Yearlist 2023:

Eighties //Nineties //90919293949596979899 //Nihils //00010203040506070809 //TwentyTens //10111213141516171819 //Twenties //202122[2023]24 //All_Time
 
①Cradle Of Filth - Trouble and Their Double Lives
Score: 10/10
I've been listening to Cradle Of Filth since the early nineties, so it's quite amazing that they haven't had a decent live album out until now. It consists of two new songs and a compilation of live recordings. I greatly prefer their first four albums, so was pleased to hear songs from Dusk and Cruelty, but their later releases always contains some good songs which are present on this album as well. Fully aware I'm not scoring scene-points by putting this at the top of my yearlist though ;)
 
Dark The Suns - Raven and the Nightsky
Score: 10/10
Dark The Suns have been around for a while and have released some excellent melodeath albums already, but this one is my favourite. Usually I'm waiting for a fuckup, but I actually like all the songs on this release. Some songs are more doom than death which is also highly appreciated, so (non-live) album of the year for me!		②
 
③Austere - Corrosion of Hearts
Score: 10/10
Austere is hard to define. Maybe melo-doom-death leaning towards atmospheric black? And I'm sure some people would throw a 'post' in there, whatever that means. For sure is that it's music for people who would not hesitate to call their metal "beautiful" - because dear reader, this is a beautiful album. Special mention for the last track which is a Type O Negative cover. And while I don't like the original so much, Austere's version is much improved: Combining the Type O catchiness with the Austere sound can make it play in your head for weeks though!
 
Dream Unending / Worm - Starpath
Score: 10/10
Every yearlist needs a split cd, and the honor this year befalls to the Dream Unending / Worm split. Both bands are bordering somewhere on funeral doom, though the speed is a bit too high for pure funeral fun. Both also throw in a bit too much prog-sounding solos for my taste, but otherwise deliver an excellent 45 minutes of dooming darkness.		④
 
⑤Høstsol - Länge leve döden
Score: 10/10
Even though Länge leve döden is the first full length of Høstsol, the band is probably well known by many as it's comprised of some well known artists in the metal scene, most notably Niklas from Shining, but also members of Ajattara and Manes. Earlier releases even had Hellhammer on drums, but on this album he's replaced by Shining's old drummer. And speaking of Shining, Høstsol does sound a lot like Shining. And while the recent Shining album did end high on my yearlist, I do like this release just a bit better!
 
Árstíðir Lífsins
Hermalausaz
Score: 10/10		⑥
 
⑦Lacrimosa - Nachts
Score: 9.5/10
Ok so it miiiight be a bit of a cop out to put two live albums in a yearlist. But I can't deny Lacrimosa being one of my favourite not-quite-metal bands and Nachts being their best live album so far. It's a compilation of several live concerts performed since the Covid lockdown, and while it's a mix of older and newer songs as on the various other live albums they released, they managed to focus more on the songs I actually like. Together with an excellent sound quality this album is a clear recommendation!
 
Saturnus - The Storm Within
Score: 9.5/10
The true doomer metalhead needs no introduction to Saturnus. They cemented their name in the scene back in 1996 with Paradise Belongs to You, and since then they've released new albums with generous intervals (doom metal speed one could say) - the last full length was 11 years ago. Stylistically their new album The Storm Within is exactly as we would expect from Saturnus, which is not a bad thing because it brings us back to those early nineties doom days, melancholically banging our grey hair after we took our blood-pressure pills...		⑧
 
⑨Shylmagoghnar
Convergence
Score: 9.5/10
 
Eye Of Solitude - X
Score: 9.5/10
To be honest, this album is exactly what you would expect from a funeral doom release. Ok, the songs are a bit short (average only 8 minutes!?) but other than that there's no big surprises here. Still, it sounds so good though, the perfect cold winter soundtrack.		⑩
 
⑪Primordial - How It Ends
Score: 9.5/10
Primordial has long been one of my favorite bands ever, so expectations for a new album are always high. With their latest release How It Ends I was not disappointed, but still I feel it's not quite as good as it could have been, or as Primordial has been in the past. I do think it's a better album than their previous "Exile Amongst the Ruins", but less good than the one before "Where Greater Men Have Fallen". Good things are definitely Nemtheanga's vocals and the musicianship of the rest of the band: these guys have been around for a while and shows. On the downside however, the songs just seem less memorable, a bit been-there-done-that. Also the 3/4 rhythm starts being a bit overdone, and the instrumental passages seem to last just a bit too long here and there. So overall not a bad album at all, but not their greatest work either.
 
Aphonic Threnody - When Death Comes Again
Score: 9.5/10
This years entry of Aphonic Threnody in the yearlist is a bit of a cheat: When Death Comes Again is a re-recorded version of their 2014 album When Death Comes. However, since it's not just a newly recorded version of the same album, but the songs are actually changed, and sole member Riccardo even pulled in some celebrity talent from bands like Void Of Silence and The Howling Void, I decided it counts as a new album. So, what else to say? Excellent not-quite-funeral doom from the UK, check out their full discography!		⑫
 
