BravePicks 2022 - The Scribes Speak!
Carl Begai

Top 20 Of 2022
1) QUEENSRŸCHE - Digital Noise Alliance (Century Media)
2) BLOODYWOOD - Rakshak (independent)
3) MEGADETH - The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! (Universal)
4) KREATOR - Hate Über Alles (Nuclear Blast)
5) RUNAMOK - The Clown Brigade (independent)
6) BATTLELORE - The Return Of The Shadow (Napalm)
7) SKID ROW - The Gang's All Here (Edel)
8) DESTRUCTION - Diabolical (Napalm Records)
9) STAR ONE - Revel In Time (InsideOut)
10) UGLY KID JOE - Rad Wings Of Destiny (Metalville / UKJ Records)
11) VENOM INC. - There's Only Black (Nuclear Blast)
12) SOILWORK - Övergivenheten (Nuclear BLast)
13) RAZOR - Cycle Of Contempt (Relapse)
14) ARCH ENEMY - Deceivers (Century Media)
15) ONCE HUMAN - Scar Weaver (earMusic)
16) DEVIN TOWNSEND - Lightwork (InsideOut)
17) EVERGREY - A Heartless Portrait (Napalm)
18) DEREK SHERINIAN - Vortex (InsideOut)
19) HALESTORM - Back From The Dead (Atlantic)
20) JAMES LaBRIE - Beautiful Shade Of Gray (InsideOut)

Top Concerts
ACCEPT - Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, ON
DANKO JONES - Hirsch - Nürnberg, Germany
HYPOCRISY / SEPTICFLESH / THE AGONIST - Colos-Saal - Aschaffenburg, Germany

Top 5 Brave Embarrassments

ICED EARTH - A Narrative Soundscape (Ravencraft Productions)
Easily the worst album of 2022, released in January so as to set the bar low enough to scrape pavement. Mr. Schaffer succeeded in destroying the band's credibility with poor personal choices; this "creative" cashgrab is the final nail.

CREMATORY - Inglorious Darkness (Napalm)
Their 16th studio album to date, but painting-by-numbers yet again. Too much of the same for the past 15+ years.

DEF LEPPARD - Diamond Star Halos (Mercury)
Too formulaic and too damn long. Maybe it appeals to the new(er) generation of Lep fans, and good on 'em, but if you grew up with the first three records from way back when... no.

SONATA ARCTICA - Acoustic Adventures – Volume Two (Atomic Fire)
The Acoustic Adventures concept is cool, but releasing a second go-round of stripped down metal ditties in less than a year is a yawn. Volume One was enough; time to get back to what you folks do best.

BATTLE BEAST - Circus Of Doom (Nuclear Blast)
I love Noora Louhimo's voice when she goes full beast mode, but it's out of place backed by keyboard-smothered riffage and ultra-polished production.

Thoughts On 2022
The BraveWords faithful know this annual rundown gives the staff a chance to reveal what turned our respective cranks each year, where we will either be applauded or sneered at in derision for the choices made. Unfortunately, my 2022 was what can only be described a dark and miserable journey from start to finish, so being able to focus on that exercise proved to be impossible. Losing both parents within seven months of each other will do that to you. Until I sat down to write this I had absolutely no intention of revealing / discussing something so personal and painful. As cliché as it sounds - and believe me, I feel like a bargain basement Hollywood screenwriter for saying so - it was this noise we know and love that got me through it.

It goes well beyond the metal that pummelled my ears this year, but the new slabs of metal and might from Queensrÿche, Kreator, Bloodywood, Witchery, Destruction, Ugly Kid Joe and Razor (to name a few) kept me together. BraveWords is a seven-days-a-week gig for all of us on staff - in between other commitments and required beer breaks - and it became even more of an anchor for me in 2022 than ever in the almost 30 years I have been tormenting Henderson and the rest of the Peanuts gang. The interviews, the shows, the interactions with promo people, the daily news postings on the BraveWords site... all of it has kept me grounded and, if I am being totally honest, able to move forward. BraveWords has also been the jump-off points for several music-retade projects over the past 20+ years, and they also helped to keep my head above water.

Eternal thanks to my extended BraveWords family for being the ultimate support system, to the industry people that continue to put up with me, our readership for supporting us from way back when up to now, and of course, to the musicians that keep unleashing the best music in the world. I'm looking forward to getting back to what passes for normal in 2023, and I'm grateful you're along for the ride with us.

What / Who Needs To Stop In 2023
YouTube reaction channels. What was once entertaining to those of us who are fans of the featured artists has become a festering online communicable disease. I'm gonna go out on a very short limb and say that 98% of reaction channels currently up and running were launched by folks who figure they can monetize their way to a 5 hour work week. Nobody fucking believes you haven't heard Nightwish's "Ghost Love Score" yet. Get a job.

Metal Predictions For 2023
- Metallica will once again claim world domination with 72 Seasons and the touring that follows.

- if KISS does in fact retire as planned, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons will confirm the launch of KISS 2.0 with a younger line-up wearing the iconic make-up once the smoke clears.

Read our BravePicks 2022 countdown where Bloodbath’s Survival Of The Sickest reigned supreme at #1 here.

More Scribes Speak 2022:

Aaron Small
Greg Pratt
Mark Gromen