
2022 was the year live music bounced back in a major way. It’s also the year Devin Townsend released a new album. It’s also the year Gojira toured. It’s also the year The Butterfly Effect released their first album in a decade and a half. It’s also the year Sunk Loto got back together and toured. It’s also the year the Liberal Party was bounced out of power, federally. These things made 2022 a fabulous year.
TOP 10 RELEASES OF 2022
10. I Built the Sky – The Quiet Place Away
9. Without Waves - Comedian
8. Cold Night for Alligators – The Hindsight Notes
7. Lorna Shore – Pain Remains
6. Reliqa – I Don’t Know What I Am EP
- The Butterfly Effect - IV
- Tallah – The Generation of Danger
- Circles – The Stories We are Afraid of
- Darko US - Oni
- Devin Townsend – Lightwork/Nightwork
TOP 10 SONGS OF 2022
10. Porcupine Tree – 'Walk the Plank'
9. Without Waves – 'Good Grief'
8. Mammal – 'The War'
7. Lorna Shorna – 'Pain Remains I, II and III'
6. Reliqa - 'Safety feat. Sean Harmanis'
- Circles - 'Dig'
- Tallah - 'Thistle'3. Darko US – 'Acid Inject'
- The Butterfly Effect – 'So Tired'1. Devin Townsend – 'Call of the Void'
TOP 5 BEST MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2022
5. blink-182 – ‘Edging’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MI3buZedOw
4. Tallah – For the Recognition
3. The Butterfly Effect – So Tired
2. Lorna Shore – Pain Remains Trilogy
1. Darko US – Acid Inject
BEST GIG YOU CAUGHT THIS YEAR?
Aussie Band – SunkLoto (special mention: Mammal and Future Static)
International Band – Gojira/Lacuna Coil

Photo: Andrew Bromley Photography
FAVOURITE CONTRIBUTION YOU PRODUCED
My DevinTownsendinterview and album review. The bloke is my favourite active artist on the planet, and it’s always an honour and a privilege to speak to him and always exciting when he puts a new release out. May he please tour Australia in 2023!
FAV NEW BAND/MUSICIAN DISCOVERED IN 2022
Distant. Like Darko US (although in an extremely different way), this Dutch five-piece is doing something very different with extreme music. It’s deathcore, but not as you know it, being more ‘downtempo’, which gives their sound an extraordinarily thick, doomy, bludgeoning sound. It’s deathcore music that stoner and doom fans could appreciate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ud9ybyRZI
NEXT BIG AUSSIE ACT TO WATCH IN 2023
Reliqa – although they put out their EP this year, I would expect them to tour heavily in 2023, and start breaking out of Australia to reach a more global audience. I consider them not simply one of the most promising proggy acts in Australia, but one of the most promising in the world. Sorry if that puts pressure on you, guys!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QBlyIEe8gM
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2023
Hoping for Aussie tours from: Devin Townsend, Nightwish, Porcupine Tree, Lorna Shore, RATM, Periphery, Black Crown Initiate and I’m sure there’s plenty more.
Hoping Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus, Caligula’s Horse, Periphery and Cog release albums and tour next year.
On a personal level, I am currently designing the narrative and writing the novelisation of the in-progress video game Brides of Vampira. The novelisation is a trilogy, and I hope to have finished drafting of all three novels next year, and we hope to have a demo of the game ready to take to Melbourne PAX next year.
Written by Rod Whitfield @Rod_Whitfield
https://twitter.com/bridesofvampira/status/1517711707900366848