Finding a Syringe in a Needlestack, part 1
Ten of My Top Twenty Albums of Twenty Twenty-Three
Nobody warned me that making a Top Twenty list would be so hard. I’ve listened to hundreds of albums this year, most of them bad or boring. That said, as I dove into this years release roster, it became clear that I’ve still heard a great deal of albums that I found very impressive - far more than twenty.
Per Encyclopaedia Metallum, there’s been at least ten thousand black metal releases this year. I can’t even imagine what diamonds are scattered in the rough. Undoubtedly, there were likely hundreds of incredible albums that I not only didn’t hear, but may never hear. That thought certainly took some wind out of my sails a few times while writing up this list.
The biggest challenge thus far is that I’ve largely found it disingenuous to attempt quantitatively ranking twenty different albums. The statistician in me cringes at the very thought. Instead, I’ve chosen my twenty favorite albums of the year, in no particular order, with one reigning supreme. To keep it easy to digest, I’m splitting the article into two posts of ten bands, with my overall favorite being on the second. This first post will largely address the more atmospheric side of black metal, while the next post will be focused on the more traditional and extreme bands.
At the end of the day, this list is simply the albums that I liked, and nothing more. So don’t whine if your favorite release isn’t represented. Go make your own Top Twenty list.
Well anyways, let’s get to it.
PS: Be sure to check out Part 2 for the remaining ten, including the top album overall.
1) Urfaust’s Untergang
A capstone to their 20-year-career, Untergang is the perfect swan song for the Dutch titans. Each song perfectly embodies the sounds they’ve become known for. Whether the unhinged vocal delivery, paced doom riffs, post-punk drum rhythms, or entrancing synth, everything is there. It’s an album that would satisfy the die-hards and newbies alike. That’s not an easy gap for any artist to span.
Favorite Track: Vernichtung
2) Fluisteraars’ De Kronieken Van Het Verdwenen Kasteel I - Harslo/II - Nergana
Arriving as two separate EPs totaling only fifteen minutes apiece, I strongly considered not bringing this dual release up. However, it’s too good to go unmentioned. Both EPs set forward an evolution of sound many paces beyond the preceding full-length, Bloem. I found Bloem to be an incredible album, so I’m nothing short of floored by what I’m hearing now.
Fluisteraars have a knack for employing sounds from all of today’s biggest black metal camps, all the while maintaining a clear identity. While reverbed vocals, post-metal riffage, and spastic cymbals-and-snare over rumbling double-kick are nothing unique on their own, the way Fluisteraars delivers on these cliches has made me realize that there’s still a lot more life left in this formula.
Favorite Track: De Mystiek Rondom de Steen des Hamers
3) At the Altar of the Horned God’s Heart of Silence
Haunting, entrancing, and tribalistic, the one-man project At the Altar of the Horned God has returned with an incomparable sound. What I find most interesting is that it would do well as an introduction to black metal, but most long-time fans of the genre would find little wrong with the album. It has the reverence of nature characteristic of all black metal, with an extremely pagan vibe about it. The classic wall of sound is there of course, but often in the form of a soothing hum under prayer-like vocals. It’s a very meditative album, and does wonderful as background music for any number of occasions.
Favorite Track: Chthonic Summoning
4) Wayfarer’s American Gothic
As of the past couple of years, I would go so far as to assert that the American black metal scene has been putting forward more interesting folk music than the European black metal scene that birthed it. Wayfarer has led that charge through three thematically consistent albums in a row, each more stunning than the last. I expound further on these themes in my review of the album, which I recommend before you listen to all three, in-a-row, right this instant. You’d be doing yourself a favor - this is an incredible trilogy, although thematically dense.
Favorite Track: Reaper On The Oilfields
5) Curta’n Wall’s Siege Ubsessed!
This album is goofy. You should realize this already; you see the cover. The bubble font, the deliberate misspellings, the unfiltered photo straight from a ren faire - I laughed before even hearing the album. Coming from the very full halls of Grime Stone Records, Curta’n Wall is a project spearheaded by Abysmal Specter, known for his other likewise goofy projects, Bloody Keep and Old Nick. Curta’n Wall is my favorite so far.
