Diamond’s Mine: The Best Albums, Newcomer And Live Act Of 2023

OpEd

Diamond’s Mine: The Best Albums, Newcomer And Live Act Of 2023

Another year over and another one that not many will be looking back on with any sense of fondness when it comes to the state of the world, but it was a pretty good one if one only looks at the metal music. We’ve seen bands break onto the scene and said goodbye to some favourites such as Kiss, The Agonist, Dark Fortress and Terrorizer (before saying “I thought you left?” to that last one when they announced their return seven months later.) Others announced plans to step away, either temporarily such as Nightwish and Cirith Ungol, other permanently such as Sepultura, Issues and Destrage. While it’s sad to see bands go, it’s always nice to welcome new names, which leads me nicely to…

Best Newcomer

There was plenty to choose from this year. My personal qualification is a band which released their debut full length album, so Cobra Spell, featuring former Burning Witches and Cypta guitarist Sonia Anubis leading the charge was a strong contender with their brand of 80s flavoured sleaze metal. Speaking of familiar names, Atheist frontman Kelly Shaefer, along with other members of the band brought the world Till The Dirt, whose debut album, “Outside The Spiral” subverted expectations, while fans of death metal will want to seek out Denmark’s Plaguemace pretty quickly. Stoner and doom metal had a very strong showing with the likes of High Priest and Auralayer. In fact, it’s from this genre that we find this year’s winner of the award and appropriately for the roots of the style, it’s a Birmingham band.

Margarita Witch Cult

With the kind of name which won’t be forgotten in a hurry, the Midlands trio marked the release of their debut album in style, opening the Black Heart in Camden at this year’s Desertfest. The album itself is everything fans love about classic, riff based heavy metal, providing plenty to sink one’s teeth into such as exciting tempos, catchy choruses (“Diabolical Influence” will stay in your head for days) and as mentioned, some seriously tasty riffs. Stoner, doom, psychedelica and even a little thrash makes this self-titled effort an essential addition to any Sabbath worshiper’s collection, while the group should definitely be seen live as soon as you get the opportunity.

Best Live Band

With the pandemic and its effect on live music now firmly in the rear view mirror, we saw the return of several festivals such as 70000 Tons Of Metal, which I was lucky enough to attend and witness some stellar live performances, as well as numerous tours all over the world. Aboard the aforementioned cruise, sailors were treated to some excellent sets from the likes of Rotting Christ, Kreator, Destruction and Melechesh, all of whom could be considered for this title. Desertfest London also offered some highlights such as Crowbar, Corrosion Of Conformity, Acid Mammoth and Church Of Misery, who themselves almost won.

There were also some great lineups on the road, with the year kicking off wonderfully thanks to a show stealing slot from Greek demons W.E.B. at the Motocultor tour, while Eyehategod teamed with Church Of Misery to compete fiercely with each other and KK’s Priest put on a great show along with supporting bands Burning Witches and perhaps best of all, Paul Di’anno, who really gives everything to his performance. Perhaps the most notable roster was Napalm Death’s “Campaign For Musical Destruction 2023” trek, which saw typically excellent performances from the headliner, even with Barney Greenway confined to a chair, while Siberian Meat Grinder also put in a hell of a shift as part of the package. However, it was the opening band of this year’s Campaign that can pretend to take home the award this year.

Escuela Grind

For God knows what reason, Escuela Grind a debated name among metal and grind fans, but go and see them for yourself and I all but guarantee that you’ll be a fan. Catching them in Bristol, I was blown away by the contrast in the friendly chat I had with vocalist Katerina Economou, followed by the fearsome presence they exhibited only ten minutes later. Escuela Grind tore the Bristol Academy to shreds and made a huge impression on everyone who came early to catch them, both fans and curious onlookers. People can make up whatever ridiculous conspiracies they want about this band, or hate on them for fun, the latter of which we’ve seen a lot of this year with all kinds of bands (although everyone knows that only posers actually enjoy music and I’m writing this article ironically,) but they have enormous talent and an enthralling stage presence. Uncross your arms, brave being around people who might smile and go see Escuela Grind. I promise you’ll remember them for years to come.

Best Albums Of 2022

Honestly, metal fans were spoiled this year when it comes to albums. While any writer’s picks will always be met with criticism, hostility or most worrying of all, genuinely good points, there was so much to choose from that boiling it down to a top five was really difficult. Some genres seemed to fare better than others, some bands complimented their already solid catalogues and others released what could be their best record yet, as we’ll soon see. Those who followed my reviews this year (first of all, thank you) may be a little confused by the absence of some releases given the scores, but that can be rectified somewhat with some notable mentions.

