The Best Rock + Metal Albums of 2023 (So Far)

Here are the best rock and metal albums of 2023 so far.

The year got off to a hot start with some very early highlights. Finnish goth icon Ville Valo resurfaced with his first solo album (under the banner of VV), Paramore dropped their first record since 2017 and Godsmack released Lighting Up the Sky, which may prove to be their last-ever studio album.

And that's just the first two months of the year!

Of course, one album that was on everyone's radar was 72 Seasons, the long-awaited new Metallica album that was announced last fall. It might be the least divisive record the metal giants have put out in the 21st century — a collective sigh of relief for us all.

Meanwhile, Avenged Sevenfold's Life Is But a Dream... is certainly their most polarizing work to date, which doesn't come as a surprise to the band. M. Shadows even says it's okay to hate it if you're not down with it's quirky eccentricities and genre-hopping.

Those are all some pretty big names and one relatively newer group that experienced viral success is the mysterious Sleep Token, whose third album, Take Me Back to Eden, is one of this year's most talked about releases.

Death metal continues to enjoy a healthy resurgence and hardcore continues to penetrate different styles, so there's a lot for the knuckledraggers to like about 2023 as well.

On the other end of the heavy music spectrum, country is worming its way through hard rock thanks to Hardy and Jelly Roll. Both are redefining rock in the modern day, bridging a gap that has never been as wide as some would like to think.

There are so many more great rock and metal albums from 2023 to talk about, so let's not waste any more time and dive right in!