cylinder
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Last Active 12-19-21 9:42 pm
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04.21.24 cylinder's EPIC 2023! ♦04.11.24 cylinder's top 50 GRIND/PV ♦
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03.22.24 Sputnik's Sacred Cowls10.27.23 Big Ears Music Festival
07.25.23 possible 4.5s and 5s06.18.23 My Top 50 Albums of 2022 ♦
04.24.23 upcoming shows12.06.22 RIP my winter metal list
11.29.22 hip-hop to listen to05.15.22 hip-hop reccs
01.24.22 posted a new song today07.10.21 to listen
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My Top 50 Albums of 2022

My favorite releases of 2022, the year of comebacks! A top 50 including one shout-out not part of the ranking, as well as nine Honorable Mentions. Only ranked by several categories: Honorable Mentions, 3.5s, low 4s, 4s, low 4.5s, 4.5s, and 5s. Descriptions are meant to be read at your leisure - they're a mix of my thoughts on the albums and other related memories/associations/tangents.
60Gilla Band
Most Normal

Honorable Mentions
post-punk/no wave/experimental rock
59Boris
fade

drone metal/noise
The only one of the three 2022 Boris albums I liked really
58Just Mustard
Heart Under

dream pop/shoegaze/alt rock
57Dehks?Esperance
My devotion to lust, horror and satanic orders

raw black metal/darkwave
This album's mix of styles works surprisingly well, just a little too raw for comfort at times.
56They Are Gutting A Body Of Water
Lucky Styles

emo/shoegaze
55Billy Woods
Church

hip-hop
54Chat Pile
God's Country

sludge metal/noise rock/post-hardcore
Here’s my thing with this album: I appreciate the themes and how passionately they’re conveyed. Most of the time, I’m on the album’s side. I just think that because the album veers so far into the “making a statement” thing, it begins to make the music seem like merely a vehicle for the vocal performance. And when the vocals are so ham-fisted at times, this drags the album down a bit in my view. ‘Why’ fucking rules though. Final rating: 3.3/5
53Small Animal Hospital
sloth lung

skramz
I saw the title of the first song, 'Snow Emergency Parking Rules,' and jokingly thought to myself, "Hey, that'd be funny if they were from Minnesota." And then it turned out they're from Minneapolis, where I'm from. That was cool.
52Overo
Waiting For The End To Begin

emo/post-hardcore
51Fleshwater
We're Not Here To Be Loved

3.5s
gazey post-hardcore/metalcore
50Francesco Fonassi and Marta Salogni
l'ebbrezza delle grandi profondità

ambient/tape music/musique concrete
Underwater is this album’s theme. The title is Italian for “the intoxication of the great depths.” From Bandcamp: “The inebriation of being underwater is at the epicentre of a drifting sonic narrative where the listener is invited to get lost in. The pallet of sounds reflects both the marine landscapes and the altered state of mind that deep diving induces.” I haven’t deep-dived myself, but I would say the album succeeds in conveying the feeling of being underwater. Quite hypnotic and disorienting, but always so soft.
49meat computer
Slept on the Floor Still Dreamt About You

sadboi trap
I didn't realize this was a compilation until after I'd added it to the database. I found it on Spotify and assumed it was an album. My bad. "morning again" is truly precious and one of my favorite tracks of the year
48The Sawtooth Grin
Good.

grind/mathcore
2022 was the year of comebacks and this is one the best ones. Improves on the 2001 debut in every way.
47-S-
Dom, w którym mieszkał Wąż

experimental metal
46Pumice
Phylis

indie folk/indie rock/experimental
45Collider
Excessively Worthwhile

alt rock/indie pop/noise pop
44Cloud Rat
Threshold

grind
43tomppabeats
Habits

instrumental hip-hop/chill lo-fi beats to study/relax to
42Black Midi
Hellfire

experimental rock/post-punk
It took me a while to figure out what I thought of this band, and that was exciting in itself. At first I was really swept away by how different they are, but after a while, the rose-colored glasses came off and I started noticing how awkward and contrived they can be at times. That being said, I still think this is a really solid album. It sounds to me like they improved on what they were trying to do with Cavalcade. The songs here feel more purposeful and are just overall a bit more exciting and dramatic. It’s still not as good as Schlagenheim, but it’s fresh, witty, and a whole lot of fun.
41Wormrot
Hiss

