Glenn's Top 50 of 2023

[Harvester]

I've been writing up a "Best of" list annually for almost 30 years now. I normally write a paragraph on each selection, post the list to the forum, and be guaranteed plenty of discussion for a several weeks as folks explored it. The feedback made it so worth it. However, times have changed and it's time for me to change with it. Social media has created a world of ADHD musical junkies looking for the next squirrel. I'm lucky to see 10 replies now compared to 100+ ten years ago. So the honest truth is it's just not worth the effort to write a novel any longer. Instead of the "detailed why," you will now just get a short comment that may tempt you to click on it. Hopefully, you will find something that actually sparks the magic and you leave a comment.

Also, there were far more than 50 good albums released. So if you don't see your favorite album, don't bitch. It was ranked #51. Without further ado or shits given…



50. Nebulae Come Sweet- "De Lumiere"
Dark orchestral post-metal that teeters on heavy goth at times. Sweet ass video.


49. Sanguine Glacialis- "Maladaptive Daydreaming"
What started out as good symphonic death metal has evolved into avant-garde fusion in the vein of Vulture Industries & UnexpecT. Hell, even some jazzier DSO moments are sprinkled in here and there.


48. All for Metal- "All for Metal"
Cheesy as fuck true metal with absolutely glorious choruses. Raise the sword, hammer, and testosterone.


47. Hypno5e- "Sheol"
Dark, ambient extreme metal? French proggers run the modern gamut with a bit of djent, post, and more. For fans of the experimental side of Between the Buried and Me.


46. Sacred Outcry- "Towers of Gold"
I'm not much of a power guy these days, but Daniel Heiman's vocals combined with epic metal will always make the list.


45. Ne Obliviscaris- "Exul!"
Proggy symphonic-death metal Aussies have always been one step above with those clean vocals and violin interplay.


44. HMLTD- "The Worm"
Avant-prog? Art rock? Prog pop? Theatrical pomp? Bowie on acid? It's a rock opera about the apocalypse due to a worm rising out of the Earth to devour England. Yep, read that again. That said, I stillI don't know what the fuck this is other than the weirdest shit I have heard this year. And yet, I was a deer in headlights and could not look away. Was even better when I was in the correct state of mind. You've been warned.


43. Cruachan- "The Living and the Dead"
Grand daddy of folk metal return with their Celtic inspired anthems. Celtic > Viking. I said it. I meant it.


42. Redshift- "Laws of Entropy"
Classic 90's style prog metal complete with helium-tinged vocals (think Hubi Meisel for you old nerds) and a 20+ minute track. The kind of stuff I built the fest on two decades ago.


41. Omnerod- "The Amenal Rise"
Sonic blast of heavy Devy and early Leprous squished into some sweet death metal. Two vocalist approach.


40. Blind Man's Daughter= "Kyhell"
Melodic prog with powerhouse female vocals and ripping guitar work over complex rhythms.


39. Nuclear Power Trio- "Wet Ass Plutonium"
Instrumental shredfest. Putin can slap the fuck out of the bass.


38. Eleine- "We Shall Remain"
Dark symphonic metal with meaty, headbanging riffs galore. Madeleine is the next great front woman.


37. Blut Aus Nord- "Disharmonia - Nahab"
Avant-garde black metal with ambiance for when I'm pissed off or want to summon an Elder God. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.


36. Aviations- "Luminari"
Young guns with a nice slab of prog metal- intricate, soothing, and soaring. Serious chops.


35. Trevor Rabin- "Rio"
Close your eyes and you are listening to 80's Yes, no?


34. Frozen Crown- "Call of the North"
Took a big leap up the power metal ladder with this epic release.

33. Silent Skies- "Dormant"
Two of my fave musicians stripping things down to a stark and poignant beauty. Deserves more spins and higher ranking, but I'm too damn happy in life to succumb to the depression.


32. Mondo Drag- "Through the Hourglass"
Psychedelic and spacey trip with a shitload of Floydian moments. Grab the appropriate level gummies and headphones.


31. Temic- "Terror Management Theory"
Diego's Haken finger prints are all over this and Eric Gillette remains the most unheralded player in the scene. Tasty mordern prog metal.


