Favorite Albums of November 2022
The year winds down but the hits keep coming
November and December (but especially December) tend to be a little dry when it comes to new releases. Major publications spend much of the month working on their lists and many of them don’t account for albums released in late November, and almost none account for albums released in December.
All that is to say, this newsletter is short. Not too many albums came out this month. But even scant offerings sometimes hold gems, and that held true this November. We got new releases from some beloved artists, an album that might be the true second coming of nu-metal, and a likely participant in this year’s top ten.
Let’s dig in.
METAL ALBUMS
fleshwater - We’re Not Here to be Loved
I get the sense that freshwater has heard Deftones. As a society, we have finally wrapped around to the point where we can all look at nu-metal for the good that it brought and not for all the bad that came with it. More importantly, people who make music today can pull from the best nu-metal bands and albums to imbue their songs with some of the urgency that the much-maligned genre captured so effectively. We’re Not Here to be Loved, has all the hallmarks of great nu-metal (or alternative metal if you’re a snob). It’s Deftones meets Chevelle but in the best way.
Judicator - The Majesty of Decay
In 2020, Judicator’s Let There Be Nothing single handedly changed my opinion on power metal. The way they approach the genre still holds onto the tenets of theatricality and sincerity that define it. However, they take it extremely seriously, refusing to lean into the potentially comic angles that the style readily provides. The Majesty of Decay takes us on a thoughtful journey of forgiveness, death and acceptance that lacks the immediate clarity of Let There Be Nothing but makes up for it with deeper nuance. I haven’t decided how this fares against its predecessor, but both are fantastic and among my favorite pieces of power metal in recent memory.
Melted Bodies - The Inevitable Fork Vol.1
Few metal bands remember how to make music fun. Don’t get me wrong, I’m here for all the doomy, gloomy, self-loathing too. My top album of 2021 was that exact type of thing. This is not that. On The Inevitable Fork Vol.1, Melted Bodies takes their insane “Oingo Boingo and the B-52’s collide with System of a Down” sound to previously unmapped territories. The electronic portions are better considered and blend more effectively with manic instrumentation. Lyrically, the band remains tight as ever. Songs tackle topics ranging from therapy to societal pressure to appear okay. Each lyric drips with acidic, acerbic irony and utter dissatisfaction with the state of the world. That you can still goof off along to the music is not a tonal miscue, it’s a perfect synergy of madness.
Honorable Mentions:
NON-METAL ALBUMS
Richard Dawson - The Ruby Cord
I will say things about this album in an attempt to explain it but you will ultimately have to listen to it yourself. Every album review works this way of course, but for an album so conceptual and so lyrically dense, it becomes even more true. Set in the distant future, The Ruby Cord chronicles the suffering of a host of characters as they weave their way through a broken world. Despite the futuristic setting, the music and mood remains plainly medieval. If this sounds like a limitation of Dawson’s imagination, I promise you it is not. By choosing to wrap the future in an archaic sound, he highlights the ways in which things have, and will continue to, remain the same. I’ll be listening to Dawson so long as he puts out music, and this is his best since Peasant, I can’t wait to dive into it again.
Phoenix - Alpha Zulu
After the fantastic Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix in 2009, I was pretty content with what Phoenix had done. Much of the world agreed, and the two following Phoenix records (which were decent) passed without much fanfare. Alpha Zulu is the first time since Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix that Phoenix has made themselves essential. The album contains traces of the zany, goofy energy that made their early output so acclaimed. However, the level of reservation in the songwriting and performances has shot up, giving it all time to breathe. This extra breathing room accentuates the wilder moments and turns this album into one of Phoenix’s most complete experiences.
R.A.P. Ferreira - 5 to The Eye with Stars
R.A.P. Ferreira defies logic with his technicality. If you choose to approach hip hop as a purely lyrical exercise, in which one competes to be the most accomplished poet, R.A.P. Ferreira sits among the front runners. And it’s not just lyrics, this album sparkles with pure sonic energy in all possible ways. The instrumentals are as knotty and gnarled as the flows. At 23 minutes, it would have been easy for this album to feel like a throwaway or a teaser, but it might just be R.A.P. Ferreira’s best. If it is a teaser, whatever comes next could be a classic.
Special Interest - Endure
Sometimes I forge that this is all supposed to be fun. Special Interest reminded me of that this month. Endure, despite its frequent dealing with heavy topics, remains thrilling at almost every possible moment. It’s certainly the most danceable punk album of the year, thanks to incorporating pieces of the old school electronic playbook whenever possible. The vocal and instrumental performances are free and jovial at almost all times, only pulling back to highlight areas of lyrical importance or to break up passages of pure ecstasy. I challenge anyone to not enjoy at least one song on this album.
Honorable Mentions: