While other people have decided that this was the year where it wasn’t worth their time to write down the deep thoughts on every release in their top-list, and instead just do a one-line description or a YouTube link, I still spent a considerable amount of time jotting down paragraph-after-paragraph. To be honest, I don’t disagree with those people that the return on investment is incredibly low here these days – nobody reads these posts, or at least “react” by posting back their own comments, but does that really matter? I won’t pretend I’m doing these reviews out of the goodness of my heart to help YOU figure out what albums are good (if it does, then great, and I’m thrilled about that), but no, I do this because I like putting my thoughts into real words I can go back to and read at any time I would like to. I post it here on the forum to share it with y’all, but even if the forum didn’t exist, I would probably still be writing these lists. Read ahead if you like. If not, that’s fine too.
2023 was yet another year where my musical taste has been all over the map – from doom metal (lots of it!!!) to progressive metal, from classical-influenced “metal” to classic metal, from death and black metal to even a few non-metal releases. Truly, a mix of everything out there.
As often is the case, this year had its fair share of disappointments in the music world. For me they include latest releases from Periphery, Jag Panzer, Graveyard, Ronnie Atkins, Haken, Alkaloid, Metal Church, Hanging Garden, Ad Infinitum, Black Star Riders, and Extreme. Some of these are bad – as in, what-the-hell-where-they-thinking, and others are just far from the greatest work these artists have ever done.
However, there are plenty of releases that really are phenomenal, and while these listed next aren’t truly metal releases, they are all albums I believe would be of interest to some of you reading this:
• Host - Paradise Lost members creating one of the best Depeche Mode-style electronic dark pop albums of all time!
• Tenhi - dark Neo-folk
• Wagakki Band - Japanese folk-rock-metal-weirdos
• Atreyu – pop-infused alternative rock with metalcore influences
Lots of great prog-rock/neo-prog such as:
• Subsignal
• Unitopia
• Southern Empire
• Moon Safari
• Pattern-Seeking Animals
• Mystery
• Galahad
• Pallas
• Peter Gabriel
• Yes
• Jethro Tull
There were also a few instrumental releases that surprised me:
• Pomegranate Tiger
• Nuclear Power Trio
• Arch Echo
None of those made the list though, as I just can’t stand to listen to instrumental music for long enough periods of time to where I want to purchase the music, and it’s just unfair ranking music I’m not willing to buy.
But now, let’s get to the main course – this year’s 100 best (in my opinion) hard rock and metal releases.
100. Vulture Industries – Ghosts from the Past
The line between progressive metal and black metal has always been quite blurred when it comes to Norwegian bands, and the term “avantgarde metal” has often become the genre description given to a lot of the bands that straddles the space occupied by both genres. Some bands lean more to the dark and heavy side, and others more to the whimsical or psychedelic side – while the members of Vulture Industries have their roots in many of the bands from Norway’s black metal scene, the music is much more of the latter style; groovy, rock’n’rolling and with some psychedelic touches. Think of it like Solefald without the blackened edge, In the Woods or Green Carnation in their most rock/least metal moments, or even a bit of later-day Arcturus, but sans the black influences. While I must refer to the “avantgarde” tag to be able to describe this, I will admit that what really stands out to me as the main ingredient of Vulture Industries 2023-sound is their gothic rock influences, primarily through Bjørnar Nilsen’s strong voice, that has a real cool deep huskiness to it, and brings an element of “circus/carnival” to it. “This Hell Is Mine” is a perfect example of that aspect, whereas a tune like opener “New Lords of Light” more leans towards the rock’n’roll spirit. Over the years, I’ve given Vulture Industries a lot of chances, and while they’ve never been a favorite band of mine, I have always respected the heck out of them for being so adventurous in their songwriting – “Ghosts from the Past” won’t change anything there – it’s still too “obscure” for me to want to listen to on a daily basis, but it has enough quality for me to remain focused and enjoy it every time I play this album.
https://youtu.be/9uL2YfDshuY?si=H2HOpz0y7c0gisjA
99. Anubis Gate - Interference
Like the composition of the band itself, my enjoyment of Anubis Gate’s music has gone through multiple phases. Today there are no original members left, and the music is quite a different beast from where they started out. Where the first two albums were semi-proggy power metal with a middle eastern twist and lots of US power metal to it (think Crimson Glory meets Iron Maiden meets Fates Warning), the band quickly became more of a classic style melodic prog metal band, to now having evolved into an “introverted” and melancholia-tinged prog metal band infused with a clear pop-sensibility, and even hints of electronic here and there. Personally, I loved the first three albums – heck I was their manager for the first 4 or 5 albums, but their changes in style, and the coming and going of members kind of threw me off, and today none of the original ones are left. That said, I’ve known and dealt with all the guys in various capacities, especially drummer Morten Gade Sørensen, who I’ve had the pleasure of representing through my old management company in both Aurora, Pyramaze, and Wuthering Heights over the years, so it goes without saying that the band still holds a dear place in my heart. “Interference” is the eight full-length of original material, and where 2017’s “Covered in Black” was a heck of a depressing yet impressive rollercoaster of prog metal that took me years (!) to fully appreciate, I’m left with a feeling of a band too intent of writing music for their own good and with no intention of letting the listener in. While it clearly is their choice, and definitely shows that it’s a band who doesn’t feel restricted by conventions, nor tries to write songs to gain an audience, it makes it incredibly difficult to get into, and with a singer like Henrik LeFevre, who might technically be top-notch, but to me always have possessed the power and emotional impact of a wet paper-towel, there’s really not a lot to latch onto here. The musicianship is outstanding – both guitarists deliver wonderful work, Morten’s drums are impeccable as always, and Kim Olesen always had an ear for creating brilliant keyboard soundscapes - but not enough of the album reaches the quality I would have hoped for, with “World of Clay”, “Equations” and “The Intergalactic Dream of Stardom” being the only real standouts to me. It’s not a bad album, not in any way, but Anubis Gate is one of those bands that I wholeheartedly wish that I would still love in the same way that I used to. Unfortunately, I don’t.
