight with each other the whole way up. At the end of the day, the winner has been decided and in a potential upset, the winner is Blind Guardian with their eleventhish album, The God Machine! This is the first time what I would consider a "legacy band" to have won the crown, since Blind Guardian has existed since the 80s and held codify their genre in the first place. This to me can only be an endorsement from the users of MA that they, somehow, some way, still kick enough ass to definitively put these youngsters in their place. I am proud to extend a sincere Congratulations to Blind Guardian for winning MA AOTY 2022! Soak this one in folks, I never would've expected MA to put a power metal album as #1 but I guess we earned a Christmas Miracle!

And now for something completely the same, all those lonely souls who wound up with only one vote throughout the month. Great albums nonetheless, but still shuttled off to the side to make the list readable. I give you:

RANDO CORNER

Spoiler: show

BH's Final Thoughts
I normally spend this time outlining major trends I noticed while collecting votes and then speculate on broader reasons why those observations stood out, usually by pointing out that traditional styles have fewer albums voted for but with many more votes per album, while the more extreme areas (black metal in particular) saturates the absolute fuck out of Rando Corner. This year? Nah fuck that, power metal actually fucking won! Holy shit I never thought I'd see this day, and all it took was Blind Guardian to crawl out of their mausoleum and suddenly shit out their best album in decades. That was a perfect storm, and as a result poor Immolation is once again stuck playing bridesmaid, netting their second #2 finish, this time only missing it by two points! Immolation was my person predicted winner, and my "streak" is sort of alive since I've yet to have a predictor drop out of the top two or three, but I really don't think I was alone in assuming this was finally Immolation's year. They're one of the most consistently excellent death metal bands in history and have more than earned their reputation. Speaking personally though, a pretty good Immolation album is 100% expected every time, where a shockingly great Blind Guardian album has been a hopeless dream since 1995 or thereabouts so I'm extremely excited with how this shook out.

I could also go into further speculation on how/why legacy bands always do so well (this is the first time one of those bands actually won the whole shebang), but I'm less fussed about that nowadays. Like I've said before, we're a neutral site with neutral users who have no need to stay on good terms with certain bands and labels in order to maintain access to the industry, so if old bands win then that just means more people liked those old bands. Question your fellow users' taste all you want but nothing is compromised here. And while yeah, we have some old fogeys at the top (Blind Guardian, Immolation, Voivod, Sigh, and Blut aus Nord have all been kicking around since the 90s at the latest), the list also contains Sumerlands, Messa, White Ward, and Autonoesis, who are indisputably "new" bands. Only Negative Plane is in that kinda nebulous space, and honestly I think that's a pretty good balance. I'd personally like to see more newbies up top but this shows a healthy scene if you ask me (particularly if you take into account how many different styles are represented in this top ten!).

And lastly, the booby prizes! As always we have the Rando Calrissian Award for "highest placement with no first place votes", which this year goes to The Chasm - The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow. I'm not sure what stupid name to give the fake prize for it but I want to give a big congrats to Immolation, Sumerlands, and Voivod all making their second appearances in the top ten! It's hard to count out y'all's consistency at this point.
I'm out of comments. I'm out of jokes for the booby prizes. I just want to get this post up. This year you all get to make up your own dumbshit prizes to give out! Think of them like hidden achievements or something.

Thank you all so much for another phenomenal year! Let us now use this thread for discussion, list sharing, and calling me an asshole. This was a ton of fun as usual and I'm glad we pulled it together for the seventh year in a row.

Also be sure to tell me where I fucked up in Rando Corner because I always, always do!

HALL OF FAME

Spoiler: show

2021

The Ruins Of Beverast - The Thule Grimoires: 8-3-6-3-4-1-0-0-0-3 = 416pts
Spectral Wound - A Diabolic Thirst: 7-2-3-1-3-6-3-4-3-4 = 390pts
Iron Maiden - Senjutsu: 10-3-2-2-1-0-2-0-2-4 = 388pts
Stormkeep - Tales of Othertime: 3-7-2-1-4-3-2-3-2-1 = 336pts
Hooded Menace - The Tritonous Bell: 4-2-4-4-3-3-3-2-1-4 = 330pts
Carcass - Torn Arteries: 4-4-3-0-4-3-4-1-2-2 = 315pts
Helloween - Helloween: 4-2-4-3-1-2-3-4-2-6 = 302pts
Archspire - Bleed the Future: 5-4-2-2-1-0-2-1-2-3 = 284pts
Pharaoh - The Powers That Be: 5-2-1-1-4-2-1-4-3-0 = 272pts

Suffering Hour - The Cyclic Reckoning: 4-0-5-3-1-1-1-1-1-2 = 243pts

2020
Ulcerate - Stare Into Death and Be Still: 11-6-8-3-1-3-0-1-0-3 = 526pts
Havukruunu - Uinuos syömein sota: 8-6-4-5-2-0-1-2-5-1 = 473pts
Eternal Champion - Ravening Iron: 6-9-0-5-1-2-3-3-4-1 = 437pts
Wytch Hazel - III: Pentecost: 6-5-2-5-3-1-0-3-0-1 = 381pts
Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi: 3-1-2-0-4-3-3-3-2-1 = 220pts
Akhlys - Melinoë: 0-1-6-2-5-0-3-1-2-1 = 209pts
Unleash the Archers - Abyss: 6-1-1-0-0-1-0-1-0-2 = 197pts
Paradise Lost - Obsidian: 3-0-2-3-0-2-4-1-0-5 = 190pts
Cirith Ungol – Forever Black: 2-1-2-2-3-1-1-2-1-2 = 178pts
Vader - Solitude in Madness: 2-0-4-2-2-1-1-2-0-1 = 177pts

2019
Blood Incantation – Hidden History of the Human Race: 8-3-6-5-5-4-4-2-2-3 = 525pts
Idle Hands – Mana: 6-6-2-2-1-1-0-0-1-1 = 333pts
Atlantean Kodex – The Course of Empire: 4-5-2-2-1-2-0-0-0-0 = 270pts
Misþyrming – Algleymi: 3-2-2-3-1-3-2-1-1-0 = 229pts
Obsequiae – The Palms of Sorrowed Kings: 4-2-1-0-4-1-2-3-1-3 = 228pts
Traveler – Traveler: 1-4-4-3-2-1-0-1-1-0 = 227pts
Crypt Sermon – The Ruins of Fading Light: 3-0-2-2-3-2-5-2-0-1 = 214pts
Deathspell Omega – The Furnaces of Palingenesia: 3-0-4-2-1-2-0-2-5-0 = 203pts
Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance: 0-2-3-2-1-5-1-2-1-1 = 172pts
Cult of Luna – A Dawn to Fear: 4-2-0-0-2-1-0-0-2-2 = 170pts

2018
Visigoth – Conqueror's Oath = 293pts
Amorphis – Queen of Time = 292pts
Solstice – White Horse Hill = 245pts
Satan – Cruel Magic = 244pts
Voivod – The Wake = 243pts
Varathron – Patriarchs of Evil = 214pts
Primordial – Exile Amongst the Ruins = 191pts
Judas Priest – Firepower = 179pts
Horrendous – Idol = 168pts
Chapel of Disease - …and as We Have Seen the Storm... = 163pts

