With a little over a month left to go of 2023, we're still seeing plenty of brilliant albums pop up on the calendar, even as the threat of end of year lists looms. In a year that began with Ville Valo making his comeback with Neon Noir and has since seen everyone from Metallica to Babymetal, Avenged Sevenfold to Within Temptation offer massive new records, it can be hard to keep up.
That in mind, you can consider this a handy guide - and End Of Year primer - for some of the biggest and best records we've seen in 2023, covering genre giants, ascendant newcomers and veterans who continue to raise the bar for everything from death metal and doom to metalcore and symphonic metal. Without further ado, these are the best metal albums of 2023 so far...
Arkona - Kob' (Napalm)
Almost 20 years since their debut album, Russia's Arkona have straddled the lines between folk, pagan and even black metal across their career. The band's ninth album, Kob' embraces all of their multifaceted brilliance in a sprawling 1 hour package, reviewer Joe Daly ruling that "Kob’ is a spiritually transcendent synthesis of all the styles laced throughout Arkona’s storied career. Standard black metal brutality segues into synthy interludes, spacey atmospherics and clean, mournful vocals on tracks like Mor and Na Zakate Bagrovogo Solntsa".
Avatar - Dance Devil Dance (Black Waltz)
In the run-up to Avatar's ninth studio album, frontman Johannes Eckerström said the release would "save heavy metal". It was a bold statement from a band given to theatrical grandstanding, but we'll be damned if Dance Devil Dance didn't deliver some of 2023's most fun metal anthems thus far, Holly Wright noting that, "just when it feels like there’s nothing left to explore, their ninth studio album pulls [Avatar] in new and surprising directions".
Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream... (Warner)
The seven-year wait for a new Avenged Sevenfold album was at least somewhat vindicated by the fact Life Is But A Dream... is surely the band's most ambitious release to date. Prog, heavy metal, thrash, psychedelia; A7X well and truly pushed the boat out with their eighth album, Dave Everley assessing "Avenged Sevenfold have scaled the mountain and looked out over all that surrounds them, then plunged headfirst into the void, not knowing where, when or even if they’ll land. What kind of madness is this? The very best kind."
Babymetal - The Other One (Babymetal/Amuse)
Since returning from a twelve-month hiatus in October 2022, Babymetal had been drip-feeding fans a new single each month from their fourth album. Even that couldn't prepare us for the sheer scope they had embraced on new concept album The Other One, dispensing some of their earlier hyperactivity to create what Alec Chillingworth judged "unquestionably their strongest compendium of delirium to date."
Baroness - Stone (Abraxan Hymns)
A steer away from the colour-coded theme that had marked their albums thus far didn't mark a drastic departure in John Baizley's approach to his craft, but it certainly reaffirmed Baroness' position as one of the most vibrant and vital bands of their generation, and snuck in some subtle new shades, "Stone is a monument to ambition and heaviness, and to refusing to rest too long in one place lest roots or languor take hold," said Hammer's Alex Deller.
Blood Command - World Domination (Hassle)
Having finally established a lineup that can go the distance, Norwegian/Australian disco-black metal firebrands threw the kitchen sink at their fifth album, producing one of 2023's wildest and yet most beautifully realised albums in the process. "This is a band and an album that’s almost impossible to second guess," said Hammer's Stephen Hill in his 9/10 review. "That’s more than reliable – that’s essential."
Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium - Nahab (Debemur Morti Productions)
The follow-up to 2022's Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses, French avante-gardists Blut Aus Nord swung for the fences on another disorienting, 44-minute journey into the deepest, darkest recesses of black metal on Disharmonium - Ahab. Spencer Grady writing that, "crawling with a palpable sense of terror and unease, these are majestic symphonies of mindaltering cosmic horror. At the album’s densest moments, BAN seem to shape air itself, sculpting ethereal portals for an army of cephalopod feelers filtering through the swirling fug. It’s potent nightmare fuel, and another hallucinogenic instalment from the best black metal band on this world, or any other."
Bury Tomorrow - The Seventh Sun (Metal For Nations)
Tired of being called the underdogs of British metalcore, Bury Tomorrow's seventh album was all about showing just how massive their sound had become whilst losing none of the sheer ferocity at their core. Stephen Hill ruled that, "the easy career path for Bury Tomorrow would be to pander to the rock audience. Their popularity may still surge off the back of The Seventh Sun, but that they’ve arguably got even heavier says everything about their attitude and commitment to making the music they love."
