Albums of the Year 2023

It’s always the case that this procedure tends to seem easier than what it eventually is. All the preparations throughout the year, all the careful archiving of listens and albums from the first day, does not reduce the perfectionist’s angst for a conclusive round-up of the 12 months that just passed by. Or smashed through. I have to admit that keeping up with this, at this speed and at all the different directions it takes, becomes harder and harder the same way it’s more and more of an effort to stay up all night when you get older. I’m probably slowly turning into the aged grumpy man, sticking to a few favorite classics, and shaming all the youngsters and their non-knowledge.

When it comes to 2023, a total of 1115 releases were listened to and rated, mainly full length albums. There’s a lot more death than black metal here, since the year was fantastic for the former but a bummer for the latter. I was a bit underwhelmed with multiple black metal releases I should have liked, for example: Taake, Marduk, Lamp of Murmuur, Asagraum, Tulus, Uada, Dawn Ray'd, Grá, anything by Trhä, and Nocturnal Departure. A few more names were fine but not enough to make the cut, such as Immortal, Shining, Thulcandra, Mork, Conjureth, Austere, None, Afsky and Downfall of Gaia. Numerous veteran bands hit hard this year though, which was great.

On the other hand, new albums by Malokarpatan, Wayfarer, the three Hoplites releases, Horrendous, Xoth, the two Ulthar records, Cattle Decapitation, Ahab, Enslaved, Vomitory and Runemagick, are some I enjoyed a lot, but still didn’t amount high enough for the list (you should see them in others though). It seems Carnifex was also enjoyable, the re-recording of Morbid Visions was better than expected, Primordial was a yawnfest and apparently Xysma released a new album after 25 years, but we almost cared about it. On top of all this easy listening indie music, I got body slammed by the new Torsofuck and Sulfuric Cautery, but go in there only if you enjoy scratching your ears until they bleed. Meanwhile:

Top 15 EPs 

Top 15 compilations

Top 15 splits

Top 15 Greek albums

Below are my personal top 20 albums of 2023. It is a subset of a 50 album list, which you can see in full HERE. 

From 21 to 50, it is a more flexible, interchangeable pool of picks that have been getting regular spins throughout the year. On the other hand and from no. 10 and upwards, air gets thinner, each spot is cemented and golden. So, this is it. Through fire and water, sleep deprivation and hypertension, here is 2023’s curated survival kit for the apocalypse. It’s time, motherfuckers.

---

Arson Cafe’s 

top 20 albums of 2023

---

20. Dryad: The Abyssal Plain

United States, Prosthetic Records

Raptures of the deep

While it has strong black metal leanings, Dryad’s debut full length album The Abyssal Plain still relies a lot on its earlier, crust punk / hardcore-ish self, but now in a more well worked fashion. The fantastic, banshee-like high pitched screaming is a highlight, as are the guitar lines and overall flow of the record, along its roughened but clear production. Memorable riffs, some pale synth usage here and there, mostly fast paced and generally very entertaining, with an amazing cover and more appetite for significant impact than previous releases. The self-titled track, “Eutrophication”, the opener “Bottomfeeder” and “Trenches” are my favorites, along with the awesome piano interlude “Chimera Monstrosa”. 

---

19. Vitriolic Sage - 梦路

China, Pest Productions

In the corner of dreams

First interaction with Vitriolic Sage from Zhejiang Province as I completely missed the project’s first two albums in 2021 and 2022, but this year I thankfully got around to appreciate this great artist. Bombastic melodies and clear production is what drives this record, apart from several quite unique interludes and a generally particular approach, so don’t expect the regular melo-black idiom with a bunch of acoustics in between for atmosphere. The lyrics are in multiple languages and not just Chinese, and they’re pretty much awesome to read, as you’ll feel you’re at a poetry night, which goes great with this delicate cover art. Since I enjoy way more albums that are a lot darker and hard hitting than this, the fact that the band won me over with this speaks for itself regarding its quality.

---

18. Nithing: Agonal Hymns

United States, New Standard Elite

This nectar brewed in sanctity

Even if Nithing’s Agonal Hymns is not at no. 1 on this list, it may as well actually be the heaviest album I heard this year. With a crunchy sound, impressive grooves and slam abuse, sparse bizarre sample sounds here and there, it’s not only unique in its way, but also delirious kinda constantly. Both the guitars and the drums are put to the test for these compositions, vocals sound low as hell and it never stops banging. Lyrics are thankfully quite above average and there is a certain clarity between the tracks even if they are actually made of a few elements, and a lot of gruesome creativity. One of the best brutal death metal albums of 2023, and one I didn’t expect to hit me like that.

