Even though the summer is undoubtedly the best season for festivals and rippin' outdoor gigs, fall is the time of year when heavy music truly thrives. Halloween, leaves turning bloody shades of red, spooky cold nights, and a reliable bounty of new albums to feast upon — and this year, our plates are going to be overflowing. From institutions like Megadeth, Ozzy and Slipknot returning with long-awaited LPs, to rising acts like Lorna Shore and Mindforce making bids for the best-of-the-year crown, 2022 is looking like it's about to go out with a bang. Below, are the 20 albums due this coming fall that we're most looking forward to.
Architects
Title: the classic symptoms of a broken spirit
Release Date: October 21st
On their last several albums, especially 2021's epic For Those That Wish to Exist, Architects constructed the grandest, most towering metalcore fortresses that they could possibly build. Now, they're breaking ground on a new foundation. Between the all-lowercase title, minimalist cover art and the striking sound of lead single "teargas" — throbbing synths, stiff industrial riffs, Reznor-ian yawps — all signs are pointing to a sharp makeover. Luckily, the U.K. troupe have the pedigree to pull off a sonic overhaul without foregoing their identity.
Behemoth
Title: Opvs Contra Natvram
Release Date: September 16th
"Behemoth has been hating Christ in different ways since 1991, and we still manage to reinvent the wheel!" bandleader Adam Nergal Darski quipped in July, introducing blasphemous single "The Deathless Sun." Indeed, the Polish Satanists have been increasingly experimental over recent albums, injecting elements of goth, folk and more into their blackened death-metal attack, and Opvs Contra Natvram (the title translates to "work against nature") promises to continue in that challenging vein.
Brutus
Title: Unison Life
Release Date: October 21st
Belgian post-hardcore trio Brutus burst onto the scene in 2017, backed by Metallica's Lars Ulrich and propelled by viral videos of their powerhouse vocalist-drummer Stefanie Mannaerts. Since then, the group have proved themselves adept songwriters and performers who are a lot more than just "that band with the awesome female singer-drummer." Album No. 3 could be their crowning achievement, judging from dynamic, poignant lead single "Liar."
The Callous Daoboys
Title: Celebrity Therapist
Release Date: September 2nd
The Callous Daoboys take an everything including the kitchen sink approach to music. Their violin-assisted mathcore concoctions whiz between jostling breakdowns, weasel-popping freakouts, soothing jazz lounges, anthemic emo hooks and more — sometimes within the stretch of a single verse. Lyrically, Celebrity Therapist is said to be equally expansive: a critique of wellness culture, cult thinking, cabbage-brained internet hucksters and anything else you'd accidentally click through during a morning scroll. The Daoboys are carrying on mathcore's zany traditions but in a way that meets our uniquely chaotic moment.
Clutch
Title: Sunrise on Slaughter Beach
Release Date: September 16th
"We Strive for Excellence" is the title of Clutch's June single, a perfect, swaggering, slightly tongue-in-cheek slogan for the hirsute boogie-metal veterans led by apocalyptic preacher man Neil Fallon. Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster said last spring that the band's new album would likely have a unique feel due to the pandemic circumstances in which it was largely written. As long as we can still shake our asses to it, we're game.
Counterparts
Title: A Eulogy for Those Still Here
Release Date: October 7th
Counterparts' first album since 2019 sees frontman Brendan Murphy diving deep into the concept of "mourning the loss of someone that's still alive or saying goodbye to something that hasn't left yet." Born of an era when mass death and the threat of a looming apocalypse have become Thanksgiving table talk, A Eulogy for Those Still Here captures the macabre ambience and channels it into some of the band's heaviest, most conceptually urgent material yet. We can't wait to bask in the misery.
Dead Cross
Title: II
Release Date: October 28th
Hardcore-punk supergroup Dead Cross' first album in five years comes out of tough times. Mike Patton struggled amid the pandemic with mental health issues, which led to the cancellation of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle dates. Guitarist Mike Crain battled cancer. OG vocalist Gabe Serbian died. So how are Patton, Crain, Dave Lombardo and Justin Pearson feeling? More pissed than ever. Listen to lead single "Reign of Error" and repent.
