The 30 Greatest BRITISH Metal Albums of 2022
British, British, British, British, British.....
Satan – Earth Infernal
Genre: Heavy Metal
Released: April 1st, 2022 via Metal Blade
Of all the NWOBHM bands to have remained active and relevant, Satan (alongside Saxon, of course) are arguably still at the top of their game. Resolutely committed to delivering 100% heavy metal and ignoring the ravages of time, Earth Infernal ably rewound the clock back to the glory days of UK metal and gave us more of what made them so damn appurtenant back in the 80’s.
After 2013’s fiery comeback album Life Sentence blew away hardened NWOBHM fans and modern metallers alike, Satan’s classic sound – warmly nostalgic and authentic as opposed to passé – has consistently delivered the goods and the band have worked tirelessly to rebuild a solid fanbase with the aforementioned Life Sentence, Atom By Atom (2015) and Cruel Magic (2018) all eagerly received by fans and critically adored by the press.
These guys are on the kind of hot-streak that Satan himself usually finds in his under-crackers after a night on the curry and Earth Infernal was, as expected, a glorious time capsule of trad metal values and timeless performances. With frontman Brian Ross further cementing his status as a vocalist of considerable prowess and Steve Ramsey and Russ Tippins peeling off a rapid succession of sweet-ass riffs, Satan are arguably at the peak of their powers!
Saxon – Carpe Diem
Genre: Heavy Metal
Released: February 4th, 2022 via Silver Lining Music
Saxon don’t release bad albums. Fact. They may have ‘dipped’ a little in the late 80s and early 90s (Destiny, we’re looking at you) but they’ve barely put a foot wrong since 2004’s Lionheart and Carpe Diem continued their ridiculous winning streak.
As anthemic as ever, Saxon‘s ability to keep churning out albums of Carpe Diem‘s calibre is astonishing but these guys have been ‘seizing the day’ for well over 40 years and they’re not about to curtail their momentum now. Speaking of momentum, the “Age of Steam” careened forth like an out-of- control “Princess of the Night” and found Saxon at their most youthful while, contrastingly, “The Pilgrimage” was an absolute epic and could quite easily have come from 1984 classic Crusade.
Saxon will still be releasing heavy metal thunder long after most of us have departed this mortal and metal coil – that you can bet on!
Sergeant Thunderhoof – This Sceptred Veil
Genre: Stoner Rock / Stoner Metal
Released: June 3rd, 2022 via Pale Wizard Records
Another band that have been building into something truly special, This Sceptred Veil found Sergeant Thunderhoof arguably releasing their finest album yet.
Fuzzy undulating grooves and the power of the almighty riff remained the cornerstone of their sound but Sergeant Thunderhoof were now entering darker realms; subsequently taking on a more serious tone and tempering their thunder with something a little more introspective.
Opener “You’ve Stolen The Words” and “Devil’s Daughter” still shook the dandruff from your hair in all their upbeat stoner rock/metal glory, but Sergeant Thunderhoof were at their best when shifting tact and committing to the more free-form (and markedly mythical and mournful) nature of “Avon & Avalon, Pt. 1 & Pt. 2”.
Tableau Mort – Visio in Somnils
Genre: Black Metal
Released: May 6th, 2022 via Cult of Parthenope
Aah black metal, you annoying little bastard you. Not a day goes by that we don’t receive a promo from the latest one-man-in-a-forest act peddling his (or her’s) latest collection of shrieky, 100 wasps trapped in a tin bollocks. Don’t get us wrong, we love a bit of good black metal…and, fortunately, Tableau Mort‘s Visio in Somnils was very good black metal!
Blasphemous, occult-heavy and reeking of charred grandeur, Tableau Mort‘s progressively-minded take on black metal’s well-established tropes was as riveting as it was unnerving. With a HUGE sound that touched on the epic nature of Dimmu Borgir (but without fully crossing over into the bombastic nature of symphonic black metal), Visio in Somnils was as nasty as fuck despite experimenting wildly with such a rigid rule-book – the left field use of saxophone in “Hope Ablaze” immediately springs to mind.
Fans of Batushka, Mgła and Cult Of Fire need to hear this album….if they haven’t caught up to its charms already!
Threshold – Dividing Lines
Genre: Progressive Metal
Released: November 18th, 2022 via Nuclear Blast
Threshold, the UK’s finest bunch of seasoned proggers, returned in 2022 with their 12th studio album, Dividing Lines. These guys are well known, and adored, for their consistency and Dividing Lines was every inch the album we hoped Threshold would release.
So polished they’re the human embodiment of a can of Mr Sheen, Dividing Lines was still the “darker, moodier, older brother” (the bands words, not our’s) of 2017’s outstanding Legends Of The Shires and proved to be a tightly-wound and highly-focused blast of accessible progressive metal. Rife with top-notch tunes, pulse-raising prog metal balladry was perfected with “Silenced” while “Complex” provided plenty of corrosive crunch amidst its scintillating synth work.
In our humble opinion 2007’s Dead Reckoning remains Threshold‘s finest ever release (it’s all subjective, of course)…. but Dividing Lines sure as hell came close to matching it!
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