2023 has been a massive year for metal. We hit the ground running with the return of Ville Valo in January and from there things haven't really let up. Whether it's massive new releases from the likes of Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold, the explosion of popularity for cult metal sensation Sleep Token or Download Festival finally crowning Bring Me The Horizon as a headline act, the year has felt like a massive step towards laying foundations for what metal will look like through the 2020s whilst still embracing the past.
While Creeper's Meat Loaf style vampiric rock opera Sanguivore might have topped the official Metal Hammer critic's poll, we asked you to tell us which albums you felt best represented heavy metal in 2023 and you've certainly not disappointed, voting in the thousands to crown this year's finest and most important releases.
There were well over 100 albums in the running, but ultimately only 50 could make the final list - so with no further ado, these are the 50 best metal albums of 2023 - according to you.
And if you want to read more about everything that has happened in the world of metal in 2023, don't forget to pick up the new issue of Metal Hammer - on sale now! Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.
50 best metal albums of 2023: 50-41
50. Svalbard - The Weight Of The Mask (Nuclear Blast)
49. Enslaved - Heimdal (Nuclear Blast)
48. Immortal - War Against All (Nuclear Blast)
47. Kvelertak - Endling (Rise)
46. Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit (20 Buck Spin)
45. Twin Temple - God Is Dead (Pentagrammaton)
44. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse (KGLW)
43. The Raven Age - Blood Omen (Music For Nations)
42. Mental Cruelty - Zwielicht (Century Media)
41. Suffocation - Hymns From the Apocrypha (Nuclear Blast)
50 best metal albums of 2023: 40-31
40. Dying Wish - Symptoms Of Survival (Sharptone)
39. Beartooth - The Surface (Red Bull)
38. The Zenith Passage - Datalysium (Metal Blade)
37. Ne Obliviscaris - Exul (Season Of Mist)
36. Therapy? - Hard Cold Fire (Marshall)
35. KK's Priest - The Sinner Rides Again (Napalm)
34. Green Lung - This Heathen Land (Nuclear Blast)
33. Crypta - Shades Of Sorrow (Napalm)
32. Hanabie - Reborn Superstar! (Sony)
31. Myrkur - Spine (Relapse)
50 best metal albums of 2023: 30-21
30. Bury Tomorrow - The Seventh Sun (Music For Nations)
29. Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (Peaceville)
28. Periphery - Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre (3DOT)
27. Obituary - Dying Of Everything (Relapse)
26. The Acacia Strain - Failure Will Follow (Rise)
25. Baroness - Stone (Abraxan Hymns)
24. Sylosis - A Sign Of Things To Come (Nuclear Blast)
23. Overkill - Scorched (Nuclear Blast)
22. The Acacia Strain - Step Into The Light (Rise)
21. Tesseract - War Of Being (Kscope/Snapper)
50 best metal albums of 2023: 20-11
20. Blackbriar - A Dark Euphony (Nuclear Blast)
19. Cannibal Corpse - Chaos Horrific (Metal Blade)
18. Delain - Dark Waters (Napalm)
17. VV - Neon Noir (Heartagram)
16. Beyond The Black - Beyond The Black
15. Lovebites - Judgement Day (JPU)
14. Silent Planet - Superbloom (Solid State)
13. Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars (Napalm)
12. Dying Fetus - Make Them Beg For Death (Relapse)
11. Orbit Culture - Descent (Seek & Strike)
50 best metal albums of 2023: 10-1
10. In Flames - Foregone (Nuclear Blast)
9. Voice Of Baceprot - RETAS (12WIRED)
8. Blackbraid - Blackbraid II (self-released)
7. Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream... (Warner)
6. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite (Metal Blade)
5. Avatar - Dance Devil Dance (Black Waltz/Thirty Tigers)
4. Metallica - 72 Seasons (Universal)
3. Within Temptation - Bleed Out (Force Music)
2. Babymetal - The Other One (Cooking Vinyl)
1. Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden (Spinefarm)
