#saturnus — Public Fediverse posts

Webb Space Telescope ziet de ringen van Chariklo veranderen
Het vermogen om deze veranderingen waar te nemen, opent nieuwe perspectieven voor het begrijpen van de evolutie van deze systemen
#asteroïde #centaur #chariklo #planetoïde #ringen #saturnus #uranus #WebbSpaceTelescoop #zonnestelsel
https://www.kuuke.nl/webb-space-telescope-ziet-de-ringen-van-chariklo-veranderen/

Webb Space Telescope ziet de ringen van Chariklo veranderen
Het vermogen om deze veranderingen waar te nemen, opent nieuwe perspectieven voor het begrijpen van de evolutie van deze systemen
#asteroïde #centaur #chariklo #planetoïde #ringen #saturnus #uranus #WebbSpaceTelescoop #zonnestelsel
https://www.kuuke.nl/webb-space-telescope-ziet-de-ringen-van-chariklo-veranderen/

Just off Spain’s Mediterranean coast lie the Balearic Islands. Among the approximately 1.2 million island residents is a cadre of musicians who appear to have played together in a variety of projects for some time.1 SolNegre comprises four of these musicians along with a handful of guest contributors. Based on the photos of the beautiful sandy beaches and clear blue water, you might think these guys would play a cheerful genre like Beach Boys-core. Yet, even the beach life must have its woes because what SolNegre deliver is a slab of melancholic doom that has more in common with My Dying Bride or Saturnus than any band playing songs about Piña coladas. Just the sight of their apocalyptic album title, Anthems for the Grand Collapse, makes me want to soak in one of those lovely beaches to rinse off the bleakness. Let’s dive in and see how well these island dwellers do the sadboi.

While the intro for opener, “The Axiom – Song for the Inert Part II,”2 reveals SolNegre’s flair for using synths to create atmosphere, the meat of the song establishes their mix of crushing My Dying Bride riffs and growls with the more energetic death/doom of Novembers Doom. A hooky melodic lead wends its way throughout, culminating in an ambitious solo that takes the lead to new levels. The incredibly catchy follow-up, “The Hollow Inside,” includes a chorus that potentially has appeal for a mainstream audience, even if the track goes off in decidedly non-mainstream directions. The flip side to the death/doom is an Ennui-level funeral doom tune that casts a pall over the already dour mood (“For All that Could Have Been”). SolNegre play sorrowful tunes in an impressively varied number of ways.

The Axiom – Song for the Inert Part 2 by SolNegre

The band members’ strong chemistry shows in their talent and cohesiveness. Ûkh lays down a powerful vocal performance with some muscular death growls. He adds heft and punch alongside an impressively bass-heavy guitar attack. Gebre proves to be the glue that adheres the record together. His deep, chugging bass features on nearly every track, and he also gets to play a nifty jazz solo midway through “The Hollow Within.” Guest contributors add some varied character throughout, such as a solo from Mike Le Rosetti that comprises almost the entire back half of “The Axiom” and some cleans from Pedro Inglés during the jazzy segue on “The Hollow Within.” SolNegre hands the reins over to recurring guest singer Gadea es Ineseta3 and violinist Núria Luis on the remarkably lovely “In the Stillness of the Womb.” Though it skews more soft rock than extreme metal, it features such poignant and affecting performances from Ineseta and Luis that it feels right at home among these anthems to a grand collapse.

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A few iffy songwriting decisions do keep Anthems for the Grand Collapse from greatness, however. For one, SolNegre struggle with coherent lyrics on some tracks. This is especially problematic on “The Hollow Within,” where an awkward attempt at a metaphor combining loneliness, water, and drowning leads to the laughably bad line, “A room without doors or windows / Knowing how to swim is wise.” It’s a sore part of an otherwise terrific song. Further, the hot and cold pacing creates a stuttering feel throughout the record, with a few tunes creeping too slowly and others creeping on a bit too long. “For All That Could Have Been” in particular sags in the middle of the album. Individually, the songs are good to great, but transitions between them can be jarring.

Next time you want to balance out your bright and cheery beach vacation with some downer music, you should pack SolNegre’s Anthems for the Grand Collapse. It’s sure to have you and your family looking to drown out your loneliness and sorrows in the warm, beautiful waters lapping at your toes. This has proven to be a solid sophomore effort from the Balearic Islands. I love to hear the passion on display, and even where the band shows some warts, it only makes the record all the more endearing. I hope those island beaches don’t keep these guys happy and occupied for too long so they can put out another record sooner rather than later.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Meuse Music
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: April 3rd, 2026

Way back in 2014, when Madam X and I were still just mutual admirers online, she decided to travel from her home country of South Africa to the US to catch the world-famous 70000 Tons of Metal cruise. This had the added benefit of allowing us to finally meet in person since she was flying into New York, where I worked as a regional warlord at the time. We ended up meeting, totally hitting it off, and yada-yada-yada, we got married and lived happily ever after. It took us way too long to catch a 70000 Tons voyage as a couple, but this year we finally did it! After hearing so much about the 70000 Tons experience from Madam X, other AMG staffers, and various random miscreants, I thought I had a pretty good handle on what to expect. I didn’t. This event is one seriously wild ride, unlike anything else I’ve ever encountered. It’s a strange alternate universe where time is the enemy, yet also seems to lose all meaning. You spend every waking moment running from set to set to catch acts you want to see, and in the little spaces in between, you eat, chug brewskis, and study the scheduling app to plot and plan where to run next. You quickly lose track of the days as you adapt to this new lifestyle, and before long, you start to prefer this kind of existence. It’s a 4-day musical treasure hunt with adventure (and alcohol) available around every corner, and you share all the madcap escapades with thousands of like-minded metal maniacs who all seem equally thrilled to be questing. What could be cooler than that? So what was it like to step aboard as representatives for Angry Metal Guy Industries? This is our story.1

Disembarkment: From Snowbound to Southbound

Mere days before we were scheduled to fly down to Florida, the massive bomb cyclone winter storm dubbed “Fern” clobbered most of the eastern seaboard and dropped 15 inches of snow on our Long Island hometown. This scrambled all the central, southern, and eastern US airports something fierce, and with news of thousands of canceled flights in the days leading up to the cruise, we stressed mightily that we might not make it to Miami to catch the ship. The 70000 Tons group on Facebook was littered with tragic tales of folks getting their flights cancelled multiple times, with some opting to skip the airports entirely and try to make it by car from faraway locales.2 As the Metal Gods willed it, we got to the airport, made it to a not-very-sunny Florida on time without any hassles. We reported to the Port of Miami the next day, and the adventure began!

Day One: The Aclimationing

After going through the boarding process and nominally attending our safety briefing, beers were enjoyed as Madam X and I toured our new home. Freedom of the Seas is a typical cruise ship, but it was immediately apparent that this would not be a typical cruise. Aside from the ocean of black shirts and battle vests, all the music played over the ship’s sound systems was metal. This was a surprisingly satisfying touch, as I always wondered what it would be like to have my preferred genre played in places like supermarkets, dentist offices, and malls. This shit should be normalized outside of a niche metal cruise event. Hell, even when you turned on your cabin’s TV, there was a channel playing videos of the bands on board 24/7, and when you went to the shopping or cruise map channels, the background music was 120% pure metal. Nir-fucking-vana, folks!

As everyone boarded, got settled in, and the initial drinks were drunk, the first bands went off at 5:30. As any good primate would do in such circumstances, I chose Vio-Lence since they’re a beloved band from my youth that I never got to see live during their heyday. Prior to the band taking the stage, a stocky, bald gentleman berated a group of people (myself included) for not wearing ear protection. This was laughed off with good nature, and then I realized the man looking out for our aural health was none other than David White, the vocalist of Heathen. It was cool to see the Heathen dudes there showing support for their fellow San Francisco thrashers, and it was a nice way to kick off the festivities. Vio-Lence came out shortly thereafter and proceeded to destroy everyone with loud, vicious renditions of the material off their timeless debut, Eternal Nightmare. They sounded much heavier than expected, and Sean Killian was a man possessed on stage as he delivered the hyperactive and voluminous vocal lines like it was still 1990. They covered almost all of their debut and tossed in “World in a World” and the Dead Kennedys’ classic “California Über Alles” for extra spice, and I left well impressed by how youthful and powerful they sounded.

From there we ducked in to catch Harakiri for the Sky, and though neither Madam X nor I were very familiar with them, they impressed with their atmospheric post-black sound. They reminded me of Agalloch enough to want to visit their catalog, and Madam X was very much enthralled. From there, it was straight to the big theater to see Soen, and I admit to never being much of a fan. They were polished and professional, but their style of radio-friendly hard rock didn’t really fit with the 70000 Tons vibe, and I was bored pretty quickly, though watching Martin Lopez (ex-Opeth) pound away on his kit was entertaining. Things improved greatly when we went on to catch Cemetery Skyline, the Scandinavian Goth rock supergroup. Though the material on their Nordic Gothic debut isn’t all that much harder than what Soen do, the energy generated by Mikael Stanne and Markus Vanhala (Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum) was off the charts. The band seemed to be having as much or more fun than the very receptive crowd, and Stanne in particular seemed to be thrilled to be there. The set was electric, and the energy from the crowd was palpable.

Next up was Kamelot, and though I’m a huge fan of their early albums, I haven’t loved the post-Silverthrone output much. The band did their best to put on a lively performance, and Tommy Karevik sounded fine, but the setlist, taken mostly from the last 3 albums, was somewhat uninspiring, and we left after 5-6 songs. After taking time to get food and brewskis, we headed back to the theater to see Anthrax. A beloved band from my youth, it had been a long time since I last saw them live, but they acted and sounded much the same, opening with the timeless “A.I.R.” and leaning heavily on their Spreading the Disease and Among the Living classics. At one point, Joey started singing Judas Priest’s “The Ripper” before launching into “Caught in a Mosh,” and Scott Ian dubbed the 70000 Cruise as “the world’s coolest prison.” These olde thrash dawgs can still bring it, and the packed crowd ate it up (I especially loved them busting out “Be all. End All” from their State of Euphoria platter).

