Metacritic Aggregate: 2023 New Music: Metal

Notes

For information on what lists are consulted, and what the various abbreviations and notes mean, click here.

For reissues and compilations, click here.

Sub-Lists

Some breakdowns by genre:

Ranking

  1. Militarie Gun: Life Under the Gun (Loma Vista) {42}: Alt:25, BV:14, BV_p:3, DW:23, Ex:42, FO:25, HV:2, K:15, LBF:21, NME:19, NR:47, Ri:10, RkS:24, RS:51, Sbd:2, Sg:7, Tr:30, Up:+, UPC:33; bv_hc:+, p_d:15, p_k:+, sg_hc:1, vg:+ -- TH:B
  2. Queens of the Stone Age: In Times New Roman . . . (Matador) {32}: AV:20, Fp:+, HP:31, K:40, LW:12, Ms:40, NME:12, NPR_l:46, Oo:9, Pc:49, Rev:14, RT:37, Sbd:37, SE:4, UPC:96, WX:13, XSN:8; am:+, am_k:+, pm_k:20, rx:+ -- TH:B-
  3. Tomb Mold: The Enduring Spirit (20 Buck Spin) {23}: BA:+, BV:23, Db:2, Ex:4, Ne:42, Pf:45, PM:57, Sg:28, Tr:3, Yb:48; am_m:+, bc:+, pf_k:+, pm_m:11
  4. Sleep Token: Take Me Back to Eden (Spinefarm) {21}: D:40, K:3, NME:21, Pu:2, Rev:1, RkS:1, Sbd:25
  5. Gel: Only Constant (Convulse -EP) {18}: BV_p:22, Db:13, DW:40, K:29, LW:19, Sbd:10, Tr:20, Up:+; bv_hc:+, p_k:+, pm_ph:4, sg_hc:6 -- TH:B
  6. Zulu: A New Tomorrow (Flatspot) {17}: BV:52, BV_p:12, C:21, K:24, LQ:30, Ms:25, Pu:7, Sbd:49; bc:+, bv_hc:+, sg_hc:4, tmr:+ -- TH:*
  7. Creeper: Sanguivore () {16}: D:20, K:2, Mc:14, Pu:6, RkS:5, Sbd:35
  8. Liturgy: 93696 (Thrill Jockey) {16}: BV:32, C:3, Ind:34, Ne:8; am_m:+, bc:+, pf_k:+, pm_m:15, pm_x:2, ydho:+
  9. Metallica: 72 Seasons (Blackened) {16}: BA:+, CS:20, Fp:+, K:7, Rev:2, RkS:41, RS:93, Sbd:24, SE:68; vu:+
  10. Scowl: Psychic Dance Routine (Flatspot -EP) {15}: BV:47, BV_i:7, Mx:5, Rev:10, XSN:38; ay_ar:+, bv_hc:+, v_ja:8
  11. Avenged Sevenfold: Life Is but a Dream . . . (Warner) {14}: K:6, Rev:4, Rf:15, RkS:6, Spk:26; am_m:+
  12. Drain: Living Proof (Epitaph) {13}: BV_p:13, K:19, Rev:7, Sg:47; bv_hc:+, p_k:+, pm_ph:8, sg_hc:8 -- TH:*
  13. Jesus Piece: So Unknown (Century Media) {11}: BV_p:31, Db:4, K:8, Rev:17; pm_m:14
  14. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs: Land of Sleeper (Missing Piece) {11}: Fp:+, LQ:14, LW:8, No:41, Pc:98, Qt:65, RT:35; am_m:+
  15. Horrendous: Ontological Mysterium (Season of Mist) {10}: BV:12, CE:54, Db:1, Spk:17
  16. Khanate: To Be Cruel () {10}: Qt:7, W:4; am_m:+, pm_m:5
  17. Empire State Bastard: Rivers of Heresy (Roadrunner) {9}: K:22, Mx:11, Pu:3, RkS:35, Sbd:47
  18. Fucked Up: One Day (Merge) {9}: BV_p:42, K:36, PM:75, Sl:49, Tr:38; am_k:+, pm_k:18, pm_ph:5
  19. Baroness: Stone (Abraxan Hymns) {8}: BA:+, CS:48, K:13, Mx:18, Rev:24; am_m:+
  20. Initiate: Cerebral Circus (Triple B) {8}: Alt:50, BV:49, BV_p:8; bv_hc:+, pm_ph:10, sg_hc:9
  21. Pipe: Pipe (Third Uncle) {8}: ydho:9, yti:1, yvms:4 -- TH**
  22. Pupil Slicer: Life Is but a Dream . . . (Prosthetic) {8}: BV_p:39, K:5, Pu:22, Sbd:18
  23. Ashnikko: Weedkiller () {6}: 45:42, D:31, Why:50; ay_h:23, ay_t:4
  24. Lamp of Murmuur: Saturnian Bloodstorm (Not Kvlt/Night of the Pale Moon/Argento) {6}: BV:50, Db:7, Sg:37; pm_m:19