30. Mind Overclock- "A Blessing in Disguise"
Instrumental psychedelic prog that adds a touch of both folk and heaviness to the retro vibes. I got you covered with a 25+ minute track below.


29. Blackbriar- "A Dark Euphony"
Miss the early Within Temptation sound from "Mother Earth"?


28. Love Bites- "Judgment Day"
The best Japanese metal band currently on the scene. This guitar duo is *elite.*


27. Lalu- "The Fish Who Would be King"
Wonderfully melodic prog rock that mixes modern elements with the classic late 70s/early 80s vibe.


26. Sermon- "Of Golden Verse"
Moody & intense slow burn prog metal that builds over the entire album. Percussion pounds the guitar into oblivion. Soen fans get in here.


25. Theocracy- "Mosaic"
Watching Matt grow as both a songwriter and vocalist has been amazing. Classic power that takes their heaviness up a notch.


24. Mercenary- "Soundtrack for the End of Times"
It's not quite classic Mercenary, but their sound is immediately recognizable. Hard to call it melodic death with so much clean vocals.


23. Delain- "Dark Waters"
Martijn reminded the world that he is an elite songwriter. Diana stepped into some big shoes and and has done a hell of a job.


22. Riverside- "ID. Entity"
Grittier touches and 80's synths add a new dimension…and yet also a few throwback songs remind you why you fell in love with them in the first place.


21. Vandenberg- Vandenberg
Been a blues rock/metal fan for 35 years and not stopping now.You can hear his Whitesnake blueprint all over this.


20. Tesseract- "War of Being"
I almost made it through the year without some serious djent, but Tesserat fucked me.


19. The Raven Age- "Blood Omen"
Catchy as hell modern rock/metal. The chorus work takes it to another level in a sea of mediocrity. I also dig the vocalist.


18. Crown Lands- "Fearless"
Straight up Rush worship from a duo that makes you think it's a trio.


17. DGM- "Life"
Think about all the other bands you describe as having that "DGM sound." And none come close to this.


16. Kamelot- "The Awakening"
After 30 years, the Kamelot sound is ingrained in my psyche. It's just a matter of songwriting. Love "One More Flag in the Ground."


15. The Cryptex- "Nimbus"
My favorite eccentric band returned with another banger. The more quirk, the better. Sing it with me, "I just want you to die.."


14. Jason Bieler & the Baron Von Bielski Orchestra- "Postcards from the Asylum"
In the year that I lost Buffett, Jason gave me "Mexico"- one of my favorite songs of the year. The rest of his irreverent, eclectic, and weirdo prog doesn't suck either.


13. Redemption- "I Am the Storm"
The band has morphed into a prog metal super group that hits all the right grooves for me. Nick's lyrics are always poetry.


12. Katatonia- "Sky Void of Stars"
Maybe it's just me, but Katatonia seem to have lightened the mood more than the lights.


11. Haken- "Fauna"- They have "progressed" enough to piss off the old die-hards and become the prog metal heir apparent for the next generation.


10. Soen- "Memorial"
They opened their sound up a with a more mainstream/rocking approach to excellent results.


9. Winger- "Seven"
Kip and company are a fine wine that ages gracefully. "It all Comes Back Around" surprised a lot of folks that had dismissed them 30 years ago. And yes, I was tempted to rank it #7.


8. Angra- "Cycles of Pain"
Their best since "Temple of Shadows."


7. Karnataka- "Requiem for a Dream"
The most lush and beautiful prog rock album of the year. No one builds a crescendo in their epics like this band.


6. Voyager- "Fearless in Love"
One of the most beloved bands in the scene return with a more synth-pop driven effort. Drunk dancing with the dog was never more fun.


5. Nospun- "Opus"
Blending blatant Dream Theaterisms (SFAM galore) with influences from numerous newer bands was a risk. It paid off in spades as fans of classic prog metal have been drawn to it like a hillbilly to Mountain Dew.


4. Avkrvst- "The Approbation"
A concept disc that is amalgam of every popular current prog band on Inside Out, Kscope, and the like. Porcupine Tree fans should pay special attention. Sky is the limit when they figure their own sound out.


3. Jelusik- "Follow the Blind Man"
Hell of a melodic banger with a generational voice. I don't want to analyze shit when playing it. I just want to blast it out and feel it. One of the *very* few albums that I have actually gotten a sore neck and hoarse voice from in the car this year. No brainer for early Jorn fans.


