FROZEN CARL'S FAVORITE METAL OF 2023
gather round, resident melodeath enjoyer frozencarl has a tale to tell! havent done an "in depth" list like this ever idt, but it was my first year having a fulltime job since 2019 and as such last.fm says i listened to the most music ever this year so here ya go!!! |
| 40 |  | Avenged Sevenfold
Life Is But a Dream...
idek
not sure if i even like this album, i just love that they released it lmao. definitely a grower. including it just cuz |
| 39 |  | IKD-SJ
死んだ雪白中毒者にキスを
nu metal
some crazy ass weird japanese nu metal action, feels like my brain went through a meat processor. you just gotta listen to it to get it mannn. |
| 38 |  | Dryad
The Abyssal Plain
black metal
thrashy, punky, bouncy black metal with some of sickest vox, switching between raspy high black metal screamz and demonic gutterals. |
| 37 |  | Leitha
Reue
melodic black
the dude behind Kanonenfieber is also behind this project, so the sound is very similar (just without the WWI themes). straight forward and very solid meloblack |
| 36 |  | The Acacia Strain
Failure Will Follow
sludge
myspace deathcore vets turned sludge/doom rockers drop their sickest album ever. its slow as fork and heavy as sheet. also really cool that they did this crazy ass new sound but still dropped a shitty deathcore album alongside it for their gauge-laden og fans. bog walker brings the mfn fuzzzzzz |
| 35 |  | Thy Catafalque
Alföld
avant garde / black
while not his weirdest album, Tamás Kátai still flaunts some avant garde flare in what is predominantly black metal. very bouncy and riffy. |
| 34 |  | Metuzalem
Infra
death / doom
haunting death/doom album by Croatian newcomers Metuzalem that is made up of a bunch of Croatian metal vets. not familiar with their scene at all but these guys bring it ahrd. slow and crushing, melodic and pensive. czech it |
| 33 |  | VoidCeremony
Threads of Unknowing
death / prog
speaking of First Fragment.... Voidceremony is guitar wizard Philippe Tougas' other other band that features noodly audible bass and heavy riffs and technical passages reminiscent of Atheist |
| 32 |  | Invicta
Triumph and Torment
tech / melodic death
another late addition, hadnt heard of them until just before seeing em open for First Fragment last month. turns out they had a new album this year and it slapped hard asf! its a thrashy technical and melodic onslaught. |
| 31 |  | Curta'n Wall
Siege Ubsessed!
medieval black metal
super late addition to the list but this has gotta be the dumbest shit i've ever heard and i loved every second of it. this the kinda shit King Arthur had playing in his airpods while charging into battle |
| 30 |  | Wayfarer
American Gothic
cowboy black metal
not sure if i like this more than their last yet, but its still very good. tbh just happy their western theme has finally clicked (well it did with A Romance with Violence but this just continues it) |
| 29 |  | Hypno5e
Sheol
prog / dj0nt
weird french djenty prog metal with the tried and true Hypno5e formula of very soft singing -> buildup -> heavy as fuck riffz -> soft singing -> buildup -> heavy as fuck riffz |
| 28 |  | Blackbraid
Blackbraid II
melodic black
i think Blackbraid I is better, but this is still a fine piece of folky meloblack. perhaps a bit overhyped but its rare having solid meloblack coming out of the states so i'll let it slide |
| 27 |  | Unearth
The Wretched; The Ruinous
melodic mxc
this band is still chasing the highs of Watchers of Rule but this comes very close and is one of their best ever. its a short and quite palatable slab of gothenburg-infused metalcore |
| 26 |  | Angus McSix
Angus McSix and the Sword of Power
power
might change my mind about including this in my list later on but i think its still pretty good and catchy as far as modern power metal goes. the split from Gloryhammer was messy as hell and it seems like this Angus McSix fella is kind of a shitter but this is like a mini Orden Ogan album sooo fuck it |
| 25 |  | Idolatrous
Sorrow on Midgard
melodic death
my favorite Muzz rec of the year. american band that sounds not unlike those of Sweden (cough Amon Amarth cough). but like, prime Amon Amarth. owns ahrd |
| 24 |  | Dreamwell
In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You
blackened skramz
a friend had put me onto Dreamwell a few years ago and while it was pretty good, it always felt like it was missing something for it to click with me. whatever that was, it was included in this album cuz it clicked. the vocals here are insane! love the mix of black metal with skramz. All Towers Drawn in the Equatorial Room goes dumb heavy |
| 23 |  | Invent Animate
Heavener
metalcore
never got super super into the new wave of metalcore that came about around the 2010s with bands like Erra and Northlane but as far as that sound goes i think this is some of the most innovative. its dreamy yet heavy. Without a Whisper was on repeat all year |
| 22 |  | Tomb Mold
The Enduring Spirit
death
an ambitious move by Tomb Mold, the Enduring Spirit sees the band venture into some funky territory as if they were like, "hey I wanna be like Horrendous too!" or some shit like that. did it pay off? I think so, tho time will tell. certainly a polarizing move but I dig it. its weird and melodic and still sounds like Tomb Mold but like if they came from a planet thats stuck in the 70s but still makes death metal. that doesnt even make sense |
| 21 |  | Stortregn
Finitude
melodic / tech
Stortregn's best, which is impressive since i had the same thought with their last release, Impermanence. their tasteful blend of tech, melo, and black metals is a treat to the ears indeed |
| 20 |  | Serenity
Nemesis AD
power
theatric power metal that could make Avantasia blush. the Crusades schtick Serenity subscribes to is tacky as hell but then again it is power metal so cant complain |
| 19 |  | August Burns Red
Death Below
metalcore