I laugh out loud every time I listen to this album. I don’t mean the “sharp exhale” kind of laugh. I mean a boisterous guffaw that prompts me to immediately drop whatever I’m working on in an attempt to collect myself. You try not doing the same when the typical sounds of raw black metal are interrupted by upbeat flute and plucky mandolin lead into a duet of bards crooning,
Castle so grand! Stand tall-and-proud-and-cast-your-shadow-cross-the-land Castle so grand! The most fortified fortress known to man!
Despite its silly presentation, the biggest punchline is how well composed the whole album is. With every folly masterfully executed, this is perfect black metal camp.
Favorite Track: Timeless Armor
6) Agriculture’s Self-Titled
A newcomer to the post-black metal scene, Agriculture has entered with a hell of a debut full-length. All the atmospheric tremolo is there, woven with fierce playing from every member. The chaotic undertones woven underneath the continuous wall of sound add a subtly discomforting atmosphere that does well to portray the ocean-inspired theme of the album. It’s not uncommon for post- and atmospheric black metal bands to tackle the ocean as a topic, but few do so in a way that perfectly encapsulates both its serenity and horror.
Favorite Track: Look, Pt. 3
7) A Za Solncem Luna…’s Toadstools
Spastic vocals, eerie synthesizer, and creative sampling come together perfectly under the expressionist film aesthetic of the album’s visual elements. If black metal is going to be heavily-produced and synth-driven, this is how I’d like it to be. The reverbed vocals sound hauntingly deranged, the guitarwork is well-crafted and adventurous, and the synth sections that crop up occasionally do well to further the witchcraft-laden theme.
Favorite Track: The Mysterious Satellite
8) Esoctrilihum’s Astraal Constellations Of The Magickal Zodiac
Asthâghul needs to stop making albums, if only to give me time to fully listen to the stunning ten albums he’s composed under the Esoctrilihum moniker since 2017. His second full-length of 2023 is his best work yet. I know this for sure, because it’s taken me a better part of the year to very deliberately slog through the very dense two-hour album, the entire time enjoying so. My CD copy spans across three discs. This is the black metal equivalent of the film version of The Return of the King, both in length and general grandeur. There isn’t a single track under six minutes, and two of the tracks extend as long as twenty minutes. What shocks me the most is that Asthâghul’s writing tends to take a substantial leap forward every couple of albums. At the rate at which he creates, I can’t help but ponder with excitement where his career will lead.
Favorite Track: Taimonh Ox
9) Mephorash’s Krystl-Ah
Mephorash’s latest has a uniquely choir-like aesthetic to it. If I were at a black mass, these are the hymns that I would expect. The operatic belt of the backing choir fits perfectly with the epic guitarwork, often climbing to crescendos that feel lifted from a full orchestral performance. In a complete twist on what most expect from black metal, it’s very hard to listen to the album and not feel uplifted. Consider this “Anti-DSBM”.
10) Dødheimsgard’s Black Medium Current
Dødheimsgard have been a part of the black metal scene for going on thirty years. They’ve always been good; personally, I enjoy all of their albums, to varying degrees. However, their release of 666 International in 1999 brought forward a bizarre form of avant-garde black metal that permanently shifted their sound into a pioneering space. Black Medium Current continues that journey in what may be the best work by Dødheimsgard yet. The electronic sounds of 666 International are still present, but Black Medium Current brings in a myriad of sounds from progressive rock. In proper prog fashion, the album veers heavily into self-indulgence regularly, but in such a way that’s it’s easy to enjoy. Some moments are extremely catchy; others are spacy and atmospheric. Overall, what you’re left with is an album that never stays still long enough to let you get a bead on it, but is paced enough to not leave you exasperated and unable to follow along. If Dødheimsgard called their career here, I wouldn’t be mad about them exiting on this note. Nonetheless, if they’re going to stick around, I eagerly await what comes next.
Favorite Track: Interstellar Nexus
Want more? Check out Part 2 for the remaining ten.