  25. Panopticon: The Rime of Memory (Bindrune) {6}: Db:6, Sg:43, Spk:20
  26. Beartooth: The Surface () {5}: K:30, Pu:17, RkS:16
  27. Big/Brave: Nature Morte (Thrill Jockey) {5}: Ex:41, LCA:23, Tr:11; vah:8
  28. Dying Wish: Symptoms of Survival () {5}: K:21, Rev:12, Sbd:15
  29. Godflesh: Purge (Avalanche) {5}: BA:+, No:44, Qt:87, RS:97; am_m:+
  30. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (KGLW) {5}: Ind:24, LCA:39, Ne:22, Spk:44; am_m:+
  31. Mil-Spec: Marathon (Lockin' Out) {5}: BV_p:30; bv_hc:+, p_k:+, sg_hc:5
  32. Poison Ruin: Harvest (Relapse) {5}: CS:10; p_k:+, wp:8
  33. Ragana: Desolation's Flower (The Flenser) {5}: BV:28, P:28, Tr:41; pf_k:+, ydho:+
  34. Truth Cult: Walk the Wheel (Pop Wig) {5}: BV_p:40, Sg:49, TSG:+; p_k:+ -- TH:*
  35. Anti-God Hand: Blight Year (American Dreams) {4}: PM:38; pm_m:1
  36. Babymetal: The Other One (Cooking Vinyl) {4}: K:46, Rev:20, RkS:39
  37. Better Lovers: God Made Me an Animal () {4}: Mx:35, Rev:6
  38. Blut Aus Nord: Disharmonium: Nahab (Debemur Morti Productions) {4}: am_m:+, sg_m:1
  39. Dethklok: Dethalbum IV () {4}: Mx:26, Rev:9
  40. Dodheimsgard: Black Medium Current (Peaceville) {4}: Db:40, Spk:12; pm_m:7
  41. Enslaved: Heimdal (Nuclear Blast) {4}: Db:14, Spk:13
  42. Godthrymm: Distrortions (Profound Lore) {4}: Db:5
  43. Great Falls: Objects Without Pain (Neurot) {4}: Db:22, Spk:23; sg_m:3
  44. Green Lung: This Heathen Land () {4}: K:10; am_m:+
  45. Incendiary: Change the Way You Think About Pain (Closed Casket Activities) {4}: Sbd:32; pm_ph:3, sg_hc:10
  46. Kostnateni: Upal (Willowtip) {4}: Spk:39; pm_m:2, sg_m:8
  47. Kvelertak: Endling (Rise) {4}: CE:138, MO:37; am:+, am_m:+
  48. Dave Lombardo: Rites of Percussion (Ipecac) {4}: JC:+; jahk:1
  49. Spiritbox: The Fear of Fear () {4}: Rev:5
  50. Svalbard: The Weight of the Mask () {4}: K:12, Sbd:34, Spk:42
  51. Thantifaxath: Hive Mind Necrosis (Dark Descent) {4}: Db:9; pm_m:12
  52. Wargasm: Venom (Republic) {4}: K:31, Mx:15, RkS:37
  53. Wayfarer: American Gothic (Profound Lore) {4}: Db:3
  54. 3Teeth: EndEx () {3}: Rev:18; am_m:+
  55. Afterbirth: In but Not Of (Willowtip) {3}: BA:+, BV:54; pm_m:6
  56. Autopsy: Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts (Peaceville) {3}: Db:18, Ne:44
  57. BlackBraid: BlackBraid II () {3}: Db:11, Rev:22
  58. Chepang: Swatta () {3}: Spk:8
  59. Cruciamentum: Obsidian Refractions (Profound Lore) {3}: BA:+, Db:17
  60. Dying Fetus: Make Them Beg for Death (Relapse) {3}: Rev:13; pm_m:17
  61. Enforced: War Remains (Century Media) {3}: BA:+, Db:12
  62. Frozen Soul: Glacial Domination (Century Media) {3}: Db:8
  63. Haken: Fauna (InsideOut) {3}: am_m:+, tmr:11+
  64. Katatonia: Sky Void of Stars () {3}: Spk:7
  65. The Keening: Little Bird (Relapse) {3}: Db:10
  66. Obituary: Dying of Everything (Relapse) {3}: BA:+, Db:37, Fp:+
  67. Pain of Truth: Not Through Blood (Daze) {3}: bv_hc:+, sg_hc:2