---

17. Auriferous Flame: Ardor for Black Mastery

Greece, True Cult Records

Still with a passion that burns and destroys

The announcement of Spectral Lore’s IV, which will come out “sometime next year”, and the release of a new song off of it, is news as big as the next GTA game for fans of atmospheric black metal. No one can doubt the work ethics of Ayloss by now, who has kept himself busy with several high quality projects apart from Spectral Lore, and Auriferous Flame is one of them. Ardor for Black Mastery is his most meticulous work under this moniker so far, a homage to traditional black metal through the very characteristic playing style he has, several long and varied compositions and a fair amount of fantasy / dark ambient, but above all, his riffs rule his land. The opener “Wielders of Secrets” will convince you of that.

---

16. Rotten Sound: Apocalypse

Finland, Season of Mist

Insanity of creativity

They’ve always been crazy, but I think with Apocalypse they managed to even surpass themselves. The record is short in duration objectively, but in this style each second runs through more punishingly than normal. Socially conscious lyricism as always, Rotten Sound once again are in a very tense mood, unquiet spirits that aim for the heart and the ears directly, with a record that sounds quite like its title. For me, there were a couple of tracks that were instantly loved, “Sharing” and “Digital Bliss”, because they have the best tempo shifts in the whole of Rotten Sound’s discography. Apart from these, expect the regular walk in the park, under warm sunshine, picking flowers and berries - kind of experience when you decide to put your head through this.

---

15. Blut Aus Nord: Disharmonium - Nahab

France, Debemur Morti Productions

Forgotten aeon

I am the least reliable Blut Aus Nord fan. I didn’t like Hallucinogen, and even more so I didn’t like Deus Salutis Meæ. I consider Memoria Vetusta III one of their best when it’s not, and I also didn’t like the first part of the Disharmonium (upcoming) trilogy. And then, I seem to have completely loved its second part, Nahab, where Vindsval achieved, at least to my ears, the absolute aural tribute to an unhinged mastermind like Lovecraft. Everything clicked for me here, from the massive album cover to all the compositions that are perfectly placed, deranged in a familiar manner but it doesn’t seem to me like the music is bloviating at all anymore, which was a major issue I had with them. But still, better ask someone who knows!

---

14. Fossilization: Leprous Daylight

Brazil, Everlasting Spew Records

In timeless disdain

Super heavyweight, chunky death metal in the vein of traditional Incantation but not only, finally in full form from these Brazilian maniacs. The band has been on my radar since their first EP two years ago, and this debut is all that I hoped for. Nice slower sections here and there, excellent sound and fantastic vocals, it’s as dim as it should be and doesn’t rely on flashy melodies to win the listener. Apart from a few, really distinct amazing riffs, Leprous Daylight might require more than a quick listen to really grasp what’s going on, in a seemingly angry and direct record, but with a lot underneath the surface. There’s some serious potential in Fossilization and at the moment, it looks like they have also built a bit of momentum, let’s see.

---

13. Kommodus: Wreath of Bleeding Snowfall

Australia, GoatowaRex

Devoured by indomitable feral will

I think this is my favorite album cover for 2023. It may also be my favorite first 10 seconds of an album’s introduction. Kommodus resonate the comfort and free directionality of early black metal, as he plays in an unrestrained manner the same way the very first bands of the genre did, back when no rules had yet been set. The sound of the record is perfect, the tracks are beautiful and the lyrics are remarkable when it comes to conveying the ongoing story. Quite epic, heavy at times, melancholic from start to finish, with nice melodies and a great piano use for a moment, awesome vocals but above all, i like its approach and its essence. This band’s discography is a must if you like substantial black metal.

---

12. Profane Order: One Nightmare unto Another

United States, Nuclear Winter Now! Productions

A sombre passage

Why can’t more albums be like this? In recent years, many have tried to pick up the “war metal” approach to create music as chaotic as possible, but things are not always as easy as they seem. That’s why a lot of these new bands sound random, saturated, identical to each other, and basically, just mid. Profane Order is the shining example of the opposite case, smashing black / death metal with some war metal influences into 25 minutes of pure, relentless madness. The record is clean, loud, aggressive and full of energy, as the tracks don’t hold back and contain a lot of cutting as well as memorable riffs. Vocals have also been added to the mix nicely, and it’s not thankfully the same monotonous bear grunts. Kudos.

