Top fifteen records of 2023 based entirely on personal preference - bashful justifications

 [Note:  I've been doing one of these every year for a few years, but this is the first time I had a blog to put it into.]

As usual, I miss a few things.  Quite a few last year.  Some that might have had a shot to make the 2022 list if I'd heard them in 2022 but never had a chance to make the list because I didn't hear them in 2022 - and now I don't need to worry about how they compare to the 15 I did actually include - include:

Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

Doris Brendel - Star Bright

Eruption - Tellurian Rupture

Judicator - The Majesty Of Decay

Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!

Zeal & Ardor - Zeal & Ardor

And then, even accepting that I wouldn't be able to absorb all music in all genres, even within my little pocket of guitar-driven rock/metal/folk/whatever, 2023 was full of goodies.  Not a great year for veteran bands, necessarily, with some underwhelming releases from some big names.  Not a great year for past list inductees, as even among those who had records in both 2022 and 2023 there were no repeaters (3rd Secret came really close to a back-to-back, though).  Hey, Jethro Tull, maybe don't do a Norse mythology record apropos of nothing next time.  Actually, there's a seeming rash of artists abruptly deciding to do Viking/Norse records like it's 2012 and you're trying to cash in on the nerds fixated on Thor movies.  2021 Benjamin list inductee Bloodbound fell prey to that - their 2023 effort is a solid collection of songs, but name one thing it says about vikings that Amon Amarth haven't already said better.  

Still, in a year where pop music had what my favorite YouTuber called the least year for music ever, I had just under 25 records seriously qualify for consideration on my list, but gotta wean!  At least when you've arbitrarily decided that 15 is your number!  This year's schtick is that despite how pleased I am with the list, I always feel sheepish pushing my music taste on others, and feel need to defend it whenever I put something on the list that's too poppy, or too inaccessible, or too silly, or too self-important, etc etc.  So I'm meeting my doubts head on here.

Without further ado, the 2023 list of albums that I personally enjoyed the most!

15) Tanith - The Voyage

Critical voice:  Admit it, you like the idea of this record more than actually listening to it.  Don't try to deny that you mentally kicked it off you top 15 like three separate times.

Rebuttal:  Maybe I don't unabashedly adore every instant of this sci-fi heavy modern spin on '70s rock, but Tanith are clearly doing what they do at a high level.  I like stuff that rocks with a clear focus on melody, I'm very impressed by the guitar work and songcraft, I fucking adore dualing-vocalists bands, and it turns out I can't kick either if Tanith's records out of bed (proverbially) because I just get such a kick out of what they're doing.  I stand by this pick.

14)  MONO INC. - Ravenblack

Critical voice:  I know you like cheese, but isn't this way too listless and self-assured in its lameness to work as nerd stuff?  And some of those lyrics... there's no way you seriously like this.

Rebuttal:  This is an early favorite that I assumed would fall off my list sooner or later - but it turns out that these pretty pop songs that happen to be vaguely gothy put me in a good mood.  Honestly quite surprising the extent to which a group with a deep-voiced singer and mopey sounding keys over everything - like I said, more or less a "goth" vibe - is committed to writing legitimately pretty songs.  Some happy, some sad or haunting, but almost all pretty.  Best chill-out record of the year!  I stand by this pick.

13)  Foo Fighters - But Here We Are

Critical voice:  Are you sure you're not giving someone a free pass because they're grieving?  This is just a bunch of Foo Fighters songs doing Foo Fighters song things

Rebuttal:  Sure, although a few tracks are downright groovy.  But as a whole, But Here We Are absolutely succeeds at creating a howl of grief within the language of what the Foos normally do: simple rock chords and screamed choruses.  With this record, Foo Fighters sound exactly like themselves with the ability to elicit emotion turned way up.  I know middling Foos records have made my lists before (see: 2021), but I do stand by this pick because I think it'll hold up.

12) Serenity -  Nemesis A.D.

Critical voice:  You were really into Serenity a long time ago.  That was before you found the bands that they were emulating, and before they started doing concept albums that were uncritical hagiographies of motherfucking Richard The Lionheart.  They still sound the same as they did fifteen years ago.  Is this a nostalgia pick?

Rebuttal:  With this group's symphonic take on what's basically power metal, the big thing that matters is, do the choruses soar enough to make you want to ride into battle in the name of King, Church, and Country?  These choruses soar, and the songs are, yeah, epic.  Not a flawless record or anywhere near the best of the year, but in its best moments, I stand by this sort of cheese every day of the week.

11)  Gorod - The Orb

Critical voice:  You keep trying over and over with death metal despite it not being your thing, and I guess latch on to a record.  Will you remember anything about this one next year?