2017
Power Trip - Nightmare Logic = 368pts
Immolation - Atonement = 258pts
The Ruins of Beverast - Exuvia = 249pts
Satan's Hallow - Satan's Hallow = 222pts
Spectral Voice - Eroded Corridors of Unbeing = 196pts
Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper = 165pts
Elder - Reflections of a Falling World = 164pts
Nokturnal Mortum - Verity = 160pts
Malokarpatan - Nordkarpatenland = 159pts
Dying Fetus - Wrong One to Fuck With = 158pts

2016
Vektor - Terminal Redux = 411pts
Deathspell Omega - The Synarchy of Molten Bones = 231pts
Blood Incantation - Starspawn = 230pts
Avantasia - Ghostlights = 201pts
Sumerlands - Sumerlands = 197pts
Eternal Champion - The Armor of Ire = 157pts
Ulcerate - Shrines of Paralysis = 137pts
Mithras - On Strange Loops = 137pts
Moonsorrow - Jumalten Aika = 132pts
Inquisition - Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith = 130pts

_________________
Lair of the Bastard: LATEST REVIEW: Meshuggah - Nothing
The Outer RIM - Uatism: The dogs bark in street slang

niix wrote:

the reason your grandmother has all those plastic sheets on her furniture is because she is probably a squirter

Top

HeavenDuff
Metal freak

Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:35 pm
Posts: 4022
Location: Montréal

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:17 pm

Blind Guardian winning over Immolation by TWO POINTS!!! Big upset!

I called Immolation to win the whole thing, and it came this close, haha! Someone called the possibility of Blind Guardian winning the whole thing during the last few days on the poll thread. Nicely done!

I'm very happy to see Messa in the top 10!!!

Great to see Sigh, Blut Aus Nord and Voivod up there as well!

Thanks again for holding this poll BastardHead!

I'll look through the whole list in detail and search for all the albums I voted for

Top

I_Am_Vengeance
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2005 1:11 pm
Posts: 1876
Location: Australia

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:17 pm

Thought Blind Guardian might win, thought the album was pretty good but definitely not deserving of the first place.

Here's how mine ranked

1. Mirror - The Day Bastard Leaders Die - 166th
2. Trial (swe) - Feed the Fire - 83rd
3. Fer De Lance - The Hyperborean - 80th
4. Amorphis - Halo - 15th
5. Sumerlands - Dreamkiller - 4th
6. Riot City - Electric Elite - 22nd
7. Evil Invaders - Shattering Reflection - 19th
8. Sonja - Loud Arriver - 25th
9. Steel Inferno - Evil Reign -53rd
10. Lord Vigo - We Shall Overcome - 249th

Overall a really good year I thought.

_________________
http://www.last.fm/user/I_am_Vengeance

Top

theposega
Mezla

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:42 pm
Posts: 5208
Location: Neo-Allegheny City

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:18 pm

1 moonlight sorcery piercing through the frozen eternity 45
2 negative plane the pact 3
3 katharos of lineages long forgotten rando
4 blut aus nord disharmonium - undreamable abysses 8
5 djevel naa skrider natten sort 111
6 pestilent hex the ashen abhorrence 280
7 mournful moon rose velvet dynasty rando
8 deathspell omega the long defeat 17
9 arizmenda spiders lust in the dungeon’s dust rando
10 theriomorph diabolical bloodswords rando

four randos, p sure that's a record for me. as always thanks, for doing this, lad

_________________
“If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth.” - Neil Breen

Top

Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
Posts: 32986
Location: Where the dead rule the night

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:19 pm

That Blind Guardian album wasn't in my personal top 10 or anything but it's definitely a good one... I can see why it won.

1. Cauldron Born – Cold Steel for the Necromancer
2. Voivod – Synchro Anarchy
3. Hammers of Misfortune – Overtaker
4. Messa – Close
5. Threshold – Dividing Lines
6. Sanhedrin – Lights On
7. Sonja – Loud Arriver
8. The Chasm – Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow
9. Sigh – Shiki
10. Evil Invaders – Shattering Reflection

Most of mine seemed to do pretty good this year.

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DrummingEdge133
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:48 pm
Posts: 2166
Location: United States

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:21 pm

Top 10:
1.) Sumerlands - Dreamkiller (4)
2.) Midnight Rider – Beyond the Blood Red Horizon (183)
3.) Immolation - Acts of God (2)
4.) Druid Lord – Relics of the Dead (RANDO)
5.) High Command – Eclipse of the Dual Moons (165)
6.) Skull Fist - Paid in Full (107)
7.) Evil Invaders - Shattering Reflection (19)
8.) Savage Master – Those Who Hunt at Night (RANDO)
9.) Night Hag - Phantasmal Scourge (RANDO)
10.) Blut aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses (8)

Some honorable mentions:
Meshuggah - Immutable
Reaper - Viridian Inferno
Corpsessed - Succumb to Rot
Midnight - Let There Be Witchery
Ironflame - Where Madness Dwells
Panzerfaust - The Suns of Perdition - Chapter III: The Astral Drain

Lots of heavy/speed styled metal for me this year. Sumerlands with Brendan Radigan singing was absolute fire, best singer alive today in heavy metal outside of Jake Rodgers, imo. Weirdly, my top 10 seemed to do either well or RANDO. Strange results.

Thanks for doing the poll BastardHead, appreciate the work. Always fun to assemble the list throughout the year and see the wild results.

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Slater922
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:24 pm
Posts: 1850

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:27 pm

Interesting to see Blind Guardian get #1. Here's my list:

1: Worm - Bluenothing
2: Vothana - Sâu bệnh / Pestilence
3: Moonlight Sorcery - Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity
4: Paganizer - Beyond the Macabre
5: Immolation - Acts of God
6: Dark Funeral - We Are the Apocalypse
7: Wormrot - Hiss
8: Darkthrone - Astral Fortress
9: Nocturnal Triumph - Nocturnal Triumph
10: Calderum - Mystical Fortress of Iberian Lands

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Callum_Carcass
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:27 am
Posts: 374
Location: United Kingdom

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:30 pm

I'd like to point out that whoever nominated the Tyrannus album may have been the victim of autocorrect, as the album title should be Unslayable.

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lordcatfish
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:44 pm
Posts: 1281
Location: United Kingdom

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:33 pm

Thanks BastardHead as always for the hard work and for the quick turnaround.

Wow, I'm surprised Blind Guardian won. I'm not their biggest fan, but I love power metal, so sort of glad they won, as it's not a genre that tends to do that well in these polls. Also, Avatarium at 72? Didn't think I'd see that - awesome.

My list

01. Stratovarius - Survive (27)
02. Kreator - Hate Uber Alles (38)
03. Nightrage - Abyss Rising (RANDO)
04. Power Paladin - With the Magic of Windfyre Steel (68)
05. Soilwork - Övergivenheten (112)
06. Amorphis - Halo (15)
07. Arch Enemy - Deceivers (115)
08. A Sound of Thunder - The Krimson Kult (252)
09. Avatarium - Death, Where Is Your Sting (72)
10. Battle Beast - Circus of Doom (85)

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Rowolta
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:41 am
Posts: 62
Location: Sweden

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:35 pm

Amazing effort! Question, noticed that Anal Stabwound only got one vote #1 25 pts (my vote). But the user "antitoi" also posted in the forum thread that he had it on #6.
Did he/she forgott to send the PM?

