Another list that went live on Stoner HiVe a few weeks ago! Slightly edited and improved it is featured here again. It’s Kyle SB’s (formerly writing as Shasta Beast) list of 20 Favorite albums of 2023! It’s been a good year for the good man, cause he started his own PR company called Good Boy PR! One of the many highlights of the past twelve months. Doing the good Doom Charts promo work as well, cause he runs the Instagram page of the Doom Charts. And almost half of the Contributors lists during the past weeks were the work of good boy Kyle! Check out his list of majestic releases and Let Slip the Dogs of Rock ‘n Roll!
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!
20. BLOOD CEREMONY – THE OLD WAYS REMAIN
One of the most welcome surprises of 2023, Blood Ceremony’s return was a joy to behold. Their classic sound still intact, with maybe a touch more of a folkier bent this time around, the Canucks showed they hadn’t lost a beat and delivered another instant classic of proggy, mystical Sabbath rock.
19. ALMOST HONEST – THE HEX OF PENN’S WOODS
Hang on to your overalls, the Dutch Country boys of Almost Honest stepped their already considerable game way, way up with “The Hex of Penn’s Woods”. This is stoner rock with a blatant disregard for genre tropes and limits, with creative juices flowing and sonic curveballs thrown every which way.
18. PHANTOM HIGH – VALLEY OF SICKNESS
Just one of a slew of Portland, Oregon bands I ended up jamming this year, Phantom High came out of left field and scratched an itch for raw, Atomic Bitchwax-type vibes with their brand of uptempo stoner rock ‘n roll. Groovy and crushing with a madcap energy running through it, the power trio’s debut LP “Valley Of Sickness” knocked it out of the park and promises big things to come.
Something special is happening in the PDX scene. Guitarist and vocalist Anthony Gaglia, of Them Crooked Whispers and LáGoon, teamed up with drummer Jamie Yeats of Wizzerd and bassist Kenny Coombs of LáGoon and Ash Eater to pivot away from the heavy stoner fare. Oopsy Dazey instead gifted us with a dreamy, grunge and shoegaze-inspired project that’s a laid-back, feel-good trip from start to finish, and those are vibes I can very much dig.
16. TROPIC SANTOS – CACCIA GROSSA
A newcomer to the scene, Italy’s Tropic Santos wowed me with their singular take on stoner grooves. If “tropical hypno stoner” is a genre of the future, consider this instrumental trio its soon-to-be godfathers. There’s something bright and bouncy about the riffs and rhythms that are still very much burly stoner rock, and it was a rare listen for me that didn’t end in a second playthrough.
Jersey, baby. The Garden State’s Pyre Fyre cooked up a treat with their self-titled and debut LP, covering a lot of ground and bagging the holy grail that is achieving unique sound and style on their first try. Blown out vocals, noisey riffs caked in fuzz, and a penchant for boogie amidst a bit of sludge and doom made for an easy personal favorite of the year. Check out their remastered version too, and don’t sleep on the party of a track that is “Wyld Ryde”.
14. DOZER – DRIFTING IN THE ENDLESS VOID
The titans have returned. There was little doubt new Dozer would be anything but excellent, but “Drifting In The Endless Void” surpassed my expectations. Tight as can be, spacey but sleek, and chock full of hooks and riffs, the Swedes’ comeback album is an absolute delight. Dozer is still Dozer, long may they reign.
13. CRABE – VISITE DU TEMPLE INNÉ
My list’s first step away from the stoner side of things, Montréal art-punks CRABE are a trip. Spastic, occasionally abrasive, and totally unpredictable, their “Visite du temple inné” (which Google tells me is French for “Visit the innate temple”) is a powderkeg of of a punk album. Weird in the best way possible.
12. THOUSAND VISION MIST – DEPTHS OF OBLIVION
Maryland is known for its doom scene here in the states, and stalwarts Thousand Vision Mist broke out in a big way with their second LP “Depths of Oblivion”. While rooted in the doom and stoner sound of their surroundings, Thousand Vision Mist avoided retreading what’s been done to death and put out a fresh and righteous album, mixing grunge, proto-doom, and heaps of groove, and it hits just right.
