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My Top 6 albums of the first half of 2022

My Top 6 albums of the first half of 2022

Andrey KovtunAndrey Kovtun at2 min read

Friends and colleagues often ask me what to listen to, what's new in the music world? I decided once in six months to publish a selection of albums that I particularly like.

This selection only includes albums from 2022. I won't post what came out before, it might take a lot of pages.

Monuments — In Stasis

Monuments — In Stasis, cover

A new powerful and aggressive masterpiece from the British misicians. I like a lot of things John Brown does. Just amazed by the original riffs, polyrhythm, arrangement, strong lyrics. The clean vocals are very melodic, as they should be in this kind of music, the extreme vocals are extremely aggressive. I'll have to record a guitar cover of some Monuments sometime.

Favorite tracks:

  • No One Will Teach You
  • Cardinal Red
  • Lavos

Lalu — Paint the Sky

Lalu — Paint the Sky, cover

Progressive-rock album with the British singer Damien Wilson on vocals. I absolutely do not like Wilson's solo work, but when he participates in someone else's project, the result is quite unique and authentic. You can take for example Headspace or Threshold. Paint the Sky is a highly original album with a mixture of many styles.

Favorite tracks:

  • Lost in Conversation
  • Reset to Preset
  • Emotionalised

The Anix — Revenge

The Anix — Revenge, cover

A great record by American producer and musician Brandon Smith. Melodic Electronic Rock. Sounds a bit heavier and more compressed than previous albums. Recommended for listening.

Favorite tracks:

  • Your Lies Are Like Fire
  • Below
  • Unveil

Star One — Revel in Time

Star One — Revel in Time, cover

Another Sci-Fi-Metal epic by Dutch producer and composer Arjen Lucassen. Each track, like on the previous two albums, is dedicated to a Sci-Fi movie or a book. The old-school progressive-rock vibe and choruses are also present. Sounds really epic.

Favorite tracks:

  • Revel in Time
  • Today is Yesterday
  • Bridge of Life

Northlane — Obsidian

Northlane — Obsidian, cover

This Australian band turned out to be a new discovery for me. An interesting mix of Electronics, Metalcore, Djent with extreme and clean vocals. A lot of original musical ideas, pretty interesting to listen to.

Favorite tracks:

  • Echo Chamber
  • Abomination
  • Is This a Test?

Charlie Griffiths — Tiktaalika

Charlie Griffiths — Tiktaalika, cover

The solo project of Charlie Griffiths, one of the guitarists of the British band Haken.

The album is a fiery mixture of styles, from old-school Thrash metal a la Megadeth, to Progressive Metal with Jazz elements. The music is a little insane, but actually that's a good thing. For anyone who is tired of musical cliches.

Favorite tracks:

  • In Alluvium
  • Crawl Walk Run
  • Tiktaalika

Of the albums that didn't make my personal top 6 for the first half of 2022, I'd like to point out. These too are great albums, worth listening to.

  • Amorphis — Halo
  • Seventh Wonder — The Testament
  • Michael Romeo — War of the Worlds II
  • Disconnected — We Are Disconnected