I thought that as I got older—accounting for the assumed wealth of experience I would undoubtedly have by this advanced age—my tastes would expand. I would become this living, breathing Encyclopedia of all things refined. An intellectual behemoth, if you will.
In music terms, I would become a trillion TB hard drive. A seemingly endless “Artists” scroll on a DAP. Not a thoughtless list, of course, but bands whose discographies and unique histories I had committed to memory.
Yet, that’s not what happened. At all. Not even remotely. My likes and dislikes would only crystallize. Unshakeable and stubborn, squeezing familiar subgenres until something—anything—escaped my tight grip, to plop out before me with all the nutritional promise of a Pop Tart.
And I feel like I am not alone here. There are others who occupy this same soulless and cyclical planet. In the half hour of free time we get a day—you know, that miraculous window falling somewhere between putting the kids to bed and passing out on the couch eating stale potato chips we failed to seal correctly like the slobs we are—we gather our thoughts and quite deliberately ignore them, instead chewing the corners of songs we have heard countless times, and the corners of other songs that sound very much like those songs we have heard countless times. Forever chewing Katatonia.
Ever so slight exaggerations aside, I am racking my brain here thinking of reasons why my list looks the way it does. And I can only conclude that I am frozen in time. That time is 2010. 2011, maybe? I have been at this metal thing for a while. Long enough, now, to have convinced myself that I have turned over most stones. I am tired. A little complacent. A lot of hubris. More forgiving of middling melodeath than I ought to be. A picture of health, undoubtedly.
I am that 2010, 2011 me, sort of mindlessly and certainly categorically seeking cheap thrills with old and new-that-sound-like-old alike. I acknowledge this now to say that it has been a liberating realization. I cherish those thirty minutes with every fiber of my being. Zero hesitation zoning out to Stray Gods for that Maiden vibe. Or Majesties for that early In Flames vibe. Or Triumpher for that Manowar vibe. Or Fires in the Distance for that Insomnium vibe. Or … well, you get it. Nostalgia vibes are my jam. Or they were my jam this year. And very likely to be my jam next year.
I am not a trillion TB DAP with a seemingly endless “Artists” scroll. I am in the shallow pool, mostly, comfortably treading water with familiar faces and near clones of those familiar faces. But I do—sometimes (rarely)—journey a few feet into the deep end. Maybe I wore a new shirt to work and I am feeling a little spicy. Whatever it is that brings me there, I am equally grateful for that sliver of exploration. But mostly I am kicking my legs out and floating in shallower waters. Smiling. Satisfied. I am OK with that.
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THESE
20. Anubis Gate – Interference
Accept no substitute. Mostly because there is no substitute for the brand of power prog Anubis Gate has championed for twenty years. This felt equal parts poppy and adventurous. Perhaps the 2020 covers album (Covered in Colours) had something to do with that. Whatever the inspiration, I am here for it. Fevre and Olesen. Forever magic. They give me the tinglies.
19. Begravement – Horrific Illusions Beckon
Death metal darlings at Last Rites. And elsewhere, apparently. I am still stunned this isn’t the fourth or fifth album from seasoned and long-celebrated vets. Super high-quality and memorable neck-snapping OSDM. A few songs in and I wanted to champion these guys like nothing else. Glad they’re getting some well-deserved praise in all corners of the metalsphere.
• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp
18. Enslaved – Heimdal
I see sparks. Yep. Definitely some sparks here. Enslaved reignited. Back in the fold. Spent many a night with Heimdal. Selfishly, I like this slightly heavier take. “Man, I love this band!” – Me, about Enslaved, several times over the course of 2023. They could make a trip to Sam’s Club in Tulsa sound like an adventure.
• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp
17. Afterbirth – If But Not Of
The Anubis Gate of progressive death metal. No—that’s dumb. Rather, like Anubis Gate above, there is no substitute for Afterbirth. And like Begravement, deserved darlings of Last Rites. And elsewhere. Many places elsewhere. Including in my home office, where I listened to this a few dozen times in a short amount of time. Why, you ask? “Is there an album more fun than this?” I answer/query. No. Objectively. No. I’ll regret not ranking this in my Top 5. Pretty sure I already do. These guys rule. Please listen. “Succumb to (Afterbirth).”
• Last Rites Review
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16. Gatekeeper – From Western Shores
I liked pre-2022 Gatekeeper, but the addition of vocalist Tyler Anderson was a big coup. Instant love for From Western Shores, a heartening and genuine encapsulation of the spirit of heavy metal that gives me all the feels. But mostly the “this just flat-out rules” feels. So appreciative of this album this year. Hardcore walk-to-the-metro-in-the-morning like a bad-ass vibes. Because I did that, like, countless times listening to From Western Shores. Not so much walking back home. Work can do that.
