TOP 75 ALBUMS OF 2023: Part IV (#20-#11)
Almost there.
You know the drill by now, the rest of the list is here:
Part I (#75-#61)
Part II (#60-#41)
Part III (#40-#21)
and let’s get on with it.
Only one volume left.
20.
Malokarpatan
Vertumnus Caesar
(Invictus Productions)
Not resting on their laurels - which are plenty, from heaps of Fenriz praise to an unlikely but extraordinary Roadburn appearance among other things -, Slovakian heavy/folk metallers Malokarpatan delivered in 2023 the fourth and best album of their career. As I mentioned when they appeared on The Devil’s Month in October, “Veering towards a more traditional, melodic approach, more Iron Maiden than Mercyful Fate or Venom to put it bluntly, but still maintaining that tongue-in-cheek grandeur and theatrical drama - not to mention the expressive gruff vocals -, this simply sounds like a celebration of the best that classic heavy metal has to offer, from start to end. Hey, if you don’t feel anything when that intro riff to ‘Vovnútri Chlácholivého Útočišta Kunstkamru’ kicks in, and the subsequent hoof-stomping ride they take you on at 0:22, either check your pulse or just hand in your heavy metal membership card.”
19.
Volores
Ages
(Self-released)
There weren’t many references to hold on to when Volores quietly appeared with the announcement of their debut album ‘Ages’, other than the fact that Flogging Molly bassplayer Nathen Maxwell was one of the band members, alongside his wife Shelby Maxwell - and while I do love Flogging Molly, there is very little musical connection between the two bands other than sharing a member. However, reading the bio on that initial press release, where it was claimed that “AGES celebrates the shared musical passions that brought the Maxwells together – from Leonard Cohen and Elliot Smith to The Cure and Interpol”, something resonated and got that old “can this be a new favourite?” curiosity motivation going, something that all you compulsive music explorers out there will surely recognise. It’s rare that the stuff you actively seek out in the hopes that it’s as good as the press blurbs holds up, but Volores are one such rare exception. Finely crafted, uncluttered and surprisingly emotional rock songs that stay with you long after the record has stopped spinning, ‘Ages’ has remained in my personal playlists all through the year, and there it shall remain for the foreseeable future. It’s great to see them getting more and more recognition and touring very regularly ever since the release of the album, so hopefully we’ll get to hear the next step of their evolution soon. Oh, they were Band Of The Week back then, and I also had Shelby and Nathen on the podcast, so there’s plenty more to discover about them if you like, without even leaving TDM. You’re welcome.
18.
GELD
Currency//Castration
(Relapse Records)
Another one that made the BOTW + podcast combo, Geld were one of the hardest musical slaps in the face of the year, a sort of answer to the equally annihilating Unyielding Love album that I also rated very highly on last year’s list. There’s a similar kind of urgency, of relentlessness, of raw, primal violence, of utter revolt and disgust at the current state of the world too, always the most efficient kind of fuel for pissed off, fucked up music. I’ve said things like “hints of Trap Them” about them and agreed with others like “Voivod if they were a Japanese hardcore band”, so yeah, you know this is special. Dive in now.
17.
Godflesh
Purge
(Avalanche Recordings)
It’s something that we obviously didn’t think about when ‘Purge’ was released, but with the excruciatingly sad news of Geordie’s death and the apparent logical conclusion that we’ve seen the last of Killing Joke, Godflesh are left operating pretty much on a league of their own from now on, the one entity capable of staring at very concrete subjects we’d like to avoid square in the face, and massively groove the hell out of them with brain-melting, apocalyptic industrial tunes. As if this album needed any more poignancy, coming as it did after Justin K. Broadrick’s exceptionally honest revelation of several details about his mental health struggles. Rarely has music this atavistic and seemingly impenetrable connected emotionally with its listeners through such a tight bond. As I ended my review of it that was published on Decibel magazine, “genius is an overused term, but for this, it seems just right.”
16.
Årabrot
Of Darkness And Light
(Pelagic Records)
Aka, the rock album, right? Okay, it’s not as if Årabrot weren’t already essentially a rock band before, or noise rock if you will, maybe, somewhat reductively. But never with this kind of swagger, with this lush, devil-may-care delivery of shameless earworms, a sort of intellectual version of rocking out with your cock out kindathing, as all your nerdy literary and musical references are still there for the taking, and none of the band’s sledgehammer subtlety has been affected by this deceivingly more simple approach to songwriting. Allowing Karin Park to crucially grow in importance within this usually Kjetil-led show has been a great decision, as it seems she has brought a new kind of balance to the songs, which reach a stadium rock type of vibe sometimes, but never at the expense of the sophistication and sinister menace that has always been at the heart of this band. In short, by shapeshifting and evolving along the way, Årabrot just keep getting better and better. Can’t wait for the next chapter of the adventure already.
15.
Sleep Of Monsters
｢｢｢
(Svart Records)
One of the most underrated bands in this whole list, but it’s easy to get why. Sleep Of Monsters will never be an easy sell - with so much happening in each song, let alone each record (this is their third already, as you might have guessed by the title), it’s difficult to even throw a genre at them that might be even a little bit accurate, let alone describe their appeal in any coherent way. I’ve seen them described as “goth rock”, but that’s such a lazy term, probably only concocted by desperate reviewers who remembered (or even worse, google-discovered) vocalist Ike Vil used to be the voice for the legendary Babylon Whores, it’s kinda like calling Dead Can Dance goth rock. Even Ike is different here from the way he used to sing on equally underrated gems of records like ‘Cold Heaven’ or ‘King Fear’, a more velvety, sort of soaringly smooth approach, backed by three wonderful female singers who occasionally take the lead as well. Otherwise, the lyrical ambiance is actually similar - esoteric tales informed by mythology, history and the vocalist’s delirious imagination (lest we forget he is also an author), greatly enriching the already profoundly evocative, exotic richness of the music. All in all, a truly unique record that will deliver untold riches no matter your genre of choice, if you give it a chance. While you’re at it, go listen to Ike on one of my favourite episodes of our podcast, you won’t regret it.
