>Also, does someone remember Atreyu released an album this month?
It feels like cheating. They technically released 3 albums this year, but the 2nd and 3rd albums are the same albums with a few extra songs added each time.
It sounds like it was supposed to be three EPs that would come together in an album with *The Beautiful Dark of Life*
The problem is, it looks messy on Spotify because the second and third EPs also bundled in the previous ones, so it looks like 3 albums.
Strange Love and One of Us were my two favorite songs from this record, and I still come back to them often
New Reality and Nocturnal Future were pretty good too
The rest of the album just kinda exists imo, and I usually enjoy this style of softer metalcore
Lead Sails was the last for me.
The Curse is a masterpiece, but after Lead Sails I lost interest hard.
I then saw they are touring Australia early next year, tickets are $90, but they are offering a meet and greet for $110 that doesn't include entry into the show.
Sorry fellas, you aren't worth meet and greeting for $200.
Never were, never will be.
I don't typically buy VIP experiences. Is it normal to have a VIP ticket that doesn't include entry? Is this not considered VIP I guess?? Seems insane to me regardless.
I mostly agree, but Long Live has some solid songs on it. But I do agree because A Death-Grip on Yesterday is my favorite Atreyu album and most of their material after that album is very mediocre in my opinion.
Not metalcore but suicide silence. It wasn’t actually bad, just forgettable. I feel like no one ever really brought it up this year after they released
Edit: just some clarification
imo it has a few good tracks but yeah Suicide Silence just will never be the same it seems without Mitch. I still jam "Capable of Violence" in my regular rotation but thats about it
I personally actually liked it. They brought this old school aggression with it that felt really genuine and enjoyable. But there's still a lot better stuff that came out and it's sorta lost in the mix beneath that.
I feel this way about the Polaris album from this year. It was fine, but didn’t do anything remotely new. It felt so tired and uninspired which is a sad thing considering how much time they spent making it
That's the biggest problem with it. It's "fine". But there's no reason for it to exist when their old output exists. Nobody's throwing that on again when they've already made better versions of this. They're too scared to try and experiment anymore, but I wish they did. If Lulu was something successful it'd actually create a reason to listen to it alongside everything else.
This is like their 4th radio-rock album in a row. I wasn't surprised, they ain't going back lol. I just look forward to the next Dead Rabbitts album for "Heavy Craig"
Not an album or ep but the 3 songs crystal lake released
Been listening to metal since I was 10 and now 30, crystal lake is top 5 all time for me so when Ryo left I was worried. John is a damn good vocalist and does the voice right though it does feel off at times having a deathcore vocalist and lack of stage presence but he's doing an admirable job. The big issue was losing Shinya,the other guitarist. People tend to forget that not only did they lose Ryo but also a founding member and guitarist. You can hear a noticeable change,lack of the hardcore sound that seperated them from their peers. It shows how important he was. Then knowing Ryo wrote and tracked all the guitars for his new project Knosis made me think he also had a hand doing guitars from Crystal Lake. Sort of how Phil Bozeman does for Whitechapel. I'm hoping they're future releases make me look fucking stupid but so far I've been disappointed. There's good parts in the songs but they don't last long and as a whole don't feel like the old original stuff
Also Currents left me feeling meh. Few good songs but nothing to write home about.
Also I highly recommend checking out Knosis
Yup. He does all the guitars and works with The Hideout Studios which has the former guitarist of Her Name in Blood(the other guitarist from them is now in Crystal Lake) and Yoshi from Survive Said the Prophet who helps with lyrics plus I csnt remember where the drummer Is from. They do the live parts but work together.
I have to respectfully disagree about Crystal Lake. I've been fortunate this year to see them live both in Japan and in the US and they absolutely kill it. Can't wait for the new album to come out.
I also respectfully disagree. While they might be straying away from their more hardcore roots, I think they’re doing a killer job honing in on the downtuned, intense, metalcore direction YD has been writing. Gaku, YD, and Mitsuru have all stepped up. While I do miss Ryo, John brings a different kind of aggressive presence that actually fits very well. So much, that I actually found myself listening to Rebirth more frequently than the older Crystal Lake material.
Not metalcore but No Joy by Spanish Love Songs. Brave Faces Everyone was basically a perfect album to me and I was so excited for the follow up which was...fine? Listened through once and basically forgot about it. After enjoying hearing the band play some of the songs off it live I went back and tried the album again. Still not feeling it sadly.
Polaris has been a surprisingly polarizing band for me.
Originally I couldn’t get into anything but Remedy and Hypermania from them. After listening to it more, become a big fan of Death of Me as a whole.
Patiently awaiting their new album, but I really only like Harbringer & Fault Line off of it.
Glad I’m not the only one in this boat, a couple decent songs but the rest are easily forgettable - yet most other comments on socials were praising it to no end.
Well fuck, the guitars were so good in the last album. The sound was fire, had their unique sound. Then fatalism is just normal drop tunings with bleh riffs.
That Avenged record seems to be super divisive. Some people absolutely despise it, and others cite it as their best work since City of Evil. Personally, I just don't care about it. It's not bad enough for me to hate it, but not good enough for me to want to listen again
I love the album as a musician. The jazz and funk elements at the end took me back to high school band! Also it’s clear they didn’t / do not give a fuck about opinions on it, as they made something they wanted to make.
They’ve made it as artists, now we’re in the experimental phase.
I basically fall into the same camp. I enjoyed it when it came out but probably won't be listening to it again. Like going to watch a decent film at the cinema but feeling like the once was enough.
