Jeff Treppel's Top Albums of 2023
Before I begin, I’d like to extend my appreciation to the lovely editors of this site for giving a home to my annual rundown of the metal records that annoyed my wife the most this year. It was a rough trip around the sun for yours truly, not gonna lie. Between the writer’s strike, family health issues, and carpal tunnel surgery – well, let’s just say I’m glad I had metal to keep me sane. Otherwise I’d be posting this from inside an asylum. Which would be pretty metal.
As far as how metal’s year went: pretty much the same as always. Lots of excellent throwback death metal (turns out I like the stuff when it doesn’t sound shitty), some welcome returns, and some promising newcomers. That’s really all you can ask for in a genre that’s over a half-century old at this point. That’s assuming you consider “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath the genesis, which I do, even if it took another few years for the genre to codify. Not a lot of innovation – oh boy, nu-metal’s back – but a lot of bands are doing some interesting stylistic kitbashing. I may even remember some of them next year!
Also, if you’re looking for some archival recommendations, I’m gonna once more plug my ongoing review project at The Shfl.
...
Honorable Mentions:
20. Lamp of Murmuur – Saturnian Bloodstorm (Argento Records/Not Kvlt Records, USA)
19. Voyager – Fearless in Love (Season of Mist, Australia)
18. Jesus Piece – ...So Unknown (Century Media, USA)
17. Malokarpatan – Vertumnus Caesar (Invictus Productions, Slovakia)
16. Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination (Century Media, USA)
15. Final Gasp – Mourning Moon (Relapse Records, USA)
14. Mutoid Man – Mutants (Sargent House, USA)
13. Blood Ceremony – The Old Ways Remain (Rise Above Records, Canada)
12. Mammatus – Expanding Majesty (Silver Current, USA)
11. Outer Heaven – Infinite Psychic Depths (Relapse Records, USA)
…
I usually reserve the number ten slot for something offbeat that brought me a lot of joy over the past year. Usually, it’s from Japan. Gacharic Spin have been spinning their infectious funk metal blend since 2009, but this is the first album of theirs to make it into my rotation. They throw everything into a blender here and emerge with a delicious chaos smoothie. Listen to “Kachi-kachi Yama” and you’ll know what it must’ve felt like to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1986 – without the risk of getting hit with a dick sock!
Listen here.
Between indie darlings Dream Wife and Australian arsonists Clowns, queer women were responsible for some of the most vital punk rock of 2023. Clowns fall more on the crossover thrash side of the gender spectrum. The 80s-style power chords provide the perfect backing for Stevie Williams’ charismatic screams about touring life, her stabby tendencies, and her desire to bangarang every member of your family. It’s no laughing matter.
Listen here.
A colony drop is the ultimate “fuck you” move in Gundam – literally yeeting an inhabited space station into a city for maximum annihilation. Frankly, it’s pretty rude. Seattle multi-thrashers Colony Drop achieve the same effect with their music, only without as much loss of life (although I’ve never been to one of their shows so I don’t know how brutal their pits get). Big eyes, small mouths, huge riffs.
Listen here.
Sporting the brightest production we’ve heard yet from these veterans of the psychic wars, Baroness’s first step off the color wheel may seem off putting at first to those who prefer a little more mud in their swamp metal. And yet, their penchant for songcraft remains intact. “Last Word” and “Shine” bring the rock, but it’s on weirder entries like “Choir” and “Under the Wheel” that they truly roll.
Listen here.
Neon metal from a trio who grew up in the ’80s (and therefore only remember the good shit), Unicorn is that rarest of beasts: a synthwave-influenced hard rock record that actually lives up to its promise. They pull in friends like Gavin Rossdale, Dave Lombardo, Tim Capello (aka oily sax guy from The Lost Boys), Carpenter Brut, and Health to help them out, adding extra spice to brightly-colored bangers like “Monster in Paradise” and “Weaponized Love.”
Listen here.
The Wild West gives a potent backdrop for metal records. The desolate landscape, sudden violence, and ambiguous morality seem tailor-made for the genre. Shame more bands don’t head out to Dodge City, but Wayfarer certainly do the concept justice. Combining black metal with Western (the genre) guitar twang elevates both styles as they empty their six-shooters on two-fisted tales like “To Enter My House Justified.” American Gothic depicts a dark time in American history. It’s Wayfarer’s finest hour.
Listen here.
Satan guitarist Russ Tippins named Tanith after the female lead of the 1968 Satanic cult film The Devil Rides Out. Dude can’t stop shouting at the devil. Just as that esteemed NWOBHM act are going through an unprecedented renaissance right now (Earth Infernal made my Top 20 last year), this feels remarkably vibrant for a new project from a legacy artist. This takes the absolute best parts of phase one Rush, peak Thin Lizzy, and Blue Oyster Cult and makes them fresh – check out “Flame” for your D&D party’s new anthem.
Listen here.
Nate Garrett and his cohorts only get better as they make their way through the alphabet. Like, to the point where people kinda take them for granted. Their “G” album received rave reviews but not much buzz that I could see (although I’m admittedly absent from Musk’s Folly); folks just assume they’re gonna release transcendentally epic metal with each new release. And sure, those strawmen aren’t wrong, but still–Spirit Adrift deserve a little more appreciation for just how much “Give Her to the River” and “Hanged Man’s Revenge” smoke. Thanks, Nate and company!
Listen here.
How many bands put out their best album thirty years into their career? Yes, you can throw a dart at Enslaved’s discography and hit a great record, but there’s a strong case to be made for Heimdal as the most ambitious – and most successful – effort of their prog era. You would never be able to tell it’s a concept album based on how well each individual song works. While “Caravans to the Outer Worlds” might be the best thing they’ve ever done, everything else on here comes a close second. This is how black metal should be done (even if it means jettisoning a lot of the actual black metal).
Listen here
Yeah, yeah, it’s the obvious one. That’s for a reason. I actually had to fight (although not very hard) with my esteemed editor at Decibel to let me give this one a perfect score, but if this isn’t a 10, what else is? Horrendous, already at the top of the progressive/tech-death game, broke through the plateau they’d hit on 2018’s Idol by blowing up their sound and rebuilding it into something altogether leaner and meaner. You can try to pigeonhole the genre, but they honestly pull from so many different places that it’s just metal, in the modern and best sense. Check out “Neon Leviathan” or “Cult of Shaad’oah” for proof.
Listen here.
