Welcome to my annual attempt to make sense of the ridiculous amount of good metal albums out there, awaiting discovery by intrepid metal explorers.

2023’s best of list has been one of the more difficult ones to put together, placing-wise, which is one of the reasons that I’m posting it later than I usually do. Even more so than normal many of the slots are interchangeable, and I especially struggled with positions two-nine – if such a thing were possible, they all deserve to be higher! In the end I decided to stop overthinking it and go with my gut, but the usual caveat of these lists being very subjective and subject to change depending on mood, feelings, etc. is larger than normal here.

There are some notable acts missing form the below. Not because they’re not worthy of inclusion, but because there are only so many spaces to be had. In fact, I almost ended up limiting this list to 20, rather than the now-customary 30, as I found it really difficult to know who to include and who not to. In the end I went with the standard 30 so that I could promote a few extra bands, as they absolutely all deserve it.

As for the top position, I wasn’t expecting it to be filled by a band I’d never heard before, playing a style that I don’t listen to as much as I used to. However, I suppose after last year, I shouldn’t have been too surprised.

I do hope you enjoy this list and find some new music to obsess over. Like always, thanks for your support if you have ever visited this site before, and here’s to a great 2024 for as many of us as possible.

30

Maze of Sothoth – Extirpated Light

Maze of Sothoth provided a foundation of quality death metal brutality that I have kept returning to over 2023. It’s such a solid, enjoyable, reliably crushing album that I can’t get enough of it. Extirpated Light is an infectious slab of powerful death metal.

29

Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold

Towers of Gold is packed with classic songs and boasts a singer with an incredibly strong voice, Sacred Outcry fly the flag for epic power metal loud and proud. It’s a record that grows over time, revealing its splendour gradually, but notably.

28

Omnivortex – Circulate

Circulate is an album that I really like. Omnivortex play death metal with dynamic energy, forceful potency, and vigorous intensity. The riffs are on fire, the vocals diverse and affecting, and the songwriting tight. Technical, dissonant, and blackened elements all add to the music’s appeal, and Omnivortex hit hard. Like Maze of Sothoth previously, I could listen to this all day.

27

Afterbirth – In But Not Of

Afterbirth’s In But Not Of is a very individual record. Blending brutal death metal with post-rock and textured, nuanced atmosphere is not easy, (not that many have bothered trying), but Afterbirth have mastered their unconventional art. Perfectly placed to be within the death metal genre, yet also without and above it, the appropriately named In But Not Of is a notable and creative record. It’s also horrifically good whether blasting out barbarity or weaving refined moodscapes. Afterbirth continue to impress.

26

Decompression – Love Is the Beauty of the Soul

An album that came out of nowhere and really impacted up me, Love Is the Beauty of the Soul is an exquisitely wrought, absolutely gorgeous album. A hard-to-categorise mix of black, doom, and melancholic metal, Decompression’s music just aches with feeling and depth. It also boasts probably the strongest opening two-song-combo you’ll hear this year in Empty and  Roaring Tides. In fact, the former is a prime contender for my song of the year, if I kept track of such a thing.

25

The Sun’s Journey Through the Night – Worldless

Worldless is a raging splinter of violence and atmosphere. The black metal assault of The Sun’s Journey Through the Night features walls of shimmering darkness, lightless ambient texturing, and intense visceral screams. It’s a formula that kept insisting I revisit it, drowning me in oceans of distortion as it crashed against me. Yep, this is damn good stuff.

24

Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle

So, you want a mix of melodic and symphonic black metal, but one that’s laced with power metal exuberance and dipped in whatever Children of Bodom were drinking to make them so addictive? Then look no further than Moonlight Sorcery. Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle is every bit as enjoyable as that description sounds. It’s an unstoppable ball of frenetic energy, and damn good fun.

23

Night Crowned – Tales

Night Crowned’s previous album Hädanfärd narrowly missed my list of 2021, so I was really hoping that Tales would allow the band to place on this year’s one. It did, so here we are, basking in the grandeur that is Night Crowned’s song-focused and catchy expression of melodic black and death metal. With songs that concentrate on well-structured arrangements, professional delivery, and emotive power, Tales is an outright winner and very entertaining to listen to.