Last up for our first night was a 12:30 am set by the weird and mysterious Kanonenfieber. Support for the band was apparent, with numerous folks onboard rocking plastic versions of the Pickelhaube (the WWI era pointy helmet worn by Prussian and German soldiers), and they’ve received a ton of love and overratings from the AMG staff these past few years. Somehow, though, I never completely bought into what band creator Noise was doing. Until I saw it all done live, that is. With a stage covered in sandbags and barbed wire, the masked trench warriors supporting Noise came out in matching WWI period soldiers’ clothing to play a somber, ominous intro before Noise himself burst out dressed in full Kaiser gear as things erupted into full boar black death insanity. While their style can at times come across as heavier, faster Rammstein, there was no denying how much punch they packed live, and Noise is a very animated, maniacal frontman. He had the crowd eating from his hand despite an entire set in German. Sure, the multiple costume changes were a bit over-the-top, but they fit the narrative of the horrors of war. Thus pummeled and pulverized, it was time to call it a day.

Day Two: Any Port in the Storm

Due to the huge storm that was sweeping up the east coast, the Captain decided that the ship would head straight to Nassau on Friday rather than Saturday, so rather than bands taking the stage by 10 am, they would hold off til 5:30, and we would be free to leave the ship in the morning and wander around the island. After a few hours sightseeing, we were ready for more molten metal and eager to see Orden Organ kick things off on the newly constructed pool deck stage. Frontman Seeb was injured before the cruise and unable to make the trip, so the band recruited Marc Lopes (Ross the Boss, ex-Metal Church) to fill in. As the ship headed back out ot sea, the band ripped through the big hits of Ogan’s catalog, opening with the massive “F.E.V.E.R.” Dan sounded powerful and convincing, though between songs, he made it clear he was still learning the songs, so not to judge him too harshly. Minus a few missed vocal lines here and there, he did a fine job, got the crowd involved, and seemed really thrilled to be there. As they tore through hits like “The Things We Believe in,” “The Order of Fear,” and “Heart of the Android,” a cold rain began to fall, and by the end of their set, it was getting pretty heavy on the deck.

We retreated to the safety of the sports bar for liquid courage before having to go back out in the rain 45 minutes later to see the mighty Amorphis. The pool deck stage was an open-air rain debacle as they came out, and even before Tomi could start roaring, he was drenched and waterlogged. Tomi always looks like a pirate, so it worked for him, and the band sounded as great as ever live, though I felt bad for Santeri Kallio having to constantly wipe off his keyboards as the rain crashed down. The set was tight despite the weather, and they hit all the high points, from gems like “Death of a King” and “The Smoke” to going way back to Tales from the Thousand Lakes to uncork “Black Winter Day.” Nothing can stop these all-weather Finns!

From the deluge, we retreated to see Wolf in the Deck 5 lounge, which is essentially a smallish room without any kind of raised stage. Wolf were game about it and delivered a rowdy set of their NWoBHM-meets power metal, but unless you stood directly in front of them, you couldn’t see jack shit. It was still a good show, aurally at least. We left a bit early to get back to the monsoon deck to see Beast in Black, but their set was moved to 4:15 am due to how awful the weather had become outside. This allowed for a quick detour to catch Ereb Altor at the rink stage, and they were exactly how I imagined they would be: brooding, heavy, and not fucking around at all as they clobbered the crowd with their Viking black metal. As I was swept away to the good olde days of blood eagles and rule by sword, I found myself wondering why the band didn’t also schedule a few sets for Isole, as the same guys are in both bands. Great show, lost opportunity.

From there we beered up and then caught death metallers Skeletal Remains back in the lounge, and they were appropriately heavy and caveman as fook. Perhaps the caveman shit went too far as they blasted way past their allotted time, and soon thereafter, rumors started spreading that a certain band member was getting hammered and way too touchy-feely with the female cruisers. This ultimately led to him being confined to his cabin and the band getting banned from future 70000 Tons events. After Skeltal Remains decamped, we stayed put in the lounge as up next was none other than the one, the only…Jag Fucking Panzer!! A huge staple of my teen years, these Colorado classic US power metal masters dropped the iconic Ample Destruction back in 1985, and I’ve loved them ever since, but never got to see them live. Because we were hanging around as the band set up, legendary vocalist Harry “the Tyrant” Conklin came over to chat and offered us “Tyrant coins,” which are basically a commemorative Jag Panzer challenge coin. We took them happily, and I tried not to be too fanboyish. I also got to speak with founding guitarist Mark Briody, and he was as nice a guy as there is. When Panzer took the stage, they proceeded to rip the crowd a new one with a string of timeless cuts from Ample Destruction and select gems from their later releases. I was floored by how powerful Tyrant’s voice was live, and this was my highlight of the trip thus far. I was very glad we were dead center front row for this one!

After that unbeatable show, we went back up to the pool deck for Kanonenfieber’s second set at 12;30 am, hoping the rain had finally died down. The fates smiled upon Noise, and the skies held off, allowing them to tear through another set of war-horror-themed Germanic madness with Noise commanding the crowd like a battle-hardened general. Though some of the same songs from the first set were done again, it still seemed like a different event entirely, and aside from the odd clash of the masked, uniformed mauraders and the happy, colorful pool deck decorations, it was an immersive open sea air experience.

Day Three: Arctic Winds

Day three was the first where the bands hit the stages early, with some starting at 10:00 am. We dragged ourselves out of bed, got caffenated and made it to the pool deck to see Hiraes take the stage. I hadn’t hear of this Germanic melodeath act until their frontwoman Britta Görtz appeared in the recent Kreator video for “Tränenpalast.” They had an energetic set, and Britta has a shockingly demonic voice for such a charmingly upbeat, tiny woman. Then it was off to catch Wolf in the vastly superior rink stage, and they once again brought the old school metal thunder and showed the crowd how to pull off guitar-driven 80s metal with a touch of Euro-power.

80s Bay Area techno-thrashers Heathen were up next, and they delivered their typically solid, burly set, with frontman David White doing his hyperactive best to stir the theater crowd to violence. Speaking of Vio-Lence, I spotted a few of them in the crowd returning the favor of support. I especially loved when Heathen busted out “Goblin’s Blade” from their 1987 debut, and that song has aged like fine wine. “Hypnotized” was also as great live as ever, and that song should be considered one of the great thrash epics of all time. As we left the theater, Madam X informed me that the vocalist for Heathen was built much like Noise from Kanonenfieber and might be him. And so began several days of speculation as to who the Kanonenfieber guys were and where they might be on the ship.

After food and a merch shopping break, we caught the immortal NWoBHM legends Satan at the rink deck. Long have I wanted to witness them live, and when I finally got my wish, they were even better than I hoped. The ageless Brian Ross sounded like a 25-year-old, hitting all manner of high register wails and screams, often going beyond what was required by the songs. The band was insanely frenetic in a live setting, with guitarists Russ Tippins and Steve Ramsey putting on a shred clinic, sounding like classic Iron Maiden at double speed. They put on a helluva powerful, no-BS metal show, and Ross is a character as a frontman.3

Off to the pool deck we went, thereafter to catch some of Firewind’s set. I wanted to see Gus G wank his way to the moon in person, and I was not disappointed. I was surprised to see Herbie Langhams wasn’t performing vocals, and instead, former frontman Henning Basse (ex-Brainstorm, ex-Metallium) was there on stage. Together they plowed through mighty tunes like “Ode to Leonidas” and “I Am the Anger,” with Gus showing why he’s considered one of metal’s top axe masters. The weirdo semi-death, kinda-Goth Tribulation were next. Unfortunately, they were derailed by technical issues and lost some equipment in transit, and opened their set 20 minutes late. Even when they finally got going, they were still plagued by sound issues. They did their best, but they didn’t get to present themselves properly, and things were a bit lackluster overall.

Next was the one and only time Madam X and I had to part company, as she was dying to see Beast in Black and I needed to see Jag Panzer’s second set and both went off at the same time. This Panzer set was a “drop the needle” on their classic album Ample Destruction, and I couldn’t miss seeing them run through it from start to finish. This time Jag Panzer got the rink stage, which is far better than the lounge, and once again they brought the crowd to their knees with masterful renditions of cuts like “Licensed to Kill,” “Warfare,” and “Harder Than Steel.” Tyrant again demonstrated the sheer power and force of his ageless pipes, and the band made sure to leave everything on the stage. I even ended up with an official Jag Panzer wristband in the process. Sometimes it’s good to meet your heroes. Madam X was equally blown away by the Beast in Black set, making me wish I had caught that show, too.

From there, I raced to the pool deck to catch Paradise Lost. The long-running lords of Peaceville doom put on a solid if somewhat low-key set, drawing from their vast catalog and collection of styles. It wasn’t the most animated set of the cruise, but the songs sounded great, and Nick Holmes was in good form. I appreciated that they didn’t shy away from their Depeche Lost era either.

After that, Anthrax took the pool deck stage, and lo and behold, bassist Frank Bello was missing in action. In his place was a guy who looked a whole lot like Joey Vera of Armored Saint, Fates Warning, etc. Turns out it was Joey filling in, as Frank had to leave the ship to get to LA to accept his Grammy for best Live Rock performance for Yungblud’s rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” at the Back to the Beginning concert. I have no idea how Frank got off the ship or how they mailed Joey in, but he fit right in, and Anthrax did another classic set, even hitting “Deathrider” from the debut and “In the End” from Worship Music. Queens, NY, represent!

Day Four: Survive and Endure

As the rigors of nonstop metalling slowly began to set in, we arose on day four, opted to eat a quick breakfast, then jumped in a hot tub on the pool deck while they were fresh, clean, and not full of plus-sized, mega-hairy metalheads. Because of our early arrival, we only shared a tub with a very nice Dutch couple, and as we listened to Xandria playing their morning set about 100 feet away, we discussed the Dutch metal scene, the Roadburn festival, and how The Gathering is superior to most other similar acts. Xandria aren’t my cup of tea, and I couldn’t see them from my tub, but they sounded decent enough for a symphonic power metal band.

After tub time, we caught Tyr on the pool deck as they brought Faroian thunder to the high seas. Their burly sound translated well to the setting, and it was all beefy tales of heroism and swordplay, with “By the Sword in My Hand” and “Blood of Heroes” hitting extra hard. It was extra cool to see Jag Panzer’s Mark Briody right up front in the crowd, throwing horns and celebrating the next generation of metal.

