Tag: 2023BestofMetal

2023 Best of Metal: #12 Harboured-Harboured

Release date: 3/17/2023

Origin: Denver, CO

Personnel: Michael Stancel-vox/guitar, Nick Hennig-guitar, Brandon Michael-bass, Cierra White-drums

Harboured is a side project by Allegaeon guitarist Michael Stancel. Stancel seems to play second fiddle to Greg Burress in Allegaeon, but I feel this album should open people’s eyes as to how talented Stancel really is. This is one of the most creative and beautiful albums to come out this year. Whereas Allegaeon is full speed ahead technical death metal, Harboured comes at it in a more atmospheric manner. There are so many left turns and surprising paths that these songs take. The result is an absolute adventurous album. I really hope this isn’t a one-off project and we get many more albums out of these guys going forward. Definitely one of the promising new projects to come out in 2023.

4.5 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

12. Harboured-Harboured
13. Herod-Iconoclast
14. Insomnium-Anno 1696
15. Spirit Adrift-Ghost At the Gallows
16. Church of Misery-Born Under a Mad Sign
17. Primordial-How It Ends
18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thuder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

2023 Best of Metal: #13 Herod-Iconoclast

Release date: 5/1/2023

Origin: Vevey, Switzerland

Personnel: Michael Pillat-vox/guitar, Pierre Carroz-guitar, Bertrand Pot-guitar, Fabien Vodoz-drums

Bittersweet entry on this one. I stumbled upon Herod a few years ago and their previous release, Sombre Dessein, made a Best of Metal list. Iconoclast solidified in my mind that these guys were a bright star in the metal underground. Sadly, founder Pierre Carroz made a Facebook post a month or two ago and announced that Herod was breaking up. He cited the desire to start a family and other non-music pursuits as the reason for the breakup. I’m sad to see a band that I had just recently discovered hang up their spurs, but it is nice that they went out on a very high note with Iconoclast. This is very much in the same vein as post metal stalwarts Cult of Luna and label mates, The Ocean.

4 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

13. Herod-Iconoclast
14. Insomnium-Anno 1696
15. Spirit Adrift-Ghost At The Gallows
16. Church of Misery-Born Under a Mad Sign
17. Primordial-How It Ends
18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

2023 Best of Metal: #14 Insomnium-Anno 1696

Release date: 2/24/2023

Origin: Joensuu, Finland

Personnel: Niilo Sevanen-vox/bass, Ville Friman-guitar, Markus Vanhala-guitar, Jani Liimatainen-guitar, Markus Hirvonen-drums

Insomnium is one of my favorite modern metal bands. They have come to encapsulate everything that Scandinavian melodic death metal is about. Epic tales, grandiose songwriting, darkened imagery. They really have everything you could possibly want in a metal band. Their latest is another sprawling concept album about witches and witch hunters. I’ll just leave it to you to figure out who the bad guys in the tale are.

4 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

14. Insomnium-Anno 1696
15. Spirit Adrift-Ghost of the Gallows
16. Church of Misery-Born Under a Mad Sign
17. Primordial-How It Ends
18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

2023 Best of Metal: #15 Spirit Adrift-Ghost At The Gallows

Release date: 8/18/2023

Origin: Bastrop, TX

Personnel: Nate Garrett-vox/guitar/bass, Tom Draper-guitar, Mike Arellano-drums

Nice little band from my neck of the woods. Spirit Adrift is probably the closest to a traditional heavy metal band to enter the list so far. This is primarily a Nate Garrett driven project and he makes damn sure that the guitar riffs are king. Songs tend to toggle between straight ahead rockers and more subdued melancholy tales of woe. Nate’s turning out to be a fairly reliable source of metal since he has devoted all of his attention to the Spirit Adrift band.

