The 50 best metal albums of 2023 - as voted by the readers of Metal Hammer

With their first three albums of ferocious post-hardcore-meets-black-metal, Svalbard established themselves as one of the UK's most potent up-and-coming creative forces. The band's fourth album - and first release on Nuclear Blast - The Weight Of The Mask took their propensity for devastating, emotionally cathartic bursts of fury and melody and somehow made it even more grandiose and powerful, reviewer Dannii Leivers deeming it "an exercise of extremes that never offers answers, but that stands as a stunning monument to the human experience."

And how do you tackle talking about such weighty subjects as mental health? By hitting a theme park with frontwoman - and all-round rollercoaster fanatic - Serena Cherry, of course.

Enslaved themselves might refute the idea of being tagged as a black metal band, but the fact remains the Norwegian group continue to push the genre into exciting new stylistic directions with each new release. Their sixteenth studio album Heimdal is no exception, Paul Travers ruling that, "the Bergen five-piece are far from the only band to have piloted black metal into stranger tides since its misbegotten beginnings, but they are one of the most consistently inventive and engrossing."

Demonaz might be the sole remaining member of Immortal after years of departures and messy legal disputes, but the band's tenth studio album isn't lacking for any of the propulsive, frosty fury that made them such a vital part of the black metal scene. Joe Daly may have remarked that War Against All "boasts riffs as catchy as anything the band has ever released, and there’s plenty of depth across the tracks," but more than that the record is also a prime showcase that in spite of the drama behind the scenes, Immortal still rule. We're still waiting on that movie, though. 

Norway's premium black'n'roll hellions, Kvelertak kept the spirit of classic heavy metal alive with their typically wild-eyed and briliantly unpredictable fifth album Endling. Reviewing the album, Alex Deller wrote that the band had produced "an album that delights in taking one wild swing after another. That this batshit approach doesn’t descend into chaos or parody is mystifying, but also part of Kvelertak’s thrilling appeal". 

As deathcore clawed its way back to relevance in recent years thanks to the likes of Slaughter To Prevail and Lorna Shore, its parent genre has fought for its own taste of glory. Among those leading the charge are Canadians Tomb Mold. The band's first three albums were all released in quick succession, but a four-year gap has produced possibly the band's finest and most intricately vicious work to date, reviewer Dom Lawson summarising that "The Enduring Spirit is significantly more progressive than previous efforts, as the band’s songwriting seems to blossom in real time."

As anyone that caught Twin Temple supporting Ghost in arenas will attest, there's something undeniably bewitching about their Satanic Doo-Wop. The band's second album didn't necessarily change the formula, but added hints of classic Motown that suggested there was much more to the band's repertoire, while Dannii Leivers hailed that "the pair are overt in pushing their themes of sexual empowerment and blasphemy on tracks like Let’s Have A Satanic Orgy and Be A Slut (Do What You Want)," before ruling it "devilishly good fun" - no wonder their neighbours get a little freaked out from time to time.

By King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's standards, 2023 was a quiet year for the Aussie band, with only two new albums compared to the five(!) that arrived in 2022. Such frenetic activity might have you question the quality of the music being made, but PetroDragonic Apocalypse ; Or, Dawn Of Eternal Night: An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning Of Merciless Damnation (to give it it's full title) shows a band on insane creative form as they explore a thrash-psychedelia-stoner hybrid. In his review Kevin Stewart-Panko wrote that "Delving into their ‘grip it and rip it’ creative approach, the songs here ooze with a combination of early speed metal, improvised energy, and prog excursions topped by Aboriginal-inspired chants and didgeridoo-like drones," painting a picture of one of 2023's most unique records.

The Raven Age might have started out in metalcore territory, but with their third album Blood Omen the band brought in more trad metal influences than ever before, the perfect compliment to a concept record based on the notion of overthrowing unfit rulers. Paul Travers attested that "their mix of classic metal melody, stadium-rock choruses and harder-edged metalcore motifs arguably fall closer to Bullet For My Valentine, but The Raven Age are increasingly sounding only like themselves."

