If I know one cat that does the work, gets his hands dirty and rolls up them sleeves… It’s Ben Bellum! Always delivering, always ready to jump to it when something extra is needed and all that while going through some hard times. Responsible for The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard, which has a Podcast and Facebook site, he decided to devote the (fun) time he did have almost solely to the Doom Charts this year. Let’s hope there are better times ahead for the man and that The Greatest Thing You’ve Never Heard will return as loud as it ever was very soon! So that it will be The Greatest Thing We All Heard From Miles Away!
We’re honored to present another list of Favorite Albums of 2023 by one of the Doom Charts Contributors… There are many as you might know; and many already posted their list of Favorite Albums of 2023 on their own sites or the sites they write for. Some of those lists will be published here as well. And for all the others we advise you to check out all of their personal sites… Cause it might just contain your next very favorite album!
My Top Albums of 2023 and then Some…
2023 was a weird year. Let’s just get that out of the way shall we. Nothing you don’t know, but for me even more so. There are years, sometimes several at a time, where you think nothing you do is really going to move the needle on your long term trajectory, and then there are years like 2023. I changed jobs for the first time in nearly two decades, lost a parent, got fired from a band, started another, changed out multiple cars, and spent a solid month living out of hotels. It was weird. Not all bad by any means, but real freakin’ weird.
I also spent my first full year as a contributor to Doom Charts. And that part was really cool. The crazy life stuff kept me from writing as much as I would have liked but I got exposed to a TON of music. Below, you’ll find what I consider to be the very best of the year. My top 25 studio albums, and my top 5 short releases of the year. And I want you to listen to ALL OF IT. Not just cherry pick a couple, or my number one. LISTEN TO ALL OF IT. Because here’s the thing: when I say that this music is the very best of the year, I mean it. I really do.
Each week, I get exposed to music from a variety of sources: multiple social media groups dedicated to varying genres, albums posted by other contributors, websites, word of mouth, promo emails… and I do my best to get to all of it. On average… I think I consider 50-75 albums every week. That’s not an exaggeration. Most don’t get more than a few seconds of listening time before I pass and move on. So… aspiring bands… make every moment count. The best of what I hear goes into a spreadsheet of notable releases that I keep throughout the year. By the end of 2023, this spreadsheet held nearly 600 albums.
From that cache of 600, I made a list this year of my top 175 studio full lengths, top 10 live albums, and top 20 short releases. I present here simply my top 25 studio albums and my top 5 short releases. Really, what you’re looking at is the top 1% of everything I went through this year. For every record presented, 99 others were evaluated and deemed not worthy. So really, LISTEN TO ALL OF THESE. At least enough to know that you don’t like it. And if I’m right, you’ll pick up something you would have otherwise missed. Cheers.
Top 5 Short Releases of 2023:
05. Barrier Reef – Behind the Scenes/Equal – Single
04. Lord Velvet – Astral Lady – EP
03. Aktopasa – Argonauta Live Series Vol. 8 – EP
02. The Lone Madman – Answer to Job – EP
01. Suspiriorum – Suspiriorum – EP
Top 25 Albums of 2023:
23. Zopp – Dominion
22. Bend the Future – Sounds so Wrong
20. Tribe of Pazuzu – Blasphemous Prophecies
19. Cloud Catcher – Return from the Cauldron
18. Smokey Mirror – Smokey Mirror
17. Thousand Vision Mist – Depths of Oblivion
16. Stoned Jesus – Father Light
14. Mondo Drag – Through the Hourglass
13. Clouds Taste Satanic – Tales of Demonic Possession
12. Iglesia Atomica – Los Demonios Andan Sueltos
11. Royal Thunder – Rebuilding the Mountain
10. Futuropaco – Fortezza di Vetro, Vol. 1
08. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – PetroDragonic Apocalypse
06. Mammatus – Expanding Majesty
04. Slumbering Sun – The Ever-Living Fire
03. Night Verses – Every Sound has a Color in the Valley of Night: Part 1
And… author’s note… just discovered the # 5 on my short release list is actually a single from a full length released back in July. Not changing it now… but just know that if you like that one, there’s more to listen to. That’s the lesson. There’s always more. So keep listening. See you next year.
Doom Charts 