Ian’s Top 10 Albums of 2023!

It’s funny how things work out sometimes. Five months ago, as a means of filling in some of the time between job applications and bursts of existential dread, I started a fun little daily thread on r/progmetal (shamelessly taken from r/poppunkers) in which users would submit and vote for their favorite albums for each letter of the alphabet from A to Z. Towards the end of this list, for reasons known only to him, our dear leader Sam saw my list, reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to try my hand at writing for this scrappy little site. With a shrug and a “why not?” attitude, I eventually (read: belatedly) turned in my debut review, and have been skulking about the edges of this weird little community ever since, occasionally tossing in too-long reviews about albums I’ve likely rated half a point too high.

Over my time here, I’ve moved cross-country and gotten a proper job. I’ve been exposed to multiple inside jokes and engaged in spirited debate over how good and/or terrible our takes on various albums are. But most of all, I ran into a veritable deluge of music recommendations. Ordinarily, prog albums make up only a part of my regular musical intake, and those from artists with under 20,000 monthly Spotify listeners make up a smaller segment still. Yet in my recent quest to drink from the absolute fire-hose of albums that this site has churned through, I’ve run across more than enough great stuff to assemble a yearly top 10 list even with those restrictions in play. I’ve already spoken enough- what else is new- so let’s get right into it, shall we?

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Honorable Mentions:

• Kostnatění – Úpal: While certainly intense enough to soundtrack a “Tunes to Slowly Die of Heatstroke To” playlist, the folky melodies here made it go down surprisingly smooth for an experimental black metal album.
• DGM – Life: Just a really fun slab of traditional prog metal that takes me back to a simpler time when I was a fifteen-year-old kid obsessively listening through Symphony X albums in my parents’ basement.
• Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold: If only for the sheer pleasure of hearing Daniel Heiman once again flex his hilariously inhuman vocal range. Thanks Sam.
• Alkaloid – Numen: An undeniably ingenious prog-death opus that will no doubt be the closest thing to a mainstay across my fellow writers’ lists, only kept off my list proper by being unable to sustain my attention for its full, exhausting length.
• Finsterforst – Jenseits: An EP for giants, partially in the sense that only a giant would count a 41-minute record as an “EP”, but also in the way everything here feels utterly massive, from the beefy riffs to layered baritone choirs seemingly custom-made for breaking foes’ skulls- or personal records at the gym, depending. 

Stuff in the pipeline:

• The Twenty Committee – The Cycle Undone: Sure, it’s shameless Transatlantic-core, but it’s damn well-executed all around, and it’s not like that group’s around to give us any more albums anyway. An easy recommend for retro prog rock fans.
• Adjy – June Songs vol. 1: A fun, lightweight indie-folk-rock companion piece to the sprawling Idyll Opus I-VI, one of my favorite albums ever made. Technically “not prog” according to upper management, and an undeniable step down from its immaculate predecessor, but I still was grinning like an idiot every time one of those familiar, gorgeously warm-sounding guitar arpeggios wormed its way into my ears.

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10: Sanguine Glacialis – Maladaptive Daydreaming
Style: Progressive Metal, Symphonic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Eclectic Metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Seven Spires, Wilderun, UnexpecT, Fleshgod Apocalypse

They say you never forget your first, and as the very first album I ever reviewed for this site, Maladaptive Daydreaming has a special place in my heart. It doesn’t hurt that the album also happens to be really, really good. While the first thing that grabbed me about this thing was its eclectic left turns in style and its opulent, orchestral instrumentation, the secret sauce here is that Sanguine Glacialis never forget the fundamentals. From the band’s rock-solid progressive death metal riffs and rhythms to Maude Théberge’s impressively versatile vocals and excellent melodic sense, this is an impeccably written and performed album that is only held back from higher placement by a production so brickwalled and bass-less even my tin ear took notice. Still, if they can iron out those issues, this is a thoroughly exciting band poised to deliver an absolute knockout of a follow-up.

Recommended tracks: Welcome, Resilience, Burst in Flames
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

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9: Haralabos Stafylakis – Calibrating Friction
Style: instrumental prog metal, modern classical (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: X Japan, Ne Obliviscaris

Mixing prog metal and contemporary classical music may not sound like a particularly original idea. After all, metal bands that incorporate “symphonic” influences and orchestration are so common it’s an entire goddamn subgenre, but they’re still generally metal first and foremost, with the classical bits merely forming another layer of instrumentation. To come at it from the other end, though, to compose full-on small orchestra pieces that harmoniously incorporate metallic elements, is a road less traveled, but that is what Stafylakis and his ensemble have done with aplomb. By taking chamber compositions influenced by the tonally adventurous approach of composers like Stravinsky and Schoenberg as his starting point, and then rearranging them to incorporate electric guitars and a drum kit, Stafylakis creates a sound that is cinematic, intelligent, heavy, intricate, and strikingly original.