With bands like Lorna Shore raising the bar on both production and sheer brutal lunacy in deathcore, the rest of the scene has produced some of its finest and most impressive work to date. Case in point, Germany's Mental Cruelty's fourth album Zwielicht is a stomach-churning, endlessly fascinating headlong dive into blackened symphonic realms, Dom Lawson ruling that "the Germans’ first album with new vocalist Lukas Nicolai, Zwielicht is absurdly brutal and wonderfully grandiose with it". 

Suffocation's ninth album, Hymns From The Apocrypha represented something of a return to form for the American band, new vocalist Ricky Myers helping cement a sense of fresh vitality that had Olivier Badin ruling "these nine new songs never stray too far from their roots yet offer a fresher, more open and organic take on their trademark sound, and with a rejuvenated sense of urgency."

While some areas of metalcore head further down the pop-adjacent rabbit-hole, Dying Wish stand as a counterweight, delivering sheer ferocity with their second record, Symptoms Of Survival. Striking a balance between punishing hardcore and anthemic metal, Dannii Leivers judged Symptoms Of Survival "a masterclass of melodic brutality". 

Almost a decade on from their debut Disgusting, Beartooth's fifth album is testament to just how far they've come in that time. The Surface is still filled with crowd-baiting choruses that could unite the masses, but more than that it's a reflection of frontman Caleb Shomo's newfound PMA as he came into his own as a reluctant rock star, Emily Swingle writing that "from the off, The Surface is thrumming with life. Soaring instrumentals glimmer with unbridled joy, while beefy breakdowns serve as a defibrillating jolt, grounding you in the moment."

Given the sheer technicality on display, it's hardly surprising that The Zenith Passage's second album took seven years to arrive. Datalysium proved worth the wait however, a digit-snapping showcase of instrumental acrobatics that blurred the lines between death metal and prog, challenging the likes of Periphery, Meshuggah and Animals As Leaders for the sheer inventiveness and impressiveness of their sound.

By their own admission, it's been a rough six years for Ne Obliviscaris since their last album Urn. Thankfully they pulled through with yet another stunning showcase of prog metal brilliance with their fourth album, Matt Mills writing that "with every statement these progressive/symphonic death metal maximalists blare out, they trim their frills and find more and more breaks for hooks between the marathons of noodling. That, by extension, makes this fourth full-length the most refined and accessible release the Aussies have stamped their name onto," hailing its sheer creative breadth. 

Closing in on 30 years since their commercial breakthrough Troublegum, Therapy? have never tried to mindlessly replicate that album's unique mix of fizzy pop-punk, clanging noise and chunky alt-metal, instead finding new ways to expand their repertoire on each release whilst remaining undeniably true to their sound. Album #16 is no exception, the hallmarks of classic Therapy? are all still there: beefed up riffs, clattering drum-beats that edge on dance and choruses you could scream yourself hoarse to, but Hard Cold Fire is nonetheless a fresh taste of a band whose brilliance has never waned. 

If Priest fans were hoping that KK Downing sharing a stage with Judas Priest at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at the end of 2022 would pave the way for him to rejoin the band, they were sorely disappointed when the guitarist clarified that he'd "never rejoin Judas Priest" earlier this year. They needn't sob too hard though - KK's Priest sees him still waving the trad metal loud and proud and while songs like Sons Of The Sentinel and One More Shot At Glory are a little on-the-nose, the pairing of Downing and vocalist Tim 'Ripper' Owens has proven a fearsome beast, the band's live debut in summer 2023 showing just how incendiary they can be. 

Green Lung had barely toured when lockdown hit in 2020. They've more than made up for that since the world re-opened however: 2021's Black Harvest showcased an oft-unexplored Led Zeppelin influence on the folkier fringes of the stoner/doom world and saw the band start packing rooms and tents everywhere from Damnation to Roadburn, Download and beyond, even supporting Clutch in December 2022. The band's third album then is representative of their fast-rising stock, a glorious throwback to theatrical 70s-style occult rock with Deep Purple flourishes and a narrative hooked around real-world occult and supernatural occurences. Someone get Ghost on the phone - we've found their perfect opening act. 

