Best of 2023

 1) Afterbirth - In But Not Of

I love brutal death metal bands... in the way that one loves corndogs. They're tasty and non-serious. You're never going to encounter an outstanding corndog, it'll just handily hit the spot now and again. Nothing too memorable or exciting. This is exactly why Afterbirth is sitting in #1 this year. This is an outstanding brutal death metal album, memorable, even profound at times. This album is the haute cuisine corndog that should not exist.

So what variables have Afterbirth tweaked in order to create such an excellent example of brutal death metal. Attributes like atmosphere, composition, pacing come to mind and while I could wax on about how these particular elements are unique here, I'd be doing the album a disservice in dissection. This is so special to me simply because I've never heard anything like it and it's so much fun to listen to. I'll be bopping my head to churning passages of gore-grind, and then all the disembodied guts will get caught in this multi-dimensional vortex in deep space. The balances of brutality and Zen on display here are truly remarkable. 

I was thinking for a moment this year that it's possible other young upstarts will listen to this and take note, be inspired to carry this sub-sub-sub-genre into something that blossoms, but I came to the eventual conclusion this is unlikely. I honestly think it takes a very unique set of individuals to harmonize violence and transcendence and this record and this band may occupy their niche alone for some time. As long as they keep writing this is fine by me.

Best of 2023

 2) Saturnus - The Storm Within

Nostalgia should be able to bring you just so far toward happiness or contentment. The reminder of a past beautiful moment is not a new beautiful moment, it's the awareness of a reverberating echo that fades over time. This reality gets complicated when a band who's been silent for 10+ years reignites a genre of music that has largely been forgotten. This record could have easily been written, recorded, and stored away in a time capsule around the year 2000. It sounds authentically death/doom from that era, an era I loved deeply.

Of course, just sounding like a record lost in time wouldn't be enough to make the list, especially this high. The Storm Within is also a deeply emotional album full of authentically fragile moments. Death/doom always faces the risk of sounding melodramatic, as if the emotions aren't quite real, that they've been dramatized for aesthetic effect. I never felt that in response to this album. As these musicians grow older they aren't forgetting the rawness of emotions of loss and the resulting confusion and discontent. In saying that I immediately feel a sense of concern for these gentlemen. I hope they simply tap into these emotions for musical inspiration and haven't been spending the last 30 years wallowing in despair. Of course I spend quite a bit of my adult life wallowing in despair, so I'm not in a position to weigh in on others' mental health. 

Best of 2023

 3) Ahab - The Coral Tombs

Ahab has been writing concept albums since they started and I've made a ritual of reading the book in the same year of their album so I can understand the lyrics, give everything context, create feedback loops between music and literature. 

This was by far the most painful of those experiences. Normally the pain would be as a result of the emotional weight of the experience, but this time was different, this time they picked a shit fucking book. I have no idea why 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is considered a classic. In it's 240 pages hardly anything happens. Nemo simply zooms from one end of the earth to the other speaking passively about the evils of man, but never giving us the source from which his hate is derived. He has such an unwavering command of his vessel he makes it clear no one is ever in any danger. Verne completely forgets danger is the fountain from which intrigue pours. His captive Aronnax watches as they zoom around and takes note of all the fish and vegetation at the bottom of the sea. That's 90% of the content of the book.

There are two compelling moments in the book. One Ahab dutifully covered, an underwater funeral complete with ritual and procession. I really enjoyed it when the images between mediums coalesced here. The other compelling moment was an experience near the south pole. The Nautilis is trapped beneath a gigantic iceberg and the crew slowly suffocates while trying to discover modes of escape. Ahab didn't include this as a track and I can't imagine why because they know how to write about suffocation (Aeons Elapse off the Giant is THE best song they've ever written).

Ultimately Ahab are fantastic songwriters, and they did successfully draw enough influence from this turd of a novel to create a compelling, charismatic, heartbreaking album. One can only imagine the quality of the resulting album if the next book is actually good.

