Compiled by Team Über

The Uber Rock Approved stampSo, it’s that time of year, when we look back on what has been a perhaps unsurprisingly productive period for the rock ‘n’ roll industry, with bands emerging from the Covidications of the previous two years with renewed fires in their creative bellies and releasing dozens upon dozens of high quality albums that consistently and constantly raised the bar in every conceivable genre.

It’s been very difficult for our team of crack ninja reviewers to whittle down the sheer mountain of music to which they have listened, and by and large enjoyed, over the past 12 months, but they have applied themselves to that onerous task with their usual aplomb and passion to help us, somewhat humbly, boil the aural events of the period down into some form of cogent summary.

First up, we present our individual choices of the albums that we’ve been rinsing until the labels fade to grey and the needles on our turntables give up the fight. While you scroll through them, our team of highly trained leprechauns will be working away behind the scenes, analyzing voting patterns and eschewing the detritus to produce our definitive list of our favourite releases of 2022.

David O’Neill

Artwork for Red Alert In The Blue Forest by Von Hertzen Brothers

  1. Von Hertzen Brothers – Red Alert In The Blue Forest
  2. Shinedown – Planet Zero
  3. Scarlet Rebels – See Through Blue
  4. Cardinal Black – January Came Close
  5. Kris Barras Band – Death Valley Paradise
  6. H.E.A.T -Force Majeure
  7. Kira Mac – Chaos Is Calling
  8. Alter Bridge – Pawns And Kings
  9. Stone Broken – Revelation
  10. Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out And More

DJ Astrocreep

  1. The Blackheart Orchestra – Hotel Utopia
  2. Girls In Synthesis – The Rest Is Distraction
  3. Devin Townsend Project – Lightwork
  4. The Grand Mal – II
  5. Malevolence – Malicious Intent
  6. Poly-Math – Zenith
  7. Vonals – Titan To Tachyons
  8. Steak – Acute Mania
  9. Kurokuma – Born of Obsidian
  10. Helms Alee – Keep This Be The Way
  11. Hundred Year Old Man – Sleep In Light
  12. Woorms – Fatalismo
  13. Clutch – Sunrise On Slaughter Beach
  14. Gogol Bordello – Solidaritine
  15. Puppy – Pure Evil
  16. Crobot – Feel This
  17. Dez Dare – Ulysses Trash
  18. Wax On Water – The Drip
  19. Revival Black – Under The Light
  20. Electric Callboy – Tekkno
  21. Bloodywood – Rakshak
  22. Coheed and Cambria – Vaxis II: A Window To The Waking Mind

Jase Walker

  1. Bilmuri – Goblin HoursArtwork for Goblin Hours by Bilmuri
  2. Royal Coda – To Only A Few At First
  3. Earthists – Have A Good Cult
  4. The Midnight – Heroes
  5. Louis Cole – Quality Over Opinion
  6. Ithaca – They Fear Us
  7. Vukovi – NULA
  8. Northlane – Obsidian
  9. Electric Callboy – Tekkno
  10. Monuments – In Stasis
  11. Counterparts – A Eulogy For Those Still Here
  12. Callous Daoboys – Celebrity Therapist
  13. Hollow Front – The Price Of Dreaming
  14. Dayseeker – Dark Sun
  15. Static Dress – Rouge Carpet Disaster
  16. Borders – Bloom Season
  17. Invisions – Deadlock
  18. Thrillchaser – It Was Always Gonna Be Like This
  19. Giant Walker – All In Good Time
  20. Blood Command – Praise Armageddonism
  21. Future Palace – Run
  22. AERIES – Arcanum

Jim Rowland

  1. Birth – BornArtwork for Born by Birth
  2. Scorpions – Rock Believer
  3. Midnight – Let There Be Witchery
  4. Afghan Whigs – How Do You Burn?
  5. Suede – Autofiction
  6. Cockney Rejects – Power Grab
  7. Ghost – Impera
  8. The Hellacopters – Eyes Of Oblivion
  9. Fontaines DC – Skinty Fia
  10. Cats In Space – Kickstart The Sun
  11. Pixies – Doggerel
  12. Voivod – Synchro Anarchy
  13. Anvil – Impact Is Imminent
  14. Municipal Waste – Electrified Brain
  15. The Speedways – Talk Of The Town
  16. Midlake – For The Sake Of Bethel Woods
  17. Walter Trout – Ride
  18. Marillion – An Hour Before It’s Dark
  19. The Imbeciles – Imbecilica
  20. Deathtraps – Appetite For Prescription
  21. Damian O’Neill – an crann
  22. Spunk Volcano & The Eruptions – Knackers Yard

Jonny BakesArtwork for Lightwork by Devin Townsend

  1. Devin Townsend – Lightwork
  2. Electric Callboy – Tekkno
  3. Ghost – Impera
  4. Sabaton – The War To End All Wars
  5. Bloodywood – Rakshak
  6. Amon Amarth – The Great Heathen Army
  7. Frank Turner – FTHC
  8. Clutch – Sunrise On Slaughter Beach
  9. Malevolence – Malicious Intent
  10. Dream Widow – Dream Widow
  11. Parkway Drive – Darker Still
  12. Audrey Horne – Ashes To Ashes
  13. Ibaraki – Rashomon
  14. The Chats – Get Fucked
  15. Punk Rock Factory – A Whole New Wurst 2
  16. Wednesday 13 – Horrifier
  17. Stratovarius – Survive
  18. Hälläs – Isle of Wisdom
  19. Taylor Swift – Midnights
  20. Battle Beast – Circus of Doom
  21. Soilwork – Övergivenheten
  22. Xentrix – Seven Words

