Top 20 of 2024

2024 was a pretty damn good year for music of all styles, here's my favorite 20 albums I bought.

1) Demon Bitch - Master of the Games (Gates of Hell Records) / Heavy metal

 

 Eight years after Hellfriends (an album in my top of the last decade), their debut album, the boys from Detroit come back with a bang with their sophomore effort. They weren’t exactly inactive or a break, covid happened, some members moved away and they also released the excellent debut album of White Magician (composed entirely of members of Demon Bitch) but I’ve been waiting for their return for years. Master of the Games takes everything that made their previous endeavors successful and improves every single area. It’s super spastic traditional heavy metal retaining the influences of olde metal but at the same injects a dose of bravado and intensity fueled by the evolution of metal since the 80s. Just masterful songwriting, lead guitar songwriting and idiosyncratic vocals. This is like when Gandalf returned. Incredible.

2) Fontaines D.C. - Romance (XL Recordings) / Alternative rock

I liked the previous albums from these Irish boys but I think Romance is their best one yet. The evolution of their sound is interesting and they manage to make it more accessible without losing their bite or compromising too much on their identity, something Idles kind of failed at. Some post punk still remains here but it’s alternative rock with pop hooks for the most part. Grian Shatten’s vocals and lyrics are incredible. It’s pretty much the only album I listened to for a week straight when I got back to work in late August. It’s catchy, memorable, dense and intelligent.



3) Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose (Dark Descent Records) / Epic doom metal/Heavy metal

Now a sextet with the addition of Tanner Anderson (mainman of medievalist black metallers Obsequiae), Crypt Sermon released their best album yet. I usually think that epic doom is creatively bankrupt or at least that too many deviations from its core identity creates something else but the Philly band proves that it’s not totally the case. Brooks Wilson’s vocal delivery and well written lyrics elevate the band while the instrumentalists remain some of the best in all of modern doom, especially Steve Jansson’s lead guitar chops. The title track loses some steam towards the end or else this could have been my metal album of the year. Strong year for epic doom with releases from Scald, Capilla Ardiente, Stygian Crown or Vendel. Crypt Sermon are the current kings of the sub genre though.

4) The Cure - Songs of a Lost World (Polydor/Universal) / Gothic rock

I’ve always liked Robert Smith and The Cure, I’ve heard the classics but not their entire catalog and I’ve always told myself that I should embrace them more. Their first album in almost two decades convinced me that there’s good reasons people have been worshipping ‘em for decades. Songs of a Lost World has to be one of the best records by a band that far into their career. It’s hard to think of another contender except perhaps Rush’s swan song album Clockwork Angels. The album is sad but there’s a lot of hopeful and beautiful moments as well. It proves that Smith is still the master of melancholia. Almost as essential as Pornography or Disintegration.

5) Godspeed You! Black Emperor - No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead (Constellation Records) / Post-rock

The masters of post rock come back with a politically charged title and deliver what I consider their best album since 2012’s Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!. It’s not as dark as some of their most recent material and there’s plenty of their usual crescendo buildups and guitar/violin interplay. Despite the dark title, there’s lots of hope to be found in their sound, they’re not as bitter as I was expecting. If you didn’t like GY!BE before, the new album won’t change your mind at all but it’s an album I went back to often when I needed instrumental music.

6) Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She (Loma Vista Recordings) / Electronica/industrial/gothic rock etc

The seventh album by the goth queen Chelsea Wolfe is a fantastic spooky trip in electronica or industrial landscapes. I alternate between really digging her stuff and being a bit uninterested in it. I'm a big fan of her metallic explorations in Hiss Spun and Abyss but I wasn’t crazy with her Converge collaboration or Birth of Violence. She Reaches… still sounds like her but it’s a continuation of her more metallic sound or what she did on Pain With Beauty with an added focus on synth drenched moods. In the end, I just love her voice, her aesthetics and her dedication to musical exploration.

