01) Kamelot,The Awakening(Napalm)

Even though they are a US-based band, Kamelot have long been a staple of European flavoured Melodic Metal. From their seminal albums “Epica” and “Black Halo” at the turn of the millennium, all the way to more recent albums with their new singer Tommy Karevik (formerly of Seventh Wonder), Kamelot have consistently produced high-quality albums, albeit some that were more gripping than others. Almost surprisingly for an album released so late in a band’s lifetime, 2023’s “The Awakening” would shape up to be one of the best in the band’s catalogue, thanks to catchy tracks like “One More Flag in the Ground,” “Opus of the Night” (incidentally featuring cellist Tina Guo) and epic banger “New Babylon” with Simone Simons of Epica and Melissa Bonny of Ad Infinitum on guest vocals. Of course, Kamelot tread a lot of familiar musical ground on their latest ouvre, but it’s once again produced on such a high level that one can’t but admire it in amazement. An absolute highlight in Melodic Metal in 2023!

Honorable mention: Dolly Parton,Rockstar(Big Machine)

Okay, so maybe this one didn’t quite make the list on its musical merits alone – but the sheer cojones it took to make this, plus the literally insane case of guest musicians, make it definitely deserving of an honorable mention. In her 77th year on this planet, Country icon Dolly Parton recruited the who is who of rock stars old and young to sing with her on an album of (mostly) covers of rock and pop songs. So basically, if you’re a huge star (and I mean HUGE), and you’re still alive, you got a chance to be featured on this album. We, therefore, get duets of Ms. Parton with illustrious names such as Sting, John Fogerty, Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Kid Rock, Peter Frampton (!), Steve Perry (!!), Elton John (!!!), Rob Halford (!!!!) and Paul McCartney (!!!!!), to name only a few. It’s probably more of an occasion than a purely musical experience – but one that should be checked out based on this “event”-character alone.