Favorites for 2022!

What were your favorite releases for this year?  You do not have to do a top ten list.  My only rule is that your list must only have albums from this year.  Remasters/reissues DO count.

I’ll keep it to just Christian here. 

Preterist: Blood Moon Rising
Reign of Glory: All Will Bow
All Things Fallen: Shadow Way
Stryper: The Final Battle 
Saint: Heaven Fell
Trinity: Memories of the Ancient Presence
Omegashift: Doctrine of Dust 
Mosh-Pit Justice: Crush the Demons Inside
MercyMe: Always Only Jesus
Terraphobia: Rise
Flood: Polarized
True Strength: The House, the Holy, the Third 
Becoming the Archetype: Children of the Great Extinction
Flames of Fire: s/t
Testimony of Apocalypse: None Escape the Judgment
Seventh Servant: The Tree of Life
Lordchain: Surviving the Wicked Storm
Dynasty: Motus Perpetuus (I think this was reissued this year)
Siloam: Dying to Live (I think this was reissued this year)

I’ve bought Angelic Forces, but I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, so that might be going on my list.

I’ve heard others than I enjoyed, but not enough to buy (e.g. Fear Not, Brotality)

Biggest disappointment: The Brave. ELG was fantastic, but Gravedigger had only a couple songs I liked.

I have a few that I just got within the last week and need to listen to repeatedly before I decide.

I’m gonna make a top 10, because I’m dorky like that. I’m also gonna leave off reissues.

1. Preterist: Blood Moon Rising
2. Reign of Glory: All Will Bow
3. All Things Fallen: Shadow Way
4. Stryper: The Final Battle 
5. Saint: Heaven Fell
6. Trinity: Memories of the Ancient Presence 
7. Mosh-Pit Justice: Crush the Demons Inside
8. MercyMe: Always Only Jesus
9. True Strength: The House, the Holy, the Third
10. Flames of Fire: s/t

GREAT year for Christian metal!

Going to take me a while to work it out, as a lot of them were christmas presents.  But, here are my thoughts so far...

Fear Not - A complete belter!  Only listened to it once, and absolutely blown away by it.
The Brave - Not quite as good as ELG, but still really solid, and better than folks have been saying.
Chaotic Resemblance - Maybe not my favourite kind of metal, but the lyrics are SOOO good that it may make my album of the year.
Reign Of Glory - Only listened to a few tracks so far.  Great to hear Robyn again.
Saint - Probably would have been my album of the year, but the lyrics are a bit "what?  Huh?"  so whilst it's arguably their best musically, the lyrics just don't do it for me.
Preterist - This is sounding really good.  Only listened to a few tracks so far.
Dale Thompson & The Boon Dogs - Enjoying this more than the first one.  Good stuff.
All For The King - Wasn't going to get this, but so glad I did.  Definitely up in the top 3 for the year.
Stryper - Another consistenly solid album.  Not as enjoyable as GDE, but still great.
Flood - Polarized.  Definitely going to be a contender!

^^It’s cool to see folks’ different tastes. I thought Fear Not was decent, but not particularly exciting. I thought Chaotic Resemblance had great lyrics, but musically it left me cold. I thought The Brave was largely terrible. I thought All for the King was dull.

I completely agree with you on Saint. Maybe next time they’ll return to their earlier lyric style. 

And yeah, Robyn sounds amazing on RoG. He sounds more like Coverdale than he used to.

I figured you’d put Flood as your #1! Guy sounds great.

I'm not sure what it is about Fear Not, as I generally go for a higher kind of sound (vocally and musically).  But that Fear Not sound is SOO beefy that it grabbed me by the collar and made me listen to every single song, and I couldn't stop it!  Awesome stuff.

I do hope with Saint they get Rich to write the lyrics, but keep the same sound.  That way it will be a win win situation.

All For The King didn't grab me, when I heard the YouTube singles.  But listening to the album is incredible.  The Shelter is a top song!

I still have a couple more albums to listen to again before making my list.

Fundy wrote:

I'm not sure what it is about Fear Not, as I generally go for a higher kind of sound (vocally and musically).  But that Fear Not sound is SOO beefy that it grabbed me by the collar and made me listen to every single song, and I couldn't stop it!  Awesome stuff.

