LISTMANIA 2024: GONZO’S TOP 25 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

(This is Denver-based NCS writer Gonzo‘s list of 2024’s Top 25 albums.)

It’s probably a grim sign of the times when, upon assembling this list, my first thought is “which albums helped me endure the horrors?”

That’s really why we listen to music in the first place, though. In that sense, this year was no different than any other. And I’d defy anyone to name a better form of self-guided therapy than blasting a metal record at god’s volume to help them navigate said horrors of existence.

Holy shit, that all sounded a lot bleaker than I’d intended. Whatever, though. We’re going with it.

Before I get too carried away with howls of despair, it’s worth pointing out that there was an absolute shitstorm of amazing releases that surfaced in November, causing me to reassemble this list more times than I’d probably care to admit. (What a problem to have, though.)

For that reason, this list has been bumped up from its usual 20 to an Islander-approved 25. And to cut down on the bravado a little, they’re all in one post for a change.

Have at ‘em, friends. And as always, thanks for reading my various screams into the void this year – and every other.

 

25. Chapel of Disease, Echoes of Light

Kicking things off was the first album I heard this year that I really loved. Chapel of Disease put out one hell of a record in 2018 with ..And as We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye, so expectations were admittedly high.

While the band didn’t quite top its predecessor, Echoes of Light is loaded with memorable moments that range from Tribulation-esque death metal in a vampire’s cloak to bluesy passages reminiscent of Blue Oyster Cult. The resulting blend of styles fuses this band’s influences into a thoroughly satisfying listen. “Shallow Nights” got stuck in my head on repeat through last winter, and the beautiful closing number “An Ode to the Conqueror” is a triumphant nod to ’70s psychedelia.

https://chapelofdisease.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-of-light

 

24. Final Coil, The World We Inherited

I first stumbled upon this Leicester-based post-metal outfit all the way back in January. After singing its praises in my February roundup, it’s been living in my head rent-free ever since.

Final Coil has a distinctly “alternative” edge to its post-metal craftsmanship, and the formula works extremely well throughout the 10 tracks on this album. The chunky riffs in “Chemtrails” would be an ideal starting point for anyone new to this band. Dense, heavy, and hypnotic, the song is a slow burn that sets up momentum for the rest of said slow burns found here. Soundwise, think Alice in Chains jamming with The Swans with a subtle helping of Cult of Luna – and that smattering of styles hits its zenith on “By Starlight” and the phenomenal “Humanity.”

The UK metal scene is always producing something great, but Final Coil has the chops to stand out amongst a sea of up-and-comers.

https://finalcoilrock.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-we-inherited

 

23. Hauntologist, Hollow

This Polish duo – comprised of Mgla mainstays Darkside and The Fall – came out of nowhere with this atmospheric slab of blackened post-metal this year. And somehow, it was criminally overlooked.

With Hollow, the Polish pair trade in their familiar blast beats for downtempo ethereal grooves. When they do pick up the BPM, the music feels like being hit by the chill of a winter storm. See “Golem” for exhibit A in that category. Meanwhile, songs like “Deathdreamer” strike a nice balance between synth-driven passages and raw brutality, with a resulting sound falling somewhere between the rawness of ‘90s Darkthrone with a tempering of Hail Spirit Noir. If that sounds like an intriguing pairing, you’d be correct.

https://hauntologist.bandcamp.com/album/hollow

 

22. Gaerea, Coma

Portugal’s masked maniacs have carefully refined and expanded their sound with each consecutive release, and Coma is the catharsis of that. It might be their strongest album yet.

Gaerea is a great example of a band that’s moving the black metal genre forward. 2022’s Mirage was also fantastic, but Coma steps up the songwriting into another realm. Each song is a separate journey that completes the whole. It’s the kind of album that just can’t be experienced until you hear the entire thing – just one or two songs is simply not enough. “The Poet’s Ballet” takes its time before exploding out of its calm-before-the-storm beginnings, while “Hope Shatters” leaves a trail of sheer destruction in its wake. By the time I got to the opening notes of “Suspended,” I had a strong suspicion that I’d be writing about this album in this very write-up – and here we are.