https://youtu.be/6D-POXhFBEs?si=cOVfIi0COcqVxmlR
98. Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us
Thanks to the reviews comparing these guys to such (in my opinion) bland and boring acts as Insomnium, Be’lakor, In Mourning and Omnium Gatherum, I had completely dismissed not only the 2020 debut album, but also the 2023 follow-up from Fires in the Distance. Nevertheless, persistent nagging from a friend of mine to check them out, eventually convinced me to listen “Air Not Meant for Us”, and I’ll admit I am finding myself very pleasantly surprised by what this record brings to the table. Similar to those bands mentioned, it's a quite Scandinavian sounding melo-death meets doom-death palette, and while I can hear the comparisons made to not only those three acts, but also to Amorphis, it does a good job at it, and when the band gives in to their epic doom side, it almost floats into a Swallow the Sun meets Saturnus kind of style, which I find much more endearing. As mentioned, for a US based band they sure have some Scandi-influences, and while it’s quite okay to wear your influences on your sleeve, I feel that occasionally FitD takes it too far and doesn’t have enough own personality. It’s almost like “we have to write a part that sounds like this band”, and “we need another part sounding like that this other band”, and so forth, and it’s not 100% just Fires in the Distance, but rather an amalgam of all the stuff they like. Again, nothing wrong with that, but it will prevent me from falling heads over heels in love with them, even if they are better than I originally had given them credit for, and I’m very happy I decided to check them out.
https://youtu.be/OJPQRZFod-g?si=z-KBP4Zb2jsvc0w1
97. Hexvessel – Polar Veil
The two previous albums by Finnish band Hexvessel (“All Tree”, 2019, “Kindred”, 2020) were wonderful slabs of melancholic retro hard rock with a very folksy edge, borrowing from both Scandinavian and Celtic folklore. I’ve revisited both albums multiple times over the past 3 years, and I continue to find more and more things in each of them to love. 2023 sees the band add yet another angle to their multifaceted sound; this time that of black metal with a very distorted guitar soundscape, falling somewhere between Bathory’s viking-era and the first few Satyricon albums. That said, vocals and melodies still (well, primarily) follow in the footsteps of the previous Hexvessel outputs, so it’s not a complete black metal release. I’ve never heard the first three of their albums, so I can’t say if this is a “return to the roots” or if it’s something the band wanted to try out as something new, but either way, it both works, and it doesn’t… While I appreciate the willingness to branch out and add in something that not necessarily should work with your core sound, it is a bit of a risk and not everywhere does it make sense. There are a few songs that becomes too confusing, and it doesn’t mix well. The other point of complaint I have, is that where both “All Tree” and especially “Kindred” had so many memorable moments, those are almost none here (except the awesome “A Cabin in Montana” which reminds me of latter day Primordial), as the band seem to have gone more for creating an atmosphere of melancholy, rather than focus on the melody. Don’t get me wrong, “Polar Veil” is a good album – it’s just not as brilliant as the last two of Hexvessel’s releases.
https://youtu.be/H8sXwJ_fFDY?si=G_9HI9hHGNCb-BV2
96. Jelusick – Follow the Blind Man
Dino Jelusick is here, there, and everywhere. You can’t pick up an album these days without finding him at the mic! Okay, I’m exaggerating, but you get my drift. Between playing keyboards and providing back-up vocals in Whitesnake, fronting Animal Drive, Stone Leaders, Dirty Shirley, Michael Romeo’s solo band, and moonlighting for everyone’s holiday darlings in Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dino (next to Luka Modric) has got to be the busiest man in Croatia in the past 5 years. And now he is back with a new band, named after himself (and no, this isn’t a solo album – he also does some of those on the side), although to be fair, this is the continuation of Animal Drive after they had to change name due to a legal dispute with Frontiers Records. You kind of know what to expect here, right? Melodic metal / hard rock with strong powerhouse vocals. Dino still sounds like Jorn Lande, Russell Allen and Jeff Scott Soto all in one tiny body. There are some cheesy ballads, some stomping rockers, and some real shredders. I guess if you mixed Sons of Apollo, King’s X, Skid Row and Allen/Lande, you’d end up with something like this. It’s a solid record and I like it.
https://youtu.be/071Da4yicWA?si=avBYtpNR9Mq2zvTs
95. Angus McSix – Angus McSix and the Sword of Power
Add this to the list of things I never thought I’d even remotely enjoy; another “joke” power metal album. After having eventually warmed up to the little people in Windrose, the pirates in Alestorm, and the hobbits in Fellowship, I thought I’d reached the outer limits of what my otherwise impeccable sense of humor (if I may say so myself), overall cheesiness and mastery of the Dad joke could withstand, and I proudly denounced any and all attempt from the fake-true-metal of Nanowar of Steel, the elves in Twilight Force, the bards in Ancient Bards and the disco-dudes in Tragedy to win me over to the “fun-side”. However, here comes a band that’s so cheesy and over-the-top that the singer, not only dressed up like a mixture between He-Man and a gold clad wiener-warrior from a 70’s porn movie, but also brought over everything (predominantly) horrendous that his previous band Gloryhammer was known for and dialed it to 11, and for some strange reason I’m finding myself having a great time with this. Perhaps part of the reason for me even giving this a shot is to be found in guitarist Talia (aka “Thalestris, Queen of the Lazer-Amazons of Caledonia” … I shit you not!), who used to play for one of my absolute favorite power metal acts, Frozen Crown. And, lo and behold, her presence on this album, leads to some tasty guitar bad-assery, which brings an added level of quality to an album of epic, symphonic, pounding power metal, musically somewhere between Beast in Black, Hammerfall, Dragonforce, and Rhapsody of Fire. Occasionally some “techno-pop” influences creep in, for whatever reason that might be, and they honestly sound like pure crap, and I could easily do without those, but when all is said and done, thanks to anthems like “Starlord of the Sixtus Stellar System”, “Sixcalibur”, “Master of the Universe” and “Eternal Warrior”, this album becomes a guilty pleasure of mine for 2023, and God knows we all need more excuses to laugh.
