Top 250 Songs of 2023

Disclaimer: My list of the top 250 songs of 2023 will change as I listen to more records and songs from 2023, but this is my list as of the end of 2023. The list is extremely biased and has a lot of personal preference, so don't expect anything.

Top 250 Songs of 2023

250. Pomegranate Tiger - Metasphere

249. 花冷え。- お先に失礼します。

248. fromjoy - seraph (feat. iRis.EXE)

247. BOI WHAT - Neon Tide

246. Andrew Huang - Cloud Collapse

245. END - Gaping Wounds of Earth

244. Darknet - Zerotonin 3

243. Brand of Sacrifice - Dynasty

242. Enterprise Earth - King Of Ruination (feat. Ben Duerr of Shadow of Intent)

241. 草東沒有派對 (No Party For Cao Dong) - 八

240. Hail The Sun - Maladapted

239. END - Leper

238. '68 - Within the Hour, They Were No More

237. Allt - Emanate

236. Skrillex - Leave Me Like This (feat. Bobby Raps)

235. 草東沒有派對 (No Party For Cao Dong) - 白日夢

234. Cory Wong - The Grid Generation (feat. Louis Cole of KNOWER)

233. Frog - Goes w/o Saying

232. Everything Everything - Cold Reactor

231. Opal In Sky - The Sacral

230. Better Lovers - God Made Me an Animal

229. FIZZ - High In Brighton

228. Night Verses - Karma Wheel

227. Poppy - The Attic

226. Beartooth - Sunshine!

225. beabadoobee, Laufey - A Night To Remember

224. Ghost Atlas - Seeker (Stretch The Night)

223. Spiritbox - The Void

222. Zach Bryan - Spotless (feat. The Lumineers)

221. Humanity’s Last Breath - Death Spiral

220. Father Koi - New Years

219. Cody Fry - Somebody To You (feat. Cory Wong & Vincen García)

218. Laufey - Dreamer

217. HEAVENSGATE - GINSICK

216. FIZZ - The Secret To Life

215. Karmanjakah - Breathing

214. Enter Shikari - A Kiss for the Whole World x

213. Veil Of Maya - Disco Kill Party

212. Spanish Love Songs - Pendulum

211. Jonas Brothers - Sail Away

210. Waterparks - BRAINWASHED

209. The Newton Brothers - Five Nights at Freddy’s

208. Teenage Wrist - Sunshine

207. Empire State Bastard - Tired, Aye?

206. 100 gecs - One Million Dollars

205. BOYS LIKE GIRLS - LANGUAGE

204. ILLENIUM - Starfall

203. Hot Milk - BREATHING UNDERWATER

202. Hozier - De Selby (Part 2)

201. Enter Shikari - goldfǐsh ~

200. templuv - shouldacoulda

199. Beartooth - The Surface

198. To Kill Achilles - Blue

197. Trophy Eyes - Life in Slow Motion

196. Sylosis - Pariahs

195. Kim Dracula - Land Of The Sun

194. Like Moths To Flames - Predestination Paradox

193. Pierce The Veil - Death Of An Executioner

192. blessthefall - Wake The Dead

191. Better Lovers - Two Alive Amongst The Dead

190. Skrillex - XENA (feat. Nai Barghouti)

189. Melanie Martinez - SPIDER WEB

188. ILLENIUM - Luv Me A Little (feat. Nina Nesbitt)

187. Olivia Rodrigo - Can’t Catch Me Now

186. d4vd - The Bridge

185. Invent Animate - Void Surfacing

184. Origami Angel - The Brightest Days

183. Avenged Sevenfold - We Love You

182. thrown - guilt

181. Polaris - Dissipate

180. Hot Milk - OVER YOUR DEAD BODY

179. BOYS LIKE GIRLS - MIRACLE

178. Paramore - Figure 8

177. Tallah - Hard Knock

176. Invent Animate - Purity Weeps

175. Melanie Martinez - THE CONTORTIONIST

174. Polaris - Harbinger

173. The Plot In You - Forgotten

172. underscores - Locals (Girls like us) [with gabby start]