Rebuttal:  I really do think I made some progress this year in my appreciation of death metal.  By which I mean that I have a clearer sense of what I do and don't like.  Specifically, straight-up death isn't that interesting to me, but you can hook me with either the right vocalist who knows how to find hooks, or the right guitar interplay, or the right atmospheric synths, and any way, I have to be able to understand at least some of the lyrics.  And I actually discovered some good death records; big shout out to Crypta, by the way,  who came *so damn close* to making my top 15.  But spinning The Orb instantly makes me recognize what most other rapid fire repetitive riffs and Cookie Monster vocals are missing.  These riffs hit, the interplay between the two guitarists makes the songs sound vast, and the vocals demonstrate loads of sonic variety between tracks so that each one sounds fresh.  If I wanted to explain why I stand by this pick, I'd just play it, because I think it speaks for itself.

10)  Ascension - Under The Veil Of Madness

Critical voice:  I know the guitar heroics might sound badass, but this is actually pure DragonForce level wankery here.  It's all a bit much, and I don't get it... and not convinced you do either.

Rebuttal:  It shows what a good year it was for power metal that this was only my #10, and only my third favorite of the year in that particular made-up subgenre.  Compared to other bands that play really fast and have shrieking singers, UTVOM has weight and heft, and you can tell from the second the first track starts.  Power metal that actually sounds powerful.  And I embrace the theatricality that helps make this record so singular (the title track's trial scene is something out of Pink Floyd except 900% more batshit, and I love it).  If I were to ever lose my mond and go on a killing spree like the protagonist here, I would stand by the decision to play this record constantly.

9)  OK Goodnight - The Fox And The Bird

Critical voice:  "Wierd" isn't automatically good, you know.  Throwing everything against the wall doesn't always make for a unified statement if the things don't fit together.  If there aren't enough hooks, it's just a bunch of noises.

Rebuttal:  See, I think it does fit together.  I admit that it took a little effort to digest what the record actually is, and I only have a vague sense of what the story is about.  That being said, these songs do, in fact, quite convincingly, move from folk to dualing-vocals black metal (with two female vocalists, no less!) and back, working in a dance beat here and there, and absolutely do make it sound like it's all part of one single piece of art.  I'm glad I spent enough time with this record to inevitably stand by putting it on the list.

8)  Sacred Outcry - Towers Of Gold

Critical voice:  How many extra listens did you need to give this one because despite all the elements, it wasn't quite landing?

Rebuttal:  But it did, eventually.  I own the fact that shrieky power metal is for me but only when the vocals deliver.  And the vocals are there on Towers Of Gold.  Daniel Heiman gives what can only be described as a bravura performance that has no trouble selling songs of this quality.  As a bonus, the admittedly typical story about going on a quest across the seas actually forms a unified whole with a beginning, an ending, and something to say that you don't usually get from bands of Sacred Outcry's ilk.  As much as other bands since the late '90s have been dabbling in music of this style, I stand by this example of it. 

7)  Ratboys - The Window

Critical voice:  As someone who has little patience for the trappings of indie-rock, why are you littering your list with more critical darlings?

Rebuttal:  Well, it helps if they can write great songs.  Ratboys got my attention a few years ago with 2020's solid-with-moments-of-brilliance Printer's Devil, and I think the good songs from The Window are at least as good, and most of the songs are the best songs.  All the deliberately messy production in the world and Julia Steiner's often unpolished vocals can't obscure the fact that these songs rock, or prevent them from lodging in the listener's head where they're always welcome.  Ratboys show that they're a fairly young band still expanding their range, and they're still getting better at playing to their strengths, especially with their forays into longer and less conventional songs  holding together way better than in the past.  I stand by the choice I made a few years ago to follow them on this journey.

6)  Angus McSix - Angus McSix And The Sword Of Power

Critical voice:  [*rolls eyes theatrically*].  Oh, and you gamed the list to make sure this was #6, didn't you?

Rebuttal:  Well, I didn't quite plan it that way, but once I realized that I might get to grant my favorite Sixcalibur-weilding warrior turned rock singer with the #6 slot, I didn't exactly fight it.  Look, the way I say it, the only thing that can make ridiculously catchy power metal better is for it to lean into how ridiculous it is.  I don't need to understand the in-fighting among the tongue-in-cheek bands or pick a side between Thomas Winkler and (Alestorm mastermind) Chris Bownes, I just need to ask myself whose soaring choruses I can call to mind instantly, and which band on my list is most clearly having an absolute blast with every note they play, and standing by this pick is easy.

