Where does the time go? 2022 can be called the comeback year of all time, with virtually every band on the planet getting back on track post-COVID. So it was one helluva year for heavy metal as the releases started to pour in and the bands started to hit your town after nearly three years of madness. It is time to unveil our annual BravePicks countdown, where the devout scribes at BraveWords cast their votes at the hits and misses of the year! So who will be our #1? You’ll find out as we count down the BravePick Of 2022 each day in December! 

Everybody has an opinion and it’s time for ours! And stay tuned in January for the writers’ individual Top 20s (new studio albums ONLY), Top 5 Brave Embarrassments (a fan favorite!), What/Who Needs To Stop In 2022? and Metal Predictions For 2022. All will be showcased come the New Year!

First up, the best of the best for 2022 begins NOW! And we begin with the six releases bubbling under our top 30. 

BravePicks 2022

28) CORPSEGRINDER -Corpsegrinder (Perseverance)

 

The old saying is “less is more,” but in this case the more the better! After Cannibal Corpse issued the spectacular bloody splatter of Violence Unimagined (#2 of our BravePicks 2021), frontman George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher teamed up with Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta for a solo project – and what a project it is! Jasta had successfully engineered two solo albums for Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider and it’s no different with the charismatic Corpsegrinder.

While not as brutal as his main band, Corpsegrinder is mostly groovy, thrash/death metal interspersed with hardcore elements. The Corpse Man as always delivers a top notch vocal performance, retaining the same intensity that stabs through the CC material. An impressive effort as it lands at #28 on our countdown.   

BravePicks 2022 Top 30

28)CORPSEGRINDER - Corpsegrinder (Perseverance)
29)SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS - 4 (Gibson / BMG)
30) NORDJEVEL - Gnavhòl (Indie)
31) WITCHERY – Nightside (Century Media)
32) ABBATH - Dread Reaver (Season of Mist)
33) AMON AMARTH - The Great Heathen Army (Metal Blade)
34) RECKLESS LOVE – Turbo Rider (AFM) 
35) GOATWHORE – Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven (Metal Blade)
36) CAVE IN – Heavy Pendulum (Relapse)