1.Disillusion - Ayam

2.Aenaon - Mnemosyne

3.Wilderun - Epigone

4.Ghost - Impera

5.Panzerfaust - The Suns Of Perdition - Chapter III: The Astral Drain

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Taken around 8:30 pm GMT
There was no write-in for djent so I voted for one.
Not totally clean (trolls in last categories are kept for fun),
Thanks to the person who curated most of the write-is since yesterday, it really reduced the work to do!

PS : I cleaned the list listening to The Testament by Seventh Wonder, so I was particularly unhappy to see it in the biggest letdowns at the end

1.

2.A.A. Williams - As The Moon Rests

3.Disturbed - Divisive

4.Dog Fashion Disco - Cult Classic

5.Fleshwater - We're Not Here To Be Loved

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I don't know if I am just getting too old, or is it the lack of dedicated time to just sit down and listen to an album properly, without doing anything else, but I have a feeling that more and more albums sound just the same. Writing this years my top ten, or should I say top twenty five-ish list was really hard for me. Not because there was a lack of good albums, there are always some good albums, and this year, in some cases, was pure fucking brilliance. But a lot of times there were albums that I listened to a few times, and at that moment they actually sound good, but if you asked me half an hour later which songs I remembered... I would be dumbstruck to give you a proper answer.

So, let us get on with the top ten first. There were some really pleasant surprises, especially in terms of new bands and bands I discovered this year. New Horizon is a project of now ex H.E.A.T singer Eric Grönwal who in early 2022 was revealed as the new singer of Skid Row. Now, I am biased as fuck, because I am a huge fan of his voice, for me he is a brilliant power metal or hard rock singer. And this is exactly how this album sounds, power metal mixed with AOR and hard rock. The album is a collaboration with his former band mate, who plays keyboards in the mentioned H.E.A.T. It seems they wanted to delve deeper into power metal here as opposed to more hard rock style of H.E.A.T although HEAT's last album with Grönwal had pretty strong power influences. I have no idea how, why and what happened in that band so that Eric left, but simultaneously put out a project with his former band mate... and I don't really care. This album is a pure fucking masterpiece of melodic metal. Really refreshing. In terms of originality you won't hear anything especially new, but the delivery is excellent and song writing top notch.
Now I am not going to write a detailed album-by-album review here, I am way too lazy for that. Or not quite. I will just say that first four places, you could switch them in any order you want, and it would be great. Amorphis delivered another great album, Månegarm is being Månegarm, rising again to the top tier of Viking metal. What I really love about Månegarm is that they do not just write your default Viking metal songs and lyrics. Just as the previous few, this album is inspired by, and follows the story of Yngling dynasty, legendary and semi-legendary rulers from Scandinavia who, as the sagas say, claim descent from Odin himself and are progenitors of all the medieval rulers and kings from Scandinavia. At least that is what the sagas say. My point here, it is not just another default band and album riding the wave of Viking popularity, or at least it is not just that. Månegarm looks to explore history, sagas and myths of medieval Scandinavia and re-tell the Norse sagas in a modern metal format. Another band of a similar manner in the list is Ereb Altor, quite similar to Månegarm in style, modern Viking metal or pagan metal, or however you want to call it these days, heavily influenced by both black and folk metal. Just like Månegarm, most of their songs are in Swedish, rather than the English language. Which is a huge bonus if you ask me.
Between those two, there is a new In Flames album. What do you mean it is not In Flames? OK, an album that should have been In Flames, if In Flames were actually any good in the last decade or two. It might be called The Halo Effect, but it sounds like In Flames/Dark Tranquillity. Zero surprise there, since for those who are not familiar, it is literally made up of former In Flames members, with Mikkael Stanne from Dark Tranquilliy, who is also former In Flames member himself, on vocals. Great album, it sounds like In Flames, it is nothing especially original, but it is a quality album, and better than anything In Flames recorded since.. probably the Clayman if you ask me.
If there wasn't New Horizon, Stormruler would be the revelation of the year for me. I don't know what is going on in the USA, but there are quite a few really good melodic or atmospheric black metal bands in recent years coming from the US. Last year it was Stormkeep, this year it is Stormruler. As far as I know, they are not connected in any way, but similarities do not stop at having a "Storm" in their name. Fucking masterpiece of an album. If you are into atmospheric instrumental interludes that remind me of Summoning, or melodic black metal.. yes, this album is for you.
Quite as Expected, Brymir put out another quality album with their Voices in the Sky. If you are not familiar with Brymir..well, think of Ensiferum, Wintersun, maybe some Equillibrium or Kalmah. Yeah, so do I. Awesome album.
Another new band on this year's list, Fallen Sanctuary. A collaboration between members of Temperance and Serenity. Personally, I really enjoy Georg (Neuhauser, singer of Serenity and the main vocal contributor to Fallen Sanctuary) voice. His voice has a beautiful tone and colour. So I was on it from the start. Also, I am a real sucker for melodic power metal so.. makes sense that his made my list. Unsurprisingly, Septicflesh made the cut with another good album. One of the few bands that keep a high level on consistency in many years. Since Communion, they haven't put out a bad album. I really struggled to decide what album to put on number ten spot, since there was at least five or six I considered to be good enough.. in the end, I picked progressive veterans Threshold. Because it was quite a surprise how much I liked this album, it reminded me a lot of their 2004 Subsurface, and how good they used to be in their prime.

