Best of 2023

[Pentagrimes]

Off the top of my head in terms of heavier stuff

Godflesh - Purge (zero surprise there)
Vertebra Atlantis - A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime
Thantifaxath  Hive Mind Narcosis
Hands Up who Wants To Die - Nil All
Brain Tourniquet - ...an Expression in Pain
Deliriant Nerve - Contaminated Conscience
Excarnated Entity - Mass Grave Horizon
Space Camp - Gold Star
Stress Positions - Harsh Reality
Full of Hell/Gasp split lp
Void Ceremony - Threads of unknowing
Fabricant- Drude to the Thicket
Stress Palace - s/t
Astriferous - Pulsations from the Black Orb
Sea of Shit - s/t
Suppression/Bastard Noise collab lp
Hexvessel - Polar Veil

there was a few things I was looking forward to that didn't quite live up to my expectations (Maggot Heart, Great Falls, Arnalt Pavle and Ixias notably, all fine but not quite as stellar as i'd hoped)

Coprolith,Snake, Incinerous and Callous Master demos, Jackbeast and Third Island eps. Botch were the best live band I saw this year by some distance, mindblowing gig.

other than that FACS, Jay Jayle, Pile, L'rain, Niecy Blues, Flooding, Big Blood, Armand Hammer, Czarface, Daydream..i could be here all day

[Yung Led Zeppelin]

Great shout on Hands Up Who Wants To Die, savage album

[Mower Liberation Front]

Overkill - Scorched
Lovebites - Judgement Day
Gama Bomb - Bats
Enforcer - Nostalgia
Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
Sacred Outcry - Towers of Gold
Galneryus - Between Dread and Valor
Insomnium - Anno 1696
Gloryhammer - Return to the Kingdom of Fife
Iron Savior - Firestar

[Thorn]

Ooh. Is that in order? Are we finally to have the same album of the year then???

[Mower Liberation Front]

Ooh. Is that in order? Are we finally to have the same album of the year then???

 

[Thorn]

I did give that Insomnium quite a bit of time, thought it was pretty good but it faded away out of my reckoning as other albums came out and demanded attention. I am going to have the Enforcer though, my piece of cheesy fluff for the year. I thought Megaton Sword and the mighty Metal Church would be on your honours list?? Both are fantastic.
Actually, fuck it, my 123 of Overkill, Megaton Sword and Metal Church has been set in stone for a while now. Or at least once I realised I wasn't that gone on the middle section of the Cirith Ungol. First two tracks on that are crackers.

[astfgyl]

The stuff feeling like it's unreal but then quickly fading away is a thread of its own isn't it

Well then again, can I be arsed..

[Don Gately]

How it ends by Primordial is definitely a grower I think. Also False Lankum whilst not metal is a belter also. Great year for music again I think. Some great gigs too this year, Clannad, Municipal Waste, Carcass, Katatonia.

[astfgyl]

How it ends by Primordial is definitely a grower I think. Also False Lankum whilst not metal is a belter also. Great year for music again I think. Some great gigs too this year, Clannad, Municipal Waste, Carcass, Katatonia.

Thought False Lankum was a big letdown after The Livelong Day tbh. Felt to me like a nod towards their more alternative fanbase, which to me seems a bit like missing the point. I'm sure they'd say different but that's the bang I got off it. Would listen to The Livelong Day any time but not the False Lankum

[open face surgery]

I think False Lankum is the most thematically cohesive of all the albums. I like them all though. The gig in the 3arena with Lisa O'Neil, Mary wallopers and Damo Dempsey was a remarkable night. Each act were incredible in their own and different way.

For Lankum, it's mad that something so inherently Irish is as suited to 7 or 8 thousand Irish as it is at a festival like Roadburn or Supersonic. Amazing.

[Eoin McLove]

I think False Lankum is the most thematically cohesive of all the albums. I like them all though. The gig in the 3arena with Lisa O'Neil, Mary wallopers and Damo Dempsey was a remarkable night. Each act were incredible in their own and different way.

For Lankum, it's mad that something so inherently Irish is as suited to 7 or 8 thousand Irish as it is at a festival like Roadburn or Supersonic. Amazing.

One of the lads from home only recommended The Mary Wallopers to me last night. Cunt of a name but I'll give them a go. I can't stand Lisa O'Neill's voice at all and he had recommended her to me a while back as well. I've heard bits and pieces from her odder the years and her voice has always made my toes curl.

[open face surgery]

Should've said stylistically rather than thematically in relation to Lankum.

Mary Wallopers is indeed a shocking name but they sell it. Very heavy on the accent as well so dunno how they'll sit with ya but I think they're savage. Lisa O'Neil's voice is tough going at times but the gig was unbelievable. Captivating.

[Eoin McLove]

Well I'm a fan of the second and third Damo albums so I don't mind a heavy accent per se.

[ochoill]

Was revisiting a lot of stuff from this year and have some additions to my own list.  But while I'm here,

Void Ceremony - Threads of unknowing

I gave this a spin since it came up somewhere else before and I never got to it - it's very good, the vocals are fairly plain but everything else about it is deadly.  Found it on three times over the last week-ish.

Also went back to the new FACS since it didn't catch me earlier in the year (just wasn't in the form) and it is much better than I thought originally.

[Ollie]

Any chance of people self-editing and just making it a top three of the year, as opposed to a list of stuff you liked in 2023?