If there’s one thing we can be sure of after another annus mirabilis, it’s that the rock doesn’t stop. 2023 might still be in its infancy but, already, it feels like there is an army of new alternative acts hammering at the gates, ready to step up and make the next 12 months the loudest ever.
With traditional genre boundaries continuing to dissolve in the new wave of cross-cultural creativity, the alternative landscape has changed. It’s less about guitars and drums nowadays than the willingness to walk on the wild side and crank it up. More than ever, sounds like grime and grindcore, pop and powerviolence are complementing and contradicting each other to thrilling effect. If you’re not on the bleeding edge, chances are you’re about to be left behind.
From AlienBlaze to Zetra, the 20 acts we’ve selected as Kerrang!’s Sound Of 2023 might seem like a disparate bunch. They’re united, however, in their willingness to do what it takes to make our world bigger and better, more dynamic and diverse than ever before…