Top Ten Of 2023: Reza Mills

So has the past year brought me wealth, romance and job satisfaction? Not exactly, but there have been some exceptional releases which, as usual, have made the task of compiling an end-of-year top ten as daunting and challenging as ever. So, for any bands that haven’t made it to the list or the honourable mentions, I still love you. Who’d be a music journo eh?

There have also been some great gigs courtesy of Bennacons of Doom, Pigs x 7, JAAW, Therapy?, Boris, Sly and the Family Drone, Swans etc and I have already booked in a couple for 2024 that include Slowdive and Alain Johannes. But never mind all that, you’ll be wanting to know who has made it to the list, my criteria as always is very simple, its artists I’ve had on repeat since reviewing them and goes as follows…

10. The Mon ‘Eye’

The Mon is Urlo from experimental doom psych trio Ufomammut‘s side-project and it’s a wondrous collection of dark neo-folk and ambient electronica. Both soulful and shamanic in quality it manages to avoid straying into hippy noodling new age territory. A sublime piece of work.

Label: Supernatural Cat

9. Night Goat ‘Totem’

Night Goat, Canton Ohio’s finest purveyors of death rock, noise-rock and sludge really stepped up their game this year with Totem, the follow-up to 2019’s full-length Milk. While that was a decent enough debut, Totem saw the band demonstrating a stunning amount of growth and musical variety.

Label: Black Donut Records

8. Young James Long ‘Oregon’

It had been quite a while since there were any new sounds from PW Long what with his most recent release being 2007’s You Ain’t Know the Man EP. So, imagine my delight when I heard the new Young James Long record was forthcoming and thankfully Oregon’s blend of noise-rock tinged heavy blues rock doesn’t disappoint.

Label: Wrong Speed Records | Learning Curve Records

7. Das Damen ‘1986: It Keeps Me Wild’

‘80s New York alt-rock outfit Das Damen were sadly overlooked at the time. With nods to Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr (but more psych influenced), this is a band who should have had the acclaim of both. Hopefully this reissue of their 1984 self-titled EP will go some way to earning them some much deserved recognition.

Label: Dromedary Records

6. Chrome Waves ‘Earth Will Shed Its Skin’

As I write this, Chrome Waves are already back in the studio recording the follow-up to Earth Will Shed Its Skin, a release that saw the prolific post-black metallers further broadening their sound and boundaries with some truly superb and daring songwriting. To quote Fatboy Slim ‘I have to praise you like I should’.

Label: M-Theory Audio

5. Mac Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics ‘Bite Of The Street’

Another year another Mac Gollehon release. Last year’s The End Is The Beginning made the number 1 spot on my Top Ten. Lighter in tone and with more of a party atmosphere, both the percussive Latin vibes and forays into dance music made Bite Of The Street one hell of a fun album to listen to.

Label: Nefarious Industries

4. Sorcia ‘Lost Season’

I rarely feature doom/stoner outfits in my Top Ten, but from the moment I reviewed Sorcia and their latest album Lost Season, there wasn’t a chance it would be omitted. Though mainly doom orientated, other influences such as Soundgarden, Celtic Frost and even post-punk make themselves known, making it such a captivating earworm of a listen.

Label: Desert Records

3. Oxbow ‘Love’s Holiday’

Topping 2017’s excellent Thin Black Duke was always going to be a challenge but with the long-awaited Love’s Holiday the experimental noise-rock legends Oxbow have managed it with a mature assured work that shows when it comes to intelligent, thought-provoking music, no one does it better than Eugene S. Robinson and company. 

Label: Ipecac Recordings

2. Stress Positions ‘Harsh Reality’

The first of two inclusions from the Three One G stable, Stress Positions and their album Harsh Reality was a late addition to the top ten. Hardcore punk and power violence with vicious vocals and top notch playing, this was an exercise in sheer sonic dominance that impressed even jaded old-school hardcore fans like me.

Label: Three One G Records

1. Venamoris ‘Drown In Emotion’

Venamoris is the husband/wife duo Dave and Paula Lombardo produced this divine collection of dark alt-pop that I fell for the second I heard it. To go from Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies to something as delicate and beautifully constructed as this proves that metalheads have the most open of minds. A magnificent piece.

Label: Three One G Records

Honourable Mentions

Slowdive ‘Everything Is Alive’
Shoegaze giants finally get the props they deserve after years of press neglect and indifference with this their fifth studio album.

Acid King ‘Beyond Vision’
Stunning long-awaited follow-up for the godfathers/mothers of heavy psych stoner rock.

Sleepbomb ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’
Cinematic post-metal and shoegaze influenced crew produce this fascinating imagined soundtrack.

Earth ‘Earth 2’
A 30 year anniversary reissue of the 1993 classic that spawned an entire genre. Essential

Sweat/Negative Blast – Split EP
A superb collaboration from two heavy hitting hardcore outfits currently doing the rounds.

Scribed by: Reza Mills