https://youtu.be/xzQFfSN7N5o?si=Lt16LGX829PbmZJu
94. Crown Lands – Fearless
If Greta Van Fleet is the ultimate Led Zeppelin clone, then Crown Lands is the ultimate Rush clone. These guys sound so much like hey-day Rush (1976-1984) that it’s uncanny. There’s more originality to be found in a Chinese iPhone knock-off, than there is in “Fearless”, but like how that smartphone has its validity thanks to its price point, Crown Lands make their presence welcomed as the original is nowhere to be found anymore. Great production, great songwriting, a Geddy Lee sound-alike on the mic, overall top-notch performances, and the result is a heartfelt tribute to one of the best bands that was ever around. Will I go back to this album often? No, I’d much rather put on one of the originals from Rush, but that doesn’t take away anything from the quality of “Fearless”.
https://youtu.be/JTKOPIGgddg?si=RtV6DFWkMqXaXvwM
93. On Thorns I Lay – On Thorns I Lay
Many moons ago (to be more precise, 1996), I first got acquainted with the Greek band On Thorns I Lay, thanks to their “Sounds of Beautiful Experience” debut from the year before. I remember taking note of the band, but it wasn’t until the following years when their second album “Orama” (1997) and in particular their third album “Crystal Tears” (1999) were released, that I really got into them. This was at the height of my “gothic doom/death” period, where anything that even hinted at Tiamat, The Gathering, Theatre of Tragedy, Moonspell or Lacuna Coil would get tons of plays at my apartment. On Thorns I Lay fit really well into that niche-genre, and both “Orama” and “Crystal Tears” are still to this day quality milestones for the genre. Seven additional albums have come and past in the history of OTIL, but none of them did anything for me, and just like the core-lineup of the band lost their interest, so did I. In 2023 the band, with now only guitarist Christos Dragamestianos left from the old days (in fact, all the other members of the band today have been there for less than 8 years), have released their 10th, self-titled, album, and to be quite blunt, this is the first time since “Crystal Tears” there’s been enough quality here to make me pay attention. In fact, I’d go as far as saying, this could come as a fresh start for the band, having managed to keep elements of their past intact, but also building upon it with a heavier crunch than ever before. There are parts of melodic death doom here (think Amorphis), parts of Mediterranean folklore (think Orphaned Land), some gothic atmosphere (think Moonspell) and of course the whole epic dark metal touch (think Rotting Christ or even Behemoth). The laid back, and quite folksy, “Crestfallen” is a little hit in itself and sounds very “Greek” to my ears – the heavy as heck opener “Fallen from Grace” is a great way to kick things off - the ultra-dark, yet strangely melodic “Raise Empires” is my personal favorite cut on the entire CD - however, it is the album closer “Thorns of Fire” that probably stands out as the best example of what OTIL sounds like here in 2023, thanks to its mix of folk, darkness, heaviness and melody all in one seven-and-a-half minute tune.
https://youtu.be/CNWaG6WB7uo?si=z1jcN-dQS2oDj1jw
92.Tanith – Voyage
My main complaint about Tanith’s 2019 debut album was the 44-minute playing time just seemed too long, too much of the same thing. Well, the band apparently listened, as 2023’s “Voyage” is only 43 minutes “short”! Now, the question is if it’s also a better album … well, let’s say it this way; if you listened to the debut, you’d know exactly what to expect. Musically it’s proto-metal like it was done in the late 70’s and very early 80’s with a proggier/psychedelic twist, making this sounds like a mixture between Rush, Angel Witch, Hawkwind, Fleetwood Mac, Budgie, and Jefferson’s Airplane. Rush Tippins (yes, he of Satan!) delivers some seriously solid guitar work that occasionally reminds of his main band, but also has a certain “Iommi”-drive to it, that leads to a less dark Black Sabbath feel to some of the riffs. While the debut tended to lose focus here and there, “Voyage” maintains its high quality-level throughout, right from the great opener “Snow Tiger”, through songs like album’s best song (in my opinion) “Architects of Time”, the up-tempo “Adrasteia”, “Seven Moons (Galantia Pt.2)” and all the way to album closer “Never Look Back”. Do I have any complaints this time around? Well, yeah … the song “Flame” tries to go for a folksy feel, and it doesn’t really work for me. I understand that some of those bands I mentioned early had a folk/hippie background, and as such it could be an inspiration for Tanith, but it just doesn’t work. That aside, this album stands well besides the debut, and I think I’m leaning towards “Voyage” as the best of them.
https://youtu.be/-kHLiCPVH1M?si=MBDOp94ciOP7dEga
91. Kidd Judo – An Excuse to Drink Beer…
To quote Oscar Wilde; “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, that mediocrity can pay to greatness”, and in the case of Long Island based Kidd Judo (!!!) the imitation goes all out, as the 6 guys here give it their best to sound like a swancore act along the lines of Dance Gavin Dance, Saosin, Eidola, Wolf & Bear, Hail the Sun, Sianvar, The Fall of Troy, Royal Coda, etc. I mean, it’s as if the band wrote this album here by taking their favorite riffs and melodies from the aforementioned acts, and put it all in a blender, to come up with an album that would fit right into the release schedule of Blue Swan Records or Rise Records. “An Excuse to Drink Beer…”, (by the way, this is such a great album title that it almost makes up for the stupid band name) has everything you’d expect from a progressive post-hardcore / swancore album; a mix between screamo vocals and high-pitched clean emo-style vocals, nice polyrhythms from drummer, a loud and clear bass line that complements the music, great guitar work and good strong melodies. There’s absolutely nothing new here, but it’s done just as professionally as you’d expect from most of the genre-greats, and while it doesn’t quite match up with DGD and Hail the Sun in my book, there’s enough promise here that I can see these guys being up there in a few years. Now, they just need Will Swan to pay notice and take Kidd Judo out on tour with DGD to make things happen.
