Today we are entering the final month of 2023, and that begins the final countdown to the end of the year. In the world of metal, this month we’ll also start seeing more and more lists of the year’s best releases.
Back in 2009, when this site was just a few days old, I wrote a post about year-end lists and why people bother with them. The best reason still seems to be this: Reading someone else’s list of the albums they thought were best is a good way to discover music you missed and might like.
We don’t do an “official” NCS year-end list of best albums. However, we publish the picks of each of our regular staff writers as well as a group of invited guests, in addition to lists that we re-post from a few print zines and “big platform” online sites.
Every year we also invite our readers to share their lists and we’re doing that again right here, right now.
If you’ve been pondering what you’ve heard this year and have made your own list of the albums, EPs, or splits released in 2023 that you think are the best of what you’ve heard, we invite you to share it with everyone in the Comments section to this post. And if you haven’t made a list yet but want to, there’s still plenty of time (read below).
******
We don’t have any hard-and-fast rules about year-end lists. Your list doesn’t have to be a specific number — it doesn’t have to be a “Top 10” or “Top 20” list, it could be a Top 2 list or a Top 15, or any other number.
And it doesn’t have to be a cross-genre list, i.e., the best of all metal you’ve heard this year. It could be the best death metal, or the best black metal, or the best grind, or the best crust or doom or prog or thrash metal, and on and on — pretty much whatever you want to do and feel comfortable doing, as long as it fits your definition of metal.
Don’t be shy, and don’t worry about being judged — if you haven’t figured it out already, it ain’t our style nor is it usually the style of our commenters to ridicule what someone else thinks is great metal.
And if you don’t have a list ready yet, no sweat, because you can come back to this post whenever you like and add your list later — or comment on the lists others have posted. I’ll put a link to this post at the top right side of every page so people can find it quickly — look for the link to 2023 NCS READERS’ YEAR-END LISTS. That will make the comments to this post a collection point for “Best of” readers’ lists. And that link will stay on our page from now through this time in 2024.
Last year we had 82 comments on this invitation, and I think that says something about how interested people are in seeing each other’s lists and reacting to them. So start thinking and start commenting — please, and thank you.
– islander
P.S. We use a spam filter that applies to Comments. For reasons I don’t comprehend, it sometimes seems to randomly hold comments for approval and won’t let them appear until I approve them. I’ve already noticed that some of the reader lists have been held up. If yours doesn’t immediately appear, don’t worry. I do check the “moderation” list several times a day and will free them from bondage.
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1: Wayfarer – American Gothic
2: Miserere Luminis – Ordalie
3: Blackbraid – Blackbraid II
4: Ragana – Desolation’s Flower
5: Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun
6: Cursebinder – Drifting
7: Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean – Obsession Destruction
8: Wallowing – Earth Reaper
9: Oromet – Oromet
10: Exulanis – Overtures of an Uprising
11: Svalbard – The Weight Of The Mask
12: Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul
13: Anti-God Hand – Blight Year
14: Panopticon – The Rime of Memory
15: Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us
Way too basic for this website but here you go:
1. Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
2. Wayfarer – American Gothic
3. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
4. The Anchoret – It All Began with Loneliness
5. Enslaved – Heimdal
6. Obituary – Dying of Everything (this album is so much better than most people seem to think it is)
7. Insomnium – Anno 1696
8. Disguised Malignance – Entering the Gateways
9. Panopticon – The Rime of Memory
10. Blood Ceremony – The Old Ways Remain
11. Oak Pantheon – The Absence
12. Vertebra Atlantis – A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime
13. Úlfúð – Of Existential Distortion
14. Incantation – Unholy Deification
15. Gel – Only Constant
16. Dawn Ray’d – To Know the Light
17. Cirith Ungol – Dark Parade
18. Wild Beyond
19. Blackbraid II
20. Green Lung – This Heathen Land: A Journey into Occult Albion
21. Mizmor – Prosaic
22. Kruelty – Untopia
23. Zulu – A New Tomorrow
24. Myrkur – Spine
25. Tsjuder – Helvegr
Honorable mentions: Gridlink, Inherus, Filth Is Eternal, 1476, Volkor X, Autopsy, Tanith, Putrascension, Street Tombs, Aridus, Hellish Form, Celestial Sanctuary
No such thing as too basic, people forget I inhabit this website from time to time.
Here is the only stuff I liked enough to buy so far this year (no particular order)…as always, I’m sure many more will be added once I see Andy’s Good and Great lists.
Health – Rat Wars
Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
Voidhaven – Lithic
Warcrab – The Howling Silence
Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall
Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant For Us
Aetherian – At Storm’s Edge
Wayfarer – American Gothic
Miserere Luminis – Ordalie
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean – Obsession Destruction
Carnation – cursed mortality
Predatory Void – Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being
Phantom Winter – Her Cold Materials
Orbit Culture – Descent
Wallowing – Earth Reaper
Oromet – Oromet
Anti-God Hand – Blight Year
Cursebinder – Drifting
Terra Builder – Solar Temple
Mnajdra – Mnajdra
Crust – Dissolution
Rorcal – Silence
Sermon – Of Golden Verse
Enforced – War Remains
Now that I’ve gone through Andy’s lists and others, here is what I came up with…
1. Wothrosch – Odium
2. Lethvm – Winterreise
3. Turbid North – The Decline
4. Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze – The Fractal Ouroboros
5. Herod – Iconoclast
6. Earthside – Let the Truth Speak
7. Aetherian – At Storm’s Edge
8. Terra Builder – Solar Temple
9. Tides of Sulfur – Apathy Chasm
10. Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant For Us
11. Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall
12. Sulpher Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
13. Warcrab – The Howling Silence
14. Klone – Meanwhile
15. Din of Celestial Birds – The Night is for Dreamers
Ciemra – The Tread of Darkness
Crow Black Sky – Sidereal Light – Volume Two
Deitus – Irreversible
Hallig / Friisk Split
Mental Cruelty – Zwielicht
Nexorum – Tongue of Thorns
Ondfødt – Det österbottniska mörkret
One of Nine – Eternal Sorcery
Urfaust – Untergang
Wothrosch – Odium
Alright, guess I’ll start the whole thing? So without further ado, here is my Top Ten list of 2023:
1. Wayfarer
2. Afterbirth
3. Sulphur Aeon
4. Enforced
5. Dying Fetus
6. Disguised Malignance
7. Somnuri
8. Kostnatění
9. Jesus Piece
10. Dødheimsgard
Honorable mentions (or just another 10 albums I really liked – in alphabetical order):
Deitus
Discreation
Hail The Void
Host
Insomnium
Katatonia
Mānbryne
Shores Of Null
Soen
Vomitory
And here’s one list I call the “Fun Ten”. Albums that don’t overstay their welcome (read: they clock in at 40 minutes or less) and are just a blast to play through:
Asinhell
Bloodgutter
Broken Vow
Drain
Judiciary
Karras
Pain Of Truth
Serpent Corpse
Sulfuric Cautery
Viscera
10. Thorn – Evergloom
9. Voidescent – Dust and Embers
8. Fossilization – Leprous Daylight
7. Terra Builder – Solar Temple
6. Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun
5. Warfuck – Diptyque
4. Convocation – No Dawn for the Caliginous Night
3. Antrisch – Expedition II: Die Passage
2. Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift
1. Ascended Dead – Evenfall of the Apocalypse
5. Katatonia – Sky Void of Stars
4. Ulfud – Of Existential Distortion
3. Predatory Void – Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being
2. Deadspace – Unveiling the Palest Truth
1. Nixil – From the Wound Spilled Forth Fire
Starer – Wind, Breeze or Breath
Immortal – War Against All
Mnajdra – Mnajdra
Sarcoptes – Prayers to Oblivion
Glyph – The Time of Peril
Mistral – In the Throes of Losing Love
Orphans of Dusk – Spleen
Ghostwriter – An Endless Fire
Telesterion – Epopteia
Thumos – Symposium
1) Werewolves-My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me
2) Xoth-Exogalactic
3) Omnivortex-Circulate
4) Man Must Die-The Pain Behind it All
5) Dissentient-Labyrinth
6) Astralborne-Across the Aeons
7) Suffering Quota-Collide
8) Scar Symmetry-The Singularity Phase II: Xenotaph
9) Cruciamentum-Obsidian Refractions
10) Organ Dealer-The Weight of Being
I’ve hardly bought any new albums this year.. not sure why!? but my top 5 are;
Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium: Nahab
Devangelic -Xul
Perdition Winds – Burning Spiritual Crypts
Akercocke – Decades of Devil Worship (not sure if an old live recording getting a release counts but it’s SOOOO good!)
Concilium -Sky Bvrial
Sorry, my well ran dry in 2023!
1. Swansong – Awakening released today
2. Night Crowned – Tales
3. Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
4. Cryptopsy – As Gomorrah Burns
5….And Oceans – As in Gardens, So in Tombs
Some great lists so far and more bands to check out. Here’s my faves-
1 Rotten Sound
2 Voyager
3 TesseracT
4 Host
5 VNV Nation
6 Cannibal Corpse
7 Obituary
8 Cattle Decapitation
9 Venomous Concept
10 Godflesh
11 Filter
12 Therapy?
13 Man Must Die
That live Akercocke is indeed righteous! Good choice.