⑬Ne Obliviscaris
Exul
Score: 9.5/10
 
Shining
Shining
Score: 9/10		⑭
 
⑮Hermóðr
To Be Alone
Score: 9/10
 
The Negative Bias
The Seven Seals of Saligia
Score: 9/10		⑯
 
⑰Arkona (RUS)
Kob'
Score: 9/10
 
Blackbraid
Blackbraid II
Score: 9/10		⑱
 
⑲Sulphur Aeon
Seven Crowns and Seven Seals
Score: 9/10
 
Sól Án Varma
Sól Án Varma
Score: 9/10		⑳
 
21Slidhr
White Hart!
Score: 9/10
 
Arcas
Where the Light Once Shone
Score: 9/10		22
 
23Panopticon
The Rime of Memory
Score: 9/10
 
Karner
Berg wocht
Score: 9/10		24
 
25Fen
Monuments to Absence
Score: 9/10
 
Various
Verloren Vertellingen
Score: 9/10		26
 
27Helleruin
Devils, Death and Dark Arts
Score: 9/10
 
...And Oceans
As in Gardens, So in Tombs
Score: 9/10		28
 
29Aeon Winds
Night Sky Illuminations
Score: 9/10
 
Runemagick
Beyond the Cenotaph of Mankind
Score: 9/10		30
 
31The Color of Rain
Oceans Above
Score: 9/10
 
Woe
Legacies of Frailty
Score: 9/10		32
 
33Miserere Luminis
Ordalie
Score: 9/10
 
Waldgeflüster
Unter Bronzenen Kronen
Score: 8.5/10		34
 
35Yoth Iria
Embracing the Mexican Shadows - Live Rites of Yoth Iria
Score: 8.5/10
 
Varg
Ewige Wacht
Score: 8.5/10		36
 
37Ultha
Live At Soulcrusher MMXXII
Score: 8.5/10
 
Hermitage
Balance
Score: 8.5/10		38
 
39Ice Ages
Coma
Score: 8.5/10
 
Deadly Carnage
Endless Blue
Score: 8.5/10		40
 
41Artanor
In Servitude of Darkness
Score: 8.5/10
 
Fortíð
Narkissos
Score: 8.5/10		42
 
43The Arcane Order
Distortions from Cosmogony
Score: 8.5/10
 
The Kryptik
A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom
Score: 8.5/10		44
 
45Immortal
War Against All
Score: 8.5/10
 
Theosophy
Bleeding Wounds of the First and the Last
Score: 8.5/10		46
 
47Afsky
Om hundrede år
Score: 8.5/10
 
Grima
Red Forest Ritual (digital)
Score: 8.5/10		48
 
49Aeternus
Philosopher
Score: 8.5/10
 
Nornír
Skuld
Score: 8.5/10		50
 
51On Thorns I Lay
On Thorns I Lay
Score: 8.5/10
 
Iku-Turso
Ikuinen kirous
Score: 8.5/10		52
 
53Minas Morgul
Nebelung
Score: 8.5/10
 
The Project Hate MCMXCIX
Abominations of the Ageless
Score: 8/10		54
 
55Insomnium
Anno 1696
Score: 8/10
 
Den Saakaldte
Pesten som tar over
Score: 8/10		56
 
57Uada
Crepuscule Natura
Score: 8/10
 
Heimdalls Wacht
Mystagogie - Lieder voll Ewigkeit
Score: 8/10		58
 
59Wolvennest
The Dark Path to the Light
Score: 8/10
 
Hermóðr
Where All the Rivers Meet
Score: 8/10		60
 
61Kalmankantaja
Second Death
Score: 8/10
 
Kalmankantaja
Kohti Valon Kuolemaa
Score: 8/10		62
 
63Thulcandra
Hail the Abyss
Score: 8/10
 
Phlebotomized
Clouds of Confusion
Score: 8/10		64
 
65Taake
Et hav av avstand
Score: 8/10
 
Nocte Obducta
Karwoche - Die Sonne der Toten pulsiert
Score: 8/10		66
 
67Deviser
Evil Summons Evil
Score: 8/10
 
Insomnium
Songs of the Dusk
Score: 8/10		68
 
69October Tide
The Cancer Pledge
Score: 8/10
 
Moonlight Sorcery
Horned Lord Of The Thorned Castle
Score: 7.5/10		70
 
71Orbit Culture
Descent
Score: 7.5/10
 
Old Forest
Sutwyke
Score: 7.5/10		72
 
73Memoriam
Rise to Power
Score: 7.5/10
 
Kalmankantaja
Surun saattomailla
Score: 7.5/10		74
 
75Ancestors Blood / Heimdalls Wacht
Split
Score: 7.5/10
 
Mesarthim
Arrival
Score: 7.5/10		76
 
77Misþyrming
Með Hamri Í Lifandi Formi
Score: 7.5/10
 
Ocean Of Grief
Pale Existence
Score: 7.5/10		78
 
79Fjoergyn
Judasmesse
Score: 7.5/10
 
Cultus Sanguine
Dust Once Alive
Score: 7.5/10		80
 
81Hermóðr
Guardian
Score: 7.5/10
 
Sacriversum
The Light of the Live Storm - Live in Lodz 2022
Score: 7.5/10		82
 
83Graveland
Live in France
Score: 7.5/10
 
Elffor
The Black Sentinel
Score: 7.5/10		84
 
85Obituary
Dying of Everything
Score: 7/10
 
Cruachan
The Living and the Dead
Score: 7/10		86
 
87Porta Nigra
Weltende
Score: 7/10
 
Orbit Culture
The Forgotten (digital)
Score: 7/10		88
 
89Blood Incantation
Luminescent Bridge
Score: 7/10
 
Immemorial (POL)
Rebirth
Score: 7/10		90
 
91An Autumn For Crippled Children
Closure
Score: 7/10
 
Atrocity
Okkult III
Score: 7/10		92
 
93Amorphis
Queen Of Time - Live At Tavastia
Score: 7/10
 
Walg
III
Score: 7/10		94
 
95Arde / Nakkiga
Split
Score: 7/10
 
Cemetery Of Scream
Oceans
Score: 6.5/10		96
 
97Beenkerver
Twee Wolven
Score: 6.5/10
 
Sigh
Live: The Eastern Forces of Evil 2022
Score: 6.5/10		98
 
99Wayfarer
American Gothic
Score: 6.5/10
 
Shining
Allt för döden
Score: 6.5/10		100


Stats generated at: 04/03/24

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