greendemon's Top 200 Albums of 2023 - *up to 15*

[greendemon]

20. You Me At Six - Truth Decay
10th February | alternative rock



Eighth (and, very sadly, final) album from the Surrey rock band, who recently announced they will be disbanding in their twentieth year. While I don't know if I have ever really been a proper fan, I have always liked You Me At Six, and from the sound of 'Deep Cuts', the first single which came out in mid-2022, hopes were high for Truth Decay. I loved the follow-ups, especially 'Mixed Emotions...' and ':mydopamine:', even more; with their heartfelt and powerful portrayal of mental health, they struck a chord with me and stormed into my top 5. That being said, this album didn't quite have the impact on me that I hoped for on release. Partly, this wasn't the album's fault: it launched in the midst of what was one of my busiest times for music-listening last year, with an unexpected glut of excellent metal albums in January and February just as I was trying to finish compiling my 2022 year-end list. However, Truth Decay didn't help itself by being a couple of tracks too long, and at least one of those tracks being skip-worthy in my view. In my January-February albums chart, it ended up at #11 because I could see that it was a damn good album, but just didn't give it the time it needed to get it into the top 10. (Were I to revisit my Jan-Feb '23 album chart now, it would have ended up at #5).

Several months and copious relistens down the line, I can see I did Truth Decay a disservice: it is an excellent album, and arguably one of the best I've heard from this band. Yes, I can still live without 'Breakdown', and I do lose interest a tiny bit in the final couple of songs as well, but almost every other track on this is a stone-cold banger. Combining incisive and occasionally heartbreakingly relatable lyrics with irresistible hooks, well-chosen collaborations (especially 'No Future? Yeah Right' featuring Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari) and influences drawn from a range of sources beyond standard-issue alt-rock, I'm now convinced this was one of the best pop-rock releases of the year. As much as they definitely don't sound like a band who have been around for two decades, this album is a worthy footnote to a twenty-year career.

Chart history:
Truth Decay [Jan-Feb 23, #11]
Deep Cuts [GL3 Jun-Jul 22, #38]
Mixed Emotions (I Didn't Know How To Tell You What I Was Going Through) [GL5 Oct-Dec 22, #4]
:mydopamine: [GL6 Jan-Feb 23, #2]

Their highest-charting song, and still my favourite. That chorus is such a belter and gets me every time.

[greendemon]

19. Kvelertak - Endling
8th September | hard rock; punk; black'n'roll



Fifth studio album from the Norwegian five-piece formed in 2007. Another band I was aware of but hadn't gone out of my way to listen to, that all changed when the video for 'Krøterveg Te Helvete' appeared in the spring. A rollicking, feel-good punk song with an addictive riff and chugging metal-inspired section, I am not exaggerating when I say I could not stop listening to it for a good couple of weeks and it duly topped my second chart of the year. As it turns out, the main things to know about Kvelertak are that they have three guitarists, they are best known for playing 'black'n'roll' (a sort of black-metal-meets-hard-rock fusion genre), they sing almost exclusively in Norwegian and they have some kind of an owl thing going on for some reason (I mean, who doesn't?) And as far as exclusively-Norwegian-singing metal bands go, their sound is really accessible: they have been called 'the best entry-level metal band since Ghost'.

Conceptually themed around the extinct and waning culture of old Norway, the album's ten tracks were all recorded in one session, lending the album a particularly strong sense of cohesiveness even though each song sounds distinct and unique. It's punchy, energetic, dynamic and above all just a really, really good time from beginning to end. There are aspects I don't like - as with Enslaved's Heimdal a couple of places above this, some of the songs are a little too long (possibly the worst offender is actually the album version of 'Krøterveg Te Helvete' which has an incredibly excessive and overblown two-minute-long intro, though it's possible I only think this because I got so used to the single edit). But almost every track has moments I really enjoy, with particular highlights being the fast-and-furious banger 'Døgeniktens Kvad' (which moves from banjo-like twanging riffs at the start through to a truly headbang-worthy final two minutes), the anthemic 'Endling', the acoustic prettiness of the intro to 'Svart September' and the proggy 'Morild'. All in all, one of the most entertaining albums of the past year and definitely a band I hope to catch live if they visit the UK again soon.

