Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2023

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. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2023”

Afterbirth – In But Not Of (Review)

Afterbirth - In But Not OfThis is the third album from US death metallers Afterbirth.

Following on from 2020’s Four Dimensional FleshIn But Not Of contains 36 minutes of devastating brutality that sounds like it was spawned in another dimension. Continue reading “Afterbirth – In But Not Of (Review)”

Reeking Aura – Blood and Bonemeal (Review)

Reeking Aura - Blood and BonemealReeking Aura are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.

Blood and Bonemeal contains 34 minutes of gruesome death metal brought to us by current and ex-members of Afterbirth, Artificial Brain, Buckshot Facelift, Coma Cluster Void, Grey Skies Fallen, and Unearthly Trance. In other words, Reeking Aura bring a lot of experience to the table. Continue reading “Reeking Aura – Blood and Bonemeal (Review)”

Artificial Brain – Artificial Brain (Review)

Artificial Brain - Artificial BrainThis is the third album from US technical death metal band Artificial Brain.

The follow up to 2017’s very well-received Infrared HorizonArtificial Brain contains 46 minutes of new material, and is brought to us from current and ex-members of bands such as Aeviterne, Afterbirth, Buckshot Facelift, Coma Cluster VoidGrey Skies Fallen, and Revocation. Continue reading “Artificial Brain – Artificial Brain (Review)”

Wonderbox Metal End of Year List EXTRA! – Best Non-Reviewed Metal of 2020

I’ve decided to do something new for 2020 – a second End of Year list. If you’ve missed it, my standard, definitive best of 2020 list can be seen here, and is made up of albums I was lucky enough to get to review. However, this year I want to also highlight some of the many albums that I’ve enjoyed listening to, but for one reason or another never had the chance to review. So, consider this a complementary list of sorts to the main one. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List EXTRA! – Best Non-Reviewed Metal of 2020”