Words by: Tom Wilson @thetomwilsonexperiment - Sense Music Media | Wednesday 21st December 2022

Guns, Grindcore, Grinspoon and a little bit of Heroine
Tom’s Best Of 2022

After the frustration of watching live music try to splutter back to life in 2021, 2022 was when the engine finally turned over, and before we knew it, it was going full throttle. There has been so much great live music this year that it was hard to make this list. Here are the songs, gigs, interviews and people that made this year special…

Top 10 Tracks of 2022

10. HARPER – Falling

Immediately going viral as the ten-year-old girl screaming SPIRITBOX’s Holy Roller on America’s Got Talent, HARPER’s first solo effort is a promising blend of low-end roars and a simple ear-worm vocal hook. Her future is so bright, she should be wearing shades.

9. ADALITA – Hit Me

An intoxicating mix of haunting reverb, ethereal crooning and Adalita’s signature voice, Hit Me is as poised, cool and effective as the woman herself.

8. MESHUGGAH – Broken Cog

Dragging myself out of bed after a big night to take part in the first listening party for Immutable, the opening pound of Broken Cog did as good a job of waking me up as any espresso. A lurching, eerie march into a dark night, when Jens Kidman’s scream finally kicks off, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

7. KREATOR – Hate Über Alles

Textbook high-velocity thrash from the German veterans, the title track of their latest album will make you want to find the biggest threat you can and fight it with your bare hands.

6. FEAR FACTORY/TYRANT OF DEATH – Empires Fall (Collapse Remix)

The clear standout from the remix album of Aggression Continuum, TYRANT OF DEATH turns a throwaway line from the song Collapse into a soaring chorus, while somehow making Dino Cazares’ guitar sound even heavier. It’s jaw-dropping.

5. FREDRIK THORDENDAL – Agrimotor

In recording a promo track to showcase a drum plugin, MESHUGGAH axeman Fredrik Thordendal incidentally created one of my favourite metal tracks of this year, with a plunging riff that highlights everything I love about him as a guitarist.

4. BOB VYLAN – GDP

A scathing indictment of the wealth gap in England set to searing nu metal guitars, this is rap metal done right. The chorus slams.

3. BLOODYWOOD – Gaddar

One of the year’s biggest surprises, BLOODYWOOD’s Rakshak blends traditional Indian instruments with crushing seven-string guitars, Hindi screaming and rap metal. Culture and metal hasn’t collided this well since SEPULTURA’s Roots.

2. WORMROT – Behind Closed Doors

There is something to be said for efficiency, and Singapore grinders WORMROT get more done in under ninety seconds than some bands achieve with a whole album. And they do it all with a microphone, a drumkit and a guitar. Strap yourself in.

1. THORNHILL – Arkangel

It may have pissed off some of their long-time fans, but the gothic aesthetic and DEFTONES worship that Melbourne’s THORNHILL displayed on Arkangel made me an instant fan. I first heard this while stuck in COVID quarantine in January, and I was instantly obsessed.

Best Album of 2022

Runner-Up

WORMROT - Hiss

33 minutes, 21 songs, no mercy. The Singapore grind heroes turned out an album that is blisteringly violent but also oddly beautiful, thanks to the contributions of young violinist Myra Choo. Vocalist Arif announced his departure from WORMROT before this album came out. He knew this was going to be his last effort, and he made it count. It’s stunning.

Winner

THORNHILL – Heroine

Gothic metalcore by way of DEFTONES and STABBING WESTWARD, Heroine is a jaw-dropping mix of down-tuned pummel, crooning vocals and atmospherics. The songs are memorable, the melodies are huge, and it helps that the production sounds like a million bucks. Witnessing them play almost the whole damn thing at The Triffid was a sight to behold.

Best Interview

Runner-Up

Jay Gordon

Aside from being a big fan of his band ORGY when I was in high school, my interview with Jay Gordon shouldn’t have been too dramatic. Unfortunately, I was doing it while waiting nervously to find out that a loved one was coming out of surgery … and after waiting hours, the hospital still hadn’t called. Finally getting the phone call while on a Zoom call with Jay, and getting to share the good news, was one of the best moments of the year. Oh, and he also casually dropped into the conversation that he’d been shot. So there was that, too.

Winner

Phil Jamieson

“I hate jocks.” Funny, charismatic and cheeky, I only had fifteen minutes with the GRINSPOON frontman, but holy shit, did he make it memorable. He tore into crowdsurfers, and baulked when I suggested that he showed his daughter how to paint her nails. (“I don’t paint my nails, gosh! I got to the bloody salon! I’m not touching my nails! Tom, are you kidding me? There’s people who do that!”) He even got deep for a moment as we talked about drugs and sobriety. An absolute class act.

Most Dangerous Band

CHOOF

A performance so unhinged I had to create a new award for it, CHOOF’s stint opening for KING PARROT on the Brisbane leg of the Regional Rampage won’t be forgotten in a hurry. Channelling his inner G.G. Allin, vocalist Jake was covered in beer and spittle inside of a minute. Whether he was hurling himself around the crowd and headbutting the floor of The Zoo so hard I could feel it in the floorboards five metres away, or sitting on the monitors and having someone in the front row rub his feet, I haven’t feared for my safety at a show in a long time. For a kid’s birthday party that little Timmy will be talking about for the rest of his life (presumably in therapy), book CHOOF today!

Mr. Rogers Award for Nicest Person

Matt Young (KING PARROT)

Whether he’s onstage fronting one of Australia’s greatest heavy acts, offstage working as a manager, behind a merch desk, or helping recovering addicts through his work as a counsellor, Youngy’s work ethic speaks for itself. It also helps that he’s an absolutely lovely human being. Mr Rogers would be proud.

Gigs of the Year 2022

5. GOJIRA @ Eaton’s Hill

The French eco-warriors laid waste to Eaton’s Hill for a spectacular Good Things sideshow. Brutality, technicality and a guitar tone that can smash a planet in half – there’s really no one quite like them.

4. FRONTIERER @ The Zoo

I arrived at The Zoo having a shit day, and ended up carrying guitarist Pedram around on my shoulders while he was playing. Metal fixes everything. A blindingly ferocious show.

3. SOULFLY @ Good Things

When you get nailed in the head with a beer thirty seconds into a show and it doesn’t ruin the experience, you know it’s a good set. Max Cavalera and Dino Cazares onstage together was one for the books.

2. KING PARROT @ The Bendigo Hotel

I’ve been front row for three shows from grindcore nutters KING PARROT this year, but it was hard to top this – a hometown set at Melbourne’s Bendigo Hotel. No barricade and a room full of sweaty grind nuts equals carnage, with a punter almost demolishing Toddy’s drumkit and shrieker-in-chief Matt Young walking along the ceiling while crowd surfing.

1. SUNK LOTO @ The Triffid

Playing their first shows in over a decade, this was the show I’ve wanted to see since I was fifteen, and I was front and centre as SUNK LOTO absolutely destroyed The Triffid. A perfect set from a vital Queensland band, captured forever on video (I’m the giant absolutely destroying his neck in the front row).