171. Harper - Weight Of The World (feat. We Came As Romans & Brand Of Sacrifice)

170. John Ferrara - Fragments of Silence

169. Melanie Martinez - WOMB

168. The Callous Daoboys - Waco Jesus

167. Empire State Bastard - Moi?

166. Lewis Capaldi - Burning

165. Fuslie - The Dawn

164. Clayton King - Equivalent Exchange

163. Harm - I Fear Only That My Rage Will Fade Over Time

162. Skrillex - A Street I Know (feat. Eli Keszler)

161. Ed Sheeran - Stoned

160. 100 gecs - Hollywood Baby

159. Gideon - Take Off

158. Falling In Reverse - Watch The World Burn

157. Thy Art Is Murder - Until There Is No Longer

156. iRis.EXE - sanctuary

155. Night Verses - Rose Wire

154. Cory Wong - Call Me Wild (feat. dodie)

153. Melanie Martinez - BATTLE OF THE LARYNX

152. Avenged Sevenfold - Cosmic

151. Knocked Loose - Deep in the Willow

150. Johnny Booth - 2040

149. Malevolence - Waste Of Myself

148. Unprocessed - Glass

147. LiL Lotus - stockholm syndrome (feat. sace6)

146. ILLENIUM - Eyes Wide Shut (feat. Avril Lavigne and Travis Barker of blink-182)

145. Hot Mulligan - Shhhh! Golf is On

144. Silent Planet - Anunnaki

143. Megan Thee Stallion - Cobra (Rock Remix feat. Spiritbox)

142. Humanity's Last Breath - Labyrinthian

141. Periphery - Wildfire

140. Holding Absence - Her Wings

139. Trophy Eyes - Blue Eyed Boy

138. Calva Louise - Con Corazon

137. Polaris - Inhumane

136. Fall Out Boy - I Am My Own Muse

135. Enter Shikari - Leap into the Lightning

134. Many Eyes - Revelation

133. Johnny Booth - Collapse in the Key of Fireworks

132. ††† - Ghost Ride

131. Adjy - Idioglossia

130. Unprocessed - I Wish I Wasn’t

129. Code Orange - A Drone Opting Out Of The Hive

128. Chelsea Grin - Fathomless Maw

127. Signs of the Swarm - Tower of Torsos

126. grandson - Something To Hide

125. Melanie Martinez - EVIL

124. Wolf & Bear - FOOL'S GOLD

123. GROUPLOVE - All

122. awakebutstillinbed - bloodline

121. Polaris - Aftertouch

120. Chelsea Cutler - Hunting Season

119. TesseracT - War Of Being

118. 草東沒有派對 (No Party For Cao Dong) - 但

117. Under The Rug - Skeleton Tree

116. Hot Mulligan - Cock Party 2 (Better Than The First)

115. Sylosis - Deadwood

114. Code Orange - Take Shape (feat. Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins)

113. Monuments - Nefarious

112. Meet Me @ The Altar - T.M.I

111. The XCERTS - Ache (feat. Sam Carter of Architects)

110. Spiritbox - Angel Eyes

109. Polaris - Overflow

108. ERRA - Pale Iris

107. Better Lovers - Sacrificial Participant

106. Holding Absence - A Crooked Melody

105. Bring Me The Horizon - AmEN! (feat. Lil Uzi Vert and Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw)

104. OK Go - This

103. 100 gecs - Billy Knows Jamie

102. Nothing But Thieves - Tomorrow Is Closed

101. Fall Out Boy - Hold Me Like a Grudge

100. Unprocessed - Thrash

99. Ed Sheeran - Punchline

98. Hot Mulligan - John "The Rock" Cena, Can You Smell What the Undertaker

97. Wolf & Bear - PAINTED LADY

96. Olivia Rodrigo - teenage dream

95. Johnny Booth - Gatekeeper

94. '68 - With Distance Between

93. Paramore - You First

92. Zach Bryan - Boys Of Faith (feat. Bon Iver)

91. people i like - deer song

90. Unprocessed - Lore

89. glass beach - rare animal

88. Hot Mulligan - Gans Media Retro Games

87. Rabbitology - New Girl, Old Ghosts (Dorm Demo)

86. TesseracT - Burden

85. Olivia Rodrigo - vampire

84. Manchester Orchestra - Quietly

83. CORPSE, Bring Me The Horizon - CODE MISTAKE

82. Under The Rug - Turkey Vulture

81. Sufjan Stevens - Shit Talk

80. Termina - Bathed In Solitude (feat. Marcus Bridge of Northlane)

79. Unprocessed - Blackbone

78. underscores - Uncanny long arms (with Jane Remover)