In no particular order :
Xoth – Exogalactic
Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul
Sepulchral Curse – Abhorrent Dimensions
Outer Heaven – Infinite Psychic Depths
Shodan – None Shall Prevail
Ironmaster – Weapons of Spiritual Carnage
Dryad – The Abyssal Plain
Maze of Sothoth – Extirpated Light
Caratucay – Nocturnes of the Incarcerated
Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
Sonic Poison – Eruption
Walking Corpse – Our Hands Your Throat
Entropia – Total
A very good metal year, but I’m getting old and I’d rather hear some Bach or Monteverdi these evenings.
Enslaved – Heimdal
Dødheimsgard – Black Medium Current
Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
HIRS Collective – We’re Still Here
Outer Heaven – Infinite Psychic Depths
Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
I feel like there was a lot more but I’m totally drawing a blank
Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall
Desecresy – Deserted Realms
Sark – Inumbris
Gateway – Galgendood
Helleruin – Devils, Death, and Dark Arts
One Master – The Names of Power
Shining – Shining
Mork – Dyapet
KK’s Priest – The Sinner Rides Again
Kataonia – Sky Void of Stars
Starer – Wind, Breeze, or Breath
Solt/Obsidian Shrine – In Consortium Diaboli
A Constant Knowledge of Death – Dissecting a One-Winged Bird
Cryptopsy- As Gomorrah Burns
Eminentia Tenebris – Rise of a New Kingdom
Finsterforst – Jenseits
Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination
Hellish Form – Deathless
Grave Pilgrim – The Bigotry of Purpose
Marthe – Further in Evil
Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
Twilight Force – At the Heart of Wintervale
Weald & Woe – For the Good of the Realm
Wayfarer – American Gothic
Wyrgher – Panspermic Warlords
Trest – Sorginak
Loth – 616
Homo Deus – First Conquest of Sastamala
Rana – Richtfeuer
Zeit – Ohnmacht
Arnaut Pavle – Transylvanian Glare
Vondannen – Vondannen
Suol – Suol
Zwiespalt – Persistenz
Final Eclipse – The Dark World
Occult Blood – The Room in the Ground
^ This dude knows what’s up
…starting to check out these unrecognized gems…
Cool list. Trest is awesome. Had I known about them earlier they would have made my year end list too. Arnaut Pavle and Rana also good. Arnaut Pavle have a strong punk vibe in the black which usually turns me off, but whatever that’s a rockin vampire record.
2023 Most Favorites (Alphabetical Order)
Blood Incantation – Luminescent Bridge
Brutus – Love Won’t Hide the Loneliness
Chain of Flowers – Never Ending Space
Filth is Eternal – Find Out
Incendiary – Change the Way You Think About Pain
Lamp of Murmuur – Saturnian Bloodstorm
Nothing & Full of Hell – When No Birds Sang
Miserie Luminis – Ordalie
Sadness – _____ (Orange Rabbit Cover Album)
Slowdive -Everything is Alive
Temple of Angels – Endless Pursuit
Tenhi – Valkama
Trha – §ºanΩë aglivajsamë cá nëlh¶iha i eddana pi¶e
Various Artists – Dungeon Rap: The Evolution
Favorite Releases of 2023 in no particular order.
Thrice – Artist in the Ambulance revisited
Temple of Void – First 10 Years
Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
Blood Incantation – Luminescent Bridge
Dream Unending / Worm – Starpath
Joshua Ray Walker – What is it even? / Opened for the killers EP
Shooter Jennings and the Werewolves of Los Angeles.
AHAB: The Coral Tombs
THY DARKENED SHADE: Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya
HELLRIPPER: Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
INSOMNIUM: Anno 1696
ENSLAVED: Heimdal
ULFUD: Of Existential Distortion
APHOTIC: Abyssgazer
SPIRIT POSESSION: Of The Sign…
SOL AN VARMA: Sol An Varma
VALGRIND: Millennium of night Bliss
BELL WITCH: Future’s Shadow Part I: The Clandestine Gate
ASCENDED DEAD: Evenfall of the Apocalypse
CATTLE DECAPITATION: Terrasite
VOMITORY: All heads are gonna Roll
IMMORTAL: War Against All
GAROTED: Bewitchment of the dark Ages
GODFLESH: Purge
BURIAL HORDES: Ruins
TSJUDER: Helvegr
THANTIFAXATH: Hive Mind Narcosis
HORRENDOUS: Ontological Mysterium
THE CIRCLE: Of Awakening
MARDUK: Memento Mori
CANNIBAL CORPSE: Chaos Horrific
TOMB MOLD: The Enduring Spirit
SULPHUR AEON: Seven crowns and seven Seals
MANBRYNE: Interregnum: O pròbie wiary i jarzmie zwatpienia
CRUCIAMENTUM:Obsidian Refractions
VARATHRON: The Crimnson Temple
NEKUS: Sepulchral Divination
ASET: Astral Rape
AT THE ALTAR OF THE HORNED GOD: Heart of Silence
ANARKHON: Obiasot Dwybat Otnotun
LAMP OF MURMUR: Saturnian Bloodstorm
VISION DEPRIVED: Self Elevating, Deep inside the Void
AARA: Triade III: Nyx
OSSAERT: Offerdier
BACCHUS: II
ALTARI: Kroflueldar
IMPETUOUS RITUAL: Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis
HATE MANIFESTO: Αποστατης
GRAFVITNIR: Into the outer Wilderness
INFERNAL CURSE: Revelations Beyond Insanity
DISIMPERIUM: Grand insurgence upon despotic Altars
AGELESS SUMMONING: Corrupting the entempled Plane
SERPENT OF OLD: Ensemble under the dark Sun
DEITUS: Irreversible
INCANTATION: Unholy Deification
DYING FESTUS: Make them beg for Death
CRYPTOPSY: As Gomorrah Burns
FOSSILIZATION: Leprous Daylight
BLUT AUS NORD: Disharmonium: Nahab
FABRICANT: Drudge to the Thicket
ALKALOID: Numen
BEKOR QILISH: the flesh of a new God
ALTARAGE: Worst Case Scenario
AUTOPSY: Ashes, Organs, Blood & Crypts
PHANTOM WINTER: Her Cold Materials
AEGRUS: Invoking the abysmal Night
MEPHORASH: Krystl-Ah
CONVOCATION: No dawn for the caliginous Night
Yes! I agree to most of this.
So many great albums this year. In no ranking order:
-Imperium Dekadenz – Into Sorrow Evermore
-Bizarrekult – Den Tapte Krigen
-…And Oceans – As in Gardens, So in Tombs
-Vvilderness – Path
-Hellripper – Warlocks Grim and Withered Hags
-Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed
-Vredensdal – Sonic Devotion to Darkness
-Ulfud – Of Existential Distortion
-Outlaw – Raching Beyond Assiah
-Inherits the Void – The Impending Fall of Star
-Solt/Obsidian Shrine split – In Consortium Diaboli
-Onfodt – Det Osterbottniska Morkret
-Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
-Tsjuder – Helvegr
-Aodon – Portraits
-The Mosaic Window – Plight of Acceptance
-Urbain – A Soul Purged
-Aara – Triade III: Nyx
-Blackbraid – II
-Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul
Every year since 2018 when I began my journey into extreme metal I find the years always hold so much to discover. This year I dwelled in the depths of Death Doom and Funeral Doom and loved it, something years previously I never thought I’d say.
