The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) have revealed the nominees for the 2023 ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album.
The nominees are led by a couple of very familiar faces to Australian metal audiences, The Amity Affliction and Parkway Drive, who have been nominated for Not Without My Ghosts and Darker Still respectively.
They are joined in the nominee list by DZ Deathrays (R.I.F.F), King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth...) and These New South Whales (TNSW).
As the sole category dedicated to music in the heavy space, the Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album is always one of the most hotly contested awards of the evening, despite the broadcasters frequent resistance to televising the category.
There are three previous winners amongst the nominee list with Parkway Drive having saluted in 2010 (Deep Blue) and 2018 (Reverence), DZ Deathrays claiming the prize in 2012 (Bloodstreams) and 2014 (Black Rat) and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard taking home the pointy statue in 2016 (Nonagon Infinity) and 2020 (Chunky Shrapnel). Despite having been nominated on four occasions previously, The Amity Affliction are yet to claim the award.
Their eighth studio album Not Without My Ghosts is a chance for them to change that. The highly anticipated release debuted at #2 on the ARIA charts and is one of the heaviest albums of the Aussie metal icon's career. Self-produced at Grove Studios in New South Wales, the band say the album “mostly deals with the paradox of not wanting to be alive, and yet needing to stay here, while also mourning the loss of friends and trying to use the music as catharsis.” The release of Not Without My Ghosts follows a successful run of singles, Show Me Your God, I See Dead People ft. Louie Knuxx, It’s Hell Down Here and title track Not Without My Ghosts ft. phem. Show Me Your God came in at #89 in the 2022 triple j Hottest 100 countdown, marking the group's 12th entry into the countdown, affirming Australia's undying love for the band.
Not Without My Ghosts is available for streaming and purchase worldwide now. Maniacs are offering bundles including an exclusive T-shirt in our online store.
Standing in their way alongside the always formidable King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, DZ Deathrays and category debutants These New South Whales is the most ambitious album of Parkway Drive's career, Darker Still. Darker Still unfurls like the great rock concept albums, from Pink Floyd to, most comparably, Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral, its 11 tracks taking in ruminations on society’s fear of death, isolation and a loss of humanity in its journey to redemptive enlightenment. A breakaway commercial success, the independently released album debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts upon release and is home to their commercial rock radio breakthrough single Darker Still.
2023 BEST HARD ROCK / HEAVY METAL ALBUM ARIA AWARD NOMINEES
DZ Deathrays – R.I.F.F (DZ Worldwide/The Orchard)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth... (Virgin Music Australia)
Parkway Drive – Darker Still (Parkway Records/Cooking Vinyl Australia)
The Amity Affliction – Not Without My Ghosts (Warner Music Australia)
These New South Whales – TNSW (Damaged Records/Inertia Music)
A full list of nominees for all categories can be found here. The awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 15 November at The Hordern Pavilion on Gadigal land.
This October, The Amity Affliction will embark on a national tour in support of the album, with shows in Brisbane (second show added), Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne (both shows sold out), and Perth. For tickets and more information click HERE.
Listen to Not Without My Ghosts now.