77. Johnny Booth - Full Tilt

76. Spiritbox - Too Close / Too Late

75. Paleface Swiss - Please End Me

74. Vildhjarta - + den spanska känslan +

73. Rabbitology - Millie, Warm The Kettle (Dorm Demo)

72. Periphery - Dracul Gras

71. Ghost Atlas - Lesser Gods

70. Trophy Eyes - What Hurts the Most

69. Under The Rug - Dead Man on the Lawn

68. Invent Animate - False Meridian

67. Sleep Token - Ascensionism

66. Hozier - Abstract (Psychopomp)

65. Fall Out Boy - The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)

64. Laufey - Lovesick

63. Lovejoy - Call Me What You Like

62. Chelsea Cutler - Hotel June

61. Silent Planet - SUPERBLOOM

60. Architects - Seeing Red

59. Periphery - Everything is Fine!

58. Signs of the Swarm - Amongst the Low & Empty

57. Humanity’s Last Breath - Catastrophize

56. Veil Of Maya - Godhead

55. Invent Animate - Immolation of Night

54. The Callous Daoboys - Designer Shroud of Turin (feat. Pulses.)

53. Sleep Token - Granite

52. David Kushner - Daylight

51. Bring Me The Horizon - LosT

50. Spiritbox - Jaded

49. Termina - Everything//Nothing

48. Polaris - Parasites

47. Silent Planet - Antimatter

46. Zach Bryan - Tourniquet

45. Dance Gavin Dance - War Machine

44. Spiritbox - Cellar Door

43. Johnny Booth - Bright Future

42. Hot Mulligan - It's a Family Movie She Hates Her Dad

41. Fall Out Boy - Fake Out

40. Spiritbox - Ultraviolet

39. TesseracT - The Grey

38. Better Lovers - Become So Small

37. Unprocessed - Die On The Cross Of The Martyr (feat. Tim Henson and Scottie LePage of Polyphia)

36. Currents - Remember Me

35. Empire State Bastard - Harvest

34. Pierce The Veil - So Far So Fake

33. ’68 - Removed Their Hats

32. Johnny Booth - No Comply

31. Veil Of Maya - Red Fur

30. Bury Tomorrow - Wrath

29. Wolf & Bear - QUICK SIP 84

28. Trophy Eyes - Kill

27. Dance Gavin Dance - The Ghost of Billy Royalton

26. Make Them Suffer - Ghost Of Me

25. Sleep Token - The Summoning

24. END - Thaw (feat. Debbie Gough of Heriot)

23. 草東沒有派對 (No Party For Cao Dong) - 缸

22. Currents - Living In Tragedy

21. Trophy Eyes - Epilogue

20. Fall Out Boy - Love From The Other Side

19. Sleep Token - Euclid

18. Silent Planet - Collider

17. Holding Absence - False Dawn

16. Periphery - Zagreus

15. Trophy Eyes - Stay Here

14. Dead Poet Society - HURT

13. Better Lovers - 30 Under 13

12. ILLENIUM - Back To You (feat. All Time Low)

11. Hot Mulligan - Smahccked My Head Awf

10. Manchester Orchestra - The Way

9. Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden

8. Knocked Loose - Everything is Quiet Now

7. Periphery - Atropos

6. Invent Animate - Heavener

5. Sleep Token - Rain

4. Manchester Orchestra - Rear View

3. Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust

2. Invent Animate - Without a Whisper

1. Periphery - Wax Wings

Song: Dance Gavin Dance - War Machine [2023]

The Sacramento boys are back with another one! War Machine is the second single post-Jackpot Juicer, and it is surprisingly refreshing to see them evolve their sound once again. Revitalised by the relatively new line-up addition of Andrew Wells from Eidola, and with Sergio Medina taking over Tim Feerick's bass duties after his passing, they manage to pull off some new tricks, which is impressive for a band with such a huge catalogue behind then.

War Machine is a pretty colourful track, jumping between many of their different sounds in just under four minutes. The dissonance-heavy chugfest that Jon Mess screams over, the melodically divine chorus by Tilian, as well as that absolutely tasteful second verse. I love what Andrew brings to the table with his more soulful voice, complementing the band by fitting the part where Tilian's high voice might not fit as well. The guitarwork underneath Jon's part is super funky too, I love the effects and how the whole thing sounds, how it matches the rhythm of Jon's cadences.

The breakdown definitely took me by surprise. Not only have they gone ahead and tuned lower than ever before, Jon speaks?? After his classic lyrical mania for the build-up, he just speaks, with no vocal fry or grit, "what? I mean...". It is kind of wild that, for a man who's only ever done harsh vocals for his entire career, has finally done literally any other vocal technique here. I remember doing a double-take when I first heard it, coupled with the absolutely heavy breakdown itself. Fun chug pattern, love the dissonance as well, and the lyrics are just fun at this point.

I love where their new sound is headed, it's a subtle but promising change and I'm excited for a new album that has the potential to outdo Jackpot Juicer. Dance Gavin Dance has always been on that impossible grind, somehow making amazing songs at an unbeatable pace, but this might be a new peak. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I hope we're not left waiting for much too long.

Rating: 4/5

Top 50 Records of 2023

Disclaimer: My list of the top 50 records of 2023 might change as I listen to more records and songs from 2023, but this is my list as of the end of 2023. The list is extremely biased and has a lot of personal preference, so don't expect anything.