Anyways, here’s my long list:
1. Leper Colony – Leper Colony
2. Ahab – The Coral Tomb
3. Ashen – Ritual of Ash
4. Grá – Lycaon
5. Inherits the Void – The Impending Fall of the Stars
6. Obituary – Dying of Everything
7. Negative Vortex – Tomb Absolute
8. Nothingness – Supraliminal
9. Tribunal – The Weight of Remembrance
10. Oak Pantheon – The Absence
11. Conjureth – The Parasitic Chambers
12. The Privateer – Kingdom of Exiles
13. Malice Divine – Everlasting Ascendancy
14. Soulmass – Let Us Pray
15. Oak – Disintegrate
16. In Flames – Foregone
17. Frozen Dawn – The Decline of the Enlightened Gods
18. Ulthar – Anthronomicon
19. Ulthar – Helionomican
20. Hellripper – Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
21. Ontborg – Following the Steps of Damnation
22. Enisum – Forgotten Mountains
23. Parasitario – Everything Belongs to Death
24. Vosbúð – Heklugjá
25. Sarcoptes – Prayers to Oblivion
26. Bodyfarm – Ultimate Abominations
27. Wretched Fate – Carnal Heresy
28. Megaton Sword – Might & Power
29. Enslaved – Heimdall
30. Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed
31. Autrest – Follow the Cold Path
32. Tryglav – The Ritual
33. Minenwerfer – Feuerwalze
34. Astriferous – Pulsations From the Black Orb
35. Ignominy – Imminent Collapse
36. Afsky – Om hundrede år
37. Úlfúð – Of Existential Distortion
38. Outlaw – Reaching Beyond Assiah
39. Sepulcrum – Lamentation of Immolated Souls
40. Contrarian – Sage of Shekhinah
41. Mork – Dypet
42. Lamp of Murmuur – Saturnian Bloodstorm
43. Cursebinder – Drifting
44. Insomnium – Anno 1696
45. Ruadh – 1296
46. Omnicidal – The Omnicidalist
47. Nekus – Sepulchral Divination
48. VoidCeremony – Threads of Unknowing
49. Smoulder – Violent Creed of Vengeance
50. Mesmur – Chthonic
51. Decipher – Arcane Paths to Resurrection
52. Valgrind – Millennium of Night Bliss
53. Blood Star – First Sighting
54. Dawn of Ouroboros – Velvet Incandescence
55. Bell Witch – Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate
56. Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us
57. Runemagick – Beyond the Cenotaph of Mankind
58. Viadat – Spear of Creation
59. Enforced – War Remains
60. Countless Skies – Resonance
61. Mesarthim – Arrival
62. Non Est Deus – Legacy
63. Perilaxe Occlusion – Vapor Chamber
64. Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination
65. Thulcandra – Hail the Abyss
66. Vomitheist – NekroFvneral
67. Mournful Congregation – The Exuviae Of Gods Part II
68. Inherus – Beholden
69. Phlebotomized – Clouds of Confusion
70. Necrofier – Burning Shadows in the Southern Night
71. Immortal – War Against All
72. Imperishable – Come, Sweet Death
73. Voidhaven – Lithic
74. Creeping Death – Boundless Domain
75. Saturnus – The Storm Within
76. Passéisme – Alternance
77. Sworn – A Journey Told Through Fire
78. Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall
79. Onheil – In Black Ashes
80. Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun
81. Serpent Corpse – Blood Sabbath
82. Blackbraid – Blackbraid II
83. Fen – Monuments to Absence
84. Aetherian – At Storm’s Edge
85. Outer Heaven – Infinite Physic Depths
86. Ageless Summoning – Corrupting the Entempled Plane
87. Deitus – Irreversible
88. Astralborne – Across the Aeons
89. Legacy of Brutality – Travellers to Nowhere
90. Machinations of Fate – Celestial Prophecies
91. Crypta – Shades of Sorrow
92. Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
93. Godthrymm – Distortions
94. Skálmöld – Ýdalir
95. Celestial Sanctuary – Insatiable Thirst For Torment
96. Asphodelus – Sculpting From Time
97. Graveripper – Season Dreaming Death
98. Spellsword – Night of the Grail
99. Uada – Crepuscle Natura
100. Sodomisery – Mazzaroth
101. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
102. Fabricant – Drudge to the Thicket
103. Acausal Intrusion – Panpsychism
104. Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
105. Ὁπλίτης – Τρωθησομένη
106. Ὁπλίτης – Ψευδομένη
107. Ὁπλίτης – Ἀντιτιμωρουμένη
108. Runespell – Shores of Nostrand
109. Incantation – Unholy Deification
110. Static Abyss – Aborted From Reality
111. Sepulchral Curse – Abhorrent Dimensions
112. Fortið – Narkissos
113. Vastum – Carnal Law
114. Mephorash – Krystl-Ah
115. Cirith Ungol – Dark Parade
116. Shylmagoghnar – Convergence
117. Crystal Coffin – The Curse of Mortality
118. Carnation – Cursed Mortality
119. Xoth – Exogalactic
120. Dyssebeia – Garden of Stillborn Idols
121. Warcrab – The Howling Silence
122. Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
123. Convocation – No Dawn for Caliginous Nights
124. Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions
125. Panopticon – The Rime of Memory
126. Phobocosm – Foreword
To my ears, it’s been a great year for Metal, especially for Melodic Death and Black Metal. Here’s my whittled down list :
30. Inherits the Void – The Impending Fall of the Stars
29. Tribunal – The Weight of Remembrance
28. Passeisme – Alternance
27. Bloodstar – First Sighting
26. Cursebinder – Drifting
25. Saturnus – The Storm Within
24. Cypta – Shades of Sorrow
23. Imperishable – Come, Sweet Death
22. Dawn of Ouroboros – Velvet Incandescence
21. The Privateer – Kingdom of Exiles
20. Phobocosm – Foreordained
19. Xoth – Exogalactic
18. Acausal Intrusion – Panpsychism
17. Negative Vortex – Tomb Absolute
16. Conjureth – The Parasitic Chambers
15. Frozen Dawn – The Decline of the Enlightened Gods
14. Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed
13. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
12. Outer Heaven – Infinite Physic Depths
11. Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions
10. Nothingness – Supraliminal
9. Serpent of Old – Ensemble Under the Dark Sun
8. Oak – Disintegrate
7. Uada – Crepuscle Natura
6. Blackbraid – Blackbraid II
5. Panopticon – The Rime of Memory
4. Warcrab – The Howling Silence
3. Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall
2. Insomnium – Anno 1696
1. Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us
So many albums I still wasn’t able to get around too. But this is the best I could come up with!
Happy Holidays everyone, and keep on headbanging!
So mine is riddled with Death, Math & Grind and is ordered by how the come to my mind
Blindfolded And Led To The Woods
Entheos
Nightmarer
Pupil Slicer
Carnosus
Full Of Hell & Nothing
Fawn Limbs & Nadja
fromjoy
End
Sleepsculptor
Sulphur Aeon
Omnivortex
Vertebra Atlantis
Wormhole
Afterbirth
Baring Teeth
Tomb Mold
See You Next Tuesday
Suffocation
1. Afterbirth – In But Not Of
2. Gridlink – Coronet Jupiter
3. Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
4. Odz Manouk – Բոսորագազան
5. Vertebra Atlantis – A Dialogue With The Eeriest Sublime
6. Faerie Ring – Weary Traveler
7. Baroness – Stone
8. Celestial Sanctuary – Insatiable Thirst For Torment
9. Vastum – Inward To Gethsemane
10. Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions
11. Nithing – Agonal Hymns
12. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
13. Ulthar – Anthronomicon/Helionomicon
14. Fabricant – Drudge To The Thicket
15. World Peace – It Is Written
16. Wormhole – Almost Human
17. Marthe – Further In Evil
18. The Zenith Passage – Datalysium
19. Suffocation – Hymns To The Apocrypha
20. Vestígio – Vestígios
21. Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns And Seven Seals
22. Gravesend – Gowanus Death Stomp
23. Kruelty – Untopia
24. Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations
25. Full of Hell/Primitive Man – Suffocating Hallucination
26. Blood Incantation – Luminescent Bridge
27. Dead Heat – Endless Torment
28. Dream Unending/Worm – Starpath
29. Chained To The Bottom Of The Ocean – Obsession Destruction
30. VoidCeremony – Threads Of Unknowing
In no particular order:
Insomnium – Anno 1696
Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed
Hellripper – Warlock Grims & Withered Hag
Carnosus – Visions of Infinihility
Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
Sodomisery – Mazzaroth
Vertebra Atlantis – A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime
Xoth – Exogalactic
Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold
Angra – Cycles of Pain
Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul
Blood Incantation – Luminescent Bridge
There’s a lot of stuff that I haven’t gotten around to listening to yet. I’ve been listening mainly to my physical collection of older music this year. These are the new things that got my attention enough for several listens.
Overkill – Scorched
Body Void – Atrocity Machine
Wayfarer – American Gothic
Metal Church – Congregation of Annihilation
Leathürbitch – Shattered Vanity
Dave Lombardo -Rites of Percussion
Cavalera Conspiracy – Morbid Visions
Cavalera Conspiracy – Bestial Devastation
Racetraitor – Creation and the Timeless Order of Things
No particular order but all of these were heavy rotation for me this year.
Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium – Nahab
Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration
Morkera – Aggravations
Insomnium – Anno 1696
Rorcal – Silence
Blackbraid II
Sulpher Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
Ulthar – Anthronomicon
Ulthar – Helionomicon
Wayfarer – American Gothic
Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations
Demon King – Vesania
Top 30 in no order
Mansion- Second Death
Katatonia- Sky Void of Stars
Enslaved- Heimdal
Host- IX
Blaze of Sorrow- Vultus Fati
Ne Obliviscaris-Exul
Anareta- Fear Not
Tribunal-The Weight of Remembrance
Shores of Null-The Loss of Beauty
Blood Ceremony-The Old Ways Remain
Cattle Decapitation-Terrasite
Le Prochain Hiver-Talvi
Thantifaxath-Hive Mind Narcosis
Thy Catafalque-Alföld
Blackbraid-Blackbraid II
Arkona-Kob’
Godthrymm-Distortions
Sanguine Glacialis-Maladaptive Daydreaming
Taake-Et hav av avstand
Malokarpatan-Vertumnus Caesar
Shining-Shining
Hexvessel- Polar Veil
Todomal-A Greater Good
Tardigrade Inferno- Burn the Circus
Dødheimsgard-Black Medium Current
REZN- Solace
The Magus-Vissodomontas
The Keening-Little Bird
Shylmagoghnar-Convergence
Exulansis-Overtures of Uprising
My list:
1. Dodhiemsgard – Black Medium Current
2. Porta Nigra – Weltende
3. Altari – kröflueldar
4. Ringworm – Seeing Through Fire
5. Fabricant – Drudge to the Thicket
6. Decapitated Christ – Glorious Tyrannizing of Human Rats
7. Miserere Luminis – Ordalie
8. Hexer – Abbysal
9. Grave Pleasures_ – Plagueboys
10. Dead Heat – Endless Torment
That Porta Nigra is really damn good. Love the rhythm of the vocals.