2. The Anchoret- "It All Began with Loneliness"
A band that is impossible to truly describe. Best I can do is compared bits and pieces to King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Opeth, & Fair to Midland wrapped up in a unique, dark melancholia. Not for lazy listeners. Plus, any band that mixes an elegant sax with mellotron, flutes, and heavy riffs automatically rule.


1. Sleep Token- "Take Me Back to Eden"
After reading my 49 other picks, you can see how trendy of a motherfucker I am. Or…. perhaps, you recall I ranked their last album at #3 for 2021 well before the metal media & outsiders started slobbering over their knobs. You either get this band and it hits you with an emotional gut punch with hauting lyrics and a pefectly timed moody atmosphere….or you think they are boring as hell. Not much room in between. I'm all in with Imagine Dragons going metal.

 

[KingsGene]

As always, thank you for putting this together as it makes for wonderful research for the following months.... it's like an early Christmas present!

 

[jhallum]

Always fun to compare lists. I did my top 10 last night, and three in my top 10 aren't in your top 50 (Fires in the Distance, Molybaron, and Tardigrade Inferno), working on the second 10 this weekend, and I suspect there'll be one or two there as well, but otherwise, the bands are mostly the same. It's scary how this year got good this fall. Was pretty quiet until June.
Kinda surprised to not see King Gizzard or Spirit Adrift in there, not much into the fuzzy stoner-lite prog?

 

[Harvester]

Always fun to compare lists. I did my top 10 last night, and three in my top 10 aren't in your top 50 (Fires in the Distance, Molybaron, and Tardigrade Inferno), working on the second 10 this weekend, and I suspect there'll be one or two there as well, but otherwise, the bands are mostly the same. It's scary how this year got good this fall. Was pretty quiet until June.
Kinda surprised to not see King Gizzard or Spirit Adrift in there, not much into the fuzzy stoner-lite prog?

It was #51.

I actually had in the list, but a few late comers pushed it out.

 

[jingle.boy]

As always, more than a few to check out, a handful that overlap (Putin slaps that bass like it's Crimea! ... too soon? lol), and a bit that just ain't my thing. I always look forward to this list, as it's brought me to more than a couple of my Albums of the Year (M.I. God and Daydream XI come to mind). I appreciate the brief writeups, and understand your conundrum about investing a lot of time to get little return/feedback.

 

[cslebn]

Thanks for doing this Glenn. If I log into the forum anymore it's for this thread. I love reading it and having a listening guide / buying guide to go through.

As someone who does not get the time to invest in trying new bands this is invaluable to me

 

[sccaldwell]

I always look forward to your Top 50 list, Glenn!! Invariably, I’ll find a CD or five that I missed, but wind up loving. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

I will say that I miss the longer descriptions…not only are the wonderfully descriptive, but I always get a number of good laughs out of them, too.

Either way, thanks!

Craig

 

[TheLongshot]

Always look forward to this list. There are a few I have yet to pick up that I intended to (The Cryptex, Lovebites, Temic). There are some I was surprised by new albums that I didn't know were out (Cruachan, Karnataka, Riverside), and some that I wanted to look into further (The Anchoret, Eleine)

As for the rest, I realize that a lot of what I have bought I haven't listed to deeply, and I regret that. Nice to see Aviations on here. I got into them with their previous album and it is nice stuff. Crown Lands was one of my top albums, and it was nice when listening to the album that they are more than a Rush imitation. Frozen Crown being on next year's roster pushed me over the edge into picking them up. Fauna I thought was a bit of a step down for Haken, IMO. Voyager's new album is as good as I expect from them. I kinda felt after seeing them at ProgPower this year that I'm kinda burnt out on Delain. They are fine, but I can't get excited about them anymore. The new Soen is a step up from their last album, which I thought was just OK.

As for stuff not on the list, the most notable for me is Noveria - "The Gates Of The Underworld". I kinda discovered them this year going through Scarlet Records catalog (Along with Frozen Crown) and they really impressed me. What I've listed of the new one is just as good.