7) Spectral Voice - Sparagmos (Dark Descent Records) / Death/doom metal

I didn’t care for Blood Incantation’s newest album but Spectral Voice’s second album was the first truly great album of 2024. They play this style of condensed, intense, atmospheric death/doom with some spooky funeral doom moments. Their take on those genres is still super interesting and fresh to me unlike many current bands vomiting sixty plus minute records with no good riffs whatsoever. While Pestilence’s brainless Patrick Mameli defends his decision to use AI artwork, Spectral Voice and their label commissioned the creation of a sculpture for the cover. This shows the level of dedication and care the band has for their craft.

I’m not going to a lot of gigs nowadays but I didn’t miss ‘em last summer, they were incredible. No lights anywhere except from some candles on stage, entracing and exhilarating performance. A proof that death metal can still push a few boundaries.

8 ) Mount Eerie - Night Palace (P.W. Elverum & Sun) / Indie folk, avant folk etc

I’m not that familiar with Phil Elverum’s extensive discography but I certainly loved what I heard from either Mount Eerie or The Microphones. Back with a long album after a few years, Elverum’s new opus feels like a summary of everything so far and while it’s 26 songs, it never feels bloated or too much. It’s lo-fi folk for the most part with his usual great and poetic lyrics. He has the ability to make sadness a tangible emotion through his music and this record is no exception. There’s a lot to say but I haven’t fully assimilated the whole thing yet!

9) Amyl and the Sniffers - Cartoon Darkness (B2B records) / Punk, Rock

Comfort to Me was one of my favourite albums from 2021 so I was pretty stoked about a new one from the Aussies. They've been getting a lot of press but I can say that I got into them when they opened for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard back in uhh pre pandemic times so eons ago. I like Amy's don't give a fuck lyrics, Declan's catchy hard rockin’ riffs and the overall mood of the band. They have this good balance between heaviness, hooks and abrasiveness.

 

 

 

10) High On Fire - Cometh the Storm (MNRK Heavy) / Stoner/doom/sludge metal

 

Matt Pike has been nothing but consistent throughout his career but I thought that after seven albums, things were getting stale for High on Fire. Death is this Communion, my personal favorite from the band, is almost two decades old already but Cometh the Storm happened to surprise me quite a bit. Maybe it’s the longer break than usual between releases (6 years) or the inclusion of Coady Willis (Big Business) on drums but this album feels fresh, exciting and it renewed my love for the band. It’s full of highlights like the title track, the instrumental interlude bringing back some middle eastern influences like on DITC or the ten minute closer “Darker Fleece”, a track encompassing their whole sound. What can I say except Matt Pike for president?

11) Yoo Doo Right - From the Heights of Our Pastureland (Mothland) / Post-rock, Experimental rock

Two Montréal post rock bands in my top 10? Sure thing! Obviously compared to GY!BE, Yoo Doo Right are no mere copycats. First of all, they’re a power trio and not like twenty members like their forefathers but this in no way impacts their sound. It’s rich, expansive and includes a lot of different influences from shoegaze, krautrock, experimental rock and they’re almost post metallic at times.One of my main complaints about post rock/metal is that the albums are always too long and nobody can reach the quality level of the masters (be it GY!BE or Cult of Luna) but that’s not a problem for Yoo Doo Right, this is a 42 minute long album filled to the brim with good shit. Super atmospheric, captivating and immensely varied for such a condensed record.

12) The Smile - Wall of Eyes (XL Recordings) / Art rock/progressive rock/experimental rock

Is Radiohead done? Are they on break? Well, who cares, The Smile are incredible and I love their first two albums. Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood are joined by jazz drummer Tom Skinner and they delivered interesting art rock as good as anything post Kid A. It’s jazzy, experimental, proggy and adventurous rock, you can feel that Yorke is as inspired and intriguing as ever.

13) Klo Pelgag - Abracadabra (Secret City Records) / Experimental pop

Klo is one of my favorite Quebec musicians and her fourth album continues to cement her legacy as one of the most important Quebecois songwriters of her generation. She’s been releasing a different album each time while retaining her essence, this one is self produced and feels intimate and restrained. Her vocals are sort of an acquired taste but they add to her idiosyncratic feel and fits her atmosphere. Abracadabra is some sort of chamber pop with influences from classical, new wave, electronica. There’s lots of catchy synths (see “Libre”) and also a lot of catchy simple yet intricate singalong moments (see “Triste ou méchante”). Pelgag delivers yet another unique record with a lovely and enchanting spirit.

