Best Music of 2023

This was another year like 2022, in that my album purchases seem scaled back from my older buying habits. I listen to a lot of music on YouTube Music before deciding to buy, so the things that end up purchased are almost always things I know I will want to listen to long into the future.

That makes it sound like this was a bad year for new music. It really wasn't, as I was unable again to limit myself to just five entrants on the list. What is a bit different is that this year, everything on the list is categorizable as metal (and much of it as progressive metal); there are no choices from rock, pop, hip-hop, or country. There are a few of those in the honorable mention list, but none seemed to hold quite the sway as the heavy music this year.

Top 7 albums of the year

#7: Heimdal by Enslaved

My summary of Enslaved is that they are the Opeth of black metal: they start out as hyper-competent in their chosen genre, then add progressive elements until they've blended into something entirely unique to themselves. Black metal is not typically a genre I have a lot of fun listening to, but something about Enslaved just hits the right spot for me. The progressive chops here are just outstanding, and elevate the music far above most others, and like Opeth, there are some clean vocals in the mix as well. Production quality is really stand-out here, which is another distancer from much of the black metal scene. (Unlike Opeth, I don't ever expect them to turn into a straight-up '70's prog rock band. 😂)

No surprise, then, after landing at the top spot in my 2020 list that I would be extremely excited for the followup, and it did not disappoint. If there's one reason that they're further down on this list I would say that the album at time just meanders a bit too much. It's an Enslaved album so of course the songs start around six minutes long and go up from there, but a bit of trimming here or there could really tighten it up (especially on the closing title track).

#6: Life by DGM

I just learned about Italian progressive metal band DGM about a month ago, which makes the inclusion of this album on the list even more impressive. It only took a single full listen to convince me that DGM are in the very best of progressive metal musicians, a group that is already known for musicianship. They have a very strong power metal influence, without any of the typical fantasy elements that normally accompany it.

With an album titled "Life" you might expect the music to be an upbeat affair, and you'd be right. The songs are generally very groove-centric melodic affairs, with some incredible musicianship all across the board. The choruses almost feel like they're designed to be sung along to by the crowd at a concert. The song below ("To The Core") sounds like Dream Theater when they're at their heaviest. It even has a killer keyboard solo! In some ways, this is the better Kamelot album released this year (sorry Kamelot, you're still in my honorable mentions).

#5: War of Being by TesseracT

I was nervous about the new TesseracT album. I was a huge fan of their albums "One", "Altered State", and "Polaris", but I found 2018's "Sonder" to be a step backward for the band. But apparently the worry was for naught, because "War of Being" is an excellent addition to their catalog.

The album itself flows well from song to song, almost effortlessly blending the styles of all their previous outings. They really cement themselves as on the predominant groove metal bands today, eclipsing contemporaries like Periphery and being more approachable than groups like Animals as Leaders (whose music focuses mostly on technical wizardry). The two videos released so far for "Legion" and "War of Being" are elaborate affairs, telling pieces of the sci-fi story that underpins the album. There is even a VR game for the album (which I have not seen).

Most people know I'm a huge fan of mixed clean & extreme vocals when done well, and few do it as well Daniel Tompkins. He can effortlessly add grit to his cleans when needed and flip between styles with rapid precision. The title track below is an excellent showcase for the abilities of the band as a whole, as well as Daniel's vocal gymnastics. My sole complaint with this album is also shown here: selective trimming of the material would greatly benefit them.

#4: Stone by Baroness

Unless your definition of colors is different than mine, Stone represents the first Baroness album to escape the color-based naming pattern. 2019's Gold & Grey saw the addition to Gina Gleason on backing vocals (and lead guitars). Despite not making my top list of the year, it was still an album I like a lot and listened to from time to time. Stone feels like Gina is more firmly planted into the band now, and her addition continues to pay off on this fantastic new album.

The single "Last Word" is a perfect illustration: the opening guitar work is both nimble and sludgy, a difficult trick to pull off. The vocals arrive and are harmonized beautifully almost entirely throughout. Then the guitar solo from Gina hits at around the halfway point, in a style and sound that's reminiscent of early Ozzy work by Randy Rhoads. It feels refreshing in an era of super-shredders to hear something that's got a lot of heart and sound more like it serves the song than the guitarist. That single-pickup Telecaster tone helps a lot with that as well.

This is just straight up great Baroness, in ways I haven't felt since the early days with Red or Blue.

#3: Holocene by The Ocean

The German progressive metal band The Ocean (sometimes called The Ocean Collective) have released another in their series of concept albums. As the title might suggest, this album is focused on the history of the earth during the Holocene Epoch, which is the time period starting from about 12,000 years ago to the current day, sometimes called "The Age of Man". Are you a paleontology nerd? This band&emdash;and this album&emdash;might be right up your alley.

This is, from a scientific perspective, a time period of a lot of upheaval and change, for better (technological process and extended life) and worse (the rapid extinction of many species and climate change). As befits an album that addresses this new digital age, the band has incorporated more digital aspects to their sound, adding synths and even from time to time sounding vaguely industrial. The lyrics leave it clear where the band stands on modern life:

Here comes the dark that you chose to be your playground
It's not so hard, with eyes closed, to find your way around
Enter the void of your own imagination
Harvest the fruits of years of procrastination

To my ears, this album is their strongest since 2012's Pelagial.

#2: Sky Void of Stars by Katatonia

It's been more than two decades since Katatonia transformed from a mostly unremarkable death metal band into one of the most prolific and impactful progressive doom metal bands. The influence of Porcupine Tree and Tool are obvious in their post death works.

Sky Void of Stars is their twelfth studio album, following up 2020's somewhat disappointing City Burials. I enjoyed that album enough to give it an honorable mention, but their latest feels more like a return to the form that many of their fans had been hoping for. The sonic soundscape is lush, layering moments of outright heaviness with moments of quiet minor keys with backing keys providing an atmosphere that at times almost sounds downtempo. It helps that Jonas Renkse's vocals are always soothingly smooth.

A lot of this year's xUnit.net coding was done with this as the soundtrack. 😄

#1: Take Me Back to Eden by Sleep Token

Sleep Token's third album defies classification in a way that's pretty rare in 2023. Nowhere is this clearer than Ascensionism: It starts out like a slow ballad, with just vocals and piano, transitioning into modern hip-hop backed R&B, and then dipping its toes into groovy, melodic metal. The vocals are a mix between hauntingly beautiful cleans and powerful growls and screams. While the tones aren't the same, it reminded me of the first time I heard Mikael from Opeth do the same thing, easily slipping between styles as the moment demanded. Most people would throw this into some genre slot with "Progressive" as the primary adjective, and on the balance it's probably more metal than anything else.

The band formed in 2016, and remains completely anonymous. The band are comprised of vocalist Vessel, drummer II, bassist III, guitarist IV, and backup singers Espera. Much like in the days of Ghost's anonymity, a quick Google search will reveal the true identities of the band, but the mystery is intended to be part of the identity. The masks change over time, and the next set of masks for II, III, and IV have already been revealed for the next album (Vessel's is, as of this writing, still a mystery).

This album gripped me from the first listen, and easily dominated my replay count for the year. They can be controversial due to some people feeling like the anonymity is a gimmick, but that doesn't matter to me. The quality of the music and especially the depth of the vocals is just superb, and it'll be an album I'm listening to for many years to come.