https://youtu.be/E5lv_RWaaNg?si=_ArqZoJQ2qUQIEJ_
90. The Abbey – Word of Sin
Interesting mixture of classic doom rock (St. Vitus, Black Sabbath, Witchfinder General), melo-death (think early Amorphis/Sentenced), big heavy metal melodies (perhaps Metallica around the “Load/Reload” times), a certain flavor for the occult rock (Ghost meets Dead Can Dance), and a great deal of doom & gloom in best Scandinavian tradition (Swallow the Sun, Draconian…). It’s not original when you look at all those aspects one-by-one, but the combination is, and when it works well, it’s close to brilliant. Vocalist Natalie Koskinen (known from Shape of Despair) delivers a near-perfect performance all throughout the album, and it’s not her fault that it occasionally fails, neither do I have anything at all to put my finger on when it comes to male vocalist Jesse Heikkinen – to be honest, I don’t want to blame any of the musicians (after all, they are very well seasoned guys, with a past in bands such as The Man-Eating Tree, Clouds, Poisonblack, Swallow the Sun, Sentenced, etc.). I think it’s just that not all the songwriting is on same high level, as such songs like the doomy “Starless”, opener “Rat King” or closing epic monster tune “Old Ones”). For a debut album though, there’s a ton of promise, and I can easily see The Abbey delivering a top 50 or even top 25 album down the road.
https://youtu.be/Fez71gk9jTU?si=3RGf07SZnjEFC3H2
89. Exmortus – Necrophony
Exmortus is an interesting band, that while fitting into the “semi-prog death metal” convention, also could just as easily be labelled as “thrash metal”, “melo-death”, or even “neo-classical metal”, thanks to a combination of influences that makes them sound pretty much like the love child of Yngwie Malmsteen, Necrophagist, Symphony X, The Black Dahlia Murder, First Fragment, and Arsis. It’s not quite as technical or proggy as those names might have led you to believe, nor is it quite as melodic as others of those would, but it kind of gives you a basic idea of what it’s all about, and when it works, it works well. There are parts that become a little redundant, and there are parts where I’d love to see them taking it another notch up in either progginess or go even more neo-classical, but all in all, this is a strong album and hopefully the one that’ll bring a little bit more attention to the band. It’s their 6th full length, and the first one I’ve cared enough about to pick up and add to my collection, so that should tell you something about its quality level, I guess …
https://youtu.be/fuauI3zWGjU?si=OvVlLlwheVilhB3B
88. Strange New Dawn – New Nights of Euphoria
Should this be higher on my list? Well, perhaps so, considering that it has everything I love about the Norwegian “prog/black/doom” scene; it’s heavy, it’s trying out a lot of “unique” things, it’s not an easy listening experience, it has a spacey feel to it, AND it has the Botteri-twins on guitar and bass (who we of course remember from In the Woods and Green Carnation). On paper, this band should hit home with me, and sure, it does in a lot of ways, but unfortunately also is marred by a vocalist that annoys the heck out of me with his voice that comes across as theatrical (as to mask the fact he is not a great singer) and he has a lazy approach to singing if you ask me. It’s a shame, especially considering that the music really hints at In the Woods here and there (again, vocalist ExRoyal is no Jan Kenneth Arseth), and that to me is some of the best prog-black ever written. Where Strange New Dawn sets themselves apart from any of the other Norwegian bands in this genre, is through their use of very melodic 80’s goth-rock/goth-pop elements (listen to “Defenders of Faith” for perfect example of this), which is really unique and lifts the album up. I really think this album would have ended up much higher had SND chosen a different vocalist, but since that’s not an option here, I’ll have to contend with “New Nights of Euphoria” being what it is. When good, great – when bad, horrible.
https://youtu.be/9hyp0h_Cg_Q?si=VOWR634gFESEmU9y
87. Lovebites – Judgement Day
All-female Japanese metal band Lovebites are back with their fourth album, “Judgement Day”, which also happens to be the first of theirs that I think is any good. Previously my biggest complaint has been performance of vocalist Asami, that while technically great, has been marred by a horrible accent, if not even a complete lack of understanding of the English language and pronunciation, making it almost impossible to listen to any Lovebites songs in the past. This time around it’s better, although far from perfect, which does create some laughable situations occasionally. Musically this is great though – power metal, speed metal, melodic metal, neo-classical metal … all performed by skilled musicians, and the result is much better than I had expected. Looking forward to seeing these gals get better and better.
https://youtu.be/m3uGjp-P7DI?si=hbjX0PEh7lyp9_0e
86. Die Like Gentlemen – Hard Truths
If stoner metal, classic doom, sludge, and prog metal all got jumbled up, I guess you’d end up with something like Die Like Gentlemen. Leaning slightly more towards a modern twist on metal (think Mastodon) rather than classic (think Candlemass) doom, DLG brings something quite unique to the table, and “Hard Truths” surely is one of the bigger revelations to me this year, as I never heard of them before. Occasionally there are things that reminds me of a band like Krux, but the next moment we’re in a “doom-grunge” kind of mood (think Soundgarden meets Alice in Chains). “Hard Truths” has lots of interesting moments, but it’s not a flawless album, as the crunch-factor sometimes gets too in-your-face for me, which is why I’ve never been the biggest fan of bands like Mastodon, Baroness, or even The Ocean (more about them higher up on my list this year), but when the band goes either old-school Black Sabbath style doom rock or takes on a proggy twist, I’m all there. Perhaps the album didn’t need the full hour playtime to get the point across, but that’s just a minor gripe.
