the Top 10 Doom Albums of 2023

 

I love to celebrate death and darkness, Doom is the music that should not only embrace a sense of loss and depression but sonically express it. These  are the albums that did that best captured that feeling this year .   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 Doom albums of 2023.

10-Adversvm-"Vama Marga"

This  band is capable of traversing sonic depth and on the heavier side of death doom as needed. This German band recently added the keyboardist from Evoken to their ranks, which is what made me take notice. This marks the band's third full length. Not sure I would quite  lump them into funeral doom as I am not getting that same sense of depressive longing , so they seem more like an atmospheric death doom band .

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/05/adversvm-vama-marga.html

 9-Saturnus- "the Storm Within"

 It could be said these guys are death doom if your definition of the sub-genre weighs heavily on the vocals. Musically there is a very lush expanse of sound summoned from what this Danish band does. They have been around since the 90s and this is only their 5th album, so they take their time. They have what they do very dialed in

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/06/death-is-june-saturnus-storm-within.html

8-Isole-" Anesidora"

I  really liked this Swedish band's 2019 album "Dystopia". They seem to be heading into even more melodic territory. Deliberate and dark, but not doom in the way it is most easily defined. There is more drive, almost in the same sonic zip code as Hangman's Chair, the vocals have a more regal operatic feel, and the singer is clearly not as depressed. This majestic soaring feel, is what separates them into their own niche. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/03/isole-anesidora.html

7-Usnea - "Bathed in Light"

I was a fan of this band's 2017 album. They are back at it with a greater mix of atmospheric moods and crushing doom that carries the dirty heft of sludge. Though a great deal of it has been smoothed out due to the attention to detail that was spent recording this. The vocals go from a low guttural growl to a more anguished scream. In the past six years since their last album they have been polishing every element of what they do. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/05/usnea-bathed-in-light.html

6- Ahab- the Coral Tombs 

8 years of chaos have passed since this German doom band released their last album. Chris Noir of  Ultha lends his voice to the highly aggressive black metal start of the opening track before it ebbs down into the doom you expect from this band. The croon of the baritone vocals here, is delivered with more power and presented more forward in the mix. The vocals play a bigger role in the overall sound this time around. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/01/ahab-coral-tombs.html

5- Shores of Null- the Loss of Beauty" 

I really enjoyed this Italian band's 2017 album, now they are proving to be just as hard to pin down. Musically there is a great deal in common with black metal, but the crooned vocals throw that comparison off to some extent. The growled vocals feel more death metal. The tremolo flow of guitar could also come from something pagan metal like Tyr, so a great deal is going on with some interesting melancholy passages to add to the dynamics.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/03/shores-of-null-loss-of-beauty.html

4- the Abbey-"Word of Sin"

Hailing from bands like Man Eating Tree and Shape of Despair, this doom band out of Finland , does what I wish Ghost did, by playing dark metal, with catchy layer vocals . The cadence and how the vocals are layered is what brings Ghost to mind. Unlike Ghost this has the balls of metal to it even when draped in doomy goth finery

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-abbey-word-of-sin.html

3-GODTHRYMM - "Distortions"

UK doomsters Godthrymm return with their dark and gritty vision of metal. It's vision that is true to the classic while not gazing into the stagnation of retro obsessions. Unless we are talking about the 90s as this would have fit well into the doom that was coming out then. They feels like they are chugging forward rather than meandering in droning sprawl.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/07/godthrymm-distortions.html

2-Orphans of Dusk -"Spleen"

 They are doom band with low sung baritone vocals , but also use death metal snarls as well, which not what Peter Steele did, so yes there is influence there, but Woods of Ypres, Moonspell, Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride could all be influences as well. If you just label them a Type O tribute then you are telling me you have a very limited range of musical knowledge. They 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/orphans-of-dusk-spleen.html

1- 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

Death is June -Saturnus : "The Storm Within"

 It could be said these guys are death doom if your definition of the sub-genre weighs heavily on the vocals. Musically there is a very lush expanse of sound summoned from what this Danish band does. They have been around since the 90s and this is only their 5th album, so they take their time. They have what they do very dialed in. Not only do they take time writing the song, they also took their time on the opening track getting to the metallic crunchy part. Three minutes in fact. It works for this song. They do have a distinct formula that gets a few variations, but they work off some sonic theme that we will cover as we go through this album. This is going to be a different approach as I listened to this album a few times yesterday rather than just giving you my first impressions during the initial listen which is how I normally review albums. 

They took their time getting great guitar sounds that are crisp and have the effects fine tuned with each note. The spoken word sections are one of the reoccurring themes mentioned earlier. If you normally listen to death doom that leans more toward death metal, you will still be impressed by the resonate gurgle of the low growls that are delivered with both power and articulation. Often growled vocals are obligatory, we know we need vocals, none of us can sing, so lets throw some growls in. The lyrics do not have to matter, it is just another texture. That is not the case here, which is evident in how they sit upfront in the mix of this album. "Chasing Ghosts" works off a more mournful doom  feel, almost like very melodic funeral doom.  "the Calling" finds the pace picking up and a more grooving drive that reminds me of some of the death n roll from the 90s. I might not be the heaviest moment of the album, but it puts the song first and that works for me. In fact it is almost catchy which how often do you think that when it comes to this . Midway into the song it drops down into ambiance and then builds back up into a heavier more commanding chug. 

"Even Tide" is well melodic, perhaps too much so. It is a call and a response between spoken word vocals and actual singing. They get credit for doing it but not sure it works with the momentum of the album and feels more like an interlude. They love using piano. "Closing the Circle" opens up with piano and more poetry being spoken. Though this only lasts of the first minute and a half. Very European in delivery, Novembers Doom would be a fair reference point when they wander down the darker more melodic paths. The guitar solos on this album are tasteful and really well done, if you are into that sort of thing. "Breath New Life" finds them digging back into a more driven form of melodic death metal that is still very European in it's grandiose sense of majesty. It works for me, as it is heavier than flowery. It soars in a few sections but is grounded by the chugged guitar. They last song finds the lead in of piano, clean guitar and poetry becoming a bit excessive by this point as they needed to end things with a more metallic punch, it takes three minutes to get there. When it does get there it works fine, but not the album's strongest moment, however it is clear these guys excel at what they do so hard to find fault in anything except the pacing and almost overly indulgent emotional poetry, but I will still give  this album a 9, as it is clearly the album they set out to make .