2023 hit the ground running so far as new releases goes, the January releases from Ville Valo and Katatonia kicking open the gates for another stellar year of metal. Since then we've had welcome returns from massive bands Avenged Sevenfold, Babymetal and Metallica, as well as crowning achievements from ascendant talent like Sleep Token, Pupil Slicer and Bury Tomorrow.
But where do you start with it all? That's where we come in - we've searched far and wide to find the metal albums that are causing the biggest waves in 2023. From death metal and thrash to alternative and goth, these are the albums you need to check out this year (so far). And believe us, there's plenty more to come.
Avatar - Dance Devil Dance (Black Waltz)
In the run-up to Avatar's ninth studio album, frontman Johannes Eckerström said the release would "save heavy metal". It was a bold statement from a band given to theatrical grandstanding, but we'll be damned if Dance Devil Dance didn't deliver some of 2023's most fun metal anthems thus far, Holly Wright noting that, "just when it feels like there’s nothing left to explore, their ninth studio album pulls [Avatar] in new and surprising directions".
Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream... (Warner)
The seven-year wait for a new Avenged Sevenfold album was at least somewhat vindicated by the fact Life Is But A Dream... is surely the band's most ambitious release to date. Prog, heavy metal, thrash, psychedelia; A7X well and truly pushed the boat out with their eighth album, Dave Everley assessing "Avenged Sevenfold have scaled the mountain and looked out over all that surrounds them, then plunged headfirst into the void, not knowing where, when or even if they’ll land. What kind of madness is this? The very best kind."
Babymetal - The Other One (Babymetal/Amuse)
Since returning from a twelve-month hiatus in October 2022, Babymetal had been drip-feeding fans a new single each month from their fourth album. Even that couldn't prepare us for the sheer scope they had embraced on new concept album The Other One, dispensing some of their earlier hyperactivity to create what Alec Chillingworth judged "unquestionably their strongest compendium of delirium to date."
Bury Tomorrow - The Seventh Sun (Metal For Nations)
Tired of being called the underdogs of British metalcore, Bury Tomorrow's seventh album was all about showing just how massive their sound had become whilst losing none of the sheer ferocity at their core. Stephen Hill ruled that, "the easy career path for Bury Tomorrow would be to pander to the rock audience. Their popularity may still surge off the back of The Seventh Sun, but that they’ve arguably got even heavier says everything about their attitude and commitment to making the music they love."
Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite (Metal Blade)
Eight albums in, and Cattle Decapitation are still finding unique new ways of turning stomachs with unrelenting, chaotic brutality as they incorporate the twists and turns of prog alongside surprisingly melodic sensibilities. Hammer writer Dom Lawson acknowledged as much, explaining that Terrasite "is still vicious, skullclubbing brutality, but with atmosphere and intelligence in abundance."
Death Pill - Death Pill (New Heavy Sounds)
Recorded against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of their country, Ukrainian hardcore punks Death Pill seethe with defiance and fury on their self-titled debut. Granted, the album was written before the war broke out, but Death Pill rage hard on topics ranging from sexism and personal empowerment to anti-war sentiment, Stephen Hill assessing that "Death Pill have made one of the best crossover albums of the modern era".
Delain - Dark Waters (Napalm)
With most of the band quitting in 2021, Delain's Martijn Westerholt was left to effectively reboot symphonic metal contenders Delain for their seventh studio album. With new vocalist Diana Leah front and centre, Dark Waters proved the band were still striding forward confidently, Dannii Leivers assessing that "this feels like a band reborn: grandiose and fizzing with bright energy."
Demonstealer - The Propaganda Machine (Self Released)
As one of the key figures behind India's burgeoning extreme metal scene, Sahil ‘The Demonstealer’ Makhija is known to have something of a midas touch when it comes to producing top-tier ambitious extreme metal. Demonstealer's fourth album proved to be no exception, Dom Lawson writing that "The Holocene Termination is easily the most evolved record to bear the project’s name. Aided by members of Fleshgod Apocalypse, The Amenta, Six Feet Under and more, this is Sahil’s nasty vision upgraded."
Distant - Heritage
In case you missed the memo, deathcore is big business again in 2023. Lorna Shore might be leading the charge, but the whole scene is packed with ambitious talent ready to take the genre in exciting new directions - which is where Dutch nasties Distant come in. Heritage sees the band embrace sci-fi sensibilities in a powerful, visceral outpouring of extremity, Sophie Maughan explaining that "this third studio album lands on Century Media trimmed of excess and aimed straight at the solar plexus."