Best of 2023

 4) Rotten Sound - Apocalypse

I took a vacation to visit my family recently. The bulk of the visit was listening to my conservative father complain about the decline of civilization. He didn't make any really compelling points, more just pointing at things like homeless people and young people with anxiety saying, "See, it's obviously getting worse." It's lazy and short-sighted and he should get a hobby.

But is the world actually in decline? Are the aggregated signals of societal health showing a positive or negative trend? Are there more or less existential threats today than in past decades or centuries?

Rotten Sound wrote this collection of grievances and observations clearly indicating their perception of decline. Although Rotten Sound is a crusty veteran grind band who've made a career of being generally negative so you shouldn't take their word for it.

My word is society has never been aligned with ideas like a greater good, or peace, or well-being, or nature preservation, or sustainability. To have the perception that it used to be and it's not anymore is self-delusion or a misinterpretation of history. To have the perception that it will eventually be aligned to those greater goals is naïve. We have always been on a sinking ship that paradoxically becomes bigger and more mechanized the more water it takes on. While I don't agree with the finger pointing Rotten Sound is doing with this album, it is a fantastic soundtrack to our perpetually sinking ship.

Best of 2023

 5) Werewolves - My Enemies Look and Sound Like Me

When I first started my job at a tech company I remember the "ice breaker" question was, "What is the weirdest food you've ever had?" At a certain point leadership at the company determined this question was too divisive, that the word "weird" made people feel less included.

I can't help but think we're losing something by taming our conversations in this way. "Weird" isn't a negative word in my opinion, our weirdness should be held close to our heart and shared whenever a person feels comfortable doing so, sometimes even when they feel uncomfortable doing so, as long as it comes from somewhere honest.

Werewolves pushes this idea to the extreme because the only word that comes to mind listening to this record is "hatred." Are there still avenues where we can express true hatred? Is hatred even a valid emotion anymore? Fuck yes is my answer. If you have a good reason to hate, go ahead and hate and share your hatred. Say something aggressive. If it turns out what you've said is too offensive for your given audience they'll let you know by ousting you from their community. This is how I believe society should work, a collection of honest people expressing themselves freely and grouping based on tribal biases. Self-censoring is lying, it's insulting your audience by pre-emptively deciding they can't handle the truth.

People aren't born weak, they are either sliced into something paper thin, or layered in armor. Werewolves is a reminder that true uncensored expression still exists and anyone who isn't afraid of the extremes of emotion should give it a spin. Those more interested in inclusivity and not ruffling feathers should avoid this one, and by extension avoid me.

Best of 2023

 6) Carnosus - Visions of Infinihility

I remember years ago begrudgingly including a thrash band on my list and then every year since I've had a thrash band here. At the start I was like "I hate thrash, but damn this good," and eventually I realized its not thrash I hate it's the popular execution of thrash, and the old thrash guys putting out boring as fuck albums.

But, when the young sink their teeth into this genre, they sometimes puncture new flesh, sometimes let new blood spurt from the wound.

Carnosus is the thrash band of 2023. Their approach is not so dissimilar from other visionary thrash from recent years, it's just taken one step further. The musicians are tied to this heritage, yet still hungry. Tons of neck breaking riffs, borrowing a little from Gojira groove, borrowing plenty from death metal contemporaries, and bringing more, more, more, in their hunger, feeding me with what I need in my undying addiction to end of year lists.

The risk is future albums. It's rare one of these thrash bands makes a future appearance, so best of luck you lovely lot of thrashers.

Best of 2023

 7) Fires in the Distance - Air Not Meant For Us

This was certainly one of my more stubborn moments of 2023. I kept seeing ridiculously positive reviews of this record, enough to cause me to listen to 30 seconds here, 30 seconds there, but I wasn't sold. There was something about the unconditional praise I didn't trust, and those little listens didn't change my mind. So I dismissed this record without much regret. Then comes the end of the year and once again I see it everywhere. It's on everyone's list. So I put my pride in short assessments I've nurtured over decades to the side and sat down for a full listen. This is a great album, it just has the uncanny ability to be unremarkable taken in little chunks. I think it has to do with how the songs are composed. Each track is quite long and uses the length to win the listener over with these long majestic passages rife with melodramatic piano backing. Each little riff on its own if dissected is quite simple, lots of palm muted pedalling without much tonal variation, but all these little parts add up to a remarkable whole.