Later on, we caught the second set of Satan, and again they burned the stage down around them, then we wandered into the last 15 minutes of Darkane’s set on the pool deck. After that, Madam X convinced me to try Groza’s set, which was a shockingly harrowing blast of misanthropic black metal performed by dudes in hoods who were from Germany. They impressed and furthered the ongoing Kanonenfieber conspiracy mill considerably.

One of the highlights of the event for me was seeing ultimate underdog 80s thrash act Hirax take the stage on the pool deck as the weather turned windy and cold again. Hirax released 2 obscure albums in the mid 80s that I dearly loved because they were so different from everything else out there. Katon Depena was a truly unique vocalist, singing in a strange up and down pattern over short thrashy songs that verged on grindcore. It was both odd and endearing, and my high school friends and I constantly imitated his wonky singing. They were too cult to ever tour near us, so I always wondered what they would be like live. When Hirax stormed the stage, they were everything I expected and then some. Katon was a complete maniac, running all over, climbing the amps, jumping into the crowd, taking a big fur coat from a fan, and rocking it on stage, all as he ripped through a succession of lightning-fast classics. It was one of the craziest sets of the cruise, and the crowd was eating it up. Hail Hirax.

As the ship steered toward the setting sun, Finnish melodoom gods Insomnium took the pool deck stage to deliver a classically melancholic but heavy set as the weather got colder and colder. They were tight, polished, and amusingly enough, complained about how cold it was on the deck. As they started to play “Down With the Sun,” the sun was slowly disappearing below the watery horizon, and with the cold air blowing, it felt like a weirdly Finnish moment on what was billed as a Caribbean cruise.

In the ultimate whiplash kind of switch up, we raced from the Insomnium set to witness Rhapody of Fire launch their nerd-raging dragon power all over the theater stage. As they catapulted into cheddar manufacturing mode, the crowd brandished waves of inflatable swords and hammers like a full-fledged LARP was about to break out. In the middle of the raging orcstorm, vocalist Giacomo Voli went completely bonkers, wailing, screaming, stirring the crowd up, and even stage diving and crowdriding. Somehow, he kept singing as he was held aloft by the rowdy crowd and pummeled with inflatable melee weapons.4 Though I’m not a fan of the band, I couldn’t deny the entertainment factor and the insane charisma of Voli.

The festivities wound down with a 12:30 am Dark Tranquillity set on the pool deck, and as always, Stanne and company were the consummate professionals, doling out the classic melodeath goods as only they can. Stanne sounded superb and in his glory, and the band put on an appropriately massive cap to a great cruise. After their set, Andy, the man behind the whole event, took the stage to thank all who attended and braved the often-bad weather to enjoy the massive metal spectacle. It was a bittersweet moment, as the 4 days flew by in a crazy blur and now were coming to an end.

Final Thoughts:

70000 Tons of Metal is an extremely well-organized and run event, and it was attended by a large assortment of metal fans who came to have a good time and make memories. I saw no fights, no really bad behavior (aside from certain band-related allegations), and was shocked that I saw so few people hammered into an alcoholic stupor. If you haven’t considered making the trip, you should. It can be pricey, but it’s an amazing time and unlike anything else you’ll ever experience. I went expecting it to be something you do once, but now I want to make it a yearly tradition. I highly recommend it, even if you only like half of the scheduled line-up. Thank you to the ever-amazing Madam X for organizing the trip for us and for being the best possible partner to share the insanity with. You complete me.

Funniest Moment:

-When Madam X and I were waiting for an elevator, one opened up, and standing right in front was Brian Ross of Satan. Madam X was star-struck and loudly exclaimed, “SATAN!” Mr. Ross smiled and waved.

-Everyone complaining there was no Kanonenfieber meet and greet.

Bands We Missed:

Vader and Saturnus were cursed with late-night slots we just couldn’t get to. We feel great shame.

Biggest Gripe:

The weird and draconian merch rules made even a simple viewing of the band’s wares a huge hassle.

Biggest Surprise:

I wasn’t even close to being the oldest person there!

Things I’ll Miss the Most: Those stupid little pizzas served at Sorrento’s. They aren’t much different from store-bought frozen pizza, but the stuff becomes addictive after eating it for a few days, like those dumplings in Old Boy.

Post Ship Depression Syndrome:

It’s a real thing. You feel out of sorts and miss the weird pacing and running between sets all day and night.

Thus Spoke and Maddog’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By Thus Spoke

Thus Spoke

Mum, I’ve made it; I’ve got my own official year-end list on Angry Metal Guy dot com. Just two years ago I had begun my probation period in what would come to be characteristically overzealous fashion, slapping a 4.5 on my first ever review, before deciding that words are much better than numbers. At the time, uncertain of my tenancy in these hallowed halls, I was juggling n00b reviews with short-form reviews on Instagram,1 the latter pursuit being what led me to apply here in the first place. And I’m glad I did!

My first complete year here as a writer has been pretty great, all things considered. I’ve reviewed (and not reviewed) some Excellent (with a capital ‘E’) albums and discovered new favorites—some of whom will be appearing below. It continues to humble me and blow my mind that I get to put my thoughts about music out here on the internet and that people actually read them; that I get to write about bands and records with a critical voice that actually garners some respect, like I’m a proper person who knows things; and that I have the chance to gush about artists I’ve loved for a long time, or only just hit upon. Reviewing Panopticon was a wonderful year-end highlight. Of course, not everything was rosy. It was another year of silence from Ulcerate2, not the greatest year for truly stand-out black metal (with some clear exceptions), and a year in which I struggled with some significant challenges at work. But disappointing promos and unavoidable life hurdles aside, 2023 has been the year that AMG—the reviewing, the staff, and the commenting community—has cemented itself as an important part of who I am. I’m grateful for all of you. Thank you.

Having not made one of these before, this has been my first proper taste of the agony (and perhaps joy) of choosing what to list and where to list them. Can I pen a Contrite Metal Guy piece about my picks later down the line? No, I can’t. So if I’ve forgotten something, please just don’t bring it up or it’ll torture me for at least the entirety of 2024.3 Now, on with the list before I change my mind!

#ish. Convocation // No Dawn for the Caliginous Night – Not only did this album floor me on first listen, but it also made me discover how much I love to say the word “caliginous.” *Annunciates* Cal-ig-in-ous. No Dawn… is just as satisfying, but in a very different way. Its drama, potency, and sheer scale are wondrous to behold and instantly catapulted it into my list (well, close enough). I had been thinking in recent months that I’d kind of fallen off the doom wagon. But Convocation was there right as the year was about to end to shove me firmly back on board. As Cherd opined “This is a towering celebration of death’s enormity, packaged in the heaviest and most shimmering of vessels,” and I concur. It’s really only down to a totally stacked year of music that this behemoth doesn’t rank higher.

#10. Thantifaxath // Hive Mind Narcosis – This album scares the shit out of me and I absolutely love it. Everything about its wacky, dissonant, bendy, manic, and malevolent intensity borders on the hallucinogenic and nightmarish. And as a piece of extreme metal, aiming to confront with the harshest of blackened death metal, this is a very good thing. Thantifaxath were a 2023 discovery for me, and this, their sophomore effort, thoroughly convinced me that I should be paying attention to them. It always sends me into a state of heavy foreboding, anxiety, and nausea at confrontation with the absurd. When I reviewed Hive Mind Narcosis, I talked about its contradictory coherence and beauty under a façade of erraticism and ugliness, and I believe this to be what makes it continue to stand out amidst many other unapproachable extreme metal records that came out in 2023, worthy as they may be.

#9. Downfall of Gaia // Silhouettes of Disgust – While I’ve had an appreciation for Downfall of Gaia since Atrophy, Silhouettes of Disgust has been the first one that’s really made an impression on me. It’s stuck with me nearly all year since it dropped in March, and I find myself continuing to return to it again and again. When I don’t know what to listen to, I’ll stick this on, and I’ll enjoy it every time. Melodically and emotionally powerful, it contains some of my favorite musical moments of the year, including in particular the building surge of drama and catharsis that ends “Optograms of Disgust” and the album entirely. I think the reason Silhouettes has had this effect was pinned down nicely by Carcharodon when he wrote: “this is the [album] that manages to blend most effectively all the disparate facets of Downfall of Gaia’s sound.” And I would go further and assert what he only hinted at, that Silhouettes is indeed the best of the band’s career.

#8. Stortregn // Finitude – I feel like Stortregn have been getting more and more fun with every album, or at least definitely on the last few. While Emptiness Fills the Void (2018) was light enjoyment, Impermanence (2021) stepped things up a gear into real grin-inducing territory. Finitude, however, blows those records out of the water with what is possibly the most fun I’ve had with technical death/black metal of any kind. Everything about it works towards this, from constantly evolving, circularly composed song structures that sweep you away with their drama and flair, to a flipping flamenco break in “Xeno Chaos” which I should hate, but instead, I absolutely fucking love because it works so brilliantly. Its melodies are gorgeous, its energy undeniable, its rhythms irresistible. Damn, I think I’m gonna go and listen to it again now, I’ve really given myself the itch.

#7. To the Grave // Director’s Cuts – This started off higher on my list. It’s not that I’ve cooled off on it. Quite the contrary, as To the Grave are my most-listened-to artist on Spotify this year, and I will still ardently defend, to anyone who bothers to vocalize their disagreement, that this is an Excellent album. It’s simply a testament to the strength of those you’ll find below. But let that not take away from the immensity that is Director’s Cuts. It’s a stunning slab of deathcore that utterly wipes the floor with anything else released in that subgenre this year, not just br00tal and groovy as all hell, but possessed of a powerful and righteous message of animal liberation, wrapped of course, in a super mean metal mien. “Manhunt,” and indeed most of the album, powered many a top set in the gym, while stone-cold classic-in-the-making, “Axe of Kindness” easily makes it to the Songs of the Year playlist. It’s just fantastic all-round. Until all are free! *Headbangs violently.*

#6. Wayfarer // American Gothic – I was not initially overly enamored with American Gothic. I don’t know what I was playing at though, because it’s quite clearly brilliant. It’s grown on me like no other album has this year, quickly and assertively muscling its way almost into my top five. Though at first I thought it was inferior to its predecessor A Romance with Violence, as I’ve mentioned, I was being silly, and it’s actually far superior. With a more coherent and consistent compositional structure, more powerful and punchy songs, with stronger, more memorable melodies, and a better integration of that uniquely Western vibe into vibrant and vicious black metal, this is my favorite Wayfarer album by a country mile. Brilliantly evocative, both satisfyingly savage and stirringly soft when it needs to be, American Gothic never ceases to transport me to the old West in its turbulent transformation with drama, passion, and beauty. And it’s wonderful to experience.

