Top 10 Albums of 2023

[TAC]

Nothing is set in stone quite yet, but if I had to make a Top 10 so far, it might look like this..

Suotana-Ounas I
Sacred Outcry-Towers Of Gold
Lovebites-Judgement Day
Hellripper-Warlocks Grims & Withered Hags
Celestial Wizard-Winds Of The Cosmos
Hwaino-Ashes Of The World Tree
Project Roenwolfe-s/t
Stormhaven-Blindsight
Kalmah-s/t
OK Goodnight-The Fox And The Bird

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Always a good idea to check my ban list and RYM ratings first. 

I just did it the other night. I wasn't committed to it by any stretch. But it's an interesting album. Honestly, I was concerned the female vocals may not have been strong enough, actually.

It's a good album, and it may grow on me more, but at the moment it's not nearly as good as Skeleton Lake in '21. 

[TAC]

I just checked them out for the first time the other day, so I'm not familiar with their other stuff.

[cramx3]

My currents rankings of the 11 albums I've listened to this year.  Definitely open for shuffling

Delain - Dark Waters
Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A dream
Ad Infinitum - Chapter III - Downfall
Kamelot - The Awakening
Haken - Fauna
Avatar - Dance Devil Dance
The Winery Dogs - III
VV - Neon Noir
In Flames - Forgone
Metallica - 72 Seasons
Steel Panther - On The Prowl

[twosuitsluke]

1: sadness / abriction - sadness // abriction

I’ll bite and give this a go. I’ve seen you mention it a few times 

[DTwwbwMP]

1 Riverside “ID.Entity”
2 Redemption “I Am the Storm”
3 Haken “Fauna”
4 Metallica “72 Seasons”
5 Winery Dogs “III”
6 Godsmack “Lighting Up the Sky”
7 Buckcherry “Vol. 10”
8 Extreme “SIX”
9 Kamelot “The Awakening”
10 Angel “Once Upon a Time”
HM:
11 Jethro Tull “RokFlote”
12 Avatar - "Dance Devil Dance"
13 Black Star Riders “Wrong Side Of Paradise”
14 Uriah Heep “Chaos & Color”
15 The Answer “Sundowners”
TERRIBLE:
Yes “Mirror to The Sky” 
Avenged Sevenfold "Life is But a Dream"

[lonestar]

I'd say Haken or Periphery are still leading the pack, but after hearing the first two singles of Gacharic Spin's upcoming release, that lead is pretty tenuous.

[Buddyhunter1]

1: sadness / abriction - sadness // abriction

I’ll bite and give this a go. I’ve seen you mention it a few times 

Do it

[Glasser]

Pizza Death-  Reign Of The Anticrust.

(its not even out yet, I haven't heard it but it fills all 10 spots).


Number 11 would be Cattle Decapitation, Terrasite.

[HOF]

Really light year for me half way through. All I've heard/gotten, and I guess I'd rank them thusly:

1. Kite Parade - Retro
2. The Winery Dogs - III
3. David Brewis - The Soft Struggles
4. Amplifier - Hologram

Also have the Marillion - Seasons End remix/reissue. Waiting for BBT's Ingenious Devices at the end of this month, new album from The Clientele next month, Peter Gabriel whenever we run out of full moons or he runs out of new tracks to drip feed us, whichever happens first. 

[mikemangioy]

Some highlights of this year so far:
Haken - Fauna
The Ocean - Holocene
Paramore - This is Why
Avenged Sevenfold - Life is but a dream
Metallica - 72 Seasons
Periphery - Periphery V
Foo Fighters - But Here We Are

Others I enjoyed but didn't really go back to:
Sparks - The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte
Depeche Mode - Memento Mori
Caroline Polacheck - Desire I Want to Turn Into You

Immensly looking forward to Voyager's "Fearless in Love", which has four incredible singles out (including their Eurovision entry).

[twosuitsluke]

Pizza Death-  Reign Of The Anticrust.

(its not even out yet, I haven't heard it but it fills all 10 spots).


Number 11 would be Cattle Decapitation, Terrasite.

This is a list I can get behind. Definitely unorthodox to slice pizza 10 ways, but I see where you are coming from.

[Glasser]

Pizza Death-  Reign Of The Anticrust.

(its not even out yet, I haven't heard it but it fills all 10 spots).