One more non-English-language album to come, and one more Norwegian act.

Chart history:
Krøterveg Te Helvete [GL7 Mar-Apr 23, #1]
Skoggangr [GL8 May-Jun 23, #32]
Endling [GL10 Sep-Dec 23, #64]
Morild [GL10 Sep-Dec 23, #84]

If you recognise this one, it was my Lingovision entry last year. It bombed, obviously

[greendemon]

Back tomorrow with my favourite EP of 2023...

[greendemon]

18. Softcult - See You In The Dark [EP]
24th March | alternative rock; grunge; shoegaze



Third EP from the Canadian duo consisting of twins, Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn. When I first discovered this act in late 2021, I loved their shoegazey, dream-pop-influenced grungy sound so much that they inspired me start a chart - and accordingly have dominated it ever since. Their second EP, Year Of The Snake, spawned two of the seven hits they had for me in 2022, and although I only charted the record itself at #31 in my end-year chart, this was largely because it was an EP rather than something more substantial. Well, here they are with another EP and it's made my top 20. To be honest, while I may have underrated their previous effort, I do think See You In The Dark is genuinely even better. Musically and lyrically they haven't veered far from the themes of their previous releases: toxic masculinity and feminism remain at the core of this EP, but there's a deeper sense of rage, most notably on 'Dress' which hones in on a horrifying experience that remains a part of far too many women's lives. My favourite track here, though, has to be 'Spoiled': perhaps their most vulnerable lyrics to date, and one of the most beautiful shoegaze songs they have produced. Every one of the six tracks made my chart, three of which the top 10 (and 'One Of A Million' probably deserved to as well) and if that's not good enough for the top 20 of my year-end chart, not much else is! Although a new record has not yet been announced, we've already had several singles so it seems they are continuing 2024 much as they left off 2023. It's likely another EP but I'm holding out hope for an album...

Technically, Softcult have one more appearance to make in this chart.

Chart history:
See You In The Dark [Mar-Apr 23, #7]
One Of A Million [GL4 Aug-Sep 22, #11]
Drain [GL5 Oct-Dec 22, #6]
Someone2Me [GL5 Oct-Dec 22, #47]
Dress [GL6 Jan-Feb 23, #7]
Love Song [GL6 Jan-Feb 23, #32]
Spoiled [GL7 Mar-Apr 23, #2]

[greendemon]

17. Herod - Iconoclast
1st May | atmospheric groove metal; sludge metal; post-metal



Third album from the Swiss* four-piece. Another band I was aware of but hadn't heard much by prior to 2023, Iconoclast came to my attention through a positive review from one of my favourite YouTube music channels. I can't claim to be overly familiar with atmospheric groove metal specifically, but my first thought on hearing this was that this was some of the most devastatingly, crushingly heavy music I've heard in quite a while. I mean, there's heavy riffs, and then there's riffs so utterly weighty that listening to them makes you feel as if you're falling through a concrete floor. Happily, the album's release in early May coincided with a point when I was going through a rough patch so the musical equivalent of falling through a concrete floor was particularly welcome. With the sawing guitar tone, cavernous atmosphere and harsh vocals falling more on the shouty-hardcore side than the gurgly-death-metal side, there's something almost primal about how menacing and angry Iconoclast sounds. Alongside all that heaviness, the groove metal elements in the form of syncopated riffs and snappy drumming make the album incredibly compelling and catchy to listen to - especially across the opening three tracks which are all great. But what really turns it from a very good album to an excellent one is the absolutely stunning mid-point track, 'The Ode to...'. After the brutality of the opening triad, it completely eschews the heavy vocals and is dominated by the beautiful, layered voices of a Bulgarian choir, singing over a soothing melodic intro which eventually gives way to those crushing riffs once again. As a breather track, it's a wonderful palate cleanser quite unlike anything else on the album (although closer 'The Prophecy', featuring guest vocals from The Ocean's Loïc Rosetti, also offers some welcome contrast).