Few more things and few albums that I want to mention. I was never huge fan of Parkway Drive, but they grew on me with years, and I kind of fell for them over the time, even though I did not really liked them for years when I first hear them. Well, this album, who probably most of the old and more metalcore fans will not like.. to me was a fucking masterpiece. They quite moved away from the old PWD sound and… well I really enjoyed this one. Sakis Tolis put out another Rotting Ch… I mean solo album masterpiece. Blind Guardian put out the best album since 2010, but I am still kind of divided on it. I like it but at the same time it lacks that something to make it really memorable. As I said maybe I am just too old, haven’t listened to it enough times, or need to play it without doing anything else to really let it sink in. Not great, not terrible but quite solid. I could say the same thing about Evergrey, Therion and few other bands on the list.. Few of the other albums that were quite close to be in top 10, and are definitely worth mentioning are Bucovina’s new album. Also Finnish folk black metal one woman project Vermilia put another good album. Yes, I really do enjoy bands that sing in their native languages, in spite of me not understand shit. Or maybe because of it. After a long wait, Battlelore returned with a new album called “The Return of the Shadow”, of course it is another Tolkien themed album, and of course, I love the shit out of it.

In the end there was a lot of other albums that I consider to be good, especially some really big bands like Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, Behemoth also released some new stuff this year. And while none of it was particularly band, I do like most of it, none was either really deserving of the place in the top tier. Not great, not terrible as the meme would say.

1.New Horizon - Gate Of The Gods

2.Månegarm - Ynglingaättens Öde

3.Amorphis - Halo

4.The Halo Effect - Days Of The Lost

5.Ereb Altor - Vargtimman

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1.Immolation - Acts Of God

2.Bloodbath - Survival Of The Sickest

3.Strigoi - Viscera

4.Konvent - Call Down The Sun

5.Souldrainer - Departure

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I've been meaning to start a 2022 list for quite a while, so here is the start of it. These are the albums that impressed me. I will update the list, obviously a work in progress.

