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The Best Hard Rock Album - Metal Storm Awards 2023
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1.  Green Lung - This Heathen Land 106
2.  Kvelertak - Endling 104
3.  Blood Ceremony - The Old Ways Remain 72
4.  Wytch Hazel - IV: Sacrament 54
5.  Graveyard - 6 39
6.  Tanith - Voyage 27
7.  Royal Thunder - Rebuilding The Mountain 21
8.  Flight - Echoes Of Journeys Past 14
9.  Dead Feathers - Full Circle 11
  Hex A.D. - Delightful Sharp Edges 11
Total votes:
519



Blood Ceremony - The Old Ways Remain

Most of the time when you see people talk about "psychedelic doom", they just mean stoner metal made by people who believe in UFOs. Blood Ceremony have more of an interest in the old ways, exploring modes of storytelling and songwriting that fell by the wayside once heavy metal became more codified. They mix the familiar pessimistic blues of the eldest school with a healthy dose of loud, grooving, and unpretentious rock and roll and packing that all up inside the heady feelings of real psychedelia: drones, chants, flute, and organ complement the Sabbathian swing, and this album has a bit of a pop flavor lurking beneath its mysterious veils. Blood Ceremony are far too interesting to be written off as just a tribute act, but they sure as hell know how to make those old ways work for them, too.

YouTube (full album playlist)

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Dead Feathers - Full Circle

The sophomore album of Dead Feathers deftly captures their seemingly effortless combination of psychedelic tranquillity and rocking energy; without hesitation, the group are able to shift seamlessly between dirty fuzzing riffs, slick grooves, and dreamy melodic jamming. Marissa Allen brings a compelling presence behind the microphone, one that can be at different times soaring or tender, and she is backed up by outstanding guitar work that throws out enjoyable riff after enjoyable riff, and cool guitar lead after slick solo. Mostly dedicated to delivering rock with a zest and swagger, Dead Feathers nevertheless have it in their arsenal to dig into some emotional vulnerability in the way that Royal Thunder have so adeptly managed in the past, and as a result, the overall package of Full Circle is one that is a cut or two above so many of the retro-rock acts currently kicking about.

Bandcamp / YouTube (full album stream)

Flight - Echoes Of Journeys Past

Five years after A Leap Through Matter, Norwegians Flight returned with Echoes Of Journeys Past, an album with a title that perfectly describes what it is about; a nostalgic journey through the realms of ‘70s hard rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, and proto-metal. With a sound that is familiar and heart-warming, the record takes Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Blue Öyster Cult, and Rush and convinces them to jam together. Flight make music that is both vigorous and atmospheric, unapologetically analogue, and defiantly retro, with top-notch songwriting that is magical and electrifying.

Bandcamp / YouTube (full album playlist)

Graveyard - 6

Sweden's blues rockers continue to confuse listeners into believing that the Mississippi river is somewhere near Stockholm, such is their authentic sound. 6 may not be the most adventurous title of the year, but the album with that name is perhaps the most hypnotic, with its subdued, mellow charm. Three may be the magic number, so six must be twice as magic! No? Just go listen to it.

Youtube (full album stream)

Green Lung - This Heathen Land

In Green Lung’s last appearance at the Metal Storm Awards, Black Harvest won Best Stoner Metal Album of 2021, and their relocation to Hard Rock does indeed signal a bit of polishing (the band have bathed since their last nomination). The folk horror enthusiasts are going for less Ozzy, more Ghost this time around, with the guitars and organ preoccupied less with crashing into each other and more with enhancing a laidback cool. It’s hardly a drastic departure: the organ can still shake the heavens (and your psyche when it wants to); the high-pitched backing vocals complement Tom Templar’s nasal leads in an unconventionally poppy fashion; the writing draws from doom, psychedelia, folk, stoner, and good ol’ heavy metal to ensure that the songs are always catchy, smooth, and refreshingly upbeat no matter where they meander. A bit of scaling back does the band good, though, and This Heathen Land reaps success in exploring the acoustic and balladic side of Green Lung alongside the chunky, riffy side.

Bandcamp / YouTube (full album stream)

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Hex A.D. - Delightful Sharp Edges

Hex A.D. are one of the bolder modern acts carrying the torch for retro rock; the progressive doom sound of their earlier records has evolved to take on board inspiration from a myriad of '60s/'70s heavyweights. The sound on Delightful Sharp Edges is very classic with its Hammond organ and slick, rocking riffs, but Hex A.D.'s progressive inclinations (fully displayed on the 3 songs exceeding 9 minutes here) and doom touches make their style sound so much more vital. This latest effort is a concept album with the dark subject matter of genocide and is written in a way both lyrically and musically that does justice to this topic.

Bandcamp / YouTube (full album playlist)

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Kvelertak - Endling

Since their earliest records, Kvelertak have placed a great deal of importance on imbuing a hard rock swagger into their own unique blackened punk style, but as time has gone on, the ‘blackened’ side of their sound has become less blackened, and their punkish side has drifted from hardcore towards a more classic punk style. By the time of Endling, Kvelertak are playing ‘black ‘n’ roll’ that is very light on the ‘black’, Ivar Nikolaisen’s harsher vocals the only main tether to the past on a record that is otherwise focused on lively, driving heavy rock riffs, albeit with a metallic heaviness within their arsenal ready to let loose whenever needed. The unbridled sense of fun that has been present in Kvelertak’s music since album one remains fully intact here; as the Norwegians flicker between slick rockers, punky boppers, fiery heaviness reminiscent of High On Fire, and even left-field dabblings with folk, Endling remains always entertaining and vivacious.

YouTube (full album playlist)

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Royal Thunder - Rebuilding The Mountain

If you had a dollar for every hard rock album we nominated that had an awful red/gold color scheme in its cover art, you wouldn't be rich but it's weird that it happened twice. Worry not, the music inside is more than worthy, containing some hard rock that's both alt rock tinged and has a leaning towards the psychedelic, but most of all carefully builds dark and bleak moods with just a dash of goth rock. Vocalist Mlny Parsonz's performance is sultry and feels lulling both in the more brooding songs and in the more passionately explosive songs. The songs may be quite direct, but the way they engage with both a brooding ambiance and a jammy fuzz groove is pretty uniquely Royal Thunder.

YouTube (full album playlist)

Tanith - Voyage

Tanith have a naturally appealing style, mixing hard rock with proto-metal, classic prog, and folk, and, taking into account the fact that Satan’s Russ Tippins is also Tanith's guitarist, it’s no wonder that the band has some very tasty ‘70s-sounding guitar work. Their second album, Voyage, has some great storytelling, nicely combined male and female vocal harmonies, and some very well-crafted songs. Working hard after a pretty successful debut, Tanith managed to create a victorious follow-up with Voyage, with a sound that is reminiscent of days past but also timeless.

Bandcamp / YouTube (full album playlist)

Wytch Hazel - IV: Sacrament

Awful color scheming on the cover art aside (convince yourself that they used this instead), Wytch Hazel stand out mostly because, in a genre whose counter-cultural identity included an opposition to religion and especially Christianity, they're using their faith within the music itself, but in such a way that feels less of the preachy "repent, sinner" kind and more of a warmer personal one which makes the music stand out on its own rather than being a vehicle for the message. And the music is the retro '70s hard rock kind, but here Wytch Hazel also stand out by injecting it with bits of British folk, with plenty of harmonious twin guitar melodies, a nice organ backdrop, and occasional group vocals, walking the line between being melancholic and upbeat.

Bandcamp / YouTube (full album playlist)

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