25 Death Metal Albums That Had us Cacking our Pants in 2022!
No fuckin' Lorna Shore in here!
Maul – Seraphic Punishment [USA]
Released: July 15th, 2022 via Redefining Darkness Records
Seraphic Punishment gave us Heretic style riffs (not Morbid Angel‘s finest hour but Maul make it work) and, before you know it, all manner of gnarly Immolation, Incantation and Autopsy-isms were rendering us slack-jawed and suffering from dysentry.
Why dysentry? Easy.
Seraphic Punishment was as repellant as one of those hobo’s from Street Trash downing a bottle of “Tenafly Viper” and involuntarily defecating in our open – but definitely not willing – gullets.
The key ingredient here (other than “Tenafly Viper”) was Garrett Alvarado’s damn impressive gargly, gargly vocals. Marvel as the guy delivered lowest of the low gutturals and the kind of vomiting noises that’d leave Chris Reifert (Autopsy) retching. A mighty fine performance sir.
Utterly, utterly vile.
Necrophagous – In Chaos Ascend [Sweden]
With a high quota of Deicide-esque brutality (think Serpents Of The Light), you’d be forgiven for assuming new death metal trio Necrophagous had come crawling from the fetid swamps of Florida. But you’d be wrong smartass! We’re in Swedish death metal territory here and with the band made up of former members of the mighty Entrails, expectations for this new venture were understandably high.
Mostly old-school in structure (mid to late 90s is old-school, right?), In Chaos Ascend was the defiant work of a new band – not an Entrails copy – and with hyper-speed bursts of ultra-aggression cosying up next to deep dives into death/doom’s lumbering pace, this was one thick slab of prime death metal.
With a massive sound and a vocal delivery that brought to mind David Vincent’s work during Morbid Angel’s Covenant / Domination era, the old-school was certainly strong in this one BUT Necrophagous were confident enough to distinguish themselves from these legendary acts by forging their own left hand path; one littered with the eviscerated body parts of their enemies, probably.
Obscene – …From Dead Horizon To Dead Horizon [USA]
Released: May 27th, 2022 via Blood Harvest
Channeling the great and the good of old-school death metal bands (Asphyx, Obituary, Bolt Thrower…), Indianapolis’ Obscene were suitably nasty and unforgivingly bloodthirsty on their sophomore album, …From Dead Horizon To Dead Horizon.
With vocalist Kyle Shaw adopting the unimaginable utterances style of John Tardy (Obituary) and Martin van Drunen (surprise, surprise), his inebriated honey-badger approach is as off-putting as it is fraught-ly enjoyable. This doesn’t detract from the songs mind, with “Insensate Cruelty” proving particularly savage.
Not as good as Obscene‘s 2020 debut, The Inhabitable Dark, but still a damn fine entry in the annals of 2022 death metal nonetheless!
Paganizer – Beyond The Macabre [Sweden]
Released: June 24th, 2022 via Transcending Obscurity Records
The busiest man in metal (mostly death metal) churned out a ridiculous number of albums in 2022 but it was to one of Rogga Johansson‘s more prolific outfits we returned to most…. and, unsurprisingly, the 12th(!) album from death metal juggernauts Paganizer was a semi-melodic blast of old-school Swedish death metal par excellence.
Of course, you’ve heard this kind of HM-2 shenanigans a million times before, but when those buzzsaw geetars kicked in you’ll no doubt have had a grin as wide as ours plastered over your face! Rogga sure knows how this shit is done and “Left Behind To Rot” and “Succumb To The Succubus” cut you in half with wave upon wave of riffy goodness.
With Bolt Thrower / Memoriam’s Karl Willets popping for a nice ol’ growl over doomy closer “Unpeaceful End”, Beyond The Macabre was one album that had all the old-school bases covered!
Ripped To Shreds – 劇變 (Jubian) [USA]
Released: July 25th, 2022 via Me Saco Un Ojo Records
Ripped to damn shreds is exactly what these Taiwanese / Californian’s did to all those who dared encounter 劇變 (Jubian)’s ruthlessly effective death metal onslaught.
With plenty to say about immigration and racism, Ripped To Shreds‘ first-hand thematic worldview was bolstered by all manner of Swedish death metal influences (well, Entombed and Dismember really) alongside the sticky humidity of Floridian death metal. Not to be pigeonholed, Ripped To Shreds also found room for some technical showboating amidst grindcore ferocity, melo-death tenacity and death/doom drudgery.
Juxtapose the 10+ mins of epic “獨孤九劍 日月神教第三節 (In Solitude – Sun Moon Holy Cult Pt 3)” with the 49 seconds of “Scripture Containing the Supreme Internal Energy Arts That Render the Practitioner Invincible Throughout the Martial Realm” (takes longer to say that than to hear it!) and you’ve an album with everything!
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