Hello, and welcome to our Favorite Albums That We Reviewed in the First Half of 2023 post (or FATWRITFHOT, as we like to call it)! It’s been a somewhat slow year so far, but there have been some real stand-out releases that we’re eager to share with you. Below, each of our writers has chosen their favorite album they reviewed in the first half of 2023. All the recommended tracks our writer’s have selected are contained in the Spotify playlist below. Happy listening, and let us know what we missed!
Omnerod – The Amensal Rise (Belgium)
Style: Progressive Metal, Death Metal (mixed vocals)
Pick by: Christopher
Recommended for fans of: old Leprous, heavy Devin Townsend, Between the Buried and Me
The third album from the Belgian quartet sees Omnerod at the height of their powers. Possessed of a lunatic theatricality, The Amensal Rise is driven by an off-kilter sense of drama, combining the aggression of progressive death metal with the carnivalesque style of acts like Devin Townsend and Leprous. The drums pulsate, cacophonous riffs warp and evolve, dissonance and ambience feed off one another mutualistically. The songs are utterly relentless, as intense in their mellower passages as they are when at their most derangedly heavy.
Roman Jeuniaux’s belting cleans are some of the best in the progressive underground and he frequently segues into Townsendian screams; combined with André Six’s more Akerfeldtian harshes, they make a destructive vocal pairing. There’s a sublime density to The Amensal Rise, akin to that of Between the Buried and Me, and yet the seventy minute runtime proves oddly effortless as the maniac energy of the songs plucks you out of your cosy state and batters your senses. In any year, this would be a strong Album of the Year contender for me so I’ll be impressed if anything dethrones it in the second half of 2023.
Recommended tracks: Spore, Magnets, Towards the Core
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Original Review
You may also like: The World is Quiet Here, Rototypical, Dissona (Bandcamp)
Enoch Root – Delusion (US-NY)
Style: Progressive Rock/Metal (clean vocals)
Pick by: Doug
Recommended for fans of: Haken, The Dear Hunter, Porcupine Tree
Enoch Root take full advantage of their inspirations from the modern stylistic pantheon of the lighter metal / heavier rock persuasion (especially calling to mind Altesia and Haken) to launch an impressive first release, in spite of – or perhaps because of – the album’s long production time. The expert musicianship already shows tremendous promise, each song filled with dynamic, syncopated and polyrhythmic phrases composed to make the listener take a moment to appreciate how clever the musicians are.
Delusion takes its time getting started, the first half being mainly defined by utilitarian lyrics and an ambling presentation style that loses its forward momentum at times. However, the band members’ focused, consistent, and technically excellent performances lend the album as a whole a strong first impression. Enoch Root, unlike many of their peers, demonstrate not just mimicry of the groups that inspire them, but understanding of what makes those artists successful and the ability to properly replicate those factors.
Recommended tracks: Delusion, Grey, Repose
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Original Review
You may also like: Feather Mountain, Mental Fracture, Altesia, Artificial Silence (Bandcamp)
The World is Quiet Here – Zon (US-WI)
Style: Progressive Metal, Metalcore, Death Metal (mixed vocals)
Pick by: Cooper
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Slice the Cake, The Human Abstract
The World is Quiet Here’s sophomore release sees the progressive metallers picking up right where they left off with their debut Prologue but with new vocalist, Lou Kelly, whose contributions to Zon make it one of the most controversial releases of the year here at The Progressive Subway. I, for one, can’t help but love the vocals as they switch from startlingly operatic cleans to soulful, crooning lows to a wide range of gutturals and beyond. Beyond being a testament to the power of the human voice, Zon also contains some nasty riffs and arrangements that will be sure to get the head of any heavy music fan moving. For fans of prog metal and deathcore alike, I recommend Zon as the best underground release of the year thus far.
Recommended tracks: Ossuary, Heliacal Vessels: I & II, Aphelion
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Original Review
You may also like: Others by No One, Alustrium, Pangaea, Omnerod
Kostnatění – Úpal (US-MN)
Style: Avant-Garde/Folk Black Metal (mostly harsh vocals)
Pick by: Andy
Recommended for fans of: Blut Aus Nord, Deathspell Omega, Mare Cognitum, Melechesh
While Edge of Sanity has been driving me toward the brink for years, Kostnatění aim to dazzle and burn away the rest of my cognitive ability with Úpal, a black metal album as pensive as it is fierce. Each riff sears brightly with the power of the desert sun, melding together a diverse blend of influences including microtonal Turkish folk music, African rhythms, and Western Modernist dissonant black metal. Demonstrating complete mastery over the folk techniques, Kostnatění pushes metal’s boundaries appropriately, and the method of incorporating the compositional styles rather than just the timbres of his foreign influence really push the envelope into some next level black metal. Úpal will be difficult to dethrone in the second half: Albums that break borders and boundaries to this level of success happen only a few times a decade.
Recommended tracks: Řemen (The Belt), Rukojmí Empatie (Hostage of Empathy), Skrýt se Před Bohem (Hide from God)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Original Review
You may also like: Scarcity, Ad Nauseam, Ars Magna Umbrae (Bandcamp), SkyThala
Carnosus – Visions of Infinihility
Style: Tech Death (harsh vocals)
Pick by: Zach
Recommended for fans of: Archpsire, The Black Dahlia Murder, Infant Annihilator
Do you know what’s wild? Tech death keeps getting crazier as the years have gone on. Every time I think I’ve heard every insanely fast riff, someone comes along and proves otherwise. Carnosus are no such stranger to said insanity. They’ve blended mind-bending riffage and caveman-brain activating brutality into the best tech I’ve heard all year by a country mile. But not only is it deliciously brutal, it has fun with itself. This is tech that gets to the point of ridiculousness, and passes it multiple times. It’s completely bonkers, out there, and some of the most enjoyable music’s been all year.
Recommended tracks: In Debt to Oblivion, Castle of Grief, Devourer of Light
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Original Review
You may also like: Hath, Slugdge, Contrarian, Killitirous
Nebulae Come Sweet – De Lumière (Belarus)
Style: Progressive Metal, Post-Metal (mixed vocals)
Pick by: Sam
Recommended for fans of: Cult of Luna, The Ocean, Isis
For a long time I wondered what symphonic sludge metal would sound like. Nebulae Come Sweet right here are probably the closest we’ll get to hearing that seemingly contradictory sound. De Lumière is a post-metal album with a backing orchestra (not to mention a full time cello player in the band). Now, there’s not a whole lot of sludge riffs, but it’s still as close as anything I’ve heard elsewhere. It’s a short record with seven well constructed songs that do all the things you expect from a good post-metal album with progressive leanings, and often, a little more. Expect a dark, cinematic atmosphere, thick riffs, and some very satisfying crescendos. And during the less active parts, the orchestra provides texture and depth, making for an immersive listen. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in post-metal or metal with orchestral elements.
Recommended tracks: Lumen, Splendor, Claritas
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Original Review
You may also like: Dead to a Dying World, Sikasa, Forlesen, Dirge (Bandcamp), East of the Wall (Bandcamp)
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