Top 10 of 2023 by Mads Heilskov

1: Abscheu - Creed (Tesco)

On Creed, Abscheu once again delivers a slab of modern and crushing power electronics. Raw and to the bone, Creed is exactly the follow-up that I had hoped for after last year’s excellent EP on Unrest. Creed marks a new level of perfection from Abscheu and is my favorite album this year.

2: Am Not - Cold + Disloyal (Unrest)

Am Not is back with his signature brand of hi-fi and modern, yet uncompromising industrial/power electronics. Just as one has come to expect from Am Not, Cold + Disloyal is a thoroughly crafted and innovative album full of memorable moments and was a close runner-up to the No. 1 spot on this list.

3: Prurient & Genocide Organ - Carte Blanche (Hospital)

The two industrial pioneers have teamed up to create an album full of nuanced, dark, and brooding heavy electronics of high caliber. Carte Blanche was an anxiously anticipated release for me and I can honestly say that I did not expect it to be this good. This fills me with hope for the upcoming GO album.

4: Arktau Eos - Dormiveglia (Aural Hypnox)

The Finnish ritual ambient masters return with a new excellent piece of dark art with plenty of weird and eerie atmospheres delivered with authority and originality.

5: Halo Manash - Par-Antra II: TAA (Aural Hypnox)

The other Finnish ritual ambient masters deliver too! This is nature mysticism when it is most evocative. Like Arktau Eos, Halo Manash is highly original but delivers a more organic and acoustic kind of sound. They are certainly also equally good.

6: Grunt - Vieraat aivot (Freak Animal)

Grunt has always been busy in terms of releases. On this one, we get the capturing of two different live performances which are quite different from one another. As always with Grunt, however, you get a carefully crafted, yet raw, devastating, yet beautiful piece of industrial/noise art.

7: Apex Parasite - Erosion Of The Will (Dunkelheit)

Erosion Of The Will delivers raw as fuck skinhead stuff that will bash your skull in. It took me by surprise, but Erosion Of The Will has been in heavy rotation; it really is a beast of an album.

8: Prelest - Teodal (Freak Animal)

There is not much to say about this one – this is just pure industrial corrosion and rot. Needless to say, I love it.

9: Amek-Maj - s/t (Freak Animal)

Amek-Maj is one of the most promising new names on the industrial/noise scene in my book. I look forward to following this project in the years to come and, in the meantime, dive back into this great piece of noisy industrial muzak again and again.

10: HÖH - Epäjohdonmukainen (Freak Animal)

HÖH is lo-fi as you can get. The album delivers the crackling and corroding sound of rust and rubble in a ruined landscape. Full of slowly grinding dread, Epäjohdonmukainen is the sound of abandoned factories and polluted air. It is the perfect soundtrack to enter yet another year of waste, pollution, and suffering.