#5. Night Crowned // Tales – It was surprising enough that none of my esteemed colleagues had nabbed Tales before I did. But for it to be so mind-blowingly fantastic that it would end up this high on my year-end list was something else. With a songs-of-the-year-lister for an opening cut and, in general, a tracklist stuffed full of back-to-back bangers, and a blazingly bombastic, infectious spirit all around, Tales charges ahead of the competition with savage glee. It’s actually hard to overstate just how good this album is, particularly given how ridiculously easy it is to listen to with its catchy melodies, (relatively) snappy song lengths, and dynamic energy. The culmination of Night Crowned’s fiery and dramatic style of black metal, and the best of their already stellar discography, Tales calls me back ceaselessly and I’m more than happy to oblige.

#4. Fires in the Distance // Air Not Meant for Us – This album is magical. Nothing has changed since I first heard it in its entirety this spring. Elegantly composed, stirring, and effortlessly graceful, it’s hands-down the most straightforwardly beautiful thing on my list. It’s moving without being sappy, and pretty without being saccharine. And Air Not Meant for Us also wins points for including a midway instrumental that’s not only just as good as the other tracks, but possibly better, and bridges the two sides of the album in this lovely way that makes for a dreamy kind of interlude. Fires in the Distance have such a distinctive form of ethereal, key-accented melodeath/doom that I can only see the immense strength of Air Not Meant for Us as a huge, incredibly exciting sign of more brilliant records to come. As it is, I still haven’t had enough of this one.

#3. Serpent of Old // Ensemble Under the Dark Sun – Back in June, I confidently declared that “Serpent of Old have crafted one of the best metal records of 2023 so far, no exaggeration.” Well, it turns out I wasn’t exaggerating, because here it is, number three on my list. Clear as day I can recall hearing the opening notes of “The Sin Before the Great Sin,” as Ensemble Under the Dark Sun began playing for the first time. Straight away I knew that I’d landed a monster of an album, and 42 or so minutes later I was completely engulfed in its intoxicatingly atmospheric darkness. Like their eponymous snake, Serpent of Old wound their blackened death metal around and around my brain. Ensemble is intense, and yet utterly captivating, dripping with oppressive, haunting melodies and deep, angular dissonance. And it also features the best drum performance of the year in my opinion. To think this is a debut is frankly astonishing, and I am extremely keen to hear more.

#2. Dødheimsgard // Black Medium Current – For a long time, this sat comfortably in first place. Why is no mystery. Unlike anything Dødheimsgard have put out in the past, or anything else released this year, Black Medium Current challenged, confronted, and mesmerized me. Weird and discomfiting one moment, tear-jerkingly beautiful another, this album is an emotional and musical rollercoaster that treads perfectly that line between avant-garde wackiness and sincere black metal passion. I recall how stunned I was to discover its 72+ minute length, after already spinning it back-to-back multiple times because it’s so engrossing and intelligently composed. I also recall just how close I came to awarding my first “Iconic” when reviewing it, simply due to the lasting power I perceived it to possess. While the Contrite Metal Guy piece is not on the roadmap for anytime soon, I still believe Black Medium Current to be incredibly special, and an album that absolutely must be heard by everyone in the metalsphere, even if it’s to rapidly discover it’s not one’s cup of tea. Dødheimsgard have made an almost perfect record here. A worthy holder of the top position, were it not for one, equally lengthy rival…

#1. Panopticon // The Rime of Memory – As it’s so recently reviewed, perhaps this was obvious. But with Panopticon, I can be sure that its immense influence is not just due to proximity bias. Just like its predecessor …And Again into the Light, The Rime of Memory knocked me flat off my feet and buried me like an avalanche, with all of the intensity and force, and yet none of the cold. Because this burns white hot with passion and pain. I haven’t yet decided whether it sits above that prior record, but right now, it doesn’t matter, because it easily stands above all others in 2023. “Cedar Skeletons” alone snatches the song of the year accolade, but the whole is something I have to experience again and again. It would just be wrong to give anything less than first place to an album that quite literally brings me to tears because of how emotionally poignant and compositionally powerful it is. As with my #2 pick, its epic duration is immaterial in the face of its effect, which is utterly unmatched by any of my other list contenders. Panopticon—particularly on more recent records—seems to have a unique ability to tug on my heartstrings and to blend the most ferocious of black metal with the most serene and evocative Appalachian folk, and to have it all bleed pure pathos. The Rime of Memory more than matched my lofty hopes, and it already has a very special place in my heart.

Honorable Mentions:

• Ahab // The Coral Tombs – A return to form after the iffy Boats of the Glen Carrig. Managing at turns to be both as heavy as a colossal squid and beautifully still as the depths of the ocean.
• Nightmarer // Deformity Adrift – I love everything Nightmarer put out and this is no exception. Brutal and shivering with grim atmosphere and irresistible rhythm.
• Manbryne // Interregnum: O próbie wiary i jarzmie zw​ą​tpienia – Just as good, if not better than its predecessor. Which means it’s really rather good. Gnarly, intriguing Polish black metal with bite and pizzaz.
• The Circle // Of Awakening – This magnificent dramatic black metal opus came the closest to making it into the final list. I slept on this album hard until the final months, and it was only barely pushed out.
• Dymna Lotva // The Land Under the Black Wings: Blood – An album that came out of absolutely nowhere for me and stunned with its emotional potency and devastating delivery. Future Dymna Lotva records may well make the list when that year comes.
• Voidsphere // To Infect | To Inflict – Thank you to Dear Hollow for putting this on my radar. It’s like Decoherence and Darkspace had a baby. A dark, mesmerizing atmospheric black metal baby. Gorgeous.

Songs of the Year:

• “Cedar Skeletons” – Panopticon
• “De Namnlösa” – Night Crowned
• “Axe of Kindness” – To the Grave
• “Optograms of Disgust” – Downfall of Gaia
• “The Fall” – Serpent of Old
• “A Coral Tomb” – Ahab
• “Boreal” – The Ocean
• “Seven Crowns and Seven Seals” – Sulphur Aeon
• “Taufbefehl” – Nightmarer
• “Of Awakening” – The Circle (ft. Ne Obliviscaris)

Guilty Pleasure of the Year:

• “SIRENCORE” – Banshee – Not remotely metal unless you count some black metal shrieking scattered into its dance-pop. I did however, get mildly addicted to this song for a time. What can I say? I have to let my girly side out occasionally. And yeah. It’s going on the playlist.

Maddog

My earballs had a mixed year. A headbanger’s field day, 2023 boasted a solid array of death metal and some doom that won over skeptics like me. But this year’s music lacked emotional weight. Few 2023 albums sounded as beautiful as Inexorum’s Equinox Vigil, as heart-wrenching as Darkher’s The Buried Storm, or as monumental as Gloson’s The Rift, all of which rocked my 2022 list. There was still plenty to love, but something felt missing.

And so, I found solace in music from years past. Trees of Eternity’s Hour of the Nightingale, perhaps the most underrated record in AMG history, offered me catharsis on dark days. Emma Ruth Rundle held my hand,4 expressing boundless empathy through Marked for Death. Every Enshine release whisked me into a secluded world of sorrowful beauty. Conversely, LiveWire’s thrilling Under Attack!, my favorite 2022 record, kept hopelessness at bay; no matter what, I’m happy to inhabit a world that has LiveWire in it. On the fiercer side, I rekindled my love for Morbid Angel’s Covenant (1993), Suffocation’s Effigy of the Forgotten (1991), and Dying Fetus’ Killing on Adrenaline (1998). This deep bench of yesteryear highlights helped scratch the itches that 2023 albums missed.

The scarcity of tear-jerking 2023 music also re-taught me an important lesson: music that isn’t overtly emotional can still offer consolation or escape. Indeed, my favorite 2023 records brought a smile to my tired face rather than feeding my wallowing tendencies. A comment from the recent Suffocation review expressed this sentiment best:

All things fall to ruin in this world, and that’s why we have death metal.

I’ll give thank-yous a shot, though they’ll inevitably be incomplete. Thank you to AMG for his fearless leadership, Madam X for her tireless work, Grier for his insults, Steel for his bourbon (and also his bourbon), Sentynel for keeping us alive, and Dear Hollow for doing all the writing. Thank you to the UK staff for tolerating my occasional visits, and to everyone who’s supported me through bouts of melodrama. And thank you to everyone who makes my world more musical: artists, comment-section banterers, fellow writers, friends who share music with me, kind people at shows, and more. I’ll be on board 70,000 Tons for the first time next month, and I’m excited to keep deepening my musical community.

Finally, thank you to Thus Spoke, my (list) partner in (vegan) crime. Her intense emotional connection to music bleeds through her words, inspiring me to listen more closely and write more goodly. Read her list first; you won’t regret it.

#ish. Ne Obliviscaris // Exul – Exul’s peaks show Ne Obliviscaris at the top of their divisive game. The band’s balance of beauty and brutality is as strong as ever, as the strings, clean guitars, and death metal riffs move in lockstep. Bassist Martino Garratoni’s hyperactive melodies round out Exul’s rich soundscape. It’s a pleasure to hear Ne Obliviscaris’ compositions unfold, ebbing and flowing among the band’s diverse strengths. Exul’s bloat is the only major splotch on an otherwise stellar record. Listen to Exul with an open mind; it’s easy to get clouded by the hype or the popular hatred. Exul offers a lot to love, and there isn’t much else like it.
[Pairing: Maison Ferrand (Ars, France), Citadelle Jardin d’Été Gin. This gin is easy to sneer at; it’s contemporary, a newcomer, and French. But give it a chance. You might find your mind wandering through a château garden in bloom.]

