Synthentral Top 30 Albums of 2022

From 100 to 30! First step was to get down to 100 for the Top 100. Then down to the Top 50, and finally down to the Top 30 (here we are). Normally I would do a live countdown show, but my vision is all screwed up and I just cannot see the small print in my DJ software. I waited two weeks to see if it would clear up, and while it’s gotten better, I still cannot see the fine print clearly enough to go live. So unfortunately, there won’t be a live countdown show and I’m just posting the Top 30 here.

As a reminder, here are the rules and guidelines I work with:

• I only rate albums. There are tons of “best of” lists out there for singles and EPs.
  • An album consists of at least 7 original songs. Remixes, intro/outro, instrumentals, versions, compilations, etc. do not count toward the “at least 7.” Covers do count as long as it’s not an album of all covers.
• I must have the album in my collection to rate it. If a band or label didn’t get it to me, I didn’t buy it, or get it from a DJ resource, then it’s not on my list to rate.
• Song are rated individually and the album is rated overall for listenability, danceability, whether I wanted to skip any tracks, was I engaged from start to finish, etc.
• Rating is weighted so an album with 7 songs does not have an edge (or handicap) to an album with 17 songs.
• I post the Top 100 and Top 50 lists alphabetically and not in “countdown” style. The Top 30 will be in countdown style.
• I post my list after the year is over so any album released late in December 2022 still gets a chance at making it on the list.

As I noted in the Top 100 and Top 50 lists, I hope you disagree with my list and post some of your favorites that I didn’t include or I may have missed during the year and hope you’re as passionate about your favorite bands and albums from 2022 as I am mine!

I have “LISTEN HERE” links below each album cover, so go and listen and give each band and album a chance, and support the bands you like!

The Synthentral Top 30 for 2022:

#30: e:lect – Disoriented Illusion (LISTEN HERE)

#29: Voicecoil – Strange Days (LISTEN HERE)

#28: Reflection – Anima (LISTEN HERE)

#27: Blood Handsome – A New Calm (LISTEN HERE)

#26: RROYCE – RROARR (LISTEN HERE)

#25: Deep Down Wise – Deep Down Wise (LISTEN HERE)

#24: ÆON RINGS – Enemy (LISTEN HERE)

#23: Solitary Experiments – Transcendent (LISTEN HERE)

#22: Any Second – Enemies (LISTEN HERE)

#21: Dreamkid – Dreamkid (LISTEN HERE)

#20: VVMPYRE – Neon Night Fright (LISTEN HERE)

#19: Am Tierpark – Forevermore (LISTEN HERE)

#18: Alex Sindrome – Eject (LISTEN HERE)

#17: Blackbook – Confessions Of The Innocent (LISTEN HERE)

#16: Lucca Leeloo – Prosperous (LISTEN HERE)

#15: Sydney Valette – Home Alone (LISTEN HERE)

#14: In My Despair – Last Mirage On The Earth (LISTEN HERE)

#13: Causeway – We Were Never Lost (LISTEN HERE)

#12: 1984 – Sharp Dressed Men (LISTEN HERE)

#11: Mental Discipline – Nothing To Die For (LISTEN HERE)

#10: Risk Risk – Blue Science (LISTEN HERE)

#9: Eisfabrik – Life Below Zero (LISTEN HERE)

#8: Current One – Praeludium (LISTEN HERE)

#7: CZARINA – Arcana (LISTEN HERE)

#6: Zynic – Best Before End (LISTEN HERE)

#5: Xenturion Prime – Prisma (LISTEN HERE)

#4: Vanguard – Spectrum (LISTEN HERE)

#3: Vandal Moon – Queen Of The Night (LISTEN HERE)

#2: Corlyx – Blood In The Disco (LISTEN HERE)

And the number one album for 2022 was….

#1: Sacred Skin – The Decline Of Pleasure (LISTEN HERE)

Synthentral Top 30 Albums of 2021

There was so much amazing music in 2021. Bands released more singles and EP’s this year than albums, so I started with just under 450 albums to rate.

First step was to get that down to 100 for the Top 100. Then I removed 50 more for the Top 50, and finally I had to remove an additional 20 for the Top 30 (here we are), which will have a corresponding show with one song from each album (pending).

Here are the rules and guidelines I work with for my Top 2021 lists:

• I must own the album to consider it (either through purchase or provided by band or label).
• Only albums qualify: no EP’s or Singles. There are plenty of lists out there for “top songs.”
• To qualify as an album it must have at least seven original songs. Remixes, new versions, covers albums, compilations (“best of”), etc., do not qualify. Intro and outro songs, instrumentals, and intermission songs do not count toward the song total.
• Albums are weighted so that an album with 7 songs has the same point system as an album with 12 songs.
• I judge each song individually, then rate the album overall. Did I want to listen to the entire album? Were there songs I wanted to skip? Was I engaged as a listener and fan?
• I post the lists alphabetically and not in “countdown” style.

I fully recognize that my list (and everyone’s list, for that matter) is subjective. I love that others have different lists and are passionate about different bands and albums! I hope you agree with many fo these, but I also hope you have some favorites that aren’t on my list, but more importantly, I hope these lists introduce you to a band or album you may have missed in 2021!

I have “LISTEN HERE” links next to each album cover below, so give each band and album a chance, and support the bands you like!

The Synthentral Top 30 for 2021 (in alphabetical order):

Balvanera – Courses Of Action (LISTEN HERE)

Beyond Border – Awakening (LISTEN HERE)

BlakLight – Into The Void (LISTEN HERE)

CHVRCHES – Screen Violence (LISTEN HERE)

Dagon – Adam Krueger (LISTEN HERE)

Devours – Escape From Planet Devours (LISTEN HERE)

District 13 – Mind Over Matter (LISTEN HERE)

Double Echo – ☾ (LISTEN HERE)

Dräger – Goths À La Discothèque (LISTEN HERE)

echōdead – Random Headnoise Parallax (LISTEN HERE)

Elektrostaub – Reliance (LISTEN HERE)

F.O.D. – Mensch Macht Maschine (LISTEN HERE)

j:dead – A Complicated Genocide (LISTEN HERE)

LAU – Believer (LISTEN HERE)

Machine Made Pleasure – Danceland Graffiti (LISTEN HERE)

Nation Of Language – A Way Forward (LISTEN HERE)

Nature Of Wires – Out Of My System (LISTEN HERE)

Norderney – Without The Limelight (LISTEN HERE)

Nórdika – Hipnotik (LISTEN HERE)

Nuovo Testamento – New Earth (LISTEN HERE)

Parralox – Travelogue (LISTEN HERE)

Piston Damp – Making The World Great Again (LISTEN HERE)

Potochkine – Sortilèges (LISTEN HERE)

Raindancer – A Different Horizon (LISTEN HERE)

Rector Scanner – Radioteleskop (LISTEN HERE)

The Saint Paul – Core (LISTEN HERE)

Tenderlash – Hold Still (LISTEN HERE)

thewalkingicon – Shadow Of The Saints (LISTEN HERE)

Tobias Bernstrup – Petrichor (LISTEN HERE)

Yota – Lucid Dreams (LISTEN HERE)