Dan Hillier
Whilst the extended play format is often overshadowed by its full length counterpart, it would be impossible to signify the importance of the humble EP. It’s on this format where emerging bands first make their sound, where established acts foray down new musical avenues and where musical pioneers first treaded down their musical journeys that are now adored with gold. Granted, long play records may the bricks that bands construct their careers out of, but it’s the EP format that serves as the foundation and finer decor.
With that in mind, and with the sheer number of brilliant EPs released this year, we count down the top 20 extended plays of this year.
We saw the return of many a band this year but one sneaky EP release from Detroit’s Old Gods passed many by. Jeff Tuttle (ex-The Dillinger Escape Plan) and members of The Armed first release in 9 years together and it is three tracks of unadulterated, heavy, hardcore rawness. – Adam Vallely
There is very little that any fan across the scope of metal could find about this EP not to enjoy. The London riff squad have delivered a sleek 6-track that refines and delivers on all aspects of heavy music, from technical death metal through to infectious 2-step groove, it is a beast of a record and deserves attention across the board. – Jasper Harmer
Guiding us through their most recent chapter of experimental embarkments into a compounded musical bombardment; the Bostonian Hybrid Alt- Rock artist Poppy, delivered the essence of overwhelming defiance with her most personal deluge of inspiration to date with her impressive fifth extended play Stagger. – Bennie Osborne
Ahead of their UK debut at Download Festival 2023, SiM shot out a four track EP packed with reggae-metal, filthy breakdowns, some downright anthemic choruses and that one colossal, orchestral anime opener they’ve become so well known for. Beware Skindred, for SiM are coming for your crown as the world’s leading ragga-punk unit. – Elliot Grimmie
After a stellar debut album but unfortunately cancelling tours due to lockdowns worldwide, Irist poured every ounce of emotion into this EP. Everything from the blast beats, soaring, dirty guitars and disgusting vocals, this is nothing short of massive sounding. – Adam Vallely
As feral as the band’s moniker suggests, the latest EP from the Birmingham unit Creature is the sonic equivalent of being caught between the molars and canines of a musical monstrosity. The last instalment of a trio of EPs from the metallic hardcore trio, Haunt is 11 minutes of riffs, grooves, savagery in the key of a brutal existentialism. – Dan Hillier
The latest in a series of extended plays from the Sheffield art-rocckers New Ghost, Rectify is three tracks of shoegazing dreampop in it’s most alluring and unfiltered form. Composed of two gorgeous original tracks and a spellbinding cover of Annie Lennox’s ‘Love Song For A Vampire’, this three track offering see’s the band additional light to their already prismatic and hypnotic sound. A crucial listen for fans of the dream-rock sound that glistens with promise. – Dan Hillier
With every wave of thrash comes new gimmicks and new approaches. Inhuman Nature forgo all the needless stratagems and return to the days of thrash where all one’s problems could be solved with an axe to the cranium. Under The Boot is twelve minutes of skull splitting and flesh gorging thrash that’s served with all the patience and subtly of the downswing of a warhammer and a welcome return to the gilded and blood-caked days of thrash metal. – Dan Hillier
Starting off your EP with the frankly unstoppable ‘Swan Song; is probably the biggest statement of intent you can possibly make. Fortunately, Lowest Form of Animal doesn’t let up as Kublai Khan batter your head and heart with disgusting riffs and powerful lyrics for 14 minutes straight. – Chris Earl
The 2000s metalcore revival is in full swing, and Foreign Hands might just be the best of the bunch. This year’s Bleed the Dream echoes pioneers Poison The Well but updates the sound for the modern era, infusing it with occasional spoken word passages alongside heart-on-sleeve lyrics and skyscraper choruses. – Will Marshall
State of You kick out the jams, MC5-style, with their self-titled debut. The UK metalcore/hardcore band howl about topics like making life your own, dealing with undiagnosed ADHD, and the incompetency of the government. For five straight songs, State of You challenge speakers’ output capacities before cooling down slightly for a perfect slower finish. As the last notes ring out, their invitation to “enjoy the misery” never sounded better. – Josiah Aden
2022 saw Glass Heart release their sophomore EP Weathered, a cleverly considered release with the usual on-point aesthetic and vision. Riding high off the success of previous singles, the band wasted no time in drip feeding singles with cryptic snippets of the EP artwork to fans and new listeners alike with four of the five tracks released as singles prior to the EP release. Harnessing melody and allowing freedom to take hold in the writing process, the result paved way for the band to embrace creativity which can be felt on songs like ‘Better Off This Way’ and ‘Rain’. Glass Heart have doubled down on their sense of comradery and family and conveyed this in their music and it was nothing but a recipe for success. – Jac Holloway
