the Top 10 Industrial Albums of 2024

In an Election yeat, nothing is a more fitting soundtrack to watching the world unravel into a dystopian nightmare than Industrial? You would think fans of the genre would be celebrating this but from what I have seen online they are crying under the covers like the rest of the sheeple. If you are someone who believes that leaning into the end should be celebrated since it is a natural destination in the cycle then you might appreciate the mood these albums created as much as I did.  After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2024. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Industrial albums of 2024.

10--Black Asteroid - "Infinite'

 This project's evolution makes sense as Bryan Black was a keyboard tech for Prince at Paisley Park Studios, which is a great place to learn your craft and network in the industry. He teams up with everyone from Ian Astbury to ACTRS on this album. It tends to lean in the direction of electronic rather than the stricter definition of industrial. . 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/gothtober-black-asteroid-infinite.html

9-Combichrist-"CMBCRST"

Andy is back for the project's 10th album. He has kept this industrial entity going for the past 21 years, so we know he at least has that experience under his belt. The best I have heard from these guys yet, thanks to he more focused and melodic nature of the songwriting this time around. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/combichrist-cmbcrst.html

8-Livernois -  ":ablation:"

There is a great deal to like when it comes to this project from New Orleans. It also raises the question of why more goth and industrial bands are not coming out of that city? They are very dark and gritty and do not give a fuck about the dance floor. If we think about some of the best industrial that came out of the 90s it also did not care about the dance floor. There is noise, and plenty of rough edges to the opening track that slithers through the gutters

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/livernois-ablation.html

7-Persher - "Sleep Well" 

This German duo is making electronic oddities with enough drive, to be considered industrial if we consider the more experimental bounds of the genre. A unique experience, that feels like  nothing I have heard before with distorted vocals over what sounds to be real drums playing again a barrage of synth farting in an angular groove that gathers forward momentum

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/persher-sleep-well.html

6-KMFDM -"LET GO" 

 KMFDM is doing it again. This treat for the freaks is less of a truth or dare, and more of a neon-dripping funk explosion that does coke in the same dirty bathrooms as My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. There is more guitar in "Push!" but it is executed less aggressively than what might be thought of as their classic sound. This gradual change over the past few albums has come to a more noticeable head here,

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/kmfdm-let-go.html

5-Bad Omens  -  "Concrete Jungle" 

Yeah this band seems ike they would just be Gen-z's take on Myspace metal, they have pretty decent taste in music when it comes to the artists they are pairing up on the collaborative album, as the guest list includes Poppy, HEALTH, Bob Vylan, and WARGASM. This album churns out some slappers by taking the nu-skool of industrial and applying it to what Bad Omens does.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/bad-omens-concrete-jungle-ost.html

 

4-Fange -"Perdition" 

This French band delivers the post-apocalyptic goods again. The overall sound they bring is an equal dose of industrial crunch given its sludged-out weight. The vocals are harder than what your average industrial band coughs up. It's pretty crushing

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/fange-perdition.html

 

3-Cyberaktif - "eNdgame" 

This industrial project features an all-star industrial lineup of cEvin Key, Bill Leeb, and Rhys Fulber. It sounds like what you would expect, a cross between Skinny Puppy and Frontline Assembly. They are song-focused rather than just throwing beats and sounds at you as the vocals have a purpose. Granted given the minds this music is coming from it could easily slip into the set of any "goth nite" DJ who is worth a shit.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/gothtober-cyberaktif-endgame.html

 

2-Louvado Abismo- "S/ T" 

This band from Portugal gets it They pack a punch rather than just being loud EDM. This album stomps with a dark aggression making it more sonically intense, The plead of the vocals feels real rather than someone trying to recreate what has already been done, but true to the legacy of the genre

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/louvado-abismo-st.html

 

1-Death Killer -"Total Destruction of the Entire Universe" 

Here is the kind of industrial album I was waiting for. It is both pissed and heavy as hell with a fair dose of chaos in its veins. There is a great balance of instrumentation and programming/ electronic elements. It is not industrial music to dance to it is industrial music that is going to kick your face. Not unlike Ministry's "Filth Pig" album in that regard though this is heavier. It blasts at you like a