2023 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE PERSONAL TOP TEN

 LISTMANIA 2023  25 Responses »
Dec 152023
 

(Andy Synn finishes off “List Week” with his ten favourite albums of the year)

For whatever reason, this time around much of my “personal” list – which features the ten albums which I’m not claiming to be the “best” of the year, but are definitely amongst my favourites – is made up of new albums by new discoveries, either because the band themselves are fresh onto the scene or because this is simply my first time encountering them.

On the one hand this perhaps reflects my general dissatisfaction with a lot of the more hyped up and/or famous names (not that they were bad, just that they really didn’t do anything for me this year), but I prefer to see it as a good thing, because it means that I am (hopefully) guaranteed even more great stuff from a bunch of fresh new faces with a bright future ahead of them!

Slimming this list down to just 10 albums wasn’t an easy task by any means, but while some well-deserved “honourable mentions” should go to the likes of Downfall of Gaia, Dying Wish, Morokh, Mercenary, and Miserere Luminis (all of whom were in strong contention), in the end… well, there can be only ten!

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LISTMANIA 2023: A TOP 12 METAL LIST FROM BANDCAMP DAILY

 LISTMANIA 2023  1 Response »
Dec 152023
 

Reading year-end lists that someone other than you made tend to provoke mixed feelings of validation, perplexity (which sometimes verges into anger), and discovery. The opportunity for discovery is the main reason we here at NCS devote so much space to our annual LISTMANIA extravaganza, even though we know those other feelings will also be in the mix of reactions. The list we’re re-publishing from Bandcamp Daily will probably be no different in any of these respects.

Bandcamp, of course, has become a vital platform for the digital release of music of all stripes (and physical merchandise as well) since its founding in 2007. Bandcamp used to release an annual compilation of performance statistics, but I haven’t found a similar report since the one they released for 2017. However, the main Bandcamp page today reports that “Fans have paid artists $1.23 billion using Bandcamp, and $193 million in the last year.”

Those are staggering totals, and some part of those enormous sums has been the result of Bandcamp’s laudable decision to continue the monthly tradition of “Bandcamp Fridays” that they began during the height of the pandemic. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2023: STEREOGUM’S 10 BEST METAL ALBUMS OF 2023

 LISTMANIA 2023  1 Response »
Dec 152023
 

Stereogum easily qualifies as one of the “big platform” web sites whose year-end lists of metal we perennially include in our LISTMANIA series. Of course, the site appeals to an audience of music fans much larger than devoted metalheads, but its staff includes a talented and tasteful (though dwindling) group of metal writers who, among other things, are responsible for the site’s monthly “The Black Market” column, which has been a great source of discovery for extreme music for 11 years running now.

It follows that Stereogum‘s annual metal list is one I especially look forward to seeing every year, and the 2023 edition is out now (as of yesterday). As usual it consists of only 10 entries, with accompanying reviews of the choices by Ian Chainey and Wyatt Marshall. And yes, as I write this, the image at the top of the Stereogum list is the image you see above. I don’t know why it says 2022. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PLAYTHROUGH VIDEO PREMIERE: THE SECOND FOVEA — “VIBORA”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 142023
 

For someone like this writer, who has played no musical instrument since rebelling against compulsory piano lessons as a pre-teen, watching talented musicians perform is like watching a magic show.

Watching metal musicians perform at aggressive speeds is even more magical, and perhaps watching drummers is the most fascinating, because after all they’re using all four limbs doing four different things at any moment but usually without sounding like four trash cans crashing down some stairs.

And so I tend to be attracted to playthrough videos by drummers, including the one you’re about to see, which features skinsman Priyam Srivastava performing on the song “Vibora” by The Second Fovea. Continue reading »

BEER & LOATHING IN THE ROCKIES: DECIBEL METAL AND BEER FEST DENVER, 2023, DAY 2

 Concert Reviews  6 Responses »
Dec 142023
 

(Denver-based NCS writer Gonzo didn’t miss the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest in Denver on December 1st and 2nd. We’ve already published his report on the fest’s first day (here), and today we present his report on Day 2.)

Festivals are always full of surprises. Most of the time, these surprises are new bands I discover or friends I meet for the first time, but when I woke up in the morning after day 1 of Decibel Metal & Beer Fest, the true surprise was that I didn’t have a crippling fucking hangover.

Ah, but there was still time. Tonight would be a glorious second installment of the festivities orchestrated by the Philly-based Decibel crew. And if last night was any indicator of what I could expect this evening, there was much reason for excitement. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MRTVI — “GREAT CLEANSING COME UPON US”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Dec 142023
 

Beginning in the spring of 2017 we’ve premiered music and videos by MRTVI six times. Today makes the seventh time — but it may be the last.

