| 2023 |
| 15 |  | Green Lung
This Heathen Land
This Heathen Land boasts two of the clingiest bangers of the year in “The Forest Church” and “One for Sorrow”. The latter might be my favorite single track of 2023. Green Lung finally stuck the landing with impeccable production, beautifully crafted memorable songs, and extremely tasteful keyboard and vocal performances. The fun/heavy interplay is synergistic. |
| 14 |  | East of the Wall
A Neutral Second
When I was a teenager a local band (Jersey represent) crafted a progressive post-mathcore masterpiece that forever altered my perception of what was possible in heavy music. Terraforming by The Postman Syndrome is an album that looms large for me.
In the intervening years they broke up and reformed as East of the Wall. I’ve enjoyed every album the band has released, but I think they’ve achieved something particularly special on A Neutral Second. It’s dynamically balanced and brings the heavy in calibrated doses. It’s the closest thing they’ve done to Terraforming yet and I feel as though I’ve won some sort of solitary jackpot. The breakdown at the finale of “Autosomal Recessive” hits like a cancer diagnosis. |
| 13 |  | Tomb Mold
The Enduring Spirit
I’ve always held a measured appreciation for Tomb Mold. To partake in the riffsplosion these dudes concoct, I generally need to cringe and sorrowfully accept those caveman gurgles that saturate their catalog. The Enduring Spirit manages to bring so much playful proggy Death-worship style wandering that I genuinely don’t care about the flatness of the vocal approach. They’ve met me in the middle on this one. My favorite tracks are the ones that diverge greatly from their previous efforts and lean closer to the Dream Unending aural palette; namely “Will of Whispers” and “Fate’s Tangled Thread”. |
| 12 |  | Night Verses
Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night...
Unparalleled musicianship. Shockingly, their technical prowess doesn’t undercut compositional awareness. The tone and atmosphere created on this one is wholly unique to Night Verses. The drum performance/production psychosis on “Bound to You” is jaw dropping.
My hesitation to place this release higher on the list stems from something that exists outside the confines of artistic execution. Every Sound Has a Color… was clearly truncated from its second part to justify selling two records. I can’t in good conscience criticize an artist for maximizing their monetary worth, as the value of music as an art form has precipitously and unfairly plummeted in recent years. It’s just that the listening experience feels prematurely cut and that’s tough to shake. I’ll wait for part two with baited breath and then forever listen to this as a single cohesive epic. |
| 11 |  | Dream Unending/Worm
Starpath
Full disclosure: my bias is aggressively triggered at the 4:50 mark in the opening track when Dream Unending goes full Pink Floyd. From this moment forward I’m incapacitated, as if struck by a psychotropic dart.
Starpath successfully encapsulates the new era of grandiose proggy murk 20 Buck Spin is shilling, and I’m a fan. There’s a bit of a jarring transition at the onset of the Worm side which limits its overall potential. Despite this minor sputter, the willing listener is greeted by a wildly expansive take on extreme metal (read: black/death/doom). It’s a rewarding top to bottom experience that has enhanced my appreciation for each of the participants. |
| 10 |  | Restless Spirit
Afterimage
A treasure trove of head bangin’ delights. Think golden-era The Sword mixed with the sweet psychedelic punch of present day Mastodon. “Shadow Command” and “Hell’s Grasp” are memorable highlights. This is an album that crunches and chugs its way into your cortex. |
| 9 |  | Empire State Bastard
Rivers Of Heresy
Crisp and mathy sludgecore brimming with rhythmic intensity. From brutal screech to crooning melody, the vocal performance is wholly energized. It’s gratifying to be reminded that all your time spent tirelessly chiseling away at the stony outer crust for musical gems was well spent. Rivers of Heresy is that kind of debut. “Tired, Aye” is one of the boldest compositional decisions I’ve ever heard on a metal album. I wonder if they would’ve attempted such a feat had Dave Lombardo of Slayer fame not decided to join the band. Forever subscribe me to this fuck storm of creativity. |
| 8 |  | The Lemon Twigs
Everything Harmony
Cannot deny the earworms on this one. It’s unquestionably the strongest collection of tunes The Lemon Twigs have released yet and their performances are immaculate. Your mileage on this is likely dependent on how the heavy-handed nostalgic influence strikes. For me, it’s a not-so-subtle nod that is expertly brandished to fit a 2023 audience that could use a comforting infusion of simple and soulful rock jams. This one is going to bump around in the old noggin for a very long time. The chorus on “What Happens to a Heart” is eternal. |
