Albums of the Year 2024

When is it better to reflect than at the year’s twilight? Days shined brighter this time compared to the last one, but I can’t say the same about the sonic wreckage left behind after 12 months and 365 dawn to dusk sessions of intense and not so intense listening. Admittedly, I did not step too much out of my comfort zones, or at least not forcibly, just to elaborate on more eclectic practices while sprinkling ‘philosophized’ glitter all over my playlists. As a matter of fact:

- Intellectualism is a common cover-up for fear of direct experience

The journey is never linear, and more repeated listens eventually allow me to gravitate towards albums that in the end, feel right form me. There were some surprises, especially in the amount of records I expected but was disappointed, but not a lot in terms of genre detouring and there will never be a moment when I will wish I had explored that kind of niche sooner. Too old and too stubborn, absorbing the all too familiar and cathartic soundscapes that bludgeon death throes of a malfunctioning industrial machine, huddled together in a dark, damp corner, sharpening rusty knives while mumbling incantations in languages best left untranslated.

This isn’t your friendly neighborhood "Albums of the Year" lists, where pastel-toned singer / songwriters and synth-pop darlings gather for a polite, low-volume recital. If you’re one of those people who "accidentally" typed in looking for the next easy-listening lo-fi beats to relax to… well, this is your chance to leave quietly and pretend you never clicked. We’re not talking about those indie darlings your coworker pretends to love for cred, or some TikTok sensation with quirky hooks; here lurk riffs that strip paint, blast beats that rupture organs, and vocals from people who gargle glass as a warm-up.

Of course, for those familiar with this annual descent, you know the drill. We all have our tastes and musical narcissism is real, which means this list represents the pinnacle of objectivity and should make sense to everyone. At the very least, your tolerance to the boundaries of sound as an art form will definitely be questioned. I won't add any more comments to the albums this time, and at first you'll be bombarded by a bunch of top 5's per genre before my own favorites, mainly in the extreme metal family.

 

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Top 5 || Thrash Metal

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5. Devastator - Conjurers of Cruelty
4. Sovereign - Altered Realities
3. Vulture - Sentinels
2. Mayhemic - Toba
1. Critical Defiance - The Search Won't Fall

 

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Top 5 || Doom / Death Metal

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5. Funeral Leech - The Illusion of Time

4. Slimelord - Chytridiomycosis Relinquished

3. Tzompantli - Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force

2. Coffins - Sinister Oath

1. Civerous - Maze Envy

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Top 5 || Atmospheric Black Metal

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5. Firtan - Ethos

4. Winterfylleth - The Imperious Horizon

3. Vemod - The Deepening

2. Aara - Eiger

1. Paysage d’Hiver - Die Berge

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Top 5 || Grindcore

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5. Beaten to Death - Sunrise At Rigor Mortis

4. Vile Species - Disqualified As a Human

3. Kidnapped - Disgust

2. Full of Hell - Coagulated Bliss

1. ACxDC - G.O.A.T.

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Top 5 || Funeral Doom Metal

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5. Veiled Metamorphosis - Tentacled Void of Infinity

4. Föhn - Condescending

3. Isenordal - Requiem for Eirênê

2. Ataraxie - Le déclin

1. Spectral Voice - Sparagmos

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Top 5 || War Metal

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5. Diocletian - Inexorable Nexus

4. Vengeance Horde - Surging Vengeance

3. Primitive Warfare - Extinction Protocol

2. Grave Heresy - Incineration Victory

1. Antichrist Siege Machine - Vengeance of Eternal Fire

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Top 5 || Goregrind

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5. Defaced - Opium Angel

4. Defiling the Putrefied Corpse of Loli Odessa - Blightwater Lullabies

3. Posthumous Regurgitation - The Coroner's Guide to Cadaveric Cuisine

2. Septage - Septic Worship

1. Viscera Infest - Teratoma

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Top 5 || Raw Black Metal

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5. Scarlet Empyrean - Nattlid

4. Paradox’ Mysticism - The Kryptic Hymns of Kosmic Labyrinths

3. Iron Firmament - Cascadian Tactics

2. Necrosorcery - Necrosorcery

1. Gauntlet Ring - Phantoms of Dark Symmetry

 

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Top 5 || Old School Death Metal

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5. Drowned - Procul his

4. Skeletal Remains - Fragments of the Ageless

3. Engulfed - Unearthly Litanies of Despair

2. Horrifying - Dreadful Parasomnia

1. Hyperdontia - Harvest of Malevolence

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Top 10 || Greek Metal

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10. Dødsferd - Wrath

9. Föhn - Condescending

8. Serement - Abhorrent Invocations

7. Nefarious Spirit - Final Breath

6. Septuagint - Acosmic Conflagration

5. Vile Species - Disqualified As a Human

4. Beehive Revolt - HVSK

3. Wargrinder - Profound Detestation of Hate

2. Sun of Nothing - Maze

1. Kvadrat - The Horrible Dissonance of Oblivion

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THE PERSONAL TOP 10

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10. Antichrist Siege Machine - Vengeance of Eternal Fire (Profound Lore Records)

9. Spectral Voice - Sparagmos (Dark Descent Records)

8. Wormed - Omegon (Season of Mist)

7. Concrete Winds - Concrete Winds (Sepulchral Voice Records)

6. Panzerfaust - The Suns of Perdition Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion (Eisenwald)

5. Abhorration - Demonolatry (Invictus Productions)

4. Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media Records)

3. Ulcerate - Cutting the Throat of God (Debemur Morti Productions)

2. Brodequin - Harbinger of Woe (Season of Mist)

1. Defeated Sanity - Chronicles of Lunacy (Season of Mist)

 

Enlarge for the full list:

 

In the past, I would showcase it as a collection of what I enjoyed the most. While it's the case this time as well, from now on I will also be adding that "these are the picks that the doctor suggests". The spearheads of 2024 were kept sharpened, looking forward to next year's musical strength and anger. 

 

Be aware, don’t forget to drink water, and stop to smell the flowers.