“Time is fake and dates are arbitrary,” I kept reminding everyone. But I couldn’t stop them (or myself) from reflecting on all of our favorite albums and tours of 2023. Despite the calendar being an alleged fabrication, the timer on the Zoom call kept right on ticking. Three hours and some change. In case you were wondering what we here at IUF (and a very special guest) loved about new music in 2023, please read on.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
First we discussed new music that, for one reason or another, didn’t make our top five albums of the year lists, but deserved to be recognized. Some of these are reissues, EPs, singles, reissues, or albums that maybe we didn’t get to listen to thoroughly enough to rank. The list was long, but I want to make sure we include the following efforts because they were so impactful to us:
-Blink 182 – One More Time… (LP)
-Dying Wish – Symptoms of Survival (LP)
-Enforced – War Remains (LP)
-Elegant Weapons – Horns for a Halo (LP)
-Gel – Only Constant (LP)
-In Flames – Foregone (LP)
-KK’s Priest – The SInner Rides Again (LP)
-Knocked Loose – “Deep in the Willow/Everything is Quiet Now” (dual single)
-Ludo – Broken Bride (EP/Reissue)
-Olivia Rodrigo – Guts (LP)
-Scowl – Psychic Dance Routine (EP)
-Smashing Pumpkins – Atum III (LP)
-Svalbard – The Weight of the Mask (LP)
-Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version) – (LP/Re-recording)
-Tech N9ne – Bliss (LP)
-Tesseract – War of Being (LP)
-Twiztid/DJ Godzilla – Odyssey (EP)
Top five album lists
We could have probably put all of this in an email. Here at IUF, though, efficiency takes a backseat to interaction. We chased a lot of rabbits, but eventually we were all able to name our top five favorite albums of 2023.
Special Guest – ETER MATSIASHVILI of COSA NOSTRA Artist PR (US)
Eter is a PR rep that we have been lucky enough to work with on multiple occasions, and even luckier enough to call a friend. She admits that for either professional or personal reasons, her list may be a bit biased, but we wanted her input anyway. Biased or not, we value her opinion and besides, you can’t help what you love. Here are Eter’s picks:
5. Fencer – S/T
4. Of Virtue – Omen
3. Renee Rapp – Snow Angel
2. Wind Walkers – What if I Break?
1. Noah Kahan – Stick Season (Deluxe Version)
“This is a record that hits differently. I’m a bit sentimental about it (since it was introduced to me by a close friend), but it’s a no-skips album that truly tugs at the right strings.” – Eter, on Stick Season
Jessica Karlsson (IUF staff photographer)
(Jess’s Picks are in no particular order! These are the five albums that stuck out to her)
-Thy Art is Murder – Godlike
– Polaris – Fatalism
-Avenged Sevenfold – Life Is But A Dream
-Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
-Currents – The Death We Seek
“Incredibly well written from start to end, full of satisfying and catchy riffs, breakdowns, and beautiful vocals and lyrics. It’s hard to even pick favorites from the track list!” – Jess, on The Death We Seek
James Reza (IUF staff writer and consultant)
5. Mil-Spec – Marathon
4. Sleep Token – Take Me Back to Eden
3. Rancid – Tomorrow Never Comes
2. Capra – Errors
1. Zulu – A New Tomorrow
“Zulu is doing artistic things with hardcore that really push it forward, while also getting across their passion and conviction better than anyone else in a genre that is known for passion and conviction.” – James, on A New Tomorrow
“Genre bending and blending is such an important thing right now. I hear Sleep Token and think about how die-hard metalheads probably hate the pop elements, and how mainstream pop fans probably think the guitars and real drums ruin perfectly good pop tunes. Even still, the dedication of their fanbase shows us how badly we actually want to blur those lines.” – James, on Take Me Back To Eden
Cory Hodges (IUF co-founder, photographer, and episode editor)
(Cory’s albums are also not in any particular order)
-Andre 3000 – New Blue Sun
-King Iso – Illdren
-Scar Symmetry – Phase II: Xenotaph
-Jelly Roll – Whitsitt Chapel
-Colter Wall – Little Songs
“For someone to have such a unique approach to multiple genres and still turn out great albums is really impressive.” – Cory, on Whitsitt Chapel
Sonny Reza (IUF owner, lead interviewer and photographer)
5. August Burns Red – Death Below
4. Sleep Token – Take Me Back To Eden
3. Laufey – Bewitched
2. Capra – Errors
1. Signs of the Swarm – Amongst the Low and Empty
“I’ll be the first to admit that I was one of the people who thought deathcore was stale and that no one could do anything new and exciting in that genre. I’m glad to be proven wrong by Signs of the Swarm – they’ve made an album that shows the possibilities of deathcore as a genre and that is as brutal as anything I’ve heard in a long time.” – Sonny on Amongst the Low and Empty
Closing Thoughts
We finished out our last virtual staff meeting of the year by talking about our favorite live music shows of the year. Some of the tours that we needed to gush about were SZA, Fleshgod Apocalypse/Obscura/Wolfheart, Gojira/Mastodon, Currents, Drug Church/Anxious, Crypta, Polaris, and believe it or not, Taylor Swift.
And finally, we discussed (with very tired voices) goals for the new year. I’ll spare you most of it, save to say that many of our goals included this: to bring you as much coverage of the artists you love as we possibly can. Thank you for your continued support of our humble operation, and we promise to keep on trucking in (the imaginary year) 2024.