We’ve been consistently fixated on the music of this solo project of Serbian artist Damjan Stefanović because it has been so consistently interesting, and so difficult to pigeonhole in genre terms (though “experimental black metal” might come closest, simply because the music has been unconventional).

The music has always been personal, and often autobiographical. For that same reason, it may have run its course with the EP we’re now premiering in full on the even of its release. Here is what Damjan has told us about Great Cleansing Come Upon Us: Continue reading »

2023 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE CRITICAL TOP TEN

 LISTMANIA 2023  15 Responses »
Dec 142023
 

(Andy Synn attempts to capture the venom, vitality, and variety of the year in just ten albums)

Of everything I’ve published so far during this year’s List Week this one is the closest so far to what you might call your “typical” end of year list. Although, even then, it’s still a little different than what you might expect.

Case in point, although I’ve limited it to just ten albums (which, let me be clear, is never, ever enough, as there’s at least one more album… cough, Torpor, cough… I really wanted to include here) it’s pointedly not a ranked list like most of the others you’ll probably have seen.

No, the key idea here is – because it’s impossible for any one writer to craft a truly definitive list of the “Best” albums of the year – is to present ten releases from the last twelve months to serve as prime examples of the best the year had to offer, while attempting to represent as wide a cross-section of styles and sub-genres as possible (sometimes within the same album).

It’s a subtle distinction, true, but an important one all the same, and it’s my hope that in five years, ten years, fifteen, I’ll be able to look back on the selections I’ve made here and appreciate just how good 2023 was.

So, without further ado, here’s the ten albums, many of which I don’t think have received anywhere near the amount of attention and acclaim they deserve – plus a bonus entry for each, just in case you’re already familiar with my main choice – which I have chosen for my “Critical Top Ten”.

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AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: COGNIZANCE — “SHADOWGRAPH”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Dec 132023
 

The rise of Cognizance has been near-meteoric, thanks to the impact of their 2019 debut album Malignant Dominion and especially their second full-length Upheaval in 2021. We spilled our own fair share of words about both of those here, embracing their storming, head-spinning technicality but also appreciating the nuance revealed within their turbocharged yet precise shredding and blasting, and thus their ability to create songs worth dissecting in addition to experiencing the sheer thrill of being overwhelmed.

And speaking of thrills, it has been thrilling news indeed to see that these UK tech-death maestros will have a third album coming our way in January of the impending New Year. Entitled Phantazein, it’s a concept album picked for release by the band’s new label Willowtip Records, and today we’re thrilled to premiere an official video for a new album track named “Shadowgraph“. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CAVERN — “AMALGAMATION OF ABNORMALITIES”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 132023
 

In this feature we’re premiering a debut demo by Cavern, a band about whom we don’t have much info to share, which is rare. We know that one member who writes the music and performs the instrumentation is in Portugal and the vocalist is in France, and that’s all we can say. But of course we have the music.

The name of the demo, which will be released on Bandcamp through the Primitive Archive label on December 15th, is Amalgamation of Abnormalities. It includes five tracks, and of course we’ll give you our preview of the music in addition to the opportunity to hear them and form your own impressions. Continue reading »

2023 – A YEAR IN REVIEW(S): THE GREAT

 LISTMANIA 2023  26 Responses »
Dec 132023
 

(Andy Synn skims off the cream of the crop for your delectation)

So here we are, the top-tier of 2023 (in my opinion, at least, whatever that’s worth).

Now I need to stress, again, that these lists, while certainly extensive (there were well over 200 entries on yesterday’s “Good” list, and another 100-ish here) are in no way comprehensive, and there’s lots of stuff I will have missed out on or just wasn’t feeling enough to want to write about.

But while this means, obviously, that there’s going to be some notable omissions, wouldn’t you prefer it if I continued to use my limited time to focus more on stuff that I really liked and/or stuff that I think deserved more exposure, rather than just covering the exact same artists and albums who just happen to receive lots of attention and coverage elsewhere?

One thing you’ll possibly notice going through this article is an overarching “proggy” vibe running through a lot of the albums I’ve selected for my “Great” list. For whatever reason, 2023 just felt like a year where the more “progressive” side of the genre (and related sub-genres) really came to the fore.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t just some straightforward killers, crushers, and straight-up face-melters here too. After all, “greatness” comes in many forms, after all, and you don’t need to to try and reinvent the wheel or push the envelope in order to make something great!

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