I think what this album lacks is showmanship, and that's ultimately why I'm putting it here in my list. The musicians sound mature and they balance each other's presence so well, I found myself in deep admiration of the restraint. Of all the genres of music I've always believed metal bands have a talent for this kind of restraint, for each musician to quiet themselves in sacrifice to a greater whole, and this album is a prime example.

Best of 2023

 8) Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite

I first got into Cattle Decapitation with To Serve Man, and really only because the album art was fucking brutal. This was the same year I picked up Impaled's Mondo Medicale which had a cover so obscene the record company needed to make a "mall record store acceptable version." I was picking albums simply by looking at the cover. If it made me wretch a little, I'd drop allowance money on some new brutality. Very mature I know.

Cattle Decapitation has come a long way since 2002. I dusted off To Serve Man and while I still really enjoy the riffs and those gurgly brutal death metal vocals, it is a largely unpolished album, very much a garage rock approach to death-grind.

Terrasite is grown up big boy death-grind. The musicianship, composition, production, are all polished chrome and razor sharp. Upon saying that I can see someone walking away from that description with a negative perception toward this album. Death-grind is largely about gut slop and sewage, and it's natural to expect some rough around the edges qualities to the resulting product. I just think I'm so enamored by the journey these men have been on for the past 20 years. Their catalog is a natural evolution of getting better and better at something not even their mothers could love. They will not be remembered for this journey by anyone save a microscopic slice of death metal aficionados. Why did they keep going? Why did they try so hard? What does it feel like to succeed so completely at making perfect death-grind? Likely their answer would be "The fans." I hope we damaged few are enough to keep them going for the foreseeable future. 

Best of 2023

 9) Totenmesse - Fiktionlust

I was ready to make this review about a single individual, thinking about how much I loved the vocals on Odraza's Rzeczom and seeing the same vocalist here, but to my surprise the vocalist from Odraza is actually the guitarist on this project and the vocal duties are being handled by a man named Mold. I'm not being hard on myself for not immediately noticing the difference, but this does speak to something I'm finding as a theme in Polish black metal. It's the undeniable charisma of Polish black metal vocalists, or maybe what I'm witnessing is a little microcosm of borrowed style of delivery among a small group of friends. Whatever it is I love it. The artfully syncopated rhythms, the extremity of how far the rasps are pushed, the textures between guttural bellows and shrieks. I don't know any other metal movement pushing this hard and raw on the vocals outside of maybe the veterans of grind. There's also a stark militancy present like it's in some way influenced by Poland's communist past. I've always loved when Eastern Bloc communist culture comes crashing into boundless artful expression. I'm carrying on, but Polish black metal has been on my lists for the past few years for good reason, not only for vocals, but the passion, the stretch toward something truly extreme.

Best of 2023

 10) TORPOR - Abscission

I'm in the middle of a green pasture lit by torches and moonlight. There are men on either side of me, their strong arms hooked under my shoulders. I am being dragged through a crowd of people all yelling and spitting and carrying on. A man wearing a black hood is standing on a platform 20 paces in front of me. He walks to an iron brazier, brightly lit with fire. Aggressive contours of the hooded man's face are revealed in the relief of glowing yellow reflection and shadow. With each step I try to find words in the cacophony, but I can't find the beginning or end of any syllable, it's a guttural smear of speech. Closer, closer, I'm not fighting the direction of momentum. I'm pressed against a pine wood pole, my arms pulled backward with enough force to tear the muscle in my chest. Course, splintering rope is wrapped around my wrists behind the pole and I am spread open, heart exposed to waves of flowing hatred. I am blindfolded, the noise is louder. There is heat on my heels, for a moment comforting on the briskly cool night. Then pain as the fabric against my skin is consumed by hungry flame. Moments, moments, the fire licks up my body, cooking skin, melting fat. The sound is now coming from me, louder and stronger than the mob, but it again has no words. It is simply a noise transforming my lifesblood into wet heat and air.