22

Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit

It took me a bit longer than I expected to get properly get into this one. On The Enduring Spirit Tomb Mold mutated their virulent strain of brutal death metal into a progressive concoction of rich depth and colour. Upon first listen it had everything in it that I should love, but I wasn’t feeling it as much as I should have. It was only around the fourth listen that parts of it started to really stand out; the introspective atmosphere of The Enduring Spirit of Calamity, the cascading hooks of the main riff to The Perfect Memory (Phantasms of Aura), and the colossal weight of Fate’s Tangled Thread, to name just some examples. Many listens later, and it’s definitely got its claws firmly into me now. The Enduring Spirit was worth persevering with, and as I continue to explore it over time, I fully expect to regret not placing it higher in the end.

21

Ulthar – Anthronomicon

I’ve chosen Anthronomicon for this list, as I think it marginally superior to its sister album Helionomicon, but consider Ulthar’s entry to basically be for both albums. Displaying the band’s well-developed razor-sharp personality on top form, these records are striking and compelling from start to finish. Both are absolutely filled with Grade A death metal ingredients, a huge amount of choice cuts, and an extremely moreish taste. This is music that satiates like the finest of meals.

20

Tideless – Eye of Water

In a year that was generally a disappointing one for elongated MASSIVE DOOM, the charismatic splicing of funeral doom and shoegaze that is the imposing Eye of Water stood out. Tideless’ style is as notable as it is emotive. Atmospheric and sweeping, this is a record that relies on hypnotic repetition and repeated themes to get the job done, and get it done it does. This is another record that I just kept coming back to, drawn in by its abyssal charms. Eye of Water is an absorbing listen full of hidden delights.

19

Sworn – A Journey Told Through Fire

A Journey Told Through Fire is a melodic black metal powerhouse. Expertly crafted and professionally constructed from only the finest materials, Sworn’s fourth album is an exemplar of the style, and represents what any band playing in this style should aspire to. It’s so good it prompted my first ever, (and currently only), documented deep dive into a band’s past work. A Journey Told Through Fire is Sworn’s most well-realised work yet. A rich, engaging journey throughout.

18

Winterhorde – Neptunian

Winterhorde are a late addition to this list, releasing a blinder of a melodic/progressive black/death metal album in the shape of the infectious and luscious Neptunian. I’m pretty sure that this would have crept up the list higher had it seen the light of day earlier. Either way, it’s a great album full of choruses to die for and metallic joys around this. Songs like The Spirit of Freedom are just awesome.

17

Slomatics – Strontium Fields

I’ve long been a fan of Slomatics’ idiosyncratic and vital take on progressive doom, and Strontium Fields is one of their most immersive and enjoyable albums yet. Saturated with emotive synths and with songwriting that balances absorbing soundscapes and humongous guitars, this is a record that showcases the particular talents of Slomatics in the best of lights. Every song is a world to lap up and savour. If you haven’t heard Slomatics before, now is the perfect time to start.

16

Ὁπλίτης – Ψευδομένη

Much like Ulthar’s entry earlier, Ὁπλίτης (Hoplites)’s slot is a multi-album affair. Any of the three (!) Ὁπλίτης albums that saw the light of day in 2023 could have filled this position, but the first, Ψευδομένη, is my favourite. Despite this, if you consider this spot to be for Ψευδομένη, Τρωθησομένη, and Ἀντιτιμωρουμένη, you wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Across all three you’ll discover the sort of snarling, spiked, jagged, abrasive mix of savage harshness and technical extremity that just blows you away. All three have their own take on this style, and in my opinion Ψευδομένη offers the most satisfying vision for this brand of extremity. It’s very close between them all though. Whichever one you might choose, Ὁπλίτης has created a hybrid technical post-blackened hardcore dissonant thrash monster that just tears everything apart with lethal feral abandon. Violently ripping stuff.

15

Moonreich – Amer

As soon as I saw the artwork for Amer I was smitten. I knew I’d enjoy it – after all Moonreich have a good track record – but I hoped for something special to match the cover. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. Amer contains Moonreich’s most well-rounded and fully formed material. It’s a study in modern black metal that mixes contemporary aggression with progressive colourings and post-metal worldbuilding. Every song has its strengths, but Where We Sink is just fantastic, especially the uplifting highly emotive sections. Creative, enthralling, interesting, engrossing…Amer really is Moonreich at their most dazzling. I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

14

Hail the Void – Memento Mori

I was, and am, massively impressed with Hail the Void’s Memento Mori. Taking the best from stoner, doom, grunge, and psychedelic rock, running it through a Dax Riggs and Alice in Chains influence, and then utilising the sort of songcraft that surely would have made them stars in the 90s, Memento Mori boasts a superlative collection of songs. Their singer has a fantastic voice and gives a standout performance throughout these eight tracks. Well-written and executed, this was definitely a highlight of 2023 for me.