Formed by former members of Brazilian thrashers Nervosa, Crypta switch tracks to classic death metal whilst not losing sight of the high-octane fury that made their former group so formidable. The band's second album takes the sheer ferocity of their sound even further, hitting the ground running in a flurry of riffs and shrieks that seldom lets up. Any band that impresses the likes of Trey Azagthoth so much he can't resist taking the band on tour is surely worth keeping a keen eye on. 

Almost a decade on from Babymetal's debut album, you might think you've heard everything Japanese metal could throw at you. Then Hanabie explode onto the scene in a flurry of brutal riffs, electro-infused melodies and nu metal sensibilities and suddenly the whole thing is blown open again. The newcomers are a perfect showcase of just how much the world of metal has changed over the last decade and are well on the way to being a sensation in their own right, selling out shows in both the UK and US.

After branching out into the realms of Nordic folk with 2020's Folkesange, black metal maverick Myrkur again took a drastic stylistic left turn with 2023's Spine. Embracing elements of goth and art pop whilst still incorporating subtle black metal elements, her fourth full-length opened the floor to go just about anywhere going forwards, reviewer Joe Daly ruling that Spine is "an album that discovers expansive new musical territories and emotional hinterlands. Here, Myrkur has orchestrated an aural kaleidoscope that balances darkness and light, the euphoric and the devastating, to produce a magnum opus in her ever-evolving catalogue."

After shedding members after their performance at Slam Dunk 2021, British metalcore heroes Bury Tomorrow come back heavier and more massive-sounding than ever on The Seventh Sun. The new line-up gave the band a much-needed boost in the arm to shed the "underdog" tag that had followed them to date, Stephen Hill ruling that, "the easy career path for Bury Tomorrow would be to pander to the rock audience. Their popularity may still surge off the back of The Seventh Sun, but that they’ve arguably got even heavier says everything about their attitude and commitment to making the music they love."

In the fast and furious hinterland between thrash and black metal, Scotland's Hellripper remains a potent force to be reckoned with on his third album. The brainchild of James McBain, Hellripper is a vehicle for all things speed as McBain weaves a tapestry of sheer lunacy. Writer Alec Chillingworth couldn't be more effusive, writing: "sprinkling the record with Scottish folklore and quirks, the title track’s bagpipes (!) come off not cheesy, but cleavingthe-firmament-in-twain epic. Even when a song’s guts unspool for seven minutes, it’s integral. You need this album on tap."

V: Djent Is Not A Genre sees Periphery incorporate everything from jazz to electronica whilst creating a surprisingly cohesive and hook-laden release, Adam Brennan remarked that "a key part to Periphery’s enviable run over their recent output is the self-aware undertone that permeates the polished mix of scintillating heaviness, fiendish dexterity and seductive earworms. It’s these standards by which V is judged, and the album could usurp some of its forebears from the podium." With a massive show lined up at the Roundhouse in London early next year, it's fair to say Periphery are well on the rise. 

Obituary's Tardy brothers might run a cat sanctuary but that doesn't mean their death metal is any less brutal. When the band settle into a groove there's no denying they tap a vein of old school death metal magic, Dom Lawson offering favourable comparisons to 2017's self-titled predecessor. In his review, he stated that "killer songs stack up throughout, with more substance and detail than the last LP’s smash-and-grab volley. Both records contain 10 tracks, but Dying Of Everything is more varied, more considered, more dynamic… and possibly Obituary’s strongest album in 30 years."

The Acacia Strain's brand of brutish deathcore has always had a tinge of punishing sludge to it, but the band really committed to the bit with a double release in 2023. Step Into The Light stayed true to the band's core sound, but Failure Will Follow is a lightless black hole of brutal, agonisingly slow sludge that teeters on the edge of death-doom. So in short, it's fucking brilliant and shows the band know how to break the mould when the mood takes. 

