Once Covid starts moving on, 2022 should turn out to be great. Well, that’s what the ever-optimistic crew over here honestly thought. But nope, we were so wrong! To the contrary and as the saying goes, if it can get worse, it will. And it did on a few fronts. Geopolitical issues galore, new wars, shaky economies all over the globe, a felt gazillion of tyrants emerging, it didn’t look that good over the last 12 months. And all of that will continue into next year, so don’t get your hopes up.
All those terrors definitely impacted the delivery of rock and metal hitting our steamy review pipe over the last year. It is thus high time to share a few of the better specimens with you, our fans, and readers of the RMR ‘zine.
But first, the disclaimer: This ain’t no Top 10 concoction but just a selection of the most malevolent records that crossed our hawse during this dark year. And this list comes in no particular order. Albeit you might see some of them on our official top rankings that’ll release in the next few days.
Let’s begin.
Brutal Punk Metal greeted us at the very beginning of the year. Priest killings the gory way, with a hammer no less. Aptly named Hammer the Bastards, Wolfbastard pulled out all the stops and forgot to ram the stopper back in. This netted us a deluge of brutal metal, nailed into our eardrums with wanton Neanderthal abandon. Straight to the jugular in a relentless bloodfest of death-like, crusty Punk Metal. And that’s one neat record for metalheads thinking that the moshpit is as cozy as grandma’s living room. But it took us some time to wash that gore off our clothes. So, be warned.
Nazghor‘s pig-headed brand of Black Metal, complete with an army of undead turned out to be something of a hidden front-runner over at RMR HQ. Seventh Secular Crusade proved to us that Black Metal could be meaty and still sport those airs of novelty and refreshing power. And this comes with enough melodic undercurrents to excite a larger – dare I say it – mainstream crowd as well. That said, the meaty and powerful approach with the somewhat unusual croak really sold us over. A truly malevolent piece of Extreme Metal worthy of this here list.
But, if you fancy more traditional fare, then you might want to turn to Sidious. This one’s hailing straight from the pits of hell. Blackest Insurrection will try to smother you with grim riffs, abrasive rasps, and thundering drum work. There aren’t any great ornaments to their brand of Black Metal, only straightforward, ferocious fare. Along the old Scandinavian guidelines with a lot of elements often found in Eastern Europe these days. This record is a friggin’ bloodfest of brutal hammer blows. So, shields up before you hit play. You’ll need protection for that one.
Judging by the above, one would never think that Black Metal can be ethereal and harsh ‘n’ dirty at the same time. But it indeed can. Once Sidus Atrum hit us with their delicious piece Spiral of Life, this thing started to follow me around like bees would haunt your honey-covered ass. In a way, the band ripped the guidebook describing how to join atmospherics and the blackest of metal to pieces, and just went for it. The outcome is an earthy yet refined Extreme Metal piece that gorges on malevolent metallics, same as it does on quiet atmospheric interludes. A funky metallic mix that remains strangely riveting throughout the length of the record.
But who ever said that only blackened fare could be malevolent enough to impress the ice-cold hearts of the RMR review committee? The Corruption of Virtue put a fast stop to such heretical thoughts. The record roars in on an abundance of highly intense tech death, together with a variety of different genres the folks over at De Profundis exploit to perfection. This results in a record that – at times – seems to reach for your mortal soul. Much in line with the decidedly gloomy album cover the record sports. But make no mistake, that one’s a record that should warrant a few spins by any hardy metalhead out there.
Kampfar reached us with a heavy Black Metal stomp, razor-sharp riffs, vocals straight from the grim reaper, and an affinity to this age-old genre that only ancient masters can achieve. Thus, Til Klovers Takt swiftly moved up that ladder of internal appreciation over here and was earmarked to appear on this here list. This is one top-notch Extreme Metal piece that doesn’t stop at delivering BM on endless repeat. There is real variation in this reckless devilish fury. And this made us hit the play button for this record a few times too many over here.
But wait until you feel the heat of the meteors Azaab is lobbing yer way. Cosmically tainted Death Metal spewing forth with terrible fury. A dystopian message from some enraged alien gods, methinks. Summoning the Cataclysm seems to be fraught with danger. Be careful what you wish for, the gods may like your filth and listen to you. And their response will roar back in an avalanche of sharp-edged and seethingly hot Technical Death Metal. An onslaught that you might survive in a bunker whilst the apocalypse ravages the earth but not when the earth’s surface is melting around you. Good luck with your listening session – it might be your last.
But by Astaroth’s bad breath, Patria will set you to rights again once you got over the cataclysmic musings of the former band. Hexerei greets you with old-school Black Metal, a bit like the aforementioned Kampfar, only harsher, more frugal, and – for sure – fully connected to Scandinavian roots. The record’s a relentless attack that will not stop in its ferocity until the latest vile notes peter out. This is some truly malevolent Brazilian witchery with a German twist. Genuinely hot Extreme Metal from the land of endless overheated forests and wilde beasts.
And then the malevolent sea monster spake in its terrible Black Metal voice of the North. Iku-Turso brought us Into Dawnless Realms, a raging tribute to pretty snazzy Black Metal. Its relentless and meaty contributions succeed in creating an atmosphere of doom and dread. A bit synonymous with the ashen-grey cover art and its terrible darkened castle in the middle. And whilst the overall contribution is somewhat noodly, the record nonetheless managed to grip the RMR reviewers with its icy claws and didn’t unleash them to freedom before they tasted every frightening note. This record’s genuinely good blackened metal, straight from the North whence it originally descended from so many years ago.
But true malevolence vomited forth once Atrocities hit our shores. Enragement’s merciless assault of ape man-style brutal Black Metal that will not give up until it sucked every ounce of energy off your measly frames. A record that finally got on our wrong side somewhat but – at the same time – is more indicative of all those dreary events currently taking place all over the world. So, if you like your metal fare slammed in your face like so much artillery fire and no mercy shown until they whacked you over the head a felt thousand times with gory downturned riffs, then stay. Seasoned metalheads only please, n00bs will need to abstain. Mortal dangers lurk ahead.
So, congratulations friend, if you made it that far. 2022 truly was a malevolent year spawning a fair number of those frightening and angst-inducing metal records. And most of that turned out to be good to excellent material. But let’s nonetheless hope that next year’s crop will allow for a better batch of metal of the light. Dreary darkness is great for a while, but if this continues, we won’t know where it will end. Until we meet again in 2023.