This has been one crazy year for me, so I expected my 2023 soundtrack would be much heavier than it has been. However looking back through the year that was, and according to Spotify wrapped, ‘Grungegaze’ has been my go to choice to get me through the craziness of this year. When you have been up against the wall daily with work, parenting and all that good stuff, the heavy, comforting, warming guitars and the shoegaze textures of ’Grungegaze’ are the perfect form of escapism. So without further ado here is the list:
This record was released right at the start of the year and as always, Black Spiders provide a really fun and quality take on British rock n roll. Black Spiders have been around a long time now, but they never put anything out that is less than quality. ‘Hot Wheels’ is the perfect summer road trip tune, and ’Destroyer’ is as angry and heavy as you will find them. Any fans of The Wildhearts, Ash, The Darkness, and Groop Dogdrill will find something to love here.
Unlike Gunship’s Unicorn, which unfortunately wasn’t heavy enough to appear on our metal and rock list (if they had been allowed, Gunship would have made my Top 5), HEALTH definitely are heavy. I only heard this record in the last month, so I haven’t had enough time to process it fully, but it has still blown me away. Rat Wars is the ‘heavy’ industrial, synthcore record of the year, and once your hear first track ‘DEMIGODS’, you will understand why. This is a superb record.
The french ‘Grungegaze’ band return in 2023 with a stunning follow up to 2021’s Fixed it All. This time around there appears to be more focus on the shoegaze element, which means it doesn’t hit quite as hard. Personally I don’t think this album is as good as that one, but it does features some absolute bangers. Lead singles ‘Still There’ and ‘Houses of American Style’ are worth the ticket price alone.
Fucked Up are definitely a love/hate band. Damian Abraham's vocals are a huge turn off for me, and I would say most people will probably feel the same. I think with One Day though, Fucked Up have found that sweet spot to not alienate the masses as much as previous releases. The reason I got past them on One Day is the musicianship and the songwriting are absolute stunning. Fucked up have created one of the loveliest sounding punk records of the year, and if you can train yourself to get past the vocals, you will find plenty to be in awe of here. ‘I think I might be Weird’ is one of the songs of the year and the rest isn’t too shabby either.
Something was in the water when In Flames were working on Foregone, because this is by far their best album since Clayman. Their later period sound is still represented here, but it's less in your face, more nuanced, and sits alongside the old stool Swedish melodeath vibe very well. The album builds slowly with the gorgeous intro, ‘The beginning of all things that will end’ before smashing your face in with the ‘State of Slow Decay’. From there on, the album continues to pummel you with its brutality and hooky melodies. Much like the stellar Deceivers by Arch Enemy from last year, it's hard to comprehend how amazing In Flames sound this far into their career. It’s also hard to comprehend why they couldn’t have sounded this good a decade ago.
Ash are brilliant, and Race the Night is their heaviest and most rocking album since 2004’s Meltdown, and that is a really good thing. Tim Wheeler is a guy who knows how to write a perfect rock song, and here are 11 of them. The title track kicks off the ruckus followed by ’Usual Places’ maintaining the speed and quality before ’Oslo’ (featuring Demira) brings the noise down to a whisper before ‘Reward in Mind’ and ‘Like a God’ go for the jugular, with the former's catchiness and the latter's heaviness (for Ash anyway). In fact, ‘Like A God’ is so good it gets a reprise at the end of the record. It’s a hell of a track to go out on and demonstrates the band's intent with Race the Night. I never wrote these guys off per se, but I definitely did not think they had an album this good left in them. Race the Night is an absolute pop/rock masterclass and is genuinely full of bangers.
This is the debut album from Heavenward, and it's as Grungegaze as you can get. Pyrophonics is the perfect mixture of shoegaze, drone, heavy guitars and melodic vocals. The lead single ‘Gasoline’ is a radio friendly slice of neo-grunge and works incredibly well. With this album, there is nothing stopping Heavenward transitioning to the big leagues like their contemporaries in Teenage Wrist. This album had me coming back for more regularly.
The debut EP from The Miscreated is a curious thing. Stylistically it is all over the metal spectrum. Ultimately, the reason it's on this list is the vocalist really reminds me of a now defunct British rock band called Ruby Cruiser, and I genuinely cannot get enough of him. It also helps that these guys know how to write a cracking tune. I am intrigued to hear what the full album will be like when it’s released in 2024 because from this EP their sound could go in any direction.
