With the intro post providing some context on the focus of MetalBear’s blog and the subsequent one crystallizing the album/concert review system behind us, it is time to hit the ground running with the actually essential stuff.
As farewell is bid to yet another passing year, MetalBear’s observation is that it seems somehow intrinsic to human nature to reflect back on the year’s highs and lows. To keep up with this peculiar trend of mankind, I’ve decided to wake up from deep hibernation a few weeks ago and prepare a list of the top 30 albums in 2023, thus largely sparing the beloved metalhead community from the “Lows” and focusing mostly on the “Highs” (quite debatable in some instances and for certain preferences, for sure). Nevertheless, if our paths happen to cross at a random metal bar, you’ll do a good deed buying me a beer. Now buckle up, grab 2-3-4-5 beers (it really depends on your drinking tempo) and jump into it.
30. Evermore – In Memoriam
Genre: Power Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Scarlet Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Forevermore; Empire Within; In Memoriam
Evermore is a new band for MetalBear with their sophomore release serving as my gateway to this Swedish crew (unfortunately, I didn’t get to check out their debut album and hence the “Album-on-Album Growth” rating component, which I usually put a significant emphasis on, is heavily compromised here). Overall, it is a tight and enjoyable record that manages to strike a healthy balance between avoiding the Power metal generic-ness (plaguing a lot of bands in the genre, especially newcomer ones) and infusing the necessary dose of epic bombast. What impressed me quite a bit is that Evermore is a three-piece act with the instrumentals handled by just two members (Johan Karlsson and Andreas Vikland). And when we take into account that these guys have been around for a few years only, MetalBear feels it is only deserved to include “In Memoriam” in the top albums list for 2023. The future is definitely bright for this trio and I will be following the band with genuine interest from here on as there are a number of aspects I’d love to see them build upon.
29. Saint Deamon – League of the Serpent
Genre: Power Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: AFM Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Lost in Your Sin; Load Your Cannons; Heaven to Heart
A few years ago I stumbled upon Saint Deamon’s “Pandeamonium” – an album that had been around for almost a decade by the time MetalBear got his paws on it – and my first reaction was to immediately condemn myself for this seriously belated discovery. To partially make up for this, I happily spinned Pandeamonium for weeks, then found out they had only one other album (their debut one “In Shadows Lost from the Brave”) and listened to it heavily as well having a hard time deciding which one is the stronger release. At that point, I was quite puzzled when it occurred to me that the band hadn’t released any new music for a decade on the back of such strong first two platters but knew I have to actively keep an eye on Saint Deamon in the hope for a new killer album that could potentially catapult them to the top of Bear’s all-time favorite Power Metal bands.
Not long after, this much anticipated third album entitled “Ghost” came out but unfortunately couldn’t live up to Bear’s high expectations. When I found out Saint Deamon are back this year with the fourth record in their discography, I was hyped and hopeful. A few tracks into “League of the Serpent”, however, I could tell this won’t be a new “Pandeamonium”. It is a good album overall, and yet another one showcasing what an outstanding vocalist Jan Thore Grefstad is, with the noted standout tracks easily making it to some of the band’s best (especially “Lost in Your Sin” with its instant All-Sing-Along, larger-than-life type of chorus – a track that could have easily been on “Pandeamonium”). But the album isn’t really a step forward compared to its predecessor, and especially compared to the band’s glory days of old. Nevertheless, MetalBear remains hopeful that Saint Deamon will bounce back stronger than ever.
28. Archon Angel – II
Genre: Heavy/Progressive Metal
Country: Italy/USA
Label: Frontiers Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Fortress; Afterburn; Shattered
Over the course of this blog, dear Metalhead reader (or not Metalhead but a random reader who decided to get adventurous roaming the depths of this wondrous thing called the Internet), you will become aware of a number of MetalBear-related facts: one of them is my vast love for Savatage whom I discovered as a young cub some 20 years ago and whose Wacken 2015 concert remains to this date by far the most phenomenal live metal experience I’ve had the opportunity to attend. As you can guess the direction I am drifting off here is one of immense, immense nostalgia and whenever Zak Stevens’ enchanting voice touches MetalBear’s ears, that feeling automatically gets amplified 5x in an incredibly soothing way.
Archon Angel‘s second album doesn’t quite reach the heights of their debut record but still features a number of excellent tracks I’d strongly recommend. The mid-tempo tunes prevail in this sophomore release much in the same vein as was the case with “Fallen” which I personally consider to be the absolutely correct formula as this is where Zak’s vocal abilities shine the brightest. I am amazed time and again when listening to bands/projects featuring Stevens by how well preserved this man’s voice is as he sounds in 2023 nearly identical to how he sounded on his first Savatage album – “Edge of Thorns” – released exactly 30 years ago. If you are in the mood for a more mellow record with a great vocal performance, then give “II” a spin and enjoy the ride.
27. Pyramaze – Bloodlines
Genre: Power Metal
Country: Denmark
Label: AFM Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Fortress; Broken Arrow; Alliance
Whenever a new Pyramaze album is announced, MetalBear’s excitement levels increase dramatically with the expectation for a solid 3.5-4 album that will be in the race for a top 10 spot. And when the first two singles from “Bloodlines” were released at the beginning of 2023, I was extremely positive about the outlook of this happening. Both “Fortress” and “Broken Arrow” were among the most frequently played songs on my list in their respective release months as they ticked all the boxes for me in terms of Power Metal essentials: majestic keyboard-driven intros accompanied by solid riffing and strong vocals throughout culminating in epic sing-along choruses. On top of that, the third and final single – “Alliance” featuring the impressive guest singer Melissa Bonny, is another fantastic track resonating deeply with MetalBear (I admit – I am a big, big sucker for piano-dominated ballads, when done right, which is unfortunately rather rarely the case; in fact, exactly Pyramaze’s “Legacy in a Rhyme” is one of my absolute all-time favorited ballads/tracks and has been frequently on my Top 5 most played songs in any given year; if you’ve never listened to it, do this NOW – Barlow sings there, that’s all I have to say).
To MetalBear’s great disappointment, especially after the abovementioned excellent singles, the album did not quite live up to the high expectations set. In fact, in my humble Bearish opinion, it is Pyramaze’s weakest release to date as it fails to bring to light the otherwise exceptional abilities of the individual band members, particularly keyboard virtuoso Jonah Weingarten (whom I am a big fan of) and vocalist Terje Harøy. Where the singles managed to excel, a good part of the other songs just feel somehow flat and uninspired. That being said, the album has its moments and fans of Pyramaze are likely going to enjoy a good part of it, but knowing what this band is capable of, I am just left wanting considerably more in terms of quality and consistency from “Bloodlines”.
26. Vansidian – Reflecting the Shadows
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Inverse Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Code of Shame; Reflecting the Shadows; The Breach
Vansidian is a new band which I happened to come across this year around their debut album “Reflecting the Shadows”. Most of the guys in the band have minimal to no previous album releases which I was surprised to find out as the record sounds impressive – from the quality of production to how confidently the band navigates the complex at times instrumental waters. Of course, to produce a solid record a band doesn’t need to have veterans in its lines with a long list of released albums, and Vansidian are a good proof for this.