#10. Gorod // The Orb – I slept on The Orb at first because of its lackluster bass. After a decade of spectacular performances, bassist Benoit Claus inexplicably dialed back his wizardry after 2015’s A Maze of Recycled Creeds. Still, Gorod makes it work. The Orb’s unhinged harmonic leads showcase guitarists Pascal and Alberny at their finest. Meanwhile, the album’s energetic peaks and valleys give space for the drums to take the driver’s seat. Every moment of The Orb amps me up for the next moment, most notably on career highlight “Breeding Silence.” The Orb isn’t memorable enough to land near the top of Gorod’s formidable discography, but Gorod’s brand of hyper-technical death metal is still fun as hell.
[Pairing: Founders Brewing (Grand Rapids, MI), Porter – 6.5% ABV. Less rich than some of its Founders brethren (e.g. Breakfast Stout), but still a flavorful feast.]

#9. Altari // Kröflueldar – I don’t know what the hell this is, but I love it. Altari’s distinctive debut melds black metal and psychedelic rock. While those genre labels might provoke knee-jerk comparisons to Oranssi Pazuzu or A Forest of Stars, Altari’s sound is peerless. Stalwart rhythms ground you while swirling melodies emerge from nowhere to whisk you away, echoing Love’s Forever Changes and Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow. And yet, Kröflueldar’s blackened edge makes it a haunting experience. While Kröflueldar’s abrupt song endings have room for improvement, Altari’s hypnotic debut is a triumph. It might be tucked too far underground to turn many heads, but it’s well worth your time.
[Pairing: Brandy Soymilk Punch (made with Paul Masson VSOP Brandy). “What the hell is this? Why would I ever drink… Errr, why is my glass empty? Fill me up!”]

#8. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – The melodic black metal resurgence of 2023 peaked with Sodomisery. Mazzaroth checks every box. Dissection-lite blackened death riffs collude with soaring Misturious melodies to lure you into the fray. The album’s clean sections and Sodomisery’s newfound symphonic elements add emotional depth without sounding generic. Mazzaroth’s strengths coalesce in its belt-along choruses, which maintain the album’s somber mood while still worming into your brain. Because Sodomisery executes every component so well, the record sounds fresh despite trodding well-trodden ground. Even Sodomisery’s less-than-ideal name inspired three of 2023’s most iconic comments. Mazzaroth has captured the hearts of old fans and newcomers alike, and the attention is well-deserved.
[Pairing: BrewDog (Ellon, UK), Drop D – Cascadian Dark Ale, 8.1% ABV. Perfectly balances hoppiness and roasty stout flavors, without reinventing any wheels.]

#7. Faithxtractor // Contempt for a Failed Dimension – While 2023 had no shortage of compelling no-frills death metal, the genre peaked in January with Faithxtractor. This is what you get when you cross faith unforgiving death metal with a tractor meticulous songwriting. Contempt for a Failed Dimension’s single-minded focus keeps it concise and fearsome across both its crushing slow sections and its frantic riff carnivals. Faithxtractor’s creativity elevates the album from “mere” fun to the top of its genre. Even at its most unhinged, Contempt for a Failed Dimension never trips over itself. Every riff inhabits its optimal location, and each one is essential to the final product. I’m not sure which dimension has failed—I hope it isn’t a spatial one—but I know Faithxtractor will punish it mightily.
[Pairing: Lagunitas Brewing (Petaluma, CA), IPA – 6.2% ABV. A familiar beer in a familiar style, but it always hits the spot. Sometimes that’s all you need.]

#6. Xoth // Exogalactic – Xoth’s brand of technical blackened death-thrash is a sci-fi spectacle. Exogalactic’s futuristic riffs, twisting melodies, and narrative arcs make it feel like reptilian aliens are indeed enslaving humans as gladiators like hordes of warriors are really battling for the galaxy. Hearing Xoth play Tetris with electrifying melodies of all shapes and sizes is thrilling. While the album’s peaks fall short of its predecessor, you’ll be belting out its colossal choruses in no time. Xoth’s style is unique, but it shares a strength with Archspire, First Fragment, and Jane Austen: you can hear Xoth grinning through their art. Every time I listen to Exogalactic, I can’t help but grin alongside.
[Pairing: Brouwerij Huyghe (Melle, Belgium), Delirium Tremens – Belgian Golden Strong Ale, 8.5% ABV. A paradox in a glass: strong and flavorful, but light-hearted and bright. It’ll put a smile on your face.]

#5. Raider // Trial by Chaos – Trial by Chaos is as dense as its cover art. Over 39 minutes of hectic death-thrash, Raider tells tales of dystopia, science fiction, and righteous defiance. Every element of Raider’s onslaught finds its mark. The guitars range from Floridian death metal steamrollers to three-piece melodic leads, nailing both styles. The thunderous rhythm section raises hell at climactic moments and stitches Trial by Chaos’ disparate pieces together. Most strikingly, Angelo Bonaccorso’s vocal variety imbues the music with emotional force and narrative structure. This is only Raider’s second full-length record, but its cohesion and show-stopping power make it best in class. Expect Raider to be a torchbearer for death-thrash in the years to come.
[Pairing: 3 Floyds Brewing (Munster, IN), Permanent Funeral – Imperial IPA, 10.5% ABV. Unforgiving in its strength, its hoppiness, and its intense flavor. Intimidating but irresistible.]

#4. Wayfarer // American Gothic – Seamlessly blending their Western aesthetic with black metal, Wayfarer transports the listener to the Western United States circa 1900. This is not a romanticized Magic School Bus trip; everything around you is greed, senseless violence, and environmental devastation.5 American Gothic’s emotional palette matches this landscape, leading through righteous anger (“The Cattle Thief”),6 longing (“To Enter My House Justified”), and hopelessness (“Black Plumes over God’s Country”). The album’s fantastic rhythm section and its rich production, both uncharacteristic strengths for black metal, allow Wayfarer’s diverse compositions to shine. Even though Wayfarer isn’t the only band playing this style, they’ve won my heart. Concise but powerful, American Gothic is the new American gothic.
[Pairing: Buffalo Trace Distillery (Frankfort, KY), Sazerac Rye. Accessible for the wallet and the palate, but with a fierce rye edge. A flavor bonanza and a perfect companion for an evening of reminiscences or regrets.]

#3. Hellripper // Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags – The “old Hellripper” is still alive and well, after two riotous slabs of blackened speed metal. The “new Hellripper” is no less formidable. Forays into death metal and old-school speed metal add flair around the edges. Meanwhile, Warlocks’ longer tracks leap out of Hellripper’s comfort zone while balancing melodic variety and narrative cohesion. Scottish folk influences add depth throughout the melodies, the lyrics rooted in Orkney mythology, and the unexpected bagpipes. With these forces combined, the record’s narrative pieces feel like captivating campfire tales rather than bedtime stories. And still, Warlocks’ speedy killers are the most fun I’ve had all year. Warlocks is both an exhilarating listen and a massive step forward for Hellripper’s songwriting.
[Pairing: St. George Spirits (Alameda, CA), Terroir Gin. The juniper-heavy palate will placate gin gatekeepers, while the Douglas fir and sage will transport open minds to a California coastal redwood forest. Classic, innovative, and delicious.]

#2. Onheil // In Black Ashes – In Black Ashes is melodic black/death/speed/thrash at its finest. But that description is both a little too much and much too little. The album’s irresistible speedy riffs alone deserve Grier’s 3.5. Onheil’s mastery of melody and songwriting elevates In Black Ashes into the stratosphere. Led by the indomitable “Void,” In Black Ashes’ powerful melodies offer catharsis like none other. As the album progresses, Onheil flexes their compositional muscles more, melding narrative meloblack epics with Mors Principium Est-adjacent bangers. Every track is a winner, and Onheil strikes an impossible balance between enthralling riffs and emotional heft. In Black Ashes deserves a lot more love.
[Pairing: Hayman’s Distillery (London, UK), Royal Dock Navy Strength Gin. This isn’t just another boring London gin; spices and citrus add a twist. Bottled at the 114 proof point where soaked gunpowder can still ignite, Royal Dock is fierce but shockingly smooth.]

#1. Theophonos // Nightmare Visions – Nightmare Visions throws everything at the wall, and everything sticks. I struggled to describe this album once, and it isn’t getting easier. Theophonos’ debut feels like a grind-paced tour through metal history, squeezed through a blackened filter. Armed with razor-sharp riffs, a vicious rhythm section, and a refusal to sit still, Theophonos’ dissonant style is both neck-shattering and evocative. The album’s density makes it a gripping experience, while Jimmy Hamzey’s (Serpent Column) masterful transitions hold the Jenga blocks together. Theophonos’ blood, sweat, and tears glisten through details like the inter-song callbacks and the blurring of frenzied black metal and serene rock. Ten months into our love affair, Nightmare Visions still reveals new facets on every listen. Even if blackened grind isn’t your home turf (trust me, it isn’t mine), give Nightmare Visions a shot. I’d never heard anything like it, but now I can’t stop listening.
[Pairing: Fifth Hammer Brewing (Queens, NY), POGlodyte – Sour Ale with Passionfruit, Blood Orange, and Guava, 5.5% ABV. The description is accurate but inadequate. Wilder than your wildest dreams, this sour is what you never realized your life needed. Rapture for every taste bud.]

Honorable Mentions:

• Night Crowned // Tales – Tales is a scorcher from cover to cover, blending ferocious blackened death melodies with clean and folky digressions. Night Crowned jostled their way up here at the last minute. Ask me in a few weeks, and I might regret not pushing Tales up to my top 10.
• Tomb Mold // The Enduring Spirit – Tomb Mold’s 57-degree turn into prog death lands close to Fallujah’s best work. With dueling guitar leads, riveting bass melodies, and groovy drum lines, The Enduring Spirit is gorgeous and engaging. With more oomph, it could’ve landed near the top of my list.
• Saturnus // The Storm Within – From its crushing death-doom riffs to its My Dying Bride-esque dirges, The Storm Within ripped my heart out. Saturnus’ decade-awaited return suffers from bloat, but it’s still one of 2023’s rare emotional juggernauts.
• Kalmah // Kalmah – Kalmah’s Kalmah sounds like Kalmah, in the best way. Firestorm riffs, massive climaxes, and prominent synths get the blood flowing. The slower morose sections hit just as hard, especially with their infectious choruses. Kalmah doesn’t break new ground, but it still holds me rapt.
• Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter // Saved! – Saved! is jarring, but Hayter’s spellbinding vocals and her cohesive compositions won me over. The album pantses my heart in its best moments, like “I Will Be with You Always.” The out-of-place shorter pieces and the record’s rocky start hold Saved! back, but it’s still worth a spin or ten.
• Serpent of Old // Ensemble under the Dark Sun – This one is tough to describe. Ensemble’s blackened death melodies, at once eerie and grabby, crept under my skin on my very first listen. Given how dense and thoughtful Ensemble is, I still can’t believe it’s Serpent of Old’s debut.