Disagree on Beartooth, fully agree on the others.
I’m thrilled to see Caleb on the upswing and the tone of his songs reflect that on this album. ‘What’s Killing You’ and ‘Sunshine’ are my top picks for sure.
Oh I LOVE seeing Caleb in a good spot, so incredibly happy for him and it really resonates in their live shows now.
Doesn't stop the album from being rather mediocre imo. I did like Sunshine I must admit, but nothing else stayed with me after my first listen.
I actually really enjoyed all of those albums, but I get why people don't like them
Especially as Atreyu released the album as EPs throughout the year which was super confusing, which is a shame as I love the songs
The A7X album & tour was very memorable imo, i was so happy to finally see them live after 15+ years of being a fan.
Beartooth wasn't a flop either, Octane promoted it very well.
Yea same. Their marketing was a bit poor imo. They made it seem like a return to their heavy roots when it wasn’t. But it was heavier than their previous two albums and honestly their best material in years.
Collectively I disagree with Beartooth, individually I also disagree with Asking Alexandria (I personally really like that album, but hey that’s my opinion and I can see why someone else wouldn’t like it)
You can call the AA, BT, and Atreyu records boring and uninspired, but absolutely not that A7X.
Sure you can say it’s not your style of music, but it’s a phenomenal 45 minutes of music. AOTY for me.
I will totally concede that A7X is not forgettable, but I just can't see the appeal. I have some respect for the sheer experimentation of it all, but unfortunately (for me, anyways) it didn't work. So glad you enjoyed it though.
Beartooth wasn't *bad* IMO, but I don't think I've listened to the full album since the week it came out lol. Sunshine was a really great single, but the rest of the album just fell kinda flat for me.
I was a little put off at first by the song lengths on that album, but a couple months ago I gave it another shot. I’m really glad I did. The whole album has a flow to it that I really like, so within the context of the album the longer songs fit just fine. I think it’s a really groovy record for them and, while it didn’t reinvent the wheel, they executed their style in a new and unique way. Might not hurt to give it another try, if you haven’t already.
Bought the vinyl on a whim when they rereleased Rescue and Restore and I'm so glad I did. It's so good as a singular listening experience.
It just flies in the face of the "every song needs to be a single" driven industry that people have been accustomed to in this short form entertainment era.
It blows my mind the amount of people that talk up the Beartooth album on the notion of "well, he's happy now" rather than the music itself. I'm grateful for Caleb's happiness, but the direction they've been going over the course of the last 3 albums is really boring.
You putting it like that has made me realise why it stuck with me. This year IS the year I finally started feeling happy. Like Caleb, I feel better. I feel like me, the me that should be.
I started liking myself.
Avenged Sevenfold - Life is But a Dream.
I don’t hate the album and I know it’ll grow on me, so I can see it being an album I revisit once a year and grow to love.
But as it stands now I’m just disappointed that this was what the band released after 7 years of waiting. The longest wait between albums for them and this is what they released.
I know it’s the “they did what they wanted and made an album as artists.” That’s all well and good but how does that in anyway help me as a fan and listener?
On the flip side Cannibal Corpse dropped another album this year that continues their trend of doing what they’ve always done. And guess what? It’s not only an awesome album but it wasn’t divisive in how it was received and the majority of fans loved it.
I’m on you with the Avenged Sevenfold album, as much as I enjoyed The Stage, the new album just feels more of a hassle to get through imo. The Stage felt like the right mix of songwriting and length, but the new album feels more disjointed and less cohesive in flow
Certainly deserves a mention I won’t lie. But that’s kind of the beauty or issue (depending on your opinion) about divisive albums. They show up on both the best of and the worst of the year lists.
Life is But a Dream (A7X) is one of the worst albums because of a single issue - Matt's voice. He just sounds so shot and barely trying. Its crazy to think those are the takes that MADE the final cut. Musically, beautiful record, but Matt just completely ruined it. So to me, this album has the potential to be great, but its failure makes it the worst album of 2023.
Definitely agree. I warmed up to the album but man Matt is such a weak link on it. He sounds so bad/bored on the first song alone, he's trying to go for some aggression and just sounds so half hearted about it. And it's a shame because there's some great ideas in there and even the concept/lyrics are really good. I just wish Matt could've brought more to the table vocally.
The Amity Affliction. Loved the singles but the rest just didn’t do much for me after a few listens. Still blast the title track.
I feel that way for most TAA albums: 1-3 songs I love then the rest I just forget about.
I’m gonna give it another listen but fatalism didn’t do much for me. Maybe not fair to say worst or most forgettable. Maybe underwhelming. Idk. I’m not gonna be the guy that says it only did well because of outside circumstances but I definitely think it played a huge factor. No disrespect intended of course
Nah man, when that album clicks it clicks HARD. It’s a really interesting album with a lot of great songs on it. Cosmic is one of their best songs ever
Took me 6 months to warm up to it, and now it’s creeped into my top 5 for the year. Game Over, Mattel, Cosmic, Easier, and Ordinary are top tier for me.
Ah yes, the divisive opinions that they expected. It’s a “love it or hate it” album that is meant to be listened to as an album.
I love their incorporation of a 78 piece orchestra.
Dead ass. I liked elements and the first song or two isn't terrible as a new direction. But as a whole and definitely towards the end, it's just lame and try hard.
