In no particular order, these are my top records and reissues from 2022, about half of which are actually from 2021 and I was just a bit slow off the starting blocks to include last year.
Best Records of 2022
- Gauze - 言いたかねえけど目糞鼻糞 LP
- Unidad Idealogica - S/T LP
- Algara - Absortos En El Tedio Eterno LP
- Stingray - Feeding Time 7”
- Home Front - Think Of The Lie 12”
- Spectral Wound - A Diabolic Thirst LP
- Mournful Congregation - The Exuviae Of Gods - Part I 12”
- Drowning Horse - Meghalayan 12”
- The Flex - Chewing Gum For The Ears LP
- Speed - A Gang Called Speed 12”
- Vacuous - Dreams Of Dysphoria LP & Katabasis 12”
- Slime Lord - Moss Contamination LP
- Mortuary Spawn - Spawned From The Mortuary 12”
- Sinnesloschen Inc (aka Deadly Avenger) - Polybius LP
The final Gauze record got a vinyl release this year and while my favourite material is still the fourth LP, this is still a fitting note for them to end things on. Fast, utterly raging, and all over before you realise what just happened. What a band.
The Algara lp was well worthy of all the praise I was hearing, Unidad Idealogica LP was a ferocious blast of fast Colombian punk and the burly aggro of Stingray and catchy synth melodies of Home Front meant those records did not leave my turntable for months.
Spectral Wound’s A Diabolic Thirst LP was feral blast of raw, frosty Canadian black metal, but was impossible get ahold of in 2021. It took me until the middle of this year to locate a copy of the repress. Meanwhile Adelaide’s Mournful Congregation served up some huge chunks of melancholy funeral doom that hit the mark nicely. Perth doom/drone outfit Drowning Horse returned with their Meghalayan 12” which was a nice heavy, slow surprise as I assumed they had called it quits. Saw them play with Space Bong several years ago and they were great.
The Flex’s Chewing Gum For The Ears LP was a swift dose of fast, ripping hardcore that was just what I needed, while Speed’s Gang Called Speed 12” brought back memories of early Knuckledust or Set it Off-era Madball - despite (or should that be IN spite of) their ludicrous videos showing off their boxing moves.
The backslide into metal was completed by Vacuous’s vicious new lp, Dreams Of Dysphoria, and their Katabasis 12” which I discovered earlier in the year and lucked out when I discovered an Australian distro was still carrying it. Despite being from 2021, the festering, atmospheric death metal of Slime Lord’s Moss Contamination lp and Mortuary Spawn’s, Spawned From The Mortuary, got their vinyl debuts this year. I picked up both when we went home in June.
Finally, on the electronic / synthwave side of things, Deadly Avenger released the excellent Polybius lp,under the somewhat confusing alias of Sinnesloschen Inc, and seemingly inspired by Poltergeist and TRON and a strange urban legend.
Reissues
- Dischord First Six Records box
- Sleep - Dopesmoker box set
- T.H.E Rutto - Ei Paluuta 7” & Ilmastoitu Painajainen 7”
On the reissue front, Dischord’s anniversary box set that reproduced the first six 7”s released by the label (plus a bonus record) was an incredible release and probably my favourite out of everything I picked up this year. Third Man’s expanded, deluxe box set treatment of Sleep’s seminal Dopesmoker record was too good to pass up and makes a nice companion to my first press on Tee Pee. T.H.E Rutto from Finland had their two classic 7”s reissued and they made for an excellent upgrade from the bootleg I’ve had for years. I remember being at the Grosvenor with Ralf and Darren when Paco described T.H.E Rutto simply as Finnish punk that sounds like they cant play their instruments. We each bought a copy immediately!
This gripping and nerve-twisting crime thriller from the writer-director John Patton Ford is packed with nervous energy and spiralling misfortune, moving at a relentless pace all the while taking potshots at the gig economy, student debt and the justice system.