From starting the year as a fresh proposition to ending it playing The Roundhouse, in thanks to From Without there’s no denying that 2022 has belonged to Zetra. Born from an encyclopedic understanding of the heavy music art-form, recorded with enough analogue equipment to catch the eyes of certain black metal pioneers and expressing so much fatalist seduction that it would even make Peter Steele blush, From Without is a sleek and fuzzed out amalgamation of styles from all angles of the alternative music spectrum. Regardless if you’re a connoisseur of classic Sabbath-esque riffs or a devotee of gothic synth dirges, this is a record quivering with mass appeal. – Dan Hillier
Despite there only being two tracks to this EP, the debut offering from Copse explores more avenues of sound than many bands will do in their entire careers. Fronted by Ed Gibbs of Devil Sold His Soul acclaim, this is a sprawling, expansive post-black metal release channels the ambience, punishment and esoteric ethereal glee of acts such as Alcest, MØL, Celeste and Deafheaven prior to condensing it down to 18 minutes of pure power. Potent and arresting, this short and yet tantalising release bares all the hallmarks of a band harbouring the capabilities to soon inhabit the eye of the vortex that is the global scene. – Dan Hillier
Australian pop-punk quartet Yours Truly burst onto the scene with their Afterglow EP that hit all the right notes, and their debut album was pure anthemic pop punk. With this year’s EP is this what i look like? though, they truly spread their wings and bring in influences from all over the rock sphere to cement their status as one of the most exciting new Australian bands. ‘Walk Over My Grave’ is all alt-rock swagger, while ‘Lights On’ delves into electropop, but all of it is clearly the work of one band, exploring their sound as well as their own identities. – Will Marshall
Burner blew more than the doors off with their debut EP A Vision of the End. A seamless blend of death metal, hardcore with flourishes of black metal and even grindcore, it rips and tears with seemingly wild abandon. It rages against oppression and injustice, with cuts like riff-city ‘Ingsoc’ dedicated to the Uyghurs, as well as people of Tibet and Taiwan. The guitar tone throughout is thicker than molasses, the drumming is unreal (see the fury unleashed on ‘Siege Fire’ or ‘Rat King Crown’) and it’s vocally ferocious, as well as ferociously vocal. With an LP due in 2023, the future’s bright for these London bruisers. – Will Marshall
After releasing their triumphant LP debut The Live Long After last year – a record that we dubbed the 6th best album of 2021 – Sugar Horse have once again emerged from the subterranean void beneath Bristol to spew out yet another corrosive offering. A collaborative effort featuring guest appearances from members of Conjurer, Heriot, Vennart, The St Pierre Snake Invasion and more, Waterloo Teeth is the musical self-portrait of a creative entity that is now beyond able to be described by genre. Doom, post-metal, shoegaze and the rest of that ilk is abundant in this record, but with ruminations on noise and dreampop present here, this is a must listen for anyone with an interest in genrephobic experimentalism. Another step away from the rigid and ultimately pointless notion of genre from a band that has scoffed at the idea of conformity since day one. – Dan Hillier
Two of the most exciting, energetic and emotive bands in alternative music teaming up for a split release was certainly one of 2022’s highlights for fans of Alpha Wolf and Holding Absence. The melodic grace and passion of Holding Absence juxtaposed itself flawlessly with Alpha Wolfs vitriolic anger and venom. Tracks like ’60cm of Steel’ allowed Lochie Keogh to deliver vocals with acid and force, only to be lofted to perfection with Lucas Woodlands’ iconic voice making its mark. Beauty and anger joined in unholy matrimony. A well-rounded and incredibly impressive release. – Jasper Harmer
Heriot are absurdly heavy. Sludge, hardcore, industrial and harsh noise all collide in their debut EP Profound Morality, exploring how life is never black and white, but exists in shades of grey. The industrial opener Abaddon gives way to a gunshot snare as ‘Coalescence’ goes for the throat; ‘Near Vision’ offers a two-step breakdown to shatter necks to, and the title track crawls and bludgeons eardrums in its intensity. With eight songs and just twenty minutes long, it’s a teaser of a band ripping up the rulebook and redefining just what hardcore and metal can sound like; and they’re just getting started.
Temple Corrupted isn’t just the name of the best EP of 2022, but a reflection on both the wellbeing of society at large and our collective mental health as a cultural entity. A staggering record born forth from a mind afflicted from the ills of self-destructive capitalism and a nation’s callous disregard for the mental health of it’s population, El Moono have fully channeled every negative emotion possible into 24 minutes of pure musical potency with this incredible release. Bounded by herculean riffs, off-kilter progression, fracturing density and the wavering, lived-in vocals of Zac Jackson, every blistering and rattling second breathes a sense of authentic urgency in it’s search for catharsis in addressing the disease that served as the catalyst for it’s creation. Whereas many a band in recent years have attempted to portray the ills of modern man through their work – often to mixed results – with this EP El Moono have achieved such a quest with almost effortless ease. A crucial listen for everyone who has navigated this quarrelsome year. – Dan Hillier