WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY THE 518CENE.COM STAFF, 2023
Without even a semblance of doubt, 2023 was a banner year for music, no matter how you rock it. We could all hold a lively debate as to why this past year was so fertile—perhaps it’s an ongoing post-pandemic boost, among other possibilities, from so much free time to create and ponder one’s existence—but regardless of the reason, we’re not complaining.
From mega-reunions, to incredible returns to form, to flat-out surprises, the year in music 2023 had it all. After many exhaustive, joyful hours of listening, (and numbered in honor of Metallica’s latest, 72 Seasons), here are our top 72 releases from 2023:
1. August Burns Red – Death Below
There is no better band in metalcore in 2023 than Lancaster, PA, phenoms August Burns Red, who are two decades in and continuing to give would-be shredders everywhere a reason to pick up the axe, and then promptly put it back down again. The players in this band—specifically lead guitarist J.B. Brubaker, bassist/guitarist Dustin Davidson and drummer Matt Greiner—almost seem to be toying with us all at this point, not just melting faces, but making it look easy, and still worse…fun. Their tenth studio album, Death Below, is arguably their most elaborate and musically challenging to date, and that’s saying something. There appears to be no limits for what this band can create or achieve.
Don’t Miss: “Tightrope”, “Backfire”, “Deadbolt”, “Ancestry”
2. Blink 182 – One More Time
Sure, it may be a little uneven in places, and after multiple rounds of chemo, Mark’s vocals understandably sound a little thin and autotuned, but One More Time is still a killer, “Holy shit, it’s really happening” comeback record that just feels like it’s become a reality for all the right reasons. No offense to the perpetually wonderful Matt Skiba (who’s also now busy again, with Alkaline Trio), but it’s so great to have Tom DeLonge back in the fold; you can literally feel the maturity, forgiveness and sheer bromance behind this reunion. By healing the band, in 2023 Blink has healed us all.
Don’t Miss: “Anthem Part 3”, “One More Time”, “Edging”
3. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
It’s been nearly a year since the music world was shocked and saddened by the death of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, and the band has responded to this tragedy in a big way in 2023 with their newest release, But Here We Are, which gets back in touch with their roots and blends feverishly catchy rock tunes with deeply emotional undertones; one of the Foo Fighters’ greatest strengths. The tight production and mixing of this record evoke rock classics, informed by the sensibilities of modern rock, while Dave Grohl comes out swinging with raw, at times haunting vocals.
Don’t Miss: “Under You”, “The Teacher”, “Rescued”
4. Fall Out Boy – So Much (for) Stardust
It was a big pop-punk reunion year in 2023, and FOB joined their arena punk brethren Blink 182 by dropping their own comeback album and first LP in five years, but more importantly, giving the OG fans a reason to care again, thanks to Pat Stump’s consistently great pipes and some tight songwriting that nicely straddles pop-punk and the band’s lighter recent leanings. Will the raw, guitar-driven FOB of the TTTYG or Cork Tree era return? It’s unlikely, but there are plenty of moments on Stardust that still strike those beloved familiar chords. We’re just going to pretend the Billy Joel cover didn’t happen.
Don’t Miss: “So Much (for) Stardust”, “I Am My Own Muse”, “Love From The Other Side”
5. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Tilt at the Wind No More
Singer-pianist Andrew McMahon’s remarkable output throughout the course of several bands, solo iterations and one bout with leukemia, continues on with another fabulous collection under the current label of Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, and it’s a perfect reminder of everything we loved about the Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin wunderkind in the first place. McMahon’s overabundant energy, deep artistry and sheer charisma just oozes from the tracks, whether it’s upbeat, airy electro-pop (“Last Rites”) or quiet, mournful moments of breathtaking beauty (“Nobody Tells You When You’re Young”).
Don’t Miss: “Nobody Tells You When You’re Young”, “Lying on the Hood of Your Car”, “Last Rites”
6. Avenged Sevenfold – Life Is But A Dream…
It’s not the first time that SoCal metal mainstays Avenged Sevenfold have thrown fans a stylistic curveball; frontman M. Shadows’ (physically necessary) switch from screams to clean vocals (gasp!!) between Waking The Fallen and City of Evil drew outcries some two decades ago, yet here we are. The truth is, A7X are an incredibly gifted group of musicians who don’t need your approval for what they create. Rather, at the band’s best, they challenge the listener to redefine one’s own notions of a what a modern metal band can do. And they’ve done it again here in 2023.
Don’t Miss: “Nobody”, “Cosmic”, “Easier”, “(O)rdinary”
7. Codefendants – This Is Crime Wave
The “genre fluid” trio known as Codefendants—rapper/songwriter Ceschi Ramos, Get Dead frontman Sam King and NOFX singer-bassist/Fat Wreck Chords guru Fat Mike—are almost too good at blending genres, making their full-length debut, This Is Crime Wave, all the more mind-blowing. Punk, classic rock, reggae, ska and hip-hop are all tools of the trade for Codefendants, whose rap sheet just grew a lot longer in 2023.
Don’t Miss: “Def Cons”, “Suicide By Pigs”, “Abscessed”, “Prison Camp”
8. Baroness – Stone
Few heavy bands are as brilliantly eclectic as Savannah, GA’s Baroness, who throw splashes of sludge and stoner metal against the sonic canvas alongside ambient, Thrice-y post-hardcore (“Under The Wheel”), dazzling vocal harmonies, and guitar heroics on a Randy Rhoads plane (“Last Word”), and even that is a gross oversimplification. Twists and turns await around every measure of Stone, the band’s sixth studio album, and somehow it not only works, but reveals itself to be something both brutal and beautiful, as each track unfolds.
Don’t Miss: “Last Word”, “Anodyne”, “Magnolia”, “Under The Wheel”
9. In Flames – Foregone
It’s hard to imagine where the modern metal landscape would be without Swedish melodic death/alt metal giants In Flames, and the group’s latest and fourteenth LP, Foregone, sounds every ounce as face-peeling and utterly essential in 2023 as when the band emerged in 1990 and co-pioneered the Gothenburg sound alongside At The Gates and Dark Tranquility. Riffs like “State of Slow Decay,” and “Foregone, Pt. 1,” are more at home with Slaughter of the Soul-era At The Gates than In Flames’ more recent dabbles in alt and groove metal, and the two-guitar attack of founder Björn Gelotte and new addition Chris Broderick (Megadeth, Act of Defiance) is truly something awesome to behold.
Don’t Miss: “State of Slow Decay”, “Foregone, Pt. 1”, “The Great Deceiver”, “Meet Your Maker”
10. Metallica – 72 Seasons
For a band that once all but banned guitar solos, so much fuss was made online and in social media over Kirk Hammett’s kinda meh lead on “Lux Æterna,” that it almost overshadowed all other conversation about the thrash titans’ eleventh studio album. Let’s give Kirk—and the band—a break here, and admit it: It might be a tad long-winded (77 minutes), but overall 72 Seasons flat-out slaps, in the best possible way, and now in 2023, Metallica are finally almost kinda cool again.
Don’t Miss: “Inamorata”, “Too Far Gone?”, “Sleepwalk My Life Away”, “Crown of Barbed Wire”