A steer away from the colour-coded theme that had marked their albums thus far didn't mark a drastic departure in John Baizley's approach to his craft, but it certainly reaffirmed Baroness' position as one of the most vibrant and vital bands of their generation, and snuck in some subtle new shades - and plenty of "solos Beavis and Butthead could sing", as guitarist Gina Gleason would put it. "Stone is a monument to ambition and heaviness, and to refusing to rest too long in one place lest roots or languor take hold," said Hammer's Alex Deller.

Josh Middleton may have parted ways with Architects, but that only means he has more time to dedicate to his first love, Sylosis. Set somewhere between thrash, melodeath and metalcore, Sylosis have long been a beloved, if cult, band in the UK, but A Sign Of Things To Come could change all that, Stephen Hill writing: "If Sylosis wanted to make that step from underground darlings into scene heavyweights, then this is the album they needed to nail. And nail it they have."

40 years since thrash first came sprinting into the metal world, the old school remains a beloved fixture of the scene. Where many of their contemporaries have tried to expand their sound over the years - with mixed results - Overkill stay the path for all-out headbanging, moshing energy. That said, their 20th album does push the boat out some, reviewer Paul Travers remarking that "Wicked Place has a slow-burn build-up reminiscent of Diamond Head’s Am I Evil?, but when the dam bursts, it releases a rollicking bluesy riff like something from Metallica’s Load/Reload era. Won’t Be Coming Back packs in Iron Maiden levels of clean guitar melodies and there are several points throughout the album where they lean towards classic metal rather than straight-ahead thrash."

After kicking off the year with a UK and European tour with Deez Nuts, The Acacia Strain decided to simaltaneously release two albums on the same day. Where Failure Will Follow is punishing sludge, Step Into The Light represents a more traditional view of The Acacia Strain's sound - which is to say punishing, brutal, undeniably brilliant deathcore. 

In the five years since Sonder, Tesseract have set their sights on becoming one of metal's big tent-pole bands. With their fifth album War Of Being, they might just achieve it, Hammer writer Matt Mills judging it as "this band’s quintessential release – not to mention a frontrunner for metal album of the year." There's not much higher praise than that, but it was richly earned.

With many of the bands that brought symphonic metal to prominence in the late 90s and early 2000s since shifting away from the style to explore other realms, newcomers like Blackbriar are quickly filling the niche. Grandiose, gothic symphonic metal with a fairytale edge, the Dutch band's second record A Dark Euphony was hailed by Catherine Morris who hailed it as "unabashedly gorgeous and darkly romantic, Blackbriar have shown they are masters of painting lush soundscapes that symphonic metal fans will want to dive right into."

"Cannibal Corpse released an album". Death metal's most brutally efficient and reliably brilliant band continued a stellar run of form that showed they truly are masters of OSDM, still bludgeoning the listener with a relentless force and zeal that makes even their sixteenth album sound fresh and exciting, summarised perfectly by Dom Lawson: "The horror never stops, so neither do Cannibal Corpse. Bloody marvellous."

Martijn Westerholt was forced to effectively rebuild Delain from the ground up when the other members quit in 2021, leaving him the sole remaining member. Thankfully, the band's seventh studio album shows no signs of that strife, the return of former drummer Sander Zoer and guitarist Ronald Landa helping cement a sense of vintage Delain whilst new vocalist Diana Leah delivered the grandeur and brilliance fans have come to expect, Danii Leivers ruling that "this feels like a band reborn: grandiose and fizzing with bright energy." 

Ville Valo's rebirth as a solo artist saw a much-anticipated return from the prince of goth metal, Neon Noir delivering on everything that was brilliant about HIM, gothic romance and all. Although the album arrived all the way back in January, Ville hasn't been far all year; a tour in March led to an appearance at Download Festival in June and Ville has already lined up a massive return to the UK next May at the Royal Albert Hall. In the meantime, he's also resurrected his annual New Year's Eve party, lending the sense that 2023 was Ville's year all along. 