With 9 tracks clocking in at 51 minutes, an element I appreciated a lot in “Reflecting the Shadows” is the fact that band is not shying away from longer songs with the self-titled album track and “Stormweaver” hitting the 8 minute mark. For a debut album in the MeloDeath space this isn’t necessarily the norm as bands usually strive to keep things as tight as possible, thus gravitating around the 4-5 minute threshold. However, this is where Vansidian impressed me the most as their longer opuses do not compromise tightness at all, instead feel quite natural, almost effortless, and feature some brilliant instrumental passages without making the songs dragged out or anything. Well composed, well blended, well played, Vansidian. To get a real feeling of the band’s mastery, check out the instrumental piece “The Breach” which was one of my highlights. With everything written so far you might be asking yourself why the album is rated with 2.5 only and didn’t even make it in the top 20 for the year, and a very valid question this is indeed – I feel that there are still a good number of tracks here that could have had a stronger culmination point the way the noted top tracks achieve this. I’d say that this debut album is just laying out the foundation for a lot of true greatness to come from this talented bunch and I am eagerly awaiting their sophomore release.
25. Scar Symmetry – The Singularity (Phase II: Xenotaph)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Chrononautilus; Scorched Quadrant; Reichsfall
2023 was the year that featured a number of highly anticipated MeloDeath comebacks by bands that have not released anything for around a decade. Scar Symmetry was one of them having last released the first part of “The Singularity” series back in 2014. I am a strong supporter of conceptual albums, especially if they span out over multiple releases. But this can be quite tricky to execute in an upward-trending manner. Scar Symmetry pick up with their latest release where the previous one left off and the good news is that they manage do so in an equally strong and consistent manner. Overall, I’d consider both Singularity albums to be of the same quality including a good deal of solid tracks.
One thing MetalBear has to note, however, is that whenever there is a near decade-long break between albums, I’d usually expect the new release to be a somewhat stronger one. As noted, this isn’t the case here and while “Singularity (Phase II: Xenotaph)” is definitely not a step back compared to its predecessor, it is also not really a growth album but I will largely attribute this precisely due to the conceptual nature of the record. Nevertheless, Scary Symmetry and MeloDeath fans alike will be mostly pleased with this release with the former group inevitably ending up trying to decide whether this can compete with the Alvestam-era masterpieces.
24. Silver Bullet – Shadowfall
Genre: Power Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Reaper Entertainment
Bear’s Top Tracks: Soul Reaver; …And Then Comes Oblivion; Dusk of Dawn
Another welcomed new discovery for MetalBear is the Finnish quintet “Silver Bullet” with their third album “Shadowfall”. While nothing on this platter is wildly innovative in the Power Metal realm, and seasoned Metalheads in the genre would have likely heard it most in one form or another, it is a well-balanced and enjoyable listen that is definitely worth exploring. There is no unnecessary vocal pomposity in here, no excessive instrumental show-offs – just a solid ball of decent power metal with some truly majestic compositions at times. That being said, my main criticism is in the vocal department where lead singer Bruno Proveschi delivers fantastic performance on some tracks, but seems to be somehow unfitting on others (which might be well due to the actual compositions in the specific sections). Overall, a decent power metal platter and a band that has the potential to grow considerably with its future releases.
23. Magnus Karlsson’s Free Fall – Hunt the Flame
Genre: Melodic Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Frontiers Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Thunder Calls; Break of Dawn; Far from Home
MetalBear is an enormous fanboi of Swedish multi-instrumentalist Magnus Karlsson and has been one since 2006 when I got my hands on Allen/Lande’s “The Battle”. The Allen/Lande albums written and produced by Magnus served as my gateway to his work and are to this date among the most heavily rotated albums over the course of my metal journey. From then on I dare claim that I haven’t missed a release by this insanely talented and wildly productive musician (I am fairly confident that there hasn’t been a single year from 2006 onwards in which Karlsson has not released at least one album, sometimes there are two per year – we are looking at something between 20-25 albums in the space of 18 years, so you can see how I might be misleading both you, dear Metalhead reader, and myself in stating that I haven’t missed a single release).
Anyway, FreeFall is one of the 10 active projects Magnus is involved in (at the time of writing this) with “Hunt the Flame” being the fourth album in the FreeFall series. Let me make this clear – whatever Karlsson produces is strong material, and it is rather a question of how strong it is in relation to his other stuff (maybe the time has come to invent a “Magnus Karlsson” scale for rating his work). With this in mind, “Hunt the Flame” is a good album that I’d recommend to any Melodic Power/Heavy Metal fan out there. It is a stronger record compared to the previous one from 2020 with the following two interesting facts: 1) It is the longest FreeFall album clocking in at just under an hour 2) It involves the largest number of singers (11 to be precise). This second point would be also my main concern with the record – while I’ve always enjoyed the rich vocal diversity offered by the FreeFall albums, having a separate singer for every single track did come across as a bit too much for me. But on the upside – I’ve discovered two new excellent vocalists thanks to “Hunt the Flame” – James Durbin (“Thunder Calls”) and Kristian Fyhr (“Break of Dawn”). It would have been great if there was one more track for each of them in this busy roster (as there are some vocalists featured here that do not strike the chord with MetalBear but as with all things on this blog – a matter of personal preference, or as the Latin saying goes “De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum”).
22. Ray Alder – II
Genre: Progressive Metal
Country: USA
Label: InsideOut
Bear’s Top Tracks: My Oblivion; Hands of Time; Silence the Enemy
There are a few vocalists on this planet MetalBear is so in awe of that I’d be happy to listen them sing the phonebook with no instrumental entourage whatsoever and will still give this experience a solid 1.5 stars. Ray Alder is one of them. No need to introduce the man and the epochal bands and albums he has been part of throughout his career, I will jump straight to his second solo album “II” (funny enough one of the other singers from this category is Zak Stevens whose solo project reviewed above is also entitled “II” – was obliged to make this remark, its a Bear-thing).
To be completely honest, I feel quite some guilt for giving this album 2.5 stars only. It deserves 3 at the very least. The main reason for this haunting decision is one, and one only – Ray’s debut solo album was SO brilliant it ended up 2nd on my 2019 top albums list. And maybe I did not factor how difficult it would be to match this brilliance when reviewing the sophomore offering but well, Bears make mistakes as well. “II” actually starts off very strong and until about halfway through (“Silence the Enemy”) keeps to a certain degree the quality of the first record at which point I was already anticipating this to be a top 10 contender. However, the latter part of the album just didn’t stick with me and most of the songs were rather instantly forgettable. Maybe what contributes to this the most is that a good amount of the songs are just unnecessarily long in a way that easily causes a loss of focus and track memorability. As a reference – “What The Water Wants” had 10 songs and a total time of 46 minutes whereas “II” is made up of 9 tracks totaling 52 minutes. Nevertheless, it is an album every prog metal fan should give a listen to because it has its exceptional moments. Thank you yet again, Ray, and hope that if you ever come across this blog, you won’t be mad at MetalBear. I am also quite certain your next release will be a monumental one – a Bear feeling.