Kris Engelhart

  1. Infected Rain – Ecdysis
  2. Billy Talent – Crisis of Faith
  3. Steve Vai – Inviolate
  4. Amorphis – Halo
  5. Zeal & Ardor – Zeal & Ardor
  6. Sabaton – The War to End All Wars
  7. Ghost – Impera
  8. Northlane – Obsidian
  9. Dorothy – Gifts From the Holy Ghost
  10. Shinedown – Planet Zero
  11. Anvil – Impact Is Imminent
  12. Michael Schenker Group – Universal
  13. Crobot – Feel This
  14. Michael Monroe – I Live Too Fast To Die Young
  15. Amon Amarth – The Great Heathen Army
  16. Russian Circles – Gnosis
  17. Machine Head – Øf Kingdøm And Crøwn
  18. The Callous Daoboys – Celebrity Therapist
  19. Behemoth- Opvs Contra Notvram
  20. Dropkick Murphys – This Machine Still Kills Fascists
  21. Lorna Shore – Pain Remains
  22. Stryper – The Final Battle

MonkArtwork for Research And Destroy by The Good The Bad The Zugly

  1. The Good The Bad And The Zugly – Research And Destroy
  2. Malevolence – Malicious Intent
  3. Burnt Out Wreck – Stand And Fight
  4. Skypilot – Simple Beasts
  5. Wild Heat – Hustle
  6. Anvil – Impact Is Imminent
  7. Halestorm – Back From The Dead
  8. Michael McDermott – St Paul’s Boulevard
  9. Spunk Volcano & The Eruptions – Knackers Yard
  10. Sowulo – Wurdiz
  11. The Wolves Of Avalon – Y Gododdin
  12. Machine Head – Øf Kingdøm And Crøwn
  13. Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts – Ballad Of A Misspent Youth
  14. Gerry Jablonski And The Electric Band – 105
  15. SAOR – Origins
  16. Once Human – Scar Weaver
  17. Layla Zoe – The World Could Change
  18. Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters – Mythos, Confessions, Tragedies and Love
  19. Crash Diet – Automaton
  20. Strangle Wire – Shaped By Human Frailty
  21. Slyder Smith And The Oblivion Kids – Charm Offensive
  22. Gogol Bordello – Solidaritine

So, there you have it, the individual lists by our core team of crack ninja reviewers. As you will have seen, there is some crossover, but the fact that seven lists gave us almost 200 albums which have not just floated but rocked our boats over the past 12 months is a huge testimony to not only the eclectic tastes of the ÜR team but also the massive diversity of high quality music which has been produced this year just ending…

But now, it comes to the inevitable “poll of polls” and once again we’ve set the ÜRHQ leprechauns to working, crunching the abacus (well, in these times of economic cuts, it was actually good old-fashioned scribbles on the back of a recycled envelope) to see which album came out as our collective favourite release of 2022… and so, in the best ÜR here are our top five picks presented, as ever, in reverse order:

Electric Callboy – Tekkno

A masterpiece that is guaranteed to divide opinion.. you’re either going to absolutely love it and dance around every room in the house listening to it, or you’re going to hate it because, simply, you hate fun – Jonny B

Anvil – Impact Is Imminent

Business as usual for Anvil, and another quality addition to their catalogue… true to their heavy metal roots, and true to their heavy metal fans, Anvil just keep on poundin’ – Jim R

Devin Townsend – Lightworks

A fantastic body of work that adds even further depth and quality to the catalogue of someone who has made a long career now by demonstrating his talent in such different ways – DJ Astrocreep

Ghost – Impera

Excuse us if we build the tension for just one more sentence, but there can only be one winner, and this year we are delighted to announce that, yet again, if comes from one of the most exciting talents to emerge from this ‘ere Über Kingdom in recent years, and a band who raised both their middle fingers and horns during 2022 and made the year their own… hailing from the Steel City, they produced an album that definitely, and defiantly, lived up to its name:

Malevolence – Malicious Intent

‘Malicious Intent’ is an angry but considered album. It possesses a fury that feels like it is about to explode at any second, but which is being deliberately restrained by a group of musicians who know what will happen once it is truly unleashed. A lot of thought, passion and angst has gone into creating this album, and each factor is evident at every point – Monk

Congratulations to the malevolent ones for winning the hearts, minds and souls of the ÜR crüe,and not only delivering one of the finest albums of the year but some of the most impactful and powerful live performances it has been our insane pleasure to witness and be part of.

That’s it for another metallic, punk rock ‘n’ roll year… we’ll see you on the other side for more musical mayhem that (hopefuly) kicks your butt and impregnates your aural cortexes with some sublimelu brilliant tunage \m/

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