4 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

15. Spirit Adrift-Ghost At The Gallows
16. Church of Misery-Born Under a Mad Sign
17. Primordial-How It Ends
18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding The Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

2023 Best of Metal: #16 Church of Misery-Born Under a Mad Sign

Release date: 6/16/2023

Origin: Tokyo, Japan

Personnel: Kazuhiro Asaeda-vox, Yukito Okazaki-guitar, Tatsu Mikami-bass, Toshiaki Umemura-drums

Serial killer obsessives, Church of Misery, come back with another solid slab of doom/stoner inflected metal. This one explores the chilling exploits of notable mass murderers such as John Allen Muhammad (The Beltway Killer), Fritz Haarmann (The Butcher of Hanover, pictured on the album cover), Randy Kraft (The Freeway Killer), H. H. Holmes (The Devil in White City/America’s first serial killer), Robert Hansen (The Butcher Baker) and our very own Texan lunatic, David Koresh. The sound on here is pounding and fuzzy. You can definitely tell that the bassist Tatsu Mikami is the main songwriting architect of these pummeling tracks.

4 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

16. Church of Misery-Born Under a Mad Sign
17. Primordial-How It Ends
18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

2023 Best of Metal: #17 Primordial-How It Ends

Release date: 9/29/2023

Origin: Dublin, Ireland

Personnel: A.A. Nemtheanga-vox, Ciaran MacUilium-guitars, Pol MacAmlaigh-bass, Simon O’Laoghaire-drums

Not a lot of metal coming out of Ireland. I love the fact that these guys have managed to blend a definite Celtic feel to the blackened doom metal they produce. You can just feel that this music is channeling the vibes of the ancient tribes that inhabited the island. This album will pair nicely with yesterday’s pick in that it is the perfect soundtrack for a dreary winter’s day. Songs of woe are the order of the day.

4 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

17. Primordial-How It Ends
18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

2023 Best of Metal: #18 Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore

Release date: 1/20/2023

Origin: Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany

Personnel: Horaz-vox/guitar/keyboards, Vespasian-drums/guitars/bass/keyboards

You’re going to want to pour yourself a drink and settle into an easy chair with this one. Preferably, you should listen to it on a drizzly or overcast day with a nice chill in the air. Probably get a fire going in the fireplace. Because this is an atmospheric black metal album that is both parts bleak and beautiful at the same time. These guys have made a prior year end list and, in my opinion, are crafting some of the best black metal going these days. Maybe its because they are from right next to the Black Forest in Germany, but the atmosphere on this one is just thick and dark. Great guitar sound and an intense layering of sounds on this one.

4 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

2023 Best of Metal: #19 Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain

Release date: 6/9/2023

Origin: Atlanta, GA

Personnel: Mlny Parsonz-vox/bass, Josh Weaver-guitar, Evan DiPrima-drums

I really feared that Royal Thunder was going to be one of those casualties of the covid era. The last we heard any new music out of these guys was back in 2017 when everything was still relatively normal in the world. But, as luck would have, they are still plugging away and we are all the beneficiaries of a brand spanking new album. This one feels a bit more of a introspective album for the band. It’s a little more subdued in its coloring. Mlny Parsonz still manages to solidify her place as one of the top vocalists going today. She is just a powerhouse of soul. Really thankful this one got to see the light of day and that it was such a solid release for the band.

4 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

2023 Best of Metal: #20 Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

Release date: 1/20/2023

Origin: Stockholm, Sweden

Personnel: Jonas Renske-vox, Anders Nystrom-guitar, Roger Ojersson-guitar, Niklas Sandin-bass, Daniel Moilanen-drums

Katatonia seems to have fallen into their signature melancholy metal sound and they don’t stray too far from this formula. Periodic crunchy guitars, underlying programming loops and, most importantly, Jonas’ signature croon, it’s a Katatonia album. Even though their aren’t any surprises on here, this is just a professional slab of metal from a band that has forged a unique sound and place in the metal world. Not their strongest release, but still solid enough to clock in at #20 for 2023.

3.5 flip flops out of 5