21. Orbit Culture – Descent
Genre: Melodic Death/Groove Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Seek & Strike Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Black Mountain; From The Inside; The Aisle of Fire
Orbit Culture has been on my radar for about 3 years and somehow I managed to get to them only at the very end of 2023. What captivated me right away is the unique sound these guys have crafted for themselves, one that I’d strongly assume can be instantly recognized by every Metalhead venturing the lands of MeloDeath (my knowledge of MeloDeath bands is definitely capturing a rather insignificant portion of all there is in this space, but again I will have to work with assumptions here plus whatever I can bring to the table from personal experience with this sub-genre). This is something I can only strongly applaud, especially since we are looking at a band that hasn’t been around for 20-25 years and whose latest release is only their fourth one.
In terms of song structure there is nothing one hasn’t encountered with MeloDeath bands before – “Descent” follows the tried-and-tested formula of riff-meaty, growls-filled verses followed by towering, clean vocals-dominated choruses. There are more thrash elements to this record than the usual MeloDeath bands tend to infuse in their sound which pumps up the brutality levels of the record. The vocals are solid throughout, sounding in the clean sections at times like James Hetfield, and at times a bit like Chester Bennington. My main objection with this overall solid release is the over-reliance in certain song parts of industrial elements (“Vulture of the North” for instance gets a bit ruined for me as a result) – this is definitely part of the sound the band is going after but not one always adding substantial value to the tracks. It will be interesting to see how the band develops from here balancing the need to maintain their sound uniqueness against the need to avoid producing clone-like platters sounding too identical to each other.
20. Before the Dawn – Stormbringers
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Napalm Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Downhearted; Divided; Chaos Star
Tuomas Saukkonen is one hell of a busy mastermind in the metal scene – 7 albums released over the past 7 years with 3 different bands/projects. In addition, he is one hell of a riffing god – personally to MetalBear, easily one of the absolutely very best in the genre when it comes to writing colossal riffs that just tear space and time apart and leave the listener wanting more and more (I’ve had the 2:47 riff from Wolfheart‘s “Ashes” on repeat for nearly a full day when “Wolves of Karelia” came out). Tuomas is back again in 2023, this time reviving the band from where it all started for him – Before The Dawn (who went on a hiatus for close to a decade). The first single off the comeback album “Stormbringers” was released towards the end of 2022 and it blew me completely away – “Downhearted” is just the type of gigantic track I am looking for in a MeloDeath record that has it all: crushing riffs, soaring clean vocals and well ingested growls at just the right moments. Based on that single, I was extremely confident that the upcoming album will be a masterpiece aiming for a top 5 spot.
Surprisingly, and much to MetalBear’s dissapointment, “Stormbringers” failed short of the high expectations set. It is by no means a bad album, quite the contrary – there is a good chunk of material to enjoy about it, particularly given the star line-up on the instrumental side of things (apart from Saukkonen, you have guitarist Juho Räihä involved, among others, in I Am The Night and Swallow The Sun as well as Pyry Hanski whom one might have come across in …and Oceans and/or Red Moon Architect). But where the album is too often struggling is in the vocal department handled by debutant Paavo Laapotti. Let me be very clear on this – Paavo is an immensely talented singer and this becomes more than evident on a number of tracks, as the aforementioned single. Taking into account how young the guy is coupled with the fact that this is his first official record, my intention is in no way to throw the blame at him. His growls are tremendous throughout the record, and the times I’ve felt things could have been quite a bit improved are on certain clean vocal sections where he doesn’t sound confident/convincing enough (again, not due to a lack of talent at all, it could well be a compositional matter or simply lack of experience). I am a firm believer that BTD’s next album will see them return back to their best form and will be that top 5 contender that “Stormbringers” couldn’t unfortunately become.
19. Redemption – I Am the Storm
Genre: Progressive Metal
Country: USA
Label: AFM Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: I Am The Storm; Seven Minutes from Sunset; Remember the Dawn; The Emotional Depiction of Light
Whenever a new Redemption album is out, I approach it not as simply another potentially solid prog metal release to be listened to but rather as a transcending musical experience that awaits me. This is closely tied to the fact that I’ve been an enormous fan of the band for close to 20 years now with “The Fullness of Time” ranking in my top 5 albums of all-time – what an album to get into a band, simply epochal stuff through and through. But that album isn’t an exception in terms of musical, lyrical, and overall compositional, brilliance in Redemption’s discography – pretty much every album by this band is either perfection, or fairly close to perfection. Or to sum it up ranking-wise: they have produced 4 albums (out of 8 in total released to date) I deem to be 5 out 5, hell bear, some of them I’d actually consider 6 out of 5 (“The Fullness of Time” and “Snowfall on Judgment Day”), 2 platters that are solid 4.5 and then the remaining 2 in the solid 3-ish area with their latest release “I Am the Storm” being one of them.
Ranking Redemption 19th and giving it a 3.0 is something I’ve never thought I’d do, and to be honest - a decision whose righteousness I am still quite uncertain about. But let me attempt to provide a fragile rationale for this – similar to Ray Alder’s latest record reviewed earlier, “I Am the Storm” opens in a very strong manner with the first four tracks all excellently carrying that trademark Redemption sound in every possible aspect. However, for some reason the final three tracks of the album (not counting in the cover songs here) fail to captivate MetalBear in the same mesmerizing way the opening ones, and generally the outstanding tracks from the band’s catalog, do. What has a serious weight is the fact that these three closing tracks actually represent close to 50% of the album’s total length with “Action at a Distance” and “All This Time (And Not Enough)” passing the 14 and 12 minute mark respectively. Both are by no means average songs – they have their stellar moments and are more than worthy of a listen, but just can’t seem to reach that same level of transcendence Redemption has become synonymous for (at least for me), especially when it comes to longer tracks (“Sapphire”, “The Fullness of Time”, “Love Kills Us All / Life in One Day” or “At Day’s End”). And it is here where one very important remark needs to be made as it is instrumental in this particular rating – I seriously can’t think of another band (from the ones I’ve encountered throughout my metal journey) that has managed to release 5 back-to-back albums of such phenomenal quality. Prolonging such a run even further is extremely difficult, and I’d say that sooner or later it is bound to end, and this is exactly what has happened to Redemption with their latest two releases (see MetalBear’s Album-on-Album Growth criteria). It isn’t a matter of the Ray Alder-era vs the Tom Englund-era at Redemption for me, as both are fantastic singers, but rather a matter of the end of a formidable streak. At least for the time being.
18. Blood Star – First Sighting
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: USA
Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: All for Nothing; No One Wins; Cold Moon; Going Home
One of the pleasant, unexpected surprises on MetalBear’s Top 30 list, Blood Star is a newly formed quartet from Salt Lake City, Utah, whose debut album “First Sighting” impressed me right away. We are not looking at veteran musicians here with dozens of previously released records who have just come together for a new project, quite the opposite – for all but one band member this is the first album release in their hitherto music careers. What a fantastic way to debut on the metal scene – an excellent record that gets right to the point from the very first second and remains extremely consistent quality-wise until the very last note. While the overall album’s length is more on the shorter spectrum (clocking in at just under 33 minutes), it manages to splendidly create this nostalgic atmosphere that takes the listener back to the traditional heavy metal sound of the 80s and somehow effortlessly keep it throughout the entire record without having the songs sound too identical to each other. Actually on the contrary – Blood Star bring in exactly the right portion of variety into the album which is another noteworthy positive aspect of “First Sighting”. Overall, a great debut album by a very talented crew that heavily sparked MetalBear’s enthusiasm about what is to come next from them – I’ll be surely keeping an eye on their sophomore release and will be curious to see how they can take their game to the next level, no easy task ahead for sure.
