Best Metal Albums of 2023

Isn't that a cute little image?  Here are some 2023 releases that didn't spring to mind until after I created my cute little image.  We'll call them honorable mentions...

Horrendous - Ontological Mysterium) Knotty death metal with a progressive edge.  If my list was ranked by number of listens, this probably would have cracked the top 10.

Fires in the Distance - Air Not Meant For Us) I already wrote about this one.  Click HERE.

Vinsta - Freiweitn) Folk metal that could pass for vintage Opeth.  Based out of Austria.

Wolves in the Throne Room - Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge) An utterly fantastic EP.  These guys can do no wrong, in my book.

Dream Unending/Worm - Starpath) Easily my favorite split of the year, though I concede I haven't explored as many as I would have liked.  This is immense death/doom.  The DU tracks have a jazzy bent, whereas the Worm tracks are cloaked in blackened shades.

And now the top 10...

1. Alkaloid - Numen) Click HERE.

2. Dying Fetus - Make Them Beg for Death) I know this album doesn't contain any innovation on the part of this veteran brutal death metal unit, but there's nothing wrong with that.  The songs are killer.  John Gallagher knows his strengths, which is more than I can say for other indentured musicians.

3. Mournful Congregation - The Exuviae of Gods Part II) I'm actually listening to this EP as I type.  And normally, I wouldn't include EPs, but it's almost 40 minutes long.  Here again, we have a band that can do no wrong.  They make funeral doom so toothsome, so heartrendingly beautiful, it appeals to people who don't dig on funeral doom.  While I'm on the subject, I'll mention that Ahab also put out a strong contender.

4. Blackbraid - Blackbraid II) Not a terribly popular pick, but I don't care.  It's one of the finest atmospheric black metal offerings I've encountered in several harvest moons.

5. Shores of Null - The Loss of Beauty) Click HERE.

6. Drowning the Light - Haunter of the Deep) Unique lo-fi black metal from a dude who is prolific as all hell.  I think he cut another record since I started writing this piece.

7. Lamp of Murmuur - Saturnian Bloodstorm) This may be a case of Immortal worship, but that doesn't change the fact that I keep coming back to it.  "Conqueror Beyond the Frenzied Fog" might be my song of the year.

8. Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars) In the past twelve months, Katatonia has become one of my most cherished bands.  I'm partial to their entire discography.  I wasn't crazy about this one at first, but it's grown on me quite a bit.  "Author," for instance, is just too cool.

9. Outer Heaven - Infinite Psychic Depths) Gross, hawkish death metal dyed with a tincture of hardcore.  The riffs are dead serious.

10. Enslaved - Heimdal) In retrospect, I have reservations about this entry.  It's excellent, but pretend I switched it out with Starpath.