Disappointments o’ the Year:

• Myrkur // Spine – Pairing: Methanol. A close relative of excellence, but hazardous in its current form. So close, but so very far.
• The Ocean // Holocene – Pairing: Southwest Spirits (Dallas, TX), Calamity Gin. The heavy floral and citrusy botanicals make for an intriguing promo pitch. Given my history with similar styles, I had every expectation of loving this. Alas, reality was not so kind; I struggled to finish it.

Songs o’ the Year:

1. Onheil – “Void”
2. Enslaved – “Congelia”
3. Xoth – “Battlesphere”
4. Sermon – “Golden”
5. Gorod – “Breeding Silence”
6. Ne Obliviscaris – “Equus”
7. Insomnium – “1696”
8. Theophonos – “Of Days Past”
9. Raider – “Labyrinth”
10. Wayfarer – “The Cattle Thief”
11. Stortregn – “The Revelation”

#Ahab #Altari #Convocation #Dödheimsgard #DownfallOfGaia #DymnaLotva #Faithxtractor #FiresInTheDistance #Gorod #Hellripper #Kalmah #Lists #Listurnalia #Mānbryne #Myrkur #NeObliviscaris #NightCrowned #Nightmarer #Onheil #Panopticon #Raider #ReverendKristinMichaelHayter #Saturnus #SerpentOfOld #Sodomisery #Stortregn #Thantifaxath #TheCircle #TheOcean #Theophonos #ThusSpokeSAndMaddogSTopTenIshOf2023 #ToTheGrave #TombMold #Top10Ish_ #Voidsphere #Wayfarer #Xoth

Thus Spoke and Maddog’s Top Ten(ish) of 2023

By Thus Spoke

Thus Spoke

Mum, I’ve made it; I’ve got my own official year-end list on Angry Metal Guy dot com. Just two years ago I had begun my probation period in what would come to be characteristically overzealous fashion, slapping a 4.5 on my first ever review, before deciding that words are much better than numbers. At the time, uncertain of my tenancy in these hallowed halls, I was juggling n00b reviews with short-form reviews on Instagram,1 the latter pursuit being what led me to apply here in the first place. And I’m glad I did!

My first complete year here as a writer has been pretty great, all things considered. I’ve reviewed (and not reviewed) some Excellent (with a capital ‘E’) albums and discovered new favorites—some of whom will be appearing below. It continues to humble me and blow my mind that I get to put my thoughts about music out here on the internet and that people actually read them; that I get to write about bands and records with a critical voice that actually garners some respect, like I’m a proper person who knows things; and that I have the chance to gush about artists I’ve loved for a long time, or only just hit upon. Reviewing Panopticon was a wonderful year-end highlight. Of course, not everything was rosy. It was another year of silence from Ulcerate2, not the greatest year for truly stand-out black metal (with some clear exceptions), and a year in which I struggled with some significant challenges at work. But disappointing promos and unavoidable life hurdles aside, 2023 has been the year that AMG—the reviewing, the staff, and the commenting community—has cemented itself as an important part of who I am. I’m grateful for all of you. Thank you.

Having not made one of these before, this has been my first proper taste of the agony (and perhaps joy) of choosing what to list and where to list them. Can I pen a Contrite Metal Guy piece about my picks later down the line? No, I can’t. So if I’ve forgotten something, please just don’t bring it up or it’ll torture me for at least the entirety of 2024.3 Now, on with the list before I change my mind!

#ish. Convocation // No Dawn for the Caliginous Night – Not only did this album floor me on first listen, but it also made me discover how much I love to say the word “caliginous.” *Annunciates* Cal-ig-in-ous. No Dawn… is just as satisfying, but in a very different way. Its drama, potency, and sheer scale are wondrous to behold and instantly catapulted it into my list (well, close enough). I had been thinking in recent months that I’d kind of fallen off the doom wagon. But Convocation was there right as the year was about to end to shove me firmly back on board. As Cherd opined “This is a towering celebration of death’s enormity, packaged in the heaviest and most shimmering of vessels,” and I concur. It’s really only down to a totally stacked year of music that this behemoth doesn’t rank higher.

#10. Thantifaxath // Hive Mind Narcosis – This album scares the shit out of me and I absolutely love it. Everything about its wacky, dissonant, bendy, manic, and malevolent intensity borders on the hallucinogenic and nightmarish. And as a piece of extreme metal, aiming to confront with the harshest of blackened death metal, this is a very good thing. Thantifaxath were a 2023 discovery for me, and this, their sophomore effort, thoroughly convinced me that I should be paying attention to them. It always sends me into a state of heavy foreboding, anxiety, and nausea at confrontation with the absurd. When I reviewed Hive Mind Narcosis, I talked about its contradictory coherence and beauty under a façade of erraticism and ugliness, and I believe this to be what makes it continue to stand out amidst many other unapproachable extreme metal records that came out in 2023, worthy as they may be.

#9. Downfall of Gaia // Silhouettes of Disgust – While I’ve had an appreciation for Downfall of Gaia since Atrophy, Silhouettes of Disgust has been the first one that’s really made an impression on me. It’s stuck with me nearly all year since it dropped in March, and I find myself continuing to return to it again and again. When I don’t know what to listen to, I’ll stick this on, and I’ll enjoy it every time. Melodically and emotionally powerful, it contains some of my favorite musical moments of the year, including in particular the building surge of drama and catharsis that ends “Optograms of Disgust” and the album entirely. I think the reason Silhouettes has had this effect was pinned down nicely by Carcharodon when he wrote: “this is the [album] that manages to blend most effectively all the disparate facets of Downfall of Gaia’s sound.” And I would go further and assert what he only hinted at, that Silhouettes is indeed the best of the band’s career.

#8. Stortregn // Finitude – I feel like Stortregn have been getting more and more fun with every album, or at least definitely on the last few. While Emptiness Fills the Void (2018) was light enjoyment, Impermanence (2021) stepped things up a gear into real grin-inducing territory. Finitude, however, blows those records out of the water with what is possibly the most fun I’ve had with technical death/black metal of any kind. Everything about it works towards this, from constantly evolving, circularly composed song structures that sweep you away with their drama and flair, to a flipping flamenco break in “Xeno Chaos” which I should hate, but instead, I absolutely fucking love because it works so brilliantly. Its melodies are gorgeous, its energy undeniable, its rhythms irresistible. Damn, I think I’m gonna go and listen to it again now, I’ve really given myself the itch.

#7. To the Grave // Director’s Cuts – This started off higher on my list. It’s not that I’ve cooled off on it. Quite the contrary, as To the Grave are my most-listened-to artist on Spotify this year, and I will still ardently defend, to anyone who bothers to vocalize their disagreement, that this is an Excellent album. It’s simply a testament to the strength of those you’ll find below. But let that not take away from the immensity that is Director’s Cuts. It’s a stunning slab of deathcore that utterly wipes the floor with anything else released in that subgenre this year, not just br00tal and groovy as all hell, but possessed of a powerful and righteous message of animal liberation, wrapped of course, in a super mean metal mien. “Manhunt,” and indeed most of the album, powered many a top set in the gym, while stone-cold classic-in-the-making, “Axe of Kindness” easily makes it to the Songs of the Year playlist. It’s just fantastic all-round. Until all are free! *Headbangs violently.*

#6. Wayfarer // American Gothic – I was not initially overly enamored with American Gothic. I don’t know what I was playing at though, because it’s quite clearly brilliant. It’s grown on me like no other album has this year, quickly and assertively muscling its way almost into my top five. Though at first I thought it was inferior to its predecessor A Romance with Violence, as I’ve mentioned, I was being silly, and it’s actually far superior. With a more coherent and consistent compositional structure, more powerful and punchy songs, with stronger, more memorable melodies, and a better integration of that uniquely Western vibe into vibrant and vicious black metal, this is my favorite Wayfarer album by a country mile. Brilliantly evocative, both satisfyingly savage and stirringly soft when it needs to be, American Gothic never ceases to transport me to the old West in its turbulent transformation with drama, passion, and beauty. And it’s wonderful to experience.

#5. Night Crowned // Tales – It was surprising enough that none of my esteemed colleagues had nabbed Tales before I did. But for it to be so mind-blowingly fantastic that it would end up this high on my year-end list was something else. With a songs-of-the-year-lister for an opening cut and, in general, a tracklist stuffed full of back-to-back bangers, and a blazingly bombastic, infectious spirit all around, Tales charges ahead of the competition with savage glee. It’s actually hard to overstate just how good this album is, particularly given how ridiculously easy it is to listen to with its catchy melodies, (relatively) snappy song lengths, and dynamic energy. The culmination of Night Crowned’s fiery and dramatic style of black metal, and the best of their already stellar discography, Tales calls me back ceaselessly and I’m more than happy to oblige.

#4. Fires in the Distance // Air Not Meant for Us – This album is magical. Nothing has changed since I first heard it in its entirety this spring. Elegantly composed, stirring, and effortlessly graceful, it’s hands-down the most straightforwardly beautiful thing on my list. It’s moving without being sappy, and pretty without being saccharine. And Air Not Meant for Us also wins points for including a midway instrumental that’s not only just as good as the other tracks, but possibly better, and bridges the two sides of the album in this lovely way that makes for a dreamy kind of interlude. Fires in the Distance have such a distinctive form of ethereal, key-accented melodeath/doom that I can only see the immense strength of Air Not Meant for Us as a huge, incredibly exciting sign of more brilliant records to come. As it is, I still haven’t had enough of this one.