17. Spirit Adrift – Ghost At The Gallows
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: USA
Label: Century Media
Bear’s Top Tracks: Give Her to the River; Barn Burner; These Two Hands; I Shall Return; Ghost at the Gallows
Spirit Adrift have been around for less than a decade (formed in 2015) but have managed to stay quite productive and release 5 albums over the span of 8 years. “Ghost At The Gallows” is their latest album and is another very solid record that has plenty to offer for metalheads headbanging away to traditional heavy metal material. The album’s highlights for MetalBear are the two longest tracks – the opener “Give Her to the River” and the final, album-titled song, both close to 8 minutes, along with the more balladesque “These Two Hands”. If you’ve never listened to Spirit Adrift before, spin one of those songs and you will get a pretty good idea about the superb musicianship levels of the band. Epic solos, powerful rhythm sections, beautiful acoustic passages and some absolutely terrific riffing dominate “Ghost At The Gallows” and are present throughout the entire record. The only area for slight improvement I can identify with this record would be the vocals – founding member Nate Garrett’s voice blends in very well to the band’s sound and he proves himself yet again as quite a capable vocalist but there are certain points in few of the songs where a tad more powerful vocalist could have elevated the song to totally cosmic dimensions. It might be worth thinking about the addition of a full-time vocalist to the band’s lineup with Garrett keeping his vocal duties as complementing to the main singer, while shredding away on the guitar in the same sublime vein as he has done so far on all albums. Excited to see where these highly skilled guys go next and until then, I will make sure to be headbangin’ away to “Ghost At The Gallows” fairly often.
16. The Lightbringer of Sweden – The New World Order
Genre: Power Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Independent/Unsigned
Bear’s Top Tracks: Free the Angels; Where the Eagles Fly; Lucifer; Back from the Dead; Fly Away
Most years MetalBear would have one Guilty Pleasure album making it into the top albums of the year list. In 2023, this would be the sophomore release by The Lightbringer of Sweden entitled “The New World Order”. While the lyrics are leaning heavily on the generic side of things, and there is overall barely anything new offered by this record in the glorious lands of Power Metal, I truly enjoyed the album from start to finish and can only praise its outstanding consistency throughout the full 57 minutes. Usually, albums of this rather serious length tend to either have a number of forgettable tracks or a few songs that are unnecessarily long. And when I first saw the album’s total running time, I feared this would be the case here as well but I was proven quite wrong. Very solid riffing is well accompanied by great solos with epic choruses that will just get you to sing along in no time. The one absolutely sensational performance on this album is delivered by vocalist Herbie Langhans – I am a big fan of this man and he proves yet again with this release that he is in fantastic form, and has actually been like this for over a decade now. While most metalheads might associate Herbie with his involvement in Avantasia, my first encounter with his talents was on Beyond the Bridge‘s one and only to date album “The Old Man and The Spirit” (highly recommended by the way). So if you are in the mood for some traditional Power Metal done really well with exceptional vocals and legendary choruses along with some brilliant instrumentals, then don’t hesitate any further and jump right into “The New World Order”.
15. Ne Obliviscaris – Exul
Genre: Extreme Progressive Metal
Country: Australia
Label: Season of Mist
Bear’s Top Tracks: Equus; Misericorde II; Suspyre
One MetalBearish confession needs to be made before we proceed with this one – this was my first ever album listen of Ne Obliviscaris so you can imagine I can’t really make any meaningful comparisons with their previous material, nor can I take the “Album-on-Album Growth” factor really into account here. Generally, I rarely venture into the “Extreme” domains of any metal sub-genre but this Australian crew was on my radar for a few years now with me somehow never getting to dedicate the time needed for them. And one REALLY needs to focus when listening to these guys as the music is seriously intricate with at times cosmic levels of technicality and quite unconventional song structures. One example underlining this last point – “Exul” is made up of just 6 songs but a total running time of 52 minutes. Opener, and longest track on the album, “Equus” is what I’d classify, based on my humble Ne Obliviscaris experience, as an excellent example of what this band is all about – passages of extreme vocal and instrumental brutality being followed all of a sudden by acoustic guitars with celestial, clean vocals and a nearly omnipresent violin that creates this enthralling atmosphere. The closing sections of the songs (as “Outros” is definitely not the word here given the length of this closing passages) are easily some of the best I’ve ever come across – everything culminates there in such a fascinating way that one is simply left breathless wondering “What was that pure sublimity just unleashed upon my ears?”. While significantly different in terms of style, there is another Australian band (a good deal of Metalheads here would be well familiar with) writing such monumental songs with an own very distinct sound – Be’Lakor (somehow felt the urge to make that comparison).
I will definitely have to go back and check the band’s previous records as “Exul” left me deeply impressed. With everything written so far on this release, one might be wondering how come this gets only a 3.0. There is one major reason for this – as you might have already noticed, or will definitely do by the end of this post, MetalBear has quite the weak spot for colossal and highly memorable (to the point of easily sing-along-able) choruses that come as the climactic point of songs with the fairly standard structure (intro / verse / pre-chorus – chorus/ solo / chorus 2x / outro). None of this is the case with Ne Obliviscaris and I don’t mean it in a bad way by any means – bands that manage to create a sound so unique deserve nothing but gargantuan respect. It is just that this often comes with albums/songs requiring you to be in a rather specific mood, and have a somewhat lower replayability as a result.
14. Twilight Force – At the Heart of Wintervale
Genre: Symphonic Power Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Nuclear Blast
Bear’s Top Tracks: At the Heart of Wintervale; Dragonborn; Highlands of the Elder Dragon; Sunlight Knight
This has to be the most uplifting and feel-good album of 2023, particularly for all Fantasy maniacs out there who’d occasionally find themselves drifting off thoughts/dreams-wise on heroic adventures in magical lands unknown. As someone belonging to that group, “At The Heart of Wintervale” instantly struck a chord with MetalBear. Achieving a near perfect balance between symphonic bombast and epic Power Metal cheesy-ness, this is a record that will captivate you from the very first moment and leave you intrigued throughout – the same way an excellent TV series will make you binge-watch a season for the good part of a day without you realizing it at all.
