TOP 10 ALBUMS IN JANUARY 2022

Hey Everybody! Surprised to see me back so soon? OR maybe you’re still tryi8ng to wrap your mind around the fact that I used to be That Drummer Guy but now I’m going under my own name for this new chapter called Heavy Debriefings? Regardless, I am here and I have decided to keep the album reviews going year round! And of course by that I mean I am doing it monthly at the end of every month (maybe even December?) to cover 10 of my favorite albums to come out during that month. Much like my top 100 (and 40 honorable mentions) I am going to do a quick bite size review of every album discussed and who knows, maybe if I get enough pep in my step, I may write up things every week? But to help kick off this new chapter of my music coverage let’s go over the ground rules.

1.) These will be Original Studio ALBUMS. Not EPs, live albums, cover albums, rarities albums, lost albums, splits, collaboration efforts, etc. Simply Original Studio Albums from bands. Simply enough, right?

2.) These will be ALPHABETICAL ORDER. Not ranked. I don’t give away my secrets of what will be in the top 100 that easy. At least buy me a drink first!

3.) These reviews will be like my top 100 list where I give the band name, the album and the FFO section; followed by a paragraph review. I could easily go track by track on every album; but then I will have given everything away. I want YOU to check any of these albums out and make up your own thoughts if you dig it or not. I’m just here to let you be aware these albums are out and for your listening pleasure.

4.) There is nothing sponsored here nor stolen content. Just my own thoughts. I have been given almost every album I review as a stream or promo and anything I missed I checked out on Spotify or bandcamp after release.

5.) I will be covering more albums in audio form on my podcast every week there is a new show. There may be some crossover, other ones may just be in audio form. So check out both for the optimum experience.

6.) None of these albums are set in stone for the best of 2022. I may be high on them now, but that could change for a multitude of reasons (mainly if the band does something asinine).

7.) Any album not featured here or in the podcast can EASILY still be featured in my top 100. I don’t have the ability to hear every album and some will slip through the cracks now or even then. So I just need to hear an album and make assertions from there.

8.) These are done for YOU. So I hope you can discover some new music on my behalf and be shown that new music has never stopped being great. Just go discover it.

Now let’s begin!

Battle Beast- Circus of Doom
FFO- Power Metal, Modern Metal, Metal ABBA

This album is fun, full of cheese and easily the best Battle Beast album to date. It really feels on Circus of Doom that the band has figured out who they are after a couple albums of discovering themselves and seeing what works and what doesn’t. What did the band need? Just more fun! Also more metal! If you want an album that will just put a smile on your face and remind you that catchy pop sensibilities can work in metal. You just may want to enter the circus of doom!

Celeste- Assassine(s)
FFO- Blackgaze

I truly think this may be the best produced blackgaze album that I have ever come across. The production is pristine, clean and full, while still maintaining the rawness that’s truly needed to make the back metal element of blackgaze standout. This french band has really taken what you need to create an atmosphere in and of itself over the past 5 albums and created the perfect formula for it in their brand new 6th album. If you don’t speak French, don’t let it get in your way. The vocal melodies standout so much that it should not be an issue. Just kickback and enjoy the ethereal masterworks of Celeste!

Comeback Kid- Heavy Steps
FFO- Hardcore, Metallic Hardcore, Pop Rock

Comeback Kid is back and they are at their finest album so far. They come in, write the best songs they could possibly bring, invite a few welcomed guests to the party, and leave you just after long enough to where you will want to immediately start over and enjoy the album once again. That is how you make a hardcore album! Its heavy, catchy, and ready to be the soundtrack of the next circle pit you get to (safely) attend. Comeback Kid is simply nailing it.

Dance With The Dead- Driven to Madness
FFO- Heavy Metal, Synthwave, Horror-Synth

When you can get John and Cody Carpenter to guest on your album; you know that you are in good company. Dance with the Dead have put out their best work to date with catchy, haunting and fun songs that fit the mood no matter the time of year (though this DEFINITELY needs to be played at your next Halloween social gathering). If you dig a modern take on 80s horror music; Dance with the Dead is the band for you.