I do hope with Saint they get Rich to write the lyrics, but keep the same sound.  That way it will be a win win situation.

All For The King didn't grab me, when I heard the YouTube singles.  But listening to the album is incredible.  The Shelter is a top song!

Fear Not is definitely beefy. It’s got a great sound. 

I need to give All for the King another spin.

I didn't consider All For The King.  I didn't realize that this was just the American release of an album they had already done.  I bought it only to discover I already had it!

alldatndensum wrote:

I didn't consider All For The King.  I didn't realize that this was just the American release of an album they had already done.  I bought it only to discover I already had it!

 Let There Be Light is their new album.  It has only just been released this year...

2017
ST

		I Am God	3:29
		The Old Man	3:14
		I Belong To You	2:39
		Never Back Down	3:23
		Not Ashamed	4:28
		Rules Of Love	3:25
		Alive	2:53
		Going Blind	4:20
		All For The King	5:09
		Salt Of The Earth	4:38

2022
LET THERE BE LIGHT

The Six-Winged Seraphim
		Let There Be Light
		I Am He
		The Way, Truth And Life
		The Shelter
		S:t Patricks Prayer
		Metal Gods
		Let God Be God
		Moneychangers
		Blazing Fire
		The Return Of The King
		Bonus Tracks
		Song of The Lamb
		The Seventh Seal

Fundy wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

I didn't consider All For The King.  I didn't realize that this was just the American release of an album they had already done.  I bought it only to discover I already had it!

 Let There Be Light is their new album.  It has only just been released this year...

2017
ST

		I Am God	3:29
		The Old Man	3:14
		I Belong To You	2:39
		Never Back Down	3:23
		Not Ashamed	4:28
		Rules Of Love	3:25
		Alive	2:53
		Going Blind	4:20
		All For The King	5:09
		Salt Of The Earth	4:38

2022
LET THERE BE LIGHT

The Six-Winged Seraphim
		Let There Be Light
		I Am He
		The Way, Truth And Life
		The Shelter
		S:t Patricks Prayer
		Metal Gods
		Let God Be God
		Moneychangers
		Blazing Fire
		The Return Of The King
		Bonus Tracks
		Song of The Lamb
		The Seventh Seal

While that is correct, the band released it and then Roxx released it.  I bought the Roxx version not realizing that it wasn't another new album.

Here is my list:

1. Fear Not - Fields Of Sorrow
2. Reign Of Glory - All Will Bow
3. Lordchain - Surviving the Wicked Storm
4. Chaotic Resemblance - Nazarites
5. Angelic Forces - Arise
6. Les Carlsen - He's Coming
7. Stryper - The Final Battle
8. Saint - Heaven Fell
9. The Brave - Gravedigger
10. Latter Reign II


There were several other relay good projects deserving praise, too.  Flood was a good album but didn't grab me like it did everyone else.  Seventh Day Slumber and Skillet released good albums this past year as well.  All For The King was also a good project.  But, by and large, if something doesn't grab you, it just doesn't grab you.

This list would change if I added in secular projects.

That Fear Not album is SOOO good. I'm not completely there on the list yet, but here is my rough top 10...

1 - Chaotic Resemblance - Nazarites (TIE)
1 - Flood - Polarized (TIE)
3 - All For The King - Let There Be Light
4 - Fear Not - Fields Of Sorrow
5 - Saint - Heaven Fell (great album, but can't get my head around the lyrics)
6 - The Brave - Grave Digger
7 - Preterist - Blood Moon Rising
8 - Stryper - The Final Battle
9 - Thee Final Chaptre - So Let It Be Done
10 - Reign Of Glory - All Will Bow

Thee Final Chaptre is amazing. I got that album in 2021 when it was released digitally, so I didn’t count it.

It has been a good year for quality metal.  I'm also excited about Whitecross, but didn't include that as it was only an E.P. and I didn't buy it (I'm waiting for the full album).

My top 4 are all really close.  Gonna have to do some re-listening to work out who's going to win.