Top 50 Records of 2023

50. Pomegranate Tiger - All Input Is Error

49. Adjy - June Songs Vol. 1

48. Hozier - Unreal Unearth

47. Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream…

46. Pierce The Veil - The Jaws Of Life

45. Sufjan Stevens - Javelin

44. END - The Sin of Human Frailty

43. Meet Me @ The Altar - Past // Present // Future

42. Lewis Capaldi - Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent

41. Beartooth - The Surface

40. Kim Dracula - A Gradual Decline In Morale

39. Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS

38. Melanie Martinez - Portals

37. Laufey - Bewitched

36. Paramore - This Is Why

35. Zach Bryan - Zach Bryan

34. underscores - Wallsocket

33. Skrillex - Quest For Fire

32. Hot Milk - A Call To The Void

31. Enter Shikari - A Kiss For The Whole World

30. Signs of the Swarm - Amongst the Low & Empty

29. Holding Absence - The Noble Art of Self Destruction

28. Currents - The Death We Seek

27. Bury Tomorrow - The Seventh Sun

26. The Callous Daoboys - God Smiles Upon The Callous Daoboys

25. Chelsea Cutler - Stellaria

24. 100 gecs - 10,000 gecs

23. Veil Of Maya - [m]other

22. TesseracT - War Of Being

21. Silent Planet - SUPERBLOOM

20. Polaris - Fatalism

19. Under The Rug - Homesick for Another World

18. ‘68 - Yes, And…

17. 草東沒有派對 (No Party For Cao Dong) - 瓦合

16. ILLENIUM - ILLENIUM

15. Termina - Soul Elegy

14. Empire State Bastard - Rivers Of Heresy

13. Unprocessed - …And Everything In Between

12. Humanity’s Last Breath - Ashen

11. Wolf & Bear - Bloodletter

10. Manchester Orchestra - The Valley Of Vision

9. Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust

8. Trophy Eyes - Suicide and Sunshine

7. Better Lovers - God Made Me An Animal

6. Invent Animate - Heavener

5. Johnny Booth - Moments Elsewhere

4. Spiritbox - The Fear of Fear

3. Hot Mulligan - Why Would I Watch

2. Periphery - Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre

1. Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden

EP: Spiritbox - The Fear of Fear [2023]

Spiritbox never fails to deliver, man. The Fear of Fear is their latest musical concept, presenting the best of all of their current sounds to us in a six-track package of absolute monstrosity. I love that everything Spiritbox does is so refined and intentful, they really care about the art of it all, and even with all that they can still make unparalleled bangers and even get a Grammy nomination. That's just insane for modern metalcore, and that's why they deserve every bit of their success and more.

Cellar Door was such a punch to the face as a single, and a great opener for the EP. Infusing their signature creepy-heavy modern metal sound with some really cool slam hardcore influences, it's one of the most ruthless cuts Spiritbox has ever released. The chromatic riff is intense and I love how well they vary and build upon it throughout the song. The song also stays unrelentingly heavy the entire way through, which is a plus. Of course, cherry on top is the ridiculous breakdown, complete with one of the best build-ups of the entire year. The riff is nasty too, accompanied by a four-on-the-floor drum beat that is so caveman. I can't even tell you what polyrhythm it is, but it is stank face material all day. Also, small shoutout to the ambient lead work in this song, Mike knows his shit.

Jaded, the Grammy nominated masterpiece. As it should be. One of the most well-rounded modern metal tracks they've ever made, nigh perfect to the genre in every aspect yet signature to themselves, it's the anthological successor to Circle With Me in my opinion. Stellar sound design, insane main riff, perfect dynamics especially with the clean and harsh vocals, exquisite chorus, beautiful breakdown and tastefully profound lyrics, it's all so smartly put together. You have to experience it, that's for sure.

Too Close / Too Late is the first non-single in the tracklist, and a beautiful one at that. One of the more vocal-focused cuts on the EP, it leans more into the beautiful side of their sound, reminiscent of songs like Secret Garden and The Summit. The electronics are dark and lovely (the intro reminds me just the tiniest bit of Chaos Chaos' Do You Feel It?). I love the chorus but I also love the little 'dun dundun' in the instrumental, fun little groove over there. Vocal production is amazing on this one, the bridge sounds angelic.

Angel Eyes is the other heavy track on the EP, and I gotta say, my least favourite (but not by much, not by much at all). Nik Nocturnal lauded it as a Holy Roller 2.0, which makes sense since Holy Roller was also not that life-changing of a track for me. Great lyrics though, and I actually do enjoy a lot of the guitarwork in this track. The slight dissonance they pull off with the chromatic riffs and the key change(?) in the chorus riff are all super tasteful. The breakdown doesn't really do too much for me, it's the typical super heavy chugs, I respect it but Spiritbox definitely could pull off more interesting breakdowns. The rhythm and cadence of the chorus is pretty fun though, I would say it's my favourite part of the song. "Innocence is a game that I have lost" is also a hard-as-fuck line.

The Void came out a whole seven months before the EP itself, before it was even announced. I remember thinking it was decent then, but it's wild how different the song feels now with the context of the EP. Seeing all the originally vague thematics now given context, all the previously random dots now connected to the other songs, has made The Void a much better song somehow. By itself, I still have to commend the absolute vibes it has, whether it's the softness of the first pre-chorus, the sparkly breakdown or the grand half-time final chorus, it's just an unbelievably good time.

Ultraviolet is one that took a bit to grow on me, but I have been completely won over by the vocal melodies and overall emotion of it all. Spiritbox seems to have a knack for closers, and Ultraviolet definitely has that emotional touch to it that makes it such a beautiful way to end the EP. The chorus is sublime, the atmosphere is crystal clear and so colourful, and the narrative is tied up so nicely. It's just the kind of song that was born to be a closing track, it has that aura and weight to it.