Ad Infinitum's album is as good as their other two. The new Xandria is Xandria. It was nice to see Ice Age back, but I need to listed to more of it. I get why King Gizzard wouldn't be on the list, given they release multiple albums in a year. That being said, PetroDragonic Apocalypse was pretty good. Still need to listen to the new covet, Arch Echo, Klone, Jason Bieler, District 97 and Thousand Sun Sky to have more of an opinon.

 

[jingle.boy]

Gates of the Underworld is most excellent! Other gems from this year include Fifth Angel, MAREK ARNOLD'S ARTROCK PROJECT, Mystery, Ray Alder, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, and Hekz

 

[johnhead]

always appreciate you doing this - I can't imagine how long it takes.

TMBTE is my #1 album this year as well. It's an amazing piece of work, and even better live.

 

[zedowns]

Gotta say, I'm digging the abbreviated format this year. Makes the stuff I'm interested in checking out stand out a bit more and there's a lot of it.

Pleasantly surprised at HMLTD popping up here!

 

[vmdelgado]

Thank you for writing this list. I always look forward to it around this time of the year.
I've just started to sample the music and already know a lot of these will hit the right note.

 

[blulou]

Great, now you have me obsessed with Nuclear Power Trio videos...just what I needed...

 

[blulou]

I just spent 15 minutes looking for Arkvst, then realized that you missppelled it and it should be Avkrvst. You're killing me Smalls. You may want to edit your text on #4. Still, I really like it.

 

[blulou]

Thank you, Glenn. Though we don't agree on some music, people actually do give a shit about what you think for good reason. You always give me new food for musical thought and I really appreciate you taking the time to do this every year. Just don't mellow out in your old age. I won't.

 

[Magius]

Thanks for the list.

 

[MeTuLHeD]

Thanks for the great list! No worries about not writing an editorial to go with each one. I know how daunting just putting a list together can be.

Cruachan, Nuclear Power Trio, Eleine, Vandenberg, Tesseract, The Raven Age, DGM, Kamelot, Redemption, Angra, Jelusick were all favorites for me this year as well.

As usual, I always find something on your list which managed to stay off my radar somehow. This year that honor goes to Nospun. Thanks for turning me on to that. Listening all the way through now and really liking what I hear.

Some of my favs which didn't light your fire for whatever reason...

Sarayasign - The Lion's Road - For the life of me I do not understand why this band just doesn't get the love. From the stellar vocals of Stefan Nykvist to the soaring guitar work of Peter Lundin, this recording is a tour-de-force. Too heavy to be AOR. Too melodic to be metal. They successfully thread the needle between. Need proof? YouTube 'Blood From Stone', 'The Lion's Road' or 'Hope And The Sorrow'. You WILL believe.

Temple Balls - Avalanche - Just good old 80's flavored riffage. Drink the Kool-Aid!

Sky Empire - The Shifting Tectonic Plates Of Power – Part One - I just love hearing Soto sing this kind of stuff!

KK's Priest - The Sinner Rides Again - Yeah. I know. Cheesiest band name in history. But c'mon! Ripper sings his lungs out here! Probably his best recorded performance yet.

Noveria - Gates Of The Underworld - Probably my disc of the year. Easily in my Top Five. The bastard lovechild of DGM and Symphony X.

Withering Scorn - Prophets Of Demise - Putting the HEAVY in heavy power metal.

All My Shadows - Eerie Monsters - Vanden Plas does melodic metal. And does it in their own inimitable style.

Mezzrow - Summon Thy Demons - Just old school kick ass uber tight THRASH!

Sorcerer - Reign Of The Reaper - Keep the holy water handy.

Primal Fear - Code Red - My boys never let me down. Solid Priest worship.

Mystic Prophecy - Hellriot - When it comes to aggressive power metal, few do it better.

And Sleep Token? I tried. I really REALLY tried. But I just can't connect with it for some reason.

 

[jingle.boy]

I just spent 15 minutes looking for Arkvst, then realized that you missppelled it and it should be Avkrvst. You're killing me Smalls. You may want to edit your text on #4. Still, I really like it.

Also, the Blind Man's Daughter entry is only listing a song title. The album is called "Sundressed".

 

[jingle.boy]

So far, I'm very much loving Aviations / Luminaria

 

[hoodaman]

That Jelusik reminds me a lot of older Dynazty before they went power metal. Like their album Sultans of Sin.