Finding a Syringe in a Needlestack, part 2
The Part Two of Ten of the Top Twenty of Twenty Twenty-Three
Earlier this month, I put out the first half of my Top 20 list for this year. Here’s what remains. This time, you’ll find all the odd-ones-out: avant-garde, melodic, the trve, the blackened death, and maybe even a magick metal band. Again, this is not in any particular order, but there is a “Best Overall” at the end.
Enough exposition - let’s finish this list. It is already 2024, after all.
11) Gruzja’s Koniec Wakacji
Gruzja’s style is known for employing lyrics centered around regionally-specific events that would fly over the heads over most people outside their corner of Eastern Europe. Most of the time, this album is no different. However - if the cover didn’t make it clear enough - there’s a tinge of wartime fear laced throughout.
If you blend the dark comical edge with the album’s intense hardcore riffage and topical lyrics, the result is one of the most unique albums that I’ve ever heard, much less this year alone. It’s a strange entry into the halls of black metal (and almost lands itself outside of the genre altogether,) but it’s a highly worthwhile listening endeavor.
Favorite Track: Poczytaj Mi Tato
12) Valdrin’s Throne of the Lunar Soul
This album is arguably Valdrins’ most approachable work. That said, they do not shirk clever songwriting in the pursuit of listenability. The guitarwork is a lot of fun, and the vocals are delivered with an impressive clarity. These forces propel the narrative structure of the album along, with each major plot point bringing with it a matching shift in the sound.
Favorite Track: Paladins of Ausadjur
13) Moonlight Sorcery’s Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle
There’s something to be said about Moonlight Sorcerys’ ability to move from crushing instrumentation to catchy melodic sections without a hitch. That’s all I’m really going to say about this one. There’s nothing here that I expect any black metal fan to not have heard before. However, I doubt you’ll have heard it done so well.
Favorite Track: The Secret of Streaming Blood
14) Hoplites’ Antitimoroyméni
This isn’t your typical blackened death album. The death metal is there, undoubtedly, but instead of the typical bear-like vocals over chunky riffs, you find eviscerating screams over unrelenting dissonance. Prepare for an intense ride from one of black metal’s most prolific up-and-comers.
Favorite track: Σφάττουσα (No idea what the anglicized form would be, or even what it means)
15) Laster’s Andermans Miljne
Dutch oddities Laster have brought forward a very unique sound on their most recent album. Championing a sound they humorously refer to as “obscure dance music”, what really emerges is an interesting fusion of post-black metal, Dutch jazz, and the New Wave revival.
Favorite Track: Kunstlicht
16) Mortuary Drape’s Black Mirror
There’s not much of a reason to expect a lot from the masters of Necromantic Doom, given that they’re twenty years out from their best work (legendary as that work may be.) Black Mirror is quite the revival for the cult legends. Layered with eerie tones, haunting vocals, buzzsaw guitar, and some really groovy bass, the album comes together into an aesthetic that’s as melodic as it is crushing. With all the hallmarks of what made their early-90’s albums so great, necromantic doom has returned - for real this time.
Favorite Track: Rattle Breath
17) Hellripper’s Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
As a fan of the First Wave, I’m ecstatic about the revival of heavy metal occurring in the black metal scene. Hellripper is the perfect embodiment of that sound. Laced with supercharged speed and groove metal throughout, this is some perfect hair-whipping music. This is an incredibly fun album, and the energetic delivery could be easily enjoyed by metal fans broadly.
Favorite Track: Goat Vomit Nightmare
18) Aara’s Triade III: Nyx
Unlike the melodic releases from Moonlight Sorcery or Valdrin, Aara’s third release in their Triade series opts for a more soothing tone. All the while, there’s nothing about the instrumentation that fails to deliver on the intensity one would want from black metal. The intense tremolo picking and fervent kick pedal coalesce into a washed out hum that creates a contradictory effect of calming more than it energizes.
Favorite Track: Unstern
19) Black Magick SS’ Burning Bridges
The “SS” stands for “Star Ship”, obviously.
The bad boys of blackened psychedelic rock have returned in their typical fashion: banned pretty much everywhere except ebay. An interesting twist comes with their latest release. Firstly, they’ve humorously redubbed themselves “Black Magick Star Ship”, and mostly dropped the Nazisploitation-inspired imagery. Secondly, this album tells a tale of exasperated dinosaur enthusiasts crafting a spaceship to leave behind a world in which they don’t belong. It’s hard to tell if this is just a funny yarn about space Nazis or a signal that the Black Magick Star Ship won’t be making a return journey. If so, it’s been a hilarious and highly controversial ride.
Musically, this album is a stunning performance, and it’s incredible that the pioneers of Magick Metal (a booming scene, by the way) can continue to innovate in such a way a decade after their conception. Their ability to play universally likeable music with such a strange schtick is unlike anything seen before.
The inclusion of this album on this list will likely ruffle the feathers of the easily-upset, but if I’m burned at the stake for jamming to saxophone solos over the sounds of New Wave, so be it. I’ll light the match myself.1
Favorite Track: Let Go
Overall: Malokarpatan’s Vertumnus Caesar
This wasn’t a contest for me. There were plenty of incredible albums this year, but Malokarpatan has left the competition so far behind that I’m actually writing this section before even Part 1 of this list. The rest of my time has not been spent discerning which albums I thought were best per se, but which of them actually deserve to be held up alongside this album.
Vertumnus Caesar strikes an extremely interesting balance, being a total homage with an original style. The Mötorhead-inspired riffs, the haunting atmosphere of Mercyful Fate, and everything in-between feels more like a respectful nod to predecessors than a rip-off. All of these singular elements come together into a uniquely identifiable sound. Even when held up next to an act similarly influenced by classic heavy - like Hellripper - there’s no way I could hear a song from Malokarpatan and not recognize them. On one hand, I’m already yearning for their next release. On the other hand, I know this album will keep me entertained for an extremely long time.
Favorite Track: Vovnútri chlácholivého útočišta kunstkamru
To dispel any knee-jerky bullshit before it starts, I’m an extremely left-wing crypto-anarchist. I hate the right-wing’s bootlicking as much as I hate the left-wing pedantry that presumes to combat fascism of the body with fascism of the mind. The American political scene is a distractive dispute between two forms of authoritarianism, and as such, I hate you all. You are welcome to hate me back. That said, I do love a good sax solo.