Spotify's Best Metal of 2023...

[@le_potate3861]

I guarantee that whoever made this playlist will see this video, and Nik just made their entire year.

[@Moshpitdrums]

Twas you?

[@antoniosteiger9443]

Dude, this playlist is actually really fckn good! They should make them like this always

[@Sh0nSpectre]

Best Spotify procured playlist I’ve seen yet tbr

[@NXT_LVL]

The Scoop of Poo was flowery

[@heyimaaron96]

Antimatter by Silent Planet sounds like Cypher by Northlane

[@jakescott7989]

Seems like people are listening to good shit these days

[@LegalHotline]

Lotta shit in there too

[@Bannschwert]

For all that don't know them: Rise of the Northstar are really really great! French band that play a lot in Japan, all their music videos are subtiteled in Japanese and usually play there as well. If you're looking for music with a lot of energy to hype you up and make you jump around, this is the band! Probably more Hardcore than Metal, but you should all manage that. Check 'em out, enjoy, spread the good word.

[@deanmanderfeld3385]

They played a few festivals in Europe this past summer too

[@Jens_Roadster]

Yeah, i know them for years. They are really good. Their latest album is really good too.

[@bidcs_]

saw them years ago and they were sick

[@lucasfaquini2789]

Rotns is awesome. Surprised that nik didn’t knew them.

[@stormierbody8419]

Hearing that makes me wonder if they are wanting to be affiliated with the Fist of the NorthStar or is just a coincidence

[@valorjoz]

Meet Your Maker being that high makes me happy; "Foregone" gave me so much life this year. Jaded being that high doesn't surprise me either. THAT RIFF for real.

[@skiandbike131]

Foregone pt.1 was straight fire

[@valorjoz]

@@skiandbike131 oh absolutely, that main riff is just so tasty. One of my favorites of theirs, ever.

[@patrickpellegrino]

I like that Nik has his own annual awards show now 😂

[@Sebastianbaraj5]

My favorites this year: The Enduring Spirit - Tomb Mold Exul - Ne Obliviscaris Time will take us all - Etheos Last Day of Sun - Fuming Mouth Change the way you think about pain - Incendiary Ontological Mysterium - Horrendous

[@Houraisan47]

ne obliviscaris!

[@Alex-ty9bo]

I was at the Architects concert on the day the summoning dropped. Chokehold right before that. Sleep Token was on before Architects. We heard the song live, 4 hours before it dropped. Most amazing thong to ever happen, and i love how it dropped in the first week of the year and proceeded to be the best song for all year.

[@frostfang1]

Dude they make their rituals feel so special. So many ritual goers got amazing experiences of hearing the songs before they dropped or hearing it the week it dropped. That's got to be a surreal ecstatic experience. And for them to go from no one singing it to the entire audience singing it

[@dennismclecter7945]

It was kinda funny, saw Sleep Token as opener for Architects beginning of last year (before I actually got to know them), and for this years part 2 of the european tour Architects have Spiritbox. Just madness

[@cowmark67]

I find it funny that people in the chat were writing that it's not metal for the Myrkur song when she was literally singing over black metal riffs. Also, this is actually a pretty bangin' playlist.

[@princealigorna7468]

Myrkur has always existed in the space between Nordic Folk, black metal, and folk metal. And I think a lot of folks don't know what to do with an artist as ambiguous as she is. That twilight existence scares them. If she were only black metal or folk metal, they'd love her. If she were only Viking folk, they'd embrace her like they have Heilung or Wardrunna.

[@evilemuempire9550]

@@princealigorna7468Dude 100%, I love Myrkur’s music, both the black metal and the folk. Average people look at it sideways due to the black metal, and black metal elitists hate it because it’s not “trve” (the fact Myrkur is a woman also plays a role). You end up with this cross genre where nobody’s willing to give it a try.

[@princealigorna7468]

@@evilemuempire9550 Yeah, it's weird. People give Chelsea Wolfe a pass for mixing folk with doom metal, but not Myrkur mixing folk and black metal? When folk metal as we know it today (Trollhammer, Primordial, Cruachan, Falkenbach) comes out of black metal?

[@iandoreasu]

Yeah funny, it's more metal than a lot of the emo/metalcore stuff on the list to me at least.

