Gothtober- the Top 10 Goth Albums of 2023

 

Having already started the End of the Year List season of with the Top 10 Post-Punk Albums of 2023, it's time to move in a darker direction with the Top 10 Goth Albums of 2023. If this seems premature,  record labels have already sent me most of what this year has to offer. After I sort through sorting through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. Perhaps it was marginally better than the previous year, though given the current climate of the world, we are progressing on a downward spiral, making dark music more important as a soundtrack for this.   As far as 2023 goes for Goth, a lot of great music came out forcing me to make hard choices. 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 Goth albums of 2023.

10- Bosco Sacro-"Gem" 

This quartet out of Italy plays a very dark and atmospheric kind of music that is hard to pin down. . There is more in common with neo-folk or goth. The spectacular job of creating this can not be denied and a must for those into dark atmospheric folk.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/bosco-sacro-gem.html

 

9-Skeletal Family-"Light From the Dark" 

These guys are an old-school goth band from the 80s who reformed with a new singer. They came out shortly after Siouxsie so it's not like these guys are a new band trying for a retro sound that is just how it's going to come out,.Anneka Latta employs a broader range of influences. a wonderfully written album that touches so many sonic colors I enjoy.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/gothtober-skeletal-family-light-from.html

  

8- Male Tears-"Krypt" 

It reminds me a great deal of Drab Majesty and perhaps this is what happens when millennials grow up listening to Drab Majesty rather than Bauhaus. It is very dance-oriented, so I can see young kids requesting this on goth night. Everything is draped in a haze of reverb aside from the retro jazzercise beats. It grows on you, if you have a high threshold for synths. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/gothtober-male-tears-krypt.html

                          

7-Naut -"Hunt" 

It is hard to believe at times this is not a long-lost album from the early 90s I somehow missed back in the day. In many ways this is defined by the sum of it's parts and the influences that make those up but this album is also a great deal of fun.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/naut-hunt.html

 

6- Ville Valo -"Neon Noir"

Better than the last HIM album, aside from the happy moments and weak bass tone, it is surprisingly well written, not that I was not already clued into the fact he is more than capable of cranking out slapper, it is just good to hear that he still has it. while the production is not as dark as I might like the vocals are really dialed in.   

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/01/ville-valo-neon-noir.html

5-Night Goat - "Totem" 

This band from Portland is kicking up an interesting blend of sonic abrasion that takes Death Rock in a heavier direction.  Imagine L7 jamming with 45 Grave and you are pretty close to what is happening here. The vocals are tortured screams and moaning. It darkly broods like a storm closing in.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/night-goat-totem.html

4-Troller- "Into Dust"

 Troller's Relapse debut opens with the Texas trio droning through a thick atmosphere that is coupled with haunting vocals. Adam Jones of the band SURVIVE is working the synths of this album, so these kids did not just pop out of nowhere. They have a sound they are very focused on but make things interesting enough to tell a story with the mood.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/05/troller-drain.html

 

 3-VOSH- "Vessel"

This album's strength is how it splits the difference between the guitar-driven goth and dark wave. Their singer throws her voice around in an interesting manner, as they capture  a wonderful balance of old and new goth sounds

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/gothtober-vosh-vessel.html

2- Myrkur - "Spine" 

The refinement on this album finds her on the more ethereal side and blending post-rock with goth rock, since it has more drive, it is poppy in terms of melody but not in the saccharine manner of dream pop and feels like waking from a depressive episode in the woods, rather than a fey wonderland. She edges out VOSH due to the more organic way she achieved this. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/gothtober-myrkur-spine.html

1- Temple of Angels - "Endless Pursuit" 

I sat down with this album and weighed the dream pop shoegazing moments versus those that owe more to romantic darkness, and came to the conclusion that this album leans into the shadows at least 60 percent of the time, and even when it lightens up a bit their songs are still haunted by a melancholy longing that still earns their place here.  They might not dress the songs up for Halloween in the way other bands on this list do but they are better songwriters, which is why they take the number one spot. These songs are passed by plenty of heart-gripping moments.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/temple-of-angels-endless-pursuit.html

