The 2023 Audioeclectica End Of The Year Lists now end with the list for Best Album/EP. As always the stipulation for this is that an Album or EP had to be released in 2023.
Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.
Albums 1-10 are in order, the rest are in no particular order. Also, these are just my favorite albums of 2023. I’m sure I missed some that came out. If I did, drop me a message and I’ll be sure to check out your album! Thanks for reading!
2023 Best Albums:
01) Iress- Solace EP 02) Filth Is Eternal- Find Out 03) Loma Prieta- Last 04) Turbid North- The Decline 05) Will Haven- VII 06) Baroness- Stone 07) Better Lovers- God Made Me An Animal EP 08) Ex Everything- Slow Change Will Pull Us Apart 09) Harm’s Way- Common Suffering 10) Crosses- Good Night, God Bless, I Love You, Delete. 11) Venera- Venera 12) Mutoid Man- Mutants 13) Depeche Mode- Memento Mori 14) Arc Angles- Daisy 15) Lived In- Everything Is Just Money Anyway 16) MAL- Come To Light 17) Common Wounds- Common Wounds EP 18) END- The Sin Of Human Frailty 19) Dave Lombardo- Rites Of Percussion 20) The Ocean- Holocene 21) Metallica- 72 Seasons 22) Rival Cults- Indoctrination 23) Full Of Hell & Nothing- When No Birds Sang 24) Rancid- Tomorrow Never Come 25) Unearth- The Wretched / The Ruiness 26) Stress Positions- Harsh Reality 27) Great Falls- Objects Without Pain 28) The Smashing Pumpkins- ATUM 29) Spotlights- Alchemy For The Dead 30) Noel Gallagher- Council Skies
We are a little past the halfway point of 2023 so, why not put together a list of a bunch of my favorite releases of the year… so far!
*This List Is In No Particular Order EXCEPT For Number 1
01) Iress- Solace EP 02) Loma Prieta- Last 03) Will Haven- VII 04) Better Lovers- God Made Me An Animal EP 05) The Ocean- Holocene 06) Metallica- 72 Seasons 07) Turbid North- The Decline 08) Deathgrave- It’s Only Midnight 09) Unearth- The Wretched / The Ruinous 10) Dave Lombardo- Rites Of Percussion 11) Rancid- Tomorrow Never Comes 12) Creeping Death- Boundless Domain 13) Queens Of The Stone Age- In Times New Roman 14) Tunic- Wrong Dream 15) Common Wounds- Common Wounds EP 16) Jerome’s Dream- The Gray In Between 17) Vanishment- No More Torture 18) The Smashing Pumpkins- ATUM 19) Year Of The Knife- Dust To Dust 20) Thrice- The Artist and The Ambulance (2023 Version)
The month of May is almost over which means that half the year is almost over. In the past few months there have been a few records that I’ve had in constant rotation. Some of these are older albums and some are brand spanking new. Either way, they have yet to leave my constant music rotation and I thought I’d share these with you all. Each of these picks are ones you should definitely check out!
01) Iress- Solace: Ever since I heard this EP, I haven’t gone a day without listening to it. It’s so damn good. This album hits you in all the feels and yet it’s so seductive and beautiful. Iress are beyond the real deal and I can’t wait for what’s to come for this band!
02) Metallica- 72 Seasons: As a lifelong Metallica fan, I’m stoked on this new one from the metal legends. From start to finish this one really gets the blood pumping. There’s a song for every type of Metallica fan on here as well. My favorite track as of now is still the final song “Inamorata.” When you hear this epic, you’ll know why!
03) Unearth- The Wretched / The Ruinous: This new Unearth album is a blistering and heavy record. It’s got everything you know and love about Unearth and then some. One of the things I love most about this record is that it’s uncompromising and delivers banger after banger. This is what “MetalCore” should sound like, not this new laptop backing track bullshit!
04) Billy Howerdel- What Normal Was: There’s something really fun about Billy Howerdel’s first “solo” album. There’s a lot to delve into on this and with each listen you start to notice these little nuances the more it all comes to life. One of the things that I love about this album is that it sounds classic in it’s approach but doesn’t rely on “nostalgia.” Just listen!
05) Placebo- Never Let Me Go: Placebo’s long awaited new album came out last year and it’s chock full of gems. Now on their 8th studio album, this album still has the “classic” sound but with a a few new experiments. These new sounds and approaches show that even this far into their career, complacency is not in their vocabulary
06) She Wants Revenge- She Wants Revenge: It’s been a minute since I listened to this album. The other day, randomly I had part of “Tear You Apart” stuck in my head and from there I felt compelled to put this one on. I forgot how wellput together this album is. It’s got all the post-punk goodness in it along with some other elements that make for a really solid debut album. Glad to see that they are back out playing again. I remember seeing them many years ago and it being a really good show.
07) Rancid- …And Out Come The Wolves: Ever since it was announced that Rancid are returning with a new album, I’ve been on a bit of a Rancid kick. Their first 5 albums are unfuckwithable! They are punk rock classics in my book. Their 1995 album …And Out Come The Wolves is a true classic for sure. From the moment track one starts with “Maxwell Murder” all the way to track 19 “The Way I Feel,” it’s a non-stop ride of punk, ska punk, and then some. All these years later and this album still burns bright!
08) Emma Ruth Rundle- On Dark Horses: I love this album. It’s so damn good. There aren’t enough adjectives to properly describe it. There’s a beauty in the darkness that resides throughout this album. Even on her most recent album, Engine Of Hell (which you should listen to as well) there is no stopping Emma. She’s one of the most honest artists out there. Everything about her music, lyrics and self is real. Each time I listen to her albums, I always finds something else to enjoy about them.
09) Holy Fawn- Dimensional Bleed: This is one of my favorite albums of 2022 and I still get a kick out of listening to this one. After seeing them live, this album took on a whole new form for me. Knowing that these songs are that much more bombastic live makes listening to the album all the more enjoyable. Dimensional Bleed is an album that should be recognized not just as a great album but one that will inspire others.
10) Greg Puciato- Mirrorcell: My favorite album of 2022 and I still haven’t stopped listening to this one. Everything about this album is phenomenal. The performances, songs, riffs, rhythms, lyrics, melodies and more all make up a truly great album. In the span of a couple years, Greg has put out 2 of the best albums of the last few years and he just keeps going. If you haven’t listened to Mirrorcell, I highly recommend that you change that. I love this album and everything about it!
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