Cannibal Corpse - Chaos Horrific (Metal Blade)
"In truth, Cannibal Corpse have been going at it with such ferocity and force for so long that they really should be knackered by now," suggested Hammer scribe Dom Lawson in his review of the death metal legends' latest slice of brutality. No chance: Corpsegrinder and his merry men remain on as crushing form as ever, delivering blow after blow of gruesome heaviness with zero signs of slowing up any time soon. Long may it continue.
Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite (Metal Blade)
Eight albums in, and Cattle Decapitation are still finding unique new ways of turning stomachs with unrelenting, chaotic brutality as they incorporate the twists and turns of prog alongside surprisingly melodic sensibilities. Hammer writer Dom Lawson acknowledged as much, explaining that Terrasite "is still vicious, skullclubbing brutality, but with atmosphere and intelligence in abundance."
Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade (Metal Blade)
While Cirith Ungol may have announced their impending retirement from touring, the heavy metal veterans are still flew the trad metal flag loud and proud with their sixth record, Dark Parade. Built on triumphant riffs and wailing war cries, Dark Parade was hailed by reviewer Chris Chantler, who wrote: "with an innate understanding of what made their early work so special, Dark Parade rivals past glories for sheer arcane power and passion."
Code Orange - The Above (Blue Grape)
How do you follow up one of the most intense, exciting, daring and forward-thinking metal albums of recent years? You release another one, of course! The Above shone some lighter tones onto Code Orange's spectrum than fans were used to, the hooky alt-rock of Circle Through and eerie electro-pop of Mirror adding some welcome new shades amongst the jarring noise and pummelling breakdowns. As Hammer's Dave Everley put it so succinctly: "The Above is everything modern heavy music should be but all too often isn’t."
Creeper - Sanguivore (Spinefarm)
Creeper's penchant for theatricality was established long before the band even released their debut album, their early EPs showing a Bowie-like sensibility for fusing reality and fiction. Their third full-length, Sanguivore brings that vision forth in all its Jim Steinman-worshipping glory, with a tale of love and vampires offered through a filter of massive, grandstanding goth rock, Merlin Alderslade ruling that Sanguivore "isn't just the most spectacular work of their career, but the most irresistibly anthemic, fabulously flamboyant rock opera you’re likely to hear this year."
Cryptopsy - As Gomorrah Burns (Nuclear Blast)
Cryptopsy's first studio album in 11 years was more than worth the wait, the Montréal brutal tech-death veterans delivering an almighty slab of scything riffs and relentless beats at high velocity. "A half-hour of complex explosiveness of the sort that will have nearby bomb squads donning protective suits," said Hammer's Kevin Stewart-Panko.
Death Pill - Death Pill (New Heavy Sounds)
Recorded against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of their country, Ukrainian hardcore punks Death Pill seethe with defiance and fury on their self-titled debut. Granted, the album was written before the war broke out, but Death Pill rage hard on topics ranging from sexism and personal empowerment to anti-war sentiment, Stephen Hill assessing that "Death Pill have made one of the best crossover albums of the modern era".
Delain - Dark Waters (Napalm)
With most of the band quitting in 2021, Delain's Martijn Westerholt was left to effectively reboot symphonic metal contenders Delain for their seventh studio album. With new vocalist Diana Leah front and centre, Dark Waters proved the band were still striding forward confidently, Dannii Leivers assessing that "this feels like a band reborn: grandiose and fizzing with bright energy."
Demonstealer - The Propaganda Machine (Self Released)
As one of the key figures behind India's burgeoning extreme metal scene, Sahil ‘The Demonstealer’ Makhija is known to have something of a midas touch when it comes to producing top-tier ambitious extreme metal. Demonstealer's fourth album proved to be no exception, Chris Chantler writing that "with this fourth Demonstealer album, [Sahil] is back doing what he does best: dynamic, progressive blackened death metal, festooned with blunt riffs and cosmic licks."
Distant - Heritage
In case you missed the memo, deathcore is big business again in 2023. Lorna Shore might be leading the charge, but the whole scene is packed with ambitious talent ready to take the genre in exciting new directions - which is where Dutch nasties Distant come in. Heritage sees the band embrace sci-fi sensibilities in a powerful, visceral outpouring of extremity, Sophie Maughan explaining that "this third studio album lands on Century Media trimmed of excess and aimed straight at the solar plexus."