Recommended tracks: Calibrating Friction, Flows Obsidian, Of Beauty / Of Brutality
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

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8: TEMIC – Terror Management Theory
Style: Progressive Metal, Electro-Prog (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Haken, Devin Townsend, Caligula’s Horse, Dream Theater, Frost*, The Algorithm

While I still maintain that Diego Tejeida’s former bandmates in Haken put out a slightly stronger record this year in Fauna (a rather… controversial opinion among my colleagues), that doesn’t mean that his supergroup’s debut Terror Management Theory isn’t a stunner in its own right. Far from being mere window dressing, Tejeida’s synths are part of the very backbone of the group’s sound, both crafting lush atmospheres and melding with Eric Gillette’s guitars to form an unstoppable alloy that punches its way through with thick riffs and intricate solo duels alike. Of course, the melodies are also top-notch throughout, with Frederik Bergersen leading ultra-catchy choruses with enough verve and charisma to make even the most reluctant listeners hum along. Add in the technical yet groovy work from the rhythm section, and you’ve got a band firing on all cylinders in perfect sync with one another. This entered contention late in my listmaking process, and with further spins I have no doubt it’ll grow on me even further.

Recommended tracks: Through the Sands of Time, Acts of Violence, Mothallah
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

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7: Sermon – Of Golden Verse
Style: Progressive Metal, Alt Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Soen, Tool, Katatonia, Wheel

I have heard this band described as “Soen if they were still good”, and on a surface level, I see it. Both bands have vaguely tribal, tom-heavy, Tool-influenced beats and thick guitars underlying a smooth, baritone vocalist. However, Sermon are very much their own beast, bringing in an undeniable sense of edge, heaviness, and immediacy to the proceedings. The vocals of anonymous bandleader “Him” are nothing short of incredible- while he can provide melancholic, goth-y croons with the best of them, he’s more than ready to unleash a powerful, fire-and-brimstone bellow that combines with his urgent guitar riffs and James Stewart’s take-no-prisoners drumming to create dynamic crescendos that grab the listener by the throat and force them to take heed. A powerful, brilliant album that takes its influences and gives them a shot of pure, unadulterated rocket fuel.

Recommended tracks: Wake the Silent, Light the Witch, Departure
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

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6: Exploring Birdsong – Dancing in the Face of Danger
Style: Progressive Rock, Art Rock (Clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Lunatic Soul, Gazpacho, Einar Solberg, White Moth Black Butterfly

Alright, this one may be a bit unexpected, seeing as it’s an EP, I didn’t personally review it, and it likely won’t land on anyone else’s list this year. But after seeing this group mentioned in the FFO section in the promo sheet for my favorite Subway album of the year (we’ll get to that), I became curious and took a look at their latest. Let me tell you, few albums have sunk their hooks into me so deeply and so quickly as this piano-led power trio have- after my first listen, a majority of the songs on this album had their choruses playing on repeat in the back of my mind, one after the another. Lynsey Ward is an absolute gem of a vocalist, with a powerful yet velvety-smooth tone that’s equally incredible whether she’s pulling out a soft croon or forceful belt, and the addition of synths and electronic tones to her piano parts makes Dancing in the Face of Danger feel so much more sonically fleshed-out and diverse than their more minimalistic prior work. Jonny Knight and Matt Freeman, meanwhile, are far more than just her backing band, turning in an absolutely electric rhythm section performance that puts twists and turns beneath each killer chorus without overshadowing them and makes this guitar-less EP feel genuinely kinda heavy in places. Great stuff.

Recommended tracks: Bear the Weight, The Way Down, Pyre
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Facebook 

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5: Ions – Counterintuitive
Style: Progressive Metal, Djent (mixed vocals, majority clean)
Recommended for fans of: Haken, VOLA, TesseracT

You know, I once looked down on djent. I thought it was an obnoxious, overplayed sound that had choked out real prog metal bands that didn’t just chug on their guitars in odd meter all the time- bands with soul, man. But in recent years, I have come to understand that djent can, in fact, have soul, and few records prove that fact quite as hard as Counterintuitive. Because, far more than knotty downtuned riffs or chrome-smooth production, this is an album about emotion. Just check those song titles- “True Friendship”, “Constant Feelings”- and the lyrics within, and it’s abundantly clear that Counterintuitive is a passionately human take on interpersonal relationships and the insecurities and barriers that break them apart. The music reinforces this, with Jakub Tirco’s guitars ebbing and flowing into climaxes led by Shorty Lago’s massive vocal hooks and sparse but powerful screams. Each time, I feel a surge of emotion swell somewhere beneath my heart, and if that isn’t soul, what is?

