Next on the Master's Chopping Block: the Melodeath Assault of Bloodhunter

This time around, I will be taking a look at one of the most criminally underrated bands in metal today, melodic death metal masters, Bloodhunter!

Bloodhunter are a melodeath band hailing from Galicia, Spain. They have an awesome sound with shredding and soaring twin guitars. This adds to the a full blown attack clearly influenced by melodeath gods like At The Gates and Carcass, as well taking in the power of giants like Slayer, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Death, and more. Their pounding power makes them one of the most exciting bands in extreme metal, one that only gets better with each release.

I got introduced to their music thanks to originally being a huge fan of all female Brazilian death/ thrash metal outfit, Nervosa. While, I was already fan of these heavy thrashers, but to me their finest work came with 2021's Perpetual Chaos. And, this was in large to their then newly hired signer the incredible Diva Satanica. Unfortunately she only lasted that one album with them and was soon returning to her previous band, this one, Bloodhunter. As soon as I heard their music, I became a huge fan. Their mix of melody and heaviness makes them my exact cup of musical blood. Why they aren't bigger, I honestly don't know.

They were formed by guitarist Dani Arcos in 2008 and have had several line-up changes over time. But, the band really found themselves when they hired Diva Satanica as their vocalist in 2012. Her incredible voice really gave them their signature sound and feel. In 2014, they released their self-titled debut. 2017, saw them put out their second release, The End of Faith. I got into them with their third release 2022's Knowledge Was the Price. The melodic and soaring, yet heavy music was perfect listening material to my ears, with songs like the title track, "A Twist of Fate to Come", "Medea's Guidance", and "Spreading Your Disease" quickly becoming favorites of mine.

This year saw them put out their fourth full length release with the killer Sons of the Abandoned. It is their finest work to date. Featuring piercing and ripping guitars with driving and thundering power, the album is both beautiful and absolutely fucking rips. Diva Satanica proves, yet again, that she is truly one of the genre's very best. Songs like "The Devil's Own", "The Outspoken", "Threshold of Hell", "The Path that Never Ends" (which features a duet with another lady that is among the finest voices in metal today Burning Witches' Laura Guldemond), an absolutely ripping cover of the classic track by Canadian thrash gods Annihilator "Human Insecticide" (which is also the album closer) are among the best extreme metal songs you have not heard this year. In fact, I would go as far as saying that this album is in my top five or so of the year son far. It's truly fucking killer!

If I can even get one new fan amongst you guys then I have truly done my job. If you like metal acts like At The Gates, Carcass, Symbolic era Death, Nervosa (obviously), and Crypta, then you will love this band, as I do. Diva Satanica's incredible vocals mixing in with the amazing musicianship (that twin guitar attack!) make for a classic, perfect fit. One that is like a leather glove, a studded one, of course.

Satanica also seems to be coolest and nicest person around. I love her social media posts., especially cuz she is a fellow dog owner/ lover. I mean there is no way faster to my heart than being a dog person and playing/ loving heavy metal music!

Time to take a dive into their kick ass music!

The first single off of the current album Sons of the Abounded, this fucker rocks so goddamn hard!

What a killer cover of an Annihilator classic!

Are a fellow fan of this amazing Spanish band? Or is this your first time hearing them? If so what are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments section below!

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The 20 Best Hard Rock and Metal Albums of 2022

Another great year of hard and heavy music is passing us by. With things finally getting to "normal" bands were actually able to tour and support their releases. As is usually the case, you'll see some classic bands ranked alongside of newer ones. So let's not waste any more and get to the list.

Honorable Mentions:
Dark Funeral- We Are the Apocalypse
Slipknot- The End, So Far
Kreator- Hate Uber Alles
Bad Omens- The Death of Peace of Mind

20. Meshuggah- Immutable- Tons of bands try to be like them, but hardly any can touch the shear crushing heaviness that Meshuggah deliver. Something they continue on this devastating album. 