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HeavenDuff
Metal freak

Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:35 pm
Posts: 4022
Location: Montréal

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:44 pm

So here's how my personnal top 10 albums ended up ranking:

1. Hath - All That Was Promised (42nd)
2. Messa – Close (8th)
3. Devoid of Life – Embracing Emptiness (rando)
4. Cosmic Putrefaction - Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones (138th)
5. Sigh – Shiki (7th)
6. Cult of Luna - The Long Road North (40th)
7. Vermilia – Ruska (144th)
8. Humanotone - A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand (rando)
9. Incandescence – Le cœur de l’homme (188th)
10. Undeath – It’s Time… To Rise from the Grave (81st)

And also the two albums I highly considered including:
11. Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses (8th)
12. Kvaen – The Great Below (44th)

My decisions to include Undeath over BAN was almost a coin toss, really. And in the end I felt okay not including BAN, because I knew it would fare extremely well anyway. And it turns out my vote would not have changed anything, like I expected.

Like I said, really glad to see how well Sigh, and especially Messa ranked in this thing. As a relatively young and underground band, it's fantastic to see them landing at the 8th overall spot for this. Solid stuff!

I was expecting better for Cult of Luna, Vermilia Undeath and Cosmic Putrefaction though. Especially Cult of Luna. 40th is not bad though. But I thought it would have done better. I also thought that people loved the new Vermilia. It's as solid as this kind of folk/black metal can get.

Not surprised to see Devoid of Life and Humanotone in the rando corner. I actually called it for both. However, both are extremely solid, and I would have voted for DoL if we still voted for debut of the year.

I'll listen to the top ranked stuff I missed, just to make sure I haven't missed out on amazing stuff this last year

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Zelkiiro
Pounding the world with a fish of steel

Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:30 pm
Posts: 7574
Location: Pennsylvania

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 6:55 pm

For what it's worth, here's my final list. Analysis to be done later, when I get home.

Top 10 Albums of 2022:

1. Borealis - Illusions (#100)
This was my favorite album of the year, but it also kinda exemplifies the running theme that pervaded 2022, which is that basically everything I liked from this year was solid, perhaps even very good, but nothing I have been blown away by. In this case, Illusions might very well be Borealis' best album, and it's a damn good album, but in a truly stacked year like 2016, 2017, or 2020, it might have only taken the #10 spot, if it cracked the list at all. As for the album itself, it sure is a Borealis album--beefy guitars, earnest keyboards, soaring vocals, and delicious cheese, all in copious quantities--but it doesn't really strive to be anything more than that. But I'm hardly going to complain too loudly when it's this good.
Top Three Tracks: "My Fortress," "Face of Reality," and "Pray For Water"

2. Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With the Moonflower Society (#28)
Tobi is doing absolutely nothing new or unexpected here, which is a bit of a bummer. But again, I'm not gonna complain too much when the songs are as good as they are here, lack of inspiration be damned. "The Moonflower Society" might just be the best song released all year, if you ask me. Too bad it was the first released single and was thus spoiled early.
Top Three Tracks: "Kill the Pain Away," "The Inmost Light," and "The Moonflower Society"

3. Nemophila - Seize the Fate (Rando)
Now that Mary's Blood and Lovebites are out of the running for the foreseeable future, Nemophila's stepping up to the plate to fill that void, and they're doing a pretty good job at it, though a casual listener will have their necks broken by the extreme whiplash caused by the gentle ballad "Now I Here" and the vicious thrasher "Zen" being only a few minutes apart from each other. All in all, a very solid album, even if it can't quite decide on a lane to drive in and instead veering wildly between all of them.
Top Three Tracks: "Rock 'n Roll is," "Seize the Fate," and "Adabana"

4. Threshold - Dividing Lines (#33)
It's Diet Legends of the Shires. This is a good thing, but it's not the best thing.
Top Three Tracks: "Hall of Echoes," "Lost Along the Way," and "King of Nothing"

5. Judicator - The Majesty of Decay (#287)
If this album would've been a bit more streamlined and consistent, this would be 2022's slam-dunk 10/10 ultra hit conquering the #1 spot like last year's Seven Spires release, but alas, here we are. This highly-ambitious and mesmerizing album suffers from some uneven bits and long-windedness, so it goes here instead. Oh well. At least the good stuff is fucking phenomenal.
Top Three Tracks: "The Black Elk," "From the Belly of the Whale," and "The High Priestess"

6. Battle Beast - Circus of Doom (#85)
Yeah, after the raging disappointment that was their previous album, it seems Battle Beast is in Cornered Rat Mode and launched a very effective offensive that's helped them regain some of that lost ground. You can tell they're trying their damnedest to claw their way back to their glory days, and for the most part, they succeeded. Hopefully they stay hungry for the next album and don't forget this hard-won victory they've achieved.
Top Three Tracks: "Russian Roulette," "Tempest of Blades," and "Master of Illusion"

7. Blind Guardian - The God Machine (#1!!!)
After spending more time sitting on this album, it's become apparent that a lot of the second half is quite weak and floaty, but there can be no doubt that the majority of The God Machine is good enough to make this their best work in 25 years. Too bad the best song was the first single. That's another running theme for this list--a lot of the best tracks were early singles, and maybe I'm finding out that I should avoid them like I avoid movie trailers...
Top Three Tracks: "Blood of the Elves," "Secrets of the American Gods," and "Deliver Us From Evil"

8. Drakmord - Iter (Rando)
Part 1 of 2 in 2022's epic Power Metal Albums That Wouldn't Be Out of Place in the Early 2000s and There's Nothing Wrong With That saga. This entry is unique because it's a South American band that I don't absolutely despise, and it's weird how strangely rare that is. Whatever's in the water down there, I hate it, apparently. Except for these guys. They kick moderate amounts of ass.
Top Three Tracks: "Tilting the Hourglass," "Bloody Moonlight," and "Lost His Faith"

9. Induction - Born From Fire (#326)
Part 2 of 2 in 2022's epic Power Metal Albums That Wouldn't Be Out of Place in the Early 2000s and There's Nothing Wrong With That saga. Not much to say here--it's just some quality Euro-power metal, and that's good enough for me!
Top Three Tracks: "Born From Fire," "Queen of Light," and "Go to Hell"

10. Satan - Earth Infernal (#11)
Yep, this sure is a modern Satan album. Which means it kicks ass, and there's not much else to say about it.
Top Three Tracks: "From Second Sight," "Ascendancy," and "The Blood Ran Deep"

Runner Ups:
11. Seventh Wonder - The Testament (#116)
Top Track: "Invincible"
12. Dragonland - The Power of the Nightstar (#194)
Top Track: "The Power of the Nightstar"
13. Dynazty - Final Advent (N/A)
Top Track: "Natural Born Killer"
14. Fellowship - The Saberlight Chronicles (#39)
Top Track: "The Saint Beyond the River"
15. The Ferrymen - One More River to Cross (N/A)
Top Track: "One More River to Cross"

Totally Should Count as a 2022 Release:
Solarus - A Dance With Tragedy
Top Track: "This Journey That Yet Remains"

