(Last week we published a three-part series of year-end lists (which you can find here) prepared by Neill Jameson (Krieg), but it turned out those lists omitted some things, and Neill has cured the omissions in another list installment we’re presenting below.)
I was certain I forgot a few things in my main list(s) since I tried to get everything written and submitted early this year in an effort to be responsible, something I’ll never be again, so I put together an additional list of some of the things I forgot as well as some of the cool shit that got reissued this year. 2024 was a pretty loaded year for music overall but one thing I really enjoyed was being able to finally pick up a few pieces that were just too goddamned expensive on the secondary market that were handled with obvious care to the source material in a trend that I hope continues.
Anyway, here’s a few of them:
Hole Dweller “Flies the Coop III” (Dungeons Deep)
https://holedweller.bandcamp.com/album/flies-the-coop-iii
The most egregious omission from my main list would definitely be the third in Hole Dweller’s “Flies the Coop” series. Again we’re given nine tracks in the warm and slightly overblown sound that the first two presented. Hole Dweller is easily one of the most consistent projects in the synth realm, frequently adventuring among various styles in the genre but the “Flies the Coop” recordings are easily my favorite of the work he does. I’m sure we’ll see this on vinyl eventually, which is the most fitting way to experience this project.
Iron Firmament “Keepeater” (Poisonous Sorcery)
https://ironfirmament.bandcamp.com/album/keepeater
Poisonous Sorcery really killed it in their most recent batch, releasing some very worthy demos/cassette-only releases to vinyl (Prayer Position being my favorite of the bunch). Iron Firmament is a project that a lot of people sent to me over the last few months, especially after my last Decibel piece on USBM. Keepeater is their 2023 debut, raw and melodic black metal bringing to mind Moonblood, very early Satyricon or Crimson Evenfall. They’ve since recorded a slew of demos, all worth your time, but I bring this one up as Poisonous Sorcery does a really remarkable job with packaging and presentation, and whoever does their mastering for vinyl should be given a fucking parade.
Moon Chalice “Order of the Black Dragon” (Poisonous Sorcery)
Moon Chalice (US) – Order of the Black Dragon (Full Length) 2024
I’d picked up the cassette version on Damien Records earlier in the year, which was definitely one I forgot in the other lists, but fortunately Poisonous Sorcery also did a vinyl version, reminding me. Distant, melodic raw black metal, with a cacophonous production, like a mixture of Revenant Marquis and Crucifixion Bell, this is definitely a worthy release for those of you devoted to the darkest of black metal.
Occult Blood “Occult Blood” (Forbidden Keep Records)
https://occultbloodusbm.bandcamp.com/album/the-room-in-the-ground
Trying to find this compilation on Youtube leads to some fucking weird results that I’m sure will make my advertisement algorithm just terrific for a bit. You might remember from last year’s lists that I felt Occult Blood’s The Room in the Ground demo was one of the best things I had heard in 2023. This year Forbidden Keep Records released a vinyl compilation of that and the Rites of Loathsome Sorcery demo. Some of the best black metal/punk in a scene that’s thriving with excellence (at least until it becomes saturated and bloated, like everything seems to become), it’s excellent to have both releases on one record.
Lustre “The First Snow & Reverence” (Nordvis Produktion)
https://lustre.bandcamp.com/album/the-first-snow-reverence
The First Snow was my introduction to Lustre years back and I’d always wondered why it never had a physical release considering the numbers it put up on Youtube, so when I read that Nordvis was doing a vinyl version (with the 2023 Reverence as the B side) I was quick to order it. From the captivating cover art to the lush and dense production, this is probably my favorite recording of the project which I am simply overjoyed to own. Ambient black metal beauty.
Victorian Specter “The Sower in Open Fields” (Phantom Lure)
Victorian Specter “On the Veil of Time” (self released)
https://victorianspecter.bandcamp.com/music
Last year’s The Sower cassette was one of my absolute favorites in the genre and my introduction to the project. Calming, hauntingly regal synth that I just played over and over. Much like the other compilations I’ve discussed, I was very excited that Phantom Lure decided to release this on vinyl, with the “Open Fields” recording.
Victorian Specter is a project, similar to Ulk, that I can put on and get simply lost in. Which brings me to the 2024 digital only(so far) On the Veil of Time recording, which continues that same feel but in more of a dark ambient realm, bringing the mid ’90s Cold Meat Industries lineup to mind. I’m hopeful for a physical in 2025; this project is consistently excellent.