  68. Pest Control: Don't Test the Pest (Quality Control HQ) {3}: DW:54; ydho:+ -- TH:*
  69. Skindred: Smile (Earache) {3}: K:14, RkS:48
  70. Agriculture: Agriculture (The Flenser) {2}: Ex:39, Tr:50
  71. Bell Witch: Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate () {2}: Qt:52; vu:+
  72. Big Laugh: Consume Me (Revelation) {2}: BV_p:46; bv_hc:+
  73. Body Void: Atrocity Machine (Prosthetic) {2}: pm_m:3
  74. Boris & Uniform: Bright New Disease () {2}: No:12
  75. Bury Tomorrow: The Seventh Sun () {2}: K:25, RkS:31
  76. The Callous Daoboys: God Smiles Upon the Callous Daoboys (MNRK -EP) {2}: Rev:15
  77. Cannibal Corpse: Chaos Horrific (Metal Blade) {2}: BA:+, Db:23
  78. Cattle Decapitation: Terrasite (Metal Blade) {2}: Db:33; vu:+
  79. Coffin Mulch: Spectral Intercession () {2}: TO:17
  80. Divide and Dissolve: Systemic (Invada) {2}: LQ:25; am_m:+
  81. Fires in the Distance: Air Not Meant for Us (Prosthetic) {2}: Db:36; vu:9
  82. Fuming Mouth: Last Day of Sun () {2}: Rev:16
  83. Ghost: Phantomime () {2}: Mx:40, Rev:30
  84. Graphic Nature: A Mind Waiting to Die () {2}: K:33, RkS:47
  85. GridLink: Coronet Juniper (Willowtip) {2}: BA:+, Spk:47
  86. Imperium Dekadenz: Into Sorrow Evermore (Napalm) {2}: sg_m:2
  87. Incantation: Unholy Deification (Relapse) {2}: BA:+, Db:25
  88. In Flames: Foregone () {2}: Rev:26; am_m:+
  89. Megaton Sword: Might & Power (Dying Victims) {2}: BA:+, CE:91
  90. Mizmor: Prosaic (Profound Lore) {2}: Db:19
  91. Myrkur: Spine () {2}: Mx:25; am_m:+
  92. Ne Obliviscaris: Exul () {2}: Spk:14
  93. The Night Eternal: Fatale (Van) {2}: Db:15
  94. Nithing: Agonal Hymns (New Standard Elite) {2}: sg_m:4
  95. Oozing Wound: We Cater to Cowards (Thrill Jockey) {2}: Qt:98; am_m:+
  96. Orbit Culture: Descent () {2}: Rev:19
  97. Periphery: Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre () {2}: Rev:28; am_m:+
  98. Polaris: Fatalilsm (Sharptone) {2}: RkS:32, XSN:37
  99. Portrayal of Guilt: Devil Music (Run for Cover) {2}: BPM:47; ydho:+
  100. Rid of Me: Access to the Lonely (Knife Hits) {2}: Db:20
  101. Sea Mosquito: Igitur (Onism) {2}: pm_m:4
  102. Shadows: Out for Blood (Sentient Ruin Laboratories) {2}: CE:133; sg_m:9
  103. Smoulder: Violent Creed of Vengeance (Cruz del Sur) {2}: BA:+, Db:28
  104. Spirit Adrift: Ghost at the Gallows (Century Media) {2}: BA:+, Db:31
  105. Summer Haze '99: Inevitable (Fiadh Productions) {2}: sg_m:5
  106. Tanith: Voyage (Metal Blade) {2}: BA:+, CE:31
  107. Tribunal: The Weight of Remembrance (20 Buck Spin) {2}: Db:16
  108. Voice of Baceprot: Retas (12Wired) {2}: CE:63, K:27
  109. Eri Yamamoto: Colors of the Night Trio (Mahakala Music) {2}: 2J
  110. Air Raid: Fatal Encounter (High Roller) {1}: BA:+
  111. The Amity Affliction: Not Without My Ghosts () {1}: RkS:28
  112. Anachronism: Meanders (Unorthodox Emanations) {1}: sg_m:10
  113. Ascended Dead: Evenfall of the Apocalypse (20 Buck Spin) {1}: pm_m:9