Originally this album was heading towards a slightly higher finish, but I think I've had to concede that it has been overtaken as the year went on, and I didn't revisit it a whole lot during the back half of 2023 - which, given that of all the albums in my top 20 it's probably the one that most demands my being in a low mood to get the most out of, should probably be considered a good thing. But it remains one of the most impressive albums I heard last year from a new-to-me band, and will still be getting the odd play whenever I next feel like demolishing a building.

Chart history:
Iconoclast [May-Jun 23, #3]



* As it turns out they're from Vevey, which is down the road from where I went to school!

[greendemon]

Not to be confused with...

16. Heretoir - Nightsphere
6th October | post-atmospheric black metal; blackgaze; ambient



Third full-length from this German post-metal/blackgaze band who have been in operation since the 2000s (though there have been a few splits and EPs along the way). Despite their somehwat slow rate of production, this was nevertheless their second release in 2023, with the Wastelands EP finishing just outside my top 100. Despite being aware of and charting that EP, I went into this one completely blind, not having checked out the single 'Twilight of the Machines' beforehand, but had I done so I would have charted it pretty highly.

This is a strange album. Like Myrkur - the only other artist in my top 100 to have released two records last year - I think Heretoir could fairly be accused of releasing two things when the alternative might have been one album that was better than either. Despite clocking in at a respectable 42 minutes, Nightsphere does feel a little EP-like, consisting as it does of only five tracks - two of which are ambient and, while I wouldn't necessarily call them pointless, are certainly a bit on the filler side. So how does a five-track album with two filler ambient tracks find itself in my year-end top 20? By virtue of the other three tracks all being really, really, really good.

Neither the first nor the last album in this ranking to address the disturbingly pressing theme of climate change and human-fuelled environmental destruction, Nightsphere is described by the band as 'a concept album dealing with the struggle between the forces of nature and a world of machines', explicitly placing humanity at the the heart of this conflict. (Fair warning: this theme is laid on so thick in the lyrics that if you're someone who, for one reason or another, prefers not to think about climate change, you're going to find this album annoying at best and preachy at worst.) While this is a theme that definitely struck a chord with me, and I do find it powerfully conveyed across the album, what really won me over was the music itself: just stunningly beautiful, melodic atmospheric black metal interwoven with shoegazy synths, acoustic guitars and overlaid with some of the most powerful clean vocal performances I heard all year. Nowhere is this better displayed than on 'Glacierheart - Nightsphere Part II' which is a majestic, eleven-minute atmospheric black metal masterpiece that conveys the anguish at the heart of the album better than anything else here. The transition at about the seven-minute point and the next couple of minutes that follow are just everything I love about this kind of music in one package. Unsurprisingly, it topped my final chart of the year and I'll admit I still go back to this album all the time largely to listen to this one song.

Chart history:
Glacierheart - Nightsphere Part II (feat. Nikita Kamprad) [GL10 Sep-Dec 23, #1]

[greendemon]

Tune in next time for an album you might actually have played in 2023!

[greendemon]

15. Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
2nd June | alternative rock



Eleventh studio album from the Seattle-formed band who must have a strong claim to be the most popular active rock band on the planet. I have been a fan of theirs for much of their career, having first discovered them in the early 2000s as a teenager thanks to videos for the likes of 'Learn to Fly', 'Everlong' and 'Breakout' appearing on the (much-missed!) MTV2 channel. (My interest in Dave Grohl's original band - long defunct by this point of course - also started at around the same time, and came from the same source.) Although I've never had a comprehensive collection of Foos albums, my copies of There Is Nothing Left To Lose and The Colour And The Shape were well-played throughout my teens and early 20s, and even now are among the most ageless rock records I own. I was lucky enough to see Foo Fighters headline Reading Festival almost 20 years ago and would love to see them again, although it will, of course, be with a slightly altered line-up