More or less in order:
1 Coffin Apartment – Tomb Building Exercise
2 Ch’ahom – Knots of Abhorrence
3 Tentacult – Lacerating Pattern
4 Lucifixion – Trisect Joy of Pierced Hearts
5 Perilaxe Occlusion – Vapor Chamber
6 Februus – Surveillance Orgy
7 Soulkeeper – Holy Design
8 Guts – Decay
9 Graphic Nature – A Mind Waiting to Die
10 Rană -Richtfeuer
11 Undergang – De syv stadier af fordærv
12 Mouth -Getaway
13 Crimson Butchery – Repulsive Exhibition
14 Neurectomy -Overwrought
15 Seeping Protoplasm -Exhale Extinction
16 Walking Corpse – Our Hands, Your Throat
17 Afterbirth -In but Not Of
18 Loather – Eis
19 MarrowBone – Spheres
20 Dominance – Slaughter of Human Offerings in the New Age of Pan
21 Dry And Shattered – Systemic Turpitudes
22 Vastum – Inward to Gethsemane
23 Mansion – Second Death
24 Høstsol – Länge leve döden
25 Concatenation – Existence Full of Promises
26 Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
27 Burner -It All Returns to Nothing
28 Tideless -Eye of Water
29 Tomb Mold -The Enduring Spirit
30 Bekor Qilish -The Flesh of a New God
31 Calligram -Position | Momentum
32 Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
33 Paroxysm Unit – Fragmentation // Stratagem
34 Cannibal Corpse – Chaos Horrific
35 Nithing – Agonal Hymns
36 ASET – Astral Rape
37 Fabricant – Drudge to the Thicket
38 Discordant Meditation – Interface
39 Kruelty – Untopia
40 Decoherence – Order
41 Astral Tomb- Total Spiritual Death
42 Black Wound – Warping Structure
43 Pest Control – Don’t Test the Pest
44 EABS Meets Jaubi – In Search of a Better Tomorrow
45 Mammal Hands – Gift From the Trees
Really felt like I was playing catch up for a lot of this year, but what I heard I really dug so I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.
Records From 2023
Aesop Rock – ITS
Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns
Blood Incantation – Luminescent Bridge
Outer Heaven – Infinite Psychic Depths
Janelle Monae – Age of Pleasure
Yaeji – With a Hammer
Teitan – In Oculus Abyss
Ashbringer – Hivemind
Ulthar – Anthronomicon
Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
Danny Brown & JPEG Mafia – Scaring the Hoes
Obsidious – Iconic
Hexer – Abyssal
Nothingness – Supraliminal
Aglo – Build Fear
Green Lung – This Heathen Land
Enslaved – Heimdal
Portrayal of Guilt – Devil Music
Rannoch – Conflagrations
The records I actually listened to:
Flourishing – The Sum of All Fossils
Aeviterne – The Ailing Facade
Abest – Molten Husk
Meshuggah – Obzen
Shabti – Trembling and Shorn
Haunter – Discarnate Ails
Hooded Menace – The Tritonus Bell
I’ll provide the most non-metal list since a lot of metal didn’t stick with me this year. In no order.
1) spotlights – alchemy for the dead
2) grave pleasures – plagueboys
3) night verses – every sound has a color…pt1
4) voyager – fearless in love
5) host – ix
6) Somnuri – desiderium
7) Codeseven – go let it in
8) blodet- death mother
9) Katatonia – sky void of stars
10) Osi and the Jupiter – cedar and sage
My favorite album of 2023 is Ne Obliviscaris – Exul. A close runner-up would be Crystal Coffin – The Curse Of Immortality.
Other albums that I enjoyed, in alphabetical order :
Afsky – Om Hundrede År
Coffinborn – Cadaveric Retribution
Convocation – No Dawn for the Caliginous Night
Crow Black Sky – Sidereal Light vol.2
Despite the Reverence – Stress Of Evolution
Exulansis – Overtures of Uprising
One of Nine – Eternal Sorcery
Primordial – How It Ends
Sanguisugabogg – Homicidal Ecstasy
The Gorge – Mechanical Fiction
Wayfarer – American Gothic
– TOP 5 :
Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
Katatonia – Sky Void of Stars
Mutoid Man – Mutant
Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
Wayfarer – American Gothic
– Other great albums :
Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
Nuclear Power Trio – Wet Ass Plutonium
Witching – Incendium
Krallice – Porous Resonance Abyss
Carnosus – Visions of Infinihility
Sleep Terror – Railroad to Dystopia
Kostnateni – Upal
Dodheimsgard – Black Medium Current
Grave Pleasures – Plagueboys
Gorod – The Orb
And I know I missed so many things…
Was surprised to find so much doom in my year-end list. Here goes:
Vanishing Kids-Miracle of Death
Godthyrmm-Echoes
Nott-Hireath
Rezn-Solace
Mizmor-Prosaic
Cattle Decapitation-Terrasite
Bell Witch-Future’s Shadow Part 1
Harms Way-Common Suffering
Health-Rat Wars
Panopticon-The Rime of Memory
Dying Fetus-Make Them Beg For Death
Haxanu-Totenpass
Terra Builder-Solar Temple
Temple of Angels-Endless Pursuit
EPs:
Strigoi-Bathed In A Black Sun
Graveview-Ruthless Obliteration of Sanity
Elysian Tyrant-Axenocality
Lysergic-Void Dissociation Demo
1. Tomb Mold-The Enduring Spirit
2. The Zenith Passage-Datalysium
3. The Ritual Aura-Heresiarch
4. Suffocation-Hymns from the Apocrypha
5. Stortregn-Finitud
6. Alkaloid-Numen
7. Sentenced 2 Die-Parasitic Infection
8. Bekor Qilish-The Flesh of a New God
9. Gorod-The Orb
10. Nospun-Opus
11. Voidceremony Threads of Unknowing
12. Seven Doors-Feast of the Repulsive Dead
13. Crown Lands-Fearless
14. Re-Buried-Repulsive Nature
15. Fleshvessel-Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed
Top ten:
Afterbirth – In But Not Of
Blackbraid – Blackbraid Ii
Cicada The Burrower -Blight Witch Regalia
Kostnatění – Úpal
Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed
The Fals- Beyond The Grave Of The Moon
The Ocean – Holocene
1) ULTHAR – ANTHRONOMICON
Wayfarer – American Gothic
Xoth – Exogalactic
Albums in constant rotation:
Downcross/Vobiscum Inferni – Pact Of No Mercy (Split)
Dreamundending/Worm – Starpath (Split)
Erusopxecinomeddetaeperhguorhtserisednamuhllafonoitacidarecitametsys – Bloodlust Towards All
Esoctrilihum – Ąsŧråål Ƈoɲsŧelląŧioɲs Of Ŧhe ṂajïϹkąl ȤođiąϹ
Henget – Beyond North Star
Keys To The Astral Gates And Mystic Doors -S/T
Nuclear Power Trio – Wet Ass Plutonium
Sarmat – Determined To Strike
Tetragrammacide – Typho-Tantric Aphorisms from the Arachneophidian Qur’an
Thy Catafalque – Alföld
Ulthar – Helionomicon
Vertabra Atlantis – A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime
Vrajitor’s Tenebrarium – E.N.L.D.
Ὁπλίτης -τρωθησομένη
Honourable mentions:
Aara – Triade Iii: Nyx
Acausal Intrusion – Panpsychism
A Flourishing Scourge – Sickened Seed
Aodon – Portraits
Astral Body — Malice Scrying
Behold The Arctopus, “Interstellar Overtrove”
Claret Ash – Worldtorn: Anemoia
Deitus – Irreversible
Dvvad – Mrklb
Endseeker – Global Worming
Gam (Denmark) — Alt Hans Væsen
Glyph – The Time Of Peril ( Especially The Back End)
Gridlink “Coronet Juniper”
Horrendous – “Ontological Mysterium”
Kasturn (Uk) — Rehearsal Promo 23 — 2023 Demo
Kryss – Reflections Of Nature
Kvelgeyst – Blut, Milch Und Thränen
Labyrinthus Stellarum – Tales Of The Void
Lamp Of Murmuur – Saturnian Bloodstorm
Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations
Nemesis – Nemesis
Nocturnal Departure – Clandestine Theurgy
Odz Manouk – Ծուռ
Odz Manouk – Բոսորագազան
Sadus – The Shadow Inside
Sea Mosquito – Igitur
See You Next Tuesday “Distractions”
Slugchild – Wounds Untold
Stortregn – Finitude
Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns And Seven Seals
The Anchoret – It All Began With Loneliness
Thlipsis (Θλίψις) – Dawn Of Defiance
Totenmesse – Fiktionlust
Victory Over The Sun – Dance You Monster To My Soft Song!
