The Infinite - 2023 Roundup

As 2023 comes to an end, it's time to look back at the releases from those 12 months and see which ones are well-deserved highlights. For one of my clans, I haven't really encountered many Infinite releases from this year, but the ones I have are fantastic, reaching 4.5 or 5 stars. Here's my top 5 of 2023:

1. Periphery - Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre

2. TesseracT - War of Being

3. Dødheimsgard - Black Medium Current

4. Invent Animate - Heavener

5. Ne Obliviscaris - Exul

Any releases this year from this clan that you enjoy, enough for a top 5 or top 10 or more? Discuss!

Let's see here, this should be a pretty big list. Horrendous knocked it out of the park with way more staying power than Ne Obliviscaris, even though both are very good. I ended up going back to Ontological Mysterium way more often, so the choice is pretty clear there. I gotta move some of these out of here once I'm finished with the rest of the roundups since "Nahab" definitely doesn't belong here, even though it definitely deserves the Avant-Garde tag. I'll probably be posting quite a bit of discussion about a few of these as I work through everything.

1. Horrendous - Ontological Mysterium 
2. Ne Obliviscaris - Exul
3. Victory Over the Sun - Dance You Monster to My Soft Song!
4. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse
5. Earthside - Let the Truth Speak
6. Thy Catafalque - Alföld
7. Blut Aus Nord - Nahab (Move to North, Avant-Garde Black Metal)
8. Sarmat - Determined to Strike
9. Periphery - Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre
10. Enslaved - Heimdal
11. Hypno5e - Sheol
12. Haken - Fauna
13. Night Verses - Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night: Part 1
14. Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit
15. Fleshvessel - Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed
16. Lunar Chamber - Shambhallic Vibrations
17. Ostraca - Disaster
18. TesseracT - War of Being
19. Aviations - Luminaria
20. Invent, Animate - Heavener
21. Anubis Gate - Interference
22. Ok Goodnight - The Fox and the Bird
23. The Ocean - Holocene
24. Hasard - Malivore (Move to North, Avant-Garde Black Metal)
25. Krallice - Porous Resonance Abyss
26. Liturgy - 93696
27. Sermon - Of Golden Verse
28. Entropia - Total
29. Omnerod - The Amensal Rise
30. Gorod - The Orb

2023 had some good progressive metal with a lot of staying power too. That always seems to be my biggest issue with the genre as a whole, but I feel like this year bucked that trend, if only slightly. Here's a top ten:

1. Ne Obliviscaris - Exul

2. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse et al.

3. TesseracT - War of Being

4. Haken - Fauna

5. Horrendus - Ontological Mysterium

6. OK Goodnight - The Fox and the Bird

7. Night Verses - Every Sound Has a Colour in the Valley of Night Part 1

8. Periphery - V: Djent is Not a Genre

9. Lunar Chamber- Shambihalic Vibrations

10. Aviations - Luminaria

Nospun's "Opus" doesn't come into play here? I thought it was really solid & would take it over the super-popular King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard & Liturgy records.

Ostraca - "Disaster" (2023)

I've got a new favourite for The Infinite title in the fourth full-length from this Virginia-based trio. Now, I'm not too sure what screamo is but this record sounds exactly like post-sludge metal to me. I mean, it's certainly a metal record so I'm surprised to see people tagging it with a label that sits outside of the metal space. It's also a very solid release indeed with every one of the six tracks possessing a vibrancy & vitality that sees me captivated for the entirety of its short 33 minute duration. The Neurosis & Isis comparisons are quite easy to draw upon but there's also a blackened edge to some of this material that sees it bordering upon neocrust at times. There are even some grindcore style blast beat sections which I feel add something to the mix. This album comes highly recommended.

4/5

Nuclear Power Trio - "Wet Ass Plutonium" (2023)

This extraordinarily talented power trio/super group have produced a record that sits somewhere between the progressive metal of Dream Theater & the instrumental guitar shred of "Meltdown"-era Vinny Moore with a wide array of influences being utilized from funk to flamenco. The world-class bass playing of Nick Schendzielos (Cephalic Carnage/Havok/Job for a Cowboy) is absolutely astounding while guitarist Greg Burgess (Allegaeon/Cryogen) is no slouch either. In fact, the performances & production job are perhaps a touch too clinical which leaves things sounding a touch sterile at times. Perhaps I was never going to rate a record like this one higher than I have, despite the consistency of the tracklisting. It's possibly more about style than it is substance.

3.5/5

Nospun's "Opus" doesn't come into play here? I thought it was really solid & would take it over the super-popular King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard & Liturgy records.

It sadly didn't for me, I gave it one listen and just didn't have the motivation to go back to it and really pick it apart. I'm not sure if I'm really growing out of the Dream Theater phase now but the wonky storytelling and pacing really didn't do a whole lot for me. I may eat my words if I go back to it, as the performances are very good, but it felt like a slog to get through. I think the lyrics and setup to the story are in the listener's face way too much in the beginning and it just made me tune out when they didn't really follow it up with anything interesting. Still, probably a great release for people looking for that classic Prog Metal fix that's so hard to come by nowadays. 

Ostraca - "Disaster" (2023)

I've got a new favourite for The Infinite title in the fourth full-length from this Virginia-based trio. Now, I'm not too sure what screamo is but this record sounds exactly like post-sludge metal to me. I mean, it's certainly a metal record so I'm surprised to see people tagging it with a label that sits outside of the metal space. It's also a very solid release indeed with every one of the six tracks possessing a vibrancy & vitality that sees me captivated for the entirety of its short 33 minute duration. The Neurosis & Isis comparisons are quite easy to draw upon but there's also a blackened edge to some of this material that sees it bordering upon neocrust at times. There are even some grindcore style blast beat sections which I feel add something to the mix. This album comes highly recommended.

4/5

Glad you liked this one, I have very much the same feelings as this sort of vocal production and overall style is normally way out of my comfort zone, but I have high praise for Ostraca. 

Nuclear Power Trio - "Wet Ass Plutonium" (2023)

This extraordinarily talented power trio/super group have produced a record that sits somewhere between the progressive metal of Dream Theater & the instrumental guitar shred of "Meltdown"-era Vinny Moore with a wide array of influences being utilized from funk to flamenco. The world-class bass playing of Nick Schendzielos (Cephalic Carnage/Havok/Job for a Cowboy) is absolutely astounding while guitarist Greg Burgess (Allegaeon/Cryogen) is no slouch either. In fact, the performances & production job are perhaps a touch too clinical which leaves things sounding a touch sterile at times. Perhaps I was never going to rate a record like this one higher than I have, despite the consistency of the tracklisting. It's possibly more about style than it is substance.

3.5/5

Easily my new favorite Prog instrumental group, it's awesome to hear more Classical/Flamenco guitar playing used in highly complex albums like this to add that extra unique touch. It worked for First Fragment with their Tech Death combo, so it's no surprise that it really fits in well with heavier instrumental Prog. I'm with you in that it takes a lot to really rate an instrumental album highly, as this is still sitting at a 3.5/5 for me as well despite having nothing but praise. Maybe if I keep coming back to it and it doesn't get boring it'll get the bump to a 4.

The frontrunner for The Infinite Release of 2023 Award are Ne Obliviscaris' "Exul', King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's "PetroDragonic Apocalypse" & Periphery's "Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre". There's less than a week to go now so get those ratings in.