19. Castrator- Defiled in Oblivion- The best new death metal band of the year has to go to this brutal and uncompromising all female act from New York. It kinda sucks that no one is talking about them, cause they need to be! One of the most underrated releases of the year, I probably listened to it more times than many established and more discussed death metal releases.

 

18. Shadow of Intent- Elegy- This has been a great year for deathcore, and one of the finest albums released is this mix of brutality, groove, and melody. It definitely defines Shadow of Intent as one of sub-genre's finest bands.

17. Ibaraki- Roshomon- Perhaps the year's most exciting and singularly identifiable releases is this long awaited side project by Trivium's Matt Heafy. Featuring appearances by Ishahn, Nergal of Behemoth, and Gerard Way of fucking My Chemical Romance this is an amazing mix of metalcore, black, and progressive metal. Also, "Ronin" is one of the year's best singles!

16. Dream Widow- Dream Widow- A death/ thrash/ groove metal album by Foo Fighters for their horror flick Studio 666, this might be the most year's most pleasant surprise. It's also heartbreaking to think that this the last recording to feature the late, great Taylor Hawkins.

15. The Warning- Error- The Warning is a group comprised of three sisters from Mexico, who gained popularity via playing Rock Band on YouTube and covering Metallica's "Enter Sandman" (which the band, themselves, loved). This is their make label debut LP and might just be the best one of the year. It's catchy, driving, and rocking played by three immensely talented, young ladies. Some of my favorite songs of the year are actually on here!

14. Infected Rain- Ecdysis- Mixing elements of metalcore, nu-metal, death metal and groove metal, this band from Moldova have been around for some time, but this is their finest release yet. Effortlessly catchy, groove filled, and heavy you'll wanna bang your head, mosh, and sing along to it. Frontwoman Lena Scissorhands has certified herself as one of my favorite singers. She has a great scream and a beautiful melodic voice. Ecdysis has some great songs with choruses that will stick in your head with just one listen. "Longing" is particularly awesome in that department! She even teams up with Heidi Shepard of Butcher Babies on the kick ass "The Realm of Chaos".

13. Fit for an Autopsy- Oh What the Future Holds- Fit for an Autopsy continue to deliver amazing album, after amazing album. But, this time they may have outdone themselves. Not only is this their best record yet, which is no mean feat, but one that will go down as a future deathcore classic. In a year with many great releases in this style of music, Oh What Future Holds stands as the finest one.

10. Megadeth- The Sick, the Dying... And the Dead!- In my humble opinion, this is Megadeth's best work since Endgame. This is especially true in terms of being a record I want to go back and listen to. Dystopia was quite good, but I rarely go back to it. Don't even get me started on utter shit like Thirteen and Super Collider. This album though, with a very timely title, is fast and angry. And, I actually want to and do go back to it, quite often, even. It stands as hands down the best thrash metal release by an old school band of this year. Plus, Mustaine teamed up with Ice motherfucking T on the awesome track "Night Stalkers"!

11. Goatwhore- Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven- One of my favorite bands, Goatwhore, show no sign of slowing down. In fact, their latest is fast, merciless, and evil, and yet they manage to once again write great hooks. This one will make your head fall right off from you banging it so fucking hard!

10. Watain- The Agony and the Ecstasy of Watain- My personal favorite black metal band are back with what is the best album of this subgenre that I have from this year. It's fast and evil with highly memorable tracks that latch on to you with one listening. Songs like "Serimosa" and "Black Cunt" are among the best extreme metal songs of 2022.