Demon Hunter
Title: Exile
Release Date: September 9th
Demon Hunter have been kickin' it for over 20 years, but Exile is the metalcore group's first-ever concept album — an eerily prescient tale set in the aftermath of a collapsed civilization. Naturally, such a world would look a helluva lot different than the one we know now, and Demon Hunter are leaning into that theme of new beginnings in a musical sense, as well. Each single from this album has been considerably different than the last, as a guest list including everyone from Max Cavalera to Judas Priest's Richie Faulkner bring the Hunters' diverse vision to life.
The Devil Wears Prada
Title: Color Decay
Release Date: September 16th
The shape and sound of metalcore has undergone several dramatic overhauls in the years since the Devil Wears Prada were asking John what his name is, and these Ohio vets have usually been at the crest of the changing tides. After rekindling their undead spirit on last year's ZII EP, the band are once again traversing new ground on Color Decay, playing with eerie, earworm hooks and poetically nasty breakdowns in a way that feels true to their catalog without rehashing anything they've done before.
Disturbed
Title: TBA
Released Date: TBA
While no title or release date has been announced, it seems likely that Disturbed's long-awaited new album — their first since 2018's Evolution — will arrive sometime this year. In 2021, frontman David Draiman described the new material as sounding "somewhere between The Sickness and Ten Thousand Fists," and "Hey You," from earlier this summer, certainly delivered on his promise of throwback heaviness — while also keeping the rock catchiness they honed in the 2010s. With nu-metal back in a big way, a new album should be massive.
Goatwhore
Title: Angels Hung From the Arches Of Heaven
Release Date: October 7th
2022 marks 25 years of unholy blackened thrash from NOLA's Goatwhore, helmed by vocalist Ben Falgoust, formerly of Soilent Green, and guitarist Sammy Duet, of Acid Bath and Crowbar infamy. It will also mark the release of their first album in five long years. Lead single "Born of Satan's Flash" packs all the giddy savagery and gleeful sacrilege fans know and love, boding well for the rest of the LP, largely penned amid pandemic isolation. In Falgoust's words: "Idle time is truly the Devil's workshop." Indeed.
The HU
Title: Rumble of Thunder
Release Date: September 2nd
The rise of Mongolian folk-metal heroes the HU is one of the most feel-good stories in recent heavy-music history. And the throat-singing, horse-hair-fiddle-playing troupe's upward trajectory keeps going: Since their 2019 debut, The Gereg, the band have earned nods from Metallica, Megadeth and fucking Star Wars, to name just a few accomplishments. Sophomore slump? No chance.
Lamb of God
Title: Omens
Release Date: October 7th
Lamb of God have been on a tear. They released their last, self-titled album barely over two years ago, and have spent much of that time either writing music in quarantine or on the road with Megadeth. "The inner workings of the band have never been better," guitarist Mark Morton has enthused. It can be heard in the creative results: Omens' two singles so far, "Nevermore" and the title track, totally rip.
Lorna Shore
Title: Pain Remains
Release Date: October 14th
Pain Remains is technically the fourth Lorna Shore album, but it feels like the mark of a new era for the New Jersey deathcore group. Their first full-length with newly minted shrieker Will Ramos arrives just in time to solidify their position at the top of the subgenre's newest wave, building upon the majestic blackened deathcore fusion they've been honing for years, but taking it to the next level thanks to Ramos' equally br00tal and emotional delivery. Get ready.
Megadeth
Title: The Sick, The Dying... And the Dead!
Release Date: September 2nd
Back in January, when we polled our readers as to whose album they were most looking forward in 2022, the clear answer was Megadeth's. And why wouldn't it be? The thrash pioneers' upcoming 16th LP will be their first in six long years and first since bandleader Dave Mustaine's overcame throat cancer. Of course, it's the music that matters, though, not the backstory, and this looks to be one of the band's fastest, most ferocious offerings yet. "We'll be back" goes the lead single. No, Megadeth are back.
