There's no way of getting around it; 2023 was a bad year. It was a tough year for me, due to certain circumstances I suppose I created for myself. They put me in a bad mood for much of the year, which perhaps pushed me in musical directions that didn't gel with what the scene had to offer. But it was also a bad year for music, as I had trouble finding records I was interested in listening to, and that would then resonate with me in some fashion or another. I wouldn't call it disinterest, because I felt like I spent as much time as ever looking for new things to hear, but my luck wasn't pulling through as often as it has in the past.
That leaves me with the unfortunate position of saying that my list of the best music of the year is pretty much all of the new music this year I will go to bat for, and that I think I will still be listening to into the new year. I listened to fewer records this year than I have in recent memory, and the depth at the top of the quality pyramid is a feather-light capstone no one will have trouble prying off and stealing for their own archeological collections.
Still, we are here to talk about the best music of the year, so these are the albums that managed to do more for me than all the others.
-ish. Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation
Yin and yang, good and bad, light and dark; we can't have one without the other. In a sense, that's what this album has to offer. There is half of the record that is the best pop music I've heard since "1989" came out. Those songs are wonderful, featuring truly stunning vocals that paint a different picture of Miley than anything I had ever thought of before. If they were a six song EP, they would be embarrassingly high up this list. There's another half of the record, though, and it's bland synth-pop that doesn't feel at all like it belongs with the first half. I realize that was intentional, but sabotage is sabotage, regardless of who the gremlin in the machine was. I'm choosing to ignore half of this record, and focus on the good stuff, because Miley sounds that bloody good.
10. Lacey Sturm - Kenotic Metanoia
I love when you can listen to a record and feel the artist's passion coming through. That is very much the case on this record, as Lacey's vocal performance is a testament to these songs being an honest and open discussion of where she is in life. This is her story, and her voice plays the parts, belting with fire when necessary, screaming when appropriate, and always ringing out with remarkable clarity. She elevates this dark mainstream rock into something more than we expect, with powerful melodies her voice fills with so much air they float and linger in the air long after the songs are done. This record means something to Lacey, and so it can mean something to us as well.
9. Ray Alder - II
It isn't often that a solo career outshines the main band, but Ray Alder's two solo efforts have already eclipsed all of Fates Warning's career for me. This record keeps the same melancholy and emotional tone that Ray has wielded for years, but modernizes this semi-prog metal with even thicker and chunkier riffs. There's a soothing nature to Ray's voice, and it's a case where we remember that cloudy skies can sometimes keep the warmth from floating off into the outer reaches of the atmosphere. Ray leaving Redemption was a massive blow to my interest in prog metal, but him being able to make records like this are a damn good salve. No one does what Ray does, and this is close enough to being as good as it's ever sounded.
8. Royal Thunder - Rebuilding The Mountain
It's rare to hear a band say they needed to mature, but that's what Royal Thunder did. They took time off to work on themselves, and they only came back when they felt ready to make music for the right reasons. That is an honorable approach, and I think it's what makes this record work so well. They are being honest about who they are, and what they want to achieve. This record only exists because the members want to be in this band, they want to be making music, they need to get this off their chests. You can hear that in the passion of Mlny's screams . She pours everything into her performances, and it seeps through in the sheer weight of this record. I don't think it's a coincidence this is their best effort yet.
7. The Iron Roses - The Iron Roses
When was the last time I had a pure punk album on one of my lists? I think it might have been Bad Religion's "The Dissent Of Man", which The Iron Roses do bear a bit of a resemblance to. Their brand of protest punk is steeped in classic rock and power-pop hooks. The dual vocals add lovely layers, but it's those melodies that get me. At less than thirty minutes, this record is a shot of adrenaline we can take again and again. The band, like the rest of us, wants the world to become a better place. It is a better place for having put this record out.
6. Rexoria - Imperial Dawn
Hello, power metal, you still seem to pop up once a year with a gem. Rexoria puts all the bigger names to shame this year, with this record that cuts out any hint of fat for an absolutely killer ride of melodic gems. "Fading Rose" is a highlight of the entire year, and the rest of the album isn't far behind, showcasing powerfully smoky vocals that sell the hell out of these hooks. I always say the formula for making great music is easy, but executing it is hard. Rexoria nails it here, so much so that this jaded power metal listener can still remember how the genre got me into much of this mess. Kudos.
5. Sarah & The Safe Word - The Book Of Broken Glass
I never thought I would need the term 'cabaret rock', but here we are. That's the only way I know to describe Sarah & The Safe Word, who I discovered by chance, and who made the most fascinating record of the year. This concept record has a bit of rock, a bit of emo, and the violins to sound like we belong in a speakeasy, reveling as if the cops could never bust through the front door. "Old Lace" is one of the catchiest damn songs of the year, and the band delivers one memorable song after another. Sorry, everyone else, but this kind of tight songwriting is how you're actually supposed to make a concept album that hits hard. The surprise of the year, for sure, is the lightning bolt I needed.
4. Ad Infinitum - Chapter III: Downfall
There's a difference between talent and execution, and Ad Infinitum is a good example of that. Their first two albums were expertly played, and showed Melissa Bonny to be a phenomenal singer, but the songs didn't have the killer instinct to push them to the top of the metal heap. Record number three does that, as they have honed their melodies until the hooks are razor sharp. This is a pristine collection of modern metal played and sung to near perfection. Ad Infinitum is now executing as well as the best bands of their ilk, and they have room yet to grow. I loved hearing them come into their own, and I'm quite excited by the prospect of them carrying on this momentum.
3. Graveyard - 6
It's nice to have Graveyard back to sounding like themselves. In these last five years, I have found myself rather cold on "Peace", so hearing Graveyard's more organic sound come back is just what I was hoping for. This record is certainly softer, and more somber, but I don't think that's anything to be concerned about. They have never been a heavy band, per se, so focusing on their more emotional side makes sense to me. It also happens to fit in with what I was needing from music this year, so I might be a bit more predisposed to liking this approach than some fans are. By no means is this their best album, but it fills a role in their discography, and it's a comforting swath of music for those moods.
2. Soen - Memorial
After three straight Album Of The Year winners, coming in second might feel like a disappointment. It isn't, though, as "Memorial" is by no means a step back from the highs of "Lykaia", "Lotus", and "Imperial". Soen continues to streamline their sound, reaching new heights in their ability to meld their progressive beginnings with the massive hooks of radio rock. As I have said many times, this is what I envisioned the sound of metal evolving into over the last ten to fifteen years, but only Soen seems to be taking that ride with me. I don't know how long it will last, but I'll be happy as long as it does.
1. Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars
The second record I listened to in 2023 spent the entire year in the pole position, and it never got passed. I have long been frustrated by Katatonia, because they have a flawlessly melancholic sound, but their records have never managed to haunt me after they were done. They finally mastered that art with this record, as it is the most energetic and optimistic their gloom has ever been. That might sound like a misnomer, but it's that hint of a silver lining in the clouds that makes this record so great. Jonas Renske's voice is a marvel, and he finally has a set of songs with the memorable hooks to break through my hard exterior. Having spent much of the year feeling less than ideal, Katatonia was a fitting soundtrack for the low point, and also for the climb back to normalcy. This record was almost a reminder that it's ok to not be ok, that there can be something beautiful about admitting things aren't always as we want them to be, and that being realistic is courageous. For all of that, it stands as my Album Of The Year.
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