But don’t stop there. The title track’s opening salvo hits like a battering ram storming the castle gates, while the unexpected beauty of “Wilted Flower” sees the band exploring a somewhat more refined version of its juggernaut of a sound.

https://gaerea.bandcamp.com/album/coma

 

21. Farsot, Life Promised Death

Last year saw a huge influx of German bands topping year-end lists. Turns out, that momentum is still running strong.

The fourth album from the post-blackened crew Farsot is endlessly captivating; the kind of record you could leave on all day and never get tired of it. They know when to pummel, when to let up, and when to strike a balance somewhere in between. That understanding of dynamics propels tracks like “Nausea” and “Chimera” to soaring Agalloch-inspired heights. These songs are complex as hell – often pivoting from blast beat to acoustic to ambient and back again – but never leave the listener behind in the process.

The masterful exercise in songwriting helps Life Promised Death leapfrog the rest of this band’s already-impressive discography to the best work they’ve ever done.

https://farsot.bandcamp.com/album/life-promised-death

 

20. Hippotraktor, Stasis

Like a good trippel with a cheese board, Belgium and post-metal have always been a high-quality pairing. How much of that we can attribute to trails blazed by Amenra is anyone’s guess, but Hippotraktor sound like they’re ready to go their own way with their second album, Stasis.

Featuring angular, unpredictable song structures and sporadic blasts of white-hot fury, this album gnashes its way through its seven tracks. This is Hippotraktor at their most creative. It’s simultaneously abrasive and transcendent, which is a balance that few bands can strike as skillfully as this. Sonically, tracks like “Silver Tongue” and the mind-bending closer “The Reckoning” fit somewhere in between Gojira and YOB, and if that sounds like a wild ride, you’d be wise to buckle up and hop the fuck on board.

https://hippotraktor.bandcamp.com/album/stasis

 

19. Exuvial, The Hive Mind Chronicles Pt I: Parasitica

Whenever I hear technical death metal that goes this hard – without sacrificing substance for complexity – you’re damn right it’ll have a place in my best-of list.

Even better? I just wrote about Denver’s newest export in tech-death last week, so I’ll repost the praise I sang for it:

The opening “Hive Mind” trilogy of songs wastes exactly zero time in melting your face off with scorched-earth riffs and Ethan Walden’s blast furnace of a voice. Drummer Andrew Baird, also of Fallujah, also mentioned that his blast beats on this album are some of the cleanest and most precise he’s ever dished out, and I believe him. (Frankly, it’s hard not to.) Something that’s often missing from tech death albums is dynamics, and Exuvial prove they’re an exception with songs like “Autonomic Awakening,” powered by an acoustic intro and a clean-sung chorus.

It might be late in the year, but don’t make your best-of 2024 lists without listening to The Hive Mind Chronicles Part I: Parasitica.

https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-hive-mind-chronicles-part-i-parasitica

 

18. Nightwraith, Divergence

The Denver scene had another banner year of unadulterated asskickery. To me, Divergence was a big part of that.

With this record, Nightwraith claw their way through eight tracks of radiant Gothenburg-inspired melodeath. While the band’s influences might seem obvious enough, there’s way more happening here than just your standard verse-chorus-verse song structures. Keyboards are generously and skillfully used throughout (the intro to “Whispers of Dragonflies” just sends me every time it comes up), and frontman/guitarist Ben Pitts boasts an impressive set of pipes with serious range. Still, Nightwraith aren’t afraid to sprinkle in psychedelic and acoustic grandeur wherever it fits, and the result is the sound of a band that’s taken a huge step forward with this album’s release.

https://nightwraith.bandcamp.com/album/divergence

 

17. Grin, Hush

There’s something unique about Grin’s sound. They manage to drag their knuckles across doom, sludge, and psychedelia without ever fully immersing themselves in any of them. And Hush is good enough to make me wonder where the hell this band’s been hiding.