Most people here will know that But Here We Are appeared off the back of a particularly difficult time for Foo Fighters, their long-time drummer, Taylor Hawkins, having suddenly passed away in 2022 while the band were on tour*. The band understandably went quiet for a while and honestly it was a pleasant surprise that this album emerged at all, never mind as soon as it did (it's probably worth noting that Dave Grohl also lost his mum in 2022). Few bands who decide to continue after the death of a member are ever quite the same again, and given the background, a more sombre-sounding album than recent efforts was expected. But while the theme of loss and bereavement runs through every song on the album, I'm not sure I was expecting But Here We Are to come out as easily one of the best Foos records of recent years, and up there with the first four albums. In fact, songs like 'Rescued' and 'Under You' follow the blueprint of classic Foos singles to the point that they could almost slot in on There Is Nothing Left To Lose, while the belting chorus of 'Beyond Me' makes me think of 'February Stars'. I also love the shoegazy 'Show Me How', featuring guest vocals from Grohl's daughter Violet. The highlight, though, is 'The Teacher'. A very different song for them, it's a sprawling, 10-minute introspective meditation on death and grief and is my favourite track on here by a country mile. Maybe a bit too long and weighty for some, but for me it's an absolute masterpiece.

As much as I love this album, it never came close to threatening my top 10 and I think this is because while I enjoy pretty well every track, there isn't anything on here that is quite as punchy or memorable as my favourite Foos songs of yesteryear - with the exception of 'The Teacher' and possibly 'Under You'. But as noted, they were always going to be a different band going forward, and that's OK.

Chart history:
But Here We Are [May-Jun 23, #2]
Rescued [GL7 Mar-Apr 23, #15]
The Teacher [GL8 May-Jun 23, #2]



* Hawkins has now been permanently replaced by Josh Freese, although all drums on But Here We Are were recorded by Grohl.

[greendemon]

14. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite
12th May | death metal; melodic death metal; deathgrind



Eighth studio album from the San Diego deathgrind outfit. One of the most beloved death metal bands around at the moment, Cattle Decapitation have been around since the late '90s, though they were very much a by-reputation-alone act for me until the 2020s, and have if anything grown more and more interesting since. Genre-appropriate offputtingly gory band name aside, they have cultivated a reputation as a vegetarian/vegan band: while at least two members are veggie, this derives mostly from the lyrical theme of their music, which focuses heavily on issues such as human exploitation of nature, animal rights and climate change. While still deathgrind at their core, their sound has evolved considerably since they started out, incorporating elements from melodic death metal, black metal and increasingly bombastic orchestration, as well as making more use of arguably their most recognisable feature: Travis Ryan's distinctive 'goblin clean' vocals; disturbingly inhuman, Gollum-like squeals that he employs alternately with classic death growls to powerful effect.

A concept album whose title translates roughly to 'world parasite', Terrasite is the sequel to its predecessor, 2020's Death Atlas, continuing the grisly storyline of a race of mutants spawned from the wretched remains of humanity as they awake into a grim post-apocalyptic hellscape. If that sounds a bit overblown, know that it is an entirely appropriate description. To be honest, calling Terrasite a concept album does it something of a disservice: in terms of instrumentation, production, ambition and sheer scale, it really feels more like a metal opera. The story it tells, from the unrelenting brutality of 'We Eat Our Young' through the soaring chorus of 'Scourge Of The Offspring' with its lamentation about overpopulation, to the beautifully melodic closing tracks, 'Solastalgia' and 'Just Another Body', is compelling, devastating and deeply unsettling. It's the kind of thing that you feel should come with a fully choreographed, costumed and set-designed stage show, but for the fact that the subject matter is so horrifying nobody in their right mind would actually watch it.

Terrasite finished very high up on the majority of metal-focused 2023 year-end lists, and while it didn't quite make my top 10, I can definitely see why. It can be a bit of an uncomfortable listen - as music which brutally exposes humanity's worst flaws should be. But if it ever did make it to the stage, I'd bag front-row seats.

Chart history:
Terrasite [May-Jun 23, #5]
Scourge of the Offspring [GL7 Mar-Apr 23, #44]
A Photic Doom [GL8 May-Jun 23, #12]

My top-charting single from the album, and easily my favourite track. A great showcase of the goblin vocals alongside world-class drumming and some nice, almost post-hardcorey riffs.