Voidceremony – Threads Of Unknowing
Vomitory – All Heads Are Gonna Roll
Vulture Industries – Ghosts From The Past
Wilczyca – Magija
Wormhole – Almost Human
Zvylpwkua – The Outlying Entities
Zørza – IEI
Ὁπλίτης – ψευδομένη, Ἀντιτιμωρουμένη
Dissection Fix: Thulcandra – Hail The Abyss
Immortal Fix: Deimhal – The Grand Gathering
Cattle Decapitation Fix: Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
Blut Aus Nord Fix: Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium: Nahab
Noise from Kanonenfieber Fix: Leiþa – Reue, Non Est Deus – Legacy
Cavalera Fix: Go Ahead And Die – Unhealthy Mechanisms
Speed Fix:
Thriller – Street Metal
Rascal – Lost Beyond Reason (Track 2 Is Tornado Of Souls On Crack)
Air Raid – Fatal Encounter
Best cover art:
DVVAD – MRKLB
Zvylpwkua – The Outlying Entities
Nemesis – Nemesis
Victory over the sun – Dance You Monster To My Soft Song!
Keys to the Astral Gates and Mystic Doors
Labyrinthus Stellarum – Tales of the Void
Ulthar – Anthronomicon, Helionomicon
Sea Mosquito – Igitur
Ὁπλίτης (Hoplites)-Ἀντιτιμωρουμένη
Vrajitor’s Tenebrarium – E.N.L.D.
Tetragrammacide – Typho-Tantric Aphorisms from the Arachneophidian Qur’an
Yellow Eyes – Master’s Murmur
Air Raid – Fatal Encounter
Bands I love but haven’t had time to listen to yet this year:
Enslaved
Acausal intrusion
Gorguts / Disincarnate split
The Lion’s daughter
Bekor Qilish
Vredensdal
Afsky
Blut aus nord
Alkaloid
>Nocturnal Departure – Clandestine Theurgy
You’re a year late on that one…came out in 2022
Ah shit, it should be in the list of stuff I never got to…from last year. Thanks for pointing it out.
First time here… a lot of stuff check out.
My list of 2023
Joint top spot for me…
1. The Anchoret – It All Began With Loneliness
1. Nospūn – Opus
2. AVKRVST – The Approbation
3. Stömb – Massive Disturbed Meta Art
4. Soen – Memorial
5. Hemina – Romancing the Ether
6. Thy Catafalque – Alföld
1. Cattle Decapitation
2. Incantation
3. Majesties
4. Sanguisugabogg,
5. Dying Fetus
6. Ulthar (both albums)
7. Kruelty
8.The Anchoret
9. Outer Heaven
10. Bekor Qilish
11. Suffocation
12. Demonstealer
11. Tomb Mold
13. Autopsy
14. Gridlink
15. Horrendous
16. Lamp of Murmuur
17. Malokarpatan
Demonstealer–good one.
Honorable mentions for albums from:
OLKOTH, INCANTATION, SUFFOCATION, CRYPTOPSY, MORRATH, PANDRADOR, BURIAL HORDES, SERPENT OF OLD, TRIBE OF PAZUZU, KRUELTY, VASTUM, VOMITORY
10. BLUT AUS NORD – Disharmonium Nahab
9. TOMB MOLD – The Enduring Spirit
8. ULTHAR – Helionomicon
7. ALTARAGE – Worst Case Scenario
6. CONJURETH – The Parasitic Chambers
5. BLASPHEMOUS FIRE – Beneath the Fire
4. GAROTED – Bewitchment of the Dark Ages
3. MARDUK – Memento Mori
2. ASCENDED DEAD – Evenfall of the Apocalypse
1. ULTHAR – Anthronomicon
1. Creeping Death – Boundless Domain
2. Seven Doors – Feast of the Repulsive Dead
3. Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination
4. Carnation – Cursed Mortality
5. Ahab – The Coral Tombs
6. Wayfarer – American Gothic
7. Hellripper – Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
8. Enforced – War Remains
9. Raider – Trial by Chaos
10. Mizmor- Prosaic
11. Fvnerals – Let the Earth be Silent
12. Oromet-Oromet
13. Dying Fetus – Make Them Beg for Death
14. Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
15. Cannibal Corpse – Chaos Horrific
16. Warcrab – The Howling Silence
17. Church of Misery – Born under a Mad Sign
18. The Circle – Of Awakening
19. Overkill -Scorched
20. Asinhell – Impii Hors
Good year, tough list to compile. Minute-to-minute these might vary, but here’s what I have right now:
1. Hellish Form – Deathless
2. Ὁπλίτης – Τρωθησομένη
3. A Constant Knowledge of Death – Dissecting a One-Winged Bird
4. Mesarthrim – Arrival
5. Cicada the Burrower – Blight Witch Regalia
6. Ragana – Desolations’ Flower
7. Aridus – Serpent Moon
8. Poison Ruïn – Härvest
9. Body Void – Atrocity Machine
10. Yellow Eyes – Master’s Murmur
11. Liturgy – 93696
12. Crypta – Shades of Sorrow
13. Bull of Apis, Bull of Bronze – The Fractal Ouroboros*
14. Mutoid Man – Mutants
15. Clot – Grief Tethers
16. Oromet – Oromet
17. Wayfarer – American Gothic
18. Rorcal – Silence
19. Oozing Wound – We Cater to Cowards
20. Wormhole – Almost Human
* Based on the two tracks out so far. Will probably be higher, considering how much I loved their first.
Honorable mention songs:
– Non est Deus – Thousand Years of Sand
– Julie Christmas – Not Enough
– Nightmarer – Taufbefehl
– Genital Shame – Gay Bar Bleach
– Miserere Luminis – De venin et d’os
– Nervosa – Sacrifice
– Catafalque – Oppression
– Mephorash – Krystl-Ah
– Melissa – Natalie
– Curta’n Wall – Siege Ubsessed!
– Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean – Summer Comes to Multiply
– Black Aubergine – Support your local terrorism against the state
– Zorn – The Altar
It’s been a great year. Not all of these are metal but they are at least metal adjacent:
1. Godflesh – Purge
2. Swans – The Beggar
3. Khanate – To Be Cruel
4. Dodheimsgard – Black Medium Current
5. Great Falls – Objects Without Pain
6. Yellow Eyes – Master’s Murmur
7. Furia – Huta Luna
8. Kostneteni – Upal
9. Gridlink – Coronet Jupiter
10. 夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker) – Skopofoboexoskelett
11. Dead Times – Dark Parade
12. Lustmord – The Others
13. Sore Dream & Hisham Akira Bharoocha
14. Altarage – Worst Case Scenario
15. Oxbow – Love’s Holiday
16. Mizmor – Prosaic
17. Impetuous Ritual – Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis
18. Taake – Et Hav av Avstand
19. Odz Manouk – Bosoragazan
20. Divide and Dissolve – Systemic
21. Enslaved – Heimdal
22. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
23. Theophonos – Nightmare Visions
24. Ruim – Black Royal Spiritism
25. Fawn Limbs & Nadja – Vestigial Spectra
26. Petrale – Salvation Precipitates
These got my attention this year:
Valravn – The Awakening
Entropia – Total
Majesties – Vast Reaches…
Krieg – Ruiner
Spirit Possession – … Of The Sign
Loather – Eis
Arnaut Pavle – Transylvanian…
Health – Rat War’s
Thantifaxath – Hive Mind…
Oreida – The Eternal
Liturgy – 93696
Ossaert – Offerdier
Wayfarer – American Gothic
Sepulchral Curse – Abhorrent Dimensions
Spirit Adrift – Ghost at The Gallows
Dozer – Drifting In The Endless Void
Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed
The Zenith Passage – Datalysium
Fabricant – Drudge to the Thicket
Owdwyr – Receptor
The Anchoret – It All Began With Loneliness
Carnosus – Visions of Infinihility
1. Hexvessel – Polar Veil
2. Wayfarer – American Gothic
3. Baroness – Stone
4. Herod – Iconoclast
5. Spirit Possession – Of The Sign…
6. Oromet – Oromet
7. Morkera – Aggravations
8. Burial Clouds – Last Days of A Dying World
9. Krallice – Porous Resonous Abyss
10. Lo! – The Gleaners
EPs
Vvilderness – Path
Serration – Simulations of Hell
Suneater – Dormant
Top 25 for what I think has been a pretty decent year:
1. Enslaved – Heimdal
2. The Abbey – Word Of Sin
3. Fvnerals – Let The Earth Be Silent
4. Morne – Engraved With Pain
5. Perilaxe Occlusion – Vapor Chamber
6. Arkona – Kob
7. Aara – Triade Iii: Nyx
8. Big/Brave – Nature Morte
9. Holy Moses – Invisble Queen
10. Hawkwind – The Future Never Waits
11. Blackwulf – Thieves And Liars
12. Insomnium – Anno 1696
13. Hellish Form – Deathless
14. Ulthar – Anthronomicon
15. Fen – Moments In Absence
16. Blood Ceremony – The Old Ways Remain
17. Baroness – Stone
18. Therapy? – Hard Cold Fire
19. Witchthroat Serpent – Trove Of Oddities At The Devil’s Driveway
20. Riverside – Id.Entity
21. Fossilization – Leprous Daylight
22. Finsterforst – Jensits
23. Skalmold – Ydalir
24. Mournful Congregation – The Exuviae Of Gods, Pt. 2
25. Thron – Dust
Oh–Thron. I think I forgot to put that one on my list. Great album.