The Fear of Fear is not only a succinct success of their newest sounds to offer, it is a thematic work of art and a diverse soundscape that I love to get lost in. Despite the spectrum of heaviness to softness, there are no jarring transitions or jumps, and I think it says a lot about how mindful they are when designing a musical experience like this. Concept albums are something I'm fond of, and even more so when it is sonically complemented, and this EP does that perfectly. It was so cool to see the repeating motifs pop up in other songs and tie it all together, in that mysterious way that Spiritbox does.

I'm so glad Spiritbox is taking their time with their music and not feeling pressured to work on a sophomore album. The Rotoscope EP and now this EP have both been amazing and only because they let themselves have time to experiment and evolve their sound after Eternal Blue. Even as I continue hoping for a new album in time to come, I wouldn't want them to rush anything. As for this EP, they definitely killed it, one of the best releases in the entire year.

Rating: 10/10

Tracklist:

1. Cellar Door

2. Jaded

3. Too Close / Too Late

4. Angel Eyes

5. The Void

6. Ultraviolet

Lyric Of The Week 95: Wrath

"Instead of the life we chose, we’re keeping storms at bay."

Bury Tomorrow - Wrath, from the album The Seventh Sun

Song: Architects - Seeing Red [2023]

Oh, Architects is back and they're back with a cutthroat message for the world.

This iconic metalcore band with albums in the double digits has been around for a long time, and like every other artist, they have fans that hate on them for evolving their sound. For some reason though, they get this hate at an unprecedented level, and sometimes it's really unjustified. I've completely sympathized with the band for the haters they had to deal with since For Those That Wish To Exist, but especially after the last album release. There's a clear line between critique and attacking them, and there were some people that definitely crossed the line.

All that said, Seeing Red is definitely a giant "fuck you" to all those people, and I love that for them. The whole song is a clear and unadulterated jab at the fans who only want heavy songs, poking fun at them by parodying all the metalcore clichès while absolutely dissing them in the lyrics. On top of all of that, they still manage to coalesce the best of their sound and make a great song anyways.

Seeing Red starts off with that instant heaviness that they teased on Instagram a few days before the release, something that now seems like it was intentionally done to hook in those listeners in hindsight. They pretend to heavybait (layers, man) by suddenly doing electronic cleans and then children's cheer vocals, and then going straight back into one of their most clichè metalcore riffs, and a blegh to top it off.

God, Sam's lows sound so good, and I love that he's using it so carelessly in this track. It's been a tease ever since their orchestral version of For Those That Wish To Exist At Abbey Road, and finally hearing him let it loose in a studio song like this is a long time coming. The verses are solid and full of rage, but there's this sharpness to it when it's so personal.

The chorus is great, as many of Architects' songs are. You can clearly hear the sound of the more recent albums here, and along with it, their ever-increasing pop sensibilities. The sound design is immaculate, it sounds big and anthemic, and transitions perfectly back into that clichè metalcore riff. Small shoutout to the pre-chorus as well, definitely mocking the heavy haters, and I've seen some fans compare it to Happy Song.

The second verse gets even more pissed, with harder chug riffs and feedback noises reminiscent of hardcore, nicely matching the words that he's screaming. Doing lows on "death threat" is a nice touch as well. I also want to commend how well they're pulling off the heavy metalcore clichè with the drumwork as well, the double kicks are tastefully done even as they play into the stereotype. They are, after all, one of the figureheads of metalcore.

Breakdown is done so cheekily it almost feels like a really good joke. Surprise breakdown, zeroes for chugs, diminished chords, pauses, short sample cuts, left-right pans, bells, all followed up by Sam asking the listeners, "are you happy now?", in what is clearly a sarcastic tone. Props to the visuals as well, the music video features Sam staring deadpan and unamused at the camera while the breakdown happens, it's perfect.

This song is such an apt lyrical commentary, it's slam poetry-esque, emphasis on the slam. There's no subtlety in who he's dissing, and I love the subtle shift away from their more profound lyricism of earlier material, to this more direct and verbatim lyricism that reminds me just a little bit of the way Enter Shikari does it. The lines cut deep though, especially when you know the kind of messages they've got from their haters, essentially asking them to stay miserable because that was when the band made the music they wanted, not caring about the fact that band deserves to move on emotionally from the tragedies that fuelled their anger.

I'm glad that Architects is standing strong against those listeners and not taking shit from them. They definitely deserve their creative freedom, especially since they've been killing it with the last two albums, contrary to the haters' opinions. The numbers don't lie, the streams are high. This standalone banger is a great release to close up 2023, and I hope for new material from them in 2024, whatever that may be.

Rating: 4.5/5

Album: Kim Dracula - A Gradual Decline In Morale [2023]

I remember seeing this guy blow up on TikTok back in the pandemic era, and I was honestly just impressed that someone managed to gain a sizeable following with metal content. It took a while for him to go from shortform internet content to releasing songs, to finally putting out a debut album. When I heard the news, I was really curious to see what he would try to pull off.

First impressions, it was quite cool. I love that he stuck to his identity and made the whole album theatrical, and it really felt like something he would make. The production and sound quality is solid too, so all there really was to consider was the songwriting and performance itself.

