Things You Might Have Missed 2022

Blackbraid – Blackbraid I [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Doom_et_Al on December 10, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 57 comments

“The story of Blackbraid I is a tale as old as the mountains. Unknown artist bursts onto a scene that is crying out for something new and original. Artist brings fresh perspective and everyone gets excited. This is the next big thing. Hype builds with promising singles. Debut album is released. Initial reaction from fans is rapturous. But some new listeners feel let down; the promise has not materialized. Since nuance is dead, camps double down: this is either AotY or boilerplate black music that’s been massively overhyped. Sound familiar? This is the trajectory Blackbraid’s debut album, Blackbraid I, took earlier this year when it was released.” Hype meets reality.

Dream Unending – Song of Salvation [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Thus Spoke on December 9, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, 35 comments

“Almost exactly one year ago, Dream Unending’s debut Tide Turns Eternal dropped out of seemingly nowhere but instantly lived up to the band’s ethereal moniker. Its lush blend of uncompromisingly heavy death doom with a peaceful melodicism made for one of the most chill death metal albums ever. With Song of Salvation, the duo (with several other talented musicians in tow) have doubled down and improved on their expansive sound.” The never unending story.

Freedom of Fear – Carpathia [Things you Might Have Missed 2022]

By Saunders on December 6, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 30 comments

“As the year grinds to a close, it is time to reflect on the rich heavy music landscape of 2022 and unload the Things You Might Have Missed tradition. Released in October, the sophomore full-length from unheralded Australian outfit, the oddly named Freedom of Fear, has rapidly grown on me like a fast-advancing fungus.” Fear is the earkiller.

Second to Sun – Nocturnal Philosophy [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Dr. A.N. Grier on November 30, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Black Metal, 15 comments

“Of all the black metal names tossed around this site, Second to Sun is one of my favorites. Since giving their amazing record, The Walk, the top spot in 2018, StS have been regular listers for ole Grier. The combination of atmoblack, unsettling dissonance, and crushing riffs is like nothing I’ve ever heard before from a black metal outfit. The band has followed a standard format of digestible track lengths spread evenly over a forty-to-fifty-minute runtime for the last few years. But something dark is hovering over Vlad and co. Nocturnal Philosophy is something different.” Swallow this Sun?

Konvent – Call Down the Sun [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Carcharodon on November 28, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Death Doom, Doom Metal, 33 comments

“Two years on and Konvent is back, and this time, they’ve nailed it. Call Down the Sun is slightly slower in pace than Puritan Masochism, edging just a teensy, tiny bit further toward the funeral doom end of the death doom spectrum. If the record doesn’t slow quite so much as to actually reach funeral doom pace, it is certainly funereal in tone and mood.” Sundown, mood down.

Morbikon – Ov Mournful Twilight [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Ferox on November 24, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Melodic Black Metal, 23 comments

“Some supergroups stick close to home. An artist bursts with ideas in their chosen subgenre, and so–like Stephen King using the pseudonym “Richard Bachman” to crank out horror novels–the new entity produces something not so far-flung from the work that made them famous. Then there’s Morbikon. Ov Mournful Twilight sees Phil “Landphil” Hall of party thrashers Municipal Waste and Vrenth from blackened folk institution/oddity Finntroll join forces to birth a slab of frostbitten second-wave worship that comes complete with a deadpan v of trvth in the title.” Municipal Trolling.

Sonja – Loud Arriver [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Huck N Roll on November 22, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Gothic Metal, Heavy Metal, 35 comments

“Normally these things we missed are because we didn’t get promo and stumbled upon the album post-release. Not so in the case of Loud Arriver,<,b>Sonja’s debut album. This one sat in the promo bin unnoticed for all of September, and it wasn’t until I read some flattering press about the album that I dove in. Thank god I did because this little gem delivers a delicious knockout punch.” Big (loud) entrance.

Cave In – Heavy Pendulum [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Saunders on November 18, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Hardcore, 23 comments

“Although well aware of their revered reputation, I largely came to Cave In via the awesome Mutoid Man. I have since come to deeply respect and appreciate chunks of the band’s diverse catalog, and solid crossover appeal. Final Transmission, 2019’s heart-wrenching tribute to their fallen brother Caleb Scofield, who tragically passed away in a car accident in 2018, was a stripped-back and poignant album, featuring Scofield’s final musical contributions. Rather than shut up shop on the back of a tragic loss, Cave In discovered newfound inspiration and forged on.” Still swinging.

Heads for the Dead – The Great Conjuration [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Ferox on November 13, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, 22 comments

Main Project Resorption (n): a phenomenon that occurs when a band’s side project grows so vigorously that it threatens to ingest the entity from which it sprung. I’m not ready to diagnose Sweden’s mighty Wombbath as being vulnerable to Main Project Resorption just yet, but 2022 was a banner year for the outfit’s spinoffs.” Absorb this!

LiveWire – Under Attack! [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Kenstrosity on November 11, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Power Metal, Speed Metal, Thrash Metal, 34 comments

“I don’t remember how I heard about LiveWire’s debut record, Under Attack!, but I do know that its album artwork caught my eye as I scrolled through my Bandcamp feed, and, well, here we are. The Aussie troupe used to operate under the moniker Fenrir, but in 2019 they rebranded and shifted in style. Since then, a few singles trickled out of the pipeline until April, when this absolute supernova of a record exploded into existence.” Hardwired to sponge destruct.