grind
This album really was a big event. It was another comeback in the sense that it had been six years since their last one, and it was also their last one with their original vocalist. And it fucking delivers.
40Extra Life
Secular Works, Vol. 2

avant-chamber-doom-pop (or something)
Another comeback! These guys are one of my favorite bands. Their debut, Secular Works, is one of my favorite albums of all time. But their last release before this one came out in 2012, and I hadn’t heard or seen anything about their activity anywhere since. I thought they’d broken up or were on “permanent hiatus.” So, imagine my joy when I found out about this album on Sputnik near the end of the year! I can’t say anything they’ve done since their first album has touched it, but I love that they’re still going, and they definitely still sound like Extra Life – which is really saying something, considering how incredibly unique their sound is. My favorite cuts here are ‘Coming Apart’ and ‘We Are Not the Same.’ There’s a couple tracks here I'm not a fan of, but the others hit hard every time. Maybe it's a little cringe, but I can give that a pass in the name of this band's sincerity and unique artistic vision.
39Francois Robin and Mathias Delplanque
L'ombre de la b​ê​te

Breton folk/electroacoustic/experimental
The title is French for “shadow of the beast.” The name of the game here is bagpipes. A quote by Francois Robin from Bandcamp: “MY INSTRUMENT IS ANIMAL. EVERYTHING IN IT EVOKES ANIMALITY: ITS SHAPE, ITS SOUNDS, THE ABUNDANT ICONOGRAPHIC IMAGINATION IT HAS CREATED. AN INSTRUMENT WITH A ZOOMORPHIC CHARACTER, WHO BREATHES, BLOWS, SCREAMS, MOANS. DISSECTING MY BAGPIPE, I WISH TO MAKE THE SHADOW OF THIS BEAST HEARD AND SEEN.” Fresh, surprisingly immersive, and stunningly beautiful at times. I can say I’m a bit more sold on bagpipes now.
38Macroblank
痛みの永遠

chillwave/vaporwave
37Pyrithe
Monuments to Impermanence

sludge metal/noise rock
36Duster
Together

slowcore
35Imperial Triumphant
Spirit of Ecstasy

experimental black metal
Not exactly where I was hoping or expecting they would go after Alphaville, still pretty dang good though. 'In the Pleasure of their Company' is an absolute treat and definitely one of my favorite tracks of the year. Honestly, this will need a few more listens to fully figure out, but I'm expecting it'll grow on me.
34Huerco S
Plonk

ambient techno/ambient dub
I have this album to thank for introducing me to freestyle rapper SIR E.U. ‘Plonk IX,’ the track he’s featured on, I found so compelling that as soon as this album finished, I immediately hopped over to SIR E.U on Spotify. That’s definitely one of my favorite songs of 2022. I’ve been listening to his stuff regularly ever since – expect some reviews soon. All that being said, this album rules. A lovely zone-out session by way of steady, yet always unpredictable motion. Huerco S is great.
33Skin Tension
Omni

free improv/metal/noise/experimental
“We made an album to represent absolutely everything we’re into as a band!”
“Oh, cool!”
“It’s 27 hours long!”
“Oh…”
32Skin Tension
Omni_O

free improv/metal/noise/ambient/experimental
SHOUT-OUT: I haven’t actually listened to this yet, but I thought I’d give it a shout-out for fans who might not be aware of it. Even longer than Omni. From Bandcamp: “This is not a sequel to Omni, rather a look under the hood to give you a closer look at some of the moving parts; here we have lots of noise and ambient tracks, outtakes, extras, variations, original cassette mixes, extended versions of tracks used or repurposed etc. Anything repeated from Omni is here for context; over five days of context.”
31park zero
Proxy