ABR have fallen deep into complacency, having released the exact same album every other year for the past two decades. however! this one is different, I swear!! this is their first step in a while leaning into something different, showcasing some nifty black metal influences and a guest feature from Jesse Leach. The Cleansing into Ancestry is some of the best ABR there is period |
| 18 |  | Qwalen
Syvä Hiljaisuus
black
bouncy and punky bm from Finland that arent nazis and are in fact very vocally antifascist. trve asf |
| 17 |  | Soul Giant
New Wave
weird melodic proggy death
criminally underrated prog death with boisterous vocals both clean and dirty and noodly passages and riffs that get very heavy at times. might have to review it to get it to the masses. |
| 16 |  | Astralborne
Across the Aeons
melodic death
similar to Majesties, Astralborne channel the spirit of Gothenburg throughout this release, even including an In Flames cover smack dab in the middle of it. really catchy riffs abound. |
| 15 |  | Slow Fall
Obsidian Waves
melodic death
this band came up on shuffle after I listened to like Insomnium or something and I was immediately hooked. sounds Amorphis-y at times. excited to see where this band goes from here |
| 14 |  | Outer Heaven
Infinite Psychic Depths
BLEGH
their best album yet. shit is filithy, putrid, vile, nasty. these riffs will break your neck |
| 13 |  | Majesties
Vast Reaches Unclaimed
in flames - subterranean
really cool gothenburg worship from the boys in Obsequiae. nothin here thats gonna reinvent the wheel but its hard to do that in melodeath so i guess the second best thing is to just keep spinnin that wheel. hard to describe other than its 90s In Flames played through an Obsequiae filter. |
| 12 |  | Mercy (BR)
The Powers That Be
black
brazillian unblack metalers (apparently theyre christian cuz they fw Antestor hard? not overtly so, at least) dropped this grab bag of black metal styles and its fantastic. definitely something in here for every BM subgenre enjoyer. |
| 11 |  | Fires in the Distance
Air Not Meant For Us
melodic death / doom
love that this band is getting traction round the sputnikverse, their debut was solid but largely slept on. this is basically a continuation of that slow, melodic, key-centric sound they began with and is an excellent listen from start to finish. vibes here are vibey |
| 10 |  | Moonlight Sorcery
Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
children of bodom doing melodic black
this one was a surprise for me since their EPs, while pretty good, sounded nothing like this album. so i went into it expecting some decent 90s symphonic BM but came out with like half the songs favorited and being like damn! very upbeat and melodic and fast and catchy you can basically dance to it. |
| 9 |  | Aeolian
Echoes of the Future
melodic death
environmentally friendly spanish melodeathers Aeolian drop some fre$h melodeath that all my melodeath enjoyers must listen to asap. they kinda do the singy-screamy kinda vocal thing Darkest Hour and Cattle Decap do and it sounds pretty cool. definitely one of my favorite newer melodeath bands |
| 8 |  | Frozen Soul
Glacial Domination
bolt thrower
a YUGE step up from their debut, fellow frigid prefix enjoyers Frozen Soul drop an absolutely SICK slab of riffy death metal that features Matt Heafy [trivium] and Gost [vaporwave black metal guy] and John Gallagher [dying fetus] tastefully. its bouncy and hype as hell and did i mention riffy? see you in the pit mfer |
| 7 |  | Sacred Outcry
Towers of Gold
power
probably one of the best power metal albums to come out in recent times, with a lot of it to do with Daniel Heiman of Lost Horizon fame joining their ranks for this release. the vocals are certainly a highlight here but the that isnt to discount the rest of the band--ofc there are fast riffs! solos! atmosphere! power metal buzzwords! m/// |
| 6 |  | Horrendous
Ontological Mysterium
Death death
couldnt decide if I should have this or Nothingness on top since they're both so good so consider it a tie. Horrendous stay makin good asf death metal that will have you second guessin what the fuck might come next, the songwriting on display here is wild and musicianship is stellar on all counts. truly the spiritual successor to Death. |
| 5 |  | Nothingness
Supraliminal
death
2023 was an excellent year for death metal, and this release by Nothingness proves it. while not just the best death metal album of the year, its probably one of the best death metal albums of like...the last 5 years or something, idk. its really forkin good. heavy ass riffs on cavernous riffs on melodic riffs with some of the nastiest growls in the game. stellar production on top makes this an album to come back to again and again |
| 4 |  | Mercenary
Soundtrack for the End Times
melodic death
like Scar Symmetry, Mercenary emerges from the stasis chamber a decade since their last release and drop what I now think is their best album. every song is infectious and has riffs and hooks galore. a melodeath force to be reckoned with indeed! |
| 3 |  | Scar Symmetry
The Singularity - Phase II: Xenotaph
melodic death
after an eternity of waiting, Per Nilsson and co do the unthinkable and drop the second of a planned three Singularity albums. since its part of a lil trilogy its best listened to after listening to Phase I, but on its own its a pretty solid Scar Symmetry album and makes teenage me very happy. mix def sounds off compared to P1 but it slaps nevertheless |
| 2 |  | Sworn
A Journey Told Through Fire
melodic black
this one popped up on spotify and I remember giving it a listen while on the train to the countryside with my head on the window lookin at the trees and farms and being like damn this some good shit. what it lacks in overtly melodic riffage is made up in its amosphere. spotify told me Calamity Sea was my most jammed song this year and for good reason! |
| 1 |  | Xoth
Exogalactic
melodic / tech death / power / thrash
didnt have as much time with this album since it dropped in December, but i've still spun the shit out of it. riffy and melodic goodness. pairs extremely well with the new Scar Symmetry. probably my favorite Xoth release. czech it asap m/ |
|
