Doomcakes' Top 25 Underground Releases of 2023
It all comes to this.
The culmination of a year's work for most of my peers, and the culmination of about 4-7 months' work for me, depending on how generous and official we want to be with timelines. I started on Instagram in May of 2023, just some chick posting about obscure music for no particular reason. Come to find out, people actually value my opinion and like my taste sometimes, and now here I am making these lists that people actually read. Pretty cool. Even though I'm still a bit of a newbie around here, choosing a mere twenty-five underground releases to represent the best of 2023 was no easy task. Well, let me rephrase: choosing them wasn't too difficult, but ranking them? Oof. I had a vague idea of what was going in the top ten area, but there was one obvious choice for number one album of the year for me...
The rules here are pretty lenient; to qualify for this quaint little list, an album or EP simply has to be released in 2023 (a huge portion of the releases I chose are EPs, way too good not to recognize). These are the albums that I played over and over this year, and they all genuinely resonated with me. I think some of my choices will be quite predictable, and others may surprise you a bit.
Without further ado, my Top 25 Releases of 2023:
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):
Duskwood - The Last Voyage
Omega Sun - Roadkill
Blackwülf - Thieves and Liars
Formation Ritual - Doors to the Dead
Saltpig - Saltpig
Grand Atomic - Beyond The Realm Of Common Sense
TOP 25 UNDERGROUND RELEASES OF 2023 (in descending order):
25. STONED JESUS - FATHER LIGHT
Ukraine
24. HUMULUS - FLOWERS OF DEATH
Brescia, Italy
23. LA CHINGA - PRIMAL FORCES
Vancouver, British Columbia
22. KING POTENAZ - GOAT RIDER
Fasano, Italy
21. ACIDSITTER - MAKE ACID GREAT AGAIN
Kraków, Poland
20. GOAT EXPLOSION - THREATENING SKIES
Leipzig, Germany
19. HOWLING GIANT - GLASS FUTURE
Nashville, Tennessee
18. STONE OF DUNA - MOONSPLITTER
Gothenburg, Sweden
17. HEY COLOSSUS - IN BLOOD
UK
16. SONIC MOON - RETURN WITHOUT ANY MEMORY
Aarhus, Denmark
15. WARCOE - A PLACE FOR DEMONS
Pesaro, Italy
14. NOMESTOMPER - MOSSY COBBLESTONE CANDLELIGHT PAGAN NOMESTOMPER
Albuquerque, New Mexico
13. FOOL'S IDOL - AUTUMN EP
Adelaide, Australia
12. KLEAZER - SIGNALS
Amsterdam, Netherlands
11. FIRMAMENT - WE DON'T RISE, WE JUST FALL
Leipzig, Germany
10. BLESSED BLACK - SEASONS, VOL. 1
Cincinnati, Ohio
9. SATURNA - THE RESET
Barcelona, Spain
8. BEASTWARS - TYRANNY OF DISTANCE
Wellington, New Zealand
7. DAMAGE THERAPY - PANACEA
Lexington, Kentucky
6. MANDALA - KINGS CREEK
Luckenwalde, Germany
5. DISMYTH - FOREST OF THE SORROW
Georgia
4. THE HEAVY MINDS - BEYOND GLOOM
Austria
3. LORD VELVET - ASTRAL LADY
Denver, Colorado
2. YEAST MACHINE - RISE OF THE YEAST
Tübingen, Germany
1. GIANT LUNGS - GIANT LUNGS 🏆
Augsburg, Germany
And there you have it, the best of 2023 according to Doomcakes!
I want to say a huge thank you to the stoner/doom community, bands and fans alike, for always being awesome. I appreciate each and every one of you more than you know! 2023 has been an amazing year for underground music and, by default, for me. I can't wait to see what 2024 has in store!
Stay tuned for the first ever "Stephanie Says Nice Things About an Album" review of my number one album of the year, Giant Lungs' self-titled debut! This will go live on January 2, 2024. Until then, I hope everyone has an amazing New Year's celebration!
🖤 Much love,
Stephanie
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