I feel nothing now. I have learned nothing.

Best of 2023

I felt my anger rising this year. I was rude to more people. In the past I always perceived myself as having unending patience, the ability to engage in a conflict and see it through to resolution with poise and calmness. But, I can feel something changing as I approach 40 years old. Over the past year when I found that an individual, a group, or an institution was being unjust, or short-sighted, or BORING, I found myself feeling the impulse to end the conversation prematurely, to respond with what I'm sure they perceived as an uncomfortably long period of silence while maintaining strong eye contact, eventually saying a purposefully cold word, and walking away.

I did it today. I was walking around with my camera wearing a Pig Destroyer shirt under a ratty beaten up flannel. My subjects were mostly garbage. For some reason the marriage of rotting cold winter vegetation and Coca-Cola cans struck my eye as interesting. A large family came up behind me, all the kids were holding menacing large sticks, swinging them violently at the muddy ground kicking up James River residue. This wasn't a common place to be. It was somewhat secluded, a quiet place, good for a lonely man to take a picture. The patriarch of the family came up to me and said, "You know I was just thinking this is probably a great place to take pictures." I don't know what I expected from him, but this seemed very selfish. The only thing I was thinking was, "It was right up until your kids started swinging sticks into the mud scaring that majestic great blue heron stalking in the reeds over there." I looked at him for an uncomfortable moment and eventually responded "Right," and slowly walked away. I think years ago I would've been kinder, I just have so much anger right now.

I don't know why exactly this is happening. Watching the conflict in Gaza, watching the still raging death in Ukraine, watching the hawks beat war drums looking toward Iran and China on the horizon might be causing me some emotion. Seeing the young people protest and chant nonsense in response is causing another emotion. The world is turning, the same, the same, the same, none of this absurdity and death means anything and nothing stops it, it continues like crashing waves on my beaten shores. 

New media looks an awful lot like old media, so-called scientists have podcasts pushing products that turn out to be snake oil or poison. Stephen Fry was lambasted recently for saying that he wanted people to be kind to each other. That was interesting. These things may be piling up.

The freeing aspect of feeling this way is that I don't feel the judgment of others anymore. My coatrack neck, my self performed sloppy haircut, my "fuck you very much fashion sense," are all things that I imagine is making people uncomfortable, but they just said "From the River to the Sea," they just watched and fully embraced a youtube video explaining the history of the lost and forgotten civilization of lizard people, they just stammered on with their friend about how offensive Dave Chapelle has become.

I just don't have time for that shit. So if you see me and say something silly, enjoy that moment of silence, I've been told I have very nice hazel eyes. Enjoy the timbre of my deep voice when you receive the one syllable you deserve and enjoy your day you BORING prick.

And with that, my list for 2023.

Best of 2022

 1) Cult of Luna - The Long Road North

Disruption is a concept I keep hearing in various contexts working in the tech industry. I can't help but cringe when the word is wrapped in a well-tailored business suit. I've spent my life endlessly exploring and analyzing disruptive culture. The true disruption is to express something dangerous, frightening, unmarketable. Disruption should be felt in one's core, it should challenge you, change you, turn you into something different than what you were yesterday. An app can't be disruptive, a siloed cesspool of social media does not have the capacity to disrupt.

Cult of Luna does and I honestly don't know how it all works in the background. I can picture members of the band sitting in a room with a record company exec trying to describe this album. 

    "The Long Road North is about the inevitable reality that everyone lives and dies alone, spending a fair amount of time running from forces out of their control, falling in love and having it stripped away by more uncontrollable forces. The demise will come eventually but only after hallucinating an illusion of the past that never actually existed, simply a final comfort in their final moments."

    "Green light my boys! Here's your money!"