14) Hexenbrett - Dritte Beschw​ö​rung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter (Dying Victims Productions) / Psychedelic black/heavy metal

I’ve been a fan of Hexenbrett since their debut EP and they’re continuing to deliver top notch material. Inspired by a lot of stuff such as old black metal, NWOBHM, Italian horror movie soundtracks (see Goblin), they play this blend of catchy, well composed psychedelic metal. There’s plenty of tasty melodic guitar leads, raspy tenebrous vocals and kitschy synths (see “La Plese de la Nuit”) creating a fun and varied experience that’s both tight and rich. I’m a sucker for black/heavy metal (see Malokarpatan, Demontage, Negative Plane) and Hexenbrett takes the subgenre, turns it on its head and adds a large serving of psychedelia, experimentation and European flair to it.

15) Tonnerre - La nuit sauvage (Cruz Del Sur Records) / Hard rock

With Cauchemar being pretty much done, Annick Giroux and her husband François Patry started a new band and it fucking rules. Patrick Pageau (Cauchemar’s first drummer and punDurs Coeurs’ frontman) and two other members joins the couple on this debut album. While retaining what made Cauchemar one of my favorite bands (the catchiness, the mystical and occult French lyrics and the same sort of guitar riffs), they easily transitioned to a hard rock band. Trading Pagan Altar, Pentagram or Witchfinder General for Blue Öyster Cult, AC/DC or classic Québec rock bands like Offenbach or Aut’chose, they composed a good vintage rock album full of hooks and charm.

16) Tire le Coyote - Dynastie (La Tribu) / Folk/Singer-songwriter/rock

I’ve always liked Tire le Coyote (the stage name of Benoit Pinette), especially 2017’s Désherbage (weeding) but his new album might be my favorite of his so far. His vocals are super peculiar and could be an acquired taste but I like ‘em, his lyrics are also extremely good but that’s something that will be lost on non French speakers. The album starts with an extremely potent adaptation of a Leonard Cohen song, it’s super emotional and sets the tone perfectly for the rest. Not quite a folk album, not quite a rock, an alternative or a pop one either, he’s able to mix everything into something interesting. You can hear that he’s a fan of 90s alt rock but also folk, country and all the other good stuff. 

 

 

 

17) Opeth - The Last Will and Testament (Moderbolaget) / Progressive Metal

 

Opeth is one of my most important bands. I often say that they’re my favorite band and I’ve been following their career since my high school days even though they’ll probably never reach the highs of their former glory. Regardless, I’ve enjoyed their post Watershed albums, albums leaning more into progressive rock without the famous harsh vocals of leader Mikael Akerfeldt. Surprisingly, harsh vocals are back on this concept album and it led to a lot of discussions. In the end, well, it’s a decent record. It mixes the prog metal leanings of Watershed with the dark prog rock of In Cauda Venenum and manages to sound somewhat fresh and not rehashed.I couldn’t care less about the story presented here, it’s a dramatic story of an old man and his testament, meh, who cares? Give me good riffs and solos. There’s some great guitar playing here and the veterans know how to craft an album. Still, it’s a tad short for their standards and I was left wanting a bit more.

 

18) Stygian Crown - Funeral for a King (Cruz Del Sur Records) / Epic doom metal

Los Angeles’ Stygian Crown are the second best American epic doom band right now after the previously picked Crypt Sermon. Both bands are super different though and that’s what's fun about the whole thing. Sure, they’re both Candlemass simps but the LA band includes a fair share of Bolt Thrower worship in their production and riff department. The band was formed by death metal veterans (Gravehill,Morgion, Divine Eve) so it’s not a totally surprising affair. I found Funeral for a King tighter and overall better than their self titled debut even though it’s pretty much the same type of music, they just improved their formula. What elevates the band though, is their singer. Melissa Pinion shines as this tough but operatic force. I’m a sucker for a good metal ballad and she’s incredible in Blood Red Eyes. Anyhow, solid riffs, great vocals, a great Kris Verwimp cover, a lot of cool things here!

