Cosmo’s Favorite Albums of 2023

Bolt Thrower worship is an extremely hit or miss style of death metal. A lot of bands who do this fall flat, but Extermination Order's brand of it is so on point with the original masters that I can’t help but enjoy this. Sounding straight out of either the For Victory or Those Once Loyal eras of Bolt Thrower, Extermination Order brings memorable, burly riffs to destroy and songs like "Cadmean Victory" make me very excited for a full length from this band. More good Bolt Thrower worship in 2024, please.

Talk about an impressive band. Not only was I very impressed with the full-length, more on that later, but the debut EP from this New York-based collective was both fun and jaw-dropping when I first heard it, and that sentiment continues today. Basing the entire song off of Pokemon motifs, specifically the Team Rocket hideout, was an incredibly unconventional move, and easily one of the most refreshing things I've heard from the more out there varieties of death metal mixed with jazz. Aside from metal, I am a big fan of jazz, and I really hope more bands in the vein of Sarmat start popping up given how much of a splash they made in the metal world in their debut year alone. Absolutely listen to this if you haven’t already.

Released exactly one year after The Exuviae of Gods I, Mournful Congregation has delivered unto us another helping of their signature emotive funeral doom metal. They’re known as some of the upper echelons of this genre for a reason, and they deliver once again with very neoclassical inspired leads, titanic riffs, and sonorous howls. Each EP contained two new songs and a remake of a demo song. The easy highlight here is "The Forbidden Abysm", but honestly it's worth it to listen to the whole thing. It's only 40 minutes, and everyone could use a cocoon of crushing melancholy to wrap themselves in this winter.

Dark Descent shadow-dropping Undergang's best material to date was certainly not what I had on my radar in 2023, but here we are. Just over 33 minutes of death metal filth, the proven Danish masters of the craft alongside American doomed death metal warriors Spectral Voice bring nasty, phlegm-soaked vocals alongside neck-snapping riffs, and if you don't like this release, I'm afraid there’s no hope for you in the death metal zone. Songs like "Fæl rådden død" showcase the level of care Undergang took to their approach in songwriting, and the Spectral Voice contribution leaves me hopeful for the long-awaited upcoming sophomore album in 2024, Sparagmos.

If you told me a blackened thrash metal EP would be my top EP of the year in 2023, I wouldn't have believed you. I now eat my words though, as Solipnosis has impressed me so much with this EP (that really should be a full length, but labels are odd). Dizzying fretwork, bestial snarls, and transitions from thrash all the way to depressive black metal have my head spinning in the best possible way each time I listen to this release. Part of the joy in being a music reviewer and an avid hunter of new music is finding a previously unknown gem that soars its way into a special place in my heart. Solipnosis have done that this year, and I find myself eagerly awaiting their sophomore album, especially if it will be as batshit insane as this release was.

One of the better acts in the "medieval black metal" facet of melodic black metal, Sühnopfer predictably delivers again in this close to an hour album full of emotive leads, hyper fast trem-picked riffs, and medieval imagery packed within. The baroque-tinged parts from the previous album are back and better, notably on "DSFR" and "Pays d’allen", while more black metal focused tracks like "Derniers sacrements" give off themes of winning a major battle. This is easily Ardraos' most accomplished work to date, and the out-there idea of placing a cover of a French pop song from the 60s is a fiendishly creative idea, but it's pulled off extremely well, and makes for a solid closer to an already stellar album. Top tier effort, and I implore you all to listen (but maybe not buy, there's a bit of a sketchy past, unfortunately).

I cannot think of another year where a band has made such a splash that I've included both of their debut releases on my year end list, but Sarmat sees me doing this in 2023. What an outstanding, trippy, off-putting, dissonant, insert other adjective here album. Mixing jazz with really wild death metal that one would normally find on an act like Artificial Brain, Sarmat forces you to truly pay attention to the sheer lunacy ensconced within a tight package. With bass on album performed by the ever-talented Steve Blanco, and dizzying guitarwork performed by Cotter Champlain, songs such as “Landform” and “Enervated” helped cement this album into the lofty heights it is today. I cannot state how much I look forward to a follow-up from this project.

Fiendishly dissonant, at times almost overwhelmingly so, Baring Teeth’s long-awaited return was a smash hit. For most people, this album could rightfully be seen as "too dissonant" as there is no semblance of melody here. "Obsolescence" is not subtle at all letting listeners know that they are in for a challenging ride. I on the other hand love challenging records such as this. I loved Ad Nauseam and Qrixkuor back in 2021, and while this is not nearly as incomprehensible as those two can be, it’s the kind of record I discover something new every time I listen to it, and that's really the beauty of this kind of extreme metal, isn't it? Only for the brave, but if you make it through, it's certainly a rewarding experience.