Recommended tracks: True Friendship, Faith, Split Character, Birds of Reminiscence
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

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4: Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us
Style: melodic death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Insomnium, Shylmagaghnor, Be’Lakor, Swallow the Sun, Countless Skies

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a big melody guy. I can handle extremity too, of course, but it needs to be tempered with beauty and softness for any of it to really stick with me, just like how a spicy meal needs to actually taste good beyond the heat for me to enjoy it. And in that sense, no death metal record this year was as utterly delicious as Air Not Meant For Us. Even as the heavy riffs and roars crash and roar against one another like waves in a stormy sea, the triumphant, scale-ascending lead melodies and heart-stoppingly gorgeous piano work soar freely above them, taking the listener above the clouds to witness the piercing rays of the sunrise. The lyrics paint a sweeping, impressionistic picture of internal turmoils and dying laments writ large into great landscapes of scorched earth and icy caverns, but the music imparts a stirring, powerful determination to carry on despite it all. 

Recommended tracks: Harbingers, Crumbling Pillars of a Tranquil Mind
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

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3: Feather – Eternal
Style: Prog Metal, Synthwave (Instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: David Maxim Micic, Volkor X, Chris Christoudoulou, Magic Sword, I Built the Sky

Not every album this year hit me right away. On my first listen to Eternal, I was fully prepared to give it a light 7 and move on with my life- it was pretty good for a synthwave/instru-prog album dedicated to a game I had never played, but it didn’t truly grab me. But a couple days later, when I was driving through the mountains with the sun rising behind me painting the peaks in gold, and the steady crescendo of “Windblown Dream” hit its shreddy yet tasteful apex, a tear suddenly dripped down my cheek. I finally got it. This album is an absolutely pitch-perfect melding of crunchy, tight guitars and moody, neon-drenched darkwave synths, blending the energy and structure of the former with the atmospherics and vibey sound palette of the latter in a combination roughly as revelatory as peanut butter and chocolate. Alternating between the grandiose and the labyrinthine, the calming and the hype-as-all-hell, Eternal climbed unstoppably up my rating scale until it reached the heights you see now- and it deserved every bit of that climb.

Recommended tracks: Windblown Dream, Galaxy’s Largest Snowflake, Shattered Frost, Desolation
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

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2: Stortregn – Finitude
Style: technical death metal, melodic black metal, prog death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Dissection, Obscura, Beyond Creation, Inferi, Archspire

Tech death is a tricky thing for me to like. So often, the “tech” in the genre equates less to “elevating brutality through virtuosic musicianship and composition” and more to “look how obscenely fast our drummer can mash his kick pedals”. But every once in a blue moon, there is a band who understands the assignment and makes something truly special. In these instances, some switch flips in my otherwise-rational brain, and it pounces on the album like a rabid dog, chewing and drooling over it to a degree that is frankly a bit unbecoming. First Fragment did it back in 2021, and two years later, another crew of mad geniuses known as Stortregn have created another bewildering, ripping, non-Euclidean masterpiece. It’s the heaviest album on my list, and should by all rights be too much for my wimpy constitution, but do you know what works even better than a good melody? Lots of good melodies at once, AKA counterpoint- and this multi-headed hydra of an album assaults with deliriously incredible counterpoint from all angles. Every single bit of this album, from the stunning guitar interplay to the flamenco interludes to the light-speed yet ultra-precise drumming, just owns, and I never would have run across it without this site’s (specifically Andy’s) recommendation.

Recommended tracks: A Lost Battle Rages On, Rise of the Insidious, Omega Axiom, The Revelation
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

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1: Mingjia – Star, Star
Style: Contemporary classical, baroque pop, chamber jazz (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Roomful of Teeth, Vienna Teng, Laufey, Bjork

I mean, what else do you want me to say? Sure, Mingjia Chen is one of the most cartoonishly talented vocalists and composers I’ve discovered in a good while, with daredevil showcases of range and flexibility aplenty and a knack for lush, intricate orchestration and bizarre melodic detours that, against all reason, make instinctive sense. But Star, Star, like many of my all-time favorite albums, is just as talented at reaching the heart as the head. Beneath all of the crazy atonal interludes and vocal superheroics is a genuinely heartfelt, incredibly tuneful chamber pop album that takes on matters of the grandiose and cosmic as well as the awkward, messy stumbling blocks of our own human existence and puts them onto the same scale. I’m honestly surprised this weird little contemporary classical album with like 2 minutes of electric guitar over its entire runtime even made it here- I mean, to paraphrase our own Sam, there is a difference between progressive as an adjective and progressive as a genre. Mingjia may be the former, but is only tangentially the latter. Still, as someone who quite enjoys the “adjective”, I’m thoroughly grateful for the slip that gave me the opportunity to review this absolute work of art. Chen has stated that the two stars in the title and the cover art represent both hope for the future and the ability to find beauty in the present, and that she aims to keep a little light from both stars in her life. And going into this new year from the rollercoaster that was 2023, I couldn’t think of a better mindset for me to take on.

Recommended tracks: Sane // The Dancer, Losing // The Dancer II, Saint, moon IV: the birds could not sit still
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram