The Guardians - 2023 Roundup

I had a lot going on this year, so breaking up my normal year-end list into smaller lists is more of a necessity than ever if I want to get something published by the end of the year. The Guardians is always one of my longer lists along with The Infinite and The North, so let's see how things stacked up: 

1. Malokarpatan - Vertumnus Caesar (Move to The North)
2. Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade
3. Sacred Outcry - Towers of Gold
4. Lovebites - Judgement Day
5. Xandria - The Wonders Still Awaiting
6. Twilight Force - At the Heart of Wintervale
7. Gatekeeper - From Western Shores
8. Edu Falaschi - Eldorado
9. Wytch Hazel - IV: Sacrament
10. Century - The Conquest of Time 
11. Kamelot - The Awakening
12. Galneryus - Between Dread and Valor
13. Delain - Dark Waters
14. Gloryhammer - Return to the Kingdom of Fife
15. Iron Savior - Firestar
16. Bloodbound - Tales From the North
17. Angus McSix - Angus McSix and the Sword of Power
18. Beyond the Black - Beyond the Black
19. Metallica - 72 Seasons
20. Mechina - Cenotaph
21. Dragoncorpse - The Drakketh Saga

Honestly, a lot less than I would have thought. A lot of my listening must have really been concentrated in the Black / Death Metal world this year, considering I still kept up with the amount of new albums I normally listen to. Having Malokarpatan top The Guardians list doesn't seem too fair, so I think I'll be moving that one over to The North list in the final rankings. In that case, Cirith Ungol are a force to be reckoned with more than 40 years after their debut album and more than deserve the top spot with Dark Parade. I went back and forth a bunch of times about Sacred Outcry's Towers of Gold as it has the legendary Daniel Heiman (Lost Horizon) at the helm, but something about it never truly clicked despite the lyrical storytelling being stronger than average. Despite everyone's praise for Heiman, I'm not sure I'm completely sold as his overall delivery gets exhausting over the course of the album thanks to middling tempos and slightly lower energy for Power Metal. 

Apart from that, there were very few hidden gems this year and a few major flops, like the Gloryhammer and Angus McSix debacle as well as Iron Savior and Bloodbound releasing more by-the-numbers albums with little to no standout moments. Twilight Force were still bombastic enough to keep themselves in my good graces and Lovebites surprised me a bit, but everything else was pretty standard.

Cirith Ungol and Smoulder's "Violent Creed of Vengeance" are the only Guardians releases that have caught my attention this year, both being very good.

Has anyone else checked out US power metallers Savage Oath's self-titled E.P. as yet? It's really more of a single as it only contains two songs with a total run time of just twelve minutes. It's pretty decent though with both songs showcasing a consistent level of quality. The lineup includes vocalist Brendan Ratigan who has spent time with bands like Sumerlands, Torture Chain, Magic Circle, Stone Dagger, Pagan Altar, Mind Eraser & The Rival Mob as well as Visigoth guitarist Leeland Campana, former Eternal Champion guitarist Carlos Llanas & current Ironsword/former Manilla Road bassist Phil Ross so they're a veritable smorgasbord of heavy metal pedigree. With a sound that sits somewhere between the US & European power metal models, they sound very much like I remember Eternal Champion sounding too actually so if you like them then you'll more than likely dig Savage Oath too.

3.5/5

Cirith Ungol's "Dark Parade" album is the frontrunner to win The Guardians Release of 2023 Award with less than a week to go with Malokarpatan's "Vertumnus Caesar" & Kamelot's "The Awakening" being the main competition. Get those ratings in guys.