First of all, I'd like to start this entry with some misplaced spite and bitterness—fuck you. Fuck all of you. 2022 turned out to be an incredible year for grindcore bands and grindcore releases. It seems like everyone had an album to drop this year and a majority of them ended up being exceptionally noteworthy. So fuck all of those bands for making the assembly of 2022's top 10 list so frustratingly difficult. And yes, I know I'm late. Fuck you. But in the spirit of critical exclusivity and the acknowledgment of the fact that nobody will likely read this anyways, I have culled together my favorite releases of 2022 and loosely arranged them into an order that I hope is merit based. As always, there is the annual disclaimer that this list is made up of my personal favorite releases of the year based solely on the releases that I have actually listened to. There are plenty of releases that I have not yet heard and some that I will never hear. And yes, there will be nepotism.
Honorable mentions:
Days Of Desolation - "Circles" LP I found this release slightly polarizing yet really well done. Circles is a melodic take on the band's metallic crust punk infused grindcore. Much more melodic than I remember the band being on their 2019 split with Noisear. Typically this type of grindcore would not be something that I would normally choose over your standard meat-and-potatoes grindcore, but this album is so well done and sounds so good that grind genus is inconsequential. Not to mention that this album probably has some of the best drumming on this list.
Entrails Massacre/Territion split EP A very solid split between two German grindcore bands. One of which being a grindcore institution since 1990, according to the back of my t-shirt, and the other I heard for the first time on this split. Think of a grindviolence barrage of blistering cardboard box blast beat brutality vs. some very metal very triggered death-grind that is blasting the kick drum on full-auto.
Nurser/Bleachdrinker split EP I really love this split and it was on and off of my top 10 list several times. I seemed to always have my list of favorites derailed by a last minute release and this November drop was right on cue. Nurser's beefy and ballistic death-grind plays Hardy to Bleachdrinker's wiry, powerviolence infused grindcore Laurel. (Google it.) This EP is like a Seattle Tasmanian devil barking at a screeching Swedish Cobra Commander. The only downside about this split is that the vinyl version is only available in Sweden.
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
10. Berated/Barren - "Chainsaw Deth Cvlt" split EP
This split between the Denver grindviolence trio Berated and Belgium's chainsaw distorted Barren was the first release that I made a mental note to add to the "maybe" pile after my review back in June. Basically Berated sound like any band that would come to mind if you were asked to think of your favorite European grindcore bands, only they operate like a middle American grindviolence band. And if you remember the review, you remember that I was absolutely smitten with Berated's vocals. Never have I been so impressed with such range and agility. By far the best part of the split.
Barren, once again, bring their patented well produced and heavy blown-out form of grindcore. From their massively talented guitarwork to their rabid tandem vocals and incessant blast beats, they are pure ferociousness. Chainsaw Deth Cvlt is a fitting title for this split given the similarities in the guitar work of both bands and the unabashed fetishism of it.
THE MINOTAUR & THE NECROMANCER
9. Barren - "I" LP & Chadhel - "Failure//Downfall" LP
A tie? A cop-out? Yes. Here's why—for the past month and a half I have simultaneously been listening to these two albums almost exclusively in preparation for the most recent review of Barren's I and the upcoming Chadhel review. Which is ironic because these might be two of the most supportive bands as far as this blog is concerned. These bands have been inexplicably linked in my mind and that was only reinforced here recently. So needless to say, objective bias has gone out the window. I am unsure on where to place them within the list as I am both deeply entrenched and also overindulged with these albums.
Barren, on specifically I, really broke into a higher echelon of themselves as a band. With a practically faultless mix and master, they unleashed a menacing and hefty grindcore album that is extremely compelling and a engaging. It is an accomplishment in songwriting as well as a testament to the accelerated rate of growth that a band can have in a year.
