Heavy-music fans have a lot to look forward to in 2023. New albums from metal giants like Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold are finally on the horizon, plus records we never thought we'd hear might actually see the light of day (a new Mudvayne record, Slipknot's "Radiohead vibe" album, to name a couple) and a murder's row of younger acts have hotly awaited new LPs on the docket.
We published our list of the 55 most anticipated albums of 2023, and then we asked our readers which prospective record they're most looking forward to this year. The top five vote-getters are ranked accordingly below.
5. Babymetal
Babymetal's new album, The Other One, is significant for several reasons. It's the Japanese band's first full-length in four years, it's their first-ever concept album and, so far, the singles have been wildly different from what fans have come to expect from Babymetal. Their signature kawaii-metal cheeriness has been swapped with brooding prog passages ("Divine Attack") and elements of djenty balladry ("Monochrome"). Change is healthy, and it appears that Babymetal fans agree.
4. Orbit Culture
Our readers named Orbit Culture one of 2022's breakout bands and voted their single "Vultures of North" high in our poll of last year's five best songs, but all of that is just the prequel to what the group have in store for 2023. Later this year, the Swedish metallers will unveil their long-awaited new album, Descent, and if it's anything like "Vultures of North" then fans are in for an absolutely monstrous collection of new stompers.
3. 3TEETH
Revolver HQ couldn't agree more with our readers on this one — we need more 3TEETH. The industrial-metal band helmed by Alexis Mincolla have always made music that speaks to apocalyptic and existentially doom-laden times, and the world has been chock full of that shit in the years since their last LP, 2019's Metawar. We're due for a new batch of mechanized mayhem to soundtrack our planet's continued flirtations with demise. 3TEETH, your time is now.
2. Avenged Sevenfold
In most cases, when a band has been around for over 20 years, it's usually fairly easy to predict what their next record will sound like. Avenged Sevenfold are a glaring exception to that pattern. The O.C. metal band's last album came out seven years ago, and it was an hour-plus-long concept record about space that didn't sound like any of their previous releases — not that any two A7X records sound alike, because they're all markedly different. That's why we, and our readers, can't wait for this new one. No matter what it ends up being, we'll have never seen it coming.
1. Metallica
Even in a year with dozens of highly anticipated heavy-music albums on the docket, a new Metallica record is a "drop everything" type of occurrence. The biggest band in metal history are returning April 14th with their first LP since 2016, 72 Seasons, and lead single "Lux Æterna" is a throwback ripper that bodes of thrashy things to come. Even if that song proves to be a red herring and the LP ends up being their slowest yet, it's still a new Metallica album. So yeah, a big fucking deal.
