I've played somewhere in the region of 1200 albums this year - there's been a lot of great stuff among them, so this will not be an easy list to narrow down - I'd like to say I can be stricter than the 25 I had in last year's list, but to be honest I feel like the competition for 25 spots is more intense this time around, so I'll stick to that (making this the top 2% of albums I heard this year) - shoutouts to Gloson, The Nest, Sum Of R, Process Of Guilt, Dysnostic and Aeviterne, who probably would have had good shots of making it onto this list if I'd made the time to revisit them more. Also shoutout to Laere and Euphrosyne, whose EPs in Clandestine Cuts indicate exceedingly promising futures

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musclassia | 23.12.2022

	1.	Psychonaut - Violate Consensus Reality All of the promise of the amazing debut record has been backed up in abundance.
	2.	Disillusion - Ayam Arguably a step up from an already fantastic comeback record in The Liberation.
	3.	Persefone - Metanoia Righted a few of the minor qualms I had with Aathma, it's a fantastic demonstration of this band's immense talent.
	4.	Kardashev - Liminal Rite My most played record from this year, it's got such a wonderfully haunting atmosphere to it.
	5.	Shadow Of Intent - Elegy Stepped up the integration of symphonic elements into deathcore to a new level, it's such a well-composed synthesis that's backed up with some banging songs.
	6.	An Abstract Illusion - Woe An admirable progression from a solid debut record that nicely expands their musical breadth.
	7.	Panzerfaust - The Suns Of Perdition - Chapter III: The Astral Drain Another step towards post-metal, and one that works excellently for them.
	8.	Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory It's not another Time Will Die..., but it never was going to be; it's still an excellent addition to their discography.
	9.	Elder - Innate Passage The vocals are improved, and these are yet more delectable proggy stoner/psychedelic jams.
	10.	Playgrounded - The Death Of Death A new name for me in the prog/post-metal sphere, and another demonstration of why this sphere of music is so compelling - terrible band/album names though.
	11.	Hath - All That Was Promised An able stand-in for Slugdge while waiting for that band to eventually return.
	12.	Wake - Thought Form Descent The grindcore days move further away in the rear view mirror; Wake are fully prog now, and all the better for it.
	13.	Conjurer - Páthos An impressive expansion of the pulverizing gemitsch of sounds on the debut, bringing in some well integrated melodic touches to great effect.
	14.	Amorphis - Halo Probably their least remarkable record since The Beginning Of Times, but even Amorphis on autopilot is incredibly infectious for me.
	15.	Pure Reason Revolution - Above Cirrus Lacks the highest moments of Eupnea, but confirms the comeback of PRR as an unmitigated success.
	16.	Path Of Might - Deep Chrome Prog-post-stoner-sludge-doom-etc blend of sounds that comes together excellently.
	17.	Kurokuma - Born Of Obsidian Great groovy repetition-based sludge-doom debut, one that goes a good way to replicating the immense live experience these guys deliver.
	18.	Mathan - Darkroot Tzantza I love the way that tribal percussion is integrated into this record.
	19.	Allegaeon - Damnum Really pushing the melodic inclinations here works great, with some fantastic clean vocal hooks lightening up the record.
	20.	Humanotone - A Flourishing Fall In A Grain Of Sand Has Elder's problem in terms of rough vocals, but also has Elder's charm of making great long-form stoner/psych jam ventures that work so well.
	21.	Ode And Elegy - Ode And Elegy A fascinating concept realized with aplomb.
	22.	Fallujah - Empyrean So great to hear Fallujah doing Fallujah things again after the huge disappointment of Undying Light, and they don't sound like they've missed a beat here.
	23.	Cult Of Luna - The Long Road North Not the band's best by any stretch of the imaginatino, but even below-par Cult Of Luna is a great experience for me.
	24.	Ott - Heads I really wish I had space for more non-metal on this list, but there's just been too much metal that I've enjoyed; Ott brought the goods though with the psybient mellowness here.
	25.	Backxwash - His Happiness Shall Come First Even Though We Are Suffering The most hip-hop of the trilogy of albums, and yet probably the best; I don't really like hip-hop, but Backxwash is the exception that proves the rule; such a cracking run of albums she's on.