Well, here we are again, at the sharp end of Sentinel Daily‘s eighth Top one hundred countdown since 2016. The general consensus amongst our panel of judges is that these are the best of a year that hasn’t been quite so choc-full of delights as it’s recent counterparts, but there’s no doubting the firepower on display amongst these twenty five corkers – enjoy – and glory to the victors!
25. Hell’s Addiction – 9 O’Clock Heroes (Weapon Music/Vanity Music Group)
The band cover a lot of ground across the course of the album… and give the impression that very big things indeed may be in store for them just a little bit further down the track…” – Gavin Strickmann, 26/10/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 6* Highest Chart Position 5* Read Full Review HERE
24. Air Raid – Fatal Encounter (High Roller Records)
“There are no points on Fatal Encounter that could be described as ‘weak’. In the world of traditional metal, where values like freshness and vitality are often at a premium, that’s an astonishing thing to report. But then Fatal Encounter is a pretty astonishing album”. – GS, 27/01/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 6 Highest Chart Position 12 Read Full Review HERE
23. Necrofier – Burning Shadows in the Southern Night (Season of Mist)
“In all honestly there isn’t a moment on the record that won’t have you catching your breath and revelling in the splendour of it all. Some albums are made simply to wallow in – and this is one of them. Wallow away!” – Michael Stronge, 16/05/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 9 Highest Chart Position 1 (2 Weeks) Read Full Review HERE
22. Coven Japan – Earthlings (No Remorse Records)
“As the Maidenesque Land of the Rising Sun rips from the speakers you know you’re in for a mighty ride… you’d be foolish not to lend this album at least one ear when it comes out…” – Scott Adams, 24/11/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 2* Highest Chart Position 24* Read Full Review HERE
21. Sleep of Monsters – rrr (Svart Records)
“Don’t get me wrong – for all my flippancy it’s clear that Sleep of Monsters are producing, important, substantial music here; Ghost have proven that occult music doesn’t need to be impenetrable to the untutored ear, and on ΓΓΓ you’ll find some of the most accessible occult rock ever committed to tape. On all levels this is a great success”. – Michael Stronge, 21/04/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 13 Highest Chart Position 1 (1 Week) Read Full Review HERE
20. Department of Gloom – Department of Gloom (Andromeda Music)
“It’s rare, in these jaded times when the world and his wife are seemingly submitting albums to Sentinel Daily for review, to find something as fabulously satisfying – not to mention steadfastly dud-free – as Department of Gloom. Good guys playing great music are at a serious premium in 2023 – so give these blokes a leg-up and get hold of this as soon as is humanly possible!” – SA, 12/07/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 17 Highest Chart Position 1 (1 Week) Read Full Review HERE
19. Sevendust – Truth Killer (Napalm Records)
“Fourteen albums in, Sevendust are still able to pull off the odd surprise but for the most part it’s business as usual here… and that’ll be more than enough for many of the band’s rabid army of very loyal fans” – GS, 24/07/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 6 Highest Chart Position 1 (6 Weeks) Read Full Review HERE
18. Darrel Treece-Birch’s Atlantea – Choices (Lion Music)
“A prog album of hour-plus duration that doesn’t collapse under the weight of it’s own pretensions is a rare thing; a prog album rammed to the gunwales with sharp, easy on the ear songwriting and performance doubly so. Choices is just such an album. Cherish it”. – GS, 06/10/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 9 Highest Chart Position 2 Read Full Review HERE
17. Night Legion – Fight or Fall (Massacre Records)
“If you like proper heavy metal, heavy metal as it’s always been made, then there’s absolutely no reason at all, not one, for you not to add this album to your collection as soon as is humanly possible. It’s an absolute ripper”. – SA, 06/07/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 11 Highest Chart Position 1 (1 Week) Read Full Review HERE
16. Teksti-TV 666 – Vapauden tasavalta (Svart Records)
“This is truly energising music, important music, and it’s fabulous to listen to. Teksti-TV 666 are outsiders, and their strange and beautiful music deserves to be celebrated”. – MS, 03/02/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 8 Highest Chart Position 1 (1 Week) Read Full Review HERE
15. Kent Hilli – Nothing Left To Lose (Frontiers Music)
“But for all the hunt-the-influence opportunities for the keen-eared listener, the fact remains that Hilli is a master craftsman, and very much a man in charge of his own destiny; Kent Hilli is easily the equal of the great names of the past, the names we lazy journos glibly dredge up when trying to explain just how good he is, and he proves that once more on Nothing Left To Lose“. SA, 14/07/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 9 Highest Chart Position 3 Read Full Review HERE
14. Crowne – Operation Phoenix (Frontiers Music)
“Songs such as The Last Of Us are pure pop metal nirvana… There is a timeless glory to tunes like Just Believe that is absolutely undeniable. This is truly big music that deserves a big fan base!” – GS, 12/01/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 7 Highest Chart Position 6 Read Full Review HERE
13. Angra – Cycles of Pain (Atomic Fire)
“If this tale of a mixture of all Angra’s usual facets sounds a bit ‘business as usual’ then why not? Business is generally pretty good for this band, and Cycles of Pain is a very fine affirmation of that fact”. – Ferry Templeton, 20/10/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 7 Highest Chart Position 3 Read Full Review HERE
12. La Chinga – Primal Forces (Ripple Music)