All of the shorter tracks on the album (around the 5 min mark or less) are just pure fun packed with everything you want from a great power metal release – fantastic instrumental performances strengthened by grandiose vocals and an overall outstanding production that allows every element of the band to properly shine. The track “Dragonborn” has immediately made it to my year-end top songs list – it’s the kind of exhilarating tune that doesn’t make you want to instantaneously headbang along; it invites you to ride-a-dragon along transcending you in a time when you were around 12 years old, had just perhaps read your first epic fantasy book and still thought the world is full of adventures and magic for you to explore at every possible corner (not saying this isn’t the case but as the years pass, you realize you likely won’t have the time for it all and you’d have to content yourself with traversing Skyrim or Vvardenfell). Since I referred to the shorter tracks, “At The Heart of Wintervale” also features two 10+ minute opuses with the first one (“Highlands of the Elder Dragon”) being a true masterpiece while the album’s closing track (“The Last Crystal Bearer”) somehow failing to impress the same way all other tracks do (hence, the “near perfect” balance I mentioned at the beginning). If the band had recorded another “Dragonborn”-like song running for about 4-5 minutes instead of the unnecessarily long current album finale, then the album would have likely made it into the top 10 of the year and received a 4.0. Nevertheless, this is a must-listen for all Power Metal fans out there, so prepare your swords/wands/staffs and dive into the adventure that awaits.
13. Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold
Genre: Power Metal
Country: Greece
Label: No Remorse Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: The Voyage; Into The Storm; Symphony of the Night; The Sweet Wine of Betrayal; Towers of Gold
The sophomore release by this Greek Power Metal quartet is a mightily impressive one in every possible aspect – from thunderous riffing through phenomenal solos to remarkable vocals. “Towers of Gold” is an album that grows on the listener with every consecutive spin as there are so many damn strong passages that will just keep making you want to come back again and again. The band’s members are all actually fairly inexperienced when it comes to album releases, all but one – vocalist Daniel Heiman whom one might know from Lost Horizon (last active about 20 years ago) – and this just makes things that much more impressive, to be honest. This is because “Towers of Gold” feels like the magnum opus in the discography of a band with at least 7-8 albums behind their backs which isn’t the case at all here. It is a very ambitious release, of such a grandeur scale that in order to appreciate the beauty of it all, one really needs to take the time and listen to the album carefully from start to finish. Particularly the album’s self-titled track that clocks in at just under 15 minutes is where the album reaches its apotheosis in an absolutely magnificent way.
The only reason for MetalBear to not award more than a 3.5 here is very similar to what was the case with Ne Obliviscaris’ “Exul”, namely a lack of individual song memorability, particularly on the chorus’ end of things. When you listen to the entire platter, you will be heavily impressed as it essentially scores higher than 3.5 on every single one of the cardinal rating factors I’ve outlined in my previous post (Production Quality; Band’s Experience; Album-on-Album Growth and Originality/Uniqueness) but when all things come together, I feel like the replay value of the record somehow diminishes. I can clearly recall certain amazing instrumental sections but I have a hard time remembering a single chorus off that album. As the album is a concept one, I believe this is intended to a large degree and I do appreciate the uniqueness of the record as a whole, but nevertheless feel that from a purely compositional/songwriting point of view, there could have been that stronger element of memorability/climax to the individual songs. I am quite excited about what these super talented guys will offer next.
12. Sorcerer – Reign Of The Reaper
Genre: Epic Doom Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Metal Blade Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Morning Star; Thy Kingdom Will Come; Reign Of The Reaper; Curse of Medusa
“Reign Of The Reaper” is the first Sorcerer album for MetalBear as I must admit to have rarely ventured out over the years to the dominion of Doom Metal (at least in its most traditional, purest form). However, as soon as the first track “Morning Star” from the new release by these Swedes hit me, I immediately realized why this isn’t considered standard Doom – things are indeed of Epic proportions here with the opener easily making it to my top songs year-end list. Everything just blends in impeccably from a compositional standpoint with the vast majority of the tracks on this album, particularly on the highlighted standout songs – the progression from the intro through the verses to the truly epic choruses is executed masterfully. Vocalist Anders Engberg delivers an absolutely stunning performance throughout the entire record, imbuing just the right doze of emotion to each single track as needed in the respective section and then soaring in an exceptionally powerful manner when the point of culmination comes. His ability to adapt to the overall atmosphere of each track is a true highlight for me. That being said, a superb vocal performance on any given album is only possible thanks to the rest of the band’s crew and the overall songwriting (whether this is a more collective effort or the result of one/two people in the band). With this in mind, massive credit is due to ever single member of Sorcerer for what they have accomplished with “Reign Of The Reaper” – a fantastic album that I’d strongly recommend to every Metalhead out there, and an album that is a definite step forward for the band (being so impressed with this, I went to check out Sorcerer’s previous album and while also a solid record, it is not as great as “Reign Of The Reaper”).
11. Slow Fall – Obsidian Waves
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Out of Line Music
Bear’s Top Tracks: Polaris; Son Of Sleep; Obsidian Waves; All The Blood; Reaper of Days; Crown Of Dead Leaves
And so does the total Finnish domination begin – from the 11th spot ranked album – “Obsidian Waves” by Slow Fall - through to the one claiming the title “Album of the Year”, there are 8 bands hailing from the most eastern Scandinavian country. If you are into RPGs (whether video or board game-wise), you’d know well how very often the race/class you choose at the start of the game has related special abilities and skills (Wizards –> extra points on Intelligence; Hunters –> boost on Dexterity; etc.). Over the years I have come to realize one undeniable fact, namely that Finnish people are born into this world with a massive boost on Metal Music as a special ability/skill. Slow Fall are yet another great example of this reality and it becomes clearly evident from their sophomore release “Obsidian Waves”. The formula the band has embraced with this record is working excellently – a brand of melodic death metal that is perhaps more easily accessible (particularly to non-MeloDeath fans) which I’d attribute to the balanced mix of growls and clean vocals throughout the entire platter along with the specific track pacing. To this last point, there are tracks on the album (“Son of Sleep”; “Reaper of Days”) that give me strong Sentenced-vibes from an instrumental standpoint (the intros along with the overall pacing and melody) – something that wins me instantly over as a huge Sentenced fan. Other tracks like “Polaris” and “All The Blood” are just brilliant examples of MeloDeath Metal done right in every aspect – crushing riffs, outstanding solos, memorable and powerful choruses along with great keyboard accompaniment. One thing to note is that the addition of a dedicated keyboard player for this album has left a definitively positive mark and I’d consider it to be among the driving factors for the solid Album-On-Album Growth the band has achieved when comparing “Obsidian Waves” to their debut release. Overall, the consistently strong songwriting, solid production quality and impressive performance in every department have turned this into one hell of an enjoyable album that came very close to entering the top 10 list for 2023.