Mindforce
Title: New Lords
Release Date: September 16th
The title isn't bogus. Mindforce are the current bastions of New York-style hardcore, and New Lords marks the throne-sitters' first LP since 2018's still-pulsating Excalibur. Drawing from the thrashing wildness of late-Eighties crossover icons like Leeway and Killing Time, and merging that with the chest-beating heaviness of Merauder and All Out War, these Hudson Valley savants are about to bless stage-divers and karate-choppin' pit mongers worldwide. Start stretching.
Miss May I
Title: Curse of Existence
Release Date: September 2nd
It's been a long five years since Miss May I's last opus, and the Ohio metalcore heshers have returned at the peak of their snarling form. Over a decade ago, the band locked into a melodeath-inspired form of thrashing, riff-heavy metalcore with anthemic sing-alongs. Levi Benton and Co. are still wielding that timeless sound today on singles like "Bleed Together" and the particularly evil-sounding "Free Fall," which feature some of their heaviest, most creative riffs yet.
Ozzy Osbourne
Title: Patient No. 9
Release Date: September 9th
Ozzy Osbourne seemingly called in all his friends for his new solo album — or at least everyone who hadn't already guested on its predecessor, Ordinary Man. Jeff Beck, Duff McKagan, Eric Clapton, Chad Smith, Zakk Wylde, Robert Trujillo, Josh Homme and the late Taylor Hawkins appear on Patient Number 9. But best of all for the heshers, the singer's Sabbath riff master Tony Iommi plays on two songs. It's been a tough few years for Ozzy, but he looked great at the Commonwealth Games; it seems the Prince of Darkness still has some magick in him yet.
Parkway Drive
Title: Darker Still
Release Date: September 9th
Parkway Drive pretty much reached metalcore's sonic ceiling, then decided they still wanted to soar higher. The Australian giants spent years cranking out songs that were as bone-crushing as they were triumphant, and from what we've heard of Darker Still, they're now funneling their acute melodic sensibilities into dinosaur-sized groove-metal stompers. Songs like "Glitch" will certainly challenge fans of their metalcore years, but we're here for the bold left turn.
Polyphia
Title: Remember That You Will Die
Release Date: TBA
There's shred, and then there's Polyphia. When these Texan smart-asses call a song "Playing God," it's pretty clear who they're talking about. In the four years since their last full-length, New Levels New Devils, it's scary to even consider how their chops might have improved. We've gotten a taste so far in two 2022 singles, the aforementioned flamenco-tinged "Playing God" and July's rage-beat-inflected "Neurotica." Our heads are still spinning.
Slipknot
Title: THE END, SO FAR
Release Date: September 30th
As Corey Taylor has been emphatic in pointing out, the title of Slipknot's upcoming album does not mean the Iowan maniacs are calling it quits. To the contrary, the phrase simply marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. What does this chapter sound like? Maybe not the "God Music" that Clown promised last year. More like Devil Music. "The Chapeltown Rag" and "The Dying Song (Time to Sing)" deliver crushing racket and catchy hooks in the 'Knot tradition. "Yen" is the switch-up: brooding, sultry, doomy. We can't wait to hear the rest.
We Came as Romans
Title: Darkbloom
Release Date: October 14th
Darkbloom marks a bittersweet occasion for We Came as Romans. It's the Michigan metalcore band's first album since clean vocalist Kyle Pavone's tragic death in 2018, but it's also an opportunity to showcase their reinvention. The songs we've heard from Darkbloom thus far have been among WCAR's most enraged, djenty, chuggy and emotionally pained yet, with the group's other vocalist, Dave Stephens, stepping up and singing his heart out to fill the void left by Pavone. It's not the same WCAR, but it's the same level of excellence.
