It’s January and the time for inevitable look-backs at the year just past. While we have been putting together top 10 albums, we also thought it would interesting to look at our favourite individual songs of 2023. Too often do we see albums that don’t manage to crack our top ten as a whole, but do happen to feature some amazing songs. This is a chance for us to recognise those songs that had us bopping along to last year.
Andy
Selections:
- Misericorde (Part 1), Ne Obliviscarius
- Misericorde (Part 2), Ne Obliviscarius
- The Cambrian Explosion, The Ocean
- Harbingers, Fires In The Distance
- Polygon, Galya Bisengalieva
- From the Start, Laufey
- Enduring the Snow Drought, Panopticon
- Metacognitive, Einar Solberg
- Throne of the Lunar Soul, Valdrin
- The Revelation, Stortregn
Christopher
Selections:
- Spore, Omnerod
- Departure, Sermon
- Threnody to a Dying Star, Rannoch
- Through the Sands of Time, Temic
- Out of Sight, Ions
- Kapitel I – Freiheit, Finsterforst
- Esoterica, Kyros
- Staircase, Steven Wilson
- The Night Inside, Pressure Points
- Thick Skull, Paramore
If you want your bones rattled, Sermon’s “Departure” is where it’s at; Him, the anonymous vocalist gives his most bracing vocal performance amidst thick riffs, a stunning lead motif, and the crushing drum performance of James Stewart. Meanwhile, Pressure Points delivered an Amorphis-esque prog bop with “The Night Inside”, catchy yet Opethian with a fantastic climax. Finsterforst’s “Kapitel I – Freiheit” brings the epic: glistening symphonics, thunderous vocals, and beautiful folk-inspired sections over the most epic German blackened progressive folk metal you’ll hear. But if you want even more epic than that, Rannoch’s “Threnody to a Dying Star” is seventeen minutes of the coolest progressive death metal this year
It was a great year for electro-prog: Temic’s sublime debut Terror Management Theory centred the sound design and keys of Diego Tejeida, and the blend of elements reaches its zenith on “Through the Sands of Time” with a drop dead gorgeous solo section and catchy chorus. Ions’ synthy djent proved a refreshing sound, too, and those swollen vocal harmonies on the chorus of “Out of Sight” made it the winning pick from Counterintuitive, an album replete with bangers. Prog legend Steven Wilson returned with his most electronica influenced solo work yet, and “Staircase” is a beautiful sojourn through a variety of soundscapes, prog to its core. We’re just getting poppier here, huh? I may as well mention Paramore then, “Thick Skull” was the highlight on the unexpectedly mature and melodic This is Why. 2024 will continue the electro-prog trend: “Esoterica” from Kyros’ forthcoming album Mannequin, a sublime fusion of lascivious synth pop and maximalist prog rock, like if Haken and Gunship collaborated, was easily the best single this year heralding an incredible album to come.
But the song of the year has to go to “Spore” from my favourite album of this year, The Amensal Rise. Omnerod start with serene vocals and eerie harmonica, journey through twelve minutes of pummelling riffs, godly vocal performances and earth-shattering solos, easily making for this year’s most astonishing track on an album of unhinged Devin-esque prog death.
Cooper
Selections:
- pillar of salt (feat. dylan walker & iRis.EXE), The Acacia Strain
- Aphelion, The World Is Quiet Here
- Prof. Arronax’ Descent into the Vast Oceans (Feat Ultha), Ahab
- Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of the Dawn), Horrendous
- The Bad Luck That Saved You From Worse Luck, 夢遊病者
Doug
Selections:
- Grey, Enoch Root
- Back, Yet Forward, Nospūn
- Sempiternal Beings, Haken
- …Of Ruins, Course of Fate
- True Friendship, Ions
- Desert Eagle, Bend the Future
- Bear the Weight, Exploring Birdsong
- A Cosmic Laughter, Karma Rassa
- Prophecy, The Resonance Project
- Detonator Gauntlet, East Of The Wall
2023 was a great year for debut concept albums. Between Enoch Root’s Delusion and Nospūn’s Opus, those of us yearning for more Metropolis imitators – or more favorably, companions and inheritors – have spent the year with much to chew on. Of course I have to throw in a track from Haken as well – although not within the normal underground purview of this site, it would be unfair not to mention alongside these other bands who have drawn so much inspiration from them. Plus, if you’ll allow me a hot take, it might be their best song in roughly a decade. Two sophomore album picks from Course of Fate and Ions round out my batch of traditional prog offerings before we dive into the more arcane.
In both Bend the Future and Exploring Birdsong we explore bits of the eclectic influences which inevitably find their way into prog. The former collect everything from jazz to post-rock, featuring saxophone wailing away atop a sparse backing of percussion and smoothed-out rhythm guitar. With the latter’s guitarless approach, they echo that jazz influence again, but also feelings of pop singer-songwriter aesthetics, settling into a cheery and upbeat mood that’s not especially common among progressive music.
I’ll round out the list with a bit of a grab bag. Taking an especially jazz-forward stand on djent, The Resonance Project mix mystery with thrills, simultaneously developing their wind-instrument-heavy melody lines alongside crunchy, intense rhythm guitar more befitting expectations of the genre. Meanwhile, both Karma Rassa and East Of The Wall jointly show off post- and alternative metal sensibilities, ramping up the distortion and haze without shying away from the driving, emotional moments that provide a strong core for their music.
Sam
Selections:
- 1st Movement – Animabilis, Günter Werno
- Banana Split, Pleasures
- Currents: Severance, Vedalia
- Neptunian (As Trident Strikes the Ice), Winterhorde
- Bard of the Hell-Bent Ages, Oak Pantheon
- Interference, Anubis Gate
- Towers of Gold, Sacred Outcry
- Lumen, Nebulae Come Sweet
- In The Mood For Love, Ali
- Congelia, Enslaved
Will
Selections:
- Austerity, Katatonia
- The Scavenger, Enoch Root
- Instill, Humanity’s Last Breath
- Poisoned and Shadowmad, Crawl
- Gila Monster, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
- Path of Forlorn, Deposed King
Having been a bit unplugged from the Subway this year, my list is both short and maybe more mainstream than my colleagues. I’ve built my (albeit short) list by going back through my most played songs on Spotify over the last year – on the understanding that a great song is one that demands to be listened to on repeat. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
- Alkaloid
- Fires in the Distance
- Galya Bisenglieva
- Stortregn
- Omnerod
- Sermon
- Ronnoch
- Temic
- Ions
- Finsterforst
- Pressure Points
- The World Is Quiet Here
- Horrendous
- 夢遊病者
- Enoch Root
- Nospūn
- Course of Fate
- Bend the Future
- Exploring Birdsong
- Karma Rassa
- The Resonance Project
- East of the Wall
- Günter Werno
- Pleasures
- Vedalia
- Winterhorde
- Oak Pantheon
- Anubis Gate
- Sacred Outcry
- Nebulae Come Sweet
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