As one of of the axe-slinger supremes of the band Allegaeon, Greg Burgess is an expert at metal, not just riffs. His own band put out an album worthy of Ghost Cult’s Albums of the Year list, Damnum (Metal Blade), which you should get. We are super-stoked that Greg shared his list of Top Metal Albums of 2022 with Ghost Cult!
Greg commented:
As I compiled this list it suddenly dawned upon me what an amazing year it was for metal.
I had to whittle this list way down to 10, which means honestly the community at large won big this year. So here’s my subjective list minus a few that I loved and couldn’t fit.
Miseration – Black Miracles and Dark Wonders
Man I love this band, been a fan since Your Demons – Their Angel, and The Mirroring Shadow, been a long time since they’ve put out any music wanna say off the cuff a decade, but man I’m stoked they came back with this.
The Halo Effect – Days Of The Lost
You’re gonna see a lot of Tech and Melodeath on my list because those are 2 very strong loves of mine, and for melodeath lovers, holy shit did this album come out of nowhere. Whole bunch of dudes who are no longer in the beast that In Flames and made a throwback record that harkens to the Pre Clayman era. Just floored me.
Tony Martin – Thorns
I always take shit for this opinion but my favorite Sabbath singer is Tony Martin. His voice is so interesting, and powerful. By the time he came into the Sabbath camp Tony Iommi had become such an amazing song writer that I just loved those Sabbath records. The classics are still the classics, I just thought Iommi had grown by leaps and bounds by the time Martin entered the picture. Now I finally get a Tony Martin solo album and holy shit was I impressed. Still has the pipes!!
SepticFlesh – Modern Primitive
Some bands you just support without hearing a note. Septic Flesh is just one of those bands for me. They have a sound that I find completely unique and one of the few bands thats come out of Greece to my knowledge.
Soilwork – Övergivenheten
What can I say, Soilwork has been my favorite band for awhile now. Speed and Co always write some rad tunes. They suffered a pretty rough loss this year with the passing of their guitarist David Andersson and I think he left a big mark with his last effort. Albeit the kinda blurred lines between Soilwork and The Night Flight Orchestra they still write some amazing music.
Bloodbath – Survival of the Sickest
Man this band holds legendary status with me. I’ll admit with the vocalist change a couple albums ago I haven’t been as enchanted as I was through the Unblessing The Purity releases. But I think this new album is a return to form. Zombie Inferno!!
Goatwhore – Angels Hung From The Arches of Heaven
One of my favorite tours I ever did was with Goatwhore, and holy shit I think their whole branding is amazing. Anything blasphemous I’m generally a fan of, and Goatwhore always scratches that itch for me. Love this band
Obsidious – Iconic
Allegaeon did a European run with Obscura back in 2019, and I became a huge fan of all those guys. When Rafael, Linus, and Sebastian announced this new band I knew it was gonna be amazing and it’s everything I could have hoped for. Some of the best musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch every night.
Soreption – Jord
Swedish Techdeath Giants!! Another band that I had such an amazing time touring with, So happy they put out another record and have soldiered on. This new album is as insane as you want from Tech. DUDES BRING IT!!
Allegaeon – Damnum
With this last one, I might be a little biased, but I thought we did alright. Some really proud moments on this guy, some of those solos are pretty tricky. Also our final record with our vocalist Riley. Think he went out with bang.
I feel I have to mention these 3 albums I couldn’t fit:
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher – Corpsegrinder
Kreator – Hate Uber Alles
Psycroptic – Divine Council
RIGHTEOUS!
Greg Burgess