Lungtoucher “Sin Eater” (Deathprayer Records)
https://lungtoucher.bandcamp.com/album/sin-eater-2024
Vinyl press of their 2021 EP plus four new tracks. Sin Eater displays a perfect blend of morose postpunk and miserable black metal, the sort of thing that can really ruin your mood. Lungtoucher has that kind of sincerity that really keeps them out of the realm of Joy Division/Lifelover copycats that proliferate endlessly, like cum-filled rabbits. Up there with stuff like Crooked Necks for me.
Belial “Never Again” (Osmose Productions)
Belial – Never Again (Full Album) (HQ)
Never Again is one of my favorite records, ever. Finnish black/death with just enough weirdness and grind to it so that it sticks with me long after every listen. I’d picked up the vinyl repress from a few years ago in a trade but it just never really did the record justice, plus the cover art was changed and it frankly fucking sucked.
Osmose has really picked up the ball and run with reissuing worthy records the last few years (Gorgon comes to mind) and when I saw the job they did with this I just had to have it in my collection. Everything sounds perfect, the original art has been restored (including a poster, which I have framed in my office that I’m sure anyone who comes by will just enjoy as much as I do) and done by a label whose distribution is strong enough that anyone who needs this will be able to pick it up without having to suck a dick behind a Chili’s for it.
Sargeist “Let the Devil In” (Osmose Productions)
Sargeist – Let the Devil In (Full Album)
See above Belial review, minus the framed art in my office.
Integrity “All Death is Mine: Total Domination” (Relapse Records)
https://integrity.bandcamp.com/album/all-death-is-mine-total-domination
A compilation of all the splits and various non-full-length releases Integrity recorded with Dom Romeo (including the Krieg split, which I’m still insanely proud to have done), this acts as both a nice way to have all of these recordings in one spot plus a stopgap for whenever the next record is (finally) released. There’s not much to say about these songs that hasn’t already been said, but this was a very cool release and a nice addition to the collection.
Mortiis “The Crypt of the Wizard (Live)” (Out of Season)
Mortiis “Keiser Av En Dimensjon Ukjent” (Out of Season)
https://mortiis.bandcamp.com/album/crypt-of-the-wizard-live
https://mortiis.bandcamp.com/album/keiser-av-en-dimensjon-ukjent
Finally being able to have a vinyl of The Crypt of the Wizard done properly was enough of a highlight of 2024 you’d imagine but the new edition Out of Season did of Keiser… is magnificent as well. The last seven or eight years of Mortiis activity is one of the only things that is helping to keep me young at heart and I only hope Out of Season has more planned for next year.
Blood “Impulse to Destroy” (Nuclear War Now!)
Blood “Christbait” (Nuclear War Now!)
Blood “Ο Άγιος Πέθανε” (Nuclear War Now!)
https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/impulse-to-destroy
https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/christbait
https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/o-agios-pethane
I am very much a latecomer to Blood, which I admitted in one of my Invisible Oranges pieces earlier in the year, so when I went to pick up a copy of Christbait and saw the prices I figured I’d just be listening to it on Youtube or whatever for a long fucking time. Fortunately a few weeks later NWN! announced a reissue series of the first three records, saving the fucking day. Savage grind that gets blacker each record (with Alex from Naked Whipper on vocals for “Christbait”, which is what attracted me in the first place) and an influence on Blasphemy (and a few hundred other bands by proxy), these reissues are done with the care that you would expect NWN! to handle their releases.
Cavalera Conspiracy “Schizophrenia” (Nuclear Blast)
https://cavaleraconspiracy.bandcamp.com/album/schizophrenia
I know this one was somehow more controversial than when they re-recorded Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation last year but I was pretty fucking stoked for this and it delivered. This was always my favorite of the early Sepultura (and my favorite next to Chaos AD, go fuck yourself) so having it with a heavier production while still kept bestial was very nice. Was it the most necessary release? Absolutely not, but I really enjoyed it. I’d love to see them try to do new material in the style of the first three records instead of doing any other re-recordings next.
And so there it is, a long list that still omits a few things I’m sure. LIke the Gehenna (nor) reissues Darkness Shall Rise did. Or some cool demo I picked up in February and entirely forgot about. Or some of the Horrible Room or other Poisonous Sorcery releases. Like I said, 2024 was a fucking packed year. For being such a fucking shit year it was nice to at least have a good soundtrack to it.