10. Marianas Rest – Auer
Genre: Melodic Doom/Death Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Napalm Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Auer; Light Reveals Our Wounds; The Ground Still Burns; The Hanging Blade; Sirens
“Auer” is the fourth album in Marianas Rest‘s discography and comes just in time for their 10th year anniversary. I first stumbled upon this Finnish Melodic Doom/Death sextet back in 2020 when I discovered the track “Unsinkable” which ended up on serious replay for days. Getting into these Finns requires a specific melancholic mood (surprise, surprise) along with a healthy doze of patience as their songs are all about immersing oneself completely into this beautifully crafted place of haunting hopelessness that yet somehow instills a certain beam of warmth. But the reward for the patience is a sublime one, trust me. Most tracks start off in a rather traditional Doom Metal fashion and the first 2-3 minutes, while still solid per se, often serve more as a means to set up the scene for the spectacular climax that comes next (note that the vast majority of the band’s songs are around 6-7 minutes long). This formula of keyboard-driven Melodic Death Metal (at the climactic point of the tracks) preceded by strong elements of Doom Metal is one Marianas Rest has heavily relied on throughout its discography and one that has allowed them to create quite an unique sound for themselves. And it works as good as ever on “Auer” which I consider to be their best album to date (just slightly topping “Ruins”). Tracks like the title track, “Light Reveals Our Wounds” (definitely a top 10 song of 2023 for me) or “The Ground Still Burns” capture the band’s essence perfectly and will give you a good idea as to what you can expect from this crew, if you’ve never come across them. Another weak spot MetalBear has (and one that probably doesn’t come as a surprise at all by this point) is for bands that place a significant emphasis on keyboards playing a key role in the songwriting process. This is the case with Marianas Rest who are fortunate to have the extremely talented Aapo Koivisto (also a member of Omnium Gatherum for nearly 20 years now) on their side contributing a lot with his solid experience in this very intricate task – finding just the right balance of keyboard-infused sound in the space of MeloDeath ( with quite some hints of Doom on top of that). Find the time along with that specific state of mind/mood and listen to “Auer” – an excellent record that deservedly made it to the top 10 of 2023.
9. Dark the Suns – Raven and the Nightsky
Genre: Melodic Death/Gothic Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Inverse Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Adamantine; Phoenix; Aurora; Raven; Under the Northern Lights
Following a 7-year hiatus, Dark the Suns returned as a duo (Mikko and Inka Ojala) in 2021 releasing their fourth full-length album. Two years later, they are back with a new release and an additional band member joining them on guitars (Jani Moilanen). At the heart of “Raven and the Nightsky” are the mesmerizing keyboard melodies that manage to flawlessly instill this feeling of Nordic melancholy, of haunting sorrow, of deep nostalgia, of reminiscence about brighter days past (different tracks would evoke the just mentioned feelings at specific passages/points, at least in MetalBear’s being). The constant, stark contrast between the beautiful piano along with the occasional enchanting female vocals on the one hand, and the brutal growls on the other, is what truly captivates in this record and keeps it intriguing throughout. In my opinion, “Raven and the Nightsky” represents a serious step forward in terms of Album-on-Album growth for Dark the Suns and I believe the addition of a second guitarist has a considerable role to play in this as the guitar riffs sound more prominent here compared to the preceding release.
The one thing that is stopping this album from getting a 4.0 and making it higher on the list would be the too limited use of the female vocals and/or guest singer appearances. While the release makes progress on this front as well, compared to its predecessor, by featuring Paavo Laapotti from Before the Dawn for the clean vocals on “Raven” (which works really well), I am somehow left with the feeling that a richer vocal diversity to complement the otherwise solid growls would have come as a massive boost. If the band mixes things up more in the vocal department in their next release, and manages to keep the instrumental excellence present on “Raven and the Nightsky”, I think the best is yet to come by Dark the Suns.
8. Hanging Garden – The Garden
Genre: Melodic Doom/Death/Gothic Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Agonia Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: The Four Winds; The Construct; The Song of Spring; The Nightfall; The Stolen Fire; The Fireside
MetalBear strongly admires those type of albums that manage to create a very specific, overarching atmosphere running throughout the entire platter in a way that makes the listener be effortlessly held spellbound. Hanging Garden‘s newest release entitled “The Garden” is exactly such an album – enthralling from the very beginning, packed with moments of sheer beauty and rich in its stylistical diversity. The genre classification highlighted above already hints at the cross-genre journey the band has decided to embark upon with melodeath, gothic and doom elements intertwined elegantly in a captivating web. At least to MetalBear’s ears, there are at times Paradise Lost vibes, at times I could hear some Anathema (particularly in the female vocal sections), but the most prominent influence I could feel would be from fellow countrymen Swallow the Sun (whom I am a big fan of). It is precisely this impressive musical variety coupled with the outstanding songwriting and overall production quality that deservedly earned this album a solid 4.0. To be completely honest, this is only the second Hanging Garden album I’ve listened to with their previous one (“Skeleton Lake”) being my first touchpoint with the band. If I am to compare both for the sake of the Album-on-Album growth criteria, I’d say that this one is the more complete, more diverse, more impressive record overall, albeit not by much.
If you are looking for some lightning fast and brutal MeloDeath, then this isn’t the album for you. “The Garden” is a journey-inviting album but not in the Power Metal-heroically bombastic fashion, rather in the deeply mystical, self-discovery kind of way. I believe one can fully appreciate the magic of “The Garden” only by listening to it in its entirety and I mean this every single time, at least this was the case with me – whenever I felt like I want to listen to it again, I made sure I have 47 minutes at my disposal.
7. Kamelot – The Awakening
Genre: Symphonic Power Metal
Country: USA
Label: Napalm Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: The Great Divide; Eventide; Opus of the Night (Ghost Requiem); Bloodmoon; NightSky; The Looking Glass; New Babylon
There is a good amount of bands out there that parted ways at some point in their careers with a founding, or sound-defining, member and this can occur across every single department. Quite often the Metal community would then compare the band’s current material with the “XYZ”-era. This has been to a very large degree the case with Kamelot for just over a decade when Tommy Karevik took over the vocal duties from Roy Khan. I tend to make this same type of comparison for bands I’ve pretty much grown up with, or have followed closely for decades, and while I think this shouldn’t be an inevitable thing to do, I understand it. In the specific case of Kamelot, I got into the band towards the final years of Roy Khan, and around that same time I discovered Seventh Wonder with their Eternal Masterpiece “Mercy Falls”. I didn’t necessarily have that strong of an attachment to the Khan-era as a result but could understand the concern by the band’s fanbase. So when I heard the news about the very talented Karevik joining Kamelot, I found this to be an excellent choice as replacing someone as gifted as Khan was definitely no easy task. Now the inevitable question followed – how will the band sound going forward?
Fast-forward 11 years to “The Awakening” which is the fourth album featuring Khan’s successor. MetalBear will make a bold, and perhaps somewhat unpopular, claim here by stating that this release is the best one in the Karevik-era so far and has the potential to make it into the band’s top 5. With the previous three releases (“Silverthorn”, “Haven” and “The Shadow Theory”), I always thought the full potential of Karevik is not truly realized and while each of those albums, particularly the first two, had their impressive moments, they somehow felt overly polished and soulless much of the time. “The Awakening” gives Karevik that greater leeway to demonstrate his outstanding vocal abilities and this definitely proves to be a winning formula. The vast majority of the tracks here have extremely hooky, anthemic choruses complemented by solid riffing and truly excellent keyboard melodies (alongside Karevik, I feel this is the one other aspect that makes the difference – Palotai‘s much more inspired performance on this release; a hugely talented and seasoned musician with close to two decades of Kamelot experience under his belt, he has delivered outstanding material time and again for the band in the past but just felt that the last few releases, similar to Karevik, didn’t really bring his exceptional skills to prominence enough). That being said, if you are familiar with Kamelot’s work, there is nothing vastly experimental or wildly innovative on this album when it comes to song structure and overall sound, its just that there is a greater portion of dynamism and energy. I heavily enjoyed all tracks on the album, particularly the middle run from “Bloodmoon” through to “New Babylon”, with three exceptions – the single “One More Flag In The Ground” (way too generic and uninspired, pretty much in the vein of the last few albums) as well as the two ballads “Midsummer’s Eve” and “Willow” (while both are not bad songs per se, there is also nothing memorable about them).