Beyond The Black have been steadily building as symphonic metal's next stars ever since their 2015 debut achieved a top 20 position in their native Germany. The band's self-titled fifth record is an affirmation of everything that makes them brilliant: strident songwriting, fist-pumping melodies and hooks you could land Moby Dick with, reviewer Catherine Morris writing that "many of the melodies on Beyond The Black will stay with you – a sign that the band are now truly in their groove."

A love letter to the high-octane thrills of power metal and NWOBHM, Lovebites' fourth record embodies everything gloriously OTT about its parent genres whilst not letting up on delivering brilliantly joyous songs throughout. The sheer earnest energy of the band alone makes this record  captivating, but the fact it is so infectiously fun has clearly struck a chord with audiences, Lovebites clawing their way to a chart peak position of no. 5 in their native Japan. 

Narrowly escaping tragedy after a serious van crash in 2022, Silent Planet have seized the world by its throat with their fifth full-length Superbloom, making the most of their days whatever may come. Swinging Meshuggah-shaped riffs amidst a backdrop of anthemic choruses and massive mosh calls, Emily Swingle judged that "with its cryptic lyrics and dynamic layering, the introspective depths of this record are captivating."

Katatonia have come a long way from their doom metal roots, embracing goth metal and prog across their career to ensure their sound remains an ever-evolving entity. Twelfth studio album Sky Void Of Stars offers a stunning vision of the wide scope of their sound amidst some of the most enchanting melodies the band have ever written, Dom Lawson ruling that "Katatonia sound as absorbed in their meticulous, mercurial work as they ever did. The only predictable thing about Sky Void Of Stars is how absurdly fucking great it is."

A decade ago, Dying Fetus effectively became a by-word for commercial unviability when the #whynotdyingfetus tag helped them get booked for Download Festival 2014. Nine years later, and their ninth studio album finds them as devotedly underground as ever, albeit with a sense that they are among the most enduringly brilliant and resilient acts of their kin, critic Ken McIntyre judging, "nine albums and over three decades in, Dying Fetus still enthral and repulse."

After threatening to break through to the metal mainstream with 2020's Nija, Swedish melodeath newcomers Orbit Culture delivered an album of seriously impressive proportions with Descent that should - if there's any justice - elevate them to massive proportions. Adam Brennan ruled as much in his 8/10 review for Metal Hammer, "As bands like Lorna Shore, or even Gojira, have proven, breakthrough moments aren’t always immediate. They take time, talent and effort for the stars to align. With Descent, Orbit Culture may have finally lit that all-important spark."

After what feels like an eternity of pushing their music in a more alt-metal direction, In Flames rediscovered the groove that made them melodeath legends on Foregone. The band's fourteenth studio albums still bore some hallmarks of the passage of time, not least in the expanded repertoire the band brought to bear, but that only made it even more exciting, a true return to the Gothenburg sound they helped pioneer 30 years before. With a tour set to take them on the road with Arch Enemy and Soilwork in 2024, it's fair to say the revitalised melodeath vibes might be here to stay. 

Indonesia's Voice Of Baceprot were already well on the way to stardom before their debut album RETAS arrived. Their early singles went viral whilst their outspoken stance on everything from relgious repression to war and women's rights ensured they felt like a vital new addition to the metal scene, RETAS very much keeping that spirit alive with songs like [NOT] PUBLIC PROPERTY, God, Allow Me (Please) To Play Music nailing their colours to the mast in an explosion of thrashy, at-times funky energy that evoked the likes of Rage Against The Machine. 

Mixing black metal and Native American culture, Blackbraid have fast become one of the most talked about black metal bands of recent years. After an exciting debut in 2022, mastermind Sgah’gahsowáh hasn't wasted any time in realising his ambitions for a sequel, turning every dial up to 11 whilst crafting an intricate and sublime  release that balances fury and beauty in equal measure. 