Best Songs From Albums That Didn't Make the Top 10 or Runner Ups Lists:
"Terranova" (Fallen Sanctuary - Terranova, #307)
"Katana Kingdom Rising" (Victorius - Dinosaur Warfare Pt. 2: The Great Ninja War, N/A)
"Rise of the Krimson Kult" (A Sound of Thunder - The Krimson Kult, #252)
"The Road" (Stranger Vision - Wasteland, Rando)
"The Chosen One" (Elisa Martin - Nothing Without Pain, N/A)
"High Above the Horizon" (Asterise - Two Worlds, N/A)
"Forgotten Heroes" (Kliodna - Way of Heroes, N/A)
"The Ill-Fated Mr. Mordrake" (Wolf - Shadowland, #77)
"Pagans Rising" (Hexed - Pagans Rising, N/A)
"The Lie" (Eternal Ascent - Reclamation, N/A)

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senya
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2022 1:09 am
Posts: 14
Location: United States

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:00 pm

1. Heaving Earth - Darkness of God (86)
2. Phobophilic - Enveloping Absurdity (54)
3. Misþyrming - Með hamri (21)
4. Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain (34)
5. Cloud Rat - Threshold (133)
6. Sumerlands - Dreamkiller (4)
7. Immolation - Acts of God (2)
8. Suppression - The Sorrow of Soul Through Flesh (104)
9. Sonja - Loud Arriver (25)
10. Wormrot - Hiss (12)

My top 5 all did worse than I expected. Also Suppression is spelled wrong in the main post so I got scared when I ctrl-f'd and couldn't find it, thinking my vote wasn't counted.

Nice to see Autonoesis in the top 10, that was my #11.

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77hjrttfred
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:15 pm
Posts: 300

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:04 pm

First of all, I want to thank Bastardhead and anyone else involved in organizing the poll and the results.

I really like the top 10/20 in this year’s list. A number of them I voted for, and I have listened to almost all the albums in the top 20. I might not agree that all of them belong in the top 20, but I think most of them are solid choices.

There has been a lot of talk about the releases from the older/legacy groups, and I feel that they ended up where they belong. Voivod and Blind Guardian finished high because they are fantastic albums, while other weaker albums from legacy groups (Megadeth, Candlemass, Saxon, Queensryche) finished much lower in the voting. In other words, I think the MA community got it right.

Also, this is not trying to have a go at older/legacy groups because many of them have released good material. As well as the Blind Guardian and Voivod albums above, I thought that Satan released a good album this year. Destruction also released a good album, although not really worthy of a top 10 vote. Groups like Immolation and Sigh have been around a long time too and released albums that were well-received. I could also add Darkthrone.

All in all, a good list that I broadly agree with overall, especially those at the top end of the poll.

Lastly, I would have liked Krisiun to get a few more votes. I can see why they might not be for all tastes, but I thought the album featured a more varied approach to songwriting, even if we take into account they rely a lot on blasting passages in their music. I guess some people find their music a bit one-dimensional, which I could understand.

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GVOLTT
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:33 pm
Posts: 441
Location: United States

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:05 pm

I feel like I might be partially responsible for Immolation not winning - somehow I never put that on my "to get/listen to" list. Of course, that's no guarantee it would've made it to my personal top 10. And of course, I could say something similar about Blind Guardian, though I prefer the more extreme metal subgenres to begin with.

As for my list, looks like the highest overall ranked release that made my personal list was Autopsy's Morbidity Triumphant. Only had one rando album, Demiricous's Chaotic Lethal. Highest overall release that I did listen to, but otherwise didn't make my personal top 10, was Deathspell Omega's The Long Defeat, which came pretty close.

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CreepingDeath16
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2021 12:49 am
Posts: 667
Location: Hyperborea

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:06 pm

10. Shape of Despair: Return to the Void – 222nd
9. Blut Aus Nord: Lovecraftian Echoes – rando
8. Labyrinth of Stars: Spectrum Xenomorph – rando
7. Sonja: Loud Arriver – 25th
6. Cult of Luna: The Long Road North – 40th
5. Blut Aus Nord: Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses – 8th
4. Khold: Svartsyn – rando
3. Urfaust: Hoof Tar – rando
2. Darkthrone: Astral Fortress – 13th
1. Valborg: Der Alte – rando

Some of these placements are disappointing, though some of them expected. Like HeavenDuff said, 40th is not bad, but I fully expected Cult of Luna to be in the top 10. Many apparently don't want to vote twice for the same band, which is understandable, but pulling off two quality albums in the same year merited a double vote for Blut Aus Nord in my books. (I do have to wonder if it was the same person who voted for the five Lordi albums, four of them randos.) Khold getting no love is just sad, and Urfaust probably ended up in the rando section because it's an EP. Friends of atmospheric death metal, do check out Labyrinth of Stars.

Then there's Valborg. Having been disappointed in their previous album, Zentrum (2019), Der Alte is more than a return to form. Deceptively simple not-quite-industrial metal that could very well be called post-death metal (though not in the sense of death metal infused with post-rock) with a hefty dose of doom. Despite their subtle yet noticeable and constant evolution, Valborg have a sound of their own which cannot be summarized with just one song. This might be their best album, though it's tricky to say with such a varied discography. AOTY nonetheless, though honestly, if Urfaust's EP had been a full-length album that retained the same quality, I would have probably had to toss a coin.

Non-metal highlights alphabetically:

Hebosagil – Yössä (new wave of Finnish suomirock)
Rammstein - Zeit
Sara – Pimeys (alternative rock / synthpop)
Seremonia – Neonlusifer (psychedelic rock / doom)
Stoned Statues – Stoned Statues & Until Falling (single) (metal-influenced alternative rock)

All of these are actually quite "heavy". Hebosagil and Seremonia are even in the Archives, but I don't consider them metal and thus didn't vote for them. By the way, looks like someone actually did vote for 40 Watt Sun, and for the first place to boot. Crazy!

Many thanks and infinite kudos to BastardHead!

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lord_ghengis
Still Standing After 38 Beers... hic

Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:31 pm
Posts: 5820
Location: Australia

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:06 pm

Damn I've ended up only heard three of the top 10, I'd figured with over 200 albums covered for the year I'd be less of a know-nothing. With that said it means I've got no grounds to be a grump, especially since two of those three were in mine also. No rando corner's for me this year, with Hate Forest sadly knocking out my would have been with one of my last listens of the year.

1) Hissing - Hypervirulence Architecture (180)
2) Mizmor & Thou - Myopia (126)
3) Ultra Silvam - The Sanctity of Death (244)
4) Immolation - Acts of God (2nd)
5) Desecresy - Unveil in the Abyss (285)
6) Pharmacist - Flourishing Extremities on Unspoiled Mental Grounds (24)
7) Suppression - The Sorrow of Soul Through Flesh (204)
8) Vimur - Transcendental Violence (328)
9) Blut aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses (8)
10) Hate Forest - Innermost (124)

As per normal most of my list operates around the 100-200 position range, with some mild suprises in that.

I felt Mizmor/Thou would have been a top hundreder. I guess there's not a massive fanbase for the slow ass doom crowd, but in that style it really was in a league of its own and I felt it'd farm votes. Atramentus got like 25th last year through that logic right? I was also surprised to see Suppression pushing the top 100 as a what-I-thought-to-be obscure ass Chilean throwback to a very specific style of death metal. Good on it, it slaps. I was surprised Vimur got any other votes despite it clearly just getting two small nods with its placement, I'd have had good money on it being a rando corner, not because it's super hard to find or anything, just because it's a fairly unassuming release which I happen to vibe with quite hard. I think it'd be interesting to see how Hate Forest would have gone if it came out a couple of months earlier.