14.
Scúru Fitchádu
Nez Txada skúru dentu skina na braku fundu
(Self-released)
Almost a year to the day this fantastic record - whose title means ‘in this dark upland at the corner in a deep hole’ - was released, it still retains the exact same power, and main man Marcus Veiga has already hinted on the band’s social media that the next one is coming. Gotta keep up! If you don’t know Scúru Fitchádu yet, know that Marcus is of Cape Verdean origin, and he mixes raw punk, industrial noise, beats and traditional funaná music from his roots. His lyrics are hard and meaningful and his music is unstoppable both on record and on stage. He calls it “Afrohardbass Poetic violence” and I did a much better job of describing it when I picked Scúru Fitchádu as Band Of The Week upon the release of this record last year, so go and check it out, there’s an awesome interview with Marcus there too. No matter what you do, do not let this band pass you by. An essential artist of our time.
13.
Matt Elliott
The End Of Days
(Ici D’Ailleurs)
For a record so steeped in pessimism/realism, cynicism and a total lack of faith or appreciation for humanity, ‘The End Of Days’ is incredibly quiet, even for Matt Elliott’s typically minimalist standards. Taking a simpler and even more uncluttered approach than some of his past records, this features little else apart from Matt’s guitar and piano (and voice of course), only with a few atmospheric jazzy flourishes appearing towards the second half of the album. But even his voice is less present than usual, lower and understated, which somehow makes his disillusioned lyrics seem even more poignant. It’s as if, slowly, Matt’s music is following his - and ours - progressive abandonment of hope, becoming less and less there until finally he will logically culminate in a record of absolute silence to be played over a landscape of equal lifeless quietude. How he still maintains the colossal emotional weight, or even seems to add more as he lessens the songs more and more, is beyond me. Perhaps that is just the mark of genius his compositions have always showed. Just put this on during one of these drab, rainy afternoons we’re having pretty much all over, and you’ll see - at the end of it all, such is the depth of the aching beauty that has swept over you, maybe you too will feel a strange kind of emptiness, a sort of quiet, unburdened relief and, paradoxically, even a tiny sliver of hope. Maybe.
12.
Will Haven
VII
(Minus Head Records)
Forgive the blasphemy, old fans, but I’ve lived with the thing long enough to call it: ‘VII’ is indeed Will Haven’s best album. Sure, yeah, I’m also old, I was here already when ‘El Diablo’ came out, I remember all the (justified) fuss, I was a part of it. I know nothing will touch the historical importance those earlier Will Haven times had and how those records are imbedded in our psyches. But rising above personal nostalgia, just coldly comparing stuff side by side, this record wins every time. It’s got basically everything that ever made Will Haven a band apart from all the others, even (especially) their peers. The harrowing, unescapable darkness at the heart of it, the atmosphere enveloping even the most simple and direct riffs, the frightening intensity of it all, the tension that sometimes feels will makes your brain burst because there’s no way for it to go, no release in sight while the band just builds and builds… Sure, sounds like a description for ‘El Diablo’ or ‘WHVN’, but now with an extra 20+ years of experience, which they know how to use better than just about any other band of this style. Early Will Haven, as brilliant and revolutionary as they were, could never have written something like the surreal build-up of ‘Paloma’s Blessing’, a sort of dream that keeps hitting you in the face until you wake up, or something dripping with mournful despair like the bitterness-drenched ‘No Starts To Guide Me’, or especially the gigantic closing dirge that is ‘La Ultima Nota’, which will drain the very last shreds of energy you might still have like a fucking black hole.
11.
Christian Kjellvander
Hold Your Love Still
(Tapete Records)
I was aware of this Swedish troubadour mainly through his work with the great Loosegoats, a brilliant sort of alt-country band from the 90s that I urge you to also discover if you don’t know them. I have seen and distractedly (too distractedly, as it has turned out) heard a couple of his solo albums along the way, always sort of mentally filing them as “interesting, should listen more” in my mind but never really following that through. You know, one of those artists you run into from time to time but for some reason never really get round to investigating properly. Well, shame on me. After reading a mention of his just-released new album ‘Hold Your Love Still’ on a review of some other record somewhere (I honestly can’t remember), something in that album title resonated with me and I decided to finally give Christian Kjellvander a proper whirl. Let’s just say that I’ve listened to this album every day since that fateful afternoon in December. It’s become the involuntary soundtrack for a very complicated period in personal terms, a close friend that’s always there when I press play. The emotional richness that drips from these songs is simply astounding. Without many frills, bells or whistles, with remarkable simplicity and just fine song crafting, Christian is able to evoke sadness, hope, anger, social injustice, love and despair all within the 45 wonderful minutes ‘Hold Your Love Still’ will hold you still, in captive attention. His rich and full baritone is surprisingly sensitive while reciting the poignant, intelligent lyrics, and songs like ‘Baleen Whale’, ‘Disgust For The Poor’ or the emotional rollercoaster that is ‘We Are Gathered’ will remain entrenched inside your heart for a long, long time. Oh, and a journey through Christian’s solo back catalogue, if you don’t know it well, is also heavily recommended. My current favourites are ‘About Love And Loving Again’, 2020’s predecessor to ‘Hold Your Love Still’, and the amazing ‘I Saw Her From Here, I Saw Here From Her‘ from 2007. Go forth and explore. It’s worth it.