Best of 2022: The LPs #5 - 1
- The Wrecked Neck
- Jan 10, 2023
- 8 min read
5. Judicator - The Majesty of Decay
For almost a decade now, Tucson AZ's Judicator have been spearheadeding the charge of the US progressive/power metal scene. Their infectious formula of early-era Blind Guardian meets Iced Earth had seemingly reached its most potent level(s) yet with The Last Emperor (2018) and Let There Be Nothing (2020). That is until they played mad scientist with this year's The Majesty of Decay (2022). Eschewing the historical concepts explored on their past two releases, Judicator instead pivots back to a more personal manner of storytelling like they did with 2015's At The Expense of Humanity (an album that beautifully and sorrowfully described the battle that vocalist John Yelland's brother fought with cancer). While there are a few Blind Guardian-esque cuts here ("Daughter of Swords" and "Ursa Major" call back to the speedy power metal pomp that the band is known for), Judicator seem more interested in taking some serious creative risks this time around. And you know what? It pays off. There remains a warm familiarity throughout The Majesty of Decay but this is the most progressive and exploratory the band has ever sounded. From the doomy atmosphere of From the Belly of the Whale, the blackened tremolo riffing that opens Ursa Minor, to the almost Carribean sounding chorus and accompanying hand claps of album opener "Euphoric Parasitism", Judicator have put out an album so varied in styles, it defies simple categorization. Also, Im not sure who's idea it was to incorporate organs and a full brass section into the mid album highlight, "The High Priestess", but it's a wildly successful gamble that heightens the power of one the albums most memorable songs. All of this culminates into what might be Judicators best two closing album closing tracks of their career. Both "Judgement" and "Metamorphosis" are sprawling and emotionally stiring compositions.
I was very curious to the direction Judicator would take after the departure of founding guitarist/songwriter Alicia Cordisco following the Let There Be Nothing sessions. On The Majesty of Decay, that direction appears to have been straight ahead like the tip of a spear. The Majesty of Decay is a front to back stunner.
Standout Tracks: "Euphoric Parasitism", "Daughter of Swords", "The High Priestess"
4. Gaerea - Mirage
2022 came to a rather somber close for our family. Though we had one another's support to get through a difficult time, I also tended to, as I so often do, turn to music as a way to temporarily escape the pressure and overwhelming stress of a challenging situation.
Enter Portugal's Gaerea. I was familiar with this mysterious, hooded collective from the artwork of their sophomore effort Limbo, but at the time of its release, they simply weren't on my radar. Am I ever glad they roared back into my peripheral with Mirage last year. I needed this album. Without a doubt the most cathartic release of 2022, Mirage explodes with unbridled emotion at every turn. From the chaotic deluge of rage at the 2:36 point of "Mirage" to the gut-wrenching final seconds of album closer "Laude", there wasn't another record in 2022 that left me as emotionally spent as this one. Yet despite its almost unrelenting ferocity, Mirage features a contrasting wealth of shimmering dissonance and melody that help to shine a lantern against the near insurmountable bleakness. There is a purifying power to Gaerea's third full length that is hard to quantify in words. It seeps into your pores, your muscles and your bones, seeks out your despair, your grief and your rage and then proceeds to expel it in the most rewarding way possible for 52 minutes.
Feel something. And purge yourself in Mirage's fire.
Standout Tracks: "Mirage", "Salve", "Deluge"
3. Cigar - The Visitor
Note: I forgot to post this full review of The Visitor upon its release on Sept 9/2022. So for your reading pleasure, here it is!
Like a child who’s father left to the corner store for a pack of cigarettes only to skip town and never return, I’ve been waiting naively at my window for the last 23 years, pining for Eugene, OR’s Cigar to make their return. 1999’s ‘Speed is Relative’ was an inspired punk album. It’s near boundless creative flourishes along with its relentless energy and speed helped separate it from the pack of other skate-punk colleagues at the time. It made an instant impression on me and quickly became a revered favorite. I’d clung to the hope that Cigar would one day make their return and make up for lost time. Some 20 years later, this trio came knocking at the door once again with a pair of new singles (“Classic You”, “These Chances”) and news of a full length thru Fat Wreck Chords. Though they’d hurt me in the past, I was willing to forgive based on the immense strength of these two singles.
Sophomore efforts can be tough, especially when the expectations are stacked against such a monumental debut. I’m pleased to say that not only does The Visitor live up to the pedigree of Speed is Relative, it may even surpass it in terms of creativity and breakneck speed. Its clear from the opening notes of the previously released single, “Three Chances” that founding members Rami Krayem (guitars, vocals) and John Sortland (drums, vocals) have lost none of their song writing panache over the past twenty-plus years. Every song across The Visitor’s 29 minute run time is filled with the infectious energy and creative flourishes that made Speed is Relative such a unique and memorable record. Sortland remains an absolute enigma on drums. He is fucking relentless here. Great fills, punishing kicks and some deft cymbal work (just check out the absolutely amazing performance on “Legacy of the 7 Piles”) scratch the surface of what this man seems capable of. If there’s one instrument that I’ve always felt have given Cigar their sense of sonic identity, it’s the drums, and Sortland unequivocally nails it here. Not to be upstaged, Krayem is equally up to task on guitar and vocal duties. I’ve always felt he’s been an underappreciated guitarist/vocalist and I’m hopeful that releasing on a label as large as Fat Wreck will help reach a larger audience and right that injustice. What an amazing talent. There are few vocalists that can harmonize like Rami can (across any genre) and his vocal performance alongside Sortland is the kinda thing warm fuzzies are made of. Did I mention he can shred? As stated above, ‘The Visitor’ might actually be a faster record than ‘Speed is Relative’. There’s a thrashing, almost crossover undercurrent running through The Visitors veins (see “Legacy of the 7 Piles”, “Gone Wrong”) and it’s more than enough to singe a few eyebrows. Even at it’s “poppiest” (We Used To”, “Forget About Me”), Cigar remain hard-edged and leave the majority of their contemporaries in the proverbial dust in the tempo department. Relative newcomer Jonathan Hischke proves himself a more than worthy replacement for longtime bass player Jason Torbert. Basslines carry the same complex, prog-like energy that have become synonymous with Cigars sound (again, check out “Legacy of the 7 Piles”). Its hard to believe his fingers aren’t ground down to nubs. He had some big shoes to fill, but Hischke fills them like he’s Robert Wadlow.