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Derigin
The Mountain Man

Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 6:25 am
Posts: 5968
Location: Canada

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:06 pm

Hmm, highest I got was #37. Seven picks on the board; three randos:

1. Darkest Era - Wither on the Vine - 106
2. Tome of the Unreplenished - Earthbound - 170
3. Alvenrad - Veluws ijzer - Rando
4. Soul Dissolution - 空 - Rando
5. Fer de Lance - The Hyperborean - 80
6. Månegarm - Ynglingaättens öde - 195
7. Grima - Frostbitten - 108
8. Kaarne - Rubicon - 327
9. Vananidr - Beneath the Mold - Rando
10. Véhémence - Ordalies - 37

And a few honourable mentions, namely Bucovina's "Suntem Aici", Faetooth's "Remnants of the Vessel", and Änterbila's self-titled album, none of which placed.

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77hjrttfred
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:15 pm
Posts: 300

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:11 pm

CreepingDeath16 wrote:

Some of these placements are disappointing, though some of them expected. Like HeavenDuff said, 40th is not bad, but I fully expected Cult of Luna to be in the top 10.

I agree. That was probably the biggest surprise. I thought that Cult of Luna would easily be in the top 20, and a good chance for the top 10. I am amazed that the finished below Kreator at number 40. That Kreator album got pretty mixed reviews from memory.

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akb88
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Sep 21, 2019 5:28 pm
Posts: 126

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:19 pm

Loved both Immo and BG but not enough to make my list. Which I'm immensely proud to say includes TWO randos!

1. Power Paladin – With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel
2. Evil Invaders – Shattering Reflection
3. Ghost – Impera
4. Kvaen – The Great Below
5. Incandescence – Le Coeur De L'homme
6. Misþyrming – Með hamri
7. Persefone – Metanoia
8. Schizophrenia – Recollections of the Insane
9. Abaddon Incarnate - The Wretched Sermon
10. Ice Howl – Darkness From Beyond

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MikeyC
Official Greeter of Broken Hills

Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:16 am
Posts: 13998
Location: Australia

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:21 pm

Thanks BH and everyone else involved. Lots of good music this year so I managed to do a top 30. My top 10:

1. Origin - Chaosmos (#101)
I thought this one was more middle-of-the-road when it first came out. Over time I started to hear it for what it was: a huge improvement over the last album, which was already a huge improvement over the one before it. “Heat Death” is worth the price of admission alone. This is the album they should have made after Entity since this album leaves their last two in the dust, and becomes my AOTY.

2. Meshuggah - Immutable (#96)
Not sure what I was expecting with this album, but I should never have feared. I admit that I’m biased because I’ve loved Meshuggah for over 15 years, and Immutable continues their run of bangers, and some of their best songs to date, such as the centrepiece of “They Move Below” and the super groovy “Broken Cog”. Their longest album and it still holds my attention the whole way.

3. Scarcity - Aveilut (#97)
Big surprise packet here. I love this brand of hypnotic and experimental black metal, and Scarcity came from nowhere to mix it with the best in the business. Each song keeps you engaged, and its lean runtime will guarantee repeated listens.

4. Soreption - Jord (#191)
The most “fun” death metal album of this year, I reckon. I was a little disappointed with their previous album Monument of the End, despite it still being good, but this one was much better. It takes me back to their 2014 album Engineering the Void with its punctuating riffing and catchy songwriting.

5. Aeviterne - The Ailing Facade (#32)
The soundscapes in this album are absolutely fantastic. To the drum work on “Denature” - the song that hooked me in prior to release - to what sounds like trumpet hits on “Still the Hollows Sway” and the experimental instrumental of the title track, every song here is a total pleasure. Experimental death metal with flair and passion, and I can’t wait to see where this band goes in the future.

6. Sonivinos - Sonicated Intravaginal Insemination in Numbers (rando)
This probably won’t be a popular pick among this group, but I also enjoy the sweeps and blasts of extreme tech-death. This album fills the very specific hole left open by Brain Drill, but this album is probably better…maybe. It’s hard not to sing along to “to fuckin’ redefine quarantine!” when it occurs. The entire album is well put together and each song has its own identity. Plus Marco is one of my favourite drummers, which doesn’t hurt.

7. Daemogog - Yawning Expanse Yearning (rando)
If Artificial Brain decided to chug instead of doing their brand of dissonance, I feel like this is kind of what they’d sound like. Still plenty of dissonance in their sound, though, and there’s plenty of hooks to sink your teeth into. The guitars are down-tuned to hell (possibly 7 or 8 strings? Maybe a guitar aficionado could tell me) and mixing heavy chugs with dissonant riffage make this a huge winner.

8. Mathan - Darkroot Tzantza (#308)
Another band that came from nowhere, their brand of death metal is super high-voltage. There’s nothing particularly outlandish about this album, apart from the few sections of tribal music, but the music itself packs a lot of energy, and sometimes that’s more than enough. I feel like I’m always trying to catch my breath listening to this. Special props to the drummer who is just all over the kit in every song, giving these songs the breadth they deserve, and making this a sleeper hit of 2022.

9. Swampborn - Beyond Ratio (#149)
What a treat this is, and a big thanks to whoever mentioned this one on the forum. I prefer my metal to be brutal rather than melodic, but there’s always exceptions, and this is one. I absolutely love the melodic riffing in “Augoeides”, and the saxophone in “Sleepingstatic”, just to name a couple. Truthfully, the whole album is filled with great musicianship that deserves attention. Lots of moods, energies, moments that’ll keep you invested.

10. Wiegedood - There’s Always Blood at the End of the Road (#64)
I never paid attention to Wiegedood before, but their song and video of “FN SCAR 16” got me interested immediately. I love hypnotic black metal like that. The rest of the album is just as good, too, with highlights being the great riffage in “Now Will Always Be” and the catchiness of “Nuages” and “Carousel”. Fantastic black metal.

My top 11-30:

Spoiler: show

Honourable mentions, in no particular order:

Spoiler: show

Disappointments:

Spoiler: show

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Gravetemplar
Metal freak

Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 10:08 am
Posts: 4143
Location: Antarctica

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:24 pm

HeavenDuff wrote:

I called Immolation to win the whole thing, and it came this close, haha! Someone called the possibility of Blind Guardian winning the whole thing during the last few days on the poll thread. Nicely done!

I think that was me. First time I ever guess the winner. Didn't expect it to win by two votes only though.

Negative Plane, Immolation, Voivod and Blut aus Nord released very cool albums that deserve to be on the top 10. I only voted for Negative Plane but I've listened to the other three a lot. Any of these bands winning would have been fine by me. As for Blind Guardian, this is probably their best album since A Night at the Opera. I don't think it's the best album of the year but it's still a pretty cool record.

Some other stuff on the top I heavily dislike though. I can't stand Sigh and White Ward are one of the blandest black metal bands I've ever heard. Not the biggest Messa fan either.

My final top 10 (I voted differently but changed it when the new Kringa surprise dropped. I didn't change my vote though).

