Harbinger of D.O.O.M.’s Top 20 Albums of 2022

The time has come to compile a list of my twenty favourite albums and EPs of the year. Last year I wanted to do a Top 10 but there were just too many good albums, so I settled on a Top 13 instead. This year it was impossible to narrow it down to such a small number of albums as I wanted to shine a light on those gems that I listened to all year long. Just a clarification before I begin; these are albums strictly in the Doom/Rock/Metal genres and subgenres and not in music in general. If I went all out in music at large, you’d definitely find Bronswick’s Entre mes insomnies (Synthpop) in my Top 5, as well as Jill Tracy’s Secret Music of Lily Dale (Dark Cabaret), Alison Balsom’s Quiet City (Classical), and Mandy Moore’s In Real Life (Adult Contemporary) in my Top 20.

Also, I’m aware that Sorcery’s Stunt Rock Soundtrack isn’t a 2022 release, but it was re-released this year and I’d never heard of the band before and it turned out to be one of my absolute favourite albums of 2022, so it’s on the list. Same goes for KISS’s Off the Soundboard: Des Moines 1977; it was released this year for the very first time and it’s a fantastic LP, so it belongs on my 2022 list. For each album/EP, you can click on the album title to be taken to my musings/review of said album. In those reviews, you’ll find links to the bands’ Bandcamp pages to purchase their music, if you so desire. So, without further ado, here are my Top 20 Albums of 2022:

20. Indus Valley Kings – Origin

19. Ellefson/Soto – Vacation in the Underworld

18. Cauchemar – Rosa Mystica

17. Titanosaur – No One Home (EP)

16. Stone Axe – Stay of Execution

15. Alunah – Strange Machine

14. Ruby the Hatchet – Fear Is A Cruel Master

13. Raptore – Blackfire

12. Skid Row – The Gang’s All Here

11. Running Maiden – Running Maiden (EP)

10. HAZEMAZE – Blinded by the Wicked

9. Freedom Hawk – Take All You Can

8. Eye of Doom – The Sapient

7. KISS – Off the Soundboard: Live in Des Moines 1977

6. Sorcery – Stunt Rock Soundtrack

5. AAWKS – Heavy on the Cosmic

4. Las Cruces – Cosmic Tears

3. Megadeth – The Sick, the Dying and the Dead

2. Venator – Echoes from the Gutter

1. Metalian – Beyond the Wall

And that’s it for me, folks! I hope you’ll find a couple of gems that you hadn’t heard of or paid enough attention to on this list and that you’ll seek them out. Farewell 2022, I’m ready for 2023! Bring on the music!