The Savannah Georgia band have always been one of the very best progressive rock bands in the genre since releasing the Red album in 2007. In my opinion they have never been able to top it. However with Stone i think Baroness just might have done it. Gina Gleason adds some seriously awesome lead guitar work to the entire record but notably her work on ‘Last Word’ and ‘The Dirge’ really make a mark, and the segue into ‘Anodyne’ hits hard. Baroness have never released anything great records, and Stone is one of their best–if not the best. This record will end up on many year end lists this year for sure.
Back in 2021 Teenage Wrist’s previous album Earth is a Black Hole made the number 8 spot on my EOTY list. Still Love ends up two places higher in 2023 because it is the better album. With Still Love, the ‘Grungegaze’ sound Teenage Wrist became famous for has more bite to it. The songwriting is better and they hit harder too. Tracks such as ‘Dark Sky‘, ‘Digital Self‘ and ‘Wax Poetic’ are all outright bangers and should be on any rock fans playlist this year.
Dosser are the epitome of the new alt-rock 90’s ’Grungegaze’ sound. Their debut album Violent Picture/Violent Sound is full of the garantuan Jawbox riffs, Weezer-style guitar leads, and melodic sensibilities from that era. The great thing is Dosser are able to take these influences and turn them into their own sound. Each song sounds fantastic, however the standout song is lead single ‘Kids’ with its slacker vibes and fuzzy guitars. Dosser have a bright future ahead of them.
Soen released the absolutely stellar Imperial in 2021 and that album made my EOTY list too back then. Memorial doesnt expand too much on the sound they laid down on Imperial but what it does do is prove they are absolute masters of the progressive metal genre and expressive, emotional song writing. Memorial delves further into the pop sensibilities laid down on Imperial without becoming too ‘pop’. With the right song, such as ‘Violence’ and its massive chorus, they could quite easily get the mainstream recognition they definitely deserve. Memorial is another amazing album from one of the very best in the genre.
Its hard to classify where Spotlights really sit in the musical spectrum. Based on past material, I would have considered them a stoner rock band. However on Alchemy for the Dead, the aforementioned ‘Grungegaze’ sound is probably spot on. The best thing about Spotlights in 2023 though is the underlying trip-hop influence that now sits under these songs, giving the album a sultry, shoegazey, and late night vibe. It could comfortably sit alongside Massive Attack in your record collection. The song ‘The Alchemist’ demonstrates this perfectly. This record was an absolute stand-out for me this year and one i returned to regularly.
Back in 2002 Hundred Reasons dropped one of my very favourite albums, the very brilliant Ideas above our Station. That record has been on my playlist permanently for the last 20 years. To be honest, the albums that followed Ideas… never really had the ‘X factor’ of that record and Hundred Reasons really did fade away quietly before disappearing completely in 2007. Glorious Sunset was released way back in February this year and after many, many listens has become an equal to that record for me. Glorious Sunset is less abrasive and seems less angry but is actually full of sadness. The songwriting is emotional and amazing and Hundred Reasons have managed to capture the emotions of that first record here. I am so chuffed Hundred Reasons re-formed but for them to release this amazing album is an absolute bonus and for it to resonate with me in my mid 40‘s is mind blowing. Check it out.
My album of the year is one of the very best rock albums released in 2023. Nothing has touched the way this record made me feel. If you wanted to you could call Suicide & Sunshine an ’emo’ record with its emotional and personal lyrics. The band themselves call them “Sad songs disguised as happy songs.” But what that term doesn't convey is the multiple styles and genre diversions within the record. ‘People like You’ is a straight up hardcore banger, ‘Blue Eyed Boy’ is the mainstream single, ‘Runaway come home’ is the obligatory ballad and ‘OMW’ is what a younger, hungrier Foo Fighters might sound like in 2023. What stands out across all these songs and indeed the whole album is the quality of the songwriting and the melodies the band interweave within each song making it one of the great records to sing along to. If you like any of the bands and genres listed above I urge you to check it out if you haven’t already.
Fiddlehead - Death is Nothing to Us
Green Lung - This Heathen Land
Helmet - Left
Origami Angels - The Brightest Day
Obituary - Dying of Everything
Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars
Wednesday - Rat Saw God