1 - Verberis - Adumbration of the Veiled Logos (93rd)
2 - Deathspell Omega - The Long Defeat (17th)
3 - Watain - The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain (36th)
4 - Lifvsleda - Sepulkral Dedikation (200th)
5 - Kringa - All Stillborn Fires, Lick my Heart! (0 votes)
6 - Gevurah - Gehinnom (43rd)
7 - Coscradh - Nahanagan Stadial (309th)
8 - Black Fucking Cancer - Procreate Inversw (216th)
9 - Imperial Triumphant - Spirit Of Ecstasy (29th)
10 - Ultha - All That Has Never Been True (79th)

11 - Negative Plane - The Pact (3rd)
12 - Predatory Light - Death and the Twilight Hours (205th)
13 - Altars - Ascetic Reflection (241st)
14 - Hissing - Hypervirulence Architecture (180th)
15 - Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain (34th)
16 - Triumvir Foul - Onslaught to Seraphim (rando)
17 - Unyielding Love - Flesh of The Furnace (0 votes)
18 - Haunter - Discarnate Ails (63rd)
19 - Blut aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses (8th)
20 - Mico - Zigurat (261st)
21 - Qrixkuor - Zoetrope (rando)
22 - Aeviterne - The Ailing (32nd)
23 - Gaerea - Mirage (69th)
24 - Celestial Grave - Vitriolic Atonement (rando)
25 - Vanum - Legend (rando)

Glad to see Mico were added to the archives btw.

As always, thanks BH!

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Spiner202
Veteran

Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 3:32 pm
Posts: 2592
Location: Canada

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:26 pm

I did pretty well this year!

1. Riot City - Electric Elite (22)
2. Sumerlands - Dreamkiller (4)
3. Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With the Moonflower Society (28)
4. Stratovarius - Survive (27)
5. HammerFall - Hammer of Dawn (225)
6. Blind Guardian - The God Machine (1)
7. Knight & Gallow - For Honor and Bloodshed (Random)
8. Tankard - Pavlov's Dawgs (232)
9. Dragonland - The Power of the Nightstar (194)
10. Venator - Echoes From The Gutter (95)

Overall, I'm really happy to see trad and speed metal doing well this year! Fans of these types of bands should really check out Knight & Gallow. I was surprised that was in the rando corner because it's going to appeal to fans of Visigoth, Megaton Sword, etc.

Zelkiiro wrote:

1. Borealis - Illusions
This was my favorite album of the year, but it also kinda exemplifies the running theme that pervaded 2022, which is that basically everything I liked from this year was solid, perhaps even very good, but nothing I have been blown away by. In this case, Illusions might very well be Borealis' best album, and it's a damn good album, but in a truly stacked year like 2016, 2017, or 2020, it might have only taken the #10 spot, if it cracked the list at all. As for the album itself, it sure is a Borealis album--beefy guitars, earnest keyboards, soaring vocals, and delicious cheese, all in copious quantities--but it doesn't really strive to be anything more than that. But I'm hardly going to complain too loudly when it's this good.
Top Three Tracks: "My Fortress," "Face of Reality," and "Pray For Water"

Borealis is so frustrating for me. I just don't like their prog path as much as their power metal roots. I actually really liked The Offering, which grew on me over time, but this album does basically nothing for me. Also, the band didn't make it very affordable for their hometown fans to buy on CD, so I actually didn't even end up buying it.

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ClicheUsername
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:23 am
Posts: 52

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:27 pm

Here's my top 10

1. The Antichrist Imperium - Volume III: Satan in His Original Glory #57
2. Voivod - Synchro Anarchy #5
3. Devil Master - Ecstasies of Never Ending Night #46
4. Circle of Ouroborus - Thurisa RANDO
5. Deathhammer - Electric Warfare #118
6. Imprecation - In Nomine Diaboli #134
7. Circle of Ouroborus - Autuala RANDO
8. Blut aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses #8
9. Satan - Earth Infernal #11
10. Conan - Evidence of Immortality #157

Thanks for the hard work!

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Gravetemplar
Metal freak

Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 10:08 am
Posts: 4143
Location: Antarctica

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:30 pm

I decided not to include Cult of Luna on my top 10 because I tend to focus on extreme metal for this site. I honestly don't know how I would place it. Both Cult of Luna and Birds in Row are probably two of my most listened albums of the year but it's hard for me to compare them to black and death metal stuff I tend to enjoy more.

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Hecatomb867
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:56 pm
Posts: 192
Location: Canada

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:34 pm

1. Gevurah - 43
2. Misþyrming - 21
3. Ultha - 79
4. Wake - 47
5. Sisyphean - 226
6. Daeva - 92
7. Immolation - 2
8. Kampfar - 120
9. Stangarigel - 137
10. Downcross - 338, DEAD LAST, lol

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Xytras71
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 8:57 am
Posts: 470
Location: Toronto, Canada

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:36 pm

Huh? No Randos for me this time around? lol

Anyway, my top 10:

1) 61 Ripped To Shreds: Jubian
2) 52 Grand Belial's Key: Kohanic Charmers
3) 177 Critical Defiance: No Life Forms
4) 2 Immolation: Acts of God
5) 18 Ares Kingdom: In Darkness At Last
6) 216 Black Fucking Cancer: Procreate Inverse
7) 151 Esoctrilihum: Consecration of the Spiritüs Flesh
8) 26 Autopsy: Morbidity Triumphant
9) 17 Deathspell Omega: The Long Defeat
10) 3 Negative Plane: The Pact...

Kinda sad to see Immolation not winning as they are my all time fave DM band, but frankly a 2d half of that new album was dragging a bit to warrant a higher placement on my list. But still, their consistency is absolutely remarkable!

Thanks to BastardHead for doing it again!

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Lee Harrison
Metalhead

Joined: Mon May 30, 2022 6:28 am
Posts: 479
Location: Italy

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:38 pm

Glad to see Blind Guardian win!!!!

Immolation aren’t for mass and Voivod great result

Happy new year and thank you all for advices

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flexodus
Metalhead

Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 4:16 am
Posts: 2360

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:38 pm

VERY shocked that BG beat out Immo for the top spot. God Machine was a good album but Immo thoroughly deserve to get that top spot two albums in a row.

1 Sumerlands - Dreamkiller (4)
Not quite what I expected waiting for a followup all those years, but after a brief acclimation I find it a marvelous record. Somehow both feels like a brand new band and the logical end result of what they started on the debut. The title track and Heavens Above are my most played songs of the year. Saw them at Hells Heroes (with less than ideal sound) and am desperate to catch them again.

2 Age of Apocalypse - Grim Wisdom (rando)
An album that feels tailor-made for me: 90's alternative metal combined with modern moshcore, and possibly even a slight heavy metal twist (though I'm not sure at all which influences I'd pinpoint for that). Great galloping riffage, a sad and morose atmosphere throughout, a very curious howling/yelping clean vocal approach to tie it all together. My favorite current band is Twitching Tongues, who basically do the same thing but with doom instead of trad metal, and since they've been radio silent for the past few years this really helped fill that missing piece of my heart.

3 Dream Unending - Song of Salvation (141)
We are spoiled silly getting a sophomore album from these guys the very next year. Takes the basic sound of Tide Turns Eternal and inverts the ratio of metal to atmospheric noodling, and they can still pull it off. Hard to say if I prefer this one over the debut, but this and Sumerlands has been my go-to album for when I need to hear some great guitar solos.

4 Deadbody - The Requiem (rando)
Instead of getting a new Twitching Tongues album this year, we got this instead and I ain't complaining. These guys are so far ahead of everyone else in the death metal/hardcore scene; I hear a lot of influence from raw but technical New Jersey bands like Ripping Corpse and Human Remains. Has all the hard-hitting mosh riffs and grinding you could ask for, but manages to blend it with unexpected shredding licks and grandiose prog solos. Anything the Young bros touch is gold and this is no different.