Featuring a meaty 16 songs but a digestible 40-minute run time, Hush sounds like Helmet covering Green Druid while borrowing Sleep’s amp stack. These songs get right to the fucking point, ranging from the punchy and groovy (“Midnight Blue Sorrow,” “Talons,”) to the doomy and fuzz-blasted (“Calice,” “Portal”) with some unexplored waters in the middle somewhere. Hush whips by like the world’s fastest acid trip, and any good psychonaut is gonna want to buy this ticket and take the ride again.

https://grincult.bandcamp.com/album/hush

 

16. Dö, Unversum

At long last, we get the return of Finland’s interdimensional black acid trippers. This band’s last album, Astral Death Cult, earned my #1 spot in 2019 — and while Unversum doesn’t quite top it, it’s still one hell of a fun ride.

Much like Grin above, Dö have a thick, mallet-to-the-skull guitar tone that drives much of the trio’s music here. And if Astral Death Cult showed me anything, it’s that Dö know how to write some of the most infectious grooves you’ll ever hear. Songs like “Nuclear Emperor” are impossibly catchy; the booming guitars and vocalist J’andromeda team up to create this dimension’s nastiest goddamn sound imaginable. The wobbly, syrupy bass lead in “Sulfur Incense” is enough to make you realize you probably just took the brown acid, and “At the Melting Gaze of the Origin” might be when the blissful peak kicks in. Any bliss, though, is ephemeral, because “Ode to the Dark Matter” is a cosmos-altering kick to the cerebral cortex – which isn’t a bad way to describe this album as a whole.

https://doofficial666.bandcamp.com/album/unversum

 

15. Job for a Cowboy, Moon Healer

It might be that I’m slipping away into the throes of some form of psychosis, but did anyone remember Job for a Cowboy dropped this absolute monstrosity of an album this year after 10 years of silence?

Anyone?

No?

Okay. [editor’s note: Gonzo wrote this before we posted lists from some of our other writers :)]

Well, the short version of this review is Moon Healer fucking rips. It’s a multi-headed world destroyer that exceeds every expectation a reasonable fan could’ve had for it. I realized all of this roughly 34 seconds into leadoff ripper “Beyond the Chemical Doorway.”

The crisp, engulfing mix of this record shines beautifully from the start. Nick Schendzielos’s bass is a highlight, wrapping splendidly around Alan Glassman’s guitars while vocalist Jonny Davy “bleghs” and “oohs” his way through them with impunity. “Etched in Oblivion” pulls some insane time-change gymnastics before descending into absolute pandemonium, and the off-time riffage in “The Sun Gave Me Ashes So I Sought Out the Moon” is a perfect fusing of Meshuggah and Cynic. Make no mistake, Moon Healer is one of the best death metal comeback albums of the past decade.

https://jobforacowboy.bandcamp.com/album/moon-healer

 

14. Tzompantli, Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force

Of all the record titles I came across this year, none were more accurate than this one. With Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force, these California-based indigenous destroyers unleash songs that are so righteously heavy, they practically scream “KALI-MA” while ritualistically ripping your heart out of your chest.

The melding of traditional indigenous folk instruments with knuckle-dragging death metal throughout Force gives the record a really stark contrast of styles. Band mastermind Brian Ortiz has added extra weight to every riff until it becomes the most undeniably heavy version of itself. This is best exemplified in track 2, “Tlayohualli,” with its tsunami-like syncopation and Ortiz channeling Kirk Windstein. Force is the kind of record you could use as the soundtrack to actual war.

https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/beating-the-drums-of-ancestral-force

 

13. Ancient VVisdom, Master of the Stone

Let’s get right to it with this one: Leadoff track “Sold My Soul to Satan” is the kind of groove-laced stomp that you’ll struggle to get out of your head for days. It was surprising to hear at first, given this Austin outfit has typically been known as “heavy acoustic” – until now.

The unfettered fun of that track is followed by more of the same. “The Adversary” pays more homage to worshipping deities of a darker nature while channeling a sort of Ozzie meets Thin Lizzy vibe. When Ancient VVisdom tunes out the distortion and strips the sound to its bolts, the results are equally noteworthy: “World’s Demise” might be the best two-and-a-half-minute ditty about the end of the world that came out this year (if there’s a category for such things).

