Although this blog is currently mothballed, it would be very remiss not to salute those acts whose releases have illuminated this first post-Covid year, with gigs virtually back to normal and bands no longer confined to the studio. 2022 has seen a further maturing of the current wave of bands, with most of the projects in the Top 10 on at least their third album, and now fully establishing themselves as scene leaders. With giant Euro festivals as diverse as the 80's retro W-Fest (in Belgium) and metal-obsessed Hellfest (in France) seeing the wisdom of effectively having a goth stage at their events (with Fields of the Nephilim set to play at both) in 2023, the scene continues to both consolidate and grow organically, waiting for the glorious day when the rest of the world finally catches up with the great music made over the past decade....
So here without any further ado are the Goth/Post-Punk Revival blog Top Releases of 2022:
Top 10 albums of 2022 (in alphabetical order)
All My Thorns – Further From The
Distant Sun
Shamelessly Nephilim-influenced metal-tinged occult goth rock, fantastically written, performed, produced and mastered.
Black Angel – The Black Rose
Dramatic modern film noir gothic
rock take on classic 80’s tropes updated for the discerning modern audience.
Deathtrippers – Passion and Fire
High quality atmospheric gothgaze
from the Leeds band keeping the flame alive in the scene's "heartland".
JE T’AIME – Passive
Energetically diverse French
post-punk album stuffed with good tunes.
Kill Shelter - Asylum
Stunningly produced modern gothic darkwave which at its best is an alchemical melange of The Prodigy and The Sisters of Mercy
Malefixio – Magia Ceremonial
Spell-binding buzzsaw low-fi Batcave deathrock from the Barcelona trio, it's raw power earning the album a place in this top 10.
October Burns Black – Two Worlds
Collide
Trad goth rock supergroup deliver powerful and well-paced full debut set after a couple of highly promising EPs
Secret French Postcards – Life
Got Claws
Dreamy guitar-based gothgaze with
shimmering Chameleons-reminiscent melodies, an album to wallow in.
Then Comes Silence – Hunger
Peerless polished angular and
dramatic goth-tinged post-punk from the Swedish maestros on this their sixth album.
They Die – Emptiness Prevails
Epic dark gothic synthwave for the
dancefloor from the fast-rising Italian trio.
Runners-up (i.e. 11-20, in no
particular order): Soft Moon, Adriano Bê,
Cabaret Grey, Byronic Sex & Exile, The Doctors, Red Moon Macabre, Crows, The
Palest Grey, The Black Capes, Rammstein
Top EPs of 2022 (in alphabetical order)
Fearing – Desolate
Classy darkwave post-punk from the
first note to the last chord of a varied but fascinating EP
Gallows’ Eve – Five Hexes
Accomplished Swedish goth rock with
trad leanings
Mark E Moon – Lux Invictae
Gothier set of tracks from the ever-reliable
Manx darkwave act
Neonpocalypse – ISM
Wonderfully retro futurist solo outing
from Then Comes Silence frontman
Velvet Mist – Visitation
Unashamedly late 80’s-style melodic goth
rock from Belgium
The Waning Moon – The Waning Moon
Excellent trad goth collaboration
between Ariel Maniki and Zac Campbell (Kentucky Vampires)
Top 5 singles of 2022 (in alphabetical order)
Ground Nero – Dead
World
Strong baritone
vocal lament over the habitual upbeat gothic wall-of-sound
Kill Shelter ft
Beborn Beton – In This Place
Nagging syncopated
Hussey-esque riff underpins modern darkwave classic which nods knowingly to DM
and TSOM
The Bellwether
Syndicate – Dystopian Mirror
Surprisingly energetic and original
gothic rock from one of the scene’s most established, erm, bellwethers.
Then Comes
Silence – Tickets to Funerals
Inventively
powerful gothic post-punk from the most professional band on the scene
They Die – A
Single Frame
Descending
bassline, lugubrious vocal, club friendly sequencer BPM, shimmering and
modulating guitars. A perfect example of the current scene at its best.