Very similarly, Chadhel's Failure//Downfall is also a heavier more polished production for the band compared to their back catalog. In addition, Chadhel's style on Failure//Downfall is very reminiscent of a blast heavy Phantom Limb/Book Burner era Pig Destroyer minus the winded vocals and with the inclusion of an actual sense of humor. So imagine dissonant riffs and speedy blast beats. I can't recommend these talented, Lovecraftian gentlemen from Québec enough. Both Barren and Chadhel operate in the darker realms of grindcore—one from the abyss and one from the void.
Listen:
8. No/Más - "Consume/Deny/Repent" LP
No/Más is the only band on this list that I've shared a stage with—well, technically a floor behind a bar, but that's besides the point—but from what I witnessed that night and after trading some discussion of mutual riff adoration with the band, I expected big things from this 2022 full-length and I was not disappointed. Consume/Deny/Repent is a cataclysm of scalpel-sharp thrash metal riffs and blast beats wielded with surgical precision through a smattering of hardcore punk blitzes wrapped up into a tight death-grind whip of an album. It's the kind of record that ignites your turntable into a spontaneous circle pit. No/Más are really at their best on this release, both musically and in production. The cleaner and higher mix really allows the musicianship and songwriting to emerge at the forefront. I can see Consume/Deny/Repent having a wide appeal for genre fans within the grind, crust, metal, hardcore and crossover communities.
7. Deliriant Nerve - "Uncontrollable Ascension" EP
This EP was almost on my top 10 list last year until I realized that it was merely being teased at the start of the year for an eventual February 2022 release. But after a short To Live A Lie Records promotion of what appeared to be a mistitled cassette tape on the label's website, I haven't heard much around this release since. Which is a real shame because this is probably one of the most uniquely and refreshingly composed releases of the year. Uncontrollable Ascension is as brutal as it is dynamic. Songs continuously fall apart and reassemble themselves within a matter of seconds. One moment you're blasting heavy grindcore and the next you're headbanging to the catchiest metal chugs to only find things devolving yet again. Although Deliriant Nerve are from D.C., I get big gulf coast grind vibes off this EP. Think Genocide Pact meets Insect Warfare. Secretly, this is my favorite release and I don't think this title got the hype it deserved nor is it done justice on cassette. Who misplaced the keys to this killdozer?
6. Vermin Womb - "Retaliation" LP
What can I say about Retaliation from Denver's Vermin Womb? This album is a grindcore raw nerve. Retaliation is an exhaustive, dirty troglodyte grind assault. Each side of this LP plays like a bear attack—savage and unwaveringly barbarous. The tempo is relentless throughout the album's almost 20 minute runtime in a way that sounds as if the drummer has cramped up mid blast and has begun flinging his limbs into the kit just to keep up the intensity. The primal and maniacally deranged vocals backed by the frenzied wall of noise results in Retaliation landing as a devastating and torturous masterpiece. Vermin Womb's return as a band this year resulted in utter scorched earth and this album is the definition of caustic. Hands down the best cover art as well.
5. Trucido - "A Collection Of Self-Destruction" CD
The grind community might recognize Trucido as the latest project of grindcore drumming legend, Bryan Fajardo. Yet through fortunate geographical happenstance, Trucido and the House of Grindcore are both based out of DFW Texas. So I know each member of this band personally and I can confidently say that they are all generously friendly people as well as consummate musicians. Trucido is actually a supergroup of virtuosos made up of veterans from the local Dallas punk and grind scenes. They are the kind of guys that practically live in the practice space. A Collection Of Self-Destruction is the band's debut full-length and is exactly what you would expect out of this camp—a wealth of riffs, laser-focused drumming, chameleon-esque vocals, and an extra large cup of blast beats that doth runneth over. This is straight down the middle Texas grindcore. I feel like A Collection Of Self-Destruction is a solid jumping off point for the band, but I think the best is yet to come. My only real gripe is that the lackluster cover art might get Trucido overlooked as just another forgettable Bandcamp demo group by people who aren't aware of the prestige that lies within.
