TPD 2023 EPs of the Year List
The 23 best new EPs and short-form releases 2023 had to offer
This is the companion piece to the 2023 AOTY list, and will present a much shorter list highlighting 2023 releases with run times under 30 minutes long.
I won’t be so verbose in this post as I was in the long-form list. I’ll let the music speak for itself, mostly. The same methodology used in compiling the other list was employed in this one. The music here is of the same caliber as the albums featured on the AOTY list, there’s just less of it. So the difference is quantitative, not qualitative.
For those with territorial interests, six of these 23 releases came from the US, three from Canada, and two each of the releases came from artists hailing from the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands (that’s Fluisteraars times two for those counting). There’s one per from Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, and Sweden. The other, Blood Abscission, is from an undisclosed location, so that act could be from Antarctica for all we know.
Three labels had multiple entries make the list—Relapse Records, Eisenwald, and Through Love Records—each with two. Eight of the 23 enumerated were independent releases. Nine other record companies contributed one each.
I was thrilled to be able to catch Wolves in the Throne Room (featured here at #10) live for the first time this year. What an experience that was! Monolord is an inevitable inclusion for me anytime they put out anything new. They did not disappoint this year, finding themselves in the #2 spot with the single, It's All the Same. The top death metal offering on the list is Blood Incantation’s Luminescent Bridge at #3. Also highlighting the list, a pleasant grindcore surprise comes from Convulsions at #8. Italian doom metal mainstays, Ufomammut, show up at #13, and you’ll find plenty of black metal and hardcore throughout the list.
The List
23. Banished Realm – Impious Rumination
22. Trhä – rhejde qhaominvac tla aglhaonamëc
21. Fluisteraars – De Kronieken van het Verdwenen Kasteel II: Nergena
20. Blood Abscission – I
19. Distaste – Der Ertraeger und das Fleisch
18. Jøtnarr – Rotten F*cking Planet
17. Unruly – Hominid
16. Dismal Aura – Imperium Mortalia
15. Wreathe – The Land Is Not an Idle God
14. Vitrail – Le Mépris du Monde
13. Ufomammut – Crookhead
12. Neànder – Odèm / Yola des Goz
11. Pyramid Mass – Monolith
10. Wolves in the Throne Room – Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge
9. Malterra – Hydrosphere
8. Convulsions – Grindcore Not War
7. She – Goodpaster
6. Nidare – Naehe und Flackern
5. Mars Red Sky – Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow
4. Fluisteraars – De Kronieken van het Verdwenen Kasteel I: Harslo
3. Blood Incantation – Luminescent Bridge
2. Monolord – It's All the Same
The Top Spot
1. Bloodrhine – Bloodrhine
I was immediately blown away by this EP, so much so that it was one of my impulse vinyl buys of the year. Yes, many poor financial choices have been made by yours truly this year, but this is one that I refuse to regret. Upon first listen, I had no idea who or what had penetrated my aural canal, but it was quickly and easily discerned that Bloodrhine must be something very special. Once I realized that the pedigree of this Vancouver, BC outfit included Bison and Black Wizard (and if you don’t know these bands, you should stop what you’re doing and deep-dive their discographies now), I knew all I needed to know. I don’t say this flippantly; this is drummer Eugene Parkomenko and his Black Wizard mates, Kent Law and Adam Grant, at their absolute best. Bloodrhine made the bold choice to play their brash brand of thrash-death-doom-core as a three piece and, you know what, it absolutely works for them. The only complaint I have is that Bloodrhine is only 23 minutes long and left me needing more. It absolutely rips! So give these 23 minutes 23 repeat listens for 2023’s sake, won’t ya?
Listen Here
This list has been published as a public playlist on Spotify, but please note that a couple of the albums are yet not available on that platform. I linked to the bandcamp pages for those two releases in the list above, where they’re available for free.