[@AgainstTheeWickedlyMusic]

The Myrkur slander in the video genuinely made me a little sad, haha. I love that record. It isn't heavy, but it's super creative

[@osiriskid77777]

The Summoning goes so hard

[@Empiriarch1945]

the editing skipped Sabaton, within Temptation, Judas Priest, Baby Metal and black thunder...

[@DuffyTheGander]

I was dummy sad, especially since 1916 was a cover/tribute to one of the all-time greats

[@allenellsworth5799]

They must have edited all the good music out.

[@mire4794]

it's a sin to skip Sabaton

[@KingKafei]

Its so awesome seeing sleeptoken and spiritbox rise to the top as someone who followed them before they blew up recently. Seeing Spiritbox basically front and center stage at the house of blues on Orlando this year was one of the craziest concerts ive ever seen

[@IIZylark]

How do you even put those two bands together? Spiritbox is SOOOOOOOOO much better. Sleep Token is literally Baby's first metalcore.

[@christianryan9989]

@@IIZylark Not that hard to believe a lot of people would like ST. It’s metal for people who don’t JUST like metal. You’ve seriously never heard a song on the radio and thought it’d sound a lot better with djenty guitars? Sleep Token is just that with extra steps.

[@flyingsauce101]

​@christianryan9989 Personally, that's exactly why I don't like them. I don't really have a problem with people who like them, but the broad appeal approach of their music is very off-putting to me. Honestly, even more so as someone who enjoys other genres as well. Sleep Token, to me, blends so many different genres. . . and executes many of them poorly. Like, that rap section in Take Me Back to Eden is actually horrid. To me, of course. I can get why people would like them, but personally I just don't get it. Either way, I think it's a bit unfair to say it's metal for people who don't like metal. That sorta comes off (to me) as you saying that those who don't like Sleep Token are metal elitists, and therefore invalid. When it is perfectly possible for someone to just. . . not like them. Either way, I'm glad you can enjoy them. Everything's gonna appeal to someone, and I definitely wish they appealed to me. It's more fun to like than hate a band, honestly.

[@christianryan9989]

@@flyingsauce101 It’s valid to not like them, we all perceive music differently. I enjoy them for all the reasons you probably don’t but there’s an obvious uniqueness to their sound that will inevitably attract a lot of love and hate. One way or another, EVERYONE is talking about them. Also, I didn’t say it was metal for people that don’t like metal, but rather people that enjoy many genres including metal. Hell, you’ll find a ST song sandwiched between Kublai Kahn TX and Gideon on my playlist or maybe between a Beatles and Tupac song, ya never know.

[@JacobsKrąnųg]

@@IIZylark both bands are bad. sleep token isnt even metal, it's more like rock and spiritbox is whatever-core

[@huedonut6053]

Tomb Mold's new album is amazing. They 💯% deserve to be on that list

[@treybrown1592]

They were on Pitchfork's best of the year list

[@magnus1249]

Dude I like nick but dam why you gotta just go after them like that there one of the absolute best death metal bands of recent years

[@BlaiseStAmand]

I love the riffs of that album it’s heavy and physcadelic (spelt wrong) Also blood incantation’s new song should be in there

[@inkysabii4475]

agreed man. Not one to be skipped over at all.

[@davidcwk01]

@@magnus1249he likes metalcore too much

[@georgec6405]

My Spotify wrapped up said I listened to the summoning 59 times this year and it was my top song as well. Thnx to THIS channel. Keep up the kickass work Nick.

[@Jsbmetal74]

Nice to see Tomb Mold on there. The Enduring Spirit was definitely one of the best metal albums of the year.

[@thepotatolord3052]

It was solid mine was either dying fetus or cryptopsy

[@Z0mb13moon]

@@thepotatolord3052 I'm missing me some good The Zenith Passage man, besides that, solid picks!

[@thepotatolord3052]

@@Z0mb13moon I haven’t listened to that yet I’ll go try it out also new autopsy album is good

[@kurtramos59]

I listened to Invent Animate and Periphery non-stop this year and I'm glad that they went back to back in this playlist lol.

[@atroposV]

Haken and Periphery are so good dude damnnn

[@OutgrownThings]

Silent Planet’s new record is one of the greatest heavy albums I’ve ever heard. Incredible. And so unique.

[@heyimaaron96]

Antimatter = Northlane - Cypher. Ruined the song for me.

