Earlier this year, I read Albert Mudrian’s “Choosing Death: The Improbably History of Death Metal and Grindcore” and listened to a LOT of well…death metal & grindcore. The book turned me onto some great grind & death metal….as well as some not-so-great stuff. Juxtapose this against “Memory Theater” the new LP by Escuela Grind. After listening to hours of death & grind, Escuela Grind sounds fresh and energized….the perfect blend of grind, power violence, hardcore & a dash of death metal.
That’s not to say “Dissolution Wave” wasn’t AOTY material….it is once again a step forward for Cloakroom and maybe their best LP yet. The XWeaponX demo got an insane number of listens in our house, but was just a little too short to earn the top slot (Can’t wait to see them in Jan ‘23 at Cobra Lounge).
Happy 2023! These were my favorite records of 2022.
-vh
1. Escuela Grind - Memory Theater
2. Cloakroom - Dissolution Wave
3. XWeaponX - Demo
4. Soul Glo - Diaspora Problems
5. End It - Unpleasant Living
6. Nine of Swords - Beyond the Swords
7. Ballista - Ballista Territory
8. Bleached Cross - s/t
9. Drug Church - Hygiene
10. Martha - Please Don’t Take Me Back
11. Anxious - Little Green House
12. Chat Pile - God’s Country
13. Judy & the Jerks - Music To Go Nuts
14. Soft Kill - Canary Yellow
15. Sarin - s/t
16. Mindforce - New Lords
17. Phobophilic - Enveloping Absurdity
18. Sector - The Chicago Sector
19. Krallice - Crystalline Exhaustion
20. Body Farm - Living Hell