This year's strongest EPs come from up and comers for the most part, as is common of D//E's taste preferences, but they also include a few usual suspects. As the world eventually comes back together, underground music and real art indicate that they will remain prevalent, regardless of what happens elsewhere in existence.
10. Blightmaker - Blightmaker
Blightmaker, hailing from Seattle, Washington, provide a bold, rough, and quite cutting sound with a solid combination of sludge, hardcore, death metal and black metal. The group's eponymous EP, composed of four blistering tracks, definitely ranks them between the most exciting new acts in underground metal.
9. Old Coke - Sorted
The sound of Chicago-based band, Old Coke is centered on huge guitars, pulling influence from noise rock, punk, and metal. Their unique heaviness, which puts the band on the heavier end of the shoegaze range, is exemplified on their debut EP, Sorted, for which Old Coke worked with producer Joe Gac, who is also the bassist for noise rockers, Meat Wave.
8. Heaven Slept - Swamp
South Georgia band, Heaven Slept had a fairly constant emergence throughout the second half of 2002, as they were uncovering their early material which comprised their EP, Swamp. The quite full, seven-song release summarizes the band's adaptable sound, with a dark direction and their goth influences obvious, adeptly incorporated into their shoegaze and post punk identity.
7. The Bobby Lees - Hollywood Junkyard
Although straightforward rock 'n' roll isn't what it used to be these days, certain young bands are striving to keep the art form alive, with New York's The Bobby Lees currently leading the charge. The band have managed to win the admiration of esteemed rock personalities such as Henry Rollins, Debbie Harry, and Mike Patton, who signed them to Ipecac Recordings, and they keep conquering slowly and steadily. If the world was an even-handed place, mainstream appeal should be round the corner for these powerful punks.
6. Virgins - Transmit a Little Heaven
Virgins, a rising shoegaze band from Belfast, have released their terrific debut EP which features a super fuzzy sound with a lot of personality and exhilarating atmosphere, based on soft vocals, introverted lyrics, and satisfying reverb-drenched guitars. The band's dreamlike sound comes strongly reminiscent of the guitar-driven alternative rock of the nineties, and it's executed flawlessly.
5. Parallel - Parallel
Based on the forefronts of post punk, shoegaze and alternative psychedelic rock, Parallel, from Oakland, California, came up with a consistent, self-titled debut six-song EP, introducing their kind of dreampop which above all is lush, sleek and rather dreamlike. The rising band cites influence from the 4AD catalog as well as bands like Slowdive and The Chameleons, and have comfortably established themselves as an unmissable new act in the scene.
4. Girls In Synthesis - Konsumrausch
On Konsumrausch, Girls In Synthesis employ the experimental components of their craft in a genuine and organic way, resulting in an industrial-based punk sound which perfectly complements their razor-sharp lyricism. The five songs on the EP are unquestionably dark and gloomy, with attributes of hardcore punk, krautrock, experimental electronica, and darkwave woven throughout. Girls In Synthesis don't hold back, and manage to affect the listener by focusing on the raucousness of their sound, and the bitingness of their poetry.
3. Emma Ruth Rundle - Orpheus Looking Back
Orpheus Looking Back is a set of three tracks from the sessions of Engine Of Hell, outtakes which definitely deserved to see the light of day. With all of them being concise pieces, EP is another incredibly intimate listen whose effect is largely based on ERR's vocal emotionality and the poetic lyricism of the artist's songwriting. The centerpiece, Pump Organ Song, is an actual pump organ song and offers a spellbinding new approach in Emma Ruth Rundle's oeuvre. This is an all around earthy and affective piece of work.
2. Black Math Horseman - Black Math Horseman
In 2022, Black Math Horseman made their comeback count with a fantastic, self-titled EP, divided into four parts but meant to be experienced as a single, continuous work. Thematically and lyrically, the record continues the narrative from 2009's Wyllt, which centers on the enigmatic figure known as the Black Math Horseman. The EP represents a creative triumph for the band, produced during the lockdown turbulence, and features the group's heavy, atmospheric, dark, and entrancing doom metal sound in full bloom.
1. Zetra - From Without
Zetra effectively come up with a magnificent convergence of heaviness and romanticism, which they seem to be perfecting even further with each release. Their sound is a fusion made up of soaring synths, sharp guitars, and a healthy dose of darkness, all coming together consummately. Very early in 2022, From Without followed the band's previous EP, From Within, and demonstrated not only Zetra's artistic consistency but also how they have been growing into a formidable force in this uncommon stylistic fusion of heavy shoegaze and metal.
1. Zetra - From Without
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These are D//E's EPs Of The Year 2022.
10. Blightmaker - Blightmaker
9. Old Coke - Sorted
8. Heaven Slept - Swamp
7. The Bobby Lees - Hollywood Junkyard
6. Virgins - Transmit a Little Heaven
5. Parallel - Parallel
4. Girls In Synthesis - Konsumrausch
3. Emma Ruth Rundle - Orpheus Looking Back
2. Black Math Horseman - Black Math Horseman
1. Zetra - From Without
1. Zetra - From Without
2. Black Math Horseman - Black Math Horseman
3. Emma Ruth Rundle - Orpheus Looking Back
4. Girls In Synthesis - Konsumrausch
5. Parallel - Parallel
6. Virgins - Transmit a Little Heaven
7. The Bobby Lees - Hollywood Junkyard
8. Heaven Slept - Swamp
9. Old Coke - Sorted
10. Blightmaker - Blightmaker
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