Part 2 (of 2) of my 50 Best Albums of 2023! My #1 album is AODON (France), album - Portraits!
0:25-4:04 OLKOTH (SC), album - At The Eye Of Chaos (Death) song – The Resurrectionist — Chunky drums and jagged guitars circle meditatively, texture upon texture, dropping to beat after surprise after glory.
5:22-11:55 FORTÍÐ (Iceland), album - Narkissos (Black, Melodic) song – Tímans ör — Cinematic, beautiful and complex black metal with big tumultuous melodic and a blast of incredibly catchy thrashy portions.
12:27-17:08 BERZERKER LEGION (Netherlands/Sweden/UK), album - Chaos Will Reign (Death, Melodic) song – Choirs Of Anguish — Frenzy of technical guitar fingers, a pummeling of blast beats, and the grooviest of hooks in this sophomore release.
17:37-21:28 KOSTNATĚNÍ (MN), album - Úpal (Black, Modern) song – Skrýt se před Bohem — A jungle of unhinged and unpredictable sound, with twangs of foreign melodies. This is wild and beautiful.
21:51-25:51 CARNATION (Belgium), album - Cursed Mortality (Death) song – Herald Of Demise — Melodic groove, chomping and galloping pace with incredible guitar solos that match the integrity of the 2020 album.
26:19-30:05 GABESTOK (Denmark), album - Med Freden Kommer Hadet (Black, Modern) song – Det er mig der står herude og lurer — Gabestok had my #2 album of 2021. This duo genre bends. Rock elements, including blues and garage and psychedelic black metal. Extremely charismatic.
30:31-37:49 SULPHUR AEON (Germany), album - Seven Crowns and Seven Seals (Black and Death) song – The Yearning Abyss Devours Us — Theatrical vocals in expressive baritone vocals and a whisper of rasp coupled with ferocious death and moody plaintive melodic black only the Germans know how to create.
38:11-43:29 LASTER (Netherlands), album - Andermans Mijne (Weird) song – Achterstevoren — Experimental in the versatility with jazz, rock, black metal, psychedelic and progressive. Quirky but highly consumable.
43:58-47:36 CRYPTOPSY (Montréal), album - As Gomorrah Burns (Death) song – Godless Deceiver — Vocals and tempos lurch, twist and writhe in a whirlwind of a death storm.
47:58-54:10 HORDA (Poland), album - Form (Black) song – Oneirataxia — Dangerous, ominous black metal hurtling forward and breaking into headchurning riffs, with groove-infested demonic beats and melodic death. This is a ripper.
54:37-57:43 NIGHTMARER (Portland), album - Deformity Adrift: Reformed (Death, Modern) song – Baptismal Tomb — Heated, weaponized vocals in an unconventional sinister death and experimental structures.
58:21-1:04:47 WILLOOS (Netherlands), album - Begeerte (Black, Melodic) song – De zon tegemoet — The tragedy, the agony, and the breakdown in beautiful shoe-gazy compositions in shades of black metal wretched.
1:05:14-1:10:47 THE RITUAL AURA (Perth), album – Heresiarch (Death, Modern) song – Heresiarch III: Devouring Sun — Disparity throughout the album with sweet horns and full strings coupled with proggy technical death and the hottest fucking demonic screech battling for lead.
1:11:19-1:14:59 ONDFØDT (Finland), album - Det Österbottniska Mörkret (Black, Melodic) song – Furstins Tid — Wholly sinister, rapid-paced black metal, a race to the end in a demonic Finnish forest. But super hot and emotional too. So make out with that demon.
1:15:26-1:20:55 ARBORESCENCE OF WRATH (France), album – Inferno (Death) song – Into Everlasting Fire — Debut of pummeling and incredibly memorable earworm in a precisely constructed technical death. No bullshit here.
1:21:22-1:25:59 DISMAL AURA (CAN), album - Imperium Mortalia (Black, Melodic) song – One Path, Many Voices — A vicious beast with vocals that slice and murder. Strummed melodic beauty and fun keyboard transforms this to Canadian melodic black metal.
1:26:39-1:33:12 METASPHAERA (Germany), album - S/T (Death, Melodic) song – Einheit — Muscular death and prog with precise drums and a unique melodic. Tight spirals unravel into galaxies.
1:33:51-1:41:48 DØDHEIMSGARD (Norway), album - Black Medium Current (Black, Melodic) song – Interstellar Nexus — Synth drenched and theatrical compositions with stunning vocals, piano effects and flute, 70’s galaxy synth, bleeding into sinister guitars and back to bliss.
1:42:10-1:49:21 HORRENDOUS (Philly), album - Ontological Mysterium (Death, Modern) song – Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn) — Thrashy avalanche pace, proggy melodic and acerbic death, packaged in something completely unique. This will grow on you.
1:49:47-1:55:30 ASKHEIMR (Norway), album - S/T (Black, Melodic) song – Your Throne, My World — One-man band creating magic, beauty, and fantasy with brutal edges. Black and death with melodic and synth creating incredible textures.
1:56:05-1:59:58 MAJESTIES (MN), album - Vast Reaches Unclaimed (Death, Melodic) song – Temporal Anchor — Members of Obsequiae and Inexorum. Melodic atmospheric death metal with harmonizing guitars, and a lunatic, cracked vocalist that takes it over the cliff.
2:00:34-2:07:25 LEIÞA (Germany), album - Reue (Black) song – Fremdkörper — Germans are romantic vampires, this is torment and brooding. A bleak, miserable landscape with the sun trickling through the clouds. Leipa is behind one of my Best of 22, Non Est Deus. 2:07:46-2:12:35 JUST BEFORE DAWN (Sweden), album - A War Too Far (Death) song – The Gulf of Tonkin — Beautifully headbang-worthy with intense concepts of war, including melancholy melodic and precision from start to finish.
2:13:02-2:16:23 NECROPANTHER (Denver), album - Betrayal (Black, Modern) song – Covenant — I have seen this band multiple times live, and they are badass technical savages throwing their vocals in every direction. Thrash and black and just plain fun.
2:17:00-END #1 Album - AODON (France), album - Portraits (Black, Melodic) song – Sheelagh — Beauty and anguish balanced to perfection. This is moody and vicious and glorious, I love every element of this album.