 

19) The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy (Island) / Indie pop/baroque/rock

I was hooked the instant I saw the video for the song Nothing Matters. This group of English gals is super talented and full of oomph and charisma. Disciples of Kate Bush but also of intelligent timeless pop music (see St-Vincent), it’s impressive how good their debut album is. Sure, they have big label money and they were accused of being an industry plant but I do think they have the songwriting, aesthetic and talent to back things up. Their potential is high and I’m stoked to follow what they’ll do next. Their mix of semi prog rock mixed with baroque pop, fancy orchestration and pop hooks just worked super well.

 

20) Nails - Every Bridge Burning (Nuclear Blast) / Grindcore/Powerviolence/Hardcore

Nails’ second album Abandon All Life is one of my favorite albums of all time and while I think they’ll never reach the true level of aggression and anger it was, they’re still a top notch band. Released 8 years after You Will Never Be One of Us (one of the edgiest titles ever), it was a bit of a wait to get seventeen minutes of music from Todd Jones. Still, he’s super angry and he still delivers the goods.There’s thrash metal influences here, it’s added to their blend of styles, a true boiling pot of punches to the gut. I wasn’t a fan of the production at first but it grew on me. It's very sharp, like a nail that could be used as a dagger to stab the thief who stole your Amazon packages. If I only have 20 minutes of commute left, Nails remain a great option.

Coffin Nail – The Hanged Man (2023) / 77%

Coughing up blood until my coffin is buried

This solo project of former Florida man Vok goes hard. It’s an amalgamation of different styles culminating in a take no prisoners assault for the body and the mind. Coffin Nail reminds me of the late Trap Them in how they’re able to mix hardcore/grindcore with metal genres like death metal without losing anything in the process.

Coffin Nail is like this really spicy cajun rub for chicken combining super chonky grind, death metal, hardcore punk but also some sludge, maybe extreme thrash/crossover, industrial vibes and hyper fast black metal (in spirit) as well. It’s unrelenting material with a dark, murderous era alternating between crushingly heavy slower stuff like the intro or “These Are Dead, They Feel Not” or just viciously fast like “Strangling Gallows”. There’s also a few nice surprises like the piano interlude of “Due Note in nero” or the saxophone solo of “Brood Parasites”. It’s full of catchy riffs (“Hammers and Chains” has an infectious one) and simple yet highly effective songwriting. The vocals are tenebrous snarling harsh vocals, quite fitting and well executed. The production is warm, natural and lets the violence shine. It’s sharp and fiery as a lightning bolt, I feel that the combination between aggression and thoughtful (enough) musicianship. Worth checking before going to the gallows.

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Ancient Seance - Cryptic (2018) / 85%

Digitally Challenged: Part 8 - Cryptic

This power trio from Chicago dropped one of the best heavy metal demos of the last ten years with Cryptic and I’m still hoping for a full length to drop one of those days. Same for one of their main comparisons, Detroit’s Demon Bitch. Ancient Seance’s Syl Smith is active with the solid USPM quintet Munition (worth checking out!) but I hope he can come back to this band. It’s a pretty raw demo for the genre, it’s not clean or anything but I think it adds something worthy to their sound. It’s unsweetened heavy metal and it’s fine that it’s rough around the edges, I personally like it and find it endearing, it’s something I like in bands such as Scalare, Molten Chains or Darkthrone with material like The Underground Resistance.

It’s fairly inaccessible as far as heavy metal goes, the vocals are diverse, from high pitched to a more standard clean voice combined with wizardly harsh ones. Musically, it ranges to speedier trad metal to bass heavy atmospheric heavy/doom (the first part of Cryptic Lullaby) that sounds like a more arcane and obscure take on Alice in Chains to the more unhinged sound that’s “popular” in the Michigan trad metal scene (a sort of intense Thin Lizzified Mercyful Fated style of metal). It’s well written, well played and like I said, it’s not diminished by the non-Nuclear Blast production. The bass is thick, the drumming is natural, authentic and picks up the pace well and the guitar playing is relatively inventive for the style. Very very good demo, I want more.