The Ferrymen- One More River to Cross
FFO- Power Metal

Magnus Karlsson, Ronnie Romero and Mike Terrana...The perfect power metal trio. I’ve always been a fan of The Ferrymen, but something about this album has grabbed me in a way that no other album from potentially ANY of these 3 men has grabbed me before. Its filled with some of the best choruses you’ll hear all year mixed with magnificent music proficiency. TO anyone who says that power metal is in a lull right now has clearly missed out on this album. Check this out immediately!

In Loving Memory- The Withering
FFO- Melodic Funeral Doom Metal

A brand new discovery for me thanks to Cary the Metal Geek at MSRCast/Metal Geeks/Mainstream Resistance. Spanish Doom metal with just the right flavorings of melodeath and funeral doom metal vocals. It’s as if you combined Insomnium and Mournful Congregation and drank in the best parts of both bands. Absolutely tearjerking and haunting all while filling you with a sense of dread and melodies that you just do not expect till it happens. This is how its done, folks!

Lawnmower Deth- Clunt Cutters
FFO- Crossover Thrash

The band’s first new album in...28 F’N YEARS! And they know how to bring things back in style. 18 songs, 34 minutes, absolutely zero filler. Just killer songs from start to finish whether it’s a mid tempo stomper or a thrash metal riff that will send you torpedoing into the pit; Lawnmower Death has brought back their signature style of crossover thrash and in 2022, it’s what the world needs now. Don’t skip out on this one. It’s one hell of a return.

Pensees Nocturnes- Douce Fange
FFO- Avant Garde Black Metal, Experimental

I covered the band’s 2019 album, Grand Guignol Orchestra in my top 100 of 2019 list calling it the soundtrack to an x-rated circus horror movie and this new album does not fall far from the freak show tent! The album is completely absurd and just plain bonkers. This album does feature much more diversity in it’s psychotic nature, which makes everything sound even more bizarre and frightening. Put this album on the next time you go on a date and they tell you that they listen to everything. Let’s find out if they are lying!

Power Paladin- With The Magic of Wyndfire Steel
FFO- Power Metal

Look, power metal is a cheesy metal genre. Dragonforce has taught all of the outsiders about that over 20 years ago. Sometimes you have to embrace the cheese and not take yourself so seriously. Sometimes you need a band that is not afraid of who they are and even on their debut album, an Icelandic power metal can randomly break into The Legend of Zelda main theme and make it make absolute sense in context. That’s exactly what Power Paladin does here. It’s every power metal cliché rolled into one package and I wouldn’t want it any other way. If you want an absurd power metal band like Gloryhammer but can’t listen them anymore because (well...just google it); let Power Paladin take their place. They are more a worthy substitute and just an overall killer band.

Wilderun- Epigone
FFO- Progressive Death Metal, North American Folk Metal

Some bands are afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve. Some do it and will not admit it. Wilderun knows that they have an undeniable Opeth influence, but especially on Epigone; they have proven that they band can branch out and become a whole new entity while still showing off what they know and love. They dynamics on this album are completely insane from whisper spoken vocals to bombastic blastbeats that destroy everything in it’s path. Imagine Opeth’s prog death, Devin Townsend’s whimsical off the wall genre bending, and just the right amount of Ne Obliviscaris orchestration and you have what just may be America’s answer to Ne Obliviscaris. This will be in many people’s top albums of the year and there is absolutely no misunderstanding as to why, This has it all!


And there you go ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between! My January picks for 2022. It’s been a killer month and I’ve left out some great albums just to keep this at a top 10, so make sure you stay on the lookout for what’s to come in February 2022 which I know will be one of my favorite metal months of 2022. Now go discover some new music!

- Josh Rundquist (Heavy Debriefings)