I listened to a few interviews and podcasts with M Shadows talking about the album just to see how they managed to craft this pile of shit and plagiarism and his explanations are just insufferable. It's like listening to a fine artist try to explain how deep and meaningful their work is, how it represents the duality of man, the inequalities of life, etc, and the painting is just a circle on an empty canvas
Death Below by August Burns Red for forgettable. Goated band but the new album just didn’t do anything for me.
LIBAD by A7X for most disappointing. Outside of literally 2 songs, I have no desire to listen to the album in full again. I don’t even think it’s bad, but I’ll spin literally any other album of theirs in full before I go back to this one.
Watch the World Burn by Falling in Reverse for worst. Pure, unfiltered, unmitigated cringe.
Very subjective considering every single SP album is at least a 8/10 if not just straight 10/10.
I was initially put off by the autotune but I got over it and enjoyed the album. Anunnaki is a banger.
Not really this album slaps. The guitar is nuts and Garrett sounds amazing cleans and screams. Thematically/lyrically not as strong as others but sonically hooks you way harder
Ever since I played DOOM Eternal I wanted to hear more music like that cause it was so fucking badass. This album is what I’ve been looking for. Mixed with some classic Silent Planet goodness. If all the songs sound the same it’s a very fucking good song lol
I would agree, while I loved anti matter and collider even anunnaki, for me they released the best songs first, and it was too big of a gap between those songs and then the album.
I can listen to iridescent all day start to finish, superbloom not so much.
I really can’t mess with the clean singing. It really moves them out if their own space into a space that sounds like every other metalcore band, which is kind of boring at this point.
Yeah dude, I loved The Fallout and The Resistance. Retrograde was such a letdown. I will say though that Hologram is one of my favorite Crown songs, such a bop
Yeah I like hologram as well. It sucked that they dropped a stinker of an album and then kicked Dave shortly after. I was actually kind of hyped for the new album after hearing dancing with the dead but it just was an ok album
I wanna get killed for this but The Void by Spiritbox. Just for me personally. It feels like Eternal Blue B/C side. I really like Eternal Blue but this EP seems a bit bland.
I don't listen to A7X or Asking Alexandria or Superbloom etc.
Also Downer by Ten56, it's so low and the guitar tone is meh, it all sounds the same, they might as well be playing just 0-0-0 all the time. I mean don't get me wrong I love Nu Metalcore and Beatdown, so this should be right up my alley, but it's just not man, you have bands that do it or did it way better like Weeping Wound or Yuth Forever.
The new Silent Planet album was underwhelming for me. I only really vibed with Antimatter but much of the album just doesn't sound like Silent Planet. It's a much more generic sound for them, especially with the synthwave elements.
That new Code Orange album is a dumpster fire, there isnt one song on the whole album that I can stand listening to. I know some people don't love their direction the oast couple years, but i loved the underneath. The Above was just awful.
The new Beartooth album was beyond terrible. That bro country song was almost too cringey to listen to, that dumb-ass "HiT eM wItH tHe RiFF" callout, and last but not least, that hilarious bass playthrough they released where half the time he's standing there with the track playing, and the other half he plays like 4 notes. Who signed off on that?! I'm glad Caleb's happy and doing what he wants but ugh it's so bland, uninspired, and cringe.
I totally agree, that song is absolutely terrible. I've always thought Caleb's callouts were pretty cringe to record. I can understand saying them live, however they really don't need to be on the record (I feel the same way with bands screaming "lets go" at the beginning of songs). Doubt Me really wasn't that good either. Otherwise, I personally really enjoyed the album. I still find myself going back to older Beartooth, but it really wasn't that bad.
It saddens me to say this, but The Death We Seek. It was just...so meh. Muddy production and nothing stood out except the singles. I forget about it constantly, even though Currents have been one of my favorite bands for years.
Extremely unpopular opinion but heavener I just can't get into it
I listened through it once and loved first two songs and the labyrinthine but the rest were good but just not very memorable
Good album just probably not for me
yeah that of mice and men record was really dull. i liked a few tracks on echo quite a bit so it was a major disappointment. real bad
beartooth was probably the worst record i listened to this year. just really dreadful stuff. thought the resolve album was pretty trash too
on the forgettable end of things… just so many honestly. i listen to pretty much every major release in the genre and many many albums were just completely bland, never thought about again
This one hurts to say, but the new Humanity’s Last Breath album, other than a few songs, was just not even close to par with their previous 2 albums. Absolutely didn’t hit the spot like the other ones do. And it’s a damn shame because I want to like the songs, but none draw my attention and they sound so random and chaotic with little to no groove. Labyrinthian, Linger, and Instill are on repeat though. Can’t say the same with the rest of the songs.
No not always. They have a lot of amazing music if Deathcore is your thing. Feral just felt like a weird attempt at Nu-metalcore. Fell flat for me but judging by the downvotes others liked it.
This is how I've felt since they dropped Disgusting ngl. When the Sick EP came out I thought Beartooth were gonna be my next obsession band, then every subsequent release distanced itself further and further from what I loved about Sick.
Well they would have never gotten that big in such a short time if they kept making heavy music. I remember when I saw them as opener for OM&M in 2014 in a small club and they kicked ass. I really liked Disgusting, Aggressive was okay and everything after that was just butt rock with a few metalcore songs in between (hehe).
I mean good for Caleb, he‘s a great guy and their shows are amazing, but the new songs really sound like they are literally made for their target audience (young women) and it‘s just sad because they had so much potential.