13

Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul

Valdrin’s Throne of the Lunar Soul is a masterful example of how to produce an extremely long album, yet have it hold the listener’s attention firmly throughout. This is an old-school black metal record that takes from multiple arenas to create something extremely compelling and enjoyable. It just gets better with time too, and its ample length provides lots to explore. Every song has a personality of its own, and each is a meticulously crafted work that sounds very complete. Within the band’s stylistic framework the songwriting and ideas are diverse and spellbinding. Valdrin surely use actual magic in their music, yes?

12

Witch Ripper – The Flight After the Fall

When I first heard Witch Ripper on their debut EP way back in 2012, you could tell that there was potentially something special about the band even then. The promise of future greatness was apparent, and on The Flight After the Fall that greatness has fully manifested itself. Witch Ripper’s progressive form of stoner/sludge metal drips with emotion, depth, and glistening melodies. The well-crafted songs sparkle with graceful delivery, and the vocals alternately pummel and soar. Killer moments abound, as each epic song blends its diverse influences into music that’s as uplifting as it is dramatic and impactful. Witch Ripper’s music really is engrossing.

11

Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze – The Fractal Ouroboros

The Fractal Ouroboros is one I really had trouble placing. Without the spoken word that infests this otherwise exemplary opus of modern black metal, this would have easily breached the top 10, probably the top 5. Like Winterhorde, this is a late entrant, and I can’t help but feel that if it was released earlier in the year it would have placed higher up this list regardless. Even as I type this, listening to the sheer majesty of Our Overt Apocalypse, I can’t help but feel I’m doing this album a disservice by not placing it further up. Time will tell. Placement uncertainty notwithstanding, what I will say with surety is that you need this in your life if you’re a fan of ritualistic drone-infused black metal. Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze deserve wide acclaim for The Fractal Ouroboros.

10

Sarcoptes – Prayers to Oblivion

I will cheerfully admit that I wasn’t prepared for how good Prayers to Oblivion is. From an already very solid foundation Sarcoptes have built a sprawling album of black and thrash metal that screams, roars, riffs, and tears its way through its running time with measured violence and confident presence. All five tracks are serrated magnificence and atmospheric fury given sonic form. Sarcoptes have achieved black/thrash metal supremacy on Prayers to Oblivion.

9

Thronehammer – Kingslayer

This is one I was extremely excited to hear. Although it hasn’t placed as highly on my list as its predecessor Incantation Rites did in 2021, Kingslayer is probably the better, more diverse, and well-rounded album. Why a lower placing then, you might reasonably ask? Well, simply because I find the immense doom misery and relentlessly bleak atmosphere of Incantation Rites so utterly compelling. Anyway, this is about Kingslayer‘s assets, of which there are many. It’s an album that takes Thronehammer’s monstrous doom metal and imbues it, in key places, with the spirit of bands such as Bolt Thrower, Celtic Frost, and Paradise Lost. Kingslayer is one of the best albums you’ve probably never heard of before now. Thronehammer deserve to be so much better known, as this is just ace. You are now in the realms of ULTIMATE DOOOOOM! PAY FEALTY TO YOUR NEW RULERS!

8

Death Engine – Ocean

At this point any new Death Engine album is greeted with keen expectation from yours truly. Ocean is a post-hardcore album that delivers the goods in no uncertain terms. I knew, waaaaay back in January when this was released, that it would likely end up on my end of year list. And it has, even higher than Place Noire did in 2018. Ocean is an emotive exploration of personal depth and textured heaviness. Every track is great, (especially the powerful Dying Alone), and Death Engine’s new release is their best work yet.

7

Ashen Horde – Antimony

What a very, very, very good album this is. Antimony is stuffed to the brim with aggressive song-based extremity that makes the most of its black and death metal components. It’s Ashen Horde’s strongest release to date, and the songs just don’t quit. Catchy, memorable, serrated, and finely wrought, Antimony is an absolute corker. Each song offers something of its own, combining to form a multifaceted collection of tracks that stuck in my mind for the whole year. Also, like every album in slots two-nine, (and many others lower down too), I already regret I haven’t placed it even higher.

