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.