With seven years' worth of build-up, it's fair to say expectations were high for Avenged Sevenfold's eighth album. What nobody could have predicted was just how out there it was, a prog-laced odyssey through psychedelia, thrash, trad metal and so much more, sometimes all within the span of a single song. Dave Everley assessed "Avenged Sevenfold have scaled the mountain and looked out over all that surrounds them, then plunged headfirst into the void, not knowing where, when or even if they’ll land. What kind of madness is this? The very best kind." And we can honestly say we can't wait to see how this material will be tackled live. 

Going back to their 2002 debut, could anyone have predicted Cattle Decapitation still being one of metal's most challenging and vicious groups 20 years later? That's exactly where we find them with Terrasite, their eighth album a typically ambitious assault on the senses with a few surprisingly melodic turns, Hammer writer Dom Lawson ruling that Terrasite "is still vicious, skullclubbing brutality, but with atmosphere and intelligence in abundance."

In the run-up to Avatar's ninth studio album, frontman Johannes Eckerström said the release would "save heavy metal". It was a bold statement from a band given to theatrical grandstanding, but we'll be damned if Dance Devil Dance didn't deliver some of 2023's most fun metal anthems, Holly Wright noting that, "just when it feels like there’s nothing left to explore, their ninth studio album pulls [Avatar] in new and surprising directions". 

Metallica might have carried on with the rediscovery of their thrash roots that 2016's Hardwired represented, but that doesn't mean the band regressed entirely, Stephen Hill judging that with its lyrical matter "rarely has [James Hetfield] laid himself so bare as he does here." The result was a massive, cathartic roar-along with plenty of brilliant tracks built for the live arena - which is just as well considering the band spent much of the year on their massive M72 World Tour.

Whilst Within Temptation have never been wallflowers, their eighth record represents the band at their most fired-up and outspoken. Inspired by the state of global events, the Dutch band crafted some of the most inspiring and powerful anthems of their career. It's almost insane that we'll have to wait until late next year for the band to bring these songs to life live, but we dare say the wait will be worth it. 

It says something about the sheer scale of what Babymetal have achieved that the release of a new album is only part of their incredible story in 2023. While the recruitment of Momometal has kickstarted a new era, the band started their first new chapter since a year-long hiatus by unveiling some of their most grandiose and impressive songs to date in a sprawling concept record that showed just how much they have evolved in the past decade. Massive shows at home in Japan and an appearance at Wembley Arena with Sabaton in March gave way to smaller shows this winter that set the stage for even bigger things to come. The band already have an appearance at Download Festival set for next year, but beyond that? Well, you should know what they say about Fox Gods at this point. 

No metal band in 2023 has blown up in the same way as Sleep Token. Already a cult sensation in the UK, that turned into all-around breakout success as the band started releasing singles for their third record Take Me Back To Eden in January. A sold-out UK tour was followed by similar sell-outs across the board in Europe, Australia and the US, the band's ascent seemingly without end as they prepared for a headline show at London's Wembley Arena that sold out in minutes. 

And then there's the album itself. Take Me Back To Eden encapsulates everything brilliant about Sleep Token to date - crashing tech metal riffs, giving way to heart-wrenching melodies, agonised howls counteracted by funky bass drops as the whole record served as a waypoint for how to truly kick down the walls of genre and usher in new generations of metal fan. Therein lies Sleep Token's strength, and the thing that makes them so insanely popular; they might piss off the gatekeepers, but for every one who'll turn their noses up, a thousand more listeners will explore metal as a result of having heard them, seeking out similarly transgressive and ambitious acts from Loathe to Zeal And Ardour. 

Given the fanatical love the band have earned from their fans, it's hardly surprising that they topped the Metal Hammer reader's poll, but for everything they represent for metal in 2023, there's also a sense that they have earned every accolade that comes their way. Thank Sleep for them.