(Our friend Professor D. Grover the XIIIth (ex-The Number of the Blog) has been joining us this time of year for many years to share his diverse year-end lists, and does so again now. There’s a lot here, and, once more, it truly is diverse.)
Greetings and salutations, friends. Here we are again, poring over a year’s worth of music and taking stock of our thoughts about it. I always enjoy the opportunity to reflect on what I’ve heard throughout the year, to see how my music taste has evolved from years past. It’s been a busy year for me, working while trying to adapt my schedule to the sports activities of three kids, but I’ve still found plenty of time to check out a solid number of albums.
As always, I’ll start with some honorable mentions. This is not an exhaustive list of everything that I’ve heard through the year, of course, but it is most of the albums that caught enough of my attention to warrant at least some attention. Many of these could have made my final list, but then said list would have been absurdly long, and I just don’t have the time for that. Unlike last year I’m not dividing them into categories, either, but rest assured, I enjoyed all of these albums a great deal.
200 Stab Wounds – Manual Manic Procedures
Aborted – Vault Of Horrors
B. Dolan – The Wound Is Not The Body
Benighted – Ekbom
Beyond Grace – Welcome To The New Dark Ages, Pt. 2
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
Brodequin – Harbinger Of Woe
Carnosus – Wormtales
Cognizance – Phantazein
Cosmic Jaguar – El Era Del Jaguar
Defeated Sanity – Chronicles Of Lunacy
Deicide – Banished By Sin
Ensiferum – Winter Storm
Fit For An Autopsy – The Nothing That Is
Fleshgod Apocalypse – Opera
Fu Manchu – The Return Of Tomorrow
Fulci – Duck Face Killings
Gaerea – Coma
Gatecreeper – Dark Superstition
Hannes Grossman – Echoes Of Eternity
High On Fire – Cometh The Storm
Ihsahn – Ihsahn
Ingested – The Tide Of Death And Fractured Dreams
Job For A Cowboy – Moon Healer
Johnny Blue Skies – Passage Du Desir
Kanonfieber – Die Urkatastrophe
Kvaen – The Formless Fires
Midnight – Hellish Expectations
Neon Nightmare – Faded Dream
Nile – The Underworld Awaits Us
Nocturnus AD – Unicursal
NOFX – Half Album
Octoploid – Beyond The Aeons
Orange Goblin – Science, Not Fiction
Pathology – Unholy Descent
Piah Mater – Under The Shadow Of A Foreign Sun
Poppy – Negative Spaces
Qveen Herby – The Alchemist
Ripped To Shreds – Sanshi
Rotting Christ – Pro Xristou
Sarcasm – Morninghoul
Satan – Songs In Crimson
Skeletal Remains – Fragments Of The Ageless
Static-X – Project Regeneration, Vol. 2
Thalassophobia – Incorporeal Power
The Black Dahlia Murder – Servitude
The Last Of Lucy – Godform
The Troops Of Doom – A Mass To The Grotesque
Ulver – Liminal Animals
Vredehammer – God Slayer
Wintersun – Time II
Witch Vomit – Funeral Sanctum
Zeal & Ardor – GREIF
And now, for the list itself. As I alluded to above, there were a lot of albums that I considered for this list, perhaps more even than usual. The process of narrowing this list down was a difficult one.
20. Sear Bliss – Heavenly Down
I’m a huge fan of Sear Bliss‘s albums Glory And Perdition and The Arcane Odyssey, both of which showcase the things that make them great: melodic black metal and the trombone. I can’t really describe why the trombone fits so well with their music, but it definitely taps into something visceral within me that most bands didn’t. Sadly, their last couple albums haven’t managed to reach those heights for me, so I was pleasantly surprised when Heavenly Down stuck with me. It’s not as good as either of the other albums I mentioned, but it’s still an excellent listen.