Number 11 would be Cattle Decapitation, Terrasite.

This is a list I can get behind. Definitely unorthodox to slice pizza 10 ways, but I see where you are coming from.

I heard 2 new songs, Frankenslice and Pasta Of Muppets. Absolutely incredible!

[twosuitsluke]

Slight update since my last post… (this is 100% gonna change as new King Gizzy tomorrow)

1. Avenged Sevenfold - Life is But a Dream…
2. In Flames - Foregone
3. Faintest Idea - The Road to Sedition
4. Ghost - Phantomime
5. The Bar Stool Preachers - Above the Static
6. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite
7. Enslaved - Heimdal
8. Haken - Fauna
9. Stoned Jesus - Father Light
10. The Dirty Nil - Free Reign to Passions
11. Beyond the Lamplight - Don't Forget to Leave It All Behind
12. Ihsahn - Fascination Street Sessions
13. Messa - Live at Roadburn
14. Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hag
15. Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
16. Anti-Flag - Lies They Tell Our Children
17. The Ocean - Holocene
18. Rancid - Tomorrow Never Comes
19. Entheos - Time Will Take Us All
20. Galneryus - Between Dread and Valor
21. The Bouncing Souls - Ten Stories High
22. Neolia - Neolia
23. Codefendants - This is Crime Wave
24. Poh Hock - Gallimaufry
25. Ne Obliviscaris - Exul
26. Ahab - The Coral Tombs
27. Metallica - 72 Seasons
28. Herod - Iconoclast
29. City and Colour - The Love Still Held Me Near
30. Periphery - Periphery V: Djent is Not a Genre

Pizza Death-  Reign Of The Anticrust.

(its not even out yet, I haven't heard it but it fills all 10 spots).


Number 11 would be Cattle Decapitation, Terrasite.

This is a list I can get behind. Definitely unorthodox to slice pizza 10 ways, but I see where you are coming from.

I heard 2 new songs, Frankenslice and Pasta Of Muppets. Absolutely incredible!

Wait what? Be right back…

[Samsara]

I have to say, if folks like Metal Church, their new one, Congregation of Annihilation, is really, really good. I'm a casual MC fan, and I find myself keep wanting to put the record on. Just excellent top-to-bottom.

[nick_z]

Top 11 so far:

Anubis Gate - Interference

Haven't checked it out yet, need to remedy that...

Project Roenwolfe-s/t

Kalmah-s/t

I had enjoyed Project Roenwolfe's previous record, Edge of Saturn...haven't listened to this one yet. Kalmah have been around forever, and for some reason I haven't gotten around to hearing a single note from them. Maybe I should start with this...

I'll post an updated list once we are past the mid-year mark (where did half of 2023 go, by the way??)

[TAC]

I had never heard of Project Roenwolfe before. Spotify played them randomly after whatever I was listening to finished. I thought it was pretty damn good. Has the drummer from Theocracy on it.

I'm not totally up on previous Kalmah, but this album is amazing.

[lonestar]

Just gave the new Scar Symmetry a spin after seeing Allegaeon's Greg Burgess post that the solo work on it made him want to quit guitar... Very impressive album. Per just rips it up.

[TAC]

Just gave the new Scar Symmetry a spin after seeing Allegaeon's Greg Burgess post that the solo work on it made him want to quit guitar... Very impressive album. Per just rips it up.

I'm kind of digging it, especially guitar-wise, but I really don't care for the harsh vocals on it.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Just gave the new Scar Symmetry a spin after seeing Allegaeon's Greg Burgess post that the solo work on it made him want to quit guitar... Very impressive album. Per just rips it up.

I'm kind of digging it, especially guitar-wise, but I really don't care for the harsh vocals on it.

Damn, those are the best vocals on it. 

[Jamesman42]

Thanks to dad's gushing, I am a few songs into Celebrants and it is certainly different, and I think I am liking it. I need to peruse these lists and get a list going in the next few months. Avenged Sevenfold will likely be in the top 3 or 5.

[nick_z]

Top 11 so far:

Anubis Gate - Interference

Haven't checked it out yet, need to remedy that...

Yep, I liked it a lot on first listen. Agreed that it's more or less what you'd expect from the band, but there's always a little something that separates them...oh, and The Phoenix is such a great, melodic song.

