Our readers already voted on the best albums and the best live bands of 2023. Now it's time for the year's best songs.
We asked Revolver's audience to pick the single greatest track that dropped this year, and while you might be able to guess some of the bands that made this list, in a somewhat surprising turn, deeper cuts seemed to resonate more than singles.
Below are the top five vote-getters ranked accordingly.
5. Metallica - "Inamorata"
Length matters — at least according to Metallica fans. Clocking in at just over 11 minutes, "Inamorata" is the band's longest-ever song, and in our readers' collective opinion, the standout from this year's 72 Seasons.
It's essentially 11 minutes of Metallica flirting with doom metal, sinking into a churning riff at the top and stretching it out as far as it'll go until it snaps into a loud, climactic finale. It rules.
4. Orbit Culture - "From the Inside"
Orbit Culture fans always make their presence felt in our fan polls, and their excitement for their favorite band carried over to this one, too. The Swedish metal group dropped their hulking new album, Descent, this year, and "From the Inside" is a clear highlight.
Monstrously heavy, hugely epic and downright catchy in a way that makes you want to raise your fist, smash a table and go into battle, "From the Inside" is a death-metal triumph — as Orbit Culture fans clearly agree.
3. Spiritbox - "Jaded"
Spiritbox's kickass new EP, The Fear of Fear, contained some of their heaviest and catchiest songs yet, but it makes sense that "Jaded" is the one the fans are running with.
The Canuck alt-metal band are nominated for their first Grammy for this track, and with its expert blend of down-tuned djentiness and menthol-cool vocals, it's got a good shot to win Courtney LaPlante and Co. the trophy. Either way, "Jaded" is definitely one of the years' best.
2. Avenged Sevenfold - "Cosmic"
As polarizing as it is, Avenged Sevenfold's eclectic Life Is but a Dream... is clearly one of the top heavy albums of 2023, and interestingly, our readers consider a deep cut to be its finest offering: "Cosmic," the LP's seven-and-a-half-minute centerpiece.
It starts as a folky ballad, and then before you know it, M. Shadows is belting and Synyster Gates is shredding. Then it breaks down again to a mere whisper, slowly revs up with jet-engine distortion raging in the background, and finally explodes into a flurry of auto-tuned vocals, fluttering synths and proggy technicality. A cosmic trip, indeed.
1. Sleep Token - "Take Me Back to Eden"
Sleep Token's Take Me Back to Eden is both Revolver's and our readers' No. 1 album of 2023. So we had a hunch that one of its songs would end up here, as well, but we didn't have our money on its title track.
Full transparency: "The Summoning," "Aqua Regia" and "Rain" each got their fair share of votes, but ultimately, the people decided that "Take Me Back to Eden" was the single best song of 2023.
It's a good pick. The album's penultimate track is a shape-shifting, eight-minute epic that bottles up everything Sleep Token do best into one cohesive piece. Thematically gut-punching, musically unpredictable and boasting one of Vessel's best-ever vocal takes, "Take Me Back to Eden" is a true stunner.
