Trying to write down my Top 5 releases of 2022 made me realize, there were far more releases i kept up with and i was interested in. So i decided to at least seperate my list into albums and singles.
Also @Ezra 's prediction
under the cut
My Top 5 Albums of 2022
1. Nevrness - Reorient
Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised to find this album as my number one.
It’s 32 minutes and 13 seconda of only bass guitar and drums.
The initial spark for Bitokus project was a official demo for Ibanez, released in the beginning of 2022.
I remember actually playing exactly that demo whenever we hang out on turntable, because i liked it a lot, so getting a whole album like that was pretty amazing.
Even though it’s “just” bass and drums the songs don’t make you feel that anything is missing. Even with the bass he was able to draw beautiful melodies in the songs.
And if you don’t enjoy instrumental music that much, don’t worry, all song are pretty short and the can serve perfectly as SE’s in any playlist. 
Highlights: Vengeance, Endleaf, Cloudscape
A little thought i wanted to add
From following the project pretty early on i noticed quiet often the “why you use pick? You have to slap the bass” complaints. And it’s THAT thing any bassist gets criticized for.
My personal thoughts on it is, that it makes Nevrness more unique. Any bassist would opt for using their hands nowadays to play bass for a solo project, so Bitoku staying loyal to his pick might just makes him stick outside from the majority.
2. Earthists. - Have A Good Cult
Earthists first album after leaving their label. There is a significant difference, musical wise, towards the two albums they released before.
From kind of classic metalcore (earthists were accounted as naturecore) to more pop infused and djenty Core (they went from naturecore to cultcore)
I had a bit mixed feelings seeing Sunblood on the album, a song released almost 2 years before the album, but the song fits perfectly well inside, so i am shaking the mixed feelings aside. 
The album has a nice pace allover and ends on a pretty poppy song, that let’s the guitarist and clean vocalist Yuto shine.
If you have heard any of their previous remixes you will know that these guys nail pop-rock based music pretty well.
Highlights: Lost Grace, Have a good Cult, Skywalker
3. Alphoenix - Evils Ways
Alphoenix’ second studio album consists of a well mix of harsh and clean vocals.
We have amazing guitar solos and a beautiful bass solo in ‘Refusion’. With a bit over 51 minutes it’s the longest album on my list.
Highlights: Refusion, Silver Lining,
BlaQ Road (would love to lay this song to the heart of VK fans, i think it has a familiar feeling)
4. Sable Hills - Duality
Sable Hills was that band that gave me the final kick to dig more into japanese metalcore. I am pretty glad i gave these guys a try.
Also they went their first time to Europe last year.
The album itself is a smooth ride. From Takuya’s harsh vocals to Rict’s guitar and clean vocals.
A little frustration is there unfortunately, the album seems to be not available as digital download. So all you can do is buy it physical or stream it.
Highlights: Messiah, Snake In The Grass, The Envy
5. The Cards I Play - Retrograde
The first album for The Cards I Play consists of a nice mix of heavier and softer songs. There is something for everyone, basically.
We also got some ballads, with ‘Wherever you are’ and a heavier one with ‘Shades of Gray’.
With around 42 minutes is has nice running time, not too long and not to short.
Highlights: Take My Hand, Golden Age, Shades of Grey
Honorary mentions:
Prompts - Fracture
Take This To Heart - Hypernova
My Top 5 Singles of 2022
- Sailing Before The Wind - One Step Over, Rain or Shine, Neo Chronicle, Illuminator
I can see some you already telling me this is cheating… Yes it is.
But instead of making 1-4 with SBTW because i can’t decide, i just slap 4 singles at nr1 
Each of those 4 songs has their own charme.
For One Step Over, there is this line in the lyrics “We’re rugged outlaws overseeing the plain, riding horse across the rocky terrain”
For weeks i was fighting each time i listened to the song the urge to draw the whole band sitting on some horses in some cowboy clothes thankfully this goes past my actual drawing abilities
Rain or Shine was my most listened song on Spotify. I love the bass solo and the melody after it is just giving me the feels.
Neo Chronicle, just the beginning melody of the song already hits.
Illuminator it was a song i actually didn’t like in the beginning but i threw it on my playlists and it grew on me over time
For those who do not like screams or might not like Ryoichi’s voice, i can still recommend to listen to the instrumental versions of the songs, it’s still pretty awesome and worth it without vocals.
02. HIKAGE - Homesick
A good and decent hardcore release, it has beautiful guitar solo and the lyrics are quite 
03. The Local Pints - Pale Summer
A warm and nice summer bop, perfectly enjoyable even if you don’t drink beer
04. One Eye Closed - Squall
I did listen to this song endless times without noticing that it was released only last year. So ya know… I gotta add it here because i listened to it too much
They also released another song near the end of the year “Real Intent”, which is pretty cool too.
05. ovEnola - Doors
ovEnola released 3 singles in a row last year and Doors is one of them. I am bit sad because these guys popped up a bit late basically on my listening journey last year.
And a
Big shoutout goes to Lost In Again for releasing their first EP “The Cycle of Reincarnation”