[@OutgrownThings]

@@heyimaaron96 to each their own, I respect that.

[@TrolledBy]

My friend linked me this album on Discord, and after the first 3 songs I decided this is the exact type of music I enjoy. A perfect mix of grunting and clear singing with some absolute blasting in the background. I tried asking him more similar albums and artists, but none clicked just the same way Silent Planet did. Truly a magical album.

[@ahsoka5385]

This is a really good list but I would like to add a few songs : Any of the 3 singles from Ankor (Darkbeat, Oblivion or Stereo), From the Inside or Undercity are better choices for Orbit Culture imo, One more flag in the ground from Kamelot, We go to war is also a better choice for Within temptation than Wireless imo and German metal deserves to be on this list so I would add Berzerkermode from Feuerschwanz because it’s a banger🤘🏻

[@HeatherBarks]

On the topic of German metal, Annisokay's Human should've absolutely been on here, it has one of the most explosive breakdowns I've ever heard

[@daewooharvey]

Could've gone with Vultures of North and called it a day for Orbit Culture.

[@Jarlaxle_Baenre]

No Prisoner from Ankor??! By far my most replayed song of theirs this past year.

[@ahsoka5385]

@@Jarlaxle_Baenre I would have chosen this one but it came out at the very end of 2022 (which I guess could still count as 2023)

[@olricmusic]

"We go to war is also a better choice for Within temptation than Wireless" I absolutely agree. Bleeds Out was also very good but for me We Go To War was their overall best song in 2023.

[@starship-nine4892]

That Tomb Mold album fucks super hard, cavern death is turning out to be one of my favorite genres as the years go on.

[@LionheartSJZ]

Myrkur "Like Humans" is one of my favorite songs of the year by the way. Once you get into it, that chorus will haunt you. It doesn't belong on that metal playlist though :D

[@claytonbenford4583]

So happy to see Tesseract getting more recognition!

[@detonationcruster]

Dude, the new TOMB MOLD is fire.

[@brandonbalmos6893]

Honestly I wish spotify picked a different song off the album

[@henrywalton5967]

Instrumentally great, vocally very very samey :(

[@evilemuempire9550]

Really happy to see Svalbard on there, they’ve done well this year, though I don’t they’ve broken into mainstream metal yet. They have some banger songs.

[@leerobbo92]

As good as the playlist is, missing off Katatonia is a huge oversight. Great album this year.

[@hybrigust]

💯

[@Gab_eb94]

oh hell yes BEAUTIFUL music

[@vampricramen]

Myrkur is like being lulled to sleep by the sweetest lullaby and then opening your eyes to see that it's being sung by your sleep paralysis demon.

[@mathewyerry2072]

Need

[@AgainstTheeWickedlyMusic]

The Tomb Mold and Myrkur slander made me sad... I was really hoping the Liturgy track made it to the video, I imagine you had a funny reaction to that one, that album is insane.

[@alexanderjs666]

Dude Myrkyr is so good and makes beautiful tunes. For a more black metal record of hers, check Mareridt. And yes, I do fall asleep to a lot of her music.

[@SeaCat2401]

I was looking for people defending Myrkur, glad I've found many here in the comment section. Because I love her, too. ^^

[@TrolledBy]

Metal is not exactly the type of music I think of as "tunes to fall asleep to", but you're not the first person I've heard doing so. During my year of mandatory military service, my lower bunk bed buddy listened to the most ear screeching, goat sacrificing death metal one can think of before sleeping. Every morning when I woke up I had to make sure he hadn't drawn pentagrams with his blood to the bottom of my top bunk. Although I did learn to sing out of nowhere after the service, so maybe he did sell my soul to a devil.

[@SwolePapi15]

The Tomb Mold disrespect

[@MasterTeJota]

As an In Flames stan it makes me so happy to see them so high on this list

[@jayzonedc6474]

Slaughterhouse is such a banger that it deserves to transcend 2022 and make it onto the 2023 list too

[@noahmailloux2836]

Saw them live. Bryan came out and played with motionless, core memory.

[@thepotatolord3052]

No

[@IIZylark]

Amazing song but no because it's not from this year.

[@damo8791]

the nita straus song - the wolf you feed deserved its place. great song

[@2keyzme]

Nik, you should really give Tesseract a chance. The album is awesome and Daniel really went all out on vocals. It's a great album and the title song is powerfull af. Been listening to this shit since it came out.