As for Thee Final Chaptre, that was incredible.  Absolutely loved the whole album.  Only thing I would have liked, was more high end singing, as the screams seemed to be too short and spaced out... but that's just a personal taste kind of thing.  So glad that album came out.

Fundy wrote:

It has been a good year for quality metal.  I'm also excited about Whitecross, but didn't include that as it was only an E.P. and I didn't buy it (I'm waiting for the full album).

Even though I don't care for EPs, I bought this one as it was explained that this was the criwd-funding for the new full length album.  Also, rumors of new Whitecross material have popped up from time to time and never materialized, so buying anything from them seemed to be a tad more pressing as you never know if more will come.  Bloodgood was working on new stuff until Michael got so sick and died.  With these aging rockers, there might not be another chance.  So, with that in mind, I got the EP.

That is a good point, as I too was wondering whether I should pick up the EP, as sometimes full length albums don't materialise.  There are quite a few albums that I have been looking forward to for months but things have gotten in the way so they haven't been completed.

Sacred Warrior - the new lead singer had health issue, so that was put on the back burner.  I don't know if he's even involved anymore.  Shame as he had exceptional vocals (as seen in On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand)

Stairway - they've had some set backs, which all started with Covid lockdowns, which means their album is at least 3 years late.

Theocracy - I know their album is coming, but they are looking for a new company to produce it, which is delaying things.

Deth Enemy - They are doing a new album, although it seems to have gotten rather quiet for a number of year now.

Rage Of Angels - There was talk of a new album...

Omega Highway - There was talk of doing new songs...

I'm pretty sure I have my list sorted out here (I know, everyone was waiting with anticipation for me to reply   ).  I ended up doing a "Top 8", in part because I didn't even by 20 albums to pick from and at least 5 of those where reissues (or older stuff only now available on CD) and I didn't want to include those.

1. Fear Not - Fields of Sorrow  Like many of you I wish the band still recorded in the style they had back in the day.  However, this new sound really works for them.  This sounds like a real “band” project and I find myself digging the entire album.
2. Angelic Forces - Arise  This reminds me of a lot of hungry young bands from the 80’s pouring their heart into writing aggressive hard rocking songs, in my favorite style.
3. Reign of Glory - All Will Bow  An incredibly solid effort from these veteran musicians (again in a style I love).  My only serious criticism is it sounds like Robin was brought in at the last minute to add the vocals and a few of the songs might have benefited from being recorded in a key to accommodate his voice better.  But still an album I am excited to have.
4. Les Carlsen - He’s Coming  Fantastic to hear one of my favorite singers on this solo album.  The guitar work is fantastic.  Only pales just a tiny bit in the comparison of a full Bloodgood album.
5. Lordchain - Surviving The Wicked Storm  Kelly & Jeff are like a well oiled machine.  It seems like in the last few years that they can do no wrong together.  The only thing that keeps this album from being at the #1 spot is that groove-metal is not a huge favorite style.  The vocals on this album are fantastic as are the lyrics (really really love “The Outrage Mob”)
6. Stryper - The Final Battle  This album sound more to me like their 80’s output than any album they have released since their reunion.  Again a fantastic recording, but not at the top of my list because I am not a huge fan of Michael’s voice.  I still enjoy the bands music and most of their lyrics.
7. The Brave - Gravedigger  Not quite a good as the last effort “Evie’s Garden” but still a darned good album, in a year with lots of good music
8. Voice of Glass - Hours (EP)  This would have probably been higher on my list if it wasn’t just a 3-song EP.  Very moody

Good list.  I haven't heart Voice of Glass.  I'll have to go and have a look at that.

I've decided that my two albums of the year (I've got to pick 2 again!) will be

Flood - Polarized (for obvious reasons)
<------

Chaotic Resemblance - Nazarites

It was such a tough choice, and I absolutely love All For The King, and wanted to pick them aswell.  But 3 albums of the year seems a bit ridiculous!  2 is silly enough!
Fear Not was an incredible album, and the only reason that wasn't quite as good as the other 3 was the lyrics were less 'open' than the other 3.  Nothing wrong with that, it's just I like clear lyrics that point to Christ.

Now I need to update my website!