Mick's Töp 15 Albums of 2022

In terms of my output to this blog, this past year felt like a 2021 redux. Not only did I devote an embarrassing amount of time digging through my video game backlog (Elden Ring is 100% deserving of all the praise it’s received) but I also traveled quite a bit more than usual to play more dodgeball while my body can still handle it. Yes…dodgeball. No…it’s (mostly) not like the movie. This double whammy left me with virtually no energy to write reviews. I can’t promise 2023 will see any fewer video games or less dodgeball but I’ll do my damndest to prioritize throwing together some more writing for around these parts. That all being said, 2022 had plenty of gems that are worth checking out!

 

Tom's Töp 10 Concerts of 2022

2020 seems like a long time ago, with the world coming apart at the seams and one of the few things we tend to take for granted is our ability to do what we want with our free time, one of those magical things is being able to go to a concert with like-minded individuals and experience music live. This immersive experience which I missed from March of 2020 through the fall 2021 edition of Decibel's Metal Beer Fest was a long time, something sorely missed, as my closest connection to live music was sharing memories with friends via late Friday night Zoom conferences conducted through March of 2020 and every week thereafter until this recent Maryland Deathfest, where the aptly named Heavy Metal Happy Hour got to be an in-person event as it was eventually intended to be.

Dreadnought - The Endless

While crafting a sound that leverages the heavy-hitting aspects of doom metal with the forward thinking nature of progressive metal is no easy task, Denver's Dreadnought has managed to accomplish this in rather impressive fashion over the past nine years and four albums. With that much material under their belt, I felt fairly certain of what to expect for their upcoming fifth album, The Endless. You know what they say about assumptions, though. Indeed, what an ass I was for thinking the band would try to re-hash already tried formulas for their latest venture. The Endless showcases Dreadnought in a different light; one that, while not totally unsurprising, leans more into the subdued and tranquil facets of the band's repertoire.

Durf's Weekly Workout # 31: April 22nd, 2022

Well that didn't take long.  Second week back, and life just got real hectic.  The good news is that I managed to get the music blurbs done, so all you're missing out on is this part up here where I ramble on.  But you're here for the music anyway, so it's all good.  On to the tunes!

Durf's Weekly Workout # 30: April 15th, 2022

Well, that was a much larger break than I was anticipating!  When the Durfette and I moved our family to Tennessee last October, I thought I'd step away from this column for a couple of weeks, maybe through the end of the year.  So much for that.  The learning curve of my new job coupled with figuring out life with two kids under three in a new state absolutely torpedoed any chance I had of keeping up with Durf's Weekly Workouts, and while there were a couple of weeks in there where I probably could have made something happen, enough time had already gone by that I didn't really want to pick it back up unless I thought I could realistically keep it going every week.  And since you're reading this now, that means I think I'm at that point!  Hopefully this is the beginning of a trend of DWW being a much more common Friday occurrence around these parts, but I suppose time will tell.