---

11. Kraanium: Scriptures of Vicennial Defilement

Norway, Unique Leader Records

Braindead skullfucking

I lost touch with this band for a while in the 10’s, but they never fully won me over with their previous, arguably disgusting releases. Scriptures of Vicennial Defilement has a touch of the same disgust but now presented in more delicacy than before, it will make you scratch your head with some of the disturbing song titles as well as samples used in their introductions. Once we get past that, Kraanium achieves the vilest slam death metal of the year, which is ultra heavy, downtuned to the core of the earth, and extremely brutal. You can almost dance along these thick grooves that the band throws at your face in crushing pressure, and they don’t rely on a destroyed production for their effectiveness. Strictly for fans only.

---

10. Arnaut Pavle: Transilvanian Glare

Finland, Mystískaos

Judgment from below

Arnaut Pavle is not an experimentalist band. If you play Transilvanian Glare and their debut from 2019 back to back, they sound pretty similar, except for the slightly dustier production of the self-titled release compared to this one. Nevertheless, their blend of raw black metal and old school punk, in black and white dressing and a clearly medieval / vampiric tendency, is addictive as it is wonderful. Apart from the more melodic / epic ending, this album is pretty straightforward and honors the genre’s second wave well, not in an overheard, bleached out manner that you may come across way too often today. Above all, Transilvanian Glare is fairly solid along its almost 30 minutes of duration, and knows clearly where it stands. 

---

9. Cannibal Corpse: Chaos Horrific

United States, Metal Blade Records

Contaminate all that lives

It’s been 35 years and 16 albums. If that’s not the most release-consistent and long lasting band that plays death metal as purely as possible, I don’t know who is. With the addition of Erik Rutan in the ranks, Cannibal Corpse lives a second puberty. I somehow missed Violence Unimagined in 2021 and Chaos Horrific is not better than that, but it has great and powerful tracks, which are heavy and catchy enough to deserve a spot in your playlists. In the current decade, I think the band is somehow more focused than in the 10’s, but it’s still the beginning. Corpsegrinder sounds as good as ever, and that is exactly the onslaught we should get when we give our bucks for this band. Viciously delightful.

---

8. Gridlink: Coronet Juniper

United States, Willowtip Records

The restless closeness of two broken hearts

When you’re able to pack so much intensity and so much music in just under 20 minutes, life seems like a miracle. That is the miracle of hyper-energetic, virtuosic, contemporary grindcore, composed and executed by experts under one of the genre’s favorite names that we didn’t know we had missed. Gridlink’s new album is blissful to the ears, its heart rate is at 160 BPM constantly and it never lays back for a second. By far the most enjoyable release of this genre for me for the year, especially the variety in the guitars that is simply masterful, refreshing and leaves you star-struck. After Strange, Beautiful and Fast in 2019, this is a great reminder why Takafumi Matsubara is one of the best guitarists around.

---

7. Ascended Dead: Evenfall of the Apocalypse

United States, 20 Buck Spin

Perturbing forfeiture

Ain’t that fierce. A maelstrom of hammering riffs in harsh sound and visuals, aggressive and relentless throwing non-stop slaps in the face but at the same time, providing recognisable tracks with some of the best guitar lines I heard in straightforward death metal this year. Ascended Dead’s debut was also something, but it was not as easy to decipher as this, which balances between unfriendly production and kick-ass compositions. It is a hell of a ride, the band has made it clear that you will not confuse them with somebody else, and they have dared to slightly go towards Portal territories, but not to an extent of ending up with a bashing headache. “Ungodly Death” and “Inverted Ascension” are on top for me.

---

6. Sulphur Aeon: Seven Crowns and Seven Seals

Germany, Ván Records

Called upon through saturnian spheres

Sulphur Aeon has evolved a lot. It could be argued that in their current sound, death metal is not even at the forefront anymore. Nevertheless, the band has achieved their own personal sound and their growth throughout the years has been pretty clear. I was slightly alienated by this turn in 2018 but I think it’s finally been put together smoothly, in an all-in-all epic manner and with a great flow. The tracks here are dominating, it is easy to listen to in a way and with a lot of content to enjoy that fits perfectly their concepts and their general status at the moment. More and more melody is introduced, nice musician features and it’s even more ambitious than before. It doesn't beat my favorite Sulphur Aeon record, but it’s amazing.