Kim Dracula was always quite skilled with his vocals, especially in the nü-metal department. Proficient in several advanced vocal techniques, and also with rap-screaming, things we've all seen him pull off in his TikTok era, I'm not surprised but still as glad to see him throw all of it in and more on this album. From a purely technical standpoint, this album is ace.

Songwriting is where it gets slightly more iffy all around. I respect that the chaos in this album is intentional and a reflection of Kim Dracula's vision and sonic identity, but I did find myself a bit lost here and there throughout the full listen. It's a super jumpy album experience which can ruin it for some people, but I personally think it's a quirk I can run with. Songs like Luck Is A Fine Thing (Give It A Chance) and Land Of The Sun sound like they could be ten different songs, but I've come to enjoy it quite a lot, especially when each section is great on their own to begin with.

Vocally, he seems to be throwing in everything. Anthemic cleans, fast screams, potently high whisper screams and inhumanly low growls, all put against a diverse palette of genre sounds. You can find anything from ska and jazz to funk and flamenco painted onto the modern metal canvas of this album. Speaking of modern metal, I am actually quite surprised at the kind of modern metal elements he used on this album, especially with the production and songwriting choices, it is extremely on par with the best of modern metal today, and a surprising but very welcome choice especially with his virality. I think it's safe to say that he has zero regard for appealing to the pop masses, which is a great thing.

I think his main shortfall (which isn't very big, mind you) is the incoherence of the album experience, between chaotic songs, there seems to be a recklessly fast-paced changing of lyrical themes and sonic palettes, which contributes to the overall perceived messiness of the album. I have to say though, given the odd selection of morbid and sardonic themes in this album, I think it fits the concept. This is a peek into the mind of his madman character, one that has a clear story from start to end, a dramatic delusion of desire for fame, singing about murderous infamy in some, violently interjecting himself into various amalgamated sounds and aesthetics in others. You wouldn't think it to be pristine and orderly.

This debut album has its merits, I think we can all agree on that. Kim Dracula has definitely shown that he is more than capable in the technical aspect, and on the songwriting side, what isn't great still shows a lot of potential, that can become game-changing with some proper refinement. He definitely has a knack for moments and impactfulness, but he could do with a bit more pop sensibility to round it up, just enough to make it sound less like an experimental endeavour and more like a full-fledged display of his musicality. Jonathan Davis is also a very apt guest to have on the album, as Korn is clearly a big influence of his, evident with all the scatting scattered throughout the album. A surprising but fun addition to the tracklist as well is his cover of The Goo Goo Dolls' Iris, one that he twists into a darker and more unsettling rendition.

It's definitely a mixed reviews kind of album, but I think it's commendable. Out to do his own thing and seek a new sound, he's made it very clear with this debut album that he's got something special. Now, all he has to do is convince the critics that there is something truly artistic and more to his music than the dramatic persona of this album that comes off as cringeworthy or unbearable to some. I personally think it's fun though, at the very least, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with a fun album.

Rating: 6/10

Tracklist:

1. A Gradual Decline In Morale

2. My Confession

3. The Pledge:

4. Luck Is A Fine Thing (Give It A Chance)

5. Drown

6. Superhero

7. Are You (feat. Kirin J Callinan)

8. Land Of The Sun

9. The Turn:

10. Divine Retribution

11. Undercover

12. Industry Secrets

13. Rosé

14. Seventy Thorns (feat. Jonathan Davis of Korn)

15. The Prestige:

16. Reunion And Reintegration

17. Kitty Kitty

18. Make Me Famous

19. Iris (The Goo Goo Dolls Cover)

20. The End, For Now

Song: Allt - The Deep Blue Silent [The Seed of Self-Destruction, 2022]

I saw The Seed of Self-Destruction popping up a lot last year on the internet, praised as a really good modern metal EP, so I took a listen. It's all pretty damn good, but The Deep Blue Silent stole the show completely on that five-track record for me.

Allt comes from the modern progressive metal wave of djent and thall, alongside bands such as Invent Animate and ERRA, and it's clear they have their own sound within this niche of modern metal. They lean into the thall side of things more than their contemporaries, especially on the guitar front. The Deep Blue Silent is, for me, the song that best represents that blend of subgenres.

Immediately from the get-go, you can hear the thall influences with the juxtaposition of clean reverb-laden ambient background leads and heavy distorted foreground lead and rhythm parts. The verse adds in the vocals, a super respectable scream tone that fits the sound well, as well as a tasteful djent riff underneath.

Chorus is surprisingly hard to tell, but eventually I figured out which part is the chorus since it's the only section that repeats. Post-chorus gives us a nice blast beat section, followed by the breakdown. This is the part that killed it for me, I loved the call-and-response riffage between the pure chugs and the fun lead riffs, a really well put together moment.

Past that, there's a bridge that has a really cool guitar section afterwards. I love the super smart use of repeated notes and adding the left stereo to double up halfway through (sorry mono listeners, but also why are you listening to metal in mono?). There's a small break where you finally get to hear the production in the background, the choir samples and the lo-fi leads, and you can really tell that it's modern metal. The song does wrap up quite nicely, but there's nothing much too new or crazy as they tie it up.

