This is the third album from French black metal act Jours Pâles.
Jours Pâles’ debut album Éclosion was a surprise hit of 2021 for me, and while 2022 follow up Tensions was a worthy successor, it was released too late in the year to impact upon list season. So, now we have 46 minutes of new material to work through on Dissolution, how have Jours Pâles fared this time around? Continue reading “Jours Pâles – Dissolution (Review)”
This is the fourth album from US blackened post-hardcore band Glassing.
2019’s Spotted Horse caused people to pay attention to what Glassing had to offer, but it was 2021’s Twin Dream that really impressed. From the Other Side of the Mirror offers 42 minutes of new material, and its as good as you would hope for. Continue reading “Glassing – From the Other Side of the Mirror (Review)”
A Burial at Sea are a post-rock band from Ireland and this is their second album.
Close to Home contains 43 minutes of exquisitely rendered post-rock. Boasting contributions from shoegaze, jazz, and progressive rock, this is a non-standard album for lovers of broad soundscapes and brass-enriched musical vistas. It’s mostly instrumental, and paints wonderfully textured pictures with sound.
This is the debut album from US post-metal band Guhts.
Guhts play post-metal that benefits from avant-garde, sludge, doom, and shoegaze elements that allow the band to build and sustain compelling musical vistas over time. It’s all about emotion and atmosphere with Guhts, and across 46 minutes Regeneration is soaked to the core with feeling. Continue reading “Guhts – Regeneration (Review)”
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”
This is a split between two solo US black metal acts – Bury Them and Keep Quiet and Lust Hag.
Bury Them and Keep Quiet start us off with two tracks, with a total duration of 14 minutes. Continue reading “Bury Them and Keep Quiet/Lust Hag – Split (Review)”
This is the sixth album from US doom band Vanishing Kids.
Miracle of Death offers up 42 minutes of luscious Gothic doom, sprinkled with psychedelia, shoegaze, and oceans of atmosphere. It’s an absorbing listen, one that showcases the style and personality of Vanishing Kids in the best of lights. Continue reading “Vanishing Kids – Miracle of Death (Review)”
Svalbard are a crust/hardcore band from the UK and this is their fourth album.
This is one I’ve been quite eagerly awaiting. 2018’s It’s Hard to Have Hope was a very enjoyable record, but 2020’s When I Die, Will I Get Better? was the record that really put Svalbard on most people’s radars. Now the band have returned, with the 44-minute wonder that is The Weight of the Mask. Continue reading “Svalbard – The Weight of the Mask (Review)”
Deadly Carnage are a post-black metal band from Italy and this is their fifth album.
Following on from 2018’s Through the Void, Above the Suns, Deadly Carnage have now returned with 39 minutes of new material, and they have returned on fine form. Continue reading “Deadly Carnage – Endless Blue (Review)”
Tideless are a death/doom metal band from the US and this is their second album.
Eye of Water is a monster of an album, in more ways than one. Running to an imposing 75 minutes, Tideless spew forth five tracks of inhuman death/doom of an unexpected and idiosyncratic synth-enhanced nature. Continue reading “Tideless – Eye of Water (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 