Whats New

The 30 Greatest BRITISH Metal Albums of 2022

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

Helpless – Caged In Gold

Genre: Grindcore

Released: March 25th, 2022 via Church Road Records

These UK anarchists fucked us up hard with 2017’s debut, Debt. Fast forward to 2022 and we finally had a follow-up to savour and Caged In Gold was just as incendiary and just as short, sharp and sonically devastating as its illustrious predecessor.

You don’t enjoy Caged In Gold, you experience it, you give in to its glorious chaos and acknowledge that this level of cathartic rage is not only good for the soul, it’s fucking mandatory! 

Dripping with malevolence throughout, it’s when Helpless occasionally slowed down – such as on the crushing metallic hardcore meets sludgy doom of “Wraiths Of Memory” – that Helpless ushered in a new age of grinding intensity.

Nasty. as. Fuck.


Human Cull – To Weep For Unconquered Worlds

To Weep For Unconquered Worlds | Human Cull | Loner Cult

Genre: Grindcore

Released: January 1st, 2022 via 7 Degrees Records

UK grindcore trio Human Cull are fucking ferocious; rip your head off, shit down your neck and post your defiled body to your parents for Christmas kinda ferocious.

With a heavy Napalm Death influence informing much of their work, Human Cull are hardly breaking down the boundaries of grind….but then you won’t give two shits when their quick-fire grooves snap you in half!

Highlight? The staccato riffing of “Siege Lord” was prime head-banging material, if over too soon (note to self: it’s grindcore dickhead, what did you expect).


Imperium – Ex Mortis Gloria

<br />Imperium - Ex Mortis Gloria

Genre: Technical Death Metal

Released: September 2nd, 2022 via Ultimate Massacre Productions

Hey Imperium (or Imperivum as it’s often written), what was with making us wait a bum-numbing 6 years for a follow-up to 2016’s Titanomachy, eh?! Why were we so peeved you may ask. Easy! Titanomachy was an absolute colossus of an album and we genuinely flipped our collective lids over its numerous, yet barbarically portrayed, charms. 

Still, good thongs come to those who wait and finally we had a follow-up album, Ex Mortis Gloria, to savour….and savour it we most certainly did! While the Nile comparisons remained apt (Dallas Toler-Wade popped up on “Burning Crucifixions in the Garden of Nero, so, hey, if the shoe fits), Imperium are so much more than mere plagiarists. This was progressive / technical death metal played by seasoned professionals whose commitment to crafting often overwhelmingly oppressive songs was balanced by an ornate sense of time, space and the service of a good fuckin’ tune.

That being said, this shit was dense and an easy listen, Ex Mortis Gloria most certainly was not! What it was, was another concept album – this time Imperium set their sights on the Roman Empire – that ably smashed its way through its themes with precision, power and upmost conviction.


Ingested – Ashes Lie Still

<br />Ingested - Ashes Lie Still

Genre: Brutal Death Metal / Slam / Deathcore

Released: November 4th, 2022 via Metal Blade Records

UK death metal stalwarts Ingested returned in 2022 as a three-piece. However, being a band member down (maybe they ate him) certainly hadn’t tempered their ferocity!

Still slammin’ and brutally death metallin’ their way around the block, Ingested‘s penchant for pulverising faces remained satisfyingly intact but, dare we say it, Ashes Lie Still found the band at their most accessible. Or, as accessible as Ingested are probably gonna get. Ingested even roped in Trivium‘s Matt Heafy to lay down some screams on “All I’ve Lost” the jammy, slammy bastards!

Let’s be clear, Ingested had hardly gone soft – far from it if “From Hollow Words”  was anything to go by – but when Ingested did get introspective, emotional even on the title track feat. Julia Frau, they raised their own bar to new heights.


Kurokuma – Born Of Obsidian

<br />Kurokuma - Born of Obsidian

Genre: Sludge / Doom

Released: Independently on February 4th, 2022

Sheffield sludge trio Kurokuma followed up a series of EP’s and Splits with their debut album, Born Of Obsidian. Diving headfirst into Central America’s ancient culture and history, these were murderously sharp sludge songs – with the colossal chug that formed the meaty backbone of “Sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli” being powerful enough to level Templo Mayor alone.

This was primal sludge….but not without nuance. Kurokuma may well look to the past for inspiration but they’re utilising history to create forward-thinking music. Simple archaeology Born Of Obsidian most certainly was not!

The Latin American percussive rhythms of “Jaguar” offered welcome diversity amidst the sludgy, doom riffage and caustic screams and shouts of Jacob Mazlum, ultimately enveloping these songs in a shamanic haze of hypnotically crushing odes to Mesoamerica.

A fascinating album from a band whose limits hold no bounds.

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/

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*