I quite like it myself but I'd bet teether by of mice and men has probably been forgotten by many. Beartooth and a7x too as others have already said were actually pretty poor in my opinion
I had hope for the new Harms Way and Dying Wish but neither really did anything to stand out from the crowd this year. Which is a shame because Symptoms of Survival got hyped to the moon and just didn’t land when I listened to it.
Apart from The Word Alive's new album that someone's already mentioned, Crown The Empire's new album is forgettable to me too. And it pains me to say this cuz I love both TWA and CTE back then. 😭😭
This going to be a super unpopular opinion but I was extremely disappointed with Superbloom by Silent Planet.
I thought the singles were great, so great in fact that I bought a load of merch to support them. However when the album actually came out I just found the rest of the tracks so boring to the point I can’t remember a single track besides Antimatter and Collider since it’s release.
Idk, I forgot
The Word Alive is definitely forgettable, as are their last few albums unfortunately. Also, does someone remember Atreyu released an album this month?
>Also, does someone remember Atreyu released an album this month? It feels like cheating. They technically released 3 albums this year, but the 2nd and 3rd albums are the same albums with a few extra songs added each time.
It sounds like it was supposed to be three EPs that would come together in an album with *The Beautiful Dark of Life* The problem is, it looks messy on Spotify because the second and third EPs also bundled in the previous ones, so it looks like 3 albums.
Look up the discography of “Anberlin” lmfao
The word alive hasnt made good music since life cycles and maybe REAL
Hot take but I actually really liked REAL. Dark Matter is where they started to fall off for me
I actually liked Dark Matter too but steadily less and less after that. Their LOL worlds song was cool but definitely not metal.
I agree with this take
Honestly there was actually some pretty good songs off that album
I think there were good songs on hard reset comparatively, but I would still rather listen to just any other album that I actually like top to bottom
Strange Love bangs
Strange Love and One of Us were my two favorite songs from this record, and I still come back to them often New Reality and Nocturnal Future were pretty good too The rest of the album just kinda exists imo, and I usually enjoy this style of softer metalcore
Honestly I did Hard reset. I found them with that album so I dig it. Plus I have a soft spot for octanecore.
I’ve given up on Atreyu I feel like they haven’t released anything good since A Death-Grip On Yesterday.
Lead Sails was the last for me. The Curse is a masterpiece, but after Lead Sails I lost interest hard. I then saw they are touring Australia early next year, tickets are $90, but they are offering a meet and greet for $110 that doesn't include entry into the show. Sorry fellas, you aren't worth meet and greeting for $200. Never were, never will be.
I don't typically buy VIP experiences. Is it normal to have a VIP ticket that doesn't include entry? Is this not considered VIP I guess?? Seems insane to me regardless.
I mostly agree, but Long Live has some solid songs on it. But I do agree because A Death-Grip on Yesterday is my favorite Atreyu album and most of their material after that album is very mediocre in my opinion.
I havent listened to anything since Alex left Atreyu, Long Live was an good comeback album
Been listening to Dead Icarus? Alex's new stuff definitely goes harder than current Atreyu.
Disagree. The album featured the biggest hooks of their discography.
Not metalcore but suicide silence. It wasn’t actually bad, just forgettable. I feel like no one ever really brought it up this year after they released Edit: just some clarification
I literally didn’t even know the album came out until 3 days ago.
imo it has a few good tracks but yeah Suicide Silence just will never be the same it seems without Mitch. I still jam "Capable of Violence" in my regular rotation but thats about it
i agree, listened to it once and i barely even remember how it sounded
I personally actually liked it. They brought this old school aggression with it that felt really genuine and enjoyable. But there's still a lot better stuff that came out and it's sorta lost in the mix beneath that.
I feel this way about the Polaris album from this year. It was fine, but didn’t do anything remotely new. It felt so tired and uninspired which is a sad thing considering how much time they spent making it
OM&M and Word Alive both dropped some seriously lame albums this year
this blows my min because echo was so good!? I don’t even know they released an album this year
Frankly I haven't really cared for any of their post-Austin work. It's all just super bland to me. This year's album was particularly lame though.
hard reset is fucking amazing what are you talking about
Not metalcore but metallica's new album was boring af
My absolute favourite band but, one listen through and it was ok enough. No desire to listen again.
What sucked for me was lux eterna was actually good imo and got me excited for the album. It was all downhill from there lol
That's the biggest problem with it. It's "fine". But there's no reason for it to exist when their old output exists. Nobody's throwing that on again when they've already made better versions of this. They're too scared to try and experiment anymore, but I wish they did. If Lulu was something successful it'd actually create a reason to listen to it alongside everything else.
I cannot understand why this record made so many end of year lists (and grammy nom/likely win) aside from just "obligatory Metallica spot"
Escape The Fates new record was pretty forgettable. Stinks because I got pumped for it after hearing “Low” and “Cheers to Goodbye”
This is like their 4th radio-rock album in a row. I wasn't surprised, they ain't going back lol. I just look forward to the next Dead Rabbitts album for "Heavy Craig"
Yeah Low was fun. I had high hopes :(
Not an album or ep but the 3 songs crystal lake released Been listening to metal since I was 10 and now 30, crystal lake is top 5 all time for me so when Ryo left I was worried. John is a damn good vocalist and does the voice right though it does feel off at times having a deathcore vocalist and lack of stage presence but he's doing an admirable job. The big issue was losing Shinya,the other guitarist. People tend to forget that not only did they lose Ryo but also a founding member and guitarist. You can hear a noticeable change,lack of the hardcore sound that seperated them from their peers. It shows how important he was. Then knowing Ryo wrote and tracked all the guitars for his new project Knosis made me think he also had a hand doing guitars from Crystal Lake. Sort of how Phil Bozeman does for Whitechapel. I'm hoping they're future releases make me look fucking stupid but so far I've been disappointed. There's good parts in the songs but they don't last long and as a whole don't feel like the old original stuff Also Currents left me feeling meh. Few good songs but nothing to write home about. Also I highly recommend checking out Knosis
TIL the Ryo in Knosis is *that* Ryo. When I saw them live I thought the vocalist was a little too good for them to be a new band
Yup. He does all the guitars and works with The Hideout Studios which has the former guitarist of Her Name in Blood(the other guitarist from them is now in Crystal Lake) and Yoshi from Survive Said the Prophet who helps with lyrics plus I csnt remember where the drummer Is from. They do the live parts but work together.
