The Top 10 Death Metal Albums of 2023

There is no shortage of inspiration for death metal these days, as death is all around us. Perhaps that is why there has been such a huge outpouring of quality death metal this year. These albums celebrate annihilation in all of its forms.   These albums captured what death metal should be with very little compromise,  After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, 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. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Death Metal albums of 2023.

10-Vastum - "Inward to Gethsemane"

The longest-running death metal band on 20 Buck Spin,  released another album of thoughtful death metal. Their full-on assaults find the band being mindful of creating a mood with darker depth. They dig deeper into a more old-school death metal influence while using odd syncopated touches and atmosphere to keep from sounding like another Morbid Angel rip off.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/11/vastum-inward-to-gethsemane.html

 

9- 200 Stab Wounds - "Slave to the Scalpel"

 This Cleveland band is going to the pack in making raw-boned death metal that leans into the grooves. a great deal of head-banging fun, and freshens a corpse that could have rotted in the hands of less capable songwriters. There is a great deal of listenablity that adds to it's replay value earning it this spot. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/11/200-stab-wounds-slave-to-scalpel.html

 

8-Liquid flesh - "Delores"

When it comes to a genre that is easy to get mired down in the heavy, these guys keep the songs in mind, This album is highly entertaining with the rock twist . France once again proves they do metal well and left of center when they take a twist into a proggy adventure. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/06/death-is-june-liquid-flesh-dolores.html

5-Tideless - "Eye of Water"

 Tideless is from California and makes an attempt to set themselves apart in their sophomore release. They have dialed back the hyper-aggression, and embark on something that has more in common with post-rock. They do some rather sonically stunning things and are onto something remarkable here, that makes for a great listen. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/07/tideless-eye-of-water.html

 

4-Obituary-"Dying of Everything"

 I was also not expecting the thrashing ass-kicking the opening track unleashes. Any concerns regarding this album living up to their established legacy were squashed. The more Slayer-like attack is balanced out by Tardy's distinctive voice reminding you that this is Obituary with his articulate sneer. This sits solidly next to the band's more classic work, which is something many of their peers cannot boast.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/01/obituary-dying-of-everything.html

3-Cattle Decapitation- "Terrasite"

The main difference between this album and "Death Atlas" is the guitars have a more deliberate thrashing to their grooves. Things are not as blinding fast, but the riffs retain the razor-sharp aggression , but also well-constructed and hooky. The more sung vocals also come into play to give the songs more melodic depth than your average band engaging in this brand of heaviness can conjure on snarls alone.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/cattle-decapitation-terrasite.html

2-Horrendous - "Ontological Mysterium"

Horrendous extending themselves further into more of a jammy progressive, that has 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 not someone normally 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

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

Tideless : "Eye of Water"

I have covered a ton of death metal already this year, so for me  the key is to really become more selective and seek out bands that are doing something different. Two minutes into this album and it's evident that is the case here. Tideless is from California and  make an attempt to set themselves apart of their sophomore release. They have dialed back the hyper aggression, and embark on something that has more in common with post-rock.  The At just under seven minutes the opening track is the shortest song on this album. Given the nature of what they are doing , the time to establish dynamics in important , but does it justify a fifteen minute song. The first growl of vocals is heard on the second song. It is used in almost a more funeral doom fashion. At two minutes in I am wondering where they are going from here, so 13 more minutes of wondering that might be excessive. The low growl of the vocals feels more like a texture thing than a narrative. The sweeping melodies of shoe gaze come into play about midway into the song to make things more interesting. 

"Oblations for the Sun" kicks into motion with the kind of double bass barrage that is expected from death metal. As far as guitar solos go they crank out a ripper on this one. It bridges the distance between the aggression the song begins with and the melodic ghosts of atmosphere to come. It floats off on this 19 minute fever dream. The drums employ and undercurrent of double bass at times to keep things grounded. The song breaks down to the point where this is really a new song, so not sure why they insist on keeping it going and not just allowing it to break into shorter songs which is what it feels like it wants to do. It feels like one of those sweeping post-hardcore build ups as the song progresses. "Laurels of Victory' might be the best blended balance of what they do. The shoe gazing and growl raising are in equal proportions. The more tremolo picked guitars that race around certain sections of this song create more of a black metal feel. The ripping solos do keep coming to add a more melodic texture. The ten minute time span also seems like a well balanced limit to songwriting excess. 

The last song of the album is the immense "Lush Serene Dissolved" . The first three minutes finds the drums riding a jazzy groove. This is sent soaring into a more astral sonic space. I am all for the sounds they are working with , but do they need to be toyed with for 23 whole minutes? The length of entire albums, is excess to a fault especially considering how things break down at the  five and a half minute mark before building into something that feels like a different song. It's not that they have a theme that needs to keep going here. The vocals stay at the same gurgle grunt, not really adding much lyrically. For what they do it's a texture thing. When it comes to their death metal side I have noted over the course of listening to this album that they do not dig into the kind of weighty chugs that bands like Obituary or Incantation are noted for. 

The benefit to these guys wearing the death metal rule book like a loose garment, it they are also less prone to just default into a blur of speed. Eleven and a half minutes in they are back into the balance of gaze vs death metal, though leaning more into the lazy post-rock drift. At 17 minutes in there is another one of those moments where it should be a new song, having very little to do with the 17 minutes that came before it thematically. I will give this album a 9, while they do some rather sonically stunning things, and are onto something remarkable here, the inability to trim the fat as needed hampers the song writing in places, keeping this from being a perfect album, but it is still a great listen.