Enslaved - Heimdal (Nuclear Blast)
Few bands have taken black metal as far afield as Enslaved, and on their sixteenth studio album the Norwegians are still finding fresh ground to tread. Mixing in elements of prog, folk and even psychedelia, Heimdal is testament to the band's commitment to reaching for the horizon, Paul Travers summarising that "the Bergen five-piece are far from the only band to have piloted black metal into stranger tides since its misbegotten beginnings, but they are one of the most consistently inventive and engrossing."
Godflesh - Purge (Avalanche)
After a six-year gap between albums, Justin Broadrick brought his filth-crusted industrial behemoth Godflesh lurching back to life on Purge, the band's ninth studio album capturing the calustrophobic, choking intensity that made them a key influential force in industrial metal.
But then, that reliability and consistency is exactly what fans want from Godflesh, Alex Deller ruling that, "by now, even casual listeners will know what to expect: bleak, mechanised, industrial metal par excellence, played by a duo who helped pour the genre’s foundations."
Immortal - War Against All (Nuclear Blast)
Demonaz may be the sole survivor of Immortal's departures and messy legal disputes in recent years, but thankfully that drama hasn't dulled the furious whirlwind of frost-bitten black metal raging at the heart of the band. The band's tenth studio album, War Against All doesn't tinker with the formula that Immortal have perfected the past 30 years plus, but nonetheless feels fresh and furious, Joe Daly explaining that it "boasts riffs as catchy as anything the band has ever released, and there’s plenty of depth across the tracks."
In Flames - Foregone (Nuclear Blast)
Ever since In Flames unveiled State Of Slow Decay in June 2022, fans have been abuzz at the prospect of the Gothenburg melodeath pioneers returning to the sound that made them so iconic. Thankfully, Foregone delivered on that promise and then some, keeping some of the scope of more recent In Flames whilst delighting in the visceral pleasure of epic, sweeping melodic death metal.
Stephen Hill acknowledged that "the arrival of former Megadeth and Nevermore man Chris Broderick as a full-time member has re-sharpened one of the most essential attacks the band have in their arsenal. The riffs on The Great Deceiver are sharper than the tip of a samurai sword, and on Forgone Pt. 1 both Chris and Björn Gelotte brilliantly duck, weave, pound and thrash along in awesome style."
Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars (Napalm)
Katatonia have come a long way from their doom metal roots, embracing goth metal and prog across their career to ensure their sound remains an ever-evolving entity. Twelfth studio album Sky Void Of Stars offers a stunning vision of the wide scope of their sound amidst some of the most enchanting melodies the band have ever written, Dom Lawson ruling that "Katatonia sound as absorbed in their meticulous, mercurial work as they ever did. The only predictable thing about Sky Void Of Stars is how absurdly fucking great it is.
Metallica - 72 Seasons (Blackened/Universal)
Metal's biggest band ride again. A new Metallica album is rare enough these days that it always warrants fanfare, even if said album wasn't delivered with unrelenting pace that threw back to the band's thrash roots.
But 72 Seasons also arrived with an added sense of poignance as it followed a turbulent period for frontman James Hetfield. Stephen Hill acknowledged as much in his Metal Hammer review of the album, judging that "rarely has [James Hetfield] laid himself so bare as he does here."
Obituary - Dying Of Everything (Relapse)
Since 1989's seminal Slowly We Rot, Floridian death metal stalwarts Obituary have stayed the course when it comes to lumbering, mid-paced death metal. The approach hasn't always served them amazingly well, but when the band settle into a groove there's no denying they tap a vein of old school death metal magic.
Dom Lawson offered favourable comparisons to 2017's self-titled predecessor, saying that "killer songs stack up throughout, with more substance and detail than the last LP’s smash-and-grab volley. Both records contain 10 tracks, but Dying Of Everything is more varied, more considered, more dynamic… and possibly Obituary’s strongest album in 30 years."
Overkill - Scorched (Nuclear Blast)
East Coast thrash may not always get the same reverence as its Bay Area counterpart, but New Jersey thrashers Overkill showed the magic is still alive and well on their twentieth studio album, Scorched as Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth and co delivered another masterclass in old school thrash.