4. Shitbrains/Controlled Existence split EP
Like the Berated/Barren split, I knew that this split between Los Angeles' Shitbrains and Czech veterans Controlled Existence was going to be a must for my 2022 top 10 list. I love Shitbrains' ballistic stop-and-go style of backyard grindviolence. The SoCal two-piece specialize in high energy snare abuse and sport a pair of scouring dual vocals. I really enjoy the band's style of drumming with their snare and tom roll combinations and split second breaks. The Shitbrains side of this split is an absolute scorcher that I ironically find crisp and refreshing.
Controlled Existence return yet again for another entry into their long tenure of releases with a mature and confident recording of concussive Czech grindcore. And like Shitbrains, Controlled Existence are also playing some off and on grindcore blasts to keep in theme. The band manages to pack in as much savagery and rage into thirty second songs as some of their more prominent European grind contemporaries might in three times that length of time. While Controlled Existence's side consists of six songs in just under four minutes, the band somehow keeps each song fully thought out and individually unique. This split is a perfect example of the universal language of blast beats.
3. Knoll - "Metempiric" LP
No surprise here. Knoll returns again in 2022 with another album of corrosive and darkly atmospheric blackened death-grind. Metempiric comes on the heel's of 2021's Interstice and seems like it might be the faster, tighter, sleeker animal. Metempiric highlights the band's standards of searingly shrill vocal torment, strident dissonant riffs over violently abundant blast beat abandon. And just like Interstice, the album was mixed and mastered by the mighty GodCity and Audiosiege Studios. The expertly curated tone makes for a dense and sonically piercing record. In addition to the discordant and ropey guitarwork and boiling blast beats, the band somehow goes down as the only grind band in history to successfully use a trumpet (I said what I said) as a nightmarish tool of ambient noise. If they can turn ending a tour by returning home in the back of a Uhaul into a win, they can sure as hell negotiate a brass horn into the mix. Knoll can seemingly do no wrong.
2. Whoresnation - "Dearth" LP
France's answer to PLF, Whoresnation return with their first full-length since their 2018 masterpiece, Mephitism. And just as then, Dearth is a pressing of grindcore perfection. The album is a moody, metal flecked onslaught of blast superiority. Every song is thunderously heavy and lightening fast. The guitarwork borrows from every subgenre of grindcore and metal—from black metal tremolos to scuzz-metal dive bombs—to create a dense pool of riffs to dredge through. Whoresnation's drumming is pure aural elation. I thoroughly adore the high-speed Jiffy Pop snare sound. The snare rolls on this record give me butterflies. Now, Dearth is a little foggy in production when compared to its sister album, Mephitism, which plays a little cleaner. But that's not to say that Dearth is inferior in the slightest. The mix has a crushing low end that rumbles underneath what is arguably the faster of the two albums. Tracks like "Pajarito" are certainly attention grabbing testaments to all these elements aligning. Dearth is another predictable tour de force of grindcore domination from these elite French blasticians.
1. Triac - "Pure Joy - Numb Grief-stricken Animals" LP
Finally, after six years of silence, the heavily anticipated release of Pure Joy - Numb Grief-stricken Animals by Baltimore's notorious Triac arrived in 2022 leaving unadulterated ruination in its wake. I recall that the anticipation of the album was so fervid that the red colored vinyl pressing sold out instantaneously with the black vinyl and CD's soon following. Pure Joy - Numb Grief-stricken Animals itself is a feverish melee of psychedelic powerviolence permeated grindcore that explodes on the listener with rabid eagerness. This is an immaculate sounding album. The arrangement of the instruments is clear and harmonious in the mix. Thus allowing for the tactile percussion of each instrument to resonate with vivid intensity. This is crucial for the growling bass and yo-yoing guitar smears, as well as the drum's jittery blast beats and Karen Carpenter-esque fills. Despite featuring a prominent bass guitar, the album isn't necessarily focused on being overtly heavy. Instead, the focus lies on manic speed and bouncy groove. Pure Joy - Numb Grief-stricken Animals is a collection of rapid-fire, caveman barked volleys that blast and reload quicker that Val Kilmer in Heat. Legend.
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