5 Mindforce - New Lords (rando)
One of the best hardcore bands going right now. Although I love High Command, Spiritworld, Enforced etc as well, it's very refreshing to hear modern crossover that doesn't use Power Trip as the basis for their sound. Jay's vocals are a lot more expressive and less blunt than those types of bands, and the guitarists throw in a lot of unexpected dramatic solos and licks that sound more like epic metal than Slayer. Might have the most immense production of the year as well, again thanks to Taylor Young.

6 Predatory Light - Death and the Twilight Hours (205) i am SHOCKED it’s this low
The Negative Plane album was very good too, but it never stood a chance compared to this. Takes their strange, cerebral approach to crafting riffs from lengthy and fragmented melodies, but improves on it by injecting some much needed aggression into the mix and cutting back on the overall weirdness. Hope we'll get some new Superstition next.

7 Sonja - Loud Arriver (25)
I love Unto Others, and this band really caught my attention for totally inverting their strengths and weaknesses. While UO focus on crafting super memorable and poppy vocal hooks (perhaps to the detriment of the riffs), Sonja flips the script by pushing the vocals way in the back of the mix, buried in reverb, while the guitar progression is far more engaging, varied, and intense. A ton of downright danceable moments on this, and the singing still produces great parts to sing along to. SHE'S GONNA START KILLING PEOPLE

8 Cauldron Born - Cold Steel for the Necromancer (23)
We are truly blessed to be living through a Cauldron Born renaissance in the 2020s. First new full album of material in two decades, and Howie still can't disappoint at all. He really excels with the lead guitar in particular; I constantly find myself really drawn in and engaged by his style of proggy shredding. This new singer is BONKERS, even bordering on annoying at times with how over-the-top he is with his constant shrieking and bizarre enunciation. But I wouldn't have it any other way, this delivers true fucking USPM of steel that we rarely get anymore, in the style of Fates Warning, Sanctuary and Helstar. Steel Juggernaut can make me laugh out loud with how intense it gets.

9 Innumerable Forms - Philosophical Collapse (294)
Overall I'd say the genre of the year was DEATH/DOOM and this was one of my favorites for blending both the punishing Winter variety, and the ethereal and beautiful side of Paradise Lost or Gorement. A ton of melodies on this sound straight out of Gothic, like they were recorded while surfacing from the depths of the ocean, as the sunlight hits them just right. Justin Detore also did vocals on Dream Unending and drums for Sumerlands, so he wins Musician of the Year for dropping all this heat on us.

10 Cauchemar - Rosa Mystica (155)
Struggled a lot with deciding whether to include this or Early Moods, but this won out by being a tad more consistent. This band has kept getting better with each album, and I've really come to love this blend of wistful heavy metal and gloomy midpaced doom. The vocals feel very comforting, despite the fact that I can't understand them. Has me stoked to finally see Pagan Altar next year!

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henkkjelle
Metal freak

Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:54 pm
Posts: 4452
Location: Netherlands

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:43 pm

1. Messa - Close (9)
2. Sigh - Shiki (7)
3. Deathspell Omega - The Long Defeat (17)
4. Vermilia - Ruska (144)
5. Autonoesis - Moon of Foul Magics (10)
6. Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain (34)
7. Devin Townsend - Lightwork (218)
8. White Ward - False Light (6)
9. Aeviterne - The Ailing Facade (32)
10. Wormrot - Hiss (12)

'Twas another great year for metal. Did NOT expect Blind Guardian to win. Nothing to do with me disliking the album, as I wasn't even aware of it's release.

HeavenDuff wrote:

I was expecting better for Cult of Luna, Vermilia Undeath and Cosmic Putrefaction though. Especially Cult of Luna. 40th is not bad though. But I thought it would have done better. I also thought that people loved the new Vermilia. It's as solid as this kind of folk/black metal can get.

I expected at least a top 50 spot for Vermilia. I had Cult of Luna on my short list hovering around number 10 for months while I was waiting for the mood to listen to it more to make up my mind. But the mood never struck - while Hiss was in constant circulation. Solid album regardless. Could've been in my top 10 if my brain waves had decided to wave differently.

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Depersonalizationilosophy
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 2:51 pm
Posts: 64
Location: United States

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:17 pm

Queensrÿche is on the main list but also in the rando corner in the 10th place list. I think that's the only mistake I see. Aside from the cheeky long album titles edit done to both Doldrum and Trha haha

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doomicus
Metalhead

Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 5:58 am
Posts: 1156
Location: United States

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:25 pm

This year might be the only one where I've actually enjoyed a handful of the releases that made the top ten, even if none of them made my personal list. Super happy to see Cauldron Born do so well, Howie and the gang deserve that. Anyway, this ended up being my top ten:

1) Cauldron Born - Cold Steel For the Necromancer
2) Witchslayer - Witchslayer
3) Molten Chains - Orisons of Vengeance
4) Ares Kingdom - In Darkness at Last
5) Cauchemar - Rosa Mystica
6) Mythosphere - Pathological
7) Early Moods - Early Moods
8) Warhawk - Pray for War
9) Fall of the Idols - Contradictory Notes
10) Hammers of Misfortune - Overtaker

Only three of my picks ended up in the rando corner, which is fairly low considering how my lists did in the past polls.

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Got mothers against me I'm still alive

Last edited by doomicus on Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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MetlaNZ
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 6:45 pm
Posts: 1928

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:41 pm

Cheers and hails to the good Bastard for putting in another big effort, it's been a great year for the heavy metal sounds!

1.Cauldron Born - Cold Steel For The Necromancer [23]
2.The Chasm - The Scars Of A Lost Reflective Shadow [14]
3.Ares Kingdom - In Darkness At Last [18]
4.Spiritus Mortis - The Great Seal [196]
5.Watain - The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain [36]
6.Satan - Earth Infernal [11]
7.The Troops of Doom - Antichrist Reborn [229]
8.Sanhedrin - Lights On [102]
9.Voivod - Synchro Anarchy [5]
10.Vio-Lence - Let the World Burn (EP) [186]

Whoever voted for Spiritus Mortis, The Troops Of Doom and Vio-Lence I salute you, you clearly have impeccable taste too.

The Honorable 10:

Arrayan Path - Thus Always To Tyrants
Autopsy - Morbidity Triumphant
Blind Guardian - The God Machine
Blind Illusion - Wrath Of The God's
Darkthrone - Astral Fortress
Destruction - Diabolical
Gwar - The New Dark Ages
Immolation - Acts Of God
Medieval Steel - Gods of Steel
Wolf - Shadowland

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tomcat_ha
Minister of Boiling Water

Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:05 am
Posts: 5458
Location: Netherlands

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:42 pm

1. Ares Kingdom - In Darkness at Last (18th)
3. Negative Plane - The Pact... 3d
5. Assumption - Hadean Tides 159th
6. Marc Urselli's SteppenDoom - Steppendoom 237th
8. The Chasm - The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow 14th
10. Terzij de Horde - In One of These, I Am Your Enemy 156
12. Sedimentum - Suppuration Morphogénésiaque 192th
14. Deathhammer - Electric Warfare 118th
16. Autopsy - Morbidity Triumphant 26th
17. Ultha - All That Has Never Been True 79th

Some thoughts:

Ares Kingdom would prob have done even better if In Darkness at Last was on streaming platforms.
Negative Plane doing well fits in with the above average tendency of MA to be into tradish bm as well as that style in general being kind doing well creatively lately.
The Chasm have been a MA band ever since I've first heard of them so the high placing makes sense.
I expected Sedimentum to do better than it did, but maybe did not appear on the radar of many? Or maybe the Finndeath hype is waning?
Electric Warfare very well might be the best Deathhammer album yet, I expected a moderately higher placement but not as high as Nekromenthon last year.
I expected Autopsy to crack the top 20 with their best album in years and thus fell just short of my expectations.

