I do my best to listen to as much music as possible, but as hard as I may try, some music slips by me. All the albums on this list are 2023 albums I discovered after I published my Top 25 albums of 2023 or albums I didn’t give enough appreciation to upon my first few listens.
“Ontological Mysterium” by Horrendous: Traditional Death Metal
Horrendous has always been a band I appreciated, as it is a band that perfectly replicates the best parts of old-school death metal. “Ontological Mysterium” continues this trend with speedy guitar riffs, extremely quick drum parts, a loud bass presence and awesome screaming vocals.
This album is 100% made for people who like the 1980s sound of extreme metal. What makes it better is how clean this album sounds. You can hear every single aspect of the music, which is so refreshing to hear from a genre that typically muddies up its instrumentation.
“Ontological Mysterium” grew on me the more I listened to it. I originally wrote it off as some generic death metal, but the more I listened to it, the more I liked it. It has the vibes of the greatest aspects of 1980s thrash metal and death metal, the genres that really got me hooked on metal in the first place.
“This Is Why” by Paramore: Pop Punk
Paramore returns with one of the hardest-hitting pop-punk albums of the year.
Everything about “This Is Why” just makes me want to move. It is so high energy with its funky instrumentation, clean production and powerful vocals. “This Is Why” is an album that is better the more you dance to it.
The second song on the album, “The News,” especially establishes this tone with its punchy guitar riffs and drumming. It’s just a fun song, led especially well by vocals from Hayley Williams.
2023 was a great year for pop punk as a genre, with other notable albums such as “GUTS” by Olivia Rodrigo and “HELLMODE” by Jeff Rosenstock. However, “This Is Why” ended up being my favorite out of the genre just for being one of the most fun 2023 albums I have listened to.
“Afrika” by Blu and Nottz: Conscious Hip-Hop
“Afrika” is another banger album under the belt of one of my favorite underground hip-hop artists, Blu.
Blu and Nottz collaborate to create a concept album about Africa’s history and their personal relations with the continent. Throughout the album, the listener is treated to a variety of beats ranging from big, bombastic drums to digitized synths behind background chanting. It is an album that is as musically conceptual as it is lyrically.
Every song on the album deals with a different idea, overall building into one central idea about what it means to be African in America. It’s an album with a lot of moving parts and repetition, but it all adds up to a deep and worthwhile experience worth replaying over and over again.
“Afrika” is another example of Blu showing off his abilities as a great writer and performer, with this album standing especially strong with additional writing and performances from Nottz and everyone else featured in this project. It also helps that this album has one of my favorite album covers of the year.
“PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Sludge Metal, Thrash Metal
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s second album of 2023 is another dive into thrash metal, and it is glorious.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have been dabbling in metal music for a few years now, but “PedroDraconic Apocalypse” is their best metal outing yet. The chugging guitar riffs and classic thrash drumming are a head-banging treat. It’s not the most complex metal album of the year, but it’s one of the most enjoyable despite its lyrical content.
The entire album explores a world destroyed by human greed and climate change, a theme that fits right at home with this music genre. It’s angry and pushes the idea of how the world could have been saved if everyone cared more about the planet we live on.
The way King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is able to take such a serious topic as climate change but turn it around and make it a fun metal album is a testament to how good of musicians the members of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are. The band’s ability to take such a dark topic and seamlessly weave humor and hope into the overall message makes this one of my favorite metal albums of the year.
“Enigma #143” by prdym shft: Indie Rock
The debut album from prdym shft presents a captivating indie rock album that presents a lot of promise.
“Enigma #143” is an album I found only because a friend recommended it to me. As of writing this review, the artist has only 16 listeners on Spotify, and they deserve so much more, as this is one of my favorite indie releases of the year. With songs that range from acoustic ballads to energetic rock bops, “Enigma #143” is not afraid to experiment with its sound.
What I like the best about this album is even with this diversity in sound, it stays pretty consistent throughout. The album is able to cover the whole scope of indie rock so well that anyone who claims to be a fan of the genre will at least gravitate to one song, which is pretty impressive for an artist of this size.
“Enigma #143” is an album I’m glad I was recommended, as it shows a new artist who is confident in their ability to write captivating songs while still having so much more room to grow in the future. I’m really excited to see what this artist does in the future if they decide to pursue it.
“Everything Harmony” by The Lemon Twigs: Soft Rock
“Everything Harmony” is an album that just makes me happy.