https://youtu.be/yeGe567f5mM?si=1I8g5yp7D5BAyojZ
85. The Night Eternal - Fatale
Van Records has had some interesting releases over the years – from German King Diamond fanatics in Attic, Danish groove-blacksters Slægt, Swedish doom metal merchants Count Raven, Irish black-doom warriors Primordial to Swedish prog deathsters Sweven – now add to that list the highly unique retro heavy metallers The Night Eternal, hailing from Germany. Musically we’re talking about a band taking inspiration from all the classic European hard rock, heavy metal, and even gothic metal acts of the early 80’s, ending up with a contemporary sound that reminisces that of the undisputed retro-masters in Ghost, the gothic newcomers Unto Other, the occult-doom-spirit of Year of the Goat, the melodic old school metal of Mercyful Fate, and the groove black-goth-melancholy of Tribulation. Yup, it’s an interesting blend, and thanks to ginormous melodies (“Prince of Darkness” is a great example of exactly that), the strong voice of Ricardo Baum, Robert Richter’s blazing lead guitars, and a super-tight production (I knew before even checking that Arthur Rizk had to be involved, and yes, he provided the crystal clear mastering), “Fatale” becomes a great addition to the retro-metal genre.
https://youtu.be/80C2Z3j5Bvk?si=CsBzRhbKxii2uSm8
84. Shade Empire – Sunholy
What a strange amalgam of genres this is … wow! Back in the day, Shade Empire was a standard melodic black metal band following in that third wave where it was all about pushing the sound of the second wave bands to even more melodic and “commercial” (in lack of a better term) highs. I only have one of their albums left in my collection, 2008’s “Zero Nexus”, and I can’t even remember the last time I listened to that one, so it should come as no surprise that what hit me here on “Sunholy” totally took me by surprise. Shade Empire 2023 is a band straddling melo-death metal, gothic metal, cinematic black metal, industrial metal, and some very huge orchestral sounding melodies. Imagine if you will; In Flames, Cradle of Filth, Orbit Culture, Behemoth, Amorphis, and Fleshgod Apocalypse all blended with a bit of Ministry meets Depeche Mode industrial techno thrown in for good measure. Very original, and not the band I remember from back in the day. It would be easy to attribute the change in sound to their new vocalist, Henry Hamalainen, but since he only recently joined the band and I don’t know how any of their albums between 2008 and 2023 sound like, it wouldn’t be fair to the visionary skills of the rest of the band to solely credit Henry. That said, his voice is insane – from melodic cleans, to black metal style barking, to awesome death growls, some core-style grunts, and even some troll-shrieks, it’s all here, and very well done. This is an album that I’ll need to spend a lot of time with, but I really appreciate what I’m hearing, and I am sure it'll grow even more on me with time.
https://youtu.be/LcOATNVijkA?si=LFN-6lVe9C-3NpAF
83. Graven Sin – Veil of the Gods
Epic doom metal … ahh those words ring so sweet in my ears. Thinking of such bands as Warning, Doomsword, Candlemass, Atlantean Kodex, Crypt Sermon, While Heaven Wept makes me smile from ear to ear, makes my hands all sweaty, and probably cause a tiny tear or two to roll down my face. Yeah, this is one of my favorite genres, and if you then also decide to throw in a good deal of the galloping style of heavy metal that we know and love from bands such as Warlord, Manowar and especially Iron Maiden, you’ve got a real winner on your hands. Through 58 minutes, the 11 songs on Finnish/Cypriotic band Graven Sin’s debut album weave their way from one classic metal tune to another. With vocalist Nicholas Leption (also from Arrayan Path, former Warlord) delivering an absolute killer performance in his best Bruce Dickinson meets Ralf Scheepers meets Apollo Papathanasio manner, Graven Image has a secret weapon that can elevate otherwise middle-of-the-road tunes to a much higher level. Okay, let me rephrase, there’s nothing mundane or truly standard about the music here – in fact, it’s great – however, it is stuff we’ve heard before, several times before to be truthful, and as such can seem somewhat derivative of those that went before. Nevertheless, thanks to such strong tunes as “Bloodbones”, “I Am Samael” and the single “The Morrigan”, this debut holds a ton of promise, and Graven Sin is a band right after my own heart.
https://youtu.be/be6mZFACLC4?si=SSCBBrLWZdYFNoIe
82. Holy Moses – Invisible Queen
Oftentimes die-hard fans of a specific band will claim that only the first few releases were worth a dime, and in no genre is this as prevalent as in thrash metal, where it seems the norm that the “purists” swear only by albums one-through-three (or four) of the bands they listen to. Be it Metallica, Slayer, Kreator, or even more obscure bands like in today’s case Germany’s Teutonic thrash stalwarts Holy Moses. Lead by what is arguably one of the first, if not THE first, female utilizing harsh vocals and growls in metal, Sabina Classen, the band did create 3 wonderful and since then highly respected albums at the start of their career (after the standard 5-6 years of doing demo tapes), the debut “Queen of Siam” from 1986, “Finished with the Dogs” from 1987, and my personal favorite from 1989 “The New Machine of Liechtenstein”. Since then, the band has delivered another 9-10 full length releases, a slew of EPs and singles, and even a compilation album or two, but like the above-mentioned genre-purists will tell you, none of those matters in the 40-year history of the band, as it’s all about those first 3. Today marks the end of Holy Moses, as Sabina has decided to close the book on what is one of the strongest proponents of what European thrash metal is all about, and to do so, they release one final thrash metal opus, “Invisible Queen”. At this point, 40 years in, is it possible to end your career on a high note, or will this become another forgettable release, that while it might not tarnish the memory of those first few classics, it won’t bring anything new to the table? Well, my expectations weren’t high, but I decided to give it a courtesy spin, and quickly found myself enjoying this, as it was exactly the kind of thrash metal that one would hope for from a band with such a long history. No, we’re not talking about the old-school speed metal sound of the debut, or the technical aspects of the following two albums, (and in all fairness, I wasn’t expecting so either), but luckily it wasn’t the at times “fun” mosh-thrash-approach from some of their early 90’s outputs, nor was it the groovier 00’s approach, instead it was a solid, pounding, at times quite melodic, and at times very heavy, thrash metal that honestly isn’t too far from the style of Destruction and Sodom’s later releases, but with an added semi-technical approach to the rhythm section. The thing about having a voice like Sabina’s is that you don’t have to sing pretty melodies, and while she by now is pushing 60, she still sounds “great” – the hoarse spitting out the lyrics is what you would want from her, and it works perfectly with the music here. It also pleases me to see that original axe-man, and then bandleader, Andy Classen, has helped Sabina record her vocals on the album. As some might remember, Andy and Sabina were married for many years, yet they seem to have figured out how to get along amicably, and Andy (who is one of extreme metal’s most utilized producers since the late 90’s) gets his recording credit here. What I find endearing about “Invisible Queen”, is that the music sounds fresh and modern, while clearly rooted in the original 80’s thrash genre, and while the album isn’t perfect, it by far outranks my expectations, and I can’t think of a better way for Holy Moses to end their long career.