But Enslaved’s Heimdal was a disappointment for me this year, as was their previous album.
BTW, I was on the UK version of The Chase this year and managed to get a mention of Funeral Doom in there 🙂 Sadly they shopped the bit where I talked about what it was and the fact that Mournful Congregation are my favourite band.
These got my attention this year:
Valravn – The Awakening
Entropia – Total
Majesties – Vast Reaches…
Krieg – Ruiner
Spirit Possession – … Of The Sign
Loather – Eis
Arnaut Pavle – Transylvanian…
Health – Rat War’s
Thantifaxath – Hive Mind…
Oreida – The Eternal
Liturgy – 93696
Ossaert – Offerdier
Dodheimsgard “Black Medium Current”
Majesties “Vast Reaches Unclaimed”
Fires In The Distance “Air Not Meant For Us”
Katatonia “Sky Void of Stars”
Insomnium “Anno 1696”
KEN Mode “VOID”
Bees Made Honey In The Vein Tree “Aion”
Enforced “War Remains”
Kvelertak “Endling”
Perilaxe Occlusion “Vapor Chamber”
Sunrise Patriot Motion “Black Fellflower Stream”
Tomb Mold “The Enduring Spirit”
Godflesh “Purge”
In no particular order:
Act of Impalement – Infernal Ordinance
Profane Order – One Nightmare Unto Another
Minenwerfer – Feuerwalze
Ulthar – Anthronomicon/Helionomicon
Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination
Antrisch – Expedition II: Die Passage
Bastard Grave – Vortex of Disgust
Black Eucharist – Inn of the Vaticide
Swans – The Beggar
Lucifixion – Trisect Joys of Pierced Hearts
Marduk – Memento Mori
Manii – Innerst I mørket
Sühnophfer – Nous sommes d’Hier
Hexvessel – Polar Veil
Phantom Winter – Her Cold Materials
Voidescent – Dust and Embers
Thronehammer – Kingslayer
Maul – Desecration and Enchantment
Haunter – Incantations through Dark Magick
Morne – Engraved with Pain
Yellow Eyes – Master’s Murmur
Gyrdleah – Spellbinder
Wayfarer – American Gothic
Profanatica – Crux Simplex
Wolvennest – The Dark Path to the Light
Der Tod und die Landsknechte – Wir Furchten Weder Tod Noch Teufel
Godthrymm – Distortions
Blackbraid – Blackbraid II
Tsjuder – Helvegr
Here is my top 10 AotY. 2023 wasn´t a marvelous year, but there are some gems.
1. Kold – Intet Mere Er
2. Antrisch – EXPEDITION II : Die Passage
3. Wounds of Recollection – Warm Glow of the End of Everything
4. Aodon – Portraits
5. To Be Gentle – Unyielding Joy
6. Horda – Form
7. Afsky – Om hundrede år
8. Mizmor – Prosaic
9. Three Eyes of the Void – The Atheist
10. Hell Gate – Vagues d’Amertume
What I´m thrilled about for 2024:
– Asarhaddon
My very un-kvlt list for 2023. I felt it was especially difficult to produce a list this year compared to previous years. There was lots of good metal, like every year, but not much that jumped out as superlative or ground-breaking. In this respect, it was very different from previous years, when numerous albums fell in that category and were easy picks for year end list status. However, a lot of “big” name bands, which were already favorites of mine, happened to put out excellent albums in this otherwise dry year, and my list is filled with them.
Stortregn – Finitude
Ulthar – Anthronomicon
Amalekim – Avodah Zarah
Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
Orphalis – As the Ashes Settle
Insomnium – Anno 1696
Astriferous – Pulsations from the Black Orb
Foretoken – Triumphs
Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
Aetherian – At Storm’s Edge
Third Storm – The Locust Mantra
Dantalion – Fatum
Disguised Malignance – Entering the Gateways
Fossilization – Leprous Daylight
Morokh – Insomnia
Omnivortex – Circulate
Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
The Voynich Code – Insomnia
Tsjuder – Helvegr
Carnation – Cursed Mortality
Altari – Kroflueldar
Great year for grind/pv, in no particular order
Vomi Noir – L’Innommable Remugle
World Peace – It Is Written
Sulfuric Cautery – Suffocating Feats of Dehumamization
World I Hate – Years of Lead
Gridlink – Coronet Juniper
Sea of Shit – Sea of Shit
Organ Dealer – The Weight of Being
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Katatonia – Sky Void of Stars
Ardent Nova – Ardent Nova
Sarmat – Determined to Strike
Coffin Mulch – Spectral Intercession
Fabricant – Drudge to the Thicket
Bekor Qilish – The Flesh of a New God
Ch’ahom – Knots of Abhorrence
EPS
Aberrated – Twisted Forms
Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations
01. Currents – The Death We Seek
02. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
03. Body Void – Atrocity Machine
04. Sanguisugabogg – Homicidal Ecstasy
05. The Wise Man’s Fear – Atlas Ruinica
06. Signs of the Swarm – Against the Low & Empty
07. Memorrhage – Memorrhage
08. Blackbraid – II
09. Closet Witch – Chiaroscuro
10. Dying Wish – Symptoms of Survival
11. Frozen Soul – Glacial Damnation
12. Luna Pythonissam – Desde Aquí Hasta el Fin de los Tiempos
13. See You Next Tuesday – Distractions
14. Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
15. Euclid C Finder – The Mirror, My Weapon, I Love You
16. Osiah – Kairos
17. END – The Sin of Human Frailty
18. Chora – There Lies a Friend I Once Knew
19. Dying Fetus – Make Them Beg For Death
20. Dethklok – Dethalbum IV
1. Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
2. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
3. Xoth – Exogalactic
4. Stortregn – Finitude
5. Blindfolded And Led To The Woods – Rejecting Obliteration
6. Terranoct – Icon Of Ruin
7. Porta Nigra – Weltende
8. Decorpsetated – Human Words
9. Gorod – The Orb
10. Sanguine Glacialis – Maladaptive Daydreaming
11. Necropanther – Betrayal
12. Haxprocess – The Caverns of Duat
13. Crypta – Shades Of Sorrow
14. Afterbirth – If But Not Of
15. Sarcoptes – Prayers To Oblivion
16. Frozen Dawn – The Decline Of The Enlightend Gods
17. Palace Of Worms – Cabal
18. Carnosus – Visions Of Infinihility
19. Vexing – Grand Reproach
20. Cryptopsy – As Gomorrah Burns
21. Cannibal Corpse – Chaos Horriffic
22. 7 H. Target – Yantra Creating
23. Wothrosch – Odium
24. Insomnium – Anno 1696
25. Leprethere – Tarnished Passion
Too much to absorb in 2023, here my highlights:
1. Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
2. Wayfarer – American Gothic
3. Hypno5e – Sheol
4. Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
5. Fires in the Distance – Air not meant for us
6. Alkaloid – Numen
7. Sermon – Of Golden Verse
8. Thronehammer – Kingslayer
9. Tar Pond – Petrol
10. Deadly Carnage – Endless Blue
11. Stortregn – Finitude
12. Hirsch Effekt – Urian
13. Thron – Dust
14. Porta Nigra – Weltenende
15. Fortid – Narkissos
16. Phlebotomized – Clouds of Confusion
17. Rannoch – Conflagrations
18. Rorcal – Silence
19. Downfall of Gaia – Silhouettes of Disgust
20. Healthy Living – Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief
21. Wings Of Steel – Gates of Twighlight
22. Omnerod- The Amensal Rise
23. Enslaved – Heimdal
24. Bottomless The Banishing
25. Night Verses – Every Sound has a Color …
26. Dyssebeia – Garden of Stillborn Idols
27. Manbryne – Interregnum..
28. Mephorash – Krystal-Ah
29. Varathron – The Crimson Temple
30. Serpent of Old – Ensemble under the Dark Sun
31. The Anchoret – It All Began With Loneliness
32. Curesbinder – Drifting
33. Shores Of Null – The Loss of Beauty
I have a clear top 5 then some others that got very regular plays this year:
1- Horrendous- Ontological Mysterium
2- Cirith Ungol- Dark Parade
3- Moonlight Sorcery- Horned Lord of the Throned Castle
4- Hellripper- Warlocks Grim and Withered Hags
5- Enforced- War Remains
Other favorites in no order
Overkill- Scorched
Conjureth- The Parasitic Chambers
Century- The Conquest of Time
Tomb Mold- The Enduring Spirit
Dying Fetus- Make Them Beg For Death
Cattle Decapitation- Terrasite
Blood Star- First Sighting
Ulthar- Anthronomicon/Helionomicon
Disguised Malignance- Entering the Gateways
Caniibal Corpse- Chaos Horrific
Enslaved- Heimdal
Also had some EPs that I really enjoyed:
Maul- Desecration and Enchantment
Savage Oath- s/t
Malformed- Uncontrollable Malformity
Dipygus- Wet Market
Insomnium- Songs of the Dusk
Kanonenfeiber- U-Bootsmann
Exhumed- Beyond the Dead
Milorganaut- Jones Island
Añado mi lista con lo que más ha sonado en mis cascos este año. Saludos!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ga52DnBHlkdyJ2TP4mggm?si=v7gCK6WMQ9qnW_8qowLu4A&pi=e-dU8475HBTHuN
My list so far:
1. Aara – Triade III: Nyx
2. Sühnopfer – Nous sommes d’hier
3. Afsky – Om hundrede år
4. Vvildernes – Path
5. Bonjour Tristesse – Against Leviathan
6. Epheles – Promesses
7. Fellwinter – The Dawn of Winter
8. Nachzehrer – Night’s Embrace
9. ASET – Astral Rape
10. Spectral Damnation – Extra Æcclesiam
11. Argwaan – Lief Kind, Wrede Wereld
12. WitTR – Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge
13. Grieve – Wolves of the Northern Moon
14. Primordial Serpent – The Funereal Winter
15. Trhä – Lhum’ad’sejja
16. Vanagandr – Storms of Empire
17. Blaze of Sorrow – Vulture Fati
18. Antrisch – Expedition II: Die Passage
19. Imperium Dekadenz – Into Sorrow Evermore
20. Thy Darkened Shade – Liber Lucifer II: Mahapralaja
21. Asagraum – Veil of Death, Ruptured
22. Ofermod/Acherontas/Black Altar – Drakonian Elitism
23. Blut aus Nord – Disharmonium – Nahab
24. Grafvifnir – Into the Outer Darkness
25. Korgonthurus – Jumalhaaska
My full list: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/lichtmens/2023-black-metal-a-list-from-best-to-worst/
1. Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
2. A Pregnant Light – Capacity for Living
3. Lamp of Murmuur – Saturnian Bloodstorm
4. Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
5. Non Est Deus – Legacy
6. The Gauntlet – Dark Steel and Fire
7. Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us
8. Profane Order – One Nightmare Unto Another
9. Trhä – av◊ëlajnt◊ë£ hinnem nihre
10. Insomnium – Anno 1696
11. Gauntlet Ring – Beyond the Veil of the Night
12. Varathron – The Crimson Temple
13. Häxanu – Totenpass
14. Dying Fetus – Make Them Beg for Death
15. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
1. Hellwitch – Annihilational Intercention. Raging whirlwind of virtuosity and manic vocals.
2. Reverence To Paroxysm – Lux Morte. Crushing dark death/doom.
3. Wormhole – Almost Human. It seems contradictory: brutal slam, that’s intelligent and tasteful.
4. Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium. Eccentric, adventurous yet gripping songs with death metal as basis.
5. Malokarpatan – Vertumnus Caesar. A spectacle of creativity full of old metal feelings.
6. Passéisme – Alternance. Furious black metal riff avalanche.
7. Anthropophagous – Abuse Of A Corpse. Basically, all you need is riffs and songwriting.
8. Lohikäärme – Rangaistuksen Kevät. Crazy black metal, raw & emotional.
9. Tetragrammacide – Typho-Tantric Aphorisms … Staring into the abyss.
10. Century – The Conquest Of Time. Victorious heavy metal revives the glorious past.
11. Ulthar – Anthronomicon. Serpentine riffs twist in dizzying compositions.
12. Neurectomy – Overwrougt. Over the top shredding brutal DM. Discover your tolerance level.
13. Anal Stabwound – Reality Drips Into The Mouth Of Indifference. This kid got skills and riffs.
14. Afterbirth – In But Not Of. Combo of ‘prog’ death and brutal guttural vocals works.
15. Sonic Poison – Eruption. Pissed-off bastards revive 80’s crust/hardcore and Earache grind.
16. Aufnorden – Return To Jötunheimr. Epic, cheesy viking/black with strange power of attraction.
17. The Zenith Passage – Datalysium. Quit your old school caverns; the future is tight, staccato, mechanical.
18. Aeternus – Philosofer. Upper echelon veterans never disappoints.
19. Werewolves – My Enemies Look And Sound Like Me. Angelcorpse xerox spewing hate.
20. Torture Rack – Primeval Onslaught. Old school bangers make the head nod.
Well, after revisiting some albums and checking new recommendations and lists from this dark place… here we go: My humble Top 10 of the best of the best of 2023:
10 – Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us
9 – Kamelot – The Awakening
8 – Blackbraid – Blackbraid II
7- Obituary – Dying of Everything
6 – Hexer – Abyssal
5 – Finsterforst – Jenseits
4 – Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
3 – Ne Obliviscaris – Exul
2 – Mephorash – Krystl-Ah
1 – Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals.
Happy new fvcking 2024 to everyone!!!!!
Honorable mentions:
* Carnosus – Visions of Infinihility
* Saturnus – The Storm Within
* Hanging Garden – The Garden
This will probably get eaten by the comment system like last year but here goes…
Unranked Top 10 Albums:
Albionic Hermeticism – Nova Nativitas Mundi
Crow Black Sky – Sidereal Light: Volume Two
Dvorac – On the Wings of Unknown
Entropia – Total
Fardeaux – The Den Has Become An Abyss
Thantifaxath – Hive Mind Narcosis
Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul
Velaraas – Pantheon
Vertebra Atlantis – A Dialogue With The Eeriest Sublime
Ὁπλίτης – Ψευδομένη
Top 5 EPs:
Abyssal / Ellorsith – Sepulchorporeal / Amore (split)
Dione – Cosmosphere
Hebephrenique – Non Compos Mentis
misanthropae – MMXXIII
Vampire Squid – Plasmic
Stagger Thorax favs of 2023
Árstíðir Lífsins – Hermalausaz
Maruja – Knocknarea
L’Rain – I Killed Your Dog
Nithing – Agonal Hymns
ὁ Μέɣας – κήρυξ πῦρ
Yves Tumor – Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)
Cultum Interitum – Sacrum Funeral
Tetragrammacide – Typho-Tantric Aphorisms From The Arachneophidian Qur’an
Amun – Spectra And Obsession
LUCIFIXION – Trisect Joys of Pierced Hearts
Goat – Medicine
Bolt Gun – The Tower
Peopling – Appearance
Brobdingnagian – unwell_tiresome
Altarage – Worst Case Scenario
ÉRTÉKTELEN – Reménytelen
RüYYn – Album: Chapter II: The Flames, the Fallen, the Fury
Black Pumas – Chronicles of a Diamond
Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
Vile Ritual – Caverns of Occultic Hatred
Skin Tension – Celebrant
Skin Tension/Cryptic Rising – Split EP
Kostnateni – Úpal
Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium-Nahab
VOIDSPHERE – To Infect | To Inflict
Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift
Tongues – Formløse Stjerner
Dark Citadel – This Curse Is Our Punishment
Dark Citadel – The Orb Chamber
Dark Citadel – Shapeless Dreams and Formless Shadows
Anti-God Hand – Blight Year
Renret – Nothing Will Endure
Khanate -To Be Cruel
DISIMPERIUM – Grand Insurgence Upon Despotic Altars
Oxbow – Love’s Holiday
Jour J Mental – Faire la secte
CONCILIUM – Sky Burial
The Body – I Shall Die Here / Earth Triumphant
Scáth Na Déithe – Virulent Providence
Kuujeojabenojujanomiashikushija – Collected Works: MMXIV–MMXX
Reuerorum ib Malacht – Aieganzes Aigonzis : Angels of God
Ulthar – Anthronomicon
Ulthar – Helionomicon
Ὁπλίτης – Ψευδομένη
Ὁπλίτης – Τρωθησομένη
Ὁπλίτης – Ἀντιτιμωρουμένη
Sutekh Hexen, Funerary Call – P:R:I:S:M
DECOHERENCE – Order
Incendiary Visage – Salvage Gnosis
Algiers – Shook
Skyjelly – Spirit Guide مرشد حقيقة
VoidCeremony – Threads of Unknowibg
VIDE – The Parish
Afsky – Om hundrede år
Zeal and Ardor – Zeal and Ardor
Netherlands – Severance
Impetuous Ritual – Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis
The Drin – Today My Friend You Drunk The Venom
Cursed Excruciation – Arcane Diabolism
Health – Rat Wars
Lebrique – Head Trap
BAG X Collapsing Drums – Momentary Lapses
Ak’chamel, The Giver Of Illness – A Mournful Kingdom of Sand
Tropical Fuck Storm – Submersive Behaviour
Grá – Lycaon
Sól Án Varma – Sól Án Varma
Spectral Lore – 11 Days
Dwarfs of East Agouza – High Tide In The Lowlands
Dead Bob – Life Like
V:XII – Lu-Cipher-Sabbatean
AYYUR – Prevail
Spirit Possession – Of the Sign…
Lamp of Murmuur – Saturnian Bloodstorm
newmath – Bloom
Liturgy – 93696
Mezzanine Swimmers – Miserable Miracle
Full Of Hell, Primitive Man – Suffocating Hallucination
Big|Brave – nature morte
Sanguisugabogg – Homicidal Ecstasy
Cthonica – Of Sphere Dehydration and Spiritual Contradiction
WELLS VALLEY – Achamoth
Gossamer – The Culling of Crones
Kaatayra / Pessimista (split)
Melvins/Helms Alee – Controlling Data For A Better Feeling Future
B R I Q U E V I L L E – llll
Ôros Kaù – Thanatos
Honorable mentions:
Transgressive: Extreme Transgression
Neon Odin: Allfather
Wayfarer: American Gothic
VV: Neon Noir
Maceration: It Never Ends
REZN: Solace
Ulthar: Anthronomicon
Phrozen: Questioning Society’s Secrets
Dødsheimsgard: Black Medium Current
Oromet: Oromet
Sulphur Aeon: Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
Racetraitor: Creation and the Timeless Order of Things
And the albums, I enjoyed and escaped into the most:
Blindfolded and Led to the Woods: Rejecting Obliteration
Omnerod: The Amensal Rise
Krallice: Porous Resonance Abyss
Horrendous: Ontological Mysterium
Chora: There Lies a Friend I Once Knew
Hypno5e: Sheol
Trespasser: Ἀ Π Ο Κ Ά Λ Υ Ψ Ι Σ
Ikarie: Arde
Nightmarer: Deformity Adrift
Cattle Decapitation: Terrasite
Katatonia: Sky Void of Stars
The Lion’s Daughter: Bath House
Mohini Dey: Mohini Dey
xxx
Thank you all at NCS for your incredible efforts !!
