Marika Zorzi: 15 Favorite Albums of 2022
2022 was the year when everything really started to happen again after the pandemic. Shows, meetings in person, long talks face to face, the newly acquired freedom to go anywhere. I don’t know if I was truly ready for all of that, because - to be honest - for the first half of the year I felt really overwhelmed by this return to normality. Then things started slowly to change. Humans have a strong sense of adaptation to new circumstances and even if life has a weird sense of humour and always tries to shake things up, we suffer, change and eventually find what it’s better for us. Each of these records carried with it memories, thoughts, considerations of the past months. They were my soundtrack for 2022.
Marika Zorzi’s favorite albums of 2022 (not in a particular order):
BRUTUS - UNISON LIFE
I have been listening to this record since even before it was released and I’m still not tired of it. My favorite track changes all the time. I can’t decide. While I’m writing this, for example, “Dreamlife” is on repeat. Unison Life is one of those releases that gives me chills, the good ones, and it doesn’t always happen. Brutus are one of those bands with no bullshit around, they’re honest. Stefanie, Stijn and Peter play music at their best, always trying to make a step forward. They’re not that ‘small band from Belgium’ anymore. I was lucky to spend some days with them in their city this year and see their practice space, meeting their families, helping them to cast the wood for winter. Normal things that normal people do. Brutus are three friends who try to live every day the Unison Life they talk about in this stunning album.
CHAT PILE - GOD’S COUNTRY
Why do people havе to live outside? / In tents, undеr bridges / Living with nothing and horribly suffering / Why? Why do people have to live outside? / We have the resources / We have the means. The modern age is characterized by an abundance of resources that are nonetheless held from those in need. This is one of the situations that is angrily lamented in this insanely good album. Chat Pile talk about the visceral ugliness of this society without compromises. From capitalism to the struggle to survive, God’s Country is the conical representation of how economy pits its people against one another, reduced by the system to pieces of meat as they take desperate measures to achieve any sense of personal security.
MAT BALL - AMPLIFIED GUITAR
I was very surprised the first time I listen to this album. I met Mat several times over the years with Big Brave and he’s one of those people who never brags around, because they don’t need it. He’s one of those who’re always quiet, calm and polite. When I listened to Amplified Guitar for the first time I was hooked until the end. This album feels like a beautiful dance between Mat, his guitar and the amps. It’s impossible not to experience the deep connection between this human and his instrument. Listening to Amplified Guitar is almost like being an intruder attending a private conversation. People have so many ways to express what they feel, and sometimes music is one of the most powerful.
EMMA RUTH RUNDLE - EG2: DOWSING VOICE
This album has deep roots, it’s a story of research of a lost inner-self, it’s music with no rules. I like when Emma intentionally loses herself to find a meaningful way to come back. She’s always able to turn pain into her most powerful strenght. This record inspired one of my latest pottery pieces. A black vessel with a red line that goes in circle. Life can be aching, difficult, unbearable but also mesmerising and surprising beautiful. It’s like a red line that follows its own flow.
BLOOD INCANTATION - TIMEWAVE ZERO
This is a record that takes you everywhere you want. It’s a time/space travel tool, you just have to close your eyes and let the music carry you away. Each album Blood Incantation create is the result of a vast knowledge of different musical genres combined with a constant personal and collective research. Timewave Zero is a successful attempt of a band that always tries to create more of what they want to hear.
MIZMOR - WIT’S END
I always joke that there isn’t a new Mizmor album without some philosophy involved. Wit’s End makes no exception. Mizmor’s discography sounds like the path of a human being who is growing, evolving, and changing the way of seeing the world and his relation as an individual that is part of a multitude called society. In this chapter Liam tried to redirect all the frustration toward those who ignore facts, evidence, and science, choosing instead to just have faith that God will protect them. I don’t have a good relationship with religion and I’ve always believed in science and facts. I don’t blame those who find comfort in their faith, but I was very happy to find someone like-minded when I listened to Wit’s End. This album was inspired by The Great Filter within the Fermi Paradox. This theory suggests that all life must overcome certain challenges. The pandemic was one of the biggest for me because I tried to understand other people’s points of view, especially those very far away from mine.