Allt put together a very unique blend of modern metal styles for this song that I have yet to really find anywhere else. It remains a great find for me, one of the better cuts out of the entirety of modern metal in the 2020s. Definitely a must-listen if you're even just a bit into progressive metalcore or djent.

Rating: 4/5

"The Seed of Self-Destruction" EP Cover

Lyric Of The Week 94: Cellar Door

"I can’t live in this world while I breathe in another one."

Spiritbox - Cellar Door, from the EP The Fear of Fear

Album: Empire State Bastard - Rivers Of Heresy [2023]

Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil starting a grindcore-adjacent project was not on my 2023 metal bingo card. Alongside Biffy Clyro's touring guitarist Mike Vennart and ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, Empire State Bastard is a surprisingly unapologetic outpour of brutality in various subgenres of extreme metal. My previous experiences with grindcore have been disappointing, but this is a surprising change of pace. In all fairness, despite initially branding it as a grindcore project, they eventually stopped describing themselves as that before the album dropped. I can respect that they felt like they were going to go hard enough to reach grindcore levels of brutality though, as the final product is nothing short of amazingly violent.

Simon Neil brings his decades of weird music writing experience and attaches it to his most extreme of harsh vocals, one which we have basically never seen before. His screams are heard less with more recent Biffy Clyro releases, and his harsh vocal features are few and far between (the Goliath one is still insane, though), so it's honestly wild that he'd just throw out a project with the most extreme vocals he has ever put out to the world. As half of the musical ingenuity behind the band, you can see all the influences that his time in Biffy Clyro has on this album. The use of odd time signatures and time signature changes, the unorthodox song structures and creative choices, even going as far as to have a whole guitarless metal track, it's like he's having fun fucking around and doing weird shit that he doesn't usually get to do in Biffy Clyro, and I'm all here for it.

What amazes me the most is that despite the abrasiveness of this extreme music, there are so many great moments that make this such an unbelievably well done project. Harvest has some crazy grooves and riffs, and that blast beat section is murderous, Blusher has a section where Simon just counts mistakes, but the guitar riff under it is so tasteful. Moi? is a comparatively calmer track, but moments like the 'blame anybody' section are super fun, Tired, Aye? is just a crazy drum and vocal onslaught, but they keep it so interesting throughout it's actually unreal. Palms Of Hands boasts this super punky riff, Dusty has this weird but pretty cool slow and doom-like instrumentation to it, the 'I have got my mind made up' polymeteric groove on Sold! is playful and the chorus goes insane, and The Looming sounds like it could be a weird Biffy Clyro track to be honest. Not going to lie, they reminded me of Every Time I Die a bit here and there, with the kind of tasteful chaos that both bands pull off so effortlessly.

I feel like I'm not going to be able to do justice to just how surprisingly good this album is. Simon Neil and his work with Biffy Clyro is no feat to begin with, but it feels like he has managed to outdo himself significantly with this album. It's refreshing all around, extremely well done for the genre and super unique. Every single moment feels well thought through and refined, even with the extreme heaviness. I never expected Simon Neil to go balls-to-the-walls heavy, but I am so glad that this exists. This band and debut album have captured an unbridled identity of relentless and unapologetic extremity that is simultaneously unforgiving and amazing, and is wildly different from anything else in the extreme metal scene.

Rating: 9/10

Tracklist:

1. Harvest

2. Blusher

3. Moi?

4. Tired, Aye?

5. Sons And Daughters

6. Stutter

7. Palms Of Hands

8. Dusty

9. Sold!

10. The Looming

Show: Fall Out Boy Live in Singapore 2023 (So Much For (Tour) Dust Asia Leg)

I finally got to see Fall Out Boy! After being a fan of their music for so long, the chance finally came along for me to see them play live, and even with the three-digit price tag, I figured it would be worth it. Wouldn't want to wait another five years for another chance, right?

I did go with a few of my friends this time around, and we noticed pretty quickly that things we're quite different for a show of this scale. Having a priority entry was a big clue, but on the day itself we found out that there were already people queueing there since the morning for an 8pm show. Wild. One of my friends went early anyways, to get merch and also to join the priority entry queue (they bought it but the rest of us didn't). The rest of us met for dinner nearby and then got to the venue shortly after doors opened. The early friend helped me to get merch, so I didn't actually visit the merch booth, but I gotta say that the merch selection was a bit small and that was a bit disappointing. Still got a shirt, though.

There was definitely a lot of wait time, as we entered the venue two hours before the show started. We found ourselves in a pretty decent spot, right in front of the VIP area that was situated in the middle, relatively close enough where we could kind of see the stage, but also we were comfortably close to a big screen. The VIP area behind us also meant that we were somewhat protected from the squeezy crowds, so it was probably the best place we could've ended up. I was expecting a big show to be quite different from a small show, but it still surprised me. We were sitting down when we were waiting, and nearing the start of the show, I stood up and looked around and was just shocked by how many people there were.