“The Awakening” sets the beginning of an upward trend for Kamelot in the band’s Karevik-era and if they manage to build upon this momentum, I am quite positive their next release can compete with their most emblematic, Khan-era albums.
6. Kalmah – Kalmah
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Ranka Kustannus
Bear’s Top Tracks: Haunted By Guilt; Scarred by Sadness; No Words Sad Enough; Serve the Untrue; Home Sweet Hell; Tons of Chaos; Red and Black
Kalmah‘s self-titled album is the band’s 9th release and their first one since 2018. I mentioned earlier in this post that MetalBear’s preference lies with consistency and not frequency. Or simply put – it is better to release an 4.0/4.5/5.0 album once every 5-6 years than to release two to three 2.5/3.0 records over the same timeframe. Kalmah is a band that truly follows this wisdom and their latest album is a perfect example of this. “Kalmah” is just brilliant in so many ways and will impress not only the band’s/MeloDeath fans but I’d say quite a larger pool of metalheads. The reason? It’s a a record brimming with variety, both on the album-level as well as within the individual tracks. From scorching, often thrash-like riffs through powerful, exploding choruses to intricate, at times quite-proggy guitar-keyboard interplays, the album really has something to offer for almost every metalhead out there. What makes this variety so remarkable is that it doesn’t come just for variety’s sake but is exceptionally well executed in a way that flawlessly blends with the band’s traditional sound. Whether its the crushingly fast-paced “Haunted By Guilt”, “Scarred by Sadness” or “Serve the Untrue”, the mightily hooky “Home Sweet Hell”, “Red and Black” and to a lesser extent “Veil of Sin”, or the mid-tempo “No Words Sad Enough” and “Drifting in A Dream”, every single component across almost every single track on this album is delivered in such a confident and zealous manner that one instantly realizes (even if you’ve never listened to Kalmah before in your life) that highly proficient veterans are involved here who have their trademark way of doing things.
The one and only concern I have with this release, and the reason for not granting it an otherwise deserved 4.5, would be the production quality, and this primarily when it comes to how the drums sound. It isn’t anything utterly shocking to put one off from blasting the album on repeat for days but I just feel that there could have been a tad more prominence added to the drums to solidify that overall fantastic vigor that is at the very heart of the record. Other than that, it is a near-flawless album in what is generally an incredibly consistent discography and one that every metalhead out there should give a listen to.
5. Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant For Us
Genre: Melodic Doom/Death Metal
Country: USA
Label: Prosthetic Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Harbingers; Wisdom of the Falling Leaves; Crumbling Pillars of a Tranquil Mind; Adrift, Beneath the Listless Waves; Psalm of the Merciless
Among the bands that made it to the top 10 of this list, Fires in the Distance (FitD) is the only one MetalBear has previously never crossed paths with. And Bear, one hell of a discovery this Connecticut-based crew is! “Air Not Meant For Us” is the band’s sophomore release and catapults them directly into the league of the genre’s greatest. By “the genre” we are actually looking here at both Doom and MeloDeath as FitD’s superb musicianship on this record represents an unique blend of both, delivered in a sublime, other-worldly manner. While the album features just 6 songs, let this not deceive you at first glance as to the colossality of it all since the total runtime is just short of 50 minutes with only one track – the instrumental “Adrift, Beneath the Listless Waves” – clocking in under 7 minutes (an absolutely fantastic instrumental by the way). Thus, with an average of about 8 minutes per track for the rest of the record, what is another astounding aspect of “Air Not Meant For Us” is how despite this serious songs’ length, you’ll never finding yourself drifting into boredom territory, not even for a moment. This is achieved thanks to the unique atmosphere these guys create throughout every single song at the very epicenter of which is the extremely smart amalgamation of powerful riffs, captivating melodies, magnificent keyboard harmonies, and last but definitely not least, absolutely transcending guitar solos. I didn’t highlight the vocals in this list not because they aren’t solid, quite the opposite – Kristian Grimaldi‘s deep growls are impressive (partially remind me of Nick Holmes‘s ones) and fit into the music impeccably, but because it really is the phenomenal musicianship by every single band member that elevates the whole album to cosmic dimensions.
After listening to “Air Not Meant For Us” I was intrigued how the debut album by these guys was, and went on to give it a spin. Very, very solid stuff as well, especially for a first record, but their sophomore offering does see the band improve their sound further and releasing a platter that is more ambitious, and more complete as a whole. In addition to this AoA growth, given the band’s relative inexperience as we are looking at a crew that has been around for less than a decade (even if it doesn’t feel so at all), the excellent production quality and the unquestionable originality of the album, one might wonder why this is being rewarded with only a 4.0 at the end. And a very valid wondering it is. I’d put this down to solely a matter of personal taste, namely that “Air Not Meant For Us”, at the end of the day, is a heavily Doom-dominated record and with MetalBear not being that much into Doom, there are simply times where I am probably missing that energy faster-paced tracks tend to offer. Still, every self-respecting Metalhead should make sure to check out FitD – I am quite certain you will be won over in the blink of an eye.
4. Suotana – Ounas I
Genre: Melodic Black/Death Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Reaper Entertainment
Bear’s Top Tracks: Through the Mammoth Valley; The Ancient; Legacy; River Ounas
Suotana‘s sophomore record “Land of the Ending Time” was one of my absolute highlights and grand new discoveries back in 2020 (note that the album is actually from 2018). It is the kind of album that keeps blowing you away even after hundreds of replay hours and represents a gigantic step forward compared to the band’s debut platter. After such an epochal release, easily worthy of a 4.5 rating, as soon as Suotana announced towards the end of 2022 that a new album is on its way soon, I was both excited and wary, knowing that many bands have fallen into the trap of releasing considerably weaker material after an exceptionally strong one. What made me optimistic is the fact that the band didn’t seem to have rushed into their third album and had taken 5 years to work on what would hopefully become a worthy successor to “Land of the Ending Time”. Also, the first single Suotana dropped off at the very start of 2023 – “Through The Mammoth Valley” – was an impressive track that just amplified my excitement tenfold and ended up with me activating the “Repeat 1” button for hours.
I am more than pleased to declare that these Finns hailing from the “official” home town of Santa Claus (think the deep northern parts of Finland), have managed to bring out another fantastic album with “Ounas I”. The well-balanced fusion of Melodic Black and Melodic Death Metal is once again executed flawlessly brimming with blistering riffs, hooky melodies, fiery drums and totally stunning, epically melodic keyboards that are at the very forefront of all the majesty that Suotana bring to life with this record. Added to this splendid mix should also be the solid, and well varied, growls and shrieks by vocalist Tuomo Marttinen whose performance on this album solidifies the vast talent he first demonstrated on the band’s previous release. Overall, the songwriting and compositions are outstanding from almost every possible angle one can approach those – every track has a perfectly-paced tempo in a way that keeps the listener energized and intrigued throughout, every instrument is given the floor to shine and every single one of the six musicians delivers a superb performance. All of this is wrapped in an excellent production with each department sounding crystal clear.