It’s been fun to see how this band has evolved with each passing album, and Master of the Stone is undoubtedly their finest hour so far.

 

12. Crypt Sermon, The Stygian Rose

Speaking of bands that hit their peak this year, Crypt Sermon returned with their second album after a five-year wait – and proved it was worth it.

These songs are meticulously crafted, powered by the off-the-charts talents of each member of the band. Brooks Wilson has one of the best sets of pipes in the biz these days, and The Stygian Rose is a triumphant testament to his range. Keyboards from multi-instrumentalist Tanner Anderson give the songs a universe of depth. “Down in the Hollow” is probably in my top five songs of the year, largely due to said depth it contains. And that slow groove at the end of it is doomy perfection.

With only three albums under their belts, these Philly doom-n-roll merchants have ascended to a higher plane. They take doom metal to places it hasn’t been before, and it’s this unexplored territory that takes The Stygian Rose into heavy royalty.

https://cryptsermon.bandcamp.com/album/the-stygian-rose

 

11. Slift, Ilion

I’m not sure what’s in the water in France these days, but if Slift is drinking it, I’ll have what they’re having.

Their frantic, expansive sound is an unpredictable ball of kinetic energy. Picture Elder jamming with Ecstatic Vision and you’ll have some sense of it. In the hands of a band without this level of songwriting chops, tracks like the eponymous leadoff and “The Words That Have Never Been Heard” would be a disjointed mess. But Slift have a way of untangling the chaos of their own doing, even when the song length exceeds the 12-minute mark. The pairing of the jam-band style bass and the frenetic drumming is absolute mastery, showing that the risks the band is willing to take always pay off – and then some. Even if your attention span doesn’t typically lend itself to albums this dense (8 tracks, 80 minutes) Ilion is one you should make an exception for.

https://slift.bandcamp.com/album/ilion

 

10. Bipolar Architecture, Metaphysicize

Post-metal continues to push its own boundaries, and this record is a mind-bending effort in that regard.

Sounding all at once like a smattering of black metal’s ferocity, post-metal’s heft, and post-rock’s dynamics, this follow-up to 2022’s promising Depressionland is as grandiose as it is fascinating. Bipolar Architecture can seamlessly shift from a moody interlude to a blast beat (see “Kaygi” to “Alienated”) and make the transition sound nothing short of effortless. Harsh, abrasive vocals haunt the atmospheric passages just as much as they power the all-guns-blazing salvos. Songwriting that goes this hard isn’t easy to pull off.

Sometimes I joke that bands like this can wade too far into “waiting-for-something-to-happen metal.” Metaphysicize knows exactly when to put its foot on the gas and when to ease up, and the result is a dynamically brilliant album that you should check out now if you missed it this year.

https://bipolararchitecture.bandcamp.com/album/metaphysicize

 

9. Cemetery Skyline, Nordic Gothic

God dammit, Sweden. And god dammit, Finland. This isn’t even fair at this point.

The fact that these musicians can be in so many bands with endless obligations and touring schedules – let alone actually writing the music – and manage to just casually sling out a debut album this good is just unfair to the rest of us. Not only is Nordic Gothic instantly memorable, catchy, and extremely well-composed throughout its 10 tracks, but it sounds completely different than anything else its members have ever released.

Mikael Stanne goes no-growl for the occasion, which suits the goth-metal sensibilities of the band. Markus Vanhala is up to his usual riff wizardry, and keys man Santeri Kallio (Amorphis) puts an indelible stamp on every single song. It might sound a little too lighthearted at times, and purists might deride this album for drifting too far into “radio rock,” but… fuck ‘em.

There aren’t many albums I had more fun listening to in 2024 than Nordic Gothic, and even if this project just ends up being a one-off, this music is too damn good to ignore.

https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/nordic-gothic-24-bit-hd-audio

 

8. Oranssi Pazuzu, Muuntautuja

Meanwhile, madness is brewing in darker corners of Finland.