All that waiting time meant I had time to get a vibe, and it was really interesting to see. Fall Out Boy is a band with more than two decades behind them, and they definitely have a lot of dedicated fans from different age groups, but the audience demographic was strangely dense in the 30-40s age range (well, from what I could tell). There were not as many teens as I expected, which kind of surprised me. Also, the venue was playing a lot of old emo songs, I don't think I heard a single big rock song from the past 5 years the entire time, but the people were having fun and karaoke-ing while waiting for the show to start.

When the show finally started, everyone was pretty excited. They started off the set with Love From The Other Side, and they were definitely starting off super solid. Hearing Patrick's vocals sound as good as it is live is definitely an experience, Andy's killing it on the drums, Joe's laying it down on the guitar and Pete is just being Pete. Big show venue definitely had different acoustics, I realised that the volume was softer because it didn't sound like hearing-damage volumes even without earplugs, maybe it had to do with the distance. It also did mean that a lot of the time, the band was partially drowned out by the crowd singing and shouting, not something I was particularly bothered by but interesting to note. Fall Out Boy kept going, song after song, they barely had a break between songs, which is kind of crazy especially for Patrick. It must be a strain on the vocals. It's crazy that all the way until the end of the show, Patrick's vocals didn't dip at all. That's some professional shit right there, even with all the high notes, long notes and vocal runs.

Joe got to go off on the guitar quite a bit too, I think there are some parts where he plays a bit differently than studio, there's definitely a bit of shredding that's not on the actual song. Andy also goes off hard on the drums, I always knew he was a super tight drummer but hearing it live and seeing it in front of my eyes hits different. Pete was holding it down on the bass the entire way through, some iconic basslines too to boot, but I loved him screaming the most. Just throwing it in like nobody's business, and it's actually super strong now, even clearer and grittier than his nothing,nowhere. feature would suggest. I want to say he also did some shrieking, but the crowd was getting pretty loud at that point and I couldn't really hear it clearly. Patrick also did throw in some grit at times, I think it would be cool to see him use it more, but maybe not all the way to pure screaming. Would be a waste of his vocal talent.

I did love to see the pyrotechnics, lighting and visuals of their set, it's definitely not something you'll see in small shows, gives you something to look at even if you can't see the band clearly. As the show went on, they kept jumping throughout their discography, shuffling between newer and older songs. I've listened to all their albums a decent amount, but I was definitely lost on some of the older cuts. I was vaguely aware of what their setlist would be like, since they had a similar setlist for their entire year of touring, the only real questions would be if they'd throw in a bonus song and what the 8 ball song would be. For context, they were doing this gimmick of playing a random song from their discography for each show, and it quickly became clear that no song was off-limits since they started pulling out some real deep cuts in their US tour leg. I wasn't hoping for anything in particular other than it being a song I knew, and they ended up playing XO, which I'm pretty happy to have gotten.

The whole show was ninety minutes, definitely didn't feel like it but that's just how shows are. I was actually quite surprised after the fact that they managed to squeeze so many songs in. The setlist was twenty-two songs, they really were speedrunning it. They didn't talk much during the show, there were maybe two or three windows of time where they spoke for a little bit, but most of the show was just song after song. I think their setlist was pretty great, can't expect them to be playing all the songs I like but they had a good selection of big hits and deeper cuts. I also thought it was great that they genuinely played live. Other than the electronic elements on the backing track, it was pretty clear that all the members were playing live, you could hear if they were improvising or if they made minor mistakes (of which there weren't many). I just think it's cool that a band as big as them still care about the live experience.

I can finally cross seeing Fall Out Boy live off the bucket list. It was definitely more pricey but I think it was worth it for the experience. I definitely realised that I do prefer smaller shows more, though, it just feels more intimate and lively when there's less people in between you and the band. I will admit though, it is fun to see a show big enough to have all the fancier showbiz elements. Going with friends also made it more fun, hopefully I can find some metalcore lovers for future shows. Also, I lowkey wished they had openers, it does feel a bit weird for them to be the only band playing at a show. I guess none of their support acts from the bigger tour legs could make it out to Asia.

(Also, I never knew concrete floors could wobble like that, but I guess when you have a whole venue of people jumping up and down in sync, it's gonna bend.)

Setlist

Fall Out Boy:

1. We Didn't Start The Fire (Fall Out Boy version) [playback only]

2. Love From The Other Side

3. The Pheonix

4. Sugar, We're Going Down

5. Uma Thurman

6. A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"

7. Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

8. Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy

9. This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

10. Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes

11. Bang The Doldrums

12. Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet

13. Yule Shoot Your Eyes Out (partial performance, first verse + chorus)

14. Fake Out

15. What A Catch, Donnie + Golden (piano medley)

16. Save Rock And Roll

17. Dance, Dance

18. Hold Me Like a Grudge

19. XO (8 Ball Song)

20. My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)

21. Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

22. Centuries

23. Saturday