• Last Rites Review
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15. Dodheimsgard – Black Medium Current
I wanted to write something sarcastic about DHG getting a bit too comfortable for their own good, but I just couldn’t do it with a band as genuine as this. No sarcasm in your DHG blurb, please. The Truffaut of black/industrial metal. A trite label for a band that really and truly escapes any sort of categorization. Yet I managed a firmer grip on this one and found it endlessly rewarding. As our own Captain said, this is a very good weird, and a wonderfully strange journey.
• Last Rites Review
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14. Pupil Slicer – Blossom
For whatever reason, I had it in my mind that Mirrors could not be topped. Two short years later, Pupil Slicer tops it. And pretty cleanly. While taking risks that fully pay off. Kate Davies is an absolute legend here. “Expanding their sound” is pretty much the death knell for me. Because I am mean like that. And yet, for a while there, I couldn’t be arsed to listen to anything else but this album. All the feels. Like, seriously, all of them.
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13. Ice Age – Waves Of Loss And Power
Entirely unexpected in the best way possible, New York’s prog metal masters Ice Age made a triumphant return after 22 years of relative silence with Waves Of Loss And Power. I was only vaguely familiar with the band’s old Magna Carta output, but the promise of Hot Tub Time Machining that sweet spot of late 1990s/early 2000s-style prog had me sold pretty much immediately. And that is exactly what you get here. Classy high-fives all around, gentlemen.
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12. Thy Catafalque – Alföld
Tamás Kátai just emanates heat. No other way to explain the hot streak this band has been on since well … forever. At least Naiv? Thy Catafalque excites me in the same way Ihsahn excites me—not entirely sure what version of the band we’re getting, but that’s part of the fun. Alföld felt significantly weightier than Vadak, which was also a stroke of genius.
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11. Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant For Us
Within the span of three years, Fires in the Distance has put out two top shelf melodic death metal records—arguably two of the best American death metal records in recent years. A late April release for a melodic doom/death album is kind of begging for trouble. But given that Air Not Meant For Us felt very much like a continuation of the debut it was pretty much love at first sight, contrasting weather vibes aside.
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MARCHING TO THE BEAT OF THEIR OWN DRUM
10. OK GOODNIGHT – THE FOX AND THE BIRD
Not that I tried all that hard, but I could not escape OK Goodnight’s The Fox And The Bird. From June to the present day, there were a few dozen pretty great records all begging to be heard. Yet I routinely returned to The Fox And The Bird. Casey Lee Williams’ voice is a treasure. And there’s something about this record that feels incredibly live—literally live, like you’re sitting there with the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had and listening to the band play maybe thirty or forty feet in front of you. Majestic, almost spiritual sounding prog metal. Incredible band. Incredible record.
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9. THE ACACIA STRAIN – FAILURE WILL FOLLOW
2019’s It Comes In Waves ushered in a new, noticeably doomier era of The Acacia Strain. And Failure Will Follow is perhaps their doomiest, most extreme take on the sound they’ve been developing since. Three songs, all over ten minutes each. This feels like catharsis for vocalist Vincent Bennett. Hell, it feels like catharsis for me. I’ve always had an odd, somewhat unexpected connection with this band. But since the release of It Comes In Waves, that connection has become significantly less odd and unexpected. TAS has tapped into a sound that feels unique and organic to them and I appreciate the dirge. Side note: Step Into The Light (another TAS 2023 release) is not on this list only because it seemed unfair to list The Acacia Strain twice.
8. RIVERSIDE – ID.ENTITY
What a welcome shift this eighth full-length from Riverside proved to be. If you ignore the lyrics, ID.Entity is a surprisingly upbeat, positive record. Almost ethereal at times. No, definitely ethereal at times—just listen to the keys on opener “Friend or Foe?” Riverside’s Power Windows moment. Easily one of my most listened to in 2023. Riverside just gets me. A simple truth in a “Post-Truth” world. Far too impatient for another five years between albums, but I’ll wait if it means we get a part two.