[SoundscapeMN]

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/SoundscapeMN/2023-midseason-aoty/

1. Hotel of the Laughing Tree - Faraway Friends
2. Squid - O Monolith
3. Yves Tumor - Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
4. Black Belt Eagle Scout - The Land, the Water, the Sky
5. Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
6. Sigur Ros - ÁTTA
7. Kimbra - A Reckoning
8. LA Priest - Fase Luna
9. Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
10. Themes for Great Cities - Themes for Great Cities: Tallinn
11. Telefone - Telefone

EPs
1. Dirt Poor Robins - Prelude to Firebird
2. Shell Pink - The Warmth of the Sun
3. Adjy - June Songs Vol.1

Singles
Childish Japes - Crossbreeze, Another Dose, Future Tense, Not Made for Thus
Team Me - The Apple of My Eye, Return to the Riverside
Peter Gabriel - Panoticon, The Court, Playing for Time, i/o, Four Kinds of Horses, Road to Joy
Dream the Electric Sleep - Beyond Repair, After the Fall Out, Forged in the Furnace
East of the Wall - Detonator Gauntlet, Unfamiliar Glass Ceiling, Hegemony's Dilemma
Naiekhu - Sad State, Best Friend
The Guess Who - The King, Plein D'Amour, Headline

[nick_z]

Ok, so we are basically at the year's midpoint, so I'm attempting a year-to-date top 10 and honorable mentions:

Top 10 (vaguely in order):

Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars
Tanith - Voyage
Pristine - The Lines We Cross
Haken - Fauna
Insomnium - Anno 1696
Sacred Outcry - Towers of Gold
Night Demon - Outsider
Sermon - Of Golden Verse
Wytch Hazel - IV: Sacrament
Paramore - This Is Why

Honorable Mentions:

Altari - Krofueldar
The Anchoret - It All Began With Loneliness
AVKRVST - The Approbation
Bizarrekult - Den Tapte Krigen
Carnosus - Visions of Infinihility
Crom - The Era of Darkness
Crown Lands - Fearless
Death of Giants - Ventesorg
The Enigma Division - The Enigma Division
Gorod - The Orb
Hanging Garden - The Garden
Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
Host - IX
Inherus - Beholden
Isole - Anesidora
Majesties - Vast Reaches Unclaimed
Nospun - Opus
Ok Goodnight - The Fox and the Bird
Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn into You
Pressure Points - The Island
Ring of Gyges - Metamorphosis
Riverside - ID.Entity
Saturnus - The Storm Within
Silver Bullet  - Shadowfall
Tribunal - The Weight of Remembrance
Wings of Steel - Gates of Twilight
Witch Ripper - The Flight After the Fall

Some HMs I discovered very recently so I need to spend more time with them, but I already like them plenty (e.g. OK Goodnight, AVKRVST, The Anchoret, Saturnus). Tribunal, Majesties, Silver Bullet, Witch Ripper, Isole are very much pushing to be "listers".

[ariich]

Alright, we're halfway through the year now and I don't have any new albums to check out today, so it's a good time for an updated list! I'll go with a top 15 for now and then try and do a top 30 at the end of the year!

Definitely a strong year for various metal genres but other genres getting more of a look in the past few months.

1. Haken - Fauna
2. Sleep Token - Take Me Back to Eden
3. Insomnium - Anno 1696
4. Marianas Rest - Auer
5. Arkona - Kob'
6. Periphery - Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre
7. Keep of Kalessin - Katharsis
8. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - Weathervanes
9. Hypno5e - Sheol
10. Susanne Sundfør - Blómi
11. GoGo Penguin - Everything Is Going to Be OK
12. Ad Infinitum - Chapter III - Downfall
13. Manchester Orchestra - The Valley of Vision EP
14. Einar Solberg - 16
15. Floor Jansen - Paragon

Honourable mentions:
Beyond the Black - Beyond the Black
The Dark Side of the Moon - Metamorphosis
Enslaved - Heimdal
Fires in the Distance - Air Not Meant for Us
Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
Hundred Reasons - Glorious Sunset
In Flames - Foregone
The Intersphere - Wanderer
Kamelot - The Awakening
Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars
Lovebites - Judgement Day
Mystery - Redemption
The Ocean - Holocene
The Ongoing Concept - Again
Pyramaze - Bloodlines
Scar Symmetry - The Singularity (Phase II - Xenotaph)
Suotana - Ounas I
Teramaze - Dalla Volta
VNV Nation - Electric Sun
The World Is Quiet Here - Zon

[lonestar]

Better clear some room at the top of that list for next Friday's big release

[ariich]

Maybe. Quite likely it'll end up in my top 30 but no idea how high. First single was fantastic, second was good but didn't blow me away (similar issues to last couple of albums, partly the mixing I think - guitars really low, kind of weird that, since Hana has moved to guitar so there are two of them, the guitars are often almost inaudible).