Some of my favorite flavors of black metal are the truly nightmarish ones. Hasard is a band who excels in one such flavor, and is at times a spine-tingling experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entirety of its runtime. Heavily layered with synths and dense, crushing atmosphere, Malivore is one album that I have come back to time and again throughout the year since it was released back in May. The major highlight is "Choral Inane" and that’s thanks to the talents of pianist John Steven Morgan (Wreche) bringing a certain dissonant piano "plonk" that is easily the best application of creepy piano in extreme metal that I can think of to date. I don't know if we’ll ever get another Hasard album, but I will be devouring it if we do.

It's hard to overstate just how fun Moonlight Sorcery's debut is. Melodic black metal with at times power metal elements, this is a debut album that has been long-awaited and the results are one of the best debuts of the year, hands down. So many highlights abound through the record, whether it be delightful clean guitar noodling "Yönsilmä", instrumental shred piece "The Moonlit Dance of the Twisted Jester’s Blood-soaked Rituals", or the blackened splendor of "Into the Silvery Shadows of Night", this band ought to be proud of what they accomplished with this incredible debut album. Anyone who is even remotely a fan of melodic black metal would be remiss without giving this a try. I will be even more impressed if a follow-up could reach the heights of this.

Easily their best work so far, Foreordained continues where Bringer of Drought left off, but with a much meaner approach. Lumbering riffs, subterranean growls, and pounding drums cement their place on this album. "Premonition" kicks off the affair, being an ominous piece that does a fantastic job setting up the atmosphere. The real star of the show is vocalist Etienne Bayard, who has a style of growl that is impossibly deep, and really makes himself sound like some ancient forgotten entity coming back to devour the universe. Guitar-work on the album is stellar. These are some absolutely fat riffs that will leave you with a case of severe whiplash, especially on songs like "Infomorph" and "Everlasting Void". Foreordained is a natural evolution in Phobocosm's sound. If there was more time in between when the album came out and the end of the year, I know for a fact this album would be higher up than number 10 on my list.

Finitude lulls the listener into a false sense of security in the opening title track, before blasting off into a furious array of dizzying fretwork alongside Romain Negro's rapid-fire vocals. There were touches of acoustic and flamenco guitar on the previous outing Impermanence, and on Finitude they’ve doubled down on those bits. "Xeno Chaos" in particular has an incredibly beautiful middle section that is all about the flamenco. There are no bad songs here, and each one focuses on a different part of Stortregn's strengths. "A Lost Battle Rages On" and "Rise of the Insidious" are two highlights, and the neoclassical moments in the latter makes it into one of my favorite songs of the year. The accompanying solo is one of the best Stortregn have ever composed, as well. Their drummer also needs to be commended for a blistering performance across the album. Samuel Jakubec, also of Dyssebeia, holds nothing back here, and "A Lost Battle Rages On" has some jaw-droppingly fast blast beats.

Showcasing Horrendous at their most progressive, this release opens with "The Blaze", a triumphant, short piece that prepares the listener for the utter insanity that follow with the massive combo "Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn)" and "Neon Leviathan", both unbelievably fun songs that are hard to not sit back and replay. Perhaps the most impressive song, though, is "Cult of Shaad’oah", which boasts the most astounding solo this band has penned to date, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have caught it live when I saw this band in July. I’ve never been disappointed by a Horrendous album, although having listened to the discography several times by now, I will say that Anareta might still be my favorite of the bunch, although Ontological Mysterium is definitely in a close second. The shortest album as well, the pacing on here is fantastic, with the songs flying by and all you want to do at the end is listen to it again.

Ensemble Under the Dark Sun is a great slab of blackened death metal reminiscent of other acts—like a less dissonant Ulcerate, Dead Congregation, and some elements of The Chasm thrown in for good measure. It's a killer debut. Songs such as "The Sin Before the Great Sin", "Idiosyncrasy", and "The Fall" have stuck with me ever since I first listened to this back when I reviewed it. the band is very talented at writing longer songs, which they make work by being constantly interesting throughout the runtime. Musicianship on here is top notch, and while the interlude may still be the weakest link on the album, it does provide a decent bridge between proper tracks. Serpent of Old proves that digging into the underground for a quality metal album is a worthwhile time.

I will always have a special place in my heart for this album—as it's the one that jump-started my hobby writing this year for this very blog. It’s quite unique from other black metal albums, as it embraces elements of progressive metal and small dashes of technical death metal in parts. Musicianship here is as top notch as it was on Liber Lvcifer I, and the production job results in a wonderfully clear package that has every instrument perfectly able to be heard. Audible bass in black metal is a woeful rarity, but here it’s an omnipresent factor. Vocals never stay in one style, rather vocalist The A goes back and forth between shrieks, growls, and clean singing. Highlights abound throughout the album, with major standouts including "Typhonian Temple", "Qelippot Epiphany", and "Into Eerie Catacombs". There’s a theatrical sense to the atmosphere on this album: choral parts make the listener feel like they’re witness to a mass in a decrepit temple while the congregation summons a long-forgotten evil.