• Last Rites Review
• Riverside
7. MORTUARY DRAPE – BLACK MIRROR
New Drape is a celebratory event and like many I absolutely cherished Black Mirror. Sure, it’s dark. It’s macabre. It’s Satanic. All that good stuff. But mostly, it’s another ripping example of this band’s commitment to a well-executed and potent mix of melody, discord, creativity, and fun. Seriously, that bounce in “Drowned in Silence” alone. I am far too cynical and sarcastic to buy fully into the spiritual ethos of any band, including Mortuary Drape, but I can’t deny the genuineness of the atmosphere here. Cool band. Cool album. Near perfect production. All that I could have wanted and more from Mortuary Drape.
• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp
6. MAJESTIES – VAST REACHES UNCLAIMED
There’s something to be said for timing. Majesties’ debut quite easily corners the market on early In Flames (Lunar Strain; Subterranean EP; The Jester Race). That Tanner Anderson does this should surprise no one familiar with Obsequiae, but that he does it so effectively is impressive. That he does it when the few bands still championing this sound usually adopt the mid-period Soilwork aesthetic makes Vast Reaches Unclaimed all the more commanding. The riffs here are chef’s kiss good (and buried more than I would like). I doubt this’ll inspire likeminded melodeath from others, unfortunately, so I am pretty much hanging my hat on album two from these guys.
• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp
5. MAMMATUS – EXPANDING MAJESTY
As our own dapper Dan wrote of Expanding Majesty, Mammatus’s latest album is patient, mellow, and supremely confident, happy to take its time exploring each angle of whatever particular sunbeam it finds itself in from moment to moment.” In other words, Santa Cruz’s Mammatus is feeling just fine, thank you, and they will take their time expressing that to you. Fortunately, Mammatus have that exercise down pat. Lesser bands would drown in that excess. Mammatus thrives.
• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp
4. STRAY GODS – OLYMPUS
Much as I loved Stray Gods’ debut, Storm The Walls, there was some merit to the criticism that its clear worship of early Maiden was a bit too on-the-nose. Though this follow-up, Olympus, doesn’t shed that entirely, its real staying power lies in its willingness to move a few albums deeper in the Maiden discography. So, yes, we’re still very much in that realm of Maiden worship, but we’re operating under a more varied setlist. And you can’t ignore the power of these songs. Certainly not the chorus in opener “Out of Nowhere.” It’s as if Bob Katsionis was Steve Harris’s understudy in … life.
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3. MOONLIGHT SORCERY – HORNED LORD OF THE THORNED CASTLE
If we’re being fair—and I think we have to be—following the Nightwind EP, Horned Lord Of The Thorned Castle was a bit of a wild card. The Piercing Through The Frozen Eternity EP? Unquestionably a thing of greatness. Nightwind? Less so. So, Negative Nancy that I am, I first listened to Horned Lord with some trepidation. Of course, I was an idiot. Moonlight Sorcery threw caution to the wind and did the best thing they possibly could have done, fully embracing their speedier and more melodic side. That this release isn’t on every other website’s year-end list should be criminal—it’s that good! Despite the sonic differences, I feel like I turn to Horned Lord like I turned to Ensiferum’s Thalassic in 2020. Horned Lord sounds like a band hitting its stride and having a ton of fun doing it, and as I listen to it now I feel like I am sharing in that energy.
• Last Rites Review
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2. SACRED OUTCRY – TOWERS OF GOLD
No knock on Yannis Papadopoulos (Beast in Black)—amazing in his own right on that first record. But Daniel Heiman could not have been a more perfect fit for this band. There are records. And there are gifts. Towers Of Gold is a gift. Released not long after Damned, with Heiman on vocals, no less. Nearly an hour long. All quality. Gift. As our own Captain wrote of this album, “Sacred Outcry creates music tailor-made for fiends of boundless escapism[.]” I needed this escape this year. That a band can be this ambitious and deliver on that ambition says a lot about those involved. I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear from these guys. And it may not even be the best we hear from these guys. A scary—but exciting—thought.
• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp
1. TRIUMPHER – STORMING THE WALLS
Triumpher is heavy metal. It is loud. But it is nuanced in its loudness. It is ambitious. But it channels its ambition. Focused. Unapologetically powerful. Respectful of history. Yet forward-thinking. Thoughtful. This is a special record that required instinct and reflection in equal measure. Yet with all the descriptors Storming The Walls might inspire, I can’t help but return to the simple truth that it is just a hell of a lot of fun.
I wish I could say that I struggled mightily this year to arrive at a number one. I did not. Triumpher’s Storming The Walls was it for me. I had to account for the element of surprise here. And the degree of impact. That Sacred Outcry released another impeccable and unassailable record did not, and could not, surprise me. Storming The Walls is the little engine that could, and did.
• Last Rites Review
• Bandcamp