[@andrewferrin6451]

Empire State Bastards is Michael Vennart from Oceansize and Simon Neil. I've been pleasantly surprised with their music.

[@Ryo7_7]

Unearth's harmonies always hooked me. Decent list, compared to what I was thinking.

[@LewisHudson2]

No mention of Bleed From Within's deluxe tracks of Shrine is sad, that whole album slaps and the new deluxe tracks are excellent

[@trysixtysnipeco]

I think these songs deserve a spot too: vildhjarta-ylva or kanslan, humanity's last breath- with labyrinthian-instill, sign of the swarm-amongst the low and empty

[@SicklessFM]

Myrkur released a couple of Black/folk Metal albums, although she doesn't make that kind of music anymore, I liked what Myrkur does now, but it's true that they shouldn't have added her to this list

[@AgainstTheeWickedlyMusic]

@ghostfacekurdkillah4147 indie/emo riffing? Lmao, what album did you listen to?

[@AgainstTheeWickedlyMusic]

@ghostfacekurdkillah4147 yeah, I've seen that video before, it's very cringe

[@ianwalker2205]

To quote Niks "Sleep Tokens new album..." video at 2:07: "and as a Metal listener, I expected to be instantly disappointed", that's what I was halfway expecting for the #1 slot. But then I wasn't! :^) Worship

[@andersschmidt1968]

Not subscribed 46.9% Subscribed 54.1 % Totals 101% Nik is so metal, that even numbers can't break correctly 😂

[@JackVGM]

Its so funny seeing Holding Absence in playlists like this because despite them being one of my favourite bands they're not really metal but they get grouped into metal because I guess rock music has just kinda turned into indie rock so they don't fit into either category either 😅

[@henrywalton5967]

I've mainly heard them called Post Hardcore but I'm not even sure that's the right genre either. It's a good sign when you can't place a band though, means it's new and original!

[@deficitstifflegzercherdeadlift]

Big facts about rock. The best of 23 rock playlist on Spotify is literally just indie rock and bands who still think it’s 2004. No hate, I listen to a lot of that stuff, but I found it weird that the largest music streaming service in world equates indie rock with all rock.

[@m__6930]

Very happy to see Imminence, MTS, IA and SP on an actually curated play list!

[@xriot1752]

Tomb Mold is actually so good

[@goth9160]

I wish Loathe was on this playlist at all. i know they been getting a lot of recognition lately but i just want them to blow up even more 😭 i love them so much

[@bidcs_]

would help if they released something this year :D

[@goth9160]

@@bidcs_ it would ur right but in the video some band got chosen and they didnt make shit that year so i was hoping it would happen to loathe too

[@bidcs_]

true@@goth9160

[@CoupSounds]

Empire State Bastard is Dave Lombardo from Slayer's new project (with the singer from Biffy Clyro and guitarist from Oceansize).

[@enricopaoletti5650]

So happy to see Imminence in this playlist. They're releasing only good songs and the concept of their OMV is sublime. I can't wait to hear their whole album coming in 2024

[@Meshuggapeth]

Katatonia, Staind, Job for a Cowboy Obituary had some bangers this year

[@ThexCatmanx]

I saw Spiritbox touring with SleepToken in 2022. I knew they were gonna be playing bigger venues the next time I saw them and this is how 2023 is ending. Good for them.

[@Captain_Calcium]

Tomb Mold is sick but weird fs either way I'm surprised and hype to see them at 70 lol. Also 58: Myrkur is like post black metal or something like that, neat to see her too

[@chuckchaos2110]

older days from no resolve, paleface, and ten56 should be on this list. that song was unbelievably good

[@Alex-eh4dl]

hey nik i just wanted to say how much i enjoy your videos thanks for making them

[@glubglubglub732]

dude watch the video first

[@voidofsilence6616]

A playlist actually done by a REAL HUMAN BEING? That's a surprise on the 2023 bingo. I'm also surprised they picked Atropos from Periphery when they could've picked Wildfire or Everything Is Fine. If anything I would have picked Everything Is Fine since that is the most consistently heavy song from Djent Is Not A Genre album. Overall lots of good picks from a real, living, breathing human being.