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Lividus – Teratorns (2023) / 83%

 

Uta is back!

I was pretty shaken by Uta Plotkin’s departure from Witch Mountain almost ten years ago. I guess I’m fine now, it’s been a while, come on Tony! After leaving the Portland doom band, she became a yoga teacher but didn’t do a lot musically (at least stuff that’s been released) but I was glad to learn that she was back with a new band. Teratorns is the second extended play by Lividus and it bangs hard.

Plotkin’s minimal use of harsh vocals in Witch Mountain (see the albums South of Salem or Cauldron of the Wild) was enjoyable even though I really loved her clean ones. They have a bigger spotlight here and it doesn’t disappoint. The second track “The Witness” is an even mix of gnarly slicing harsh vocals and high pitched powerful cleans and it works well, I was happy to hear her amazing voice again. Musically, we’re somewhere else from Witch Mountain, it’s quite interesting too. Drummer Pierce Williams ( Ænigmatum, Skeletal Remains, Torture Rack...) and guitarist Rob Shaffer (Dark Castle, Lord Dying...) are in the lineup and they’re both super talented musicians adding their influences to the fold. I’d say that this is some sort of avant garde progressive death/thrash/extreme metal, there’s dissonance, fast death metal riffs (check out the opener “Tis’forundal”) and intense blastbeats. All this is intertwined with Plotkin’ fantastic use of layered vocals singing dark poetic lyrics. The three tracks are all fairly short and fast and doesn’t mess around. The band sorts of reminds me of Voivod in how peculiar they are.

Lividus are able to combine dissonance, darkness and experimental ideas with a melodic approach, it’s surprising and takes a few interesting turns throughout the eleven minutes duration of this release that I’ve put on repeat, it’s quite good and I’m stoked to hear what they’ll do next.

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Gates of Londra - Servants of the Runestaff (2022) / 88%?

 

I’ll gladly serve the Runestaff as well

Vienna's Gates of Londra, the union of J.M (Brånd, Weathered Crest, Eisenhand...) and R.F (Parasite Dreams, Peace Vaults...) gave us one of the most impressive releases of 2022. It was definitely one of my most played releases of last year due to its short length but also the high quality of its musical content and the various influences contained into such a judiciously compact package.

After a demo rooted mostly in raw black metal, the duo has expanded their formula to include everything but the kitchen sink. Their black metal core is augmented by industrial, post punk/deathrock, dungeon synth and uh, probably other things I’m forgetting right now but rest assured, it's there. Most importantly, it all works together to create a cohesive experience. It has this charming epic approach mixed with a do it yourself attitude and a love for fantasy and synths.

Their themes are important to the whole thing as well, it’s all about the writing of champion Michael Moorcock, the second most popular fantasy writer after Tolkien for metal bands. They had to be different from their older brothers of Summoning somehow (even if yes, I know Moorcock is present in Silenius and Protector’s works). Let’s be frank here, a black metal duo with synths singing about fantasy and from Austria? You could consider them a clone before listening to them. In the end, it’s very different in how it sounds and it’s presented. It’s brief bursts of insanity intertwined with soothing, video game atmospheric moody music (check out the outro) and that’s like combining The Elder Scrolls with late 70s, early 80s British post punk. It’s very idiosyncratic and just straight up very interesting. The presence of samples of old fantasy men talking (I don’t know the sources, possibly audiobooks of Moorcock's Hawkmoon?) adds another layer of odd details that I loved. Never enough grand speeches done by wizards, not gonna lie.

The synths are in your face but the acerbic guitars are as well, it’s a good combination of the two and there’s good riffs on Servants of the Runestaff. The drumming is a drum machine and it adds to the repetitiveness and industrial feels of the album, I find it enjoyable. It’s geeky but also quite powerful and robust in some way. Similar to Elric of Melniboné and other eternal champions, I guess!

Gates of Londra is not gonna be for everyone but I do think black metal is in a super innovative era right now and it’s fun to see bands go wild like they do. It’s not just the mixing of influences, it goes beyond that. It’s mixing the old and the new, the metal with the non-metal with ease and precision while maintaining a raw and distinctive feel.

