The Countdown so far...

 

The Countdown so far...

So, here we are. Almost midnight. Almost time to announce the Number 1 album of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2022 according to 164 of you lovely heavy music fiends out there. All  you crazies who had the time and energy to send their list to us. We thank you once again, cause without you all this could not be possible. And it is the reason Stoner HiVe started; all the way back in 2009…

Each year, we tip our hats and give a standing ovation to all those bands and artists that continue to amaze us all with the music they produce… Thank you all! From every inch of our being… And please, keep it coming! Ho ho ho! 

But before we enter 2023; before we know the Number 1 album according to you all, let’s state a few things about 2022 and list all the albums that have been featured on the Top 20 Countdown of 2022. 26 of all those absolutely amazing albums that were produced this year, made it to the Top 20 Countdown of 2022. But the total list contains so much more! We shall publish the Numbers 21 to 100 soon enough. Personal lists of the Stoner HiVe Team will go up. Unfortunately, once again, no album received the The Red Lantarn this year. For a while it looked like Heilung and their Drif album might be the one and sole album to be voted for on the twentieth position of someone’s list and only once… But then someone else voted for the album as well… We shall however mention a few of those Bottom Dwellers; cause who knows, it might just be your new favorite album!

And now, before we start to tear up, profess out love for all that amazing music, from this year, yesteryear and the future, let’s run through the Countdown one last time and prepare for fireworks! Soon, we will know, what the Number 1 album is according to all you voters out there! Thanks you all again, and let's try and make sure 2023 will become the best year ever! Or at least the best year 2023 can be! Heavy, loud and amazing! The best of wishes for each and everyone! 

 

1.

2. King Buffalo – Regenerator

3. Wo Fat – The Singularity

4. Sergeant Thunderhoof – This Sceptered Veil

5. Messa – Close

6. Clutch – Sunrise On Slaughter Beach  

7. Freedom Hawk – Take All You Can

8. Steak – Acute Mania

9. Psychlona – Palo Verde

10. Gaupa - Myriad

11. Telekinetic Yeti – Primordial

12. Paralyzed – Heavy Road

13. Besvärjelsen – Atlas

14. Mammoth Volume – The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites

15. Cave In – Heavy Pendulum

16. Early Moods – Early Moods

17. Kryptograf – The Eldorado Spell

18. Valley Of The Sun – The Chariot
& The Otolith – Folium Limina & Sons Of Arrakis – Volume I & Red Sun Atacama – Darwin

19. Samavayo – Payan & Somali Yacht Club – The Space & Conan – Evidence of Immortality

20. Sasquatch – Fever Fantasy & Sleepwulf – Sunbeams Curl

Number 2

 

 

Number 2

 

For a long time the Number 2 album hold supreme on Number 1; but then the one that ended up on Number 1 jumped over it. But then they switched places. And then they switched places again. And this went on to the final lists entered and in the end the Number 1 album has only 30 points more than Number 2. But Number 2 has almost six hundred points more than Wo Fat on Number 3. So, indeed. There is a definite Number 1 and 2 for you all. Just as there is a definite Number 3 and 4 for you all. And well, it is a great record, probably my personal favorite. But it might also, in part, be due to the fact that this album brings to a close, a majestic trilogy started in 2021. That’s right, the album on Number 2, brings back hope for the future, warmth, a sunrise that will give you new energy to move forward. Cause you feel how difficult it has been, especially, the vocals throughout the three albums, but you also hear growth there, and a very open approach to lyrics and sharing. And we talk about all that in a long interview. Musically, the band has album been about that tightrope dance between heavy psych, hard prog and atmospheric rock. That majestic balancing act between claustrophobic, tight, pressurized and all those wide-open spaces, giving air and on this album: almost angelic light… On Number 2 we find…

 

King Buffalo – Regenerator

 

Homepage

Bandcamp

Facebook

Instagram

Out on Stickman Records

 

On to Number 1!

Number 3

 

 

Number 3

 

This Sceptered Veil by Sergeant Thunderhoof on Number 4 missed the Number 3 position by only twelve points. But after the Number 3 album we make another huge jump in points to get to Number 2 and 1. But before we do, we are here to bow before the band and album we find on the Number 3 spot. Indeed, the Bronze Medal goes to a band that has been making the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown with almost every release they put out since we started doing this in 2009. They even reached the Number 1 spot in 2014. But also Number 8 in 2016, Number 13 in 2012 and Number 8 in 2009. That’s why we started writing a big post about all their releases when their new album came out, trying to make sense of where the new album would sit in their huge discography. But we never got around to finishing the post. Although perhaps in some other universe we did? For this album, does something to me, something a weird book called Hoe Ver Is Dunn? by strange Dutch writer Jaap Verduyn also does. It transports you straight out of the trenches into this alien world where battles are fought with swampy stoner metal riffs, blues influences and southern styled, almost jazzy jams. There is voodoo magic going on, turning all the seven songs on this album into a wild all-encompassing fiery beast of a record. Which makes it feel like poetic justice that we find it on Number 3!

 

 

Wo Fat – The Singularity

 

Homepage

Bandcamp

Their Facebook page has been hacked

Instagram

Out on Ripple Music

 

On to Number 2!