6

Bear – Vanta

Bear have delivered a progressive metal album that is both insanely heavy and devilishly catchy, and Vanta is the peak of Bear’s development so far. With great songs, a very satisfying and moreish production that makes the most of the band’s talents, and the sort of delivery that’s both merciless and nuanced, Vanta just kept demanding that I listen to it. Every song is a winner, but tracks like Atone and Vanta particularly stand out. Hell, you can pick any one of them and end up battered, but happy. Like many of the other records on this list, (especially the one in the top spot), Vanta just kept getting better and better the more that I visited its massively heavy shores.

5

Earthen Altar – Earthen Altar

Appearing completely out of nowhere, fully formed, with the sort of contemporary black metal songs that many bands would kill for, Earthen Altar is just brilliant. In completely the opposite way to most albums, Earthen Altar is too short, and I soooo would have wanted at least one extra song to bring the running time up a tad more, say another 10-minutes or so? No? Okay, that’s fine, as the 27 minutes of material that graces Earthen Altar’s debut release is of such high quality that it’s churlish to complain. All of the three songs are special, but Yemo deserves particular praise, as it’s just stunning.  The interplay between the rhythmic, ritualistic vocals and the dynamic energy of the music floors me every time I hear it. Basically, Earthen Altar is just an utterly mandatory listen for connoisseurs of blackened underground gems.

4

Viscera – Carcinogenesis

On Carcinogenesis Viscera improved on an already formidable debut album, (which placed at number 15 on my 2020 list), to produce a raging slab of deathcore and metalcore. This new one ups the ante, and it all pays off in nine gloriously crushing ways. Ohhhhh this is goooood. Top songs, top singer, top production, top hooks; this album has it all, and is the very best 2023 has to offer in this style. There are so many strong cuts here, but the title track opener, the epic Sungazer, or the almighty Lex Talionis are all hard to beat. Honestly, there’s so much here to enjoy, and so many highlights, it’s ridiculous. For fans of catchy, heavy music, this is essential.

3

Outer Heaven – Infinite Psychic Depths

Now this is the stuff. Holy crap, the riffs on this thing! It’s obscene! Outer Heaven have done some very good work in the past, but Infinite Psychic Depths exceeded my expectations. This is a shockingly ugly slab of death metal brutality that somehow manages to find the time for nuance, delicious creative touches, and buckets of depth, while also splitting your head open with barbaric grooves and feral intensity. Outer Heaven have outdone themselves and unleashed a true monster with Infinite Psychic Depths. This is death metal with characterful aggression and inventive savagery.

2

Midnight Odyssey – Biolume Part 3 – A Fullmoon Madness

Considering how much I loved 2021’s Biolume Part 2 – The Golden Orb, (it topped my list for that year), I was a bit apprehensive about Biolume Part 3 – A Fullmoon Madness. After all, how could it match up to the dizzying heights of its predecessor? Well the truth is it doesn’t, which is one of the reasons why Midnight Odyssey is ‘only’ at number two this year, not number one. The thing is though, it wisely doesn’t try, and instead, like all of this artist’s work, it has its own character and personality. It took me a little longer than normal to properly get into this mammoth-sized album, but with every listen new realms of moonlit vistas revealed themselves. This is a gargantuan opus of atmospheric and symphonic, synth-heavy black metal, and I love it. Midnight Odyssey are the only band to have topped my album of the year list twice, (the other occasion was in 2015, with the excellent Shards of Silver Fade), and Biolume Part 3 – A Fullmoon Madness is just as exceptional and remarkable as you would expect. Do not miss this.

1

Frozen Crown – Call of the North

So here you have it. Top of the pile in 2023 is Frozen Crown’s wonderful Call of the North. Honestly, when I first heard it I thought it was good, but I had no real expectations of longevity. With every listen though I found more and more to like. The melodies, the riffs, the infectious vocals and potent choruses…it all just got under my skin and stayed there all year long. This is an album of such energy and affecting impact; much like Judicator last year, Frozen Crown’s music makes me feel deeply, and I haven’t been able to put this one down as a result. When power metal is done well, it has the potential to be life-affirming and uplifting, and Call of the North was this and more for me. It’s also a fantastic record for the gym. Nope, I didn’t expect at all that Call of the North would be my album of the year when I first heard it, but the sheer quality of Frozen Crown’s songwriting and execution cannot be denied. This is my favourite record overall this year, and it’s not one that you should miss.