---

5. Odz Manouk: Bosoragazan

United States, Blood Coloured Beast

A demon that consumes the stars

It seems that it is the year of come-backs. I didn’t have a clue that this project is still active, and he didn’t simply return after the long-forgotten but great self-titled debut in 2010, he also did so with not one but two albums, in perfect production and full throttle towards extremity. Listening to both, I thought Bosoragazan is more straightforward and more furious, while Tzurr more of a grower, but they’re both amazing pieces and it’s a pity if Odz Manouk doesn’t get the attention it deserves, lastly. There’s tons of scourging, memorable riffing here, awesome vocal variety and quite haunting compositions not just from the heavy guitars, but also the synth manipulation especially in the latter part of the record.

---

4. Tomb Mold: The Enduring Spirit

United States, 20 Buck Spin

Everlasting dream intravenous

Thanks to this new Tomb Mold album, the whole metal scene had something to jabber about. While not getting crazy over this band, I can tell The Enduring Spirit feels awesome to listen to, has references to numerous amazing death metal gems from the past, contains prog at an amount that isn’t bothering, and doesn’t lose sight of the goal when it comes to the minimum heaviness necessary to be considered death metal. These are clearly, really talented musicians, possibly with not a background in extreme metal, which will make the record listenable and maybe enjoyable for people outside the scene too. Tomb Mold delivers a fantastic work, with excellent tracks, beautiful cover art and no missteps.

---

3. Thy Darkened Shade: Liber Lvcifer II - Mahapralaya

Greece, World Terror Committee

For thee is no justice beyond Chaos

For a while, I thought this album would never see the light of day. Thy Darkened Shade’s debut in 2012 was an underappreciated masterpiece, and their follow-up album in 2014 was strongly praised around here back then. With some sparse releases in between, the band finally gets their “luggage” together and channels their inspiration into honing the next epos, a gargantuan black metal album that represents the pure essence of the genre, raises the bar for everyone else and whoever drowns, drowns. The riff mayhem is mind blowing, each track is insanely loaded, probably more than the average fan can digest, but it’s simply awesome, all of it. In the literal meaning of the word.

---

2. Cruciamentum: Obsidian Refractions

International, Profound Lore Records

Lungs overwhelmed and immersed

It feels like 2015 again, when both Sulphur Aeon and Cruciamentum released killer albums that were featured really high in my end year list. This band’s studio return is my favorite of 2023, and this includes topping the previous entry of Thy Darkened Shade, which is a huge accomplishment on its own. Charnel Passages is in my top 5 death metal albums of the previous decades, and also one of my favorites of the genre generally, yet with Obsidian Refractions, new boundaries are pushed while the same body of work remains. It is a multi-faceted and monstrous record with heavy tunes and oppressive atmosphere, carefully put together with new ideas from the band that stress on its uniqueness. It can be argued why this objectively is some of the best death metal music ever written, but not today.

---

1. Panopticon: The Rime of Memory

United States, Bindrune Recordings

What exists in the soul speaks when alone

I have had my fair time in atmospheric black metal, but I was never into Panopticon the way everyone else was, until only a couple of years ago. I also consider the project’s first albums simply decent, but the period from 2012 to 2015 has, for me, their masterpieces. After that, I liked but not loved the full lengths released until 2021, and The Rime of Memory, Austin’s new release, is by far the most consistent, and darkest work by him, sitting at the top of his discography right next to Autumn Eternal. There is an Echtra feature here that made me wonder when Fauna will also release a new album, but until then, this might be the fullest atmospheric black metal album I have heard in a long time, maybe in general even. Panopticon has been widely under-represented in this little blog, and the year’s turn of events comes down as divine justice.

---

Compared to the lists of previous years, Sulphur Aeon had the no. 1 spot in 2015, Cruciamentum was at #4 on the same year, Thy Darkened Shade was at #6 in 2014 (a list where Blut Aus Nord landed in #55), Ascended Dead climbed in the top 10 from spot 24 in the 2017 list, Kommodus earned demo of the year in 2019 and was at #47 in 2020. Once again, it has been music mostly from the United States and Europe, with only a handful of exceptions. This might change. 

I think I have been slightly closer to the mean flow of choices when looking at similar articles from bigger or independent outlets, so it makes me curious for next year. During the last two months of 2023, I have re-established my appetite for music that is more constantly combative and pushes direct pressure on the chest. In the end, experimentation is for the complex minds out there, but in Arson Cafe, we will eventually look for the beauty in the fundamentals. 

See you on the other side