| 7 |  | Spotlights
Alchemy for the Dead
Spotlights are an underappreciated three-piece from NY that have been on an absolute tear. On albums past they’ve traversed winding darkly lit passages through groves of withered pines and abandoned stragglers, igniting and hacking at the brush as they go about forging their own explosive escape. They’ve strayed a bit from their doomy routes on Alchemy for the Dead to engineer their tightest long player experience yet. They haven't sacrificed the amplifier worship entirely, but harnessed it to service the unholy atmosphere. There are surprising electronic bits placed along the path to brighten and embolden the weary traveler. The vocals have taken a step up, elevating the impact of each song with a sense of desperate tension. This release sees Spotlights rival the creative output of some of their more prominent influences - namely Portishead, Nine Inch Nails, and Failure. I don’t name drop legends like these lightly. It’s a journey that cuts deep and settles in. |
| 6 |  | Urne
A Feast On Sorrow
Rabid and unhinged thrash-paced sludge that makes occasional waves in post-metal territory. The aggressive vocals on this sound unrepeatable, and I mean that as high praise. It’s as though the capacity to replicate these noises may have been instantaneously exhausted in the studio and that in itself deserves ceaseless applause. A Feast on Sorrow may call to mind the legendary Leviathan of yore, but only because it is an equally adept surfacing abomination. |
| 5 |  | REZN
Solace
Rezn is the shining north star for innovative stoner doom. Weaving moody atmospheric electronics so tastefully into their driving grooves, one could forget that these guys are flourishing inside of one of the more exhausted and mildewed metal subgenres. Reversal is unquestionably my favorite heavy jam of the year. Solace as a whole is extremely easy to digest despite its bass rumbling low end heaviness. As a newcomer to the band I thought the vocal approach was interesting and novel, but possibly contentious. After delving deeper into the ethereal gulch, Rezn’s honed its staple sound and that very same vocal approach has fully assimilated into the unique spice that makes the dish really pop. |
| 4 |  | King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of...
Prying open my third (lizard's) eye. They did a TOOL. Adam Jones worship abound. The chorus on Gila Monster feels forcefully inserted for crowd participation but count me among those powerless to resist its anthemic charm. It’s fuzzy psych’d out heavy jams spiral out and keep going... Yes, they've headed the call. It’s the most entertaining and fleshed out album I’ve heard from them, though I don’t have the patience to sort out their absolute fuck pile of a discography. Shocker of the year. |
| 3 |  | Horrendous
Ontological Mysterium
Ontological Mysterium was my most anticipated album release of the year, which is always a tricky conundrum to negotiate. It not only met my unrealistically high expectations but reconfirmed my years long suspicion that Horrendous is the best death metal act in the game. Horrendous has wasted no time in the 10 years since the release of Ecdysis. They've successfully mined the trad metal leaning of Ecdysis, the progressive leaning of Anareta, and the technicality of Idol to fabricate a brutal masterwork. If forced to compare this (once again) to genre progenitors Death, I’d go with The Sound of Perseverance. It’s compositionally experimental without sacrificing brutality. It’s perhaps their most straight-up fun record, imbuing it with that incalculable binge quality typically reserved for classics. |
| 2 |  | K'mono
Mind Out of Mind
2023’s exercise in repeatedly plumbing the depths of joy. Mind out of Mind strikes a balance between unironic instrumental mastery and classic pretty prog silliness. Whatever happened to elicit these contented freak jams, it needs to be harvested and canned for preservation. I truly love this entire bonanza, but my favorites are “Tell me the Lore” (triumphant) and “Millipede Man” (got me dancing in an empty apartment in my underwear). It’s a ticklish work of art. K’mono are on my radar as one of the most exciting young prog bands in the game. |
| 1 |  | Saver
From Ember and Rust
Minimalist reflections. Maximalist application. Its effect is a pensive hypnosis, posing age-old questions such as: what bangs and what it is to bang and when will the banging stop? Saver has seamlessly merged ominous sonic space and eclectic synth swells with burly Oceanic-era guitar artillery. It’s a transmutation prematurely suspended, hovering freakishly between forms. Glistening and radiant…distorting waves of light. True spectacle. Album of the year. |
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