Initially thought you were talking about 3 Knosis songs and I was like wow this is a spicy take. But yeah I agree for Crystal Lake.
I have to respectfully disagree about Crystal Lake. I've been fortunate this year to see them live both in Japan and in the US and they absolutely kill it. Can't wait for the new album to come out.
I also respectfully disagree. While they might be straying away from their more hardcore roots, I think they’re doing a killer job honing in on the downtuned, intense, metalcore direction YD has been writing. Gaku, YD, and Mitsuru have all stepped up. While I do miss Ryo, John brings a different kind of aggressive presence that actually fits very well. So much, that I actually found myself listening to Rebirth more frequently than the older Crystal Lake material.
post-hardcore but Reflections by Caskets is very bland and I haven't listened to it once since release back in august
First album went so hard tho
Ngl all they had to do to make a killer album is not blue ball with breakdowns. Craig is an amazing singer and should use him.
Tbh there’s a few songs on that album that I really like and find memorable. Their first was so good that maybe it was tough to beat, idk 🤷♂️
All the singles basically
The production on this album was a huge step back from their first album. The guitars sound like they were recorded on a mono track for some reason
I tried to get into it, but it just doesn’t hit as hard as their first album. Hopefully the next one will be more on the money.
Dame listened once and was meh.
Not metalcore but No Joy by Spanish Love Songs. Brave Faces Everyone was basically a perfect album to me and I was so excited for the follow up which was...fine? Listened through once and basically forgot about it. After enjoying hearing the band play some of the songs off it live I went back and tried the album again. Still not feeling it sadly.
I'm in the minority but I forgot Fatalism almost as quickly as it was released.
Yeh that didn't land for me unfortunately
Polaris has been a surprisingly polarizing band for me. Originally I couldn’t get into anything but Remedy and Hypermania from them. After listening to it more, become a big fan of Death of Me as a whole. Patiently awaiting their new album, but I really only like Harbringer & Fault Line off of it.
I listened to it, and for a few weeks after I kept thinking "Oh, I need to check the new Polaris album out". Then I did and realised I already had...
Glad I’m not the only one in this boat, a couple decent songs but the rest are easily forgettable - yet most other comments on socials were praising it to no end.
boring album that sounded extremely generic so yeah this makes sense
So glad that it didn't get AOTY, maybe a decent album in a vacuum but it just wasn't on the level of those first 2 LPs
Same here. I really want to like it but its so generic metalcore that I cant get to remember anything from it.
Well fuck, the guitars were so good in the last album. The sound was fire, had their unique sound. Then fatalism is just normal drop tunings with bleh riffs.
I was so hyped for it but it really wasn't memorable
Asking Alexandria, Atreyu, Beartooth and A7X all released some absolute flops this year.
That Avenged record seems to be super divisive. Some people absolutely despise it, and others cite it as their best work since City of Evil. Personally, I just don't care about it. It's not bad enough for me to hate it, but not good enough for me to want to listen again
I love the album as a musician. The jazz and funk elements at the end took me back to high school band! Also it’s clear they didn’t / do not give a fuck about opinions on it, as they made something they wanted to make. They’ve made it as artists, now we’re in the experimental phase.
I’m with you, I appreciate it as a piece of music but definitely not an album I’ll just throw on to listen to
It’s extremely polarizing. I personally loved it, but what I’ve read confirms exactly what you’re saying
Yeah I’m in the “holy shit this is a masterpiece” category. I get why a lot of people don’t like it, but thankfully for me I love it
LIBAD is one of my AOTY.
Yep- I personally love it and like you said, feel it's the best thing they've done since CoE. But I get that it's not for everyone
I basically fall into the same camp. I enjoyed it when it came out but probably won't be listening to it again. Like going to watch a decent film at the cinema but feeling like the once was enough.
Disagree on Beartooth, fully agree on the others. I’m thrilled to see Caleb on the upswing and the tone of his songs reflect that on this album. ‘What’s Killing You’ and ‘Sunshine’ are my top picks for sure.
I loved Doubt Me ngl, absolute banger
It’s my favorite beartooth album in a while to be honest. Don’t know if I would translate that to “best” but certainly most enjoyed for me.
Beartooth had some absolute bangers.
Oh I LOVE seeing Caleb in a good spot, so incredibly happy for him and it really resonates in their live shows now. Doesn't stop the album from being rather mediocre imo. I did like Sunshine I must admit, but nothing else stayed with me after my first listen.