11. WHITE CANYON & THE 5TH DIMENSION – GARDENERS OF THE EARTH
Languid, float-along vibes and deep psychedelia made this my top psych rock album of the year, no question. Both mysterious and groovy, “Gardeners of the Earth” is an album that you can get absolutely lost in amid the shimmer and feel-good beats.
10. WORM HERO – THE INEFFABLE CONSEQUENCE OF DREAMING
Kicking off the top 10 is one of the most enjoyably bonkers albums I had the pleasure of experiencing this year. Worm Hero reside on their own nightmarish plane of grindcore, space metal, black metal, mathcore, you name it. It’s a wild ride of top notch musicianship that swerves and heaves, while somehow never careening out of control as the band pilots the trans alien spacegrind warship of riffs that is “The Ineffable Consequence of Dreaming”.
9. SOLIPNOSIS – SINTESIS SILENCIOSA
Avant-garde black speed metal might be the easiest way to put it, but the new Solipnosis EP from the enigmatic Virupi group is anything but straightforward. There’s mysticism beyond mere flourish in the acoustic passages, slithery riffs that twist and turn at lightning speed, and a flair for the experimental that makes for an album that’s truly demonic and impossible to pull oneself away from.
8. BARING TEETH – THE PATH NARROWS
Like an endless maze, Baring Teeth’s intricate and esoteric brand of death metal demands my full attention on every listen of “The Path Narrows”. One minute there’s dissonance, the next you’re chugging into oblivion, and throughout the band are walking a tightrope act of jazz and prog without losing an ounce of ferocity. Mind-bending.
7. MAGDALENE – THE DYING PROCESS
I was late to the game for Magdalene’s “The Dying Process”, but the Portland outfit’s emotive mix of black metal and hardcore bowled me over and won my ears on first listen. This is a caustic, suffocating album of deep, deep pain, audible and heartfelt in the tortured screams and strained guitars. The emotion conveyed in “The Dying Process” is punishing and cathartic, but the straight-up lethal riffing makes it an easy pill to swallow.
6. ZORN – ZORN
If some poor soul dared to ask what the filthiest, evilest, most Philly take on speed metal was, that wonderful abomination would be none other than Zorn. These wackos party, delivering breakneck blackened assaults that are covered in grime and murderously fun, and their self-titled album is the crowning gem so far in their decrepit crown.
5. GRAND CADAVER – DEITIES OF DEATHLIKE SLEEP
The always on-point Majestic Mountain Records released another winner in their stable of great albums with Grand Cadaver’s death metal opus “Deities of Deathlike Sleep”. Lean and mean, these Swedes wield their sound like a T-1000: liquid metal that’s brutally efficient, all killer no filler. This is catchy, hard-hitting death metal trimmed of all fat with no time for anything less than total carnage.
Back to the West Coast, Seattle stoner stalwarts Sandrider laid down, to no surprise, yet another album stuffed to the gills with manic riffs, endless energy, and an unflinching ferocity that’s as fun as it is mean. Sandrider rule. ‘Nuff said.
Wow. These guys caught me by total surprise and delivered a three-song EP that selfishly felt like a personal love letter. Frantic psychedelia, endless and spidery riffs, and cosmic tales of a nightmare tower check off my inner boxes for hyper stoner rock I can’t get enough of. A double shot of adrenaline and dopamine straight to the weird corners of my lizard brain.
2. LOMA BAJA – PISCINAS VERTICALES
It took me a couple listens to get it, but once I did Loma Baja’s “Piscinas Verticales” was always going to be near the top of my list. This is really special, extremely patient music built on drone, doom, kraut, and more to create something experimental and deeply satisfying, like nothing I’ve heard before.
1. BURNER – IT ALL RETURNS TO NOTHING
More than any other album this year, Burner’s “It All Returns To Nothing” absolutely FLOORED me. The physicality of their sound and the sheer intensity behind it is visceral and simply, undeniably, real. Grindcore, hardcore, death metal, black metal, it’s all masterfully smashed into a wrecking ball of an album that’s a sonic punch to the gut. My blood pressure just rose writing about it.
Doom Charts 