power noise/glitch
30Whatever The Weather
Whatever The Weather

low 4s
idm/ambient
29Cult of Youth
With Open Arms

post-punk/folk
28Open Mike Eagle
Component System With The Auto Reverse

hip-hop
Some of the features on here kinda suck, but all the solo tracks are excellent. ‘I’ll Fight You’ and ‘79th and Stony Island’ are definitely two of my favorite tracks from the year. I think this guy's still pretty underrated. He's definitely one of my favorite rappers going right now.
27Danger Mouse and Black Thought
Cheat Codes

hip-hop
26Hatena
Years of Failure

"future funk"/glitch/plunderphonics/noise
25Blut Aus Nord
Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses

4s
psychedelic black metal
24Blut Aus Nord
Lovecraftian Echoes

psychedelic black metal
23Horse Lords
Comradely Objects

experimental rock
One of my favorite bands ever. A further exploration of their one-of-a-kind sound. Ever-changing polyrhythms both hypnotic and danceable, mixed with occasional moments of cheeky avant-garde mischief. You’re having fun, but you don’t even realize you’re expanding your mind while doing it. ‘Plain Hunt On Four’ has a delicious eeriness to it that makes it one of my favorite tracks of the year.
22The Soft Pink Truth
Is It Going to Get Any Deeper Than This?

deep house
21Naked Flames
Miracle in Transit

trance/techno
20Faceless Burial
At The Foothills Of Deliration

death metal
I went back and forth between a 3.5 and 4 on this one for a while, but eventually settled on a strong 4. So much death metal coming out now is the dissodeath stuff, I think I almost forgot what excellence in good-ol’-regular-modern-death metal sounded like. I think it sounds like this.
19Maria W Horn and Sara Parkman
Funeral Folk

Nordic folk/drone
18Nduduzo Makhathini
In The Spirit of Ntu

Afro-jazz
17Gospel
The Loser

progressive skramz/post-hardcore
Comeback of the year! // EDIT: Okay, this has grown off me a bit. I'd probably put it in the low 4s now, maybe even 3.5s. It's exciting and entertaining, especially after 17 years since The Moon is a Dead World, but after repeated listens, it seems now there's something a bit incomplete about its sound.
16Encenathrakh
Ithate Thngth Oceate

improvised technical brutal death metal
Perfect for relaxing after a long day.
15Sirom
The Liquified Throne of Simplicity

psychedelic folk/"imaginary folk"
14Ultha
All That Has Never Been True

black metal // EDIT: This has grown off me quite a bit. Probably a 3 now, which means no longer on the list :(
13Messa
Close

doom metal
12Billy Woods
Aethiopes

low 4.5s
hip-hop
Rap album of the year by far. Billy Woods is a poet and these instrumentals hit me immediately. It’s very heavy emotionally, but in a way I see as more empowering than despairing. I always feel cleansed by the end.
11Urushiol
Pools of Green Fire

experimental death metal
I like how someone on Bandcamp put it: "Undulating eldritch noise played by something with too many arms. Makes me feel like a nematode getting squeezed to death and digested by a hungry mycelium." Sounds about right.
10Shapeshifter (JPN)
Dark Ritual

grind/sludge metal/harsh noise elements
This album destroys. A lot of folks have been dabbling in mixing grind and sludge with harsh noise elements lately, and this is definitely the most effective example I’ve heard from out of this modern wave of it.
9Lynyn
Lexicon

idm/glitch
Conor Mackey, guitarist for math rock/jazz fusion band Monobody, makes his first solo electronic album. And it’s superb. Fans of Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares, Tipper, etc. get on this
8Government
Prepare Thyself to Deal with Treacle

experimental rock/no wave, maybe?
This’ll be the first thing I spin next time I get some shrooms. A “let’s be as weird as possible” album that really delivers. Something David Byrne would probably be really into.
7Effluence
Liquified

4.5s
improvised experimental technical brutal death metal/"free death"/blenders
To me, these guys are the kings of avant-garde metal right now. Listening to this album, prepare to be mixed, blended, chopped, diced, minced, pulverized, pureed, and ultimately, liquified. It certainly is brain-liquifying shit.
6CHAOS//BARISTA
MELTY DEPENDENCY UNLIMITED

chiptune/glitch/noise
So much fun. Definitely check this if you’re into this kind of thing.
5Jenny Hval
Classic Objects

art pop/experimental
I see this album as a return-to-form for Jenny. Whereas her last two albums were basically extensions of the Apocalypse, girl sound, this one gets her back on the track of using a different central style every time. This is her first one that finds its foundation in world music elements; a bit new-agey; drums with a tribal sort of flavor. These elements mix with her free-flowing melodies to create a surprisingly fresh, disarmingly introspective, and exceedingly lovely sort of “art pop” album. “Art pop” is a bit misleading though, as it’s not really as hooky or energetic as that might make you think. It’s more like calm, meditative rhythms alongside Jenny singing beautifully but in a meandering sort of way; taking you on a journey through her endearingly esoteric streams of thought, reaching emotional climaxes by way of realizations within the lyrics. You have to follow along to feel it fully, but when you do, it’s a truly enriching experience.
4Rolo Tomassi
Where Myth Becomes Memory

progressive metalcore
This was also a sort of comeback, as it had been five years since their last one, and that one was by far their most acclaimed album. I think this album is just as good as Time Will Die for the most part. If every track was as good as the first three and the closer, I might even say it’s better. But even if it pales a little in comparison, it’s still an evolution. ‘Stumbling’ is a clear (and beautiful) example of this album's new noir-ish quality, but you can also hear it in the tone selection throughout the album. Unfortunately, I still find ‘Labyrinthine’ and ‘Drip’ a bit underwhelming, and ‘Closer’ is also a bit of a wash when you’re not in the mood for it. But at least what they leave you with is one of their very best songs, ‘The End of Eternity.’ Pure epic-ness. These guys are one of my favorite metal bands and this album is a shining example of why.
3Kraus
Eye Escapes

shoegaze
I can say with confidence Kraus is my favorite shoegaze artist ever. He just nails the sound in my opinion. And this is my favorite album of his, a near-perfect blend of all the elements; the gaze, the noise, the ambience, the melody. The ambient interludes alone are time-stoppingly beautiful. The album as a whole is a feast that’s over too quickly.
2Effluence
Sarmat

5s
improvised experimental technical brutal death metal/"free death"/free jazz elements
Hands-down one of the craziest fucking things I’ve ever heard in my life. One 26-minute long odyssey of improvised(!) and unhinged brutal death metal with free jazz pianos and plenty of other crazy shit in its back pocket. These guys are so dangerously dexterous, I imagine their instruments must want to just shatter in their hands. It’s such a storm of shit happening, it basically sounds like a noise wall at first. So, any new elements they introduce, like the piano, enter as a texture first before you even realize how it’s interacting musically with the other instruments. When you listen close enough to pick it apart though, you find that all the instruments truly are in lock with each other, even though the rhythm doesn’t stay quite the same for more than a couple seconds. The most cerebral metal I've ever heard and an avant-garde milestone.
1Keiji Haino and Sumac
Into This Juvenile Apocalypse Our Golden Blood...

free improv
To quote Bandcamp: “Into this juvenile apocalypse captures Haino and the three members of SUMAC live on stage, navigating a series of spontaneous compositions in front of an attentive audience, with no prior discussions or planning involving the direction of the music.” For me, it unwinds at just the perfect pace. And the music is just kind of otherworldly. It feels like something beyond metal or our conception of “noise rock,” like an alien music channeled in by ordinary instruments and in this specific moment. I could try to describe the sound of it. It’s meaty, sludgy, and huge. It’s meandering and psychedelic. It’s tantalizingly delicate as well as ferociously noisy. But none of this description does it justice, because each adjective seems to minimize the whole; the wholly distinct character of the alien creature that was born when Keiji Haino and Sumac came together. More specifically, when they came together for this one-off show in Vancouver on May 21, 2019.
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