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Parish – Parish (2022) / 78%

Freshly cut grass and lightly fried fish filet from the local tavern with room temp ale

The English label Crypt of the Wizard (great name) has been releasing a few bangers recently with the traditional doom metal of Woe, the Lord of the Rings’ heavy rock of Riders of Rohan and more interestingly in our case, the first releases of London’s Parish. Their formula is highly enjoyable and intensely catchy. Let’s see why.

I see Parish as a sort of heavier response to the pastoral christian heavy metal/hard rock of fellow brits Wytch Hazel. While the band led by Jesus’ favourite troubadour Colin Hendra leans more towards Thin Lizzy or Jethro Tull, Parish are huge Sabbath simps and I love it. Their 70s sound is mixing ethereal vocals (see Ghost, the vocal approach is similar) with a folk tinged doom metal approach paying homage to the greats (see Budgie, Witchfinder General, Sabbath but also Wishbone Ash). Their songs are about witches, the countryside, wenches, taverns and other occult stuff. It's their bread and butter and I’ll spread their themes all over my buns for sure. It’s fun stuff and packs an extra punch.

The power trio rocks, it’s a tight forty minutes album without any filler, it’s direct and to the point. The riffs are solid (see “Cunning Murell”) albeit the band is somewhat generic and owes a lot to what came before them. That’s a stylistic choice, it’s hard to make “new” classic traditional heavy/doom anyway. To me, they’re both heavy and soothing at the same time, I think that’s a rare feat. A band like Pagan Altar has it as well.

Parish possess this ghostly quality that makes them stand out (somewhat) from the doom crowd. I do think that there’s some added elements that makes them worth your time if your itch of checking new bands is present but  after a while, it becomes somewhat tiring and it's not really an album I'll revisit often instead of hitting the doom classics. Still worthwhile though! It's good English countryside heavy/doom that smells like freshly cut grass with the light aroma of fried fish filet.

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Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom – Summoning the Gatekeepers (2023) / 85%

 

English Breakfast Chapter 4: Blood Pudding

On their first full length album in more than a decade, the criminally unknown English duo are back with an unrivalled passion for underground metal. Their super good 2020 extended play signalled that the boys were done with what seemed to be some sort of hiatus and this was good news. This band is like this classic English ale that’s kept secret and only exists because their creators love their craft so much. Nothing else matters.

Each of their albums are quite different from each other, from the stoner doom influences of their debut to the more pastoral black metal sound of Battle Staffs in the Mushroom Woods, they’ve been releasing interesting stuff since the start. Summoning the Gatekeepers is no exception. In fact, I see it as a culmination of their influences or at the very least, it was a logical step for them to take. It's a stroll in the forest and never a walk in the park with them.

What we have here is a condensed, tight and upfront epic black metal album. It might be the album where they’re the best at mixing the many elements composing their English breakfast. Sure, there’s still some hints of crust, some hints of English doom but like in a good homemade bread, you will not think it’s too salty even if there’s the right amount of salt in the recipe. Their formula works because the recipe has been tested and edited many times.

From the acoustic guitars of the evocative “Twisted Tree”, the longest track of the record to the crackling of fire and the storm ambiance, there’s some English epicness in their sound but it's never too much or cheesy, it's kept minimal. They’re also able to season their late Darkthrone black metal with post punk (see the middle section of “Ragged Brothers”) but for the most part, it’s a pretty even affair. It’s a relatively midpaced record and there’s not a lot of tempo variations, at least not super jarring ones that made me scream “damn they sped things up!”. It’s made up of slow, heavy riffs with a nice back end like the lovely crusty bass of “Ashes” for example. it’s meat and potatoes metal but with some good butter and herbs, a recipe you can find in medieval cookbooks luckily preserved in the untouched cellar of an English pub.

The raspy vocals, the way the guitar parts are written and the honest, highly rustic lyrical hemes are all things speaking to me. It’s a record worth your time if you value the simplest things in life and prefer your beer without anything fancy in it.

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