JESUS CHRIST WILL HE JUST GO AWAY? NEILL JAMESON’S 2024 LISTS PT II

photo by Hillarie Jason

(Here’s the second installment of year-end lists compiled for NCS by Neill Jameson (Krieg), with a couple more yet to come.)

Remember how I said things weren’t in any kind of order, until the end, in our last get together? I wasn’t entirely truthful. That list was really more the warm-up because this year I had incredible difficulty putting together a top ten list for my yearly what-have-you with Invisible Oranges, where I had to solidify it just so I could walk away without constantly wanting to move things around. We’ll start seeing those records I left out of the top in here.

I realize there’s several releases that I’m including in these lists that just came out within the last few weeks, which seems to happen every year. Does that mean I had enough time to truly sit with them? I’d like to think so, but it doesn’t seem likely. So I went back to years prior to see if I still felt strongly about late year releases I’d written about before, with a nearly perfect success rate, which was all scientifically calculated. So, in short, fuck off – they’re worth shedding light on.

I doubt anyone truly cares but that seemed like a good internal conversation.

Again, if you find something worthwhile in these lists, please support the artists and labels directly. No one is impressed with your Youtube playlists or MP3 collections you downloaded with your collection of weird shit you use to masturbate with. 

 

Hedge Wizard “Neighborwoods” (self released)

https://hedgewizard.bandcamp.com/album/neighborwoods

Very early in the year we received quite a surprise: a new Hedge Wizard recording after nearly a decade of silence. One of the projects that helped rekindle my interest in the genre, I had just assumed that it was finished, leaving us with one of the most important records in the genre, More True than Time Thought. So, how does Neighborwoods stack up? It fits beautifully next to its predecessor, without feeling like there was a decade-long gap.

I guess Hedge Wizard could be considered somewhat of a progenitor of “comfy synth” but fuck that genre tag. This is warm and wistful ambient, kind of like the dungeon synth equivalent to the “Solstice” soundtrack, for those either into retro gaming or old enough to remember how difficult losing our virginity was. Hoping for a vinyl release.

 

Sanguine Relic “Within the Fog of Fragmented Memory” (Perverse Homage)

https://perversehomage.bandcamp.com/album/within-the-fog-of-fragmented-memory

In the last few years there’s been an explosion of ultra raw, misanthropic black metal, especially in the US, that really pushes for aesthetic over substance while continuously pumping out unnecessary recordings that unnecessary people keep buying but never listen to, just over and over like some kind of sad parody of itself. While it’s depressing to see this glut of repeating horseshit, it also makes finding projects like Sanguine Relic that much more fulfilling. Continuing to progress in songwriting and sonic aesthetic, Within the Fog of Fragmented Memory preserves the reverence to authenticity in its approach. One of the beacons in a sea of shitty clones.

 

Invunche “Atavismo” (Nuclear War Now!)

https://invunche.bandcamp.com/album/atavismo

One of the records I have most looked forward to was a new Invunche. I’ve felt that everything he’s done has been untouchable, one of the few who are able to take the whole Ildjarn approach and elevate it to new heights, but even with that I wasn’t expecting Atavismo to soar the way it does. Not only is it loaded with the black punk of its predecessors, it introduces an intoxicating amount of psychedelics into its music. I hate to sound like a music journalist here, but this is one of the most exciting records of 2024, an evolution done with obvious thought and intent, with amazing results. A future genre classic.

 

House Spirit “Seven Gables” (Altare Productions)

House Spirit (US) – Seven Gables (Album 2024)

https://altare.pt/

Decrepit, old, and haunted black metal, perfectly represented by the cover art of an old house. I wouldn’t be shocked if this wasn’t the same artist behind Spiral Staircase as this shares a lot in common with that project, especially the excellent 2021 EP Cellar Dream. The music itself definitely feels like old French black metal or maybe even some Finnish demos from twenty years ago, but how it was recorded gives it a truly spectral atmosphere. A very special release. 