https://youtu.be/O9HL-GAbq2M?si=5AO22HpdEBXFzJEC
81. Stortregn – Finitude
Swiss 5-piece Stortregn balances nicely between multiple genres; on one hand you have the melo-death of early In Flames or Night in Gales (the ultra-melodic style with old school Iron Maiden worship blended in), then you have the melodic black metal of a Naglfar or Dissection (still lots of clean riffs, but also the darker side represented well), and then we have the prog/tech death of Archspire or Beyond Creation (lots of fast sections with high technical skill and a real aggressive edge). Add to all that a bunch of flamenco style guitar parts (!!!), and some neoclassical shredding, and you kind of have an idea of what this is all about. When the band fires on all cylinders, this is marvelous (check out “Xeno Chaos” or “Omega Axiom”), and I can see why this band has become one of Switzerland’s better-known bands in recent years. Now, besides my obvious complaints about their stupid name, seeing as it’s a word from the Nordic languages meaning “downpour” (Styrtregn in Danish, Störtregn in Swedish) and these guys are from Switzerland, the only thing I really have to say negative about this album, is that it becomes too clean, safe, and calculated in parts. It’s the same complaint I had about First Fragment last year, but somehow that album fared better with me out of the gate – time will tell how “Finitude” does after another year.
https://youtu.be/jThg_9J2_58?si=ZK4F2ezILDaEuE_e
80. October Tide – The Cancer Pledge
It’s been years – literally – many years – since I’ve sat down and listened to October Tide. What started out as a side project of Katatonia-men Jonas Renkse and Fredrik Norrman, and in 1997 released the brilliant “Rain Without End” album, quickly evolved into Fredrik’s “solo” band, releasing another album in 1999 (“The Grey Dawn”). After a 10-year hiatus, Frederik returned with October Tide, this time bringing along his brother Mattias Norrman (also ex-Katatonia). I personally quit listening to the band after their 2010 release “A Thin Shell”, which wasn’t as good as the debut, and also saw the third vocalist in just as many albums – and as if that wasn’t enough, they decided yet again to change out that position as Alexander Hogbom joined in 2012, and they’ve soldiered on with now a total of 7 full length releases. While I gave 2019’s “In Splendor Below” a cursory listen, I never paid it enough of my attention to ever form a real opinion, which brings us to their 2023 “The Cancer Pledge” release, that continues the path set forward on all their previous albums; somewhere in between Paradise Lost, Swallow the Sun, Opeth, and Dark Tranquility, with the obvious hints to old school Katatonia. Most of all it sounds like a band that is content playing the “tried-and-true” formula of melodic doom death, and it works well, and for a band almost 30 years into their career, you can’t really ask for more. While “The Cancer Pledge really offers nothing original, it delivers in the heaviness department, it’s emotion-evoking, and it has a drive that easily puts it on my Top 100 list of the year.
https://youtu.be/3vjhW5b2m74?si=Unvy_AcPcpk1Lhgz
79. Aviations – Luminaria
“Luminaria” is an interesting album, that somehow fall in the next-gen prog metal subgenre with its mixture of classic prog metal sounds and lots of modern touches. The album is very laid back and has some strong melodies. I enjoyed their 2020 EP "Retrospect" which is the only other of their discs I have. Apparently, they are one of those Berklee School of Music bands, so you know the musicianship is through the roof, with incredible bass playing, a drummer who is A-class, and lots of smooth piano and keyboards all over. The guitars? Well, those are of course also top notch, duh! I have seen the band compared to Disperse, but I don’t know those guys well enough to hear the comparison, but I do hear Arch Echo (luckily this has vocals
) as well as a good deal of Unprocessed, Tesseract, and a bit of VOLA. Most of all though, and this is an odd one, they remind me of SubSignal - it could be because I got this around same time as the new SubSignal album, but I do hear a bunch of similarities even if they are different beasts. The vocals flow in the same way that when I listen to Arno Menses from SubSignal, so perhaps that's why. It's a true pleasure to listen to though, with those smooth vocal lines. I won't go as far as calling this disc for "amazing", but it's well done, well written and produced, with superb performances. My main issue with the album is the song order; the 3+ minute long intro and then a laid back 7-and-a-half-minute tune is not really the way to kick things off - especially when you follow these up with some of the heaviest material of the album. It could have been arranged better, and next time I’d like a few more memorable “hits” to go along with the prog-overload.https://youtu.be/PKgitJHBCXs?si=RLIwLXUoi5jDoJhf
78. Cloak – Black Flame Eternal
I thoroughly enjoyed Cloak’s “The Burning Dawn” from 2019, even though it very clearly was a band jumping the bandwagon of black-n-roll metal (think later-day Satyricon, Tribulation, Dissection, Watain), leaving behind the more melodic black metal approach of their debut album “To Venomous Depths” two years earlier. Here on their third full length album, “Black Flame Eternal”, these 4 dudes from Atlanta, GA, continues the style set forth on the successful “The Burning Dawn”, proving they weren’t just a one-hit wonder. In fact, I might go as far as giving “Black Flame Eternal” the upper hand, as everything seem more elaborated upon, from compositions to production. Besides the obvious already mentioned influences, there are parts of thrash in the classic Teutonic style (Kreator, Destruction), some black-death metal not too far removed from Behemoth’s current outings, and lots of melody, all of it coming together to create a strong album, that might still sound a bit too close for comfort to their idols in Tribulation and Satyricon, but very well-done.