19. Dwynell Roland & P.O.S – RELAY / Shredders – Close Cuts
There wasn’t a ton of hip-hop that I found myself drawn to this year, but these two EPs are noticeable for featuring the first new material from Minneapolis-based P.O.S in several years. The first is a collaboration with fellow Minneapolis rapper and occasional collaborator Dwynell Roland, the second is the fourth collaboration under the Shredders name with his Doomtree cohorts Sims, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. (A fifth Shredders EP was apparently also released in October and I somehow missed it entirely.) Both releases are unconventional compared to modern hip-hop, packed with deft wordplay and odd beats, and serve as an excellent reminder of what I enjoyed about P.O.S’ work in the past.
18. Undeath – More Insane
There’s a lot of really good death metal being released these days, and there are a number of albums in the honorable mentions that I really wanted to include here. Ultimately, Undeath won out over contemporaries like 200 Stab Wounds, Skeletal Remains, and Blood Incantation because of what they offer, with memorable riffs, enjoyably ridiculous lyrics, and occasional dashes of technicality. More Insane lives up to its name.
17. Linkin Park – From Zero
If you had told me last year that Linkin Park would return with a new singer and that I’d really enjoy their new album, I would have assumed that you were high. And yet, here we are.
I haven’t really listened to a Linkin Park album since Minutes To Midnight, and I haven’t actually cared that much about Linkin Park since Hybrid Theory, but somehow, From Zero really just worked for me. It’s by no means perfect, with several great songs and a bunch of good ones, but it’s short enough (around a half hour) that it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and new singer Emily Armstrong‘s voice is similar enough to the late Chester Bennington’s without being a direct clone to make things work. This was one of my biggest surprises of the year.
16. Koffin Kats – Higher Lows
Speaking of albums that don’t overstay their welcome… Koffin Kats are one of two psychobilly bands that I really keep up with, and while the new album, their first full-length in seven years, is extremely short (8 songs, 21 minutes), it feels like a throwback to their early (and similarly brief) releases. Packed to the gills with hard-driving punk riffs and Vic Victor’s upright bass slapping and distinctive vocals, Higher Lows is an absolute blast.
15. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Challengers [MIXED]
I haven’t seen Challengers, but I listened to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ techno-heavy score for the film a great deal. Additionally, they released a version of the score remixed by German producer Boys Noize, and while the compositions themselves are mostly unchanged, the end result is a bit more listenable. It’s a bit different than the duo’s usual work, but hearing that pounding take on European techno filtered through the unique style of Reznor and Ross results in one of their best film scores yet.
14. Blind Guardian – Somewhere Far Beyond – Revisited / Cavalera Conspiracy – Schizophrenia / Amorphis – Tales From The Thousand Lakes (Live At Tavastia)
It feels a bit like cheating to include these albums, all of which are new recordings of undisputed classics, but, well, they’re new recordings, so I’m going to allow it. Blind Guardian’s update of the brilliant Somewhere Far Beyond sounds immaculate, benefiting from the updated production, and Hansi Kursch’s vocals are still absolutely perfect. The new version of ‘The Bard’s Song’ especially reflects a reverence for the impact the song has had on the band and their fans, and Kursch‘s more mature voice really does the song justice.
Much like last year, the Cavalera brothers revisited and re-recorded another classic Sepultura album (after last year’s one-two punch of Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions). And much like last year, there is a conscious effort to simultaneously update the sound of the album while maintaining as much of the roughness of the original as possible. Schizophrenia sounds fantastic without losing any of the character that made the original great.
Amorphis have previously re-recorded tracks from Tales From The Thousand Lakes with vocalist Tomi Joutsen, but until now there’s hasn’t been a full recording of the album with the current lineup. And while it’s a live recording, the sound is crystal clear and there’s no crowd noise or between-songs banter, which makes it easy enough to forget that this is a live performance. As an added bonus the album concludes with a couple extra tracks, ‘Vulgar Necrolatry’ and ‘My Kantele’.
All three of these albums are welcome updates to some true classics, and for anyone who prefers the originals, well, the originals still exist for them to listen to.
13. Verikalpa – Tuomio
This year for me found folk metal making a minor comeback. There were releases from Ensiferum and Wintersun, both of which were good enough to land in my honorable mentions despite their fair share of flaws, plus another album that’s higher up on my list (more on that later). But Verikalpa came out of nowhere for me with some of the catchiest Finnish folk metal that I’ve heard since the last Finntroll album. It might not be the most original sounding folk metal album, but it’s so skillfully executed and well-written that I don’t care. Tuomio is packed with hooks and galloping riffs, and it really hits all the notes that I’m looking for a folk metal album to hit.
12. Upon Stone – Dead Mother Moon
My favorite album of last year was the brilliant Vast Reaches Unclaimed by Majesties, an album that filtered classic Gothenburg melodeath through the lens of Obsequiae. Upon Stone have a similar vibe, minus the Obsequiae part, with a sound that’s a little rougher at the edges and brimming with punk energy (fittingly, the album closes with a Michael Graves-era Misfits cover that blends in seamlessly).
11. Tub Ring – Last And First Men
I’ve been a Tub Ring fan for more than two decades, ever since I saw them as an opening band in 2002 that were so good I forgot I was there to see another band. In those two decades they evolved from a band heavily influenced by Mr. Bungle to something else entirely, something wholly original and unlike anything else I’ve heard before or since.
It’s been seven years since the last Tub Ring album, and I honestly hadn’t expected to ever hear anything new from them, so I was pleasantly surprised when Last And First Men was announced. The album is a lot like the last few Tub Ring albums in its unpredictability, but the creative core of vocalist Kevin Gibson and keyboardist Rob Kleiner remains intact and as eclectic and brilliant as ever.
10. Vale Of Pnath – Between The Worlds Of Life And Death
I’ll admit, while I’ve listened to and enjoyed the past work of Vale Of Pnath, it’s been long enough since I last listened that I didn’t really remember it, and I never got around to revisiting it at any point this year. I do remember that they were more of a tech-death band than one might guess from listening to Between The Worlds Of Life And Death, which finds the band leaning heavily into symphonic black metal with a strong technical flair more akin to Stortregn or Tomarum. But what I do know is that “Soul Offering,” with its blistering riffs and buzzing synths, is one of my favorite songs of the year.
9. Leprous – Melodies Of Atonement
I have a weird history with Leprous as a band. I think that Bilateral is far and away their best album, and by and large I’ve found the albums that followed to be merely okay at best with a few notably great songs, even as the band have settled into a very distinctive style. As such, my expectations for Melodies Of Atonement were generally low, and I was surprised when the album grew on me massively after an underwhelming couple of listens. Most of the songs start slow and then explode in the second half, and tracks like the title track, ‘Like A Sunken Ship’, and ‘Limbo’ have been occupying space in my head for a significant portion of the year.
8. Monument Of Misanthropy – Vile Postmortem Irrumatio
Honestly, I thought this album was a top 5 album until I finally started to compile this list and realized how many top 5 albums I actually had. Vile Postmortem Irrumatio grabs your attention with its striking cover art (and its title, assuming you know the meaning of the word ‘irrumatio’, which you probably shouldn’t look up while at work or your kid’s school), but the music and the subject matter are the real draw.
Monument Of Misanthropy blend brutality, technicality, and melody at a level surpassed by very few bands (Cytotoxin are the only band that immediately come to mind), and when you pair that with a concept album about the notorious Ed Kemper (complete with interview clips from the man himself), you’ve got a recipe for death metal success. Death metal is full of fucked-up subject matter, but knowing that the deeds described in these songs actually happened lends the album a whole other level of darkness.
7. The Bridge City Sinners – In The Age Of Doubt
I’ve been a fan of neo-folk-punk-jazz-bluegrass madmen The Bridge City Sinners for a bit now, but as much as I’ve enjoyed their past work, In The Age Of Doubt feels like their best work yet. A significant part of that is frontwoman Libby Lux, whose vocals are as distinctive and vibrant as her stage presence, showcasing her incredible versatility and range. But there’s also an impressive amount of flexibility in the performances of a variety of song styles, from folk to flamenco to something that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Prohibition-era speakeasy. All of this is tied together but an overarching lyrical theme of doubt in its many forms, creating a potent collection of deeply emotional songs.