Best albums of 2023
Aodon
Negative Vortex
Drýsildjöfull
Serpent Corpse
Blood Abscission
The Negative Bias
Aara
Horrifier
Svartkonst
Tetragrammacide
Hässlig
Heretoir
Cruel Fate
Taubra
Act of Impalement
Ceremonial Bloodbath
Final Eclipse
Negative Blast
Marduk
Carnal Tomb
Phantom Winter
Crypta
Voidescent
Imperial Crystalline Entombment I.C.E
Distaste
Blut aus Nord
Celestial Sanctuary
Temple Of Dread
The Lion’s Daughter
Gravesend
Ondfødt
Sentinel
Best EP’s of 2023
Wolves in the Throne Room
Gozer
Torn In Half
Phobonoid / Dominion of Suffering
Kommand
Bonjour Tristesse
Ascendency
Fugitive
Dispösal
Limbes
Iron Warning
KARLOFF / ULTHA split
KASPYX
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean
Fugitive Wizard Ultima Magus Chapter IV
Favorite albums of 2023:
1. Valdrin -Throne Of The Lunar Soul
2. Anti-God Hand – Blight Year
3. Dødheimsgard – Black Medium Current
4. Wayfarer – American Gothic
5. Begravement – Horrific Illusions Beckon
6. Front Row Warriors – Wheel Of Fortune
7. Necrofier – Burning Shadows In The Southern Night
8. Asphodelus – Sculpting From Time
9. Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord Of The Thorned Castle
10. Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions
1. TOMB MOLD The Enduring Spirit
2. HORRENDOUS Ontological Mysterium
3. AFTERBIRTH In But Not Of
4. MALLEUS The Fires of Heaven
5. ACID KING Beyond Vision
6. MOONLIGHT SORCERY Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
7. OUTER HEAVEN Infinite Psychotic Depths
8. GHOROT Wound
9. FABRICANT Drudge to the Thicket
10. MAJESTIES Vast Reaches Unclaimed
11. SERPENT OF OLD Ensemble Under the Dark Sun
12. RANNOCH Conflagrations
13. TRESPASSER Apokalypsis
14. MORNE Engraved with Pain
15. FLESHVESSEL Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed
16. BEGREAVEMENT Horrific Illusions Beckon
17. VASTUM Inward to Gethsemane
18. GOZU Remedy
Many of us oftentimes state it, but once again, I wish more publications would wait till the end of December to post their “bests” list(s). I personally had several releases from December in mine.
1. Dying Fetus – Make Them Beg for Death
2. The Zenith Passage – Datalysium
3. Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
4. Suffocation – Hymns from the Apocrypha
5. Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium
6. Ne Obliviscaris – Exul
7. Gorod – The Orb
8. VoidCeremony – Threads of Unknowing
9. Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration
10. Metasphæra – Metasphæra
11. Alcyone – Cult Of Kukulkan
12. Incantation – Unholy Deification
13. Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit
14. Baring Teeth – The Path Narrows
15. Internal Suffering – Rituals
16. Neurectomy – Overwrought
17. Man Must Die – The Pain Behind It All
18. Ignominy – Imminent Collapse
19. Thy Darkened Shade – Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya
20. Winterhorde – Neptunian
21. Moonreich – Amer
22. Organ Dealer – The Weight Of Being
23. Jarhead Fertilizer – Carceral Warfare
24. Act of Impalement – Infernal Ordinance
25. Outer Heaven – Infinite Psychic Depths
26. Faithxtractor – Contempt for a Failed Dimension
27. Serpent Of Old – Ensemble Under The Dark Sun
28. Maze of Sothoth – Extirpated Light
29. Downfall of Gaia – Silhouettes of Disgust
30. Inertia – The Human Element
31. Ringworm – Seeing Through Fire
32. Marduk – Memento Mori
33. Sulphur Aeon – Seven Crowns And Seven Seals
34. Alkaloid – Numen
35. The Ritual Aura – Heresiarch
36. Uada – Crepuscule Natura
37. October Tide – The Cancer Pledge
38. Humanity’s Last Breath – Ashen
39. Creak – Depth Perception
40. Asystole – Siren To Blight
41. Gridlink – Coronet Juniper
42. Rotten Sound – Apocalypse
43. The Circle – Of Awakening
44. Stortregn – Finitude
45. Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
46. Korgonthurus – Jumalhaaska
47. Anachronism – Meanders
48. Angerot – The Profound Recreant
49. Turbid North – The Decline
50. Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift
51. Cryptopsy – As Gomorrah Burns
52. Omnivortex – Circulate
53. Wormhole – Almost Human
54. Varathron – The Crimson Temple
55. Memoriam – Rise To Power
56. Cannibal Corpse – Chaos Horrific
57. Tribe Of Pazuzu – Blasphemous Prophecies
58. Hostile Eyes – Incurable Disease in the Hell of Hunger
59. Aprilmist – Homesick
60. Antrisch – Expedition II : Die Passage
61. Svalbard – The Weight Of The Mask
62. Palace of Worms – Cabal
63. Wayfarer – American Gothic
64. Sylosis – A Sign of Things to Come
65. Predatory Void – Seven Keys To The Discomfort Of Being
66. Blaze of Sorrow – Vultus Fati
67. Mental Cruelty – Zwielicht
68. See You Next Tuesday – Distractions
69. Kostnateni – Upla
70. Tortured – Genetically Engineered Monstrosity
71. Extermination Dismemberment – Dehumanization Protocol
72. Jesus Piece – …So Unknown
73. The Acacia Strain – Step Into The Light
74. Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination
75. Year of The Knife – No Love Lost
76. Incendiary – Change The Way You Think About Pain
77. Rise to Fall – The Fifth Dimension
78. Raze the Void – Para Sempre
79. Exmortus – Necrophony
80. SolNegre – The Spiral Labyrinth
81. Violet Cold – Multiverse
82. Mystic Circle – Erzdämon
83. Cloak – Black Flame Eternal
84. Aset – Astral Rape
85. Pronostic – Chaotic Upheaval
86. Subterranean Disposition – Individuation
87. Periphery – Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre
88. In Flames – Foregone
89. Scar Symmetry – The Singularity (Phase II: Xenotaph)
90. Termina – Soul Elegy
91. Dawn of Ouroboros – Velvet Incandescence
92. Sühnopfer – Nous Sommes D’hier
93. …And Oceans – As in Gardens, So in Tombs
94. Bonjour Tristesse – Against Leviathan!
95. Entheos – Time Will Take Us All
96. Pupil Slicer – Blossom
97. The Voynich Code – Insomnia
98. Creeping Death – Boundless Domain
99. Insomnium – Anno 1696
100. Blackbraid – Blackbraid II
EP’s:
1. Entropia – Unhealable Scars
2. Peeling Flesh – PF Radio
3. Cordura – Nibiru X
4. Demon King – Vesania
5. Maul – Desecration and Enchantment
6. Better Lovers – God Made Me An Animal
7. Claret Ash – Worldtorn: Anemoia
8. Tribulation – Hamartia
9. Year of the Knife – Dust to Dust
10. Ablaze My Sorrow – The Loss Of All Hope
Honorable Recognitions:
AmongRuins
Asphagor
Austere
Bad Wolves
Bodyfarm
Chasmdweller
Contrarian
Devangelic
Disimperium
Display of Decay
Gideon
Hate Manifesto
Human Decomposition
Imperium Dekadenz
Kataklysm
Lamp of Murmuur
Miserere Luminis
Mizmor
Mork
Morokh
Mourning Forest
Mouth For War
Noisy Neighbors
Ominous Scriptures
Sanguisugabogg
Saturnus
Thantifaxath
The Negative Bias
Unearth
War of Ages
Walking Corpse