Our 2022 Annual Report continues with our Top 30 Metal and Hard Rock Albums list. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2022. You can find it all in one place here.
Touring returned in full force in 2022, if not more so, as bands made up for lost time on the road. During that concert-industry shutdown of 2020 and 2021, many artists used the time to hit the studio.
Veteran acts like Ozzy Osbourne, Slipknot, Rammstein, and Lamb of God, who had all just released albums in 2019 or 2020, were able to record new albums during their time off the road, and thus unleashed follow-ups in a relatively quick manner in 2022.
Other acts like Megadeth and Alexisonfire ended long waits, releasing their first albums in six and 13 years, respectively. And Ghost continued their meteoric rise to the upper echelon of metal bands with their fifth album, as the Swedish act brought their stunning live show to arenas around the world.
Meanwhile, younger bands such as Soul Glo, Nova Twins, and Bloodywood — all of whom are pushing the boundaries of heavy music while delivering thought-provoking and socially conscious lyrics — offered exciting and groundbreaking releases this year.
Heavy music continues to evolve on a yearly basis, as evidenced by the wide range of releases that made Heavy Consequence‘s list of the Top 30 Metal and Hard Albums of 2022. Below are the albums that stood out among the rest this year.
— Spencer Kaufman
Managing Editor, Heavy Consequence