9. Dorothy- Gifts from the Holy Ghost- I first heard Dorothy when I caught her opening up for Halestorm a couple of years back. I was immediately caught by her amazing voice and hard rocking tunes. But, it wasn't till this ass kicker that I truly became a fan. One of the finest hard rock albums of the entire year, it features catchy and rocking tracks fronted by one of the best vocalists in the genre in the form of Dorothy Martin. Songs and lyrics trade between the inspiring and fun ("A Beautiful Life"), the fun, anthemic, and hard ("Black Sheep"), to the sexy and hard rocking ("Hurricane"). In fact, according to Spotify, Dorothy was my most listened artist this year with the absolutely amazing and dark "Rest in Peace" being my most listened to song. Which makes sense, cause it might just be the best single of 2022!

8. Lamb of God- Omens- Some of the more established acts like Slipknot and, more so, Machine Head and Rammstein, delivered either good or adequate enough releases, but nothing to call home about. However, Lamb of God truly delivered the fucking goods. Crunching and adrenaline charged, this release gets my vote for the record to kick ass to. It is certainly my favorite workout album of the year. Plus, "Omens" gets my vote for the best title track of 2022, or at the very least the one with my favorite chorus.

7. Venom Prison- Erebos- Welsh band Venom Prison have been doing the death metal since at least 2015. But, with Erebos, they have given us what I predict will be become their future classic. Featuring incredible musicianship and one of the best vocal performances in extreme metal in 2022, in the form of Larissa Stupar, this release stands as an absolute skull crusher. 

6. Municipal Waste- Electrified Brain- My pick for best, and definitely my most listened to, thrash metal album of 2022 is the latest from these crossover kings. It's fast as fuck and immensely fun to rock out to. Honestly, I think it is thier very best since their genre classic The Art of Partying.

5. Bloodhunter- Knowledge Was the Price- My pick for THE most severely underrated album of the year is this release from Spanish these meldo-death masters. Fronted by Diva Satanica, who also fronts one of my favorite bands in Nervosa, this is one of the most addictive extreme releases of 2022. But, with killer songs like "Sharpened Tongues Spitting Venom Inside", the title track, and "Medea's Guidance", how can it not be? Seriously, you guys are sleeping on this one! Get with the program and listen to it right now!

 

4. Halestorm- Back from the Dead- The best hard rock band of the modern era delivers, not surprisingly, the best hard rock record of 2022. Anthemic, catchy, badass, and enpowering, Lzzy and her bandmates give us ass kicking song after ass kicking song. From the title track to "Strange Girl" and pretty much every other song on here, give us tracks to sing along to and rock the fuck out!

3. Corpsegrinder- Corpsegrinder- From the moment I first heard this, the first from the solo project of the Cannibal Corpse vocalist, this was a strong contender for record of the year. In fact, it would've been had it not been for the next two coming in later in 2022. Regardless, this remains a badass and crushing record with fun and wonderfully violent lyrics. It also has one of the best (if not in fact THE best) and most awesome album covers of the year.

2. Bloodbath- Survival of the Sickest- As you can see death metal rules the top three positions of this list. And, this one came damn fucking close at topping it. In fact, if you say it does, I wouldn't disagree. Anyway, the point is this sick and devastating extreme metal from one of the true lords (I mean they are a supergroup that actually works awesomely) of this style. How can you not love heartwarming tracks like "Putrefying Corpse" (with Barney Greenway of Napalm Death, no less!), "Malignant Maggot Therapy", and "No God Before Me"?! Also, "Zombie Inferno" is one of the best album openers of 2022.

1. Revocation- Netherheaven- And, the year's very best release comes from a band that has become one of my favorites in the extreme metal landscape. Complex, brutal, and evil, Netherheaven continues to prove that Revocation are worthy of all the praise that they get. Which is great cause this was one of my most anticipated records of 2022, and it more than lived up to my expectations. 

What were your favorite hard rock and metal releases? Let me know in the comments section below? Also, let me know if there is anything you are looking forward to next year. 

Also also, want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! Finally, I wanna thank you for your continued support. These last two years have been very hard for me, thanks in large part to the passing of my doggy Zoey. As such, I am sorry for me making less often posts. Hopefully, 2023 will be better in all departments, for all of us.

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