“Pure, from-the-heart mayhem – mayhem of the very best kind. Reviewing music as elemental as Rings of Power is essentially pointless – it’s how the groove grabs you and bends it to it’s will that really matters. And this is an album that matters a great deal indeed”. – SA, 11/10/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 6 Highest Chart Position 6 Read Full Review HERE
11. Tygers of Pan Tang – Bloodlines (Mighty Music)
“Whatever song you happen to be listening to at any given time sounds like a highlight. Tygers of Pan Tang don’t waste any bullets on Bloodlines, hitting the target time and again, in the process creating one of the most remarkable albums of their storied career and one of the most listenable melodic metal album’s we’ve come across so far in 2023″ – GS, 11/04/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 10 Highest Chart Position 10 Read Full Review HERE
10. Metallica – 72 Seasons (Blackened)
“It’s better than Lulu. It’s better than Hardwired and Death Magnetic, and pound for pound it’s better than both the Load albums. Which, in the final washup, makes this record the best thing Metallica have recorded in thirty two years”. – SA, 14/04/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 6 Highest Chart Position 6 Read Full Review HERE
9. Enslaved – Heimdal (Nuclear Blast)
“Heimdal is a great album, pure and simple, it’s true, yet at the same time it absolutely demands immersion for best results. Do yourself a favour – allocate yourself some ‘you time’ and get stuck into it’s delights as soon as you can”. – SA, 22/02/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 1 Highest Chart Position 30 Read Full Review HERE
8. Diamond Dogs – About The Hardest Nut To Crack (Wild Kingdom Records)
“Recorded in an astonishing SIX DAYS between Christmas and New Year 2022, About The Hardest Nut To Crack is everything you want from a gutsy, sincere rock n’roll band at the height of their game. You’re all gonna love wallowing in this one, believe me…” – SA, 13/09/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 9 Highest Chart Position 1 (2 Weeks) Read Full Review HERE
7. Host – IX (Nuclear Blast)
“One hell of a well-put together record, one which stands up both as it’s own album and, despite this being a side project, as part of the rich Paradise Lost legacy that Nick Holmes and Gregor Mackintosh have built up over the years. Great stuff from start to finish!” – MS, 09/02/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 7 Highest Chart Position 1 (3 Weeks) Read Full Review HERE
6. Overkill – Scorched (Nuclear Blast)
“It’s not all tight-trousered thrashing – the Ozzyish Fever takes things down a notch or two, intensity wise, but at the end of the day we come to Overkill for our headbanging jollies and once again they’ve satiated our cravings in spades. If there’s a better veteran band out there currently dong the rounds, I’d like to hear them.” – MS, 16/03/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 6 Highest Chart Position 17 Read Full Review HERE
5. Godthrymm – Distortions (Profound Lore)
“Indeed ‘soul’ is a word that crops up regularly here, as the band dig deep into the recesses of the human condition time and again. It’s genuinely moving at times, and enables the band to inject feeling into all the songs no matter how heavy the instrumentation gets… All round, then, a success as big as the sound the band have built for themselves. Congratulations to all concerned”. – SA, 11/08/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 7 Highest Chart Position 2 Read Full Review HERE
4. Hugo’s Voyage – Inception (Frontiers Music)
“If you aren’t weeping openly as you wave your lighter in the air whilst the band belt out uber-ballad In My Heart well… I fear for your soul, I really do… But seriously, if classic, unapologetically backwards-looking AOR still gets you hot under the collar, you’ll not be hearing anything this year that comes close to rivalling Inception for sheer, goosebump-inducing mayhem.” – SA, 07/11/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 5* Highest Chart Position 3* Read Full Review HERE
3. Hawkwind – The Future Never Waits (Cherry Red Records)
“A truly immersive piece of work that reveals more of itself with each listen, it’s easily – to my fevered mind at least – the best thing this band has come up with in decades. Bravo!” – MS, 05/04/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 17 Highest Chart Position 1 (8 Weeks) Read Full Review HERE
2. Gong – Unending Ascending (Kscope)
“Gong have long been a favourite of mine, and this album sees them continue to maintain a treasured place in my heart…a sublime album that seems to distort time” – Albert Petersen, 01/11/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 6* Highest Chart Position 2*) Read Full Review HERE
All of which leads us to the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
Sentinel Daily’s Top album of 2023 is…
1. KK’s Priest – The Sinner Rides Again (Napalm Records)
“Everywhere you look, KK’s Priest currently have more to offer than Judas Priest, and I don’t deliver that verdict lightly – but after listening to ‘ripping’ tracks like Keeper of the Graves and, of course, opening track Sons of the Sentinel, how could any sane human arrive at any other conclusion? I for one am ready to pledge my soul to KK’S Priest, and I think many more will follow my lead once they’ve heard this banger of an album…” – Chris Arrowmith, 28/09/23
Weeks On Sentinel Daily Top 30 Album Chart: 6 Highest Chart Position 6 Read Full Review HERE
Sentinel Daily Album of the Year Winners:
2016 Kansas – The Prelude Implicit (InsideOut Music)
2017 Paradise Lost – Medusa (Nuclear Blast)
2018 Judas Priest – Firepower (Sony)
2019 Devin Townsend – Empath (InsideOut Music)
2020 Raven – Metal City (SPV/Steamhammer)
2021 Iron Maiden – Senjutsu (Parlophone)
2022 Dynazty – Final Advent (AFM Records)
2023 KK’s Priest – The Sinner Rides Again (Napalm Records)
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