Through The Cracks of Death – The Many Deaths of 2022

As the world spirals towards climate apocalypse, Richard Benton hurls himself into alternate timelines seeking a solution – but finds only progressively more horror and desolation in each.

50. Mycelium Mycoticism (Disseminating the Propagules) (Blood Harvest) Bandcamp

49. Autophagy Bacteriophage (Pulverised) Bandcamp

48. Phobophilic Enveloping Absurdity (Prosthetic) Bandcamp

47. Chaotian Effigies of Obsolescence (Me Saco Un Ojo) Bandcamp

46. Blasphematory The Lower Catacombs (Nuclear Winter) Bandcamp

45. Voimaton Profane Vestige (Personal) Bandcamp

44. Pestilength Basom Gryphos (self) Bandcamp

43. Morgue Lower Depths of Misery (Godz of War) Bandcamp

42. Rites of Daath Doom Spirit Emanation (Godz of War) Bandcamp

41. Thorn Yawning Depths (Chaos) Bandcamp

40. Nullification Kingdoms To Hovel (Personal) Bandcamp

39. Exaltation Under Blind Reasoning (Sentient Ruin) Bandcamp

38. Cryptworm Spewing Mephitic Putridity (Me Saco un Ojo) Bandcamp

37. Deathsiege Throne of Heresy (Everlasting Spew) Bandcamp

36. Sedimentum Suppuration Morphogenesiaque (Me Saco un Ojo) Bandcamp

35. Out of the Mouths of Graves Harbinger Unceremonious (Vargeist) Bandcamp

34. Viande Labime Devores les Amis (Transcending Obscurity) Bandcamp

33. Pneuma Hagion Demiurge (Nuclear War Now) Bandcamp

32. Maceration It Never Ends (Emanzipation) Bandcamp

31. Live Burial Curse of the Forlorn (Transcending Obscurity) Bandcamp

30. Exanimatvm Sollvm Ipsa Mor (Pulverised) Bandcamp

29. Universally Estranged Dimension of Deviant Clusters (Blood Harvest) Bandcamp

28. Escarnium Dysthymia (Redefining Darkness) Bandcamp

27. Fleshrot Unburied Corpse (Me Saco un Ojo) Bandcamp

26. Vacuous Dreams of Dysphoria (Me Saco un Ojo) Bandcamp

25. Mortuous Upon Desolation (Carbonized) Bandcamp

24. Reeking Aura Blood and Bonemeal (Profound Lore) Bandcamp

23. Innumerable Forms Philosophical Collapse (Profound Lore) Bandcamp

22. Grave Infestation Persecution of the Living (Invictus) Bandcamp

21. Faceless Burial At the Foothills of Delaration (Me Saco un Ojo) Bandcamp

 

20. Morbific Squirm Beyond The Mortal Realm (Memento Mori) Bandcamp

The new heroes of pencil-logo Death Metal return with a truly filthy blend of classic Finnish and American styles and a production to match, giving us one of the purest and most morbid albums of the year. 

19. Dead Void Volatile Forms (Me Saco un Ojo) Bandcamp

Dead Void’s ugly, shit-kicking blend of Death Doom throws aside all niceties and chooses violence.  Pure horror. 

18. Ferum Asunder / Erode (Avantgarde) Bandcamp

Sporting one of Paulo Girardi’s most graphic covers, Ferum’s dirty, punishing Death Doom frequently brings to mind a less direct Vastum, as filthy riffs mesh with sinister atmospherics and an overwhelming sense of dread. 

17. Maul Seraphic Punishment (Redefining Darkness) Bandcamp

Maul hit as hard as the hammer they’re named after, but add a hard-to-define unorthodox touch to their songwriting that makes them stand out from other bands that take a straightforward approach. 

16. Desolate Shrine Fires of the Dying World (Dark Descent) Bandcamp

Desolate Shrine have been quietly flying the flag for Finnish Death Metal since 2011, and Fires Of The Dying World continues their pattern of getting better with each album.  Equal parts brutal and sinister, Desolate Shrine capture an ancient spirit with a strong modern sound.

15. Hussar All-consuming Hunger (I, Voidhanger) Bandcamp

Canada has a long tradition of Death Metal that combines weirdness with savagery without undermining either, and Hussar represent that lineage well, weaving almost Voivodian touches into their relentless attack.  It’s rare for I, Voidhanger to sign Death Metal bands, and always worth paying attention to those that do.

14. Tzompantli Tlazcaltilitzi (20 Buck Spin) Bandcamp

Liked the idea of Xibalba, but  disappointed that their Hardcore elements took precedence? Brian Ortiz chooses to address that balance himself by flipping his main band’s format around, delivering an album of savage, unrelenting Death Metal with a thuggish swagger and Aztec atmospherics.  Even if you listen to nothing but Death Metal (which you should), the opening riff of ‘Tlatzintilli’ will be one of the most annihilating things you hear all year.

