Where does the time go? 2023 seems like a blur as we continued to rebound from COVID, the music industry still struggling to get back on their feet. But metalheads have always been strong survivors and music ruled the day, with countless memorable albums and live shows happening more than ever! 

But lets celebrate! It is that time of the year to unveil our annual BravePicks countdown, where the devout scribes at BraveWords cast their votes at the hits and misses of the year! So who will be our #1? You’ll find out as we count down the BravePick Of 2023 each day in December! 

Everybody has an opinion and it’s time for ours! And stay tuned in January for the writers’ individual Top 20s (new studio albums ONLY), Top 5 Brave Embarrassments (a fan favorite!), What/Who Needs To Stop In 2023? and Metal Predictions For 2024. All will be showcased come the New Year!

BravePicks 2023

12) BLACK STONE CHERRY - Screamin' At The Sky (Mascot)

 

Black Stone Cherry does not miss. The Kentucky rockers deliver again Screamin’ At The Sky with crisp grooves, thoughtful vocals, and beer-swilling anthems made for a bonfire get together. Black Stone Cherry is always no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll and their growth as songwriters and putting full albums together is exemplified on their eighth studio album

Screamin’ At The Sky takes flight at spot #12.

Vocalist / guitarist Chris Robertson spoke to BW’s Aaron Small in a September feature story – an excerpt below:

The songs that comprise Screamin’ At The Sky were written collaboratively while on tour. “Man, that’s basically how we’ve written since the beginning of time; other than before we were touring, when we were just together at the practice house. But yeah, it’s odd. The only song that wasn’t written on the back of the bus was ‘Raindrops On A Rose’. Everything else was written right on the back of the bus. For us, a lot of times inspiration will strike at soundcheck, or after a show. You’ll have a riff, or there’ll be a lick… or there’ll be a moment during the show that somebody does something. It’s like, damn, that could be an idea. A perfect example of just random things inspiring songs – ‘Out Of Pocket’ was inspired by me and Ben (Wells, guitarist) busting each other’s balls. That whole song – obviously it turned into something super serious, and a very emotional song. But that whole thing is… we will quote movies all the time to each other. Me and Ben have this thing where we constantly f*ck with each other, we can’t help it. We’ll just walk by each other and say something; we’re doing it just to get a laugh out of each other.” 

“There’s a movie called Next Friday… people from my generation will remember the movie. These younger kids may not. But there’s a line in the movie where the two guys are smoking a left-handed cigarette on the couch, and they’re feeling pretty good. He says something to the guy, and the guy’s stoned and doesn’t hear him. So, he repeats it again. He says, ‘Sell your Momma’s car, I’m not selling my car.’ I looked at Ben and said, ‘You gotta sell your Momma’s car.’ I just did that melody, and that led to the guitar riff. We were like, ‘That’s kind of a cool melody.’ Just singing something dumb like that, and that turned into a really heavy guitar riff that turned into a song, that has nothing to do with a funny line from a movie. But it inspired a guitar riff, by just singing the line from a movie in a funny melody. It’s really odd how songs come about with our band. Literally, anything.”

The video for “Out Of Pocket” is undeniably serious. The storyline centers on a young white male burglarizing a middle-aged black man’s home. It seems like an inversion of the racial stereotype. There’s no graphic violence, but it’s still a heavy view. “Our whole thing is, that video, the bigger thing for us, over the racial thing was, just being a good person. That’s what the whole thing was,” states Chris. “The song, lyrically, is talking about over the last few years, I think we’ve all gotten out of rhythm. We’ve all been imositioned. With the world being the way it was, and every country’s leaders having to figure out how to try to do what they thought was best for people. It had us all in a f*cking panic man. We didn’t know what to do. And we all, I’m sure, made some difficult decisions, and decisions we wish we could take back. I think the whole world got out of rhythm for a while.”

BravePicks 2023 Top 30

12) BLACK STONE CHERRY - Screamin' At The Sky (Mascot)
13) CENTURY - The Conquest Of Time (No Remorse / Electric Assault)
14) GRIDLINK - Coronet Jupiter (Willowtip)
15) KAMELOT - The Awakening (Napalm)
16) MUTOID MAN - Mutants (Sargent House)
17) SOCIAL DECLINE - Beyond The Gates (Autotunes)
18) ANTHEM - Crimson & Jet Black (Reaper Entertainment / Ward)
19) WARMEN - Here For None (Reaper Entertainment)
20) BURNING WITCHES - The Dark Tower (Naplalm)
21) AGELESS SUMMONING - Corrupting The Entempled Plane (Dark Descent)
22) DANKO JONES - Electric Sounds (Bad Taste)
23) DIRTY HONEY - Can't Find The Brakes (Dirt)
24) FROZEN SOUL - Glacial Domination (Century Media)
25) HELLRIPPER - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (Peaceville)
26) HITTEN - While Passion Lasts (High Roller)
27) ENFORCER - Nostalgia (Nuclear Blast)
28) GATEKEEPER - From Western Shores (Cruz del Sur)
29) PRONG - State Of Emergency (SPV / Steamhammer)
30) KK'S PRIEST - The Sinner Rides Again (Napalm)