Empire State Bastard - Rivers Of Heresy (Roadrunner)
An extreme metal side project from Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil also featuring Mike from Oceansize and Dave Lombardo from Slayer?! Needless to say, our interest was piqued, and boy, did Empire State Bastard deliver here. "This is a superbly twisted debut, and an album that’s hopefully only part of an ongoing journey," said Paul Travers in his 8/10 Metal Hammer review.
Enslaved - Heimdal (Nuclear Blast)
Few bands have taken black metal as far afield as Enslaved, and on their sixteenth studio album the Norwegians are still finding fresh ground to tread. Mixing in elements of prog, folk and even psychedelia, Heimdal is testament to the band's commitment to reaching for the horizon, Paul Travers summarising that "the Bergen five-piece are far from the only band to have piloted black metal into stranger tides since its misbegotten beginnings, but they are one of the most consistently inventive and engrossing."
Godflesh - Purge (Avalanche)
After a six-year gap between albums, Justin Broadrick brought his filth-crusted industrial behemoth Godflesh lurching back to life on Purge, the band's ninth studio album capturing the calustrophobic, choking intensity that made them a key influential force in industrial metal.
But then, that reliability and consistency is exactly what fans want from Godflesh, Alex Deller ruling that, "by now, even casual listeners will know what to expect: bleak, mechanised, industrial metal par excellence, played by a duo who helped pour the genre’s foundations."
Green Lung - This Heathen Land (Nuclear Blast)
Darlings of Britain's underground stoner/doom scene, Green Lung provided their rapidly expanding audiences a record that truly realised their theatrical ambitions as This Heathen Land leaned harder on epic, grandstanding 70s-style doom more than ever before. Achieving a Ghost-like sense of playful, insidiously catchy brilliance, Chris Chantler judging that on Green Lung's third record, "the sheer quality of songwriting edges ever upwards."
Hanabie - Reborn Superstar (Music For Nations)
Adding a welcome burst of glittery J-pop into their mix of furious metalcore breakdowns and hooky EDM, Hanabie don't sound quite like anything in the metal scene right now. "Hanabie have got ambition and talent in spades, and it shows on Reborn Superstar!" said Hammer's Catherine Morris. "A multifaceted and massive record that deserves to make them an international sensation."
Immortal - War Against All (Nuclear Blast)
Demonaz may be the sole survivor of Immortal's departures and messy legal disputes in recent years, but thankfully that drama hasn't dulled the furious whirlwind of frost-bitten black metal raging at the heart of the band. The band's tenth studio album, War Against All doesn't tinker with the formula that Immortal have perfected the past 30 years plus, but nonetheless feels fresh and furious, Joe Daly explaining that it "boasts riffs as catchy as anything the band has ever released, and there’s plenty of depth across the tracks."
Incantation - Unholy Deification (Relapse)
While the world of death metal grows ever more diverse, some things remain reliably unstoppable. New Jersey's Incantation are certainly among that list, the band's 12th studio album Unholy Deification sticking to the tried-and-true sounds of the past for an ungodly racket that will surely please longterm fans, Dom Lawson certainly among them, writing: "even by their own lofty, genre-defining standards, Unholy Deification is an absolute beast. Boasting the heaviest and most vivid production in their history, Incantation’s 13th studio effort sounds imperious from the opening seconds of Offerings (The Swarm) IV and stays that way for the next 40 minutes."
In Flames - Foregone (Nuclear Blast)
Ever since In Flames unveiled State Of Slow Decay in June 2022, fans have been abuzz at the prospect of the Gothenburg melodeath pioneers returning to the sound that made them so iconic. Thankfully, Foregone delivered on that promise and then some, keeping some of the scope of more recent In Flames whilst delighting in the visceral pleasure of epic, sweeping melodic death metal.
Stephen Hill acknowledged that "the arrival of former Megadeth and Nevermore man Chris Broderick as a full-time member has re-sharpened one of the most essential attacks the band have in their arsenal. The riffs on The Great Deceiver are sharper than the tip of a samurai sword, and on Forgone Pt. 1 both Chris and Björn Gelotte brilliantly duck, weave, pound and thrash along in awesome style."
Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars (Napalm)
Katatonia have come a long way from their doom metal roots, embracing goth metal and prog across their career to ensure their sound remains an ever-evolving entity. Twelfth studio album Sky Void Of Stars offers a stunning vision of the wide scope of their sound amidst some of the most enchanting melodies the band have ever written, Dom Lawson ruling that "Katatonia sound as absorbed in their meticulous, mercurial work as they ever did. The only predictable thing about Sky Void Of Stars is how absurdly fucking great it is."
Metallica - 72 Seasons (Blackened/Universal)
Metal's biggest band ride again. A new Metallica album is rare enough these days that it always warrants fanfare, even if said album wasn't delivered with unrelenting pace that threw back to the band's thrash roots.
But 72 Seasons also arrived with an added sense of poignance as it followed a turbulent period for frontman James Hetfield. Stephen Hill acknowledged as much in his Metal Hammer review of the album, judging that "rarely has [James Hetfield] laid himself so bare as he does here."
Mutoid Man - Mutants (Sargent House)
With the talents of Cave In's Steven Brodsky, Converge's Ben Koller and High On Fire's Jeff Matz, Mutoid Man come with an immense pedigree and an undeniable sense of high expectation. Thankfully the band have proven time and again to be up to the task of matching their respective groups, Mutoid Man's third record Mutants hailed by reviewer Kevin Stewart-Panko for "perfecting the balance between technicality and bore-into-brain hooks. The energy is bristling and unparalleled, the songs are unfettered earworms."
Myrkur - Spine (Relapse)
After branching out into the realms of Nordic folk with 2020's Folkesange, black metal maverick Myrkur again took a drastic stylistic left turn with 2023's Spine. Embracing elements of goth and art rock whilst still incorporating subtle black metal elements, her fourth full-length opened the floor to go just about anywhere going forwards, reviewer Joe Daly ruling that Spine is "an album that discovers expansive new musical territories and emotional hinterlands. Here, Myrkur has orchestrated an aural kaleidoscope that balances darkness and light, the euphoric and the devastating, to produce a magnum opus in her ever-evolving catalogue."
Obituary - Dying Of Everything (Relapse)
Since 1989's seminal Slowly We Rot, Floridian death metal stalwarts Obituary have stayed the course when it comes to lumbering, mid-paced death metal. The approach hasn't always served them amazingly well, but when the band settle into a groove there's no denying they tap a vein of old school death metal magic.
Dom Lawson offered favourable comparisons to 2017's self-titled predecessor, saying that "killer songs stack up throughout, with more substance and detail than the last LP’s smash-and-grab volley. Both records contain 10 tracks, but Dying Of Everything is more varied, more considered, more dynamic… and possibly Obituary’s strongest album in 30 years."
Orbit Culture - Descent (Seek And Strike)
Swedish extreme metallers Orbit Culture had been marked as one of the European scene's most promising bands, and with Descent, they formally turned that promise into spine-tingling, bowel-shakingly heavy brilliance. "With Descent, Orbit Culture may have finally lit that all-important spark," remarked Hammer's own Adam Brennan.
Overkill - Scorched (Nuclear Blast)
East Coast thrash may not always get the same reverence as its Bay Area counterpart, but New Jersey thrashers Overkill showed the magic is still alive and well on their twentieth studio album, Scorched as Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth and co delivered another masterclass in old school thrash.
But as Paul Travers points out, "What makes Scorched really stand out are the moments that reach out in new directions. Wicked Place has a slow-burn build-up reminiscent of Diamond Head’s Am I Evil?, but when the dam bursts, it releases a rollicking bluesy riff like something from Metallica’s Load/Reload era. Won’t Be Coming Back packs in Iron Maiden levels of clean guitar melodies and there are several points throughout the album where they lean towards classic metal rather than straight-ahead thrash."
Periphery - V: Djent Is Not A Genre (3DOT)
Tongue-in-cheek album titles aside, Periphery have delighted in pushing boundaries and being an all-round unpredictable force even in the ambitious confines of prog metal.
V: Djent Is Not A Genre sees the band veer off in wildly different directions as they incorporate everything from jazz to electronica whilst creating a surprisingly cohesive and hook-laden release, Adam Brennan remarking that "a key part to Periphery’s enviable run over their recent output is the self-aware undertone that permeates the polished mix of scintillating heaviness, fiendish dexterity and seductive earworms. It’s these standards by which V is judged, and the album could usurp some of its forebears from the podium."