https://youtu.be/QI7gZr8dHJk?si=auuBHc8DPl7I9gYm
77. Scar Symmetry – The Singularity (Phase II: Xenotaph)
I’ve never been the biggest Scar Symmetry fan, let’s be honest. I enjoyed “Pitch Black Progress” (2006) quite a lot, and both the debut (“Symmetric in Design”) and 2008’s “Holographic Universe” had its moments – but that’s about it for me. When Christian Alvestam left the band in 2008, that was where I stopped following them, and for the past 15 years I can’t remember one single time where I have listened to anything from the band, and that includes the three first albums that I otherwise did enjoy back when. So, 2023’s “The Singularity (Phase II: Xenotaph)” is my first time checking in on these guys in forever. And damn, am I glad I did – lots of great melo-death songs in the best Soilwork, In Flames, Mercenary, Arch Enemy style, with the added symphonic and semi-proggy touches that made the band its own beast back when, and not to mention the icing on the cake which is Per Nilsson’s insane guitar work (and equally impressive keyboard sounds). This dude is 50% of what makes Scar Symmetry 2023 interesting, and without his input, this sure wouldn’t have had the same impact. The other 50% is the willingness to grab inspirations from outside the melo-death genre (such as the prog-rock part in middle of “Reichsfall”) and lift the songs up to another level. It’s by no means a perfect album; at 58 minutes it feels a bit long, there’s a few times where the symphonic aspects seem to be there just for the sake of being there with no real purpose, and the production is a bit clinical in my opinion, but overall “The Singularity (Phase II: Xenotaph)” is a great disc, and I’m really happy I decided to check them out again after 15 years of basically having forgotten all about them.
https://youtu.be/HO_GlU5sC9k?si=yCJJkIGpNmoYpBs7
76. Contrarian – Sage of Shekhinah
Contrarian is one of those bands I’ve been trying to get into for a while, as they’ve (on paper) checked all the boxes for what I enjoy in my death metal: über-technical, quirky, lots of middle eastern influence, a bassist that is loud and proud, and a duo of guitar equilibrists to boot. However, something seemed to be missing and as much as I wanted to enjoy the previous albums, I always gave up after a few minutes. Well, “Sage of Shekhinah” is on the path to change that for me, as this is some really great progressive death metal, that not only checks the above mentioned boxes, but also excels with great songwriting and a vocalist (newcomer Jakob Sin) that brings some serious anger and screaming barks to the music, almost like a modern-day Chuck Schuldiner in his growls that are quite high-pitched and just fits really well. Drummer Alex Cohen is also new to the band, but his resume reads like a phone book of death metal bands (including Imperial Triumphant, Pyrexia, Hung and Chad Thundercock … yes, the last two makes my eyes water and belly hurt from laughter), and man does he deliver – holy smokes! I’ve mentioned Chuck Schuldiner above, and yes, there’s more than a passing resemblance to Death here, but also bands like Necrophagist, Equipoise, Nile, Alkaloid and Atheist seem to have had their influence on the band. One of the things that really stands out to me is how clear every instrument is on this album, making it one of the best sounding prog-death albums I’ve heard in a very long time, thanks to guitarist Jim Tasikas’ recording skills and good old Neil Kernon’s awesome mix. To be honest, knowing Neil’s pedigree and being a fan of his work for many years (Spiral Architect, Twisted into Form, Nevermore, Dokken, Judas Priest, Nile, Flotsam & Jetsam, Queensryche, Shadow Gallery, and the list goes on and on …) I’m not really surprised by how good this sounds, but perhaps THAT is exactly why Contrarian finally clicked with me this year.
https://youtu.be/sC9evANh2DQ?si=q8qUtluF-wE8fA8_
75. Wytch Hazel – IV: Sacrament
Going from strength-to-strength in today’s age and time, is a feat, and UK’s retro-hard-rockers Wytch Hazel, for sure does exactly that. With a sound that has traces of Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Yes, Wishbone Ash, Uriah Heep, Cathedral, Jethro Tull and Angel Witch, this is the perfect soundtrack for any anglophile, and often makes me forget that this is 2023 and not 1980. There’s something charming and endearing about the music, and while I’ve seen plenty of “trve” metal reviews complaining about the quite Pentecostal Christian lyrics, I personally have no objection to this. I’m guessing that since English isn’t my first language, I just never pay enough attention either way. In fact, the overtly blatant message, only comes across a bit “laughable” at worst, in a Stryper’eque kind of way, which never bothered me neither; if the worst people can do is criticize the lyrics, then that clearly proves that the music perfectly fine on its own. Now, I must note how much this picture makes me laugh … it is absolute comedy gold right there, and I honestly find that way more worthy of discussion than anything else. Musically, Wytch Hazel took everything I liked from “III: Pentecost” and upped it a notch.