In case it wasn’t obvious, Cigar is a band that I hold pretty close to my blackened metal heart. While many of you found your love of punk in the 90’s through Green Day, The Offspring, Blink 182, etcetera, Cigar were that band for me. To see them battle through time and deliver an album as
good as Speed is Relative some 23 years later is a humbling reminder of why I’m so drawn to music in the first place. Its the best punk record of 2022 and I'm thrilled that it has a place this high up in my annual "best-of" list.
Standout Tracks: “Legacy of the 7 Piles”, “We Used To”, “Classic You”, “Forget About Me”
2. White Ward - False Light
I love extreme metal. The genre is ripe for experimentation and year over year there is never a shortage of artists that both shock and delight me with the deft and unique way in which they merge disperate styles of music. And though I pride myself in keeping my ear close to the cold and dirty ground so as not to be left in the dark about an emerging (or already established act), it never fails: there's a band or two that manage to slip under my radar and absolutely cripple my senses while I emerge from the proverbial rock I've apparently been living under. This year, both my #2 and #1 spots are occupied but two such bands.
If you've been heralding Imperial Triumphant, Sunn-O or Rivers of Nihil as leaders of the jazz/metal movement, you were apparently a roommate of mine under that aforementioned rock and have never heard of Ukraine's White Ward. False Light was my introduction to them in 2022 and what else can I say but I wish I could listen to it again for the first time. What immediately sets it apart from it's genre contemporaries is how it manages to deliver such ambitious amounts of lavish excess but stay so extraordinarily cohesive (and accessible). Any band that chooses to open an album with a track that exceeds the 13 minute mark is either pretentious as fuck or confident as hell that they have the chops to keep a listners attention. For False Light's "Leviathan", it is most definitely the latter. It ebbs and flows through a kaleidoscope of sounds and styles: moody and atmospheric sections of post-black metal, cathartic surges of crushing riffs, pulverizing blastbeats, depressive and shreiking vocals and the soothing, soulful tones of a jazz saxophone. It's never anything less than completely entrancing. The jazz elements throughout False Light work wonders in providing a relaxing and ethereal contrast to the harsh intensity it so often revels in. (see some of the beautiful moments in "Phoenix" or title track, "False Light") Wisely, White Ward never overplay their hand with them. They are simply a very organic integration into what is still an undeniably black metal affair.
This is one of the most forward thinking records I had the privilege of hearing in 2022 and I am salivating at the opportunity of digging into this Ukrainian outfits past catalogue. Few bands draw outside the lines like this.
Standout Tracks: "Leviathan", "Phoenix", "Cronus".
1 . An Abstract Illusion - Woe
Much like White Ward's False Light, the biggest compliment I can pay to An Abstract Illusion's Woe is that I wish I could experience it for the first time all over again. This staggering achievement in extreme metal took me the better part of two to three days to get through. The near endless layers of beauty and complexity found on "Slaves" (which features some serious Ne Obliviscaris and Wills Dissolve vibes) alone had left be bewildered and afraid to continue. Just how much better could this album possibly get? And how could I possibly be prepared? Over the course of my first day listening, I couldn't bring myself to continue past "Tear Down This Holy Mountain". The emotions this album were stiring within me were overwhelming. I convinced myself that the more I played, the closer I would be to finishing an album I didn't want to end. So I did what any logical listener would do--i simply replayed side A & B for a full two days. It wasn't until day three that I found the will (and eager curiosity) to pull side C out of its sleeve. I needed to know just where "In the Heavens Above, You Will Become a Monster", would take me. Across it's near 15 minute run-time it continued to weave the same elegant tapestry of drum patterns and palpably emotive riffs and vocals as it had with "Slaves" and "Tear Down The Holy Mountain". Segments of beautifully melodic black metal mixed with cosmically atmospheric death metal washed over me like a Body Cosmic-ish wave. Patient and complex this penultimate track embodies what makes Woe such a special album. Like genre mates (and runner up for album of the year in 2022) White Ward, An Abstract Illusion show a daring desire to sketch outside the boundaries of what is possible in this medium of music. And products themselves of the boundary pushing bands that no doubt inspired them, I'm eager to see what level of sonic armageddon Woe might bring about in the future.
Standout Tracks: "Slaves", "Tear Down This Holy Mountain", "In the Heavens Above, You Will Become a Monster"
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