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

13) DECAPITATED - Cancer Culture (Nuclear Blast)

 

Polish pounders Decapitated cleanly cut through the head on their eighth full-length album Cancer Culture. The 5 year layoff between releases helped the band recharge but carefully meshing their technical death metal days with the groovier sounds of their later material. The riffs are busy, but ferocious and new drummer James Stewart (ex-Vader) injects new life into the band. Cancer Culture is the perfect record to appeal to newer and older fans, a successful release with robust musicality.

Cancer Culture seeps into the system and reaches the lucky #13 spot.

Decapitated’s Vogg spoke to BW’s Dillon Collins in a feature story; an excerpt below:

BraveWords: You mentioned this lineup of the band, and it feels like there's a lot of melodic tendencies on this record as well. Its pulverizing heavy, like every Decapitated album is heavy. You're not going to skimp on that. But like the melodic tendencies are something that I think could even draw in your more not-so-heavy into death metal listeners.

Vogg: “I hope you will have it right in saying that. It wasn't like we were planning something like that, it just happened naturally, accidentally. I have all those melodies. Maybe this is all about my inspiration from the music I've been listening to for the last few years or maybe also what inspiration for everything that was going on in our lives? It's all the time, all together. And I'm glad you make this point about how melodic this album is compared to the last two records that did not have that much melody.

“I was looking for more of these Pantera influences like these catchy riffs, crunchy sound and stuff like that. And not thinking about the left hand, you know, melody, like delivering different key changes, harmony changes. There's a lot of things going on. There's a few surprising moments, like having Robb Flynn on vocals, and Tatiana from Jinjer also. We have clean vocals, which also changes the taste of this album in general, which most of all is a furiously death metal album. The ‘Last Supper’ song, ‘Suicidal Space Programme’, ‘Locked’, ‘Cancer Culture’ or even ‘No Cure’. There's more like 60% of this album that is really aggressive death metal, coming back to speed, coming back to a brutal album. But still, there is something new. 

“And even talking about the production is another step and the other level of amazing sound, mixing by David Castillo from Stockholm and Ted Jensen who did the mastering in New York, also a legendary producer. So all those elements. Also the cover of this album by Fabio Timpanaro is really a beautiful piece of art. This is an artist who has never worked with a metal band before. So we also have something kind of fresh in here talking about not just the production, but also about the artwork, which is also important because it's creating a whole view for the music and in general the optic of the album.”

BravePicks 2022 Top 30

13) DECAPITATED - Cancer Culture (Nuclear Blast)
14) EVIL INVADERS - Shattering Reflection (Napalm)
15) AMORPHIS - Halo (Atomic Fire)
16) ARCH ENEMY - Deceivers (Century Media)
17) WEDNESDAY 13 - Horrifier (Napalm)
18) WHITESPADE - Whitespade (Independent)
19) MISERY INDEX - Complete Control (Century Media)
20) KRISIUN - Mortem Solis (Century Media)
21) RAZOR - Cycle Of Contempt (Relapse)
22) MEGADETH - The Sick, The Dying...And The Dead! (Universal Music Group)
23) TONY MARTIN - Thorns (Dark Star)
24) UGLY KID JOE - Rad Wings Of Destiny (Metalville / UKJ)
25) TRIAL (SWE) - Feed The Fire (Metal Blade)
26) SABATON - The War To End All Wars (Nuclear Blast)
27) SCORPIONS - Rock Believer (Vertigo)
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)