#3. Serpent of Old // Ensemble Under the Dark Sun – Back in June, I confidently declared that “Serpent of Old have crafted one of the best metal records of 2023 so far, no exaggeration.” Well, it turns out I wasn’t exaggerating, because here it is, number three on my list. Clear as day I can recall hearing the opening notes of “The Sin Before the Great Sin,” as Ensemble Under the Dark Sun began playing for the first time. Straight away I knew that I’d landed a monster of an album, and 42 or so minutes later I was completely engulfed in its intoxicatingly atmospheric darkness. Like their eponymous snake, Serpent of Old wound their blackened death metal around and around my brain. Ensemble is intense, and yet utterly captivating, dripping with oppressive, haunting melodies and deep, angular dissonance. And it also features the best drum performance of the year in my opinion. To think this is a debut is frankly astonishing, and I am extremely keen to hear more.

#2. Dødheimsgard // Black Medium Current – For a long time, this sat comfortably in first place. Why is no mystery. Unlike anything Dødheimsgard have put out in the past, or anything else released this year, Black Medium Current challenged, confronted, and mesmerized me. Weird and discomfiting one moment, tear-jerkingly beautiful another, this album is an emotional and musical rollercoaster that treads perfectly that line between avant-garde wackiness and sincere black metal passion. I recall how stunned I was to discover its 72+ minute length, after already spinning it back-to-back multiple times because it’s so engrossing and intelligently composed. I also recall just how close I came to awarding my first “Iconic” when reviewing it, simply due to the lasting power I perceived it to possess. While the Contrite Metal Guy piece is not on the roadmap for anytime soon, I still believe Black Medium Current to be incredibly special, and an album that absolutely must be heard by everyone in the metalsphere, even if it’s to rapidly discover it’s not one’s cup of tea. Dødheimsgard have made an almost perfect record here. A worthy holder of the top position, were it not for one, equally lengthy rival…

#1. Panopticon // The Rime of Memory – As it’s so recently reviewed, perhaps this was obvious. But with Panopticon, I can be sure that its immense influence is not just due to proximity bias. Just like its predecessor …And Again into the Light, The Rime of Memory knocked me flat off my feet and buried me like an avalanche, with all of the intensity and force, and yet none of the cold. Because this burns white hot with passion and pain. I haven’t yet decided whether it sits above that prior record, but right now, it doesn’t matter, because it easily stands above all others in 2023. “Cedar Skeletons” alone snatches the song of the year accolade, but the whole is something I have to experience again and again. It would just be wrong to give anything less than first place to an album that quite literally brings me to tears because of how emotionally poignant and compositionally powerful it is. As with my #2 pick, its epic duration is immaterial in the face of its effect, which is utterly unmatched by any of my other list contenders. Panopticon—particularly on more recent records—seems to have a unique ability to tug on my heartstrings and to blend the most ferocious of black metal with the most serene and evocative Appalachian folk, and to have it all bleed pure pathos. The Rime of Memory more than matched my lofty hopes, and it already has a very special place in my heart.

Honorable Mentions:

• Ahab // The Coral Tombs – A return to form after the iffy Boats of the Glen Carrig. Managing at turns to be both as heavy as a colossal squid and beautifully still as the depths of the ocean.
• Nightmarer // Deformity Adrift – I love everything Nightmarer put out and this is no exception. Brutal and shivering with grim atmosphere and irresistible rhythm.
• Manbryne // Interregnum: O próbie wiary i jarzmie zw​ą​tpienia – Just as good, if not better than its predecessor. Which means it’s really rather good. Gnarly, intriguing Polish black metal with bite and pizzaz.
• The Circle // Of Awakening – This magnificent dramatic black metal opus came the closest to making it into the final list. I slept on this album hard until the final months, and it was only barely pushed out.
• Dymna Lotva // The Land Under the Black Wings: Blood – An album that came out of absolutely nowhere for me and stunned with its emotional potency and devastating delivery. Future Dymna Lotva records may well make the list when that year comes.
• Voidsphere // To Infect | To Inflict – Thank you to Dear Hollow for putting this on my radar. It’s like Decoherence and Darkspace had a baby. A dark, mesmerizing atmospheric black metal baby. Gorgeous.

Songs of the Year:

• “Cedar Skeletons” – Panopticon
• “De Namnlösa” – Night Crowned
• “Axe of Kindness” – To the Grave
• “Optograms of Disgust” – Downfall of Gaia
• “The Fall” – Serpent of Old
• “A Coral Tomb” – Ahab
• “Boreal” – The Ocean
• “Seven Crowns and Seven Seals” – Sulphur Aeon
• “Taufbefehl” – Nightmarer
• “Of Awakening” – The Circle (ft. Ne Obliviscaris)

Guilty Pleasure of the Year:

• “SIRENCORE” – Banshee – Not remotely metal unless you count some black metal shrieking scattered into its dance-pop. I did however, get mildly addicted to this song for a time. What can I say? I have to let my girly side out occasionally. And yeah. It’s going on the playlist.

Maddog

My earballs had a mixed year. A headbanger’s field day, 2023 boasted a solid array of death metal and some doom that won over skeptics like me. But this year’s music lacked emotional weight. Few 2023 albums sounded as beautiful as Inexorum’s Equinox Vigil, as heart-wrenching as Darkher’s The Buried Storm, or as monumental as Gloson’s The Rift, all of which rocked my 2022 list. There was still plenty to love, but something felt missing.

And so, I found solace in music from years past. Trees of Eternity’s Hour of the Nightingale, perhaps the most underrated record in AMG history, offered me catharsis on dark days. Emma Ruth Rundle held my hand,4 expressing boundless empathy through Marked for Death. Every Enshine release whisked me into a secluded world of sorrowful beauty. Conversely, LiveWire’s thrilling Under Attack!, my favorite 2022 record, kept hopelessness at bay; no matter what, I’m happy to inhabit a world that has LiveWire in it. On the fiercer side, I rekindled my love for Morbid Angel’s Covenant (1993), Suffocation’s Effigy of the Forgotten (1991), and Dying Fetus’ Killing on Adrenaline (1998). This deep bench of yesteryear highlights helped scratch the itches that 2023 albums missed.

The scarcity of tear-jerking 2023 music also re-taught me an important lesson: music that isn’t overtly emotional can still offer consolation or escape. Indeed, my favorite 2023 records brought a smile to my tired face rather than feeding my wallowing tendencies. A comment from the recent Suffocation review expressed this sentiment best:

All things fall to ruin in this world, and that’s why we have death metal.

I’ll give thank-yous a shot, though they’ll inevitably be incomplete. Thank you to AMG for his fearless leadership, Madam X for her tireless work, Grier for his insults, Steel for his bourbon (and also his bourbon), Sentynel for keeping us alive, and Dear Hollow for doing all the writing. Thank you to the UK staff for tolerating my occasional visits, and to everyone who’s supported me through bouts of melodrama. And thank you to everyone who makes my world more musical: artists, comment-section banterers, fellow writers, friends who share music with me, kind people at shows, and more. I’ll be on board 70,000 Tons for the first time next month, and I’m excited to keep deepening my musical community.

Finally, thank you to Thus Spoke, my (list) partner in (vegan) crime. Her intense emotional connection to music bleeds through her words, inspiring me to listen more closely and write more goodly. Read her list first; you won’t regret it.

#ish. Ne Obliviscaris // Exul – Exul’s peaks show Ne Obliviscaris at the top of their divisive game. The band’s balance of beauty and brutality is as strong as ever, as the strings, clean guitars, and death metal riffs move in lockstep. Bassist Martino Garratoni’s hyperactive melodies round out Exul’s rich soundscape. It’s a pleasure to hear Ne Obliviscaris’ compositions unfold, ebbing and flowing among the band’s diverse strengths. Exul’s bloat is the only major splotch on an otherwise stellar record. Listen to Exul with an open mind; it’s easy to get clouded by the hype or the popular hatred. Exul offers a lot to love, and there isn’t much else like it.
[Pairing: Maison Ferrand (Ars, France), Citadelle Jardin d’Été Gin. This gin is easy to sneer at; it’s contemporary, a newcomer, and French. But give it a chance. You might find your mind wandering through a château garden in bloom.]

#10. Gorod // The Orb – I slept on The Orb at first because of its lackluster bass. After a decade of spectacular performances, bassist Benoit Claus inexplicably dialed back his wizardry after 2015’s A Maze of Recycled Creeds. Still, Gorod makes it work. The Orb’s unhinged harmonic leads showcase guitarists Pascal and Alberny at their finest. Meanwhile, the album’s energetic peaks and valleys give space for the drums to take the driver’s seat. Every moment of The Orb amps me up for the next moment, most notably on career highlight “Breeding Silence.” The Orb isn’t memorable enough to land near the top of Gorod’s formidable discography, but Gorod’s brand of hyper-technical death metal is still fun as hell.
[Pairing: Founders Brewing (Grand Rapids, MI), Porter – 6.5% ABV. Less rich than some of its Founders brethren (e.g. Breakfast Stout), but still a flavorful feast.]

#9. Altari // Kröflueldar – I don’t know what the hell this is, but I love it. Altari’s distinctive debut melds black metal and psychedelic rock. While those genre labels might provoke knee-jerk comparisons to Oranssi Pazuzu or A Forest of Stars, Altari’s sound is peerless. Stalwart rhythms ground you while swirling melodies emerge from nowhere to whisk you away, echoing Love’s Forever Changes and Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow. And yet, Kröflueldar’s blackened edge makes it a haunting experience. While Kröflueldar’s abrupt song endings have room for improvement, Altari’s hypnotic debut is a triumph. It might be tucked too far underground to turn many heads, but it’s well worth your time.
[Pairing: Brandy Soymilk Punch (made with Paul Masson VSOP Brandy). “What the hell is this? Why would I ever drink… Errr, why is my glass empty? Fill me up!”]

#8. Sodomisery // Mazzaroth – The melodic black metal resurgence of 2023 peaked with Sodomisery. Mazzaroth checks every box. Dissection-lite blackened death riffs collude with soaring Misturious melodies to lure you into the fray. The album’s clean sections and Sodomisery’s newfound symphonic elements add emotional depth without sounding generic. Mazzaroth’s strengths coalesce in its belt-along choruses, which maintain the album’s somber mood while still worming into your brain. Because Sodomisery executes every component so well, the record sounds fresh despite trodding well-trodden ground. Even Sodomisery’s less-than-ideal name inspired three of 2023’s most iconic comments. Mazzaroth has captured the hearts of old fans and newcomers alike, and the attention is well-deserved.
[Pairing: BrewDog (Ellon, UK), Drop D – Cascadian Dark Ale, 8.1% ABV. Perfectly balances hoppiness and roasty stout flavors, without reinventing any wheels.]