The only weak spot of “Ounas I” is its length as the album clocks in at just 35 minutes not counting in the album’s closer – a cover of the Summoning‘s “Land of the Dead” which is masterfully delivered but as you might have noted thus far, I tend to not count covers to the overall album length. When we take into account that the record’s opener “Lake Ounas” is a shorter instrumental only piece (although a beautifully enchanting one I never skip – something which tends to not be the case with most instrumental album openers), there are really only 4 longer songs that make up the release. Given the 5 year break between “Ounas I” and the band’s previous platter, I had expected an album of at least the same duration as “Land of the Ending Time” and hence the 4.0 rating given, as otherwise quality-wise everything is on par, even at times slightly better than the preceding effort by Suotana. The good news, however, is what the album’s name already hints at – that there will be an “Ounas II” which will hopefully see the light of day very soon and will serve as the closure to this wondrous Finnish tale. Meanwhile, I am eagerly looking forward to seeing these guys live for the first time in just three and a half months from now.
3. Excalion – Once Upon a Time
Genre: Melodic Power Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Scarlet Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Keitele; Resolution; Soulbound; Once upon a Time; I Am I; When a Moment Turns into a Lifetime; Radiant Halo; Eternals
Over the past decade Excalion have become one of my all time favorite Melodic Power Metal acts (it is puzzling as to why Excalion are joining a list that is vastly dominated by criminally underrated bands – right up there are also Borealis and Vanishing Point, all these three bands deserve WAY more recognition, but more on this some other time). Their latest release “Once Upon a Time” plays an instrumental role towards solidifying this tendency. But let’s first take some steps on the road of retrospection – I first came across this awesome Finnish crew back in 2010 when I got their “High Time” release. While the album did have a good number of great tracks, I never really found myself going back to it that often – it mostly served to bring the band on my radar so I make sure to follow them in the future but I wouldn’t say it was a mind-blowing, Top-10-year-end-list kind of material. After a close to 7 year break and a few lineup changes, most notably in the vocal department with the hiring of the extremely talented Marcus Lang, Excalion returned in 2017 with the superb “Dream Alive” and it is from that point on that they started rapidly climbing the favorite-Melodic Power Metal band-ladder of MetalBear. Their 2019 album “Emotions” was an even stronger release with the single “Trust” immediately making it on my top 5 favorite tracks of the year. With two very solid albums in quick succession, I was intrigued to see where these talented Finns will take it next.
MetalBear is beyond delighted to state that “Once Upon a Time” represents the best effort of the band to date. From the short, inspiring atmospheric opener “Keitele”, through the magnificent “Resolution” and “Soulbound” (the former one with strong prog-vibes whereas the latter one embracing the trademark Excalion sound and adding that vigor-boost to it), then carrying on with the epochally hooky album title track, “I Am I” and “Radiant Halo” to the brilliant mid-tempo pieces “When a Moment Turns into a Lifetime” and “Eternals”, we are looking at an extremally well-balanced and superbly produced album here. Even though the record clocks in at 55 minutes, which often can feel quite long, especially for a Melodic Power Metal release, Excalion have managed to deliver an astoundingly complete offering with “Once Upon a Time” that just flows very smoothly from start to finish. No song is dragging unnecessarily long, nor are there a number of way too identical tracks – simply a fine balance achieved by fine gentlemen who are at the very top of their game. If you are into Melodic/Power Metal, then this is a must listen as it is the best album in this sub-genre for 2023.
2. Mercenary – Soundtrack for the End Times
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Denmark
Label: NoiseArt Records
Bear’s Top Tracks: Burning in Reverse; Heart of the Numb; Where Darkened Souls Belong; Through this Blackened Hatred; Anthem for the Anxious; From the Ashes of the Fallen; Black Heart, Dead Tissue; Beyond the Waves
Now this is what MetalBear calls an epic comeback, especially when it is one after a decade-long wait. Mercenary‘s “Soundtrack for the End Times” is the third MeloDeath album on this list that sees a band releasing new material after 10 years of drought (Scar Symmetry and Before the Dawn being the other two) and it truly is a return to top form in the case of this highly talented Danish crew. Note that Mercenary’s previous album – “Through Our Darkest Days” – was also a very solid offering and one I greatly enjoyed. But their brand new record undoubtedly represents a step forward and has quite the positive impact on the “Album-on-Album Growth” criteria.
One of the most impressive elements of “Soundtrack for the End Times” is how the band has managed to create a truly diverse record while at the same time following a certain formulaic pattern throughout most of the tracks. However, it must be said that this formulaic approach is not so much the generic, genre-specific one but rather one that Mercenary have crafted on their own terms over the years which is something that deserves admiration, in MetalBear’s humble opinion. The album expertly incorporates all vital ingredients required for a top-class MeloDeath album – the signature blend of aggressive vocal verses, occasional death growls, and clean vocal choruses, the accompanying melodic keyboard work, the crushing MeloDeath riffs, the impeccably paced drumming, and the brutally beautiful solos. It is particularly this last piece – the soloing – that is an absolute highlight of the record. Yes, every other component is also executed flawlessly and impresses a lot, but hell Bear the solos on this album are just phenomenal stuff and I dare say by far the most outstanding ones in the band’s entire career to date. Some songs are actually elevated to a whole new league precisely thanks to the divine soloing – “Beyond the Waves”, “Where Darkened Souls Belong”, “From the Ashes of the Fallen” and “A Darker Path” being the standout examples of this (these are also the longest tracks on the album with all four crossing the 6 minute mark). And since we are on the topic of length, the album is just over 1 hour long but it flows so naturally that it never comes across as overly long. I believe that the exceptional solo work has a massive role to play in this as it makes the longer tracks on the album remain exciting until the very end.
Production-wise, everything is masterfully produced and of a superb standard which is something that has in the meantime become sort of a norm for albums involving Jacob Hansen. With just perhaps two exceptions, every track here is highly memorable on every front: chorus-, verse-, keyboard melodies- and solo-wise. The two singles “Where Darkened Souls Belong” and “From the Ashes of the Fallen” have immediately made it to the band’s best material to date and I believe that Mercenary and MeloDeath fans alike will be very pleased with this album which was definitely worth the long wait.
1. Insomnium + EP – Anno 1696 + Songs of the Dusk
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Finland
Label: Century Media
Bear’s Top Tracks: Lilian; Godforsaken; Starless Paths; The Witch Hunter; The Rapids; Flowers of the Night; Song of the Dusk
A few closing notes at the end of what has become a rather absurdly long post (I shall definitely split the top 30 album post into multiple posts from now on, but well – we live and we learn):
- Feel free to check out MetalBear’s Top 30 Tracks of 2023 on Spotify.
- 70% of the top 10 albums on MetalBear’s 2023 list are from Finnish bands. I feel obliged to note here that I am actually not from Finland – this is really simply down to the immense talent that this country has when it comes to the most beloved music genre of all.
- And last, but not least, a huge THANK YOU to every fellow metalhead for taking the time to read through this post – I hope it was an enjoyable and useful read. Any feedback, thoughts or comments will be truly massively appreciated. Cheers \m/
1MetalBear 
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