The Top 10 Metal Albums of 2023

We continue to need heavy music more than ever this year. This is the culmination of all the other metal lists. Yes, I have done other metal lists for other blogs, and I see them as being a refining process for when I make this list. So, while the result may have varied, this is the final word. I know many of you are ready for 2023 to be over with. Hate to break it to you but if you are watching what goes down in the world daily, 2024 might be the last year, of experiencing life as we know it . The very fact these bands made it on the list means they are the cream of the crop so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Sure, you can bitch and complain about your favorite band not being on the list. However, I listen to five new albums a day so yes, I heard your favorite album and was not impressed. No, I do not care what you think about it. I hope you can find your next favorite on this list and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Metal albums of 2023

10-Nebulae Come Sweet-"De Lumi​è​re" 

This band out of Belarus caught me by surprise, as they go above and beyond to take things in a different direction. This album came out in March and sadly flew under the radar. They feel more European than American in the almost classical manner they go about this. They blend dark melodic brooding with big grandiose choruses. They prove just because you are singing it does not mean you can not do so in a commanding fashion that has balls to it. An album full of dark wonderment. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/nebulae-come-sweet-de-lumiere.html

9-Fuming Mouth -"Last Day of Sun" 

This album of crusty death metal-infused anger grew on me with each listen. They lean into more of hard-core's punk side with the drumming putting them in the sonic zip code of bands like Ringworm  I appreciate the lyrical sentiments, and the overall oppressive mood, that still leaves room for melody shows they care about songwriting, but do not have to compromise to do so. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/11/fuming-mouth-last-day-of-sun.html

8-Horrendous - "Ontological Mysterium"

Horrendous extending themselves further into a jammy progressive, with a more organic feel than what they did on "Idol" last time around. There are clean vocals placed at unpredictable points in the song. I appreciated guitar solos, but only some people are impressed by shredding, take that into consideration when I tell you the guitar solos on this album improve the songs. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/07/horrendous-ontological-mysterium.html

 

7- Will Haven - "VII" 

They hit you with hammering hardcore and manage to pack in a dense atmosphere. The syncopated chugs create the apex of breakdowns.  If you grew up listening to nu-metal but matured into metallic hardcore, then this is the album for you. Really if you like heavy music colored by atmosphere this album is also for you as well. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/06/will-haven-vii.html

6- Mansion- Second Death 

This Finnish band does doom most uniquely at times they blend a minimalist folk not unlike what a  cult would sing as their mantra, as they lurch along in a very creepy manner. The tangible darkness of the music is heavier than the distortion of the guitars of the volume, though they are capable of applying those dynamics as well. I think they tap into cool dark places that few go in a new way. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/11/november-is-doom-mansion-second-death.html

5-Dreamwell -"In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You" 

This is not the heaviest band on the list, but they are the most extreme metal band whose songs beg for you to listen to them more than the other bands on this list. They shift from black gaze to more melodic forms of hardcore and harsher expressions of metal. Their singer is a pivotal force in what enables these transformations. Sometimes hard-core shouted vocals bring the abrasion crashing against the transcendence, which is littered oddly with blast beats. It is not the first time I have heard screamo blended with black metal, but this is done in an angular fashion that is more unique.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/dreamwell-in-my-saddest-dreams-i-am.html

 

4-the Lion's Daughter -"Bath House" 

There is a great deal going on with this album. The synths are very present in the mix going into the otherwise hammering open song. Throaty vocals are aggressive but howled more than growled. Sung vocals often emote over what is a  more brooding turn for the band. There is an ominous feel to counterbalance the more grandiose feel. I really enjoyed this one it's an improvement over what they did on "Skin Show" This album grew on me, and carries great depth.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-lions-daughter-bath-house.html

 

3-Downfall of Gaia -""Silhouettes Of Disgust"

This album is more black metal in its feeling than what I remember of the 2019 album. It is both darker and more aggressive. The soaring atmosphere still lingers, but not enough to stop this raging storm of sound they are creating here. The world is a darker and angrier place so this is fitting. It takes more chances than Wayfarer, who are also great songwriters, but in more of a well-fitted groove, as Downfall of Gaia, is not content with a formula. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/black-metal-history-month-downfall-of.html

2-Harm's Way - "Common Suffering" 

After being convinced to check them out upon hearing the "Undertow" single featuring the singer of King Woman, I was surprised by the rest of the album, which hits in the way that I typically want my hardcore to slap me. Harm's Way has a gritty musculature to the riffs, and the vocals punch in all the right places to rally the head bob inducing syncopations shift with a groove. There is a great deal of emotion to the construction of the songs that paints things in a bleak shade of gray rather than just being the macho in-your-face beat down you might expect this to be

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/harms-way-common-suffering.html

1-Frozen Soul - "Glacial Domination"

This Texas band pulls from classic death metal without worshipping any band too religiously. Their strength is taking a riff and grooving it without compromising the heaviness, In this way, there is a bit of Bolt Thrower in their DNA, but not enough to lump them in with bands who are clearly trying to re-live that band's glory days. I went into this album only aware of them by name, and by the end was a fan, thanks to hooky riff magic. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/05/frozen-soul-glacial-domination.html