No randos... which I saw coming. Terzij de Horde and Steppendoom were my pick for most likely to randos before hand but I made at least one other voter here notice Steppendoom and as far as Terzij de Horde goes not sure, maybe just because more people participate now? Certainly they are getting less attention than other current Dutch bm bands. (and I prefer Terzij de Horde over all of them anyway)

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thebloodfeaster
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2002 10:52 pm
Posts: 27
Location: United States

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:52 pm

Wow, 4 of my votes were in the top 5, and no randos.

1) Blind Guardian - The God Machine [1st]
Despite their legendary status, Blind Guardian never clicked for me until the latest release. I've gone back to revisit the rest of the catalog as well this year and I appreciate it as a whole much more than I have in the past. This release still stands tall for me over the earlier albums. I find myself wanting to listen to this over and over again.

2) Lord Vigo - We Shall Overcome [249th]
Lord Vigo has outdone themselves, taking what they did on 2020's fantastic Danse de Noir to the next level by making each song that much more memorable. I love the hooks, the vocals, and especially the bass!

3) Voivod - Synchro Anarchy [5th]
Although I've been a fan of Voivod for much longer, there is a similarity with Blind Guardian in that I feel there has never been a time better than now to be a fan of both bands. Voivod continue the trend of excellence of the last few albums, their genius at assembling truly great songs out of riffs and sounds that any other band would make a mess of on full display.

4) Ripped to Shreds - Jubian [61st]
There may be nothing really out of the ordinary with the style of death metal found on Ripped to Shreds new album, except for how completely packed each song is with great riff after great riff. The performance of each instrument and vocals is on point and every song memorable.

5) Cauldron Born - Cold Steel for the Necromancer [23rd]
This album is my first real listen to Cauldron Born, and I can definitely see what the hype is about. I love everything about this, both the sword & sorcery lyrical themes and the sorcerous music that brings the story to life.

6) Negative Plane - The Pact... [3rd]
Speaking of stories, here's a fantastic concept for an album on The Pact... This is everything I love in an album, except... I really think the vocals needed more variety. Their delivery never really changes much, and if they were something more dynamic this album could have potentially been my number one. I love everything else about this album though.

7) Immolation - Acts of God [2nd]
Immolation never disappoints me. They were among the first death metal bands I got into (with Here In After) and would just as easily have gotten into them if this were my first exposure. Still one of the most crushing bands in my book.

8) Mirror - The Day Bastard Leaders Die [166th]
This is hard band for me to describe. Like a cross between Lord Weird Slough Feg and Saxon, then painted with a bit of Dio. So many fun sing-along choruses on this album. I had never even heard of the band before this year, so I'm excited to check out their previous two releases as well.

9) Riot City - Electric Elite [22nd]
Electric Elite features some of my current favorite vocals in NWOTHM. I do think the singer could benefit from exploring his lower register a bit more though. Paris Nights and Lucky Diamond are a great one-two punch here.

10) Jade - The Pacification of Death [234th]
It is a wonder that Jade managed to make such a lush, beautiful, and heavy death/doom album with just three members. WIth a debut this strong, I can't wait to see what they gift us with next. Love the album cover too!

Runners Up

Spoiler: show

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MikeyC
Official Greeter of Broken Hills

Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:16 am
Posts: 13998
Location: Australia

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:02 pm

thebloodfeaster wrote:

4) Ripped to Shreds - Jubian [61st]
There may be nothing really out of the ordinary with the style of death metal found on Ripped to Shreds new album, except for how completely packed each song is with great riff after great riff. The performance of each instrument and vocals is on point and every song memorable.

Due to the overwhelming amount of music released in 2022, and the underwhelming amount of time we all have, I wasn't able to listen to everything. This album was one of them, despite seeing the good reviews just about everywhere. Once I finally get around to it, I'm sure I'll be kicking myself.

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ZarathustraHead wrote:

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thebloodfeaster
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2002 10:52 pm
Posts: 27
Location: United States

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:04 pm

I_Am_Vengeance wrote:

1. Mirror - The Day Bastard Leaders Die - 166th
...
9. Steel Inferno - Evil Reign -53rd
10. Lord Vigo - We Shall Overcome - 249th

Thank you for helping make sure Lord Vigo didn't get rando'd. I'm surprised we were the only two to vote for it!

Mirror feels like the biggest "came out of nowhere" surprise album for me. I know they have two prior albums, but they have somehow escaped my radar until now. I was very close to voting for that Steel Inferno too!

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PDS
The Folk One

Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:04 pm
Posts: 1759

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:07 pm

This was a pretty solid year overall, imo.

1. Ibaraki - Rashomon (rando)
2. Asunojokei - Island (122)
3. Swampborn - Beyond Ratio (149)
4. Wilderun - Epigone (71)
5. Ashenspire - Hostile Architectures (16)
6. Sigh - Shiki (7)
7. Universally Estranged - Dimension of Deviant Clusters (292)
8. White Ward - False Light. (6)
9. Screaming Savior - Reveal the Unreal (Rando)
10. Dharma - Three Thousand Realms in a Single Thought Moment 一念三千 (Rando)

There was a shit ton of good albums out this year, many that I forgot I really liked, and only just rediscovered on the final month. A lot of great underground works (Screaming Savior and Dharma, especially). Sigh aside, there was a good amount of top-notch avant-garde/experimental albums. I'm one of the few people that actually liked Imperial Triumphant's Alphaville, so the latest didn't do that much for me. Besides that, the new BAN and the Doldrum album were really high up there for me, and would have been my 9 and 10, but I rediscovered how epic that Dharma album is, so... there we go.

I am sort of surprised that Matt Heafy's Ibaraki album got Rando'd. The -core bits aside, I thought it was a pretty solid basically-an-Ihsahn album. That one I do sort of feel people forgot about--I do remember a fair amount of chatter about it when it released. I don't think it is my favorite, of the list, but it is the one I listened to the most, so it got the one position over Asunojokei.

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Acrobat wrote:

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jimbies
Noose Springsteen

Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:52 pm
Posts: 3872
Location: Canada

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:18 pm

I can't believe i totally forgot Jungle Rot put out an album this year. I forgot to listen to it.

Also, just found out today that Miss May I is on the Archives, which seems weird to me.

Thanks for all the hard work, as always, BH.

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Tanuki
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2016 12:36 pm
Posts: 411
Location: United Kingdom

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 9:22 pm

What a competition, thanks again for all the effort & resultant eyestrain, BH! I totally agree that it's been a wonderful year for all sorts of subgenres. I'm delighted that Blind Guardian won, and more delighted Voivod didn't! That band has never clicked with me despite numerous attempts. Also, it's interesting that my top two were both in the top ten, and the rest placed so low down! But big smooches to everyone who rescued my picks from the Rando Corner; I think this'll be the first time I've entirely stayed out of that accursed land.

My picks:

Spoiler: show

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