The Top 10 Goth / Post Punk Albums of 2023 so far

The great Tik Tok goth craze of 2022 is a distant memory to the lemming minded masses and it is  just another depressing day for actual goths to celebrate darkness. Since goth is about music with a side order of fashion, it's time to look at the mid year report card for goth, post-punk and industrial music this year.  I have already received  promos for albums dropping as far out as August in my in-box, so they are really going to need to bring it in order to compete with the top five albums on this list. Given my tastes things lean in the more death rock direction. I like my goth to be aggressive, to the point even one metal band made the list. Though most sub-genre's are represented here, though not much of interest in terms of dark wave as really impressed me this year. There is very few projects here that rely too much on electronics as I am a firm believer in actual instruments making music.  I have included links to full review if you want to check these out and with all that said here are the top 10 goth/ post-punk albums of 2023 so far. 

10-STAHV- "simple mercies' 

Maybe there is a DJ out in Seattle who is not afraid of music with instruments. They are likely bumping this album at their goth night while , those of us on the east coast might just have to endure the same old Front 242 songs. It pays homage to the sound of an era while not being chained to it. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/03/stahv-simple-mercies.html

  9--Miranda and the Beat-"s/t'

If Amy Winehouse was making  brooding post-punk that still favored her 50's inspired doo-wop the results would not be unlike what happens on this album. It offers a great deal of sounds and moods while sticking to the boozy back alleys invoked here. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/miranda-and-beat-st.html

 

8-Godflesh- "Purge" 

This time around the iconic duo embraces their 90s past, to create throbbing grooves that bring a mass hypnosis as the soundtrack to the current state of pre apocalypse. I mean the world could not have ended with out another album from these guys. The first trumpet from the four horse men, Swams, Killing Joke and the Cure will be the final blasts of the bleakness to come. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/06/godflesh-purge.html

 

7-Bosco Sacro-"Gem"

This quartet out of Italy plays a very dark and atmospheric kind of music that is hard to pin down.The singer uses her voice like an instrument, which I am a fan of rather than verse / chorus pop structure to songs. Artists like Dead Can Dance and Kate Bush , are a fair  measure of what is going on here, which is a compliment in and of itself. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/bosco-sacro-gem.html

 

6-Orphans of Dusk - "Spleen" 

This album is not  the most original thing , but I like where they go with and the toys they are choosing to play with are some of my favorite toys in the toy box. If you are a fan of gothy doom do yourself a favor and check this out. 

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

   

 

5- Ville Valo- "Neon Noir" 

It depends on how attached your are to this sounding like H.I.M , as to how you are going to respond to the sounds gathered here. This feels in many ways like a logical place for him to pick up after where he left his former project .

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/01/ville-valo-neon-noir.html

 

4-Naut-"Hunt" 

Most post-punk revival bands do not have this kind of power in their attack. It is not mistake these guys got signed to Season of Mist in many ways this is defined by the sum of it's parts and the influences that make those up but this album is also a great deal of fun.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/naut-hunt.html

  3-Night Goat-"Totem"  

 This band from Portland, is kicking up an interesting blend of sonic abrasion that is equal parts grunge and death rock on their second album. Imagine L7 jamming with 45 Grave and you are pretty close to what is happening  here. It ends up beings heavier than expected. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/02/night-goat-totem.html

2-Grave Pleasures-"Plagueboys"

My favorite Finnish post- punk revivalists are back. There is a more melodic quality in place on these new songs, that takes some of the more metallic edges off. On songs like "Heart Like a Slaughterhouse" they have taken their tried and true sound, echoing all the way back to when they were Beastmilk and polished it into something even catchier. The pleading baritone warble of his croon, even stronger due to the songs being written with vocals at the centerpiece.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/grave-pleasures-plagueboys.html

1-Temple of Angels -"Endless Pursuit" 

I knew they were worthy to carry that torch of dream pop on the first song of their debut album. Fans of moody dream pop with a guitar fueled backbone  that jangles into your bones, will  perhaps be as wow'ed as I am by this album. Sadly it does not come out until July 14th , I promise this is an album to look forward to. For them to beat out Grave Pleasures for the top spot says a great deal.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/04/temple-of-angels-endless-pursuit.html