 

The Skullchair “There Is Crime in the Animal Kingdom” (Hospital Productions)

https://hospitalproductions.bandcamp.com/album/there-is-crime-in-the-animal-kingdom

Something I miss is when dark ambient projects truly captured a strange, creepy atmosphere. I’m sure there’s a few of you ready to send links to your own garbage but let me save us both some time: don’t. The Skullchair is a project I stumbled on when The Specter posted about it a few months back and it’s exactly what I look for when I’m looking for that kind of weird chill. Bringing to mind early Runes Order, There is Crime in the Animal Kingdom is one of those recordings best listened to alone, through headphones. 

 

Μνήμα “ Κ​α​τ​α​ρ​α​μ​έ​ν​α Λ​ε​ί​ψ​α​ν​α” (His Wounds)

https://mnima.bandcamp.com/album/lp

Caustic black metal that basically removes the “metal” aspect and replaces it with a wall of razors coated in pitch dark oil. Μνήμα persists in being intensely prolific, pushing the boundaries of where black metal ends and power electronics begins. This is one insane, noisy offering that continues the project’s sonic legacy of torture. 

 

Häxenzijrkell “Portal” (Amor Fati) 

https://haexenzijrkell.bandcamp.com/album/portal

Häxenzijrkell continue to be one of the shining stars in German black metal. Building upon an already impressive discography of intense black metal, Portal is the band at their deadliest. More of a focus on traditional black metal this time around but done with extreme focus and malicious intent. Just because I mention that there’s more traditional elements doesn’t mean that the weirdness that has permeated their previous work isn’t present, it just interweaves itself, coiling around the riffs like a deranged serpent. A vicious record worth your time.

 

Deathrite “Flames Licking Fever” (Into Endless Chaos)

https://deathrite.bandcamp.com/album/flames-licking-fever-2

There’s been some weird shit going on in Germany it seems. Much like the previously mentioned Häxenzijrkell, Deathrite approach their craft with strange eyes. A psychotic mixture of black metal, punk, and outsider psych/noise, Flames Licking Fever is as dynamic as it is skullcrushing. Moments bring to mind Monumental Possession-era Dødheimsgard but with their own flare. It’s refreshing to see creativity like this in such rancid music. 

 

Old Tower “Portrait of a Medieval Presence” (Hospital Productions)

https://oldtower.bandcamp.com/album/portrait-of-a-medieval-presence

A few years back Old Tower released Plague Harvest, a recording that was far different from what we had come to expect from The Specter. It was a sonic journey, creating an atmosphere rather than music. Portrait of a Medieval Presence is similar, in that it’s not really music-based, but rather something to be experienced with your sense of hearing differently. Ambient for the dark ages? Maybe, but it’s much more than that. I applaud his ability to take artistic risks and have them produce such rewards. 

 

Herrgottsblick “Schweben” (Tour De Garde)

https://herrgottsblick.bandcamp.com/album/schweben

Similar to what I just said about Old Tower taking artistic risks and succeeding is Schweben, a tape that sounds nothing like I was expecting. Herrgottsblick previously crafted dusty and ancient sounding dungeon synth that wouldn’t feel out of place if it were released thirty years ago, but with this one the project has now taken a turn towards a more lo-fi, aurally cinematic direction, which reminds me of where the aforementioned Old Tower went with Plague Harvest, creating soundscapes instead of music. An experiment that could have failed miserably, Schweben is disturbing, chilling, and incredibly thought-provoking while still feeling very much at home in the greater Herrgottsblick discography. 

 

Slavehouse “Scornful Discipline” (Nithstang)

Slavehouse (US) – Scornful Discipline (EP) 2024

Ending this portion of the list with one of the nastiest recordings of 2024. Slavehouse should be familiar to those of you with the fetish for cruelty ala Bone Awl, and after disappearing for half a decade they return with 15 of the most malicious minutes possible. You could stay that it’s like cleansing the palette using a shotgun as mouthwash but that undersells just what a black cloud of spite this truly is. Welcome back.

 

And there we go, ten or so more down, a bit more than that to go. One more part? Two? No fucking idea. See you next time.