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The 30 Greatest BRITISH Metal Albums of 2022

British, British, British, British, British.....

Vacuous – Dreams Of Dysphoria

<br />Vacuous - Dreams of Dysphoria

Genre: Death Metal

Released: October 14th, 2022 via Me Saco un Ojo Records

“Atmospheric death metal” – there’s a shit ton of that around, so why should we care about this particular album?

Good question. Glad you asked.

Vacuous‘ debut, Dreams Of Dysphoria, was a dissonant descent into the depths of hell itself (or, at least, the nearest septic tank). Slimy and grimy, Dreams Of Dysphoria often entered into the murky world of both Ulcerate and Worm without quite going full disso-death; meaning moments of old-school stomp hit even harder when they did materialise. For example, “Matriarchal Blood” hit the kind of maddening grooves that’ll have you toppling your Gran’s sideboard over (the one with all the ‘nice’ ornaments on) in a mindless moment of furniture-based violence.

As far as dissonant / atmospheric death metal goes, VacuousDreams Of Dysphoria was one of the best releases 2022 had to offer (now go apologise to your Gran)!


Venom Inc. – There’s Only Black

Venom Inc. – There's Only Black (2022, Vinyl) - Discogs

Genre: Heavy Metal

Released: September 23rd, 2022 via Nuclear Blast

With Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan and Mantas still wrecking necks in the name of UK metal, the legacy of Venom is alive and well. Well, sort of. Venom Inc. are categorically not the same band that released Welcome To Hell and Black Metal etc. and There’s Only Black was defiantly the work of a band focused on the future…. as opposed to simply honouring a legacy.

Spitting and snarling their way through 12 tracks of thrashin’, blackened speed metal excess, Venom Inc. remained raw and rancorous but not without direction and purpose. There was nothing sloppy about the likes of the storming “Infinitum” and the heads-down chug of “Tyrant” but there was an element of wild abandonment that made these songs so damn easy to enjoy!

A supreme slab of sticky black filth from veterans who, if truth be told, should probably be calming down by now. We, for one, are glad they’re as furious and ferocious as ever.


Venom Prison – Erebos

<br />Venom Prison - Erebos

Genre: Death Metal

Released: February 4th, 2022 via Century Media Records

Let’s get one thing out of the way from the outset. Venom Prison’s latest release appeared to come from the “go big, or go home” school of thought. While 2019’s Samsara was rightfully lauded, the band had already left it behind and seemed intent on pushing themselves to the next level. 

That’s not to say that Erebos wasn’t a death metal album – it most certainly was! But, it was a death metal album graced with fiendish melody, a progressive edge and synths that added layers to their ferocious, hardcore-inflected, soundAdmittedly, Erebos didn’t quite rip your head off in the same vicious br00tal manner as Samsara (2019) did, but there’s no doubt that this was the work of a fearless band happy to experiment and evolve with each release.

With an eye on accessibility – which should never be discouraged as bands are fully entitled to grow their audience and (gulp) earn a living, right?, Venom Prison were guilty as charged! Outstanding song-writing. Scintillating performances. It was all here. This was Venom Prison’s moment.


Wolfbastard – Hammer the Bastards 

ALBUM REVIEW: Hammer The Bastards - Wolfbastard - Distorted Sound Magazine

Genre: Black Metal / Crust Punk 

Released: January 14th 2022 via Clobber Records 

A certifiable cunt of a record, Wolfbastard‘s aptly titled Hammer The Bastards is as raw and as abrasive start to 2022 as you could possibly hope for. And, judging on how the past few years have panned out, 2022 bloody deserves it too! You know the drill. Venom meets early Celtic Frost meets Amebix in a D-beat blasting mix of old-school rage and new-school clamour. 

Ugly, aggressive and without an ounce of finesse or care for your wellbeing, Wolfbastard are here to remind you that all is shit. And yet this shit is good. 

Consider yourselves clobbered, ya bastards you!


Xentrix – Seven Words

<br />Xentrix - Seven Words

Genre: Thrash

Released: November 11th, 2022 via Listenable Records

2019’s Bury The Pain was one helluva comeback…. but would Xentrix be able to follow it with an album that proved they were back for the long haul? The answer was simple – of course they fuckin’ could! 

While not exactly giving us ‘more of the same’, Seven Words was still instantly recognisable as a Xentrix record…. which is a wonderful thing. At their best, Xentrix have always been a band who deliver muscular yet melodic thrash, blessed by great production and kickass artwork – Seven Words was no exception. This beast had the lot. It barked, it bit, it hit you with indignant fury (“Kill and Protect”), lodged ear-worms in your brain (the title track) and delivered some truly satisfying Bay Area chug (“Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead”).

So far, so familiar, so Xentrix. And yet, there was something about the quality of the songwriting, and the immediacy of the hooks, that had us rating Seven Words so highly. This was Xentrix sounding absurdly confident and 100% comfortable in their own skin; ultimately resulting in an album that will find itself at the top of many a ‘best of 2022 thrash’ list. 

Acknowledging that we couldn’t possibly have heard every single BRITISH metal album released this year, these were our 30 Greatest BRITISH Metal Albums of 2022. These were the 30 BRITISH metal albums that blew us away, the albums that warranted endless spins, the albums that prompted involuntarily head-banging and generally put a big fuckin’ smile on our grumpy ol’ faces! If we forgot your favourite(s), pop ’em in the comments below.

Also check out:

The 5 Greatest Death / Thrash Albums of 2022

The 5 Greatest Grindcore Albums of 2022

The 5 Greatest German Thrash Albums Of 2022

The 5 Greatest Canadian Thrash Albums of 2022

The 5 Greatest British Thrash Albums of 2022

About Chris Jennings (1964 Articles)
I love metal. Always have. Always will. As editor of Worship Metal - a site dedicated to being as positive about metal and its myriad of sub-genres as possible - my aim is to 'worship' metal through honest reviews, current news and a wide variety of features; offering the same exposure to underground bands as we do to mainstream/well known acts. Our mantra; the bands are partners and we exist to serve the bands \m/

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