With 2022 drawing to a close, the festive season marks the time of year when many begin to make plans and resolutions for the new year – be it a new fitness regime, taking up a new hobby or a financial venture such as those available at forex sites in the UK.
The year isn’t done with just yet though, and December also presents the perfect occasion to look back over the past 12 months. What this means on the metal scene, and the music world in general, is assessing the best and worst of the year’s auditory assaults. Those bands and releases that have been hitting the metal news headlines for all the right reasons. With that in mind, we present five of the biggest bangers from what was an explosive year in the Metalcore genre.
Malevolence – Malicious Intent
Sheffield-based five-piece Malevolence first burst onto the scene with the frenetic Reign of Suffering in 2013. Having shown signs of adding further elements to their moshpit-ready maelstrom on 2017’s Self Supremacy, the band moves into another gear on Malicious Intent.
Bludgeoning beats and riffs are as prevalent as you would expect, but so too are elements of groove-laden sludge-metal and impressively synchronised rhythms. With Alex Taylor in tip-top form on vocals and guest appearances from Trivium’s Matt Heafy and Matt Honeycutt of Kublai Khan, this album looks should both delight existing fans and attract new irers.
Ithaca – They Fear Us
If 2019 debut The Language Of Injury saw London five-piece Ithaca raging at all that was wrong with the world, sophomore release They Fear Us sees the band ready, willing and able to stand up and take it on.
Vocalist Djamila Boden Azzouz excels with her flip-switch transitions between furious screams and impressive cleans, whilst elements of shoegaze, industrial and harmonious guitars coalesce nicely with the beatdown ages. From the blistering opener of In The Way through to the gorgeous finale of Hold, Be Held, this intricate work of Metalcore places Ithaca even more firmly on the map.
Motionless In White – Scoring The End Of The World
Having released what many labelled their masterwork with 2019’s Disguise, Scranton five-piece Motionless In White returned in 2022 with this 13-track apocalyptic salvo of tracks. Fans fearing a lull following such a career-high point need not have worried.
Electro beats, chugging riffs, and horror-tinged synths conform to the band’s trademark gothic ascetic, whilst vocalist Chris Motionlless’s cleans contrast well with frenzied rap sections. Six albums in, this is a band at the peak of its powers.
SpiritWorld – DeathWestern
Entering the arena in 2020 with Pagan Rhythms, SpiritWorld’s intriguing mix of spaghetti western and death metal offered something a little out of the ordinary. That debut was certainly no gimmick. DeathWestern sees the Las Vegas outfit flesh out their pulp fiction, horror-infused Wild West World. Going all in on the theme, the live shows see the band outfitted in cowboy attire, whilst a companion short story collection written by singer Stu Folsom adds further to the mythos.
Returning to the music, this latest release has managed to top the band’s excellent debut in just about every way. The shredding solos are even more shredding, whilst regular call-and-response harmonies spice up the chugging hardcore and thrash-tinged drive of the project. A concept album of rare excellence.
Counterparts – A Eulogy For Those Still Here
Now seven albums into their career, by this stage you know what you are going to get from Ontario outfit Counterparts. However, that doesn’t mean the band aren’t t able to hit new heights, and they may well have sured all previous achievements with A Eulogy…
Bleak is the atmosphere, crushing are the riffs, whilst the band’s trademark breakdowns are sounding more epic than ever. All aspects which provide a consistent seam through the band’s previous releases, but by turns, this album is both more ferocious and stirring than anything in the band’s irable repertoire. A cathartic classic!