[@ryanhanlon7001]

Ngl this list is actually sick. Hurt me when he made fun of tomb mold. That album was amazing

[@lens_hunter]

Nik you should totally make a playlist for the best of 2023. I know i definitely missed some bangers.

[@lordgigapiller]

that was crazy, I actually knew like half of them. poor scar symmetry though :( new album deserved to be on the list, chrononautilus specifically

[@nitiiakadeathbat]

myrkur is actually a pretty cool artist! she's danish and mixes danish folklore with black metal. She has an etheral voice and also does gnarly screams, for example in Ulvinde.

[@LegalHotline]

Yeah Myrkur is fucking amazing. I like Chelsea Wolfe better tho

[@seevbeats1352]

Neither of After the Burials singles landed on this playlist. Wild. "Nothing Gold" and "Death Keeps Us From Living" are crazyyyyy.

[@Matjo7588dk]

The news that Spotify will stop paying musicians who put up their music, if they are getting low numbers are so sad. As big as they are, and as much they mean in the music industry, that they can not give just a little back to help artist grow is insane to me.

[@daewooharvey]

1,000 plays a year doesn't seem like a major threshold to reach to warrant royalties from Spotify. Realistically, it's less than $5 if they reach the lowest threshold of 1,000 players a year.

[@heavensplitter]

You know that Nik is really pissed off when his voice goes up 2 octaves

[@kodi0223]

@@daewooharvey if thats true then lol, yea withholding 4 dollars from you from not reaching 1000 unique listeners in 12 months, doesnt mean much. KZbin requires quite a bit more numbers to be monetised

[@SongwritingDeconstructed]

hey i'm just happy for the exposure I don't really need the 20c

[@sirdorkster]

Starting in 2024 Spotify will stop paying anything at all for roughly two-thirds of tracks on the platform. That is any track receiving fewer than 1,000 streams over the period of a year

[@HenryProperCall911]

Beartooth's Sunshine, Make Them Suffer's Ghost Of Me and Aviana's Obsession win this year for me

[@hebbbby]

I am obsessed with obsession 😍. Bloody love Aviana

[@parkercampbell137]

Tomb Mold did make it into Cyberpunk 2077's radio tracks so there's that.

[@xzqr4100]

i will happily listen to 13 minutes of ne obliviscaris in a playlist

[@Tennessee_Plumbing]

I loved bless the fall before the singer went to escape the fate. HIS LAST WALK was an excellent album

[@BlackbladeYT]

The fact you glossed over Skindred at 3:24 hurt my soul 😢

[@GregPolkinghorne]

Wasn't expecting Nic to know Ne Obliviscaris

[@FatalPurpose]

Mostly a solid playlist, absolutely exceeded my expectations, but absolutely missing The Migrant by Shadow of Intent.

[@Skeluz]

Tomb mold is in Cyberpunk 2077.

[@davidadams7106]

Thrown is super-riffy and angry.....love it!

[@RigorMortisItrium]

Hey, Tomb Mold is awesome :) IMHO

[@johnfitzgerald1240]

RESPECT THE MOLD OF THE TOMB

[@FragileFlame82]

I work at Spotify and I used to curate the Metal playlists for a couple of years. :) My main playlists were Deathcore, Got Djent, Metalcore and Kickass Metal. I can assure you that real people are behind the lists but there are some algo playlists as well based on listening data. Btw, Myrkur is fantastic, you should give her a chance! ;)

[@Raejk]

Myrkur did some black metal-ish sounding stuff earlier but then more "folky" stuff

[@_lin_al3177]

Nik needs to do an interview with one of the editors because i really need to understand whats going through their heads making these lists

[@aliefe1203]

I cant believe you violated Tomb Mold like that :(

[@SheogorathWaldo]

Nik out here trash talking Tomb Mold lol

[@liamblack4840]

Nik you gotta listen to Aviations. Perfect modern prog metal, basically if DT were in their 30s and had a nice sounding singer 👀

[@lukedavis3318]

So glad they popped up for me, fantastic band!

[@leaperaffinity]

No new Sylosis or anything from A Sign of Things to Come, there are some bands that have been clearly overlooked.

[@novclo]

i mean its been said elsewhere here but tomb mold is a hugely critically acclaimed band

[@ECGgroup]

Would've hoped they would have had a bit more variety. I mean it's all 2010s metalcore released in 2023, which is fine, but man there are other subgenres out there.