#7. Faithxtractor // Contempt for a Failed Dimension – While 2023 had no shortage of compelling no-frills death metal, the genre peaked in January with Faithxtractor. This is what you get when you cross faith unforgiving death metal with a tractor meticulous songwriting. Contempt for a Failed Dimension’s single-minded focus keeps it concise and fearsome across both its crushing slow sections and its frantic riff carnivals. Faithxtractor’s creativity elevates the album from “mere” fun to the top of its genre. Even at its most unhinged, Contempt for a Failed Dimension never trips over itself. Every riff inhabits its optimal location, and each one is essential to the final product. I’m not sure which dimension has failed—I hope it isn’t a spatial one—but I know Faithxtractor will punish it mightily.
[Pairing: Lagunitas Brewing (Petaluma, CA), IPA – 6.2% ABV. A familiar beer in a familiar style, but it always hits the spot. Sometimes that’s all you need.]

#6. Xoth // Exogalactic – Xoth’s brand of technical blackened death-thrash is a sci-fi spectacle. Exogalactic’s futuristic riffs, twisting melodies, and narrative arcs make it feel like reptilian aliens are indeed enslaving humans as gladiators like hordes of warriors are really battling for the galaxy. Hearing Xoth play Tetris with electrifying melodies of all shapes and sizes is thrilling. While the album’s peaks fall short of its predecessor, you’ll be belting out its colossal choruses in no time. Xoth’s style is unique, but it shares a strength with Archspire, First Fragment, and Jane Austen: you can hear Xoth grinning through their art. Every time I listen to Exogalactic, I can’t help but grin alongside.
[Pairing: Brouwerij Huyghe (Melle, Belgium), Delirium Tremens – Belgian Golden Strong Ale, 8.5% ABV. A paradox in a glass: strong and flavorful, but light-hearted and bright. It’ll put a smile on your face.]

#5. Raider // Trial by Chaos – Trial by Chaos is as dense as its cover art. Over 39 minutes of hectic death-thrash, Raider tells tales of dystopia, science fiction, and righteous defiance. Every element of Raider’s onslaught finds its mark. The guitars range from Floridian death metal steamrollers to three-piece melodic leads, nailing both styles. The thunderous rhythm section raises hell at climactic moments and stitches Trial by Chaos’ disparate pieces together. Most strikingly, Angelo Bonaccorso’s vocal variety imbues the music with emotional force and narrative structure. This is only Raider’s second full-length record, but its cohesion and show-stopping power make it best in class. Expect Raider to be a torchbearer for death-thrash in the years to come.
[Pairing: 3 Floyds Brewing (Munster, IN), Permanent Funeral – Imperial IPA, 10.5% ABV. Unforgiving in its strength, its hoppiness, and its intense flavor. Intimidating but irresistible.]

#4. Wayfarer // American Gothic – Seamlessly blending their Western aesthetic with black metal, Wayfarer transports the listener to the Western United States circa 1900. This is not a romanticized Magic School Bus trip; everything around you is greed, senseless violence, and environmental devastation.5 American Gothic’s emotional palette matches this landscape, leading through righteous anger (“The Cattle Thief”),6 longing (“To Enter My House Justified”), and hopelessness (“Black Plumes over God’s Country”). The album’s fantastic rhythm section and its rich production, both uncharacteristic strengths for black metal, allow Wayfarer’s diverse compositions to shine. Even though Wayfarer isn’t the only band playing this style, they’ve won my heart. Concise but powerful, American Gothic is the new American gothic.
[Pairing: Buffalo Trace Distillery (Frankfort, KY), Sazerac Rye. Accessible for the wallet and the palate, but with a fierce rye edge. A flavor bonanza and a perfect companion for an evening of reminiscences or regrets.]

#3. Hellripper // Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags – The “old Hellripper” is still alive and well, after two riotous slabs of blackened speed metal. The “new Hellripper” is no less formidable. Forays into death metal and old-school speed metal add flair around the edges. Meanwhile, Warlocks’ longer tracks leap out of Hellripper’s comfort zone while balancing melodic variety and narrative cohesion. Scottish folk influences add depth throughout the melodies, the lyrics rooted in Orkney mythology, and the unexpected bagpipes. With these forces combined, the record’s narrative pieces feel like captivating campfire tales rather than bedtime stories. And still, Warlocks’ speedy killers are the most fun I’ve had all year. Warlocks is both an exhilarating listen and a massive step forward for Hellripper’s songwriting.
[Pairing: St. George Spirits (Alameda, CA), Terroir Gin. The juniper-heavy palate will placate gin gatekeepers, while the Douglas fir and sage will transport open minds to a California coastal redwood forest. Classic, innovative, and delicious.]

#2. Onheil // In Black Ashes – In Black Ashes is melodic black/death/speed/thrash at its finest. But that description is both a little too much and much too little. The album’s irresistible speedy riffs alone deserve Grier’s 3.5. Onheil’s mastery of melody and songwriting elevates In Black Ashes into the stratosphere. Led by the indomitable “Void,” In Black Ashes’ powerful melodies offer catharsis like none other. As the album progresses, Onheil flexes their compositional muscles more, melding narrative meloblack epics with Mors Principium Est-adjacent bangers. Every track is a winner, and Onheil strikes an impossible balance between enthralling riffs and emotional heft. In Black Ashes deserves a lot more love.
[Pairing: Hayman’s Distillery (London, UK), Royal Dock Navy Strength Gin. This isn’t just another boring London gin; spices and citrus add a twist. Bottled at the 114 proof point where soaked gunpowder can still ignite, Royal Dock is fierce but shockingly smooth.]

#1. Theophonos // Nightmare Visions – Nightmare Visions throws everything at the wall, and everything sticks. I struggled to describe this album once, and it isn’t getting easier. Theophonos’ debut feels like a grind-paced tour through metal history, squeezed through a blackened filter. Armed with razor-sharp riffs, a vicious rhythm section, and a refusal to sit still, Theophonos’ dissonant style is both neck-shattering and evocative. The album’s density makes it a gripping experience, while Jimmy Hamzey’s (Serpent Column) masterful transitions hold the Jenga blocks together. Theophonos’ blood, sweat, and tears glisten through details like the inter-song callbacks and the blurring of frenzied black metal and serene rock. Ten months into our love affair, Nightmare Visions still reveals new facets on every listen. Even if blackened grind isn’t your home turf (trust me, it isn’t mine), give Nightmare Visions a shot. I’d never heard anything like it, but now I can’t stop listening.
[Pairing: Fifth Hammer Brewing (Queens, NY), POGlodyte – Sour Ale with Passionfruit, Blood Orange, and Guava, 5.5% ABV. The description is accurate but inadequate. Wilder than your wildest dreams, this sour is what you never realized your life needed. Rapture for every taste bud.]

Honorable Mentions:

• Night Crowned // Tales – Tales is a scorcher from cover to cover, blending ferocious blackened death melodies with clean and folky digressions. Night Crowned jostled their way up here at the last minute. Ask me in a few weeks, and I might regret not pushing Tales up to my top 10.
• Tomb Mold // The Enduring Spirit – Tomb Mold’s 57-degree turn into prog death lands close to Fallujah’s best work. With dueling guitar leads, riveting bass melodies, and groovy drum lines, The Enduring Spirit is gorgeous and engaging. With more oomph, it could’ve landed near the top of my list.
• Saturnus // The Storm Within – From its crushing death-doom riffs to its My Dying Bride-esque dirges, The Storm Within ripped my heart out. Saturnus’ decade-awaited return suffers from bloat, but it’s still one of 2023’s rare emotional juggernauts.
• Kalmah // Kalmah – Kalmah’s Kalmah sounds like Kalmah, in the best way. Firestorm riffs, massive climaxes, and prominent synths get the blood flowing. The slower morose sections hit just as hard, especially with their infectious choruses. Kalmah doesn’t break new ground, but it still holds me rapt.
• Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter // Saved! – Saved! is jarring, but Hayter’s spellbinding vocals and her cohesive compositions won me over. The album pantses my heart in its best moments, like “I Will Be with You Always.” The out-of-place shorter pieces and the record’s rocky start hold Saved! back, but it’s still worth a spin or ten.
• Serpent of Old // Ensemble under the Dark Sun – This one is tough to describe. Ensemble’s blackened death melodies, at once eerie and grabby, crept under my skin on my very first listen. Given how dense and thoughtful Ensemble is, I still can’t believe it’s Serpent of Old’s debut.

Disappointments o’ the Year:

• Myrkur // Spine – Pairing: Methanol. A close relative of excellence, but hazardous in its current form. So close, but so very far.
• The Ocean // Holocene – Pairing: Southwest Spirits (Dallas, TX), Calamity Gin. The heavy floral and citrusy botanicals make for an intriguing promo pitch. Given my history with similar styles, I had every expectation of loving this. Alas, reality was not so kind; I struggled to finish it.

Songs o’ the Year:

1. Onheil – “Void”
2. Enslaved – “Congelia”
3. Xoth – “Battlesphere”
4. Sermon – “Golden”
5. Gorod – “Breeding Silence”
6. Ne Obliviscaris – “Equus”
7. Insomnium – “1696”
8. Theophonos – “Of Days Past”
9. Raider – “Labyrinth”
10. Wayfarer – “The Cattle Thief”
11. Stortregn – “The Revelation”

#Ahab #Altari #Convocation #Dödheimsgard #DownfallOfGaia #DymnaLotva #Faithxtractor #FiresInTheDistance #Gorod #Hellripper #Kalmah #Lists #Listurnalia #Mānbryne #Myrkur #NeObliviscaris #NightCrowned #Nightmarer #Onheil #Panopticon #Raider #ReverendKristinMichaelHayter #Saturnus #SerpentOfOld #Sodomisery #Stortregn #Thantifaxath #TheCircle #TheOcean #Theophonos #ThusSpokeSAndMaddogSTopTenIshOf2023 #ToTheGrave #TombMold #Top10Ish_ #Voidsphere #Wayfarer #Xoth