In 2022, I found myself actually listening to more EPs than albums on a regular basis. So needless to say, the metal releases on this list have all been in my regular rotation this year. Which made ranking them even more difficult! But this list of the best metal EPs of 2022 are easily some of my favorite releases of the year. So without further ado, let’s get into my top 5 metal EPs of 2022.
5. Veska – V
I was super excited when I came across new and noteworthy black metal from my own home city of Pittsburgh. Let alone a whole EP of raw, dark and brutal black metal heaviness which is exactly what you’ll hear on Veska’s V. I’ve seen a lot of comments online from black metal fans complaining about newly released black metal and how it sounds overproduced and not as raw as how it originated I guess. Not necessarily my opinion, but I get it. Either way, if you are one of those people, then you must check out Veska’s 2022 EP V. It very much gives that old school black metal feel with raw and ruthlessly brutal vocals and instrumentals especially on tracks like “Starscourge” and “Bloodletter”. And I just love seeing that this style of music is being kept alive while preserving the authenticity of the subgenre as a whole by a young, emerging metal musician who’s completely independent.
You can also find Veska’s “Starscourge” and “On Earth We’ll Reign” on our Best Heavy Songs of 2022 playlist.
4. Johnny Booth – Storyteller
At first I was a little unsure if it was fair to include this one because there’s only 4 songs and 2 of the 4 songs were released in 2021. However, this EPOTY is looking at the body of work as a whole, and this EP was released in 2022 so there you have it. And this EP shows a lot more musical diversity from Johnny Booth than I think you would be aware of if you only listened to the singles.
Viciously energetic from the moment it opens with the title track, Johnny Booth’s Storyteller is a banger start to finish. But there’s also moments in here where the pace and tone kind of changes. Again the opening title track, “Storyteller“, is a great example of this. It has this moment where the music gets kind of mellow like elevator music- but metal if that makes sense. And then it’s gets more into this somber jazzy kind of tone before just unleashing again. Oh, and I can’t end this without talking about one of my favorite songs on this EP which is “Deepfake”. The amount of times I have raged, headbanged, and screamed along to this song. I just freaking love it. And it also has one of my favorite metal breakdowns in it. Vocally and instrumentally this song just unloads like someone smacked you in the face with a shovel. But like repeatedly. That’s how hard and heavy this EP hits. And just when you think it’s over it comes roaring back in. Literally. And I’m not going to go any further than that because I want you to go and listen to it.
3. Trainwrecked – Unhinged
I first found Trainwrecked when they opened for Exhorder on their 2021 Slaughter In The Vatican tour. And when these guys were done playing me and my husband both looked at each other and were like “holy shit who was that?” Fast forward to the band solidifying their current line up and releasing their debut EP, Unhinged. I told this story previously in a YT short; but I blindly listen to my new music contenders. So when this came on, specifically the track “B.D.S.M.” I again was up in my sewing room listening to my music and immediately stopped to check what band it was because I had the same holy shit who is this reaction. And it was my friends in Trainwrecked who absolutely crushed it with this EP.
I am so proud to say these guys are representing my home city of Pittsburgh. I think they’re definitely a band you’ll want to watch in the coming years if they stay on their current trajectory and this relentlessly ruthless and brutal EP is proof of that. There is no throw away song here. To me, this Unhinged is flawless. For a band so early in their career, I can’t express enough what an impressively solid release this is.
You can also find Trainwrecked’s “B.D.S.M.” on our Best Heavy Songs of 2022 playlist.
The Top 2 EPs are From The Same Band. Drum Roll Please….
I wasn’t sure if I should list the No Coffin EPs Hell Above and Heaven Below separately because they were both easily my favorite EPs of the year. I’ve talked extensively about how No Coffin is one of my favorite bands at the current moment and I think every heavy music lover should be listening to them. I can’t think of any band that sounds even close to the music No Coffin is making with these records. And it’s because the guys in this band to me really seem so passionate about music in general that they’re really not afraid of anything. They embrace all the things they love about all different genres and styles of music, and it’s very present in their sound.
But when it came to ranking these EPs. I felt that since they were released as two separate bodies of work, they should be judged as to separate bodies of work. And while these are sister EPs I feel like especially given the EP titles, there are plenty of bands that release multiple EPs a year, and I would consider those individually. And had these been released by two different bands, they’d still be my top 2 EPs of the year. Because there’s just nothing else like them.
2. No Coffin – Hell Above
Hell Above has more of the dark, doomsday, style vibe from No Coffin that I love. Not to mention “Ill Vibes” and their cover of L-7’s “Shitlist” are two of my personal favorite tracks of the year.
1. No Coffin – Heaven Below
I ultimately listed Heaven Above as my favorite of the two, because it’s has thrash and death elements combined with these almost alt rock melodic sounding tones mixed in along with their iconic style of grungy sludgy heaviness that I frankly only hear out of No Coffin which is extremely present on their song “Wasteland”. There’s also plenty of speedy, headbanger approved pit worthy sounds in here especially on tracks like “Tax + Punishment”. I just feel like this EP in particular showcases EVERYTHING No Coffin does so well in one perfect package: The Metal EP of The Year.
But don’t let that fool you into thinking Hell Above is any less awesome, because frankly these EP rankings could be interchangeable.
Both Hell Above and Heaven Below are home to some of No Coffin’s greatest music to date. I really think the band has truly become this unstoppable force with these two EPs and it makes me even more excited than I already was for what’s next from them.
You can also find No Coffin’s “Shitlist” on our Best Heavy Songs of 2022 playlist.
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