The Best Rock + Metal Albums + Songs of 2023

Here are the best rock and metal albums and songs of 2023.

Perhaps the most plentiful year in new music yet, 2023 saw the release of a couple thousand albums and a few thousand singles all falling under the nebulous rock and metal umbrella.

Option paralysis has never been more challenging to overcome as music fans’ listening habits employ a balance of new music and revisiting older stuff with more than a half-century back catalog of heaviness to sift through.

Still, these 25 albums and 30 songs listed below are ones that kept everyone coming back for more despite the total onslaught fans are facing weekly, with hundreds of news songs and dozens of new records all fighting for the same level of attention.

From newcomers, veterans and artists who are set to make the leap, 2023 year demonstrated that rock and metal is thriving in so many different ways. The headliners of the future are rising through the ranks, the bands who have been around for 30, 40 or 50 or more years are still taking care of business and what could be more exciting than that?

Join us as we revisit the very best of 2023, first with the best albums followed by those irresistible songs.