https://youtu.be/WJ8t0QQsvQg?si=8ruY__B5d6zPx3Nk
74. Eldritch – Innervoid
I’ve loved Eldritch ever since I heard their first demo tape ~30 years ago, and I’ve followed them through some incredible albums (the first three discs are still some of the best European prog metal releases), through some mediocre stuff in the first decade of the 2000’s, to a sort of comeback with stronger albums over the past decade and change. The main constant in the band for me, has always been Terrence Holler’s voice that is immediately recognizable, and has very much always been a focal point in Eldritch, so imagine my surprise when I suddenly receive the new album promo from the record label and realizes there’s a new guy singing … what on earth? Alex Jarusso is the new singer, and I’ve never heard him before, but what a great voice – style wise not too far removed from Terrence, as he also possesses one of those higher-pitched voices, that just screams “prog metal”, and Alex reminds me a bit of a mixture between Ian Parry (Elegy, ex-Eternity’s End), David Readman (Pink Cream 69, ex-Adagio) and Eduard Hovinga (Mother of Sin, ex-Elegy, ex-Prime Time) which honestly aren’t poor comparisons. Musically this is still very much Eldritch though, with lots of great proggy stuff from original members Eugene Simone on guitar and Oleg Smirnoff on keyboards, but also an added element of melodic hard rock here and there, which fits well with the rest of the music. While not touching the level of quality found on the first three classics, “Innervoid” stands proudly as one of the very solid Eldritch releases, and the loss of Terrence from the band is nowhere as detrimental as I had at first expected.
https://youtu.be/MnIjfBcW050?si=cTevqrATzRLrZUR6
73. Overkill – Scorched
I complained about 2019’s “The Wings of War” being unfocused and very much a letdown for a long time Overkill fan like me. 4 years later, the New Jersey thrash boys now have a shot at redeeming themselves with “Scorched”. The album starts out strong, with three wonderfully amazing songs up front in the title track, “Goin’ Home” and “The Surgeon”, then continues with a batch of some good although fairly standard tunes, and I think it actually works all the way through until that absolute piece of turd at the end, “Bag O' Bones”. Sure, the album is nowhere near the standard of their classic 5-8 first albums (depending on where your loyalty starts/ends), and it’s not up to the level of the 2010-2017 release span either, but it luckily is a step up compared to “The Wings of War”. It’s not an album I’m going to be pulling out a lot, as this band have so many other albums I’d rather listen to, but it’s not an album they should be ashamed of either. Mediocre Overkill is still better than so many other bands at their best.
https://youtu.be/NZ8XxTkXc2c?si=0iCNFQF0cUoBtw86
72. Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution – Golden Age of Music
When a musician divides his time between 232 different projects, something will begin to suffer, as was the case with the latest Ayreon album or even the last Star One album – yes, Mr. Lucassen might have bit off more than he could chew, and while I understand the necessity for a musician to seek multiple creative outlets, let alone the economic reasons to continuously spit out new music, I for one had hoped for Arjen to take a step back, and perhaps not put together yet another project. Well, when all is said and done, I’m happy that Arjen couldn’t hear my inner voice, and instead decided to listen to his own and follow his dreams of creating a real classic hard rock album. “Golden Age of Music” is referring to the 70s rock’n’roll, whether it’s of the Beatles’que flavor, the symphonicity of Yes, the Deep Purple’ish blues rocking notes, the protoglam of T-Rex or Slade, some Uriah Heep prog hard rock, or a more symphonic ELO style – it’s all here, and more. Obviously, there are the usual Arjen trademarks all over this album, even though the guitars aren’t handled by the man himself, but rather by Timo Somers (ex-Delain), and the keyboards are expertedly left to Joost van der Broek (who’ve worked with After Forever, Epica, Star One, Ayreon, etc.). Drummer Koen Herfst is a new name for me, although he has worked with among others Vandenberg, Epica and even DJ-giant Armin van Buuren in the past, and it’s interesting to find a new guy behind the drums with Arjen instead of Ed Warby, who’s basically been the right-hand man in all the multiple projects Mr. Lucassen have engaged himself in over the years. Vocalist here is Jaycee Cuijpers (who I mentioned last year as one of the absolute highlights on the Star One “Revel in Time” album), and he is a find of highest caliber. I love his voice, and finally hearing an album from Arjen with only one singer is amazing – it provides us ample insight into what a splendid voice Jaycee possesses and fits the music perfectly. The album is quite long though (68 minutes), and it’s unfortunately the album’s only downfall, as the songs begin to all blend together after a while. A 50-minute focused album would have been much better, and this would easily have made it into my top 50.
https://youtu.be/7nymQkZHs1k?si=F0ilTKxIodyptI3O
71. VoidCeremony – Threads of Unknowing
Voidceremony’s 2020 debut ended up at #92 on my year-end list, so the fact that “Threads of Unknowing” gets a higher ranking must mean it’s the better of the albums, right? Well, no, not necessarily. What it means is that the debut album honestly should have been placed higher than it was (as I really like that album more and more each time, I revisit it), and also that the new album is quite a different beast. Where “Entropic Reflections…” was a complete clusterf*** of cosmic, chaotic, tech-death, “Threads…” has a lot more focus, and almost crosses into “melodic” territory here and there. Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, as this isn’t a pretty album for the casual listener – it is still very much an amalgam of scripted technicality and unscripted jam-sessions. The sound is still blistering guitars, pounding drums, and thumping bass, and of course the vocals from somewhere deep underground, but the biggest change this time around is the addition of guitarist Phil Tougas from First Fragment who adds this super cool melodic touch to the music, and it helps tie the multiple elements together. Give it a try if you dare.
https://youtu.be/_e4nCWykuXI?si=YIFI0kHUahBUOFAI
70. Adrian Benegas - Arcanvm
Artwork looked cool, reviews sounded interesting, and the line-up quite enticing, so curiosity got the better of me, and after 10 minutes I had to purchase. Adrian is a Paraguyan guitarist/songwriter, and with him on this disc you'll find people from Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, Myrath, Delain and even Rainbow/MSG - on paper, heck of a line-up. As you might be aware of, I'm the biggest hater (not really, just far from a fan) of Ronnie Romero's voice, but here he delivers what I regard as the best performance of his career. Yes, he still shouts more than singing in places, but the control and the power is much better here than I’ve ever heard before. Musically this is lodged somewhere between Majestic/Time Requiem/Adagio's neo-classical prog metal, Myrath/Kamelot's power metal epics, Rhapsody's symphonic metal, and a nice up-beat hard rocking metal sound. Great stuff!
https://youtu.be/r7REcSK7XKQ?si=bmsRkXb8Ix9f4hLr
LOL