First off, “Cadaver Synod,” the latest album from Sylvatica deserves special praise for being so unique. This was a release which was just so engaging from beginning to end and offered such a fresh take on a much discussed historical incident. Meanwhile the metal queen Doro just narrowly missed out on the top five with her new effort, ” Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud,” which gave fans everything they could want from the German legend, while Green Lung once again wowed fans and critics alike with “This Heathen Land” and Prong released their best album in years in the shape of “State Of Emergency.” Svalbard also gave an amazing account of themselves with the deeply personal “The Weight Of The Mask” and Primordial satisfied the cravings of fans who had been waiting what felt like forever with their latest offering, “How It Ends.” Finally, before we get to the main event, Howling Giant grabbed plenty of ears with “Glass Future,” while Theocracy proved that Christian metal can actually be pretty awesome thanks to “Mosaic.” So then, open wide because here comes the five.

5. Nervosa – Jailbreak

With their last album, “Perpetual Chaos,” I ranked Nervosa second when it came to the best albums of 2021, (but honestly, an album could offer me free money and doner kebabs and it wouldn’t have beat Rage’s “Resurrection Day” that year) and since then, guitarist Prika Amaral faced a huge challenge once more by once again being left to rebuild the band. While “Jailbreak” isn’t quite up to par with “Perpetual Chaos,” it’s one of the albums that I just kept coming back to, satisfying my need for death influenced thrash metal over and over again and featuring absolutely stunning guitar work from new lead Helena Kotina. Amaral herself stepped up to the plate by taking over the vocalist position and she does a brilliant job, as does new drummer Michaela Naydenova. “Jailbreak” is a really fun album and I hope the current lineup of the band will stay together and create more music like this for a long time.

4. Angelus Apatrida – Aftermath

Speaking of thrash metal, Albacete, Spain’s Angelus Apatrida won the thrash crown hands down this year with their eighth album, “Aftermath.” Having been going since the year 2000 and not gaining as much international attention as they deserve, they might wonder if it was ever going to come. But having signed with Century Media and recruiting some names like Jamey Jasta and Todd La Torre to help out, they’ve earned plenty of plaudits with this absolutely thrilling album. Taking the old school thrash sound and making it sound fresh is extremely difficult in this day and age, especially after the fun but ultimately flat thrash revival of the late 2000s, but Angelus Apatrida has done a marvelous job. Don’t miss out on this brilliant but faithful take on the genre.

3. On Thorns I Lay – On Thorns I Lay

Another band which perhaps are much better known in their home country than among international headbangers, On Thorns I Lay from the Greek capital of Athens conquered the death/doom realm with their eponymous album this year. Their first output via Season Of Mist, “On Thorns I Lay” shows why the world should have been paying attention to the group for decades. It may only be Christos Dragamestianos left from the lineup which recorded their 1995 debut, “Sounds Of Beautiful Experience” but his vision for the band is as genuine as ever and this gritty, vicious and moody album could well be the best the band has released in the near thirty years since their debut. It’s incredibly rich in atmosphere and wonderfully imaginative, conjuring up images of rain soaked landscapes, personal struggles and the storms which one endures, both literally and figuratively. Superb.

2. Restless Spirit – Afterimage

Jesus Christ, I love this album. I’d think of a more refined way of saying that but honestly, I can’t. The third album from the New York stoner/doom metal trio is simply incredible. The opening song, “Marrow,” is a thrill ride which sets the tone perfectly. In Restless Spirit, America has their answer to Orange Goblin and these seven songs (eight if you include the interlude “Brutalized,”) will excite the listener again and again for a long time to come. It’s honestly difficult to explain just what makes this album so good in a short blurb, so I advise checking out the review for a more detailed insight into this extraordinarily hard rocking record.

1. Church Of Misery – Born Under A Mad Sign

“Born Under A Mad Sign” is the only album on this list that I haven’t written a full review but it’s also the only one I would have awarded a perfect five stars to. It’s been seven years since the last Church Of Misery album and with bassist Tatsu Mikami more or less on his own for a while, fans wondered if we ever would get another record from the Tokyo titans of doom. Eventually, original vocalist Kazuhiro Asaeda was brought back to the fold and Toshiaki Umemura would sit behind the kit, while Eternal Elysium guitarist Yukito Okazaki lent his talents as a guest/session member. Church Of Misery has a fantastic array of serial killer inspired metal albums but they may have outdone themselves here. From the old school jazz album cover featuring Fritz Haarmann to the meaty riffs and snarling vocals within, everything about “Born Under A Mad Sign” is perfect doom metal. Tales of the misdeeds of such people as H.H. Holmes, John Allen Muhammad and David Koresh make for fascinating lyrics too and ideal material for Church Of Misery. If you’re a doom fan, you owe it to yourself to pick up this album.

2024

So there you have it; One man’s opinion on what made 2023 a great year for metal, especially doom. Looking ahead, there’s already some exciting festival lineups and tours on the way, not to mention all the new albums we’ll be treated to. Personally, I’m most looking forward to “Invincible Shield,” the new album from Judas Priest, but the metal world will also see, or rather hear, new full lengths from such bands as Saxon, Firewind, Rage, Ministry, The Obsessed and Master just to name some. The world maybe a giant ball of shit right now, but we take hope and enjoyment from the one thing that never lets us down; metal music.