This album is a very laid-back, simplistic take on a genre I have a big soft spot for. The super clean instrumentals and the gorgeous vocals make this an album I wish I discovered earlier. It is so relaxing to listen to, yet I’m so engaged listening to it that I just want to get work done listening to it.
This band reminds me of when I listened to The Beatles for the first time. It’s a band that doesn’t make the most complex music, but it’s music that is so engaging nevertheless. The Lemon Twigs is a band that knows how to make really good simplistic songs.
“Everything Harmony” is really just an infectious album that I can’t get out of my head. Every time I listen to it, I just get a big, goofy grin on my face that won’t go away.
“Javelin” by Sufjan Stevens: Singer-Songwriter
Sufjan Stevens is no stranger to hauntingly beautiful music in the 20 years of his musical career. With “Javelin,” Stevens releases what may be his best work yet.
“Javelin” is an album about unresolved grief and the many complex emotions that come with it. From quiet, wavering vocals that are done behind a simple piano to sudden, loud electronic segments that shock the listener and make them writhe with discomfort. It’s a lush-sounding album that hits emotionally hard, even without knowing the context of the music.
Knowing what circumstances surround the album just adds to the crushing weight of emotion this album already has. In this 42-minute album, Stevens gives the listener so much information about this relationship and loss. Still, even then, the album also feels so hopeful for what is to come in the future, which ties the beauty of this album together so, so well.
“Carrie & Lowell,” an album that explores grief with beautiful, raw presentation, was known as Stevens’ highpoint. “Javelin” is another album that presents grief, but the way it presents that grief is so deeply moving, it surpasses “Carrie & Lowell” for me.
“93696” by Liturgy: Shoegaze, Avant-Garde Black Metal
“93696” is a 90-minute album comprised of the most challenging music I have ever listened to.
If I were to award an album that took me the longest to finally understand, it would be this one. There were so many times I would listen to just one song for a few minutes and then immediately switch the music to something else due to how distorted and loud the instrumentations were. The drums alone make this album one of the most demanding listens of 2023, with songs that have constant, distorted blast beats.
However, over the past few months, I have finally been able to appreciate this album for what it is: a conceptual retrospective celebrating 10 years of music from Liturgy.
Through all the droning guitars and constant wall of audio breaks and drumming, you get an album with so much to pull apart from its concept and instrumentation. “93696” is another album where the more you listen to it, the more you get out of it. Despite being a challenging listen, I am so glad I finally understood the appeal of not only this album but the genre as a whole.
“93696” is an album that is hard to recommend as it is not for most people. It is a harsh piece of art most people will drum up as “just noise.” However, for those who are willing to delve into this behemoth of an album, they will find one of the most grand and dense albums the genre has to offer.
“My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross” by ANOHNI and The Johnsons: Indie Rock, Soul
“My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross” is one of the most powerful and moving albums of 2023.
ANOHNI reaches emotional levels that no one else can with the way the album’s beautiful musical content matches its devastating and horrific ideas of discrimination and violence toward the LGBTQ+ community. It’s an album that is horrific and haunting yet beautiful and hopeful.
One of my favorite albums from 2023 is “We’re Still Here” by The HIRS Collective. Not only do I love how loud and aggressive the album is, but its social commentary is so loud and in your face, so much so to not only match the music but to match the anger felt by the LGBTQ+ community toward the discrimination they are currently facing.
“My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross” is an album that deals with its social commentary in a timeless, digestible way by making music that is not only pleasing to the average listener but also provides a perspective on the issues plaguing the LGBTQ+ community in a down to earth, unshaken way that is equally as powerful.
“Today I Laid Down” by bl4ck m4rket c4rt: Singer-Songwriter, Shoegaze
“Today I Laid Down” connected to me emotionally like no other album has in 2023.
The 20-minute EP is a beautiful expression of talent from 17-year-old Kai Wesener. Its sections of electronic drones and soft vocals really do get me choked up, and there are just so many different pleasant and beautiful aspects to this project that keep me coming back.
It’s so impressive seeing a work of art like this done by someone who was only 17 years old, not because they thought they would get some sort of monetary gain out of it, but purely because of the passion they had for the medium of music. Albums like this remind me why I love music so much, as not only does this project sound amazing, but it also was a gateway into the mind of someone who genuinely had a passion for what they did and what they brought to the world.