6. Wind Rose – Trollslayer
As I mentioned before, there were a few folk metal albums that really caught my attention this year, but the one that surprised me the most was Wind Rose’s Trollslayer. Prior to this I was mostly familiar with Wind Rose from their previous album (aka the one with ‘Diggy Diggy Hole’) and all the memes that it spawned, and while I did enjoy that album, I wasn’t expecting to get pulled in by this one. However, Trollslayer’s strong melodies, combined with a general willingness to lean into folk metal’s inherent absurdity and theatricality, really won me over. Wind Rose can be a very silly band at times, but sometimes that’s just what I need.
5. Opeth – The Last Will And Testament
I definitely didn’t have “Opeth returning to death metal” on my bingo card for the year, having all but given up hope on that front years ago, but when they released the initial stream of ‘§1’ I dared to feel hope for the first time in years. Even then, there were doubts in the back of my mind that Opeth would truly commit to a return to their roots. And yet, in spite of those doubts, The Last Will And Testament wound up being the best Opeth album since Ghost Reveries (or at least since Watershed).
It’s a fairly densely-packed concept album that marries the classic Opeth style with their later-era retro prog leanings, although the more I listen to it the more it reminds me that the classic Opeth sound was already predicated around combining the two anyway. But it also serves to remind that the death metal half of things is an essential part of the Opeth sound, a part that was missing from the last four albums. Dare I hope that it’s an indication of what’s to come? I don’t know if it is, but even if this proves to be a lone return to form, it was worth the wait.
4. Hemotoxin – When Time Becomes Loss
In a lot of ways, When Time Becomes Loss reminds me of 2022’s excellent Convergence by Miscreance. It’s an unsubtle revival of classic early ’90s thrashy tech death, a la Death or Pestilence, and it’s not ashamed to wear the influence of those bands on its sleeves. However, it’s also an excellent homage to that era of metal, and while it’s maybe not especially original, it’s tightly written and performed, pulling the best qualities from a number of classic influences. Ultimately, it kept me coming back long after my interest in a lot of other albums had faded.
3. Thy Catafalque – XII: A Gyönyörű Álmok Ezután Jönnek
I mentioned in my review of this album that I wasn’t sure how it would settle in with me, as with any Thy Catafalque album there’s a period of time necessary for the album to truly sink in. Ultimately, while XII won’t surpass my favorite Thy Catafalque albums, it’s an incredibly strong and colorful addition to the band’s back catalog. It’s no surprise that it finished as high as it did on this list.
2. Exocrine – Legend
It’s interesting to me that Legend made a serious push for my album of the year, as my initial impression of it was somewhat underwhelming when compared to 2022’s The Hybrid Suns, an album I really, really liked. I’m glad that I gave Legend some time, however, as it really feels like Exocrine are finding the elements that define them and set them apart. Legend is packed with blistering speed and technicality, with a knack for memorable leads and riffs. This is another album that came out early in the year and kept me coming back to it.
1. Dååth – The Deceivers
In a year of surprises, perhaps the biggest surprise for me was that Dååth would return after 14 years and release my favorite album of the year. Of the band’s previous incarnations, only vocalist Sean Zatorsky and guitarist Eyal Levi remain, but having reloaded with the likes of former Decapitated drummer Krimh and former Obscura guitarist Rafael Trujillo, Dååth proceeded to release an incredible album of melodic, symphonic, technical death metal. Perhaps the band’s secret weapon is Jesse Zuretti of The Binary Code, whose synths and orchestrations add depth and layers to every song on the album without being overpowering. The whole album is immaculately crafted and brilliant from start to finish.
And with that, the list is at an end. See you all next year!