But as Paul Travers points out, "What makes Scorched really stand out are the moments that reach out in new directions. Wicked Place has a slow-burn build-up reminiscent of Diamond Head’s Am I Evil?, but when the dam bursts, it releases a rollicking bluesy riff like something from Metallica’s Load/Reload era. Won’t Be Coming Back packs in Iron Maiden levels of clean guitar melodies and there are several points throughout the album where they lean towards classic metal rather than straight-ahead thrash."
Periphery - V: Djent Is Not A Genre (3DOT)
Tongue-in-cheek album titles aside, Periphery have delighted in pushing boundaries and being an all-round unpredictable force even in the ambitious confines of prog metal.
V: Djent Is Not A Genre sees the band veer off in wildly different directions as they incorporate everything from jazz to electronica whilst creating a surprisingly cohesive and hook-laden release, Adam Brennan remarking that "a key part to Periphery’s enviable run over their recent output is the self-aware undertone that permeates the polished mix of scintillating heaviness, fiendish dexterity and seductive earworms. It’s these standards by which V is judged, and the album could usurp some of its forebears from the podium."
Pupil Slicer - Blossom (Prosthetic)
With their debut album Mirrors, Pupil Slicer arrived as a whirlwind of mathy, grind-adjacent metalcore with a sound as chaotic as their name is brutal. Second album Blossom doesn't dial back, as such, but rather expands the band's repertoire, Stephen Hill explaining that "the band have also decided to explore far more subtle, elegant and soaring emotional territory as well, indulging in elements that would seem comfortable on an Alcest, Chelsea Wolfe or even My Bloody Valentine album."
Royal Thunder - Rebuilding The Mountain (Spinefarm)
Royal Thunder have always traded in emotional, soulful doom-adjacent rock, but Rebuilding The Mountain feels especially poignant given the band effectively broke up in the five-year gap between releases. Catherine Morris acknowledged as much in her review, summarising that "Rebuilding The Mountain is a record that you sense the band have bled for, but it’s their sheer talent and tenacity that make it such a triumphant return – and not a moment too soon."
Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden (Spinefarm)
Perhaps the biggest metal success story of 2023, Sleep Token's ascension has truly come about on third album Take Me Back To Eden. Amidst feats like their streaming stats ballooning to over 2 million monthly listeners and selling out Wembley Arena in under 10 minutes, the band's third record perfects their mixture of soulful R'n'B and tech metal.
Dannii Leivers assessed as much in her review, summarising that, "…Eden is Sleep Token’s strongest effort to date. And, while they’ll always be Marmite, there’s no question it will delight those already onboard. This is a record that not only expands the band’s universe and continues to prod metal’s boundaries, but considers what it means to be human. Otherworldly they may be, but there’s the deepest empathy within."
Therapy? - Hard Cold Fire (Marshall)
Almost 30 years since Troublegum established them as Britain's answer to the oncoming tide of 90s American alt-metal, Therapy? are still delivering consistently high quality anthems on their sixteenth studio album. Stephen Hill assessed that "Hard Cold Fire features another 10 sublime, short, sharp blasts of jagged, riff-heavy noise rock, expertly juxtaposed with Andy Cairns’ trademark knack for penning bleakly melancholic, yet hugely anthemic hooks and choruses."
VV - Neon Noir (Heartagram)
Five years since he laid goth metal icons HIM to rest, Ville Valo's long-awaited solo project finally arrived right at the start of 2023 to kick the year off with flair and panache. Neon Noir is effectively a continuation of the singer's work from the past 30 years, romantic, anthemic goth metal, Dannii Leivers admitting that "as the glorious melodies of these songs start to imprint themselves on your soul, like faded memories rising to the surface again, the heart-shaped hole he left five years ago begins to heal. It’s good to have him back."
Zulu - A New Tomorrow (Flatspot)
As hardcore tears its way into the mainstream consciousness in the most vital way since its inception in the 1980s, acts like Zulu show just how far the genre can go as they mix beatdowns, social-polticial messages and colossal riffs into an unstoppable, vital package.
Stephen Hill was effusive in his praise, writing that Zulu's "lineage belongs alongside the revolutionary likes of Sly And The Family Stone, Rage Against The Machine and Public Enemy. Big words indeed, but A New Tomorrow is unquestionably cut from the same cloth as those bands at their best; the mutinous spirit of those artists, both in their refusal to be sonically pigeonholed and in their pure defiance against the system that tried to marginalise them, is the thing that makes Zulu so special and singular."
