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”

Phobocosm – Foreordained (Review)

Phobocosm - ForeordainedThis is the third album from Canadian death metal act Phobocosm.

Foreordained contains 41 minutes of cavernous, doom-infused death metal. It’s a journey into the lightless places that are hard to reach, but if you can endure the extreme environments they offer, then there are many potential rewards to be had. Continue reading “Phobocosm – Foreordained (Review)”

Baring Teeth – The Path Narrows (Review)

Baring Teeth - The Path NarrowsBaring Teeth are a death metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.

I last caught up with Baring Teeth almost a decade ago on 2014’s Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins. They also had an album out in 2018, which I missed, (I’ll have to dig it out at some point), so The Path Narrows offers a good opportunity to catch up with the band once more. So what do Baring Teeth have to offer the discerning metal fan in 2023? Continue reading “Baring Teeth – The Path Narrows (Review)”

Wormhole – Almost Human (Review)

Wormhole - Almost HumanThis is the third album from international death metal band Wormhole.

I enjoyed 2015’s Genesis and 2020’s  The Weakest Among Us, so was keen to find out what Almost Human offered. Back with a new lineup once again, Wormhole deliver 26 minutes of death metal carnage. It’s immediately clear too that Wormhole have levelled up on this new album. Continue reading “Wormhole – Almost Human (Review)”

Zvylpwkua – The Outlying Entities (Review)

Zvylpwkua - The Outlying EntitiesThis is the second album from international death metal band Zvylpwkua.

Featuring a member of Feral Lord and Slog, The Outlying Entities is an avant-garde death metal monster. Beware those that enter into its sphere of awareness, as this is not an album to approach lightly. Continue reading “Zvylpwkua – The Outlying Entities (Review)”

Fabricant – Drudge to the Thicket (Review)

Fabricant - Drudge to the ThicketThis is the debut album from US death metallers Fabricant.

Fabricant play a non-standard form of death metal that combines elements of the technical, progressive, and dissonant styles. Across 43 minutes Drudge to the Thicket impresses with its grasp of complexity and creative intensity. Continue reading “Fabricant – Drudge to the Thicket (Review)”

Rannoch – Conflagrations (Review)

Rannoch - ConflagrationsRannoch are a progressive death metal band from the UK and this is their third album.

Conflagrations offers a 52-minute journey into multifaceted music that falls somewhere between progressive death metal foundations and more ambitious extreme progressive metal proclivities. Bolstered by the percussive skills of the drummer of Ne Obliviscaris, Rannoch are a skilled band that have a clear vision for their brand of extreme music. Continue reading “Rannoch – Conflagrations (Review)”

Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun (Review)

Serpent of Old - Ensemble Under the Dark SunThis is the debut album from Serpent of Old, a death metal band from Turkey.

Featuring the vocalist of Decimation, (also ex-Abolish), Ensemble Under the Dark Sun is a 42-minute monster of extreme metal. Mixing together black metal and doom, with elements of the progressive, dissonant, and atmospheric strains of death metal, Ensemble Under the Dark Sun is shockingly accomplished. Continue reading “Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun (Review)”

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration (Review)

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods - Rejecting ObliterationThis is the fourth album from Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, a death metal band from New Zealand.

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods play a modern form of death metal that combines progressive, technical, and avant-garde elements together into a savagely impactful package. Rejecting Obliteration is 45 minutes of surprisingly rich extremity. Continue reading “Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration (Review)”

Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift (Review)

Nightmarer - Deformity AdriftNightmarer are an international death metal band and this is their second album.

Featuring current and ex-members of Alluvial, Convulsing, Gigan, The Ocean, and War from a Harlots Mouth, you know that Nightmarer have a lot of diverse experience to offer. In this instance, they collectively offer us 32 minutes of discordant death metal in the warped and disjointed shape of Deformity Adrift. Continue reading “Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift (Review)”