Ville Valo : "Neon Noir"

 

It depends on how attached your are to this sounding like H.I.M , as to how you are going to respond to the sounds gathered here. This feels in many ways like a logical place for him to pick up after where he left his former project . It is not until the third song , and title track that the darker goth leanings of his glory days are reflected. this is due in part to him singing more in his smoldering  baritone, than the emotionally pleading tenderness his leads off the album with that owes more to 80s new wave pop sounding like 80s pop is a win in my book. I t works better than the perhaps overly delicate tones that comprise "Loveletting" which feels like the first sonic misstep to me. Did he get this sappy during the H.I.M" days ? Yes, and i was not a fan of it them either. The song's dynamics and where they end up taking you , largely compensates for this.   

His voice has matured really well. This can be heard on how he layers it on "Foreverlost". This album is more atmospheric than what he used to do, at times this also makes it not as dark as i might prefer from in terms of the emotional spectrum his sound encompasses.  In other words it gets too fucking happy for me. I went into this not expecting it to sound like H.I.M , so when it does on songs like "Salute the Sanguine" I am happily surprised. The guitars are never as driving as they once were, so the metal influence is out the door for sure. I am not opposed to his melodramatic emoting dominating the song, as long as it is a good song, which "In Trenodia" proves to be ,  

The mood gets more Tears For Fears on " Heartful of Ghosts". The  guitar solo on this could have been moved up in the mix, I think the production is the less rock thing about this album and it could have benefited from a fatter bass tone. If you think about goth bands the formula  they share is the bass tone is heavy that way the guitar can lay back and create the atmosphere, so a better bass tone even when they are just indulging in power ballads, at some points the feel reminds me of the newer mellow Opeth, when it comes to his croon. The instrumental before the last song is well done it just feels more like an interlude. Thankfully things get marginally darker for the last song, whyere i notice he hardly ever uses his falsetto until now.I will give this one an 9.5, aside from the happy moments and weak bass tone, it is surprisingly well written, not that I was not already clued into the fact he is more than capable of cranking out slapper, it is just good to hear that he still has it. while the production is not as dark as I might like the vocals are are really dialed in.   

Ville Valo & Agents : "s/t"

Remember when H.I.M covered "Wicked Game" ? Well that was foreshadowing. Ville is taking a stab at being Chris Isaak on this album. The Finnish version of Chris Isaak. Which oddly also involves little yodeling. It is not huge on the Elvis influence. The guitars have that weird mix of western rock a billy and surf rock that Chris Isaak has used. The 3rd song is one of the more Isaak leaning. Ville's vocal style is very smooth and almost bears no resemblance to to his darker goth rock days. Gone are the romantic satanic images. I know if you were listening to him back in the Myspace days or have a heartagram tattoo, then you are probaly wondering what even makes this album worthwhile.

To answer that it is going to require a few things from you the first being a very open mind. The second an appreciation for guitar. If you are really into guitar and not in the shreddy way, then you can appreciate the great tone captured here and tasteful playing. The pace picks up a little on "Paratiisi" but it hovers very close to the established zip code of the sound they are going for. There are some weird awkward moments that stray from the formula . "Rockin With Enzio" being one of those. It sounds like it is from a kids show on Telemundo. There are moments when the Spanish influence on Western music comes across more gracefully. The songs are more flowing than ballads , but not actually rock music. He also sings in his native tongue. Which works for growling metal, but might baffle the Myspace kids.

There are some instrumental interludes that I am not counting for the purpose of this review. While not dark as in goth there are some moody moments. There are some upbeat moments which feel like 1940s French pop music. These happier notes sound like Frosty the Snow man to me and do not sit as well. There are flirtations with rock music with songs like "Ma haluan sun" . The cadence of his vocals going down towards his more baritone range feels even more like Chris Isaak. There is more twang to "I Told You So" . It also finds him singing in English again. He still does it smoothly , it is however more country than what you are used to from him. It closes on a note similar to what we have already heard on this album. I'll give this album an 8. It is good for what it is , the weird thing is getting used to what this is when you perhaps expect something else.