[@eee_d888]

They should have included songs from Everything bleeds by crown magnetar and dehumanization protocol by extermination dismemberment.

[@TheSnagg13tooth]

In Flames got my #1 artist but no top 5 songs on Spot. That whole album was amazing!

[@lunethias]

Look, I know you're not a fan of Ghost, but you've got to admit that they're kinda really brilliant. I personally adore them, putting bias aside. They're the hard rock/metal equivalent to Abba at this point, and really do deserve the press/praise.

[@ToasterPizzaFun]

The problem is everyone keeps trying to lump Ghost under metal when they haven’t been metal in a while. Ghost has a lot of bops, and it’s clear Tobias wants to explore various styles, influences and homages. Also, Ghost has been tongue-in-cheek and putting on a performance throughout its existence. It’s great music as long as metalheads stop trying to evaluate the songs as metal tracks. Will that ever happen? Who knows. But Ghost has enough fans for us to be happy. Just tune out the rest.

[@ScottReed]

No, no one has to admit that. Ghost suck

[@waveandxav]

I agree. I saw Knocked Loose this year and they slapped. dude. amazing

[@catoi6324]

God damn I i remember when I first saw sleep token make it to somewhere around the middle of Spotify's prog metal playlist and now they're number one. fuckin hell.

[@LoloViking27]

Myrkur deserves to be on all the playlists

[@__-ni1kz]

I quit Spotify, put 256GB in an iPod Classic and returned to RYM, Soulseek and Bandcamp. Found a bunch of dope 90’s/00’s melodic metalcore, hardcore and death metal recently. Trashing Tomb Mold was soft as hell. Album’s dope.

[@andreashakestad9013]

When i heard Svalbard i was so sure they were from Norway but i looked it up and they're actually british. It's wierd because there is islands outside of Larvik here in Norway called Svalbard

[@defaultforger13]

In fairness, those editors did their homework seriously!!! Kudos.

[@willg955]

I died a little inside when you skipped over Disappoint Me by Left to Suffer...

[@KellAllH8rs]

Tomb Mold is dope and they were featured in Cyberpunk

[@danideath1726]

I see that you had listened to Imminence, great pick! The basist is a an old friend of mine called Christian! Truely an awesome band.

[@SaintOfSwords]

Kinda disappointed his reaction to Avatar's The Dirt I'm Buried In is not in this video, would've loved to hear what he had to say about that

[@astontoftero3404]

Hey nik, so the way that spotify makes their playlists are basically they get some people who chose a couple of bands and then the computer chose their most streamed songs of the year, and that gets put into these lists, after a little refinement

[@vasiliymarusin4379]

Witness the Christmas miracle - Spotify makes an actually descent playlist! Placing Boi What in it would make the playlist nearly perfect for me

[@afinecupofcoffee8476]

I'm still between Tomb Mold and Horrendous for best metal album of the year because I love them both so much. They're each my favorite metal band of the last 10 or so years. Blood Incantation, please release something this year because they had the best metal song of the year. It is interesting how varied the genre is and tastes are because I thought that top 10 was trash lol.

[@captainamerica3416]

You could try uploading full length sections from your streams, I know I would watch you go through all 100 songs on this playlist.

[@TheMetalfan11]

this is the first time i have seen a spotify playlist and actually been genuinely happy about it

[@peaches65835]

Ive only recently discovered Nik. His metal credibility just shot through the roof for me when he confused the Beatles, U2 and Coldplay. Good taste dude.

[@mochunk]

But doesn't know Tomb Mold, credibility gone.

[@FoxAPOLLO]

@2:07 I almost “FIRE BURNS WITHIN MEEEE”

[@greenmind0428]

Svalbard's album is so good! Also, this has been a year of post-hardcore merging with shoegaze so some of the post-hardcore stuff sounds pretty quiet.

[@404_notfound_3]

i could read the summoning and jaded from blur screen and honestly i agree

[@JezusSlaves]

Bro, it's funny that I'm so out of touch with newer metal, that the guy skipping over Cattle Decap and Fetus really pissed me off haha. Is 36 really that old?

[@thesnakebite91]

Absolutely agree with Num 1 at this playlist, Sleep token is the present and the future of metal, Love 2 and Vessel ❤❤❤