[twosuitsluke]

Rich, I definitely prefer you honourable mentions over your top 15. I can’t remember, did you check out the new Avenged Sevenfold?

[ariich]

Rich, I definitely prefer you honourable mentions over your top 15. I can’t remember, did you check out the new Avenged Sevenfold?

Yeah, it didn't make the list.

EDIT: Here was where I ended up (I also posted more about it, including the mix, earlier in the thread):

Cosmic is indeed a great song.

After a good few listens of the album, I've come around to liking it but not loving it. I like that they experimented, and in a way it's maybe a feature of being used to varied music that I don't even think the experimentation is particularly wacky or out there, although I accept it's much more so than their past work. I think there are four really strong songs on here (Nobody, Cosmic, Easier and (O)rdinary). The rest is mostly fine and there are some cool ideas here and there, but most of it I just don't think is executed well enough and I'm definitely not a fan of the mix which feels week and contributes to the album sounding messy.

If this is a new direction for the band then that's exciting, I just hope they do a more accomplished job of it next time.

[twosuitsluke]

Yea, that’s fair. I’m surprised as anyone to find this sat as my album of the year at the moment. I really just want to keep returning to it, more than any other release this year.

[nick_z]

4. Marianas Rest - Auer

Honourable mentions:

Hundred Reasons - Glorious Sunset

VNV Nation - Electric Sun

I had really enjoyed Marianas Rest's previous record, Fata Morgana, but only listened to the new one once...not much of it stuck with me at first, I'll have to revisit.

Hundred Reasons...I bought their debut back in the day...didn't realize they were still around. Was this a comeback of sorts?

VNV Nation - haven't checked it out yet...I liked some of their old stuff, then I kinda lost track of them

[lonestar]

Maybe. Quite likely it'll end up in my top 30 but no idea how high. First single was fantastic, second was good but didn't blow me away (similar issues to last couple of albums, partly the mixing I think - guitars really low, kind of weird that, since Hana has moved to guitar so there are two of them, the guitars are often almost inaudible).

Funny, I'm quite the opposite... First single was fun, but Replica might end up being my favorite track of theirs.

[ariich]

I had really enjoyed Marianas Rest's previous record, Fata Morgana, but only listened to the new one once...not much of it stuck with me at first, I'll have to revisit.

Yeah I found it a definite grower. The last one was even better but this new one is great too.

Hundred Reasons...I bought their debut back in the day...didn't realize they were still around. Was this a comeback of sorts?

It was indeed. It's really nice, slightly mellower in tone but still very much sounds like them.

VNV Nation - haven't checked it out yet...I liked some of their old stuff, then I kinda lost track of them

I've only heard a couple of their older albums (well, depends what you mean by older) but it's the more recent stuff I've been more into.

[ariich]

Maybe. Quite likely it'll end up in my top 30 but no idea how high. First single was fantastic, second was good but didn't blow me away (similar issues to last couple of albums, partly the mixing I think - guitars really low, kind of weird that, since Hana has moved to guitar so there are two of them, the guitars are often almost inaudible).

Funny, I'm quite the opposite... First single was fun, but Replica might end up being my favorite track of theirs.

Yeah we both love the band but seem to be very different in which things we like and which we love.

[lonestar]

Maybe. Quite likely it'll end up in my top 30 but no idea how high. First single was fantastic, second was good but didn't blow me away (similar issues to last couple of albums, partly the mixing I think - guitars really low, kind of weird that, since Hana has moved to guitar so there are two of them, the guitars are often almost inaudible).

Funny, I'm quite the opposite... First single was fun, but Replica might end up being my favorite track of theirs.

Yeah we both love the band but seem to be very different in which things we like and which we love.

Not surprising considering how diverse their sound can be from track to track.