While I'm sure Metal Blade is taking care of this incredible band, I can't imagine this was a very successful album in context of the music marketing machine. This is due to the fact that it is disruptive, it's full of uncomfortable feelings, dissonance, aggression, and submission that to a broader audience is too hard to swallow. When the masses want their music sugar coated with new flings and fun nights, there is no place for Cult of Luna. The band's commitment to their vision given the unlikely outcome of success is why I love them, why I'll always be a loyal fan.

Best of 2022

 2) Hangman's Chair - A Loner

I spent a lot of time thinking about this album in 2022 and still thinking about it deep into 2023. I've oscillated a lot over past years between thinking I was a loner and thinking that's just the insecurity talking and I'm actually like everyone else, a social creature requiring affection and attention. 2022 confirmed it, I'm definitely a loner and thinking otherwise gets me into trouble.

Along with spinning this album somewhat compulsively, I've been thinking about loners from the past, people who lived mostly solitary lives and still contributed to humanity in some definable way. There's a few of them and they certainly have lessons to learn about the dangers of alcoholism and other self-destructive behaviors that ultimately lead to a short life. We'll see if these lessons can help me build some semblance of sustainable existence. Regardless, for this loner, Hangman's Chair is my kind of dear friend.

Best of 2022

 3) Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture

I remember having a thought a long time ago about what a minimum viable society should look like. There were some obvious requirements I think would need to be enforced to truly feel like I was part of something meaningful. Is everyone well-fed and healthy discounting unavoidable illness? When illness strikes is there universal access to care? Is everyone housed adequately? Are there ample avenues of education? Is that education fueled with as much objective information as possible? Does leadership care about the individuals they speak for? Lots of other questions, but thinking about this list it's my perception we've failed at some point and the society we live in isn't a society, but rather a meatgrinder with a perpetually rotating crank under the relentless force of Moloch.

This album is a detailed analysis of the structure and design of the meatgrinder and the hand that cranks it. It's anger blasts and burns and ultimately feels like a welcome catharsis. This is the kind of music that should matter because it exposes evils and expects a response. I think we're beyond the point of looking to our music for guidance, Woodstock was a long time ago. It is nice to see a group of musicians still trying though.  

Best of 2022

 4) The Antichrist Imperium - Volume III Satan In His Original Glory

"I would very much like to play live to be honest, logistically it would take some work and unfortunately with life/jobs/mortgages etc… It comes down to money, but fingers crossed in the future we can align the planets and make it happen."

This is Matt Wilcock, lead guitarist of The Antichrist Imperium describing the unlikelihood of playing live with his band because of logistical issues. Those logistical issues are simply their drummer David Gray lives in London and Matt lives in Melbourne. Listening to this album it's a somewhat unbelievable revelation that these men are very rarely in the same room together. There's a very intimate presence here, like they've painstakingly sweated over little details to make a more cohesive whole together.

In reality The Antichrist Imperium is an example of professional musicians at the top of their game doing what they need to do to produce honest music. David Gray is an atomic clock blasting in perfect time. Matt Wilcock's tremolo speed puts a hummingbird's feeble attempts at levitation to shame. These men are incredible artists who will never be honored with a Grammy, will never be able to earn a living from their life's ambition, will never be able to retire comfortably enough to teach their talents to the next generation. Those listening now better listen well because no matter how offended you are by the album art, this is the absolute bleeding edge of musical ability. Anyone not paying attention is going to lose their chance when these men find themselves too tired to keep giving status quo the middle finger.

Best of 2022

 5) Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain

This album reminds me of my self-indulgent preamble to the year in that I've witnessed a lot of people cheating, I've witnessed myself cheating, to make a buck, to avoid making waves, to avoid unpleasantness. Lies are just a way of getting past an uncomfortable moment so we can move on to the next one. Maybe this moment will be a good one, one we can share with friends with total honesty.