While the psychedelic atmosphere that pervaded Ashes Coalesce may be gone, a more dramatic and dark atmosphere casts a black cloud over No Dawn for the Caliginous Night. This was an album that had me in love from the very first note on "Graveless Yet Dead". Everything that makes Convocation great is present in spades here. The tectonic riffs, the insane vocal stylings of Marco Neuman, and the oppressive, crushing atmosphere is back—even better than before. I’ve been sitting on this album for a long time, and have been waffling back and forth as to which I like better: this or Ashes Coalesce. After multiple relistens of this masterpiece, this is truly Convocation’s finest work to date. Adding guest musicians was just a cherry on top: Natalie Koskinen lends her beautiful croon to "Graveless Yet Dead", Antti Poutanen is a very talented cellist, featured on multiple songs, and legendary death metal vocalists Jason Netherton and Niko Matilainen lend their rumbling growls to other tracks here as well. In time, this could grow to be near a perfect funeral doom album for me.

This has to be the year where I’ve had the most amount of representation from I, Voidhanger on my list. Their best release, though, was the simultaneously dreamy and mind-melting sophomore album from Vertebra Atlantis that hit me hard from first listen. Complex angular riffs mixed with ethereal atmospheres, each track on this is a journey, all ending in the entirely sung title track—which is a massively cathartic track that makes the journey through the six other excellent tracks so much more worth it. Gabriele Gramaglia is at the absolute pinnacle of his musicianship and production skills here, as the sound of this album is gorgeous. Standout tracks include instrumental interlude "Cupio Dissolvi", the symphonic black metal inspired "Frostpalace Gloaming Respite", and the title track. Always unpredictable, and never setting into a generic aspect of their sound—A Dialogue With the Eeriest Sublime is the sort of album where I discover something new on each consecutive listen.

There’s something to be said about setting expectations too high: hyping yourself up too much for an album or game can result in disappointment if it doesn’t live up to the lofty heights you set it at. Where am I going with this? Mānbryne's debut album was lightning in a bottle for me: they captured so much aggression and energy into their songs and I have spun that album so many times that I was rightfully concerned the new album wouldn’t leave as much of an impact on me. Boy, was I wrong. I love this new album a lot, and still regularly come back to it. Ferocious, emotionally-charged black metal, Mānbryne's sophomore album is a direct continuation from their debut album, adding more of a moody atmosphere to it. It may not be as immediate as Heilsweg to some, but the time where I think this is a direct improvement over the debut is fast-arriving, most notably due to “Pierwszy kamień”. This massive song might be my overall song of the year, due to the explosive guitar solo alongside scathing, lightning-speed vocals in the closing minutes that is pure emotional catharsis. With this album, Mānbryne have cemented themselves as one of my current favorite acts in the world of extreme metal.

Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags is Hellripper's most dynamic album to date, not only has it the trademark Motorhead-meets-Venom-meets-Bathory songs this artist is known for, but it’s also the first time James McBain experimented with longer tracks—such as the title track and "Mester Stoor Worm", which he pulled off fantastically. The noticeable shift in song quality from the already very solid Affair of the Poisons is massive, and it’s clear James McBain cooked for a bit longer before recording these tracks, as it’s almost a night and day difference between the two albums. This feels like Hellripper’s most complete album to date, and it features some of their best songs, including "The Cursed Carrion Crown", which boasts the fastest and most off the rails solo section from any Hellripper song yet, "Goat Vomit Nightmare", which is one of the most fun songs of the year and "The Nuckelavee", which is a nonstop banger guaranteed to leave the listener with whiplash. This album pushed the envelope and the limits on what this artist is capable of. Hellripper seems to be on the verge of breaking out into major success here, and I can’t wait to see what comes next. An excellent album, and Hellripper's best work yet.

It really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that an Icelandic black metal album is my album of the year. I gushed about Sól án varma a lot back in April when it came out, and none of that sticking power has been lost so many months later. A love letter to the microcosm of the Icelandic scene, this album showcases the best elements of why these black metal albums are great: dissonance, psychedelia, and ritualism. Originally a special piece commissioned for the legendary Roadburn Festival, this album was finally able to see the light of day in recorded form this year. The first few songs serve as a buildup before the explosion of furious black metal reminiscent of one of the country's many volcanoes, and then the afterglow at the end that bathes the listener in a warm cocoon and closes out the first real decade of the black metal sphere there. As this was a commissioned piece, unless the band members decide to get back together and do a second release, it seems like this will be it. Which is fine. Albums like these that strike me instantly as something to be treasured really only come around once in a while. Eternal praises for this album, and for this scene as a whole. This album is an absolute treasure, and I will have it in my rotation for the years to come. Truly, the best album of 2023.