To say 2022 was challenging would be the understatement of the year - but once we finally got over the hump and everything life threw at us - the bigger picture was that business/life had this funny way of working itself out. I'm the happiest I've ever been, surrounded by the best humans on earth and, as an added bonus, we got to work with some incredible bands and musicians who I look up to and cannot wait to see explode.
Wall of Sound's content haul was our best yet - we set unattainable goals for ourselves and smashed them without evening knowing if we were capable of pulling them off - and I can safely say, despite running my body into the ground this year - it made me realise our true potential as global leaders of alternative music and culture content creators.
I have nothing but love for each and every one of you, who has helped us get to where we are now. I've said it a few times this year, who knew this little 'blog' would end up being the juggernaut it has become today... and the best thing is, we're only just getting started.
Here's what caught my eye this year - hope you discovered some new bands too and you continue to tell the world about your favs and the next upcomers - because they ARE the future of this scene xoxo
THE TOP 20 RELEASES OF 2022
- Windwaker - Love Language
- Parkway Drive - Darker Still
- Ocean Sleeper - Is it Better Feeling Nothing EP
- I Prevail - True Power
- Electric Callboy - TEKKNO
- The Devil Wears Prada - Color Decay7. Architects - the classic symptoms of a broken spirit
- Northlane - Obsidian
- Betraying The Martyrs - Silver Lining EP
- Void of Vision - CHRONICLES II: Heaven
- Ghost - IMPERA
- The Butterfly Effect - IV
- Bad Omens - THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND
- Pridelands - Light Bends
- Reliqa - I Don't Know Who I Am EP
- Short Stack - Maybe There's No Heaven
- Fit For a King - The Hell We Create
- Motionless In White - Scoring The End of The World
- Blood Command - Praise Armageddonism
- Disturbed - Divisive
Honourable mentions: Thornhill, Rogue Half, Lorna Shore and Paperweight
THE TOP 20 SONGS OF 2022
1. Windwaker - 'Trenches'
2. Northlane - 'Carbonized'
3. Parkway Drive - 'Soul Bleach'
4. Taylor Swift - 'Karma
5. Falling in Reverse - 'Zombified'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyK-UytvpUQ
6. Electric Callboy - 'F*ckboi feat. Conquer Divide'
7. Short Stack - 'Armageddon'
8. blink-182 - 'Edging'
9. Beartooth - 'Riptide'
10. Architects - 'when we were young'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdxkVxT_H2c
11. Pridelands - 'Parted Time'
12. The Devil Wears Prada - 'Trapped'
13. Make Them Suffer - 'Doomswitch'
14. The Butterfly Effect - 'Visiting Hours'
15. Void of Vision - 'INTO THE DARK'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ut22Vk9CwY
16. Neck Deep - 'STFU'
17. Palaye Royale - 'Fever Dream'
18. Betraying The Martyrs - 'Embers'
19. Diesect - 'Loose Ends'
20. Ocean Sleeper - 'You Kill The Good In Me'
Honourable mentions for Drastic Park -'Deadline', Pierce the Veil - 'Pass the Nirvana', Patient 67 - 'Scattered', Spiritbox - 'Rotoscope', Sugar Spine - 'Throat Full of Ash', Harroway - 'Sleep', and I Prevail - 'FWYTYK'
Suss out my complete playlist of the Best Belters of 2022 on Spotify
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHvH6Gd3HTQ
THE TOP 5 MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2022
1. Drastic Park - 'Deadline'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9a8EpkslaE
2. Parkway Drive - 'The Greatest Fear'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxvMf9PnImQ
3. Architects - 'tear gas'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X45uvccd5rA
- Alpha Wolf feat. Holding Absence - '60cm of Steel'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wln_vYHkCA
- Electric Callboy - 'HURRIKAN'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf3LqQluWag
FAV VISUAL/VIDEOGRAPHER TO WATCH!
Third Eye Visuals has made some incredible masterpieces of music video art with bands like Mirrors, Alpha Wolf and Parkway Drive - so much so, I HAD to have him create the opening sequence for Wall of Sound TV - Ben is one of the best in the game and I cannot wait to see what visually creative things he does in 2023 and beyond!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JRIdgV79fY
BEST GIG YOU CAUGHT THIS YEAR?
Australian - Ocean Sleeper - they're 100% ready for bigger stages!
International - Paledusk - Their show-stealing performance opening for Fit For A King's Brisbane sideshow is what made me fall in love with them instantly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsGpLbna8Dg
FAVOURITE CONTRIBUTION YOU PRODUCED?
Oh fook, this is harder than my Top 20 Albums hahaha Wall of Sound TV was a dream I've wanted to produce for 11 years, but didn't have the means. Bree Vane's Digi-mag concept proved we can deliver fresh magazine-styled content (and we're honing in on this more in 2023). Our Knight and Day AfterFilm was the birth of our large-scale video production content too, but I absolutely cannot go past interviewing the Horror Master himself JohnCarpenter for Virtual Hangs - chatting about Halloween Ends and the legacy of the franchise!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym3CvArA7BI&t=8s
FAV NEW BAND/S DISCOVERED IN 2022
Local - Lunchtime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZR4F0CGAMc
National - Harroway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2B2Lm28mWM
International - Conquer Divide AND Paledusk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x7dbJFJSWs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mRFtRXLiyg
NEXT BIG AUSSIE ACT TO WATCH IN 2023
Ocean Sleeper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDg49rMG3lo
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2023
KNOTFEST. blink-182's new album with god back. Story of the Year releasing an album like Page Avenue. Amy Shark's new music. Beartooth's next record (but not the vinyl variant hunt). Amity going heavyyyy and that new Polaris album they're teasing. I'm also mad keen on taking Wall of Sound to the UK/Europe and whatever else my content-flowing brain spits out...
Wall of Sound's 9th year will be our biggest yet - you heard it here first!
Thank you again for all of your support xoxo
Written by Paul ‘Browny’ Brown
Stalk Me on Instagram and Twitter and (for lols) TikTok
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtEYeI-GCi_1l7Ev32GJwO4-52zfrx96y