GGGOLDDD - THIS SHAME SHOULD NOT BE MINE
When Gggolddd played these songs for Roadburn Redux and I read about the story behind the lyrics, I texted Milena. I never talk or write openly about my personal life, but what happened to Milena and many others, also happened to me. I was in love, I spent 13 years with a man and he did terrible things to me. I’m a survivor of years of physical and mental abuses but I’m not only that. I’m a human being who was able to use that pain to build a new life. Some people always ask me - why did you stay if it was that bad? I stayed there that long because it was so bad that I was afraid to go away. THE SHAME SHOULD NOT BE OURS. Abusers never win. Never.
DROWSE - WANE INTO IT
I remember the first time I listened to the first single from this project. I’m a big fan of The Flenser, and I know they only release the good stuff. Wane Into It is a beautiful heavy album with a gorgeous and ethereal sound. I love Kyle’s way to create very imaginative and personal music that can carry the listener through icy, gazy walls of nostalgic lo-fi atmospheres. It’s one of the albums I played the most in 2022, both digitally and on vinyl. I love the cover, too.
CLOUD RAT - THRESHOLD
I don’t think there’s a single release from Cloud Rat that I don’t like. I’ve been following this band since the beginning of their carrier. I was there when they toured Europe for the first time in 2014(?) and it has been so good to see them grown over the years. This album is just another piece on the path of their long carrier. Threshold is a record that sounds like three humans pushed to the edge — the threshold and giving 100% of themselves to the present moment.
BIRDS IN ROW - GRIS KLEIN
Birds in Row manifesto is the same as it’s always been: love each other. I’ve seen this band live several times this year and it has always been a great show. There’re just a few bands as passionate as Birds in Row. Gris Klein is an emotive journey that touches the intricacies of depression. Lyrics are beautifully written and they talk about the cruel and sometimes nonsensical nature of mental illness. This album is sonically fearless and their most genre-bending and timely declaration yet. I really like Birds in Row.
DARKTHRONE - ASTRAL FORTRESS
The main reason why I like Darkthrone is their attitude. Astral Fortress feels like it was primarily made to satisfy Fenriz and Nocturno Culto. They don’t follow music trends and they don’t care about what people say. They make music they like.The album is just like the cover. It has a beautiful dreamy winter atmosphere that always reminds me of the hikes with my sister around the mountains in Bergen where she lives. Even if this is not really a revolution in Darkthrone's sound, I like all the references to Bathory, Candlemass and Celtic Frost. It’s the band's self-proclaimed love letter to doom and black metal.
ZOLA JESUS - ARKHON
I like the way Zola Jesus adds multiple layers to her songs creating amazing soundscapes. “Lost” is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in years. Arkhon feels like an album of sorrow and catharsis, born from a search for meaning in the music making process.
THE LORD - FOREST NOCTURNE
It’s always interesting to see how single members of well know bands thinks individually. Forest Nocturne is clearly a deeply personal album for Greg Anderson. All the projects Greg gets his hands on shine through. This album is so well done. It’s impossible not to notice all the small details combined together to create a cinematic epic journey into the darkest side of heavy music with sinister synth motifs, Bernard Hermann-riffs, black metal theatrics and heavyweight doom. I mostly listened to this album while I was hiking by myself in the woods and I feel like Forest Nocturne has deep roots in nature. Perfect soundtrack, perfect debut album for The Lord AKA Greg, one of the kindest people in the music business and an absolute genius.
MIZMOR & THOU - MYOPIA
This album has been the soundtrack of one of the best memories of 2022: Roadburn Fest. Two of my favorite projects together on the stage of the only festival that always makes me feel like home. The 2022 edition was special for so many reasons, but the most important one, without any doubt, was to hug all my friends from the States after almost 3 years. Myopia is one of the best records released in 2022. I hope to grab the vinyl soon because I was too busy to get one at Roadburn. Seeing both bands playing Myopia live was one of a kind experience. This record is an ambitious collaborative effort that showcases the striking musical abilities of these modern titans of American metal.
MESSA – CLOSE
I've known Sara, Marco, Rocco and Alberto since we were teenagers. We come from the same area in Italy. It has been so great to see them grow as people and musicians. Close is the latest addition to their long musical path, where they have used the foundations of excellent previous releases and further pushed the boundaries of their sound.
VERY SPECIAL MENTION:
SILVER GODLING - JENNI
The piano pieces on this album are the results of emotive piano time after Emily’s sister died in September. Experiencing grief is hard, talking about it is even harder. Jenni holds inside one tape all the strength and tenderness of the relationship between two sisters. This album is Emily’s most personal material to date. A powerful journey to move forward, paying a thoughtful tribute to someone who’s no longer here.