1.Pure Reason Revolution - Above Cirrus

2.Spitfire - Denial To Fall

3.Birth - Born

4.Fer De Lance - The Hyperborean

5.Dawn Of Solace - Flames Of Perdition

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1.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

2.Brymir - Voices In The Sky

3.The Halo Effect - Days Of The Lost

4.Gaerea - Mirage

5.Septicflesh - Modern Primitive

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2022.1（1-12）
2022.2（13-21）
2022.3（22-33）
2022.4（34-53）
2022.5（54-72)
2022.6（73-88）
2022.7（89-）

1.Trenches - Reckoner

2.Shadow Of Intent - Elegy

3.Dark Millennium - Acid River

4.Toundra - Hex

5.Fit For An Autopsy - Oh What The Future Holds

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Ratings go from:

WORSHIP ❤️❤️❤️: Absolute greatness, a mindblowing album.
LOVE ❤️❤️🖤: Amazing release with very few flaws.
LIKE ❤️🖤🖤: Enjoyable but far from perfect.
DISLIKE 💔: Not very good or maybe not fitting my tastes.

I've decided to stop rating albums with a numerical value as I tend to feel uncomfortable with that. This list has a minimalistic, subjective and visceral approach, based purely on sensations and personal tastes. Mainly for personal use and doesn't pretend to be a serious ranking, but emerges from the need to remember which bands and albums I enjoyed and the ones I disliked. I constantly revisit new releases so first impressions may change over time. It usually takes 8-10 spins for me to get completely sure of a rating.

1.Æther Realm - Tarot

2.Abhoria - Abhoria

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agrypnie - Metamorphosis

5.Allegaeon - Fragments Of Form And Function

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This is my list of newly released Albums that I listened/will listen to in 2022.
The records are presented in order of release date and I will rate them when I´m certain that I formed an opinion on them, though the ratings might change from time to time.
I hope this list might once again be inspiring to other users and that some people will find some new music to listen to.

1.Apocryphal - Tales Of Galilea

2.Wilderun - Epigone

3.Power Paladin - With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel

4.Kalmankantaja - Metsäuhri

5.Wiegedood - There's Always Blood At The End Of The Road

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Ratings go from:

WORSHIP ❤️❤️❤️: Absolute greatness, a mindblowing album.
LOVE ❤️❤️🖤: Amazing release with very few flaws.
LIKE ❤️🖤🖤: Enjoyable but far from perfect.
DISLIKE 💔: Not very good or maybe not fitting my tastes.

I've decided to stop rating albums with a numerical value as I tend to feel uncomfortable with that system. This list has a minimalistic, subjective and visceral approach, based purely on sensations and personal tastes. I constantly revisit new releases so first impressions may change over time. It usually takes 3-4 spins for me to get completely sure of a rating.

1.Vehemence - Ordalies

2.The Mist From The Mountains - Monumental: The Temple Of Twilight

3.Allegaeon - Damnum

4.Fit For An Autopsy - Oh What The Future Holds

5.Vanaheim - Een Verloren Verhaal

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I am changing a tactic, I will use best of month list in a order, then I will simply pick up best 1-3 bands from each month and put in best of year list. It is in a order as I think it is to me

1.Dark Millennium - Acid River

2.The Mist From The Mountains - Monumental: The Temple Of Twilight

3.Battle Beast - Circus Of Doom

4.Praying Mantis - Katharsis

5.Ereb Altor - Vargtimman

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All my top 2022 albums ranked in order that I have listened to completely. No EP's included only full length albums.

1.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

2.Psychonaut - Violate Consensus Reality

3.Panzerfaust - The Suns Of Perdition - Chapter III: The Astral Drain

4.Aenaon - Mnemosyne

5.Djevel - Naa Skrider Natten Sort

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1.Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture

2.Conjurer - Páthos

3.Psychonaut - Violate Consensus Reality

4.A.A. Williams - As The Moon Rests

5.Lorna Shore - Pain Remains

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1.Aeternam - Heir Of The Rising Sun

2.Alestorm - Seventh Rum Of A Seventh Rum

3.Amorphis - Halo

4.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

5.Arch Enemy - Deceivers

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In order, my favourite song highlighted and a rating out of 5 for the album

1.Undeath - It's Time . . .To Rise From The Grave

2.Maul - Seraphic Punishment

3.The Spirit - Of Clarity And Galactic Structures

4.Venom Prison - Erebos

5.Shadow Of Intent - Elegy

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