Primordial - How It Ends (Metal Blade)
30 years since their journey first began, Primordial continue to strive for higher bars of excellence with each new release. The band's tenth album, How It Ends arrived after a five year period of minimal activity but nonetheless marked a triumphant return for a band whose brilliance knows no bounds, writer Dom Lawson ruling that, "visceral, emotional, overpoweringly muscular: this is what Primordial do, but here they’ve upped the ante to heroic levels."
Pupil Slicer - Blossom (Prosthetic)
With their debut album Mirrors, Pupil Slicer arrived as a whirlwind of mathy, grind-adjacent metalcore with a sound as chaotic as their name is brutal. Second album Blossom doesn't dial back, as such, but rather expands the band's repertoire, Stephen Hill explaining that "the band have also decided to explore far more subtle, elegant and soaring emotional territory as well, indulging in elements that would seem comfortable on an Alcest, Chelsea Wolfe or even My Bloody Valentine album."
Rotten Sound - Apocalypse (Season Of Mist)
Now in their 30th year, Rotten Sound's all-out assault on the senses via scabrous grindcore shows no signs of relenting. The band's eighth album, Apocalypse flings out 18 songs in a little over 20 minutes, a whirlwind of furious noise that was described by reviewer Dom Lawson as "may be the fastest and most insanely brutal thing they’ve ever recorded."
Royal Thunder - Rebuilding The Mountain (Spinefarm)
Royal Thunder have always traded in emotional, soulful doom-adjacent rock, but Rebuilding The Mountain feels especially poignant given the band effectively broke up in the five-year gap between releases. Catherine Morris acknowledged as much in her review, summarising that "Rebuilding The Mountain is a record that you sense the band have bled for, but it’s their sheer talent and tenacity that make it such a triumphant return – and not a moment too soon."
Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden (Spinefarm)
Perhaps the biggest metal success story of 2023, Sleep Token's ascension has truly come about on third album Take Me Back To Eden. Amidst feats like their streaming stats ballooning to over 2 million monthly listeners and selling out Wembley Arena in under 10 minutes, the band's third record perfects their mixture of soulful R'n'B and tech metal.
Dannii Leivers assessed as much in her review, summarising that, "…Eden is Sleep Token’s strongest effort to date. And, while they’ll always be Marmite, there’s no question it will delight those already onboard. This is a record that not only expands the band’s universe and continues to prod metal’s boundaries, but considers what it means to be human. Otherworldly they may be, but there’s the deepest empathy within."
Svalbard - The Weight Of The Mask (Nuclear Blast)
Never one afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve, Serena Cherry unveiled new layers of stunning beauty and heart-wrenching pain on the UK extreme metallers' fourth studio album. Picking up on the themes of depression and isolation that arose during the pandemic and continued to fester since, The Weight Of The Mask is, according to the words of Hammer's Dannii Leivers, "an exercise of extremes that never offers answers, but that stands as a stunning monument to the human experience."
Sylosis - A Sign Of Things To Come (Nuclear Blast)
Bubbling from within the British metal underground for over a decade, Sylosis produced an album that, with any justice, should take them roaring into metal's big leagues. "Not only is Josh Middleton crafting better hooks than ever, but he’s surrounded by possibly the best collection of musicians he’s ever had alongside him in Sylosis," said Hammer's Stephen Hill in his review.
Tesseract - The War Of Being (Kscope)
Worth the weight? You fucking bet. Five years since their last album, the UK's leading light in progressive metal returning with a stunning, conceptually dense masterpiece that Hammer writer Matt Mills described as "this band’s quintessential release – not to mention a frontrunner for metal album of the year." There's not much higher praise than that, but it was richly earned.
Therapy? - Hard Cold Fire (Marshall)
Almost 30 years since Troublegum established them as Britain's answer to the oncoming tide of 90s American alt-metal, Therapy? are still delivering consistently high quality anthems on their sixteenth studio album. Stephen Hill assessed that "Hard Cold Fire features another 10 sublime, short, sharp blasts of jagged, riff-heavy noise rock, expertly juxtaposed with Andy Cairns’ trademark knack for penning bleakly melancholic, yet hugely anthemic hooks and choruses."