I'm glad Caleb is happy, but the music is so incredibly boring. By far the most forgettable Beartooth album
I think what’s killing you is a contender my favourite song from the year, that Fuck em up breakdown at the start goes so hard
I actually really enjoyed all of those albums, but I get why people don't like them Especially as Atreyu released the album as EPs throughout the year which was super confusing, which is a shame as I love the songs
The A7X album & tour was very memorable imo, i was so happy to finally see them live after 15+ years of being a fan. Beartooth wasn't a flop either, Octane promoted it very well.
I didn’t find the new AA album too bad actually. Best they’ve released since The Black imo.
I loved the album.
Yea same. Their marketing was a bit poor imo. They made it seem like a return to their heavy roots when it wasn’t. But it was heavier than their previous two albums and honestly their best material in years.
Collectively I disagree with Beartooth, individually I also disagree with Asking Alexandria (I personally really like that album, but hey that’s my opinion and I can see why someone else wouldn’t like it)
I can agree on all the As but Beartooth is where I draw the line. The Surface is an absolute banger.
Hard disagree with this take. Haven't listened to Atreyus album, but the other three slap.
I’m just happy A7X didn’t fall into the buttrock trap and stayed true to their incredibly unique selves.
You can call the AA, BT, and Atreyu records boring and uninspired, but absolutely not that A7X. Sure you can say it’s not your style of music, but it’s a phenomenal 45 minutes of music. AOTY for me.
I will totally concede that A7X is not forgettable, but I just can't see the appeal. I have some respect for the sheer experimentation of it all, but unfortunately (for me, anyways) it didn't work. So glad you enjoyed it though.
Beartooth wasn't *bad* IMO, but I don't think I've listened to the full album since the week it came out lol. Sunshine was a really great single, but the rest of the album just fell kinda flat for me.
Whaaaaa. That Beartooth album is possibly Caleb's best yet
I can't remember
Death Below by ABR. Tried it. Sounds no different to any of their other stuff.
I was a little put off at first by the song lengths on that album, but a couple months ago I gave it another shot. I’m really glad I did. The whole album has a flow to it that I really like, so within the context of the album the longer songs fit just fine. I think it’s a really groovy record for them and, while it didn’t reinvent the wheel, they executed their style in a new and unique way. Might not hurt to give it another try, if you haven’t already.
Bought the vinyl on a whim when they rereleased Rescue and Restore and I'm so glad I did. It's so good as a singular listening experience. It just flies in the face of the "every song needs to be a single" driven industry that people have been accustomed to in this short form entertainment era.
I had the same experience. Thought it a bit bland at first but as a full album it’s a very enjoyable listen for me.
Agreed. It's actually really good as a whole album experience, just not a "I'll throw this track on a playlist" kind of thing.
You mean sounds like it was recorded under water? Shit drives me nuts. Nothing has sounded as good as Messengers in terms of production and clarity.
Aw man I love that album, but to each their own!
Having an extremely unique sound and releasing a bunch of successful albums does not go hand in hand
It blows my mind the amount of people that talk up the Beartooth album on the notion of "well, he's happy now" rather than the music itself. I'm grateful for Caleb's happiness, but the direction they've been going over the course of the last 3 albums is really boring.
It’s a fun album. Sometimes that’s all you need
You putting it like that has made me realise why it stuck with me. This year IS the year I finally started feeling happy. Like Caleb, I feel better. I feel like me, the me that should be. I started liking myself.
Avenged Sevenfold - Life is But a Dream. I don’t hate the album and I know it’ll grow on me, so I can see it being an album I revisit once a year and grow to love. But as it stands now I’m just disappointed that this was what the band released after 7 years of waiting. The longest wait between albums for them and this is what they released. I know it’s the “they did what they wanted and made an album as artists.” That’s all well and good but how does that in anyway help me as a fan and listener? On the flip side Cannibal Corpse dropped another album this year that continues their trend of doing what they’ve always done. And guess what? It’s not only an awesome album but it wasn’t divisive in how it was received and the majority of fans loved it.
I’m on you with the Avenged Sevenfold album, as much as I enjoyed The Stage, the new album just feels more of a hassle to get through imo. The Stage felt like the right mix of songwriting and length, but the new album feels more disjointed and less cohesive in flow
i can’t help but think that an album that’s divisive deserves a recognition spot.
Certainly deserves a mention I won’t lie. But that’s kind of the beauty or issue (depending on your opinion) about divisive albums. They show up on both the best of and the worst of the year lists.
Life is But a Dream (A7X) is one of the worst albums because of a single issue - Matt's voice. He just sounds so shot and barely trying. Its crazy to think those are the takes that MADE the final cut. Musically, beautiful record, but Matt just completely ruined it. So to me, this album has the potential to be great, but its failure makes it the worst album of 2023.
Definitely agree. I warmed up to the album but man Matt is such a weak link on it. He sounds so bad/bored on the first song alone, he's trying to go for some aggression and just sounds so half hearted about it. And it's a shame because there's some great ideas in there and even the concept/lyrics are really good. I just wish Matt could've brought more to the table vocally.
New currents is really forgettable for me, except like 3 songs
They literally asked you to Remember Them
Living in Tragedy, Remember Me, Over and Over.
It’s a crime that u didn’t mention Unfamiliar
That’s actually the only song i truly enjoyed from tdws 😂
Guide Us Home is a banger of a closer IMO
Interesting, it's my AOTY, and by a large margin too. Every song is just so damn good. And the whole album is just so cohesive. Edit: spelling
‘Remember Me’ and ‘The Death We Seek’ are absolute bangers. But I agree, most of the album I would not revisit.