13. Golgothan Remains Adorned In Ruin (Sentient Ruin) Bandcamp

It’s no secret by now that Australian Death Metal is in a world of its own, and Golgothan Remains fit perfectly into that world, marrying sewer-rumbing violence with dissonant and otherworldy abstraction.

12. Writhing Of Earth and Flesh (Everlasting Spew) Bandcamp

Another monolith of Australian Death Metal, this time marrying classic Morbid Angel riffing to Ulcerate-style atmospherics to create a scorched earth landscape both pummelling and oddly catchy.

11. Autopsy Morbidity Triumphant (Peaceville) Bandcamp

Autopsy – simultaneously somehow the most pure of Death Metal influences without anyone else really sounding like them.  They’ve been doing their thing for decades now, and though they may stay away for a few years they always come back as strong as ever.

Click here for the age-restricted video for ‘Knife Slice, Axe Chop’

 

10. Encenathrakh Ithate Thingth Oceate (self) Bandcamp

What do you get if you take a classic Suffocation album, separate every individual sound and reassemble them in a way that defies observable pattern or order?  You get pure amalgam of Death Metal and Harsh Noise that not even Portal could deliver, as Colin Marston and Mick Barr continue to ignore every rule that Heavy Metal has ever had.

 

9. Father Befouled Crowned In Venificum (Everlasting Spew) Bandcamp

 

Father Befouled draw on the rankest, most decayed traditions of Doom-tainted American Death Metal to create another gruelling journey through shifting labyrinths of organic horror.  Yes, I did it without mentioning Incantation!… fuck!

 

8. Hissing Hypervirulence Architecture (Profound Lore) Bandcamp

On their second full length for Profound Lore, Hissing continue their mission to take Death Metal apart and reassemble it without its familiar tropes, drawing on Noise, Industrial and Dark Ambient elements to patch over the cracks.  Though less wild in their deconstruction than someone like Encenathrakh, Hissing nonetheless create a broken, inhospitable soundscape of dehumanising Death Metal.

 

7. Cosmic Putrefaction Crepuscular Dirge For The Blessed Ones (Profound Lore)

 

With each album, Cosmic Putrefaction get better at blending subtle, cosmic strangeness into their pummelling Death Metal, creating something both grandiose in scale and intimately violent. Bandcamp

 

6. Altars Ascetic Reflection (Everlasting Spew) Bandcamp

Already showing promise on their debut, this time around Altars double down on both the violence and the esotericism of their sound, creating something comparable to early Altarage but with an atmosphere far more ancient and cryptic.  Further proof that A-tier talent can be found in the fringes of an already niche genre.

 

5. Aeviterne The Ailing Facade (Profound Lore) Bandcamp

Flourishing should be a much bigger name in abstract, experimental Death Metal than it is.  Instead, they released one promising album just as the likes of Ulcerate and Pyrrhon were poised to explode, then vanished.  Aeviterne sees the core of that band continue to resume their work – dissonant, industrial-tinged Death Metal with influences from Killing Joke and Diatribes-era Napalm Death.  There are still places for this genre to go, and Aeviterne know the way. GC Review

 

4. Corpsessed Succumb To Rot (Dark Descent) Bandcamp

Though my Death Metal heart will always belong to the Americans, Finland takes the prize when it comes to ugly, distorted horror.  Corpsessed crash Immolation into Demigod, leaving a writhing abomination of limbs and organs that smeared foul ichor across the whole year. GC Review

 

3. Immolation Acts of God (Nuclear Blast) Bandcamp

That Immolation don’t get name dropped as often as some of their fellow -ation bands is undeniably one of the greatest tragedies of Death Metal, but over thirty years into their career they’re still producing material that should change that.  Acts Of God is a demanding listen at fifty-two minutes, but once its imperious riffs and practically symphonic drums grab you, there’s no breaking concentration until it’s over.

 

 

2. Undeath It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave (Prosthetic) Bandcamp

Whenever a niche band dares poke their head above the parapet and achieve some kind of wider appeal, the backlash from the “underground” (if that even has meaning in the age of being able to find everything online) is both predictable and tiresome.  Undeath’s obvious quality and joyous love of classic American Death Metal makes accusations of insincerity even stupider than they normally are, and with It’s Time… they deliver a collection of infectious, brutally catchy tracks that simply can’t be denied. GC Review

Click here for the age-restricted video for ‘It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave’

 

1. Castrator Defiled In Oblivion (Dark Descent) Bandcamp

Returning after seven years and one EP with a 50% lineup change, the impact Castrator have had this year may have come as a surprise – unless you’ve heard the album.  With nine tracks of unrelenting American Death Metal and a cover of ‘Countess Bathory’, Defiled In Oblivion storms in with total focus and malicious intent, demonstrating that Death Metal in 2022 doesn’t need gimmicks or genre cross-pollination to sound relevant, only sincerity. GC Review

 

with dark grunts of fetid praise to the undead scribe, RICHARD BENTON