Thy Catafalque - Alfold (Season Of Mist)
25 years of inventive, unpredictable avant-garde brilliance and Thy Catafalque still find ways to push the boundaries of extremity with each new release. The band's 11th album, Alföld is no exception, weaving a twisted path through extreme metal that had reviewer Tom O'Boyle marveling: "The best thing about Alföld [is that] its whimsy keeps you guessing. Unlike anything else of its ilk, Thy Catafalque’s legacy continues, and it’s one that deserves wider acknowledgement."
Torpor - Abscission (Human Worth)
Abyssal sludge metal from the heart of Bristol, Torpor's third full length Abscission is a headlong dive into murky, suffocating depths. For all of its darkness, reviewer Kez Whelan found a sliver of light, writing that Abscission is Torpor's "most cathartic release to date, whether it’s the introduction of eerie clean vocals in closer Island Of Abandonment or the fusion of waves of harsh noise with pummelling blasts on the uncharacteristically fast Carbon. Abscission refines Torpor’s skullrattling post-metal grooves to perfection, and hints at a host of possible futures they could explore without ever diluting the sheer gut-punch heaviness of their trademark sound."
Vanishing Kids - Miracle Of Death (Aural Music)
Twenty years on from their debut, goth/doom experimentalists Vanishing Kids continued to explore the outer reaches of stylistic boundaries with their sixth full-length Miracle Of Death. Over a glorious, oft-morose 41-minutes, the band conjure undeniable magic, defined by reviewer Remfry Dedman as "a swirling gothic/ psychedelic voyage of life, death, love and loss."
Vomitory - All Heads Are Gonna Roll (Metal Blade)
Swedish death metal veterans, Vomitory stayed the course on rampaging riffs and bilious growls after a lengthy five-year hiatus. The title of the band's ninth album - All Heads Are Gonna Roll - is as much a promise as it is a statement of intent, Dom Lawson hailing it as "a tour de force of unrelenting violence, delivered with utmost precision", before ruling that "Vomitory’s razor-sharp blend of old-school songwriting and ultramodern production power is largely without peer right now. This is a near-perfect death metal record".
VV - Neon Noir (Heartagram)
Five years since he laid goth metal icons HIM to rest, Ville Valo's long-awaited solo project finally arrived right at the start of 2023 to kick the year off with flair and panache. Neon Noir is effectively a continuation of the singer's work from the past 30 years, romantic, anthemic goth metal, Dannii Leivers admitting that "as the glorious melodies of these songs start to imprint themselves on your soul, like faded memories rising to the surface again, the heart-shaped hole he left five years ago begins to heal. It’s good to have him back."
Wargasm - Venom (Universal Music Group)
Wargasm have been a galvanizing force on the metal scene in recent years, their spiky fusion of metal, electronica and punk offering a refreshing reboot of nu metal staples for the 2020s. Slots at Download and Bloodstock, as well as supports with Babymetal and Limp Bizkit - whose own Fred Durst appears on the track Bang Ya Head - put them in front of massive audiences, but their debut Venom proved the hype was justified, a full-throttle blast of obnoxious noise that was summarised by Merlin Alderslade as "one of 2023’s essential debut albums."
Within Temptation - Bleed Out (Force Music)
Now firmly established as an arena-sized band, Within Temptation's eighth album Bleed Out matched their spectacular stage-show in terms of scope and ambition, continuing the shift away from their symphonic metal foundations towards an enormous new sound that incorporates electronic elements yet still maintains an air of grandeur in keeping with their roots. Reviewer Catherine Morris was suitably impressed, writing that, "sometimes, Within Temptation’s music has sounded like the end of the world; Bleed Out sees them open a window onto a new one."
Zulu - A New Tomorrow (Flatspot)
As hardcore tears its way into the mainstream consciousness in the most vital way since its inception in the 1980s, acts like Zulu show just how far the genre can go as they mix beatdowns, social-polticial messages and colossal riffs into an unstoppable, vital package.
Stephen Hill was effusive in his praise, writing that Zulu's "lineage belongs alongside the revolutionary likes of Sly And The Family Stone, Rage Against The Machine and Public Enemy. Big words indeed, but A New Tomorrow is unquestionably cut from the same cloth as those bands at their best; the mutinous spirit of those artists, both in their refusal to be sonically pigeonholed and in their pure defiance against the system that tried to marginalise them, is the thing that makes Zulu so special and singular."