Keeping this lens in mind, why would a band create music like Artificial Brian's self-titled release? If they were trying to cheat they would've picked a more agreeable style and presentation, they would've tried to consider what would be profitable, what would be relatable in order to make money. They didn't. Given the current state of artificial intelligence one might assume that all art is subject to a taking over by the artificial, but that should only be a concern for profitable artistic expressions. For creations that depend on the catharsis of creation, AI generation doesn't compete. The purity in creation for emotional catharsis is required to be a solely human endeavor because those seeking catharsis don't want or need help in expressing their emotion. They work tirelessly to do it because the catharsis is more important than any meaningless monetary reward (as long as they can pay the rent). This album is an expression, real, tangible, organic. I personally love the irony on display here, a band named Artificial Brain releasing some of the most human music imaginable.

Best of 2022

 6) Helpless - Caged in Gold

When looking around for an honest to goodness grindcore record this year I kept seeing Wormrot held on high as if it were the best grind release of the century. It may very well be a juvenile adherence to rebellion that kept me from liking that record, but damn it I just didn't. It felt a little too clean, a little too polished, a little too adult when my expectation of grind is that it's fucking rough around the edges, ugly, sloppy, difficult to swallow. Helpless is exactly to my taste. Giving credence to my childish banality I did feel a bit prideful when scanning through lists toward the end of the year. This one was never mentioned, not once. Shame on the masses for their ignorance of the true underground, shame on me for caring. 

Best of 2022

 7) Wake - Thought Form Descent

It's rare for a band to start out in one place stylistically and over time evolve into something different while still keeping pieces of that original identity. Usually bands start somewhere, evolve a little and slowly die as they run out of ideas, or worse yet sell out by adding a bunch of clean choruses and wearing cool clothes <cough>In Flames</cough>. Wake started out as a crusty, grindy hardcore band and now they're playing something more akin to blackened death metal. There are still glimmers of their early crusty years though which is exactly the thing that makes them special. They have no contemporary in the current space they occupy because they keep challenging their own vision of what heavy music sounds like and I'm personally hoping the keep it up. Who knows where they'll end up before the journey is over.

Best of 2022

8) Cave In - Heavy Pendulum

There's only one thing wrong with this record. There are too many great songs on it. It's too jampacked with winning ideas, catchy constructions, viral hooks, so much so that it's a legitimate struggle to get through in a single session. When originally trying to confirm if this was list material, I found myself starting it at different places and seeing if one or two songs was enough to judge it, but no matter where I started, every track stood out as memorable. It was a very unusual experience to realize that at this late stage in their career, there are so many fresh ideas still left in the tank. Of course some of this might have to do with the untimely death of vocalist/bassist Caleb Scofield and the band's attempt at keeping his memory alive, keeping the integrity of the band intact. Regardless of the reason, this album is killer top to bottom, it's just too damn long.

Best of 2022

 9) Verberis - Adumbration of the Veiled Logos

Up until December, this spot was occupied by Deathspell Omega, begrudgingly. It wasn't a great record, somewhat plodding and directionless, so I thought number 9 was appropriate, but I was only going to put them here out of loyalty, not the best reason. Luckily in December I was looking at Ulcerate's metal-archives page curious what they were up to. Lo and behold I found out Ulcerate's virtuosic drummer was attached to the line-up on this record. Upon the first few spins my begrudging loyalty was eschewed for an album actually worthy of this position. Verberis has a very similar feel to Deathspell Omega, blasting dissonant black metal occasionally capitalizing on well placed atmospheric interludes, and in the year 2022 they have the better album.

Best of 2022

 10) Oh Hiroshima - Myriad

How predictable... My number 10 spot being a band I've chosen before. Tim Hecker, Bohren, Dustin O'Halloran, were otherwise busy this year, but these friendly nuclear wielding post rockers put out another very strong post-rock album. It's got the requisite textures and warm tones that comfort without overstaying its welcome. My number 10 spot is often not very heavy in concept or complexity. Myriad is simply a collection of attractive sounds, the bait for a violent trap, the music in the elevator on the way to gallows. I love listening to this album when trying to think, when trying to work, it's a nice analgesic when I'm playing those games no one likes to play.