This band’s nightmarish blend of black metal, industrial, and psychedelia has never sounded better than it does on Muuntautuja (translated to “Shapeshifter.”) In fact, I’d say this radioactive, smoldering beast of an album fuses black and industrial metal better than most others have ever aspired to. You can practically feel the tar dripping off tracks like “Bioalkemisti” and “Voitelu.” But what really elevates this record over Oranssi Pazuzu’s past efforts is how they expand their sound even further (if that was even possible). “Hautatuuli” even evokes a little bit of Nine Inch Nails. The songs are also slightly less indulgent than on past releases, with only one track flirting with the 10-minute mark (“Ikikaarme.”)

If you’ve loved anything in these mad Finns’ discography, you’re going to absolutely eat Muuntautuja up. And if you’ve been on the fence about them, this is where it’s time to tune in.

https://oranssipazuzu.bandcamp.com/album/muuntautuja

 

7. Sorcerer, Devotion

Hardcore is enjoying quite the resurgence lately. Maybe some of that has to do the meteoric rise of bands like Knocked Loose (which you could just as easily call “metalcore,” which is currently having one hell of an identity crisis), but I digress.

Parisian unit Sorcerer flew under the radar with Devotion this year, but truthfully, it’s a hardcore record that’s tougher than a frozen slab of concrete. This album has everything you could possibly want in a hardcore record – muscular barked vocals, galloping tempos, devastating breakdowns, and more. Each track seems to eclipse the previous one. There’s even a touch of uncharacteristic emotion on the post-metal dirge “A Kindness,“ and “Someone Else’s Skin” goes straight for the jugular with tremolo picking and one hell of a ripping chorus. Meanwhile, “The Eternal Grief” will get the kids doing windmills in its first minute, and by the time “Fortress” hits, any command of “LET’S OPEN UP THIS FUCKING PIT” won’t even be necessary.

https://sorcererhc.bandcamp.com/album/devotion

 

6. Amiensus, Reclamation Pt. I & II

Bands like Minnesota’s Amiensus are pushing the limits of prog metal and leaving a lot of their peers in the dust.

This double album – which was released in two separate parts this year – is a veritable treasure trove for lovers of prog and melodeath alike. There’s just so much to dig into here. It’s simultaneously brutal and beautiful, mixing layers of thoughtfully crafted prog atop layers of Gothenburg-inspired melodics. Both parts I and II have an equal amount of heaviness and range, with part I featuring a few more soaring leads than its follower (see the soaring lead in “Reverie” first and foremost.) Some of this reminds me of Amorphis at their best, while other moments capture vintage Borknagar. (And not just because vocalist Lars Nedland lends his talents to “The Distance” on part II.)

I found myself coming back to this masterful double album so many times this year and still heard something I didn’t notice on the previous spin. Just stellar work from an underrated American force in prog.

https://amiensus.bandcamp.com/album/reclamation-part-1

https://amiensus.bandcamp.com/album/reclamation-pt-ii

 

5. Alkymist, UnnDerr

This was an extremely late addition to this list, as I wrote about in my last monthly roundup. But even with the late notice, UnnDerr is too fucking great of a album to overlook.

Hell with it, here’s a pretty accurate summation of what I wrote last month about it:

There’s something so ardently addictive about UnnDerr. The mix is nearly perfect, with every instrument sounding just as rich and dense as it is menacingly heavy. The riffs are so crushingly heavy that you’ll need decompression stops between songs to avoid getting the bends. Vocalist Peter Bjørneg hooks you in immediately with his hellish bellowing in “The Scent.” Drummer Per Silkjaer pounds the holy hell out of the kit like he’s exorcising a particular stubborn demon. And the bass beefs up the band’s already monolithic sound with a distinct, reverberating richness.

Get ready to put a neck brace on before you hear these riffs. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

https://alkymist.bandcamp.com/album/unnderr

 

4. Gatecreeper, Dark Superstition

Bolt Thrower might be long gone, but for everything else, there’s Gatecreeper.