5)  Doris Brendel & Lee Dunham - Pigs Might Fly

Critical voice:  Okay, so now you're going through a phase being into a singer-songwriter like many others, despite every song being a little too long.  Would you have ever heard of, uh, [*makes a show of checking notes*] Doris Brendel if she hadn't worked with Fish for a few years, and would you be missing anything?

Rebuttal:  Brendel has been really prolific lately, and you'll notice 66.66666% of the records she's released in the last two years are mentioned somewhere in this post.  Pigs Might Fly is on one level a collection of comfort food bluesy songs belted out by a hell of a vocalist.  But every song also gives you something a little extra, whether it be a time change, an unexpected instrument popping in for a solo, or a really affecting lyric that hits just right.  I wouldn't call this "prog" by any means, but it throws in just enough variety and twists and turns to rise above the pack.  This is what blues-rock in 2023 should sound like if it wants to be simultaneously classic-sounding and interesting.  The record was a mid-December discovery so I'm still digesting it; definitely stand by my enthusiasm.

 

4)  Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes

Critical voice:  If I had to imagine what a Jason Isbell record would sound like without hearing it, it'd be exactly this.  Don't you actually want something that surprises you in some way?

Rebuttal:  So, Isbell and company at the absolute top of their game coming up with a batch of songs that perfectly embody the concept of doing Jason Isbell things is a bad thing because, why, exactly?  For once I'll join in on a typical music critic's favorite in standing by a pick.

3)  Tardigrade Inferno - Burn The Circus!

Critical voice:  Yeah, novelty is fun, but #3?  Really?  No pirate metal to latch onto this year, so you go for... circus metal?

Rebuttal:  In a year, I'm either going to be wondering what I was thinking putting this in the top ten, or wondering why it wasn't #1, and I think the latter is at least as likely as the former.  Burn The Circus! was my first taste of Tardigrade Inferno, a Russian act that bills itself as "dark cabaret metal."  So yes, it's certainly different, with pop melodies, weirdly distorted and mannered vocals, and the sound of showtunes and carnival music all mingling, but is it actually good?  Fuck yes, it is.  Not only are these songs ridiculously catchy, but they've got a surprising amount of both of lyrical and compositional depth for what seems at first blush like a novelty act.  Music that makes me this excited to be a music fan is a rare girft.  With no signs that BTC will get old anytime soon, there are no signs that I won't continue to stand by such a high ranking.

2)  Suotana - Ounas I

Critical voice:  Ah yes, an artsy but impenetrable black metal choice.  The kind of thing you listen to over and over to convince yourself to like it, when what you really want is a tune you can sing along to, right?

Rebuttal:  Nah, I don't hesitate to stand by this for a second.  I get that dense layered black metal about nature is not everyone's cup of tea, and it's not always mine, but it does seem to be a niche in which I find a gem or two every year.  After listen #1, I knew I liked it, and I felt that this was probably going to be my gem, the one that would reward repeat listens.  And damn, did it ever keep rewarding.  In making what's technically an EP, Suotana have incorporated more musical ideas than in records twice its length and made them add up to more than the sum of their parts.  I definitely feel the primal energy of frozen landscapes and fast-running water, and I do find myself rasp-singing some of the choruses.  Every time I figuratively spin Ounas I I discover something new, and I plan to keep right on listening to it long after 2023 is over.

1) The Vagaband - Beautiful World

I can't think of a single actual reason to not stand by this pick.  I guess if I were doing a "critical voice," maybe I'd focus on so much non-metal being in my top five, or latching on to a British band doing Americana roots-rock when it's not my usual genre?  I'm reaching here.  Because the Vagaband have produced a record that's traditional but sounds absolutely modern and fresh, and I wouldn't hesitate to put any (okay, any except one) of its tracks against anything else on any other year-end list.  It's lively and rockin', it's soulful, it's haunting, and it's moving.  I will go further and say that anyone who somehow reads this, no matter their taste in music, owes it to themselves to explored Beautiful World and see if maybe it's for them.  I just find it hard to conceive of not loving it.

And there we have a list.  As always, I also include a totally context-free list of a few more specific songs I felt like highlighting.  The things these songs have in common is that I like them, and that they're not from records in my top 15.

3rd Secret - "So Close"

Alkaloid - "Clusterfuck"

Cinder Well - "Gone The Holding"

Coast Contra - "'Breathe And Stop' Freestyle"

Colony Drop - "Colony Drop (Brace For Impact)"

Ghost - "We Don't Need Another Hero" [Tina Turner cover]

Jethro Tull - "The Navigators"

Metallica - "LuxAEterna"

Nas f/ 21 Savage - "One Mic, One Gun"

Olivia Rodrigo - "all-american bitch"

Pressure Points - "Collateral"

Queens Of The Stone Age - "Sicily"

Shit Present - "Voice In Your Head"