  114. Auriferous Flame: Ardor for Black Mastery (True Cult) {1}: pm_m:20
  115. Celestial Sanctuary: Insatiable Thirst for Torment (Church Road) {1}: BA:+
  116. Cicada the Burrower: Blight Witch Regalia (Blue Bedroom) {1}: pm_m:13
  117. Circle of Ouroborus: Lumi Vaientaa Kysymykset (His Wounds) {1}: Db:34
  118. Dorthia Cottrell: Death Folk Country (Relapse) {1}: ahw_dn:+
  119. Crisis Sigil: God Cum Poltergeist () {1}: Spk:25
  120. Cryptopsy: As Gomorrah Burns (Nuclear Blast) {1}: BA:+
  121. Kim Dracula: A Gradual Decline in Morale () {1}: Rev:29
  122. Enforcer: Nostalgia (Nuclear Blast) {1}: BA:+
  123. Filth Is Eternal: Find Out (MNRK) {1}: Db:24
  124. Final Gasp: Mourning Moon (Relapse) {1}: Db:32
  125. Frozen Dawn: The Decline of the Enlightened Gods (Transcending Obscurity) {1}: pm_m:10
  126. Go Ahead and Die: Unhealthy Mechanisms (Nuclear Blast) {1}: BA:+
  127. Hail the Sun: Divine Inner Tension () {1}: Spk:28
  128. Harm's Way: Common Suffering () {1}: Rev:23
  129. Ignominy: Imminent Collapse (Transcending Obscurity) {1}: BA:+
  130. In This Moment: Godmode () {1}: Rev:27
  131. Invent Animate: Heavener () {1}: Spk:+
  132. Jute Gyte: Unus Mundus Patet (Jeshimoth Entertainment) {1}: sg_m:6
  133. Kommodus: Wreath of Bleeding Snowfall (GoatowaRex) {1}: Db:39
  134. Krieg: Ruiner (Profound Lore) {1}: Db:21
  135. Krigsgrav: Fires in the Fall (Wise Blood) {1}: Db:30
  136. Kruelty: Untopia (Profound Lore) {1}: Db:27
  137. Laster: Andermans Minje (Prophecy) {1}: pm_m:16
  138. Memoriam: Rise to Power (Reaper Entertainment) {1}: BA:+
  139. Night Demon: Outsider (Century Media) {1}: Db:26
  140. Nightmarer: Deformity Adrift (Total Dissonance Worship) {1}: BA:+
  141. Normal Nada the Krakmaxter: Tribal Progressive Heavy Metal (Nyege Nyege Tapes) {1}: PO:227
  142. The Ocean: Holocene () {1}: am_m:+
  143. Restraining Order: Locked in Time (Triple B) {1}: sg_hc:7
  144. Sevendust: Truth Killer () {1}: Rf:24
  145. Sightless Pit: Lockstep Bloodwar () {1}: am_m:+
  146. Silent Planet: Superbloom () {1}: Rev:21
  147. Spirit Possession: Of the Sign . . . () {1}: Qt:85
  148. Street Tombs: Reclusive Decay (Carbonized) {1}: Db:28
  149. TesseracT: War of Being () {1}: XSN:36
  150. Tetragrammacide: Typho-Tantric Aphorisms From the Arachneophidian Qur'an (Iron Bonehead) {1}: BA:+
  151. Tigercub: The Perfume of Decay () {1}: ay_ar:4
  152. Trichomoniasis: Makeshift Crematoria (New Standard Elite) {1}: sg_m:7
  153. Ulthar: Anthronomicon & Helionomicon (20 Buck Spin) {1}: pm_m:8
  154. Urne: A Feast on Sorrow () {1}: K:38
  155. The Used: Toxic Positivity () {1}: RkS:27
  156. Voivod: Morgoth Tales () {1}: am_m:+
  157. Will Haven: VII (Minus Head) {1}: Db:29
  158. Witching: Incendium (Translation Loss) {1}: Db:35
  159. Within Temptation: Bleed Out () {1}: K:42
  160. The Word Alive: Hard Reset () {1}: RkS:42
  161. Yakuza: Sutra (Svart) {1}: BA:+
  162. Year of the Knife: No Love Lost (Pure Noise) {1}: BV_p:32