Few bands can hit the HM2 pedal to the metal like Gatecreeper can. With loads of neck-snapping riffs, Chase Mason’s visceral “OOH,” and zero filler throughout, this release might be the most cohesive and complete album yet from the Arizona death dealers. But for as much as the band obviously wears their influences on their sleeves, they’ve never come across as a clone or anything second-rate. Even without Superstition, their back catalog is nothing to sneeze at – but like all bands coming into their final form, Gatecreeper have truly found themselves. The album also branches out into slightly different territory for the band – songs like “The Black Curtain” rely more on melody than heaviness, and the results are just as punishing and catchy as anything else on the album.

https://gatecreeper.bandcamp.com/album/dark-superstition

 

3. Leprous, Melodies of Atonement

I’ve been a huge fan of this band since Bilateral and watching them evolve over the years has been one of the greatest joys music has brought me lately. With Melodies of Atonement, though, the Norwegian prog maestros have found another new high.

Through and through, this is probably Leprous’ strongest album since Coal. (Truthfully, it might even surpass that one – but oh, how I long for a latter-day equivalent to Contaminate Me.) For a while, my biggest complaint about some of their newer work was the drop-off in grit. Their lighter stuff still works, but I’ve always felt it sells their breathtaking talent a little short. They’ve brought it back with Atonement, as frontman Einar Solberg is back to the growls with killer cuts such as “Like a Sinking Ship.” On a live stage, Solberg is no longer the only guy on keys/samples, so it’s fair to wonder if the renewed focus on vocals had anything to do with this development. Regardless, the final product whips ass.

Other moments such as “Faceless” and “Atonement” are more familiar territory for the band, but more refined and fearlessly edgy. Leprous can make great music in almost any form, and Melodies of Atonement will appeal to anyone who feels the same way.

https://insideoutmusic.bandcamp.com/album/melodies-of-atonement

 

2. Chat Pile, Cool World

I had a feeling this would end up somewhere on my best-of list when it came out, but even I didn’t think it’d soar to #2.

A potent cocktail of noise rock, tongue-in-cheek nihilism, and bottom-heavy industrial sludge powers Cool World into the stratosphere of metal royalty this year. At times, this is like if KEN Mode and The Jesus Lizard formed a side project, and other times, it’s what you’d hear if Godflesh recorded an entire album on a ketamine bender. Opener “I Am Dog Now” bounces around like a drunk juggernaut. “Frownland” comes in with a verse/chorus/verse backbone that’s downright addicting. Vocalist Raygun Busch (lol) puts on a clinic in raw angst throughout, and by the time I got to “Funny Man,” it was all but etched in stone that Cool World would be rocketing up this list. Their unique formula here is going to win over a lot of new fans through the next few years.

https://chatpile.bandcamp.com/album/cool-world

 

1.  Blood Incantation, Absolute Elsewhere

The hype for this one was very real, which of course gave me pause at first. I enjoyed Hidden History of the Human Race when it came out a few years ago, but I wasn’t going apeshit about it like the rest of the metal world seemed to.

Fast forward to 2024. I am singing a very different tune about the incomprehensible level of brilliance in Absolute Elsewhere.

I know this is probably the “popular” pick for #1 of the year. That’s fine. But even if this album flew completely under the radar for whatever reason, it wouldn’t have changed my feelings about it in the slightest. Absolute Elsewhere is the kind of album that you remember where you were when you first heard it. It’s just so exhilarating, so original, and so goddamn immersive, it practically sets your sense ablaze. It’s got the density and ogre-stomping brutality of Morbid Angel with the proggy psychedelia of Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream (the latter of which had members contribute to this album themselves.)

The warped frenzy of “The Stargate” trifecta would make one of the most incredible EPs of all time, but the fact that there’s an entire second half that says “hold my scepter” puts this album over the top. The collective sum of this record all but demands you listen to it all the way through when you only had the simple, innocent intention of just listening to one song.

Whichever portal these Denverites emerged from, our world is a better place with them in it. Let’s hope they only return to their home dimension to write more music.

https://bloodincantation.bandcamp.com/album/absolute-elsewhere