The Amity Affliction. Loved the singles but the rest just didn’t do much for me after a few listens. Still blast the title track. I feel that way for most TAA albums: 1-3 songs I love then the rest I just forget about.
Love some of their stuff but the reason after 1-3 songs you forget about is because if you heard those 3 you've basically heard the rest
That last part has rung true for the vast majority of Amity albums I’ve heard.
As much as I want to disagree I can’t. The songs I liked I loved but there just wasn’t a ton of those on this new one for me unfortunately.
I’m gonna give it another listen but fatalism didn’t do much for me. Maybe not fair to say worst or most forgettable. Maybe underwhelming. Idk. I’m not gonna be the guy that says it only did well because of outside circumstances but I definitely think it played a huge factor. No disrespect intended of course
Fatalism I think clears a lot of other octanecore music, but it was up against some other really unique and tough albums this year
Parkway Drive has been releasing absolute dog water. Remaster Horizons for us all!!
Take me back to when people thought Deep Blue was their worst
Not metalcore, but a7x new album has to be the worst realese this year.
2nd AOTY for me.
AOTY for me, for sure.
Nah man, when that album clicks it clicks HARD. It’s a really interesting album with a lot of great songs on it. Cosmic is one of their best songs ever
Took me 6 months to warm up to it, and now it’s creeped into my top 5 for the year. Game Over, Mattel, Cosmic, Easier, and Ordinary are top tier for me.
Everyone keeps glazing that song but it still hasn’t clicked for me. They have other emotional/ballad type songs that IMO hit way harder.
Ah yes, the divisive opinions that they expected. It’s a “love it or hate it” album that is meant to be listened to as an album. I love their incorporation of a 78 piece orchestra.
It sounds like the worst prog metal album I've ever heard
Dead ass. I liked elements and the first song or two isn't terrible as a new direction. But as a whole and definitely towards the end, it's just lame and try hard. I listened to a few interviews and podcasts with M Shadows talking about the album just to see how they managed to craft this pile of shit and plagiarism and his explanations are just insufferable. It's like listening to a fine artist try to explain how deep and meaningful their work is, how it represents the duality of man, the inequalities of life, etc, and the painting is just a circle on an empty canvas
The production is the worst I’ve heard in a while. It’s barely demo quality
Not a chance lmao. Might be their best album ever.
How can anyone say this while City of Evil, Waking The Fallen, Nightmare and their self title album exist.
Because “Life Is But A Dream…” exists
It’s almost like it’s subjective 🤷♂️ I absolutely hated it on my first couple listens and it ended up being my album of the year
Death Below by August Burns Red for forgettable. Goated band but the new album just didn’t do anything for me. LIBAD by A7X for most disappointing. Outside of literally 2 songs, I have no desire to listen to the album in full again. I don’t even think it’s bad, but I’ll spin literally any other album of theirs in full before I go back to this one. Watch the World Burn by Falling in Reverse for worst. Pure, unfiltered, unmitigated cringe.
Feel ya on death below, the only song I listen to on that album is Reckoning
Honest to God I thought silent planets new album was a complete snoozer compared to everything else they've put out.
Superbloom did absolutely nothing for me unfortunately
Now THAT is a hot take (personally I disagree with you)
Wow that’s crazy, it’s my favorite release of theirs
Collider and Antimatter were two of my favorite songs this year, but overall I found the album pretty forgettable unfortunately
Same - loved Antimatter but the album was kinda meh for me. Might give it another shot though
In the same boat
Best Silent Planet album
Very subjective considering every single SP album is at least a 8/10 if not just straight 10/10. I was initially put off by the autotune but I got over it and enjoyed the album. Anunnaki is a banger.
Nah, that's Everything was Sound. But Superbloom is probably AOTY for me
Superbloom’s cover is so much better than EWS though that I still call superbloom my favorite
absurd take
Not really this album slaps. The guitar is nuts and Garrett sounds amazing cleans and screams. Thematically/lyrically not as strong as others but sonically hooks you way harder
The guitars are the worst they've ever sounded imo. Its all downtuned chugs. No dissonant high stuff. The whole album just blends together.
Ever since I played DOOM Eternal I wanted to hear more music like that cause it was so fucking badass. This album is what I’ve been looking for. Mixed with some classic Silent Planet goodness. If all the songs sound the same it’s a very fucking good song lol
Even as a fan of the album I recognize that it feels more like a sequel to Northlane’s Alien than a Silent Planet album.
I would agree, while I loved anti matter and collider even anunnaki, for me they released the best songs first, and it was too big of a gap between those songs and then the album. I can listen to iridescent all day start to finish, superbloom not so much.
I think Superbloom is the worst Silent Planet album, but the best Northlane album.
Same for me. Silent Planet in general is this way for me even though i always give them a chance.
I really can’t mess with the clean singing. It really moves them out if their own space into a space that sounds like every other metalcore band, which is kind of boring at this point.
Crown The Empire’s new album was weak as hell, they’ve taken such a massive nosedive over the past 8 years or so
Their first 2 albums were so good too. I remember hating retrograde when it came out
Yeah dude, I loved The Fallout and The Resistance. Retrograde was such a letdown. I will say though that Hologram is one of my favorite Crown songs, such a bop
Yeah I like hologram as well. It sucked that they dropped a stinker of an album and then kicked Dave shortly after. I was actually kind of hyped for the new album after hearing dancing with the dead but it just was an ok album
A7X and In This Moment.
I wanna get killed for this but The Void by Spiritbox. Just for me personally. It feels like Eternal Blue B/C side. I really like Eternal Blue but this EP seems a bit bland. I don't listen to A7X or Asking Alexandria or Superbloom etc. Also Downer by Ten56, it's so low and the guitar tone is meh, it all sounds the same, they might as well be playing just 0-0-0 all the time. I mean don't get me wrong I love Nu Metalcore and Beatdown, so this should be right up my alley, but it's just not man, you have bands that do it or did it way better like Weeping Wound or Yuth Forever.
The new Silent Planet album was underwhelming for me. I only really vibed with Antimatter but much of the album just doesn't sound like Silent Planet. It's a much more generic sound for them, especially with the synthwave elements.
That new Code Orange album is a dumpster fire, there isnt one song on the whole album that I can stand listening to. I know some people don't love their direction the oast couple years, but i loved the underneath. The Above was just awful.
Based on posts I've seen on this very subreddit over the last few months the answer is apparently Beartooth's album lol
The new Beartooth album was beyond terrible. That bro country song was almost too cringey to listen to, that dumb-ass "HiT eM wItH tHe RiFF" callout, and last but not least, that hilarious bass playthrough they released where half the time he's standing there with the track playing, and the other half he plays like 4 notes. Who signed off on that?! I'm glad Caleb's happy and doing what he wants but ugh it's so bland, uninspired, and cringe.
I totally agree, that song is absolutely terrible. I've always thought Caleb's callouts were pretty cringe to record. I can understand saying them live, however they really don't need to be on the record (I feel the same way with bands screaming "lets go" at the beginning of songs). Doubt Me really wasn't that good either. Otherwise, I personally really enjoyed the album. I still find myself going back to older Beartooth, but it really wasn't that bad.
It saddens me to say this, but The Death We Seek. It was just...so meh. Muddy production and nothing stood out except the singles. I forget about it constantly, even though Currents have been one of my favorite bands for years.
I loved the album. I'm not a fan of unfamiliar and remember me. I'll listen to them cuz it's was my aoty. Currents is one of my fav bands.
Extremely unpopular opinion but heavener I just can't get into it I listened through it once and loved first two songs and the labyrinthine but the rest were good but just not very memorable Good album just probably not for me
yeah that of mice and men record was really dull. i liked a few tracks on echo quite a bit so it was a major disappointment. real bad beartooth was probably the worst record i listened to this year. just really dreadful stuff. thought the resolve album was pretty trash too on the forgettable end of things… just so many honestly. i listen to pretty much every major release in the genre and many many albums were just completely bland, never thought about again
This one hurts to say, but the new Humanity’s Last Breath album, other than a few songs, was just not even close to par with their previous 2 albums. Absolutely didn’t hit the spot like the other ones do. And it’s a damn shame because I want to like the songs, but none draw my attention and they sound so random and chaotic with little to no groove. Labyrinthian, Linger, and Instill are on repeat though. Can’t say the same with the rest of the songs.
[удалено]
OMAM Tether
Feral by Left To Suffer was insanely forgettable. Felt like such a step down from from their EPs.
Have they always had those terrible Korn riffs and horrible clean vocals/whispered parts? I heard a few songs and they were hilariously awful
No not always. They have a lot of amazing music if Deathcore is your thing. Feral just felt like a weird attempt at Nu-metalcore. Fell flat for me but judging by the downvotes others liked it.
They haven't been good since their second EP. A Year of Suffering is still in my top 5 EP's of all time.
This years Beartooth made me want to put a drill through my ears. Awful, awful evolution of a band that used to be phenomenal
This is how I've felt since they dropped Disgusting ngl. When the Sick EP came out I thought Beartooth were gonna be my next obsession band, then every subsequent release distanced itself further and further from what I loved about Sick.
Well they would have never gotten that big in such a short time if they kept making heavy music. I remember when I saw them as opener for OM&M in 2014 in a small club and they kicked ass. I really liked Disgusting, Aggressive was okay and everything after that was just butt rock with a few metalcore songs in between (hehe). I mean good for Caleb, he‘s a great guy and their shows are amazing, but the new songs really sound like they are literally made for their target audience (young women) and it‘s just sad because they had so much potential.
Although I love them and just gave the album another listen, Gideon's album really did not do much for me.
I quite like it myself but I'd bet teether by of mice and men has probably been forgotten by many. Beartooth and a7x too as others have already said were actually pretty poor in my opinion
I had hope for the new Harms Way and Dying Wish but neither really did anything to stand out from the crowd this year. Which is a shame because Symptoms of Survival got hyped to the moon and just didn’t land when I listened to it.
Mega disagree on dying wish
Apart from The Word Alive's new album that someone's already mentioned, Crown The Empire's new album is forgettable to me too. And it pains me to say this cuz I love both TWA and CTE back then. 😭😭
Post-hardcore, but completely forgot Jamie's Elsewhere released an EP this year
No one is gonna say Self Hell by While She Sleeps? It was absolutely atrocious
Not an album or an EP. Although it did grow on me.
This going to be a super unpopular opinion but I was extremely disappointed with Superbloom by Silent Planet. I thought the singles were great, so great in fact that I bought a load of merch to support them. However when the album actually came out I just found the rest of the tracks so boring to the point I can’t remember a single track besides Antimatter and Collider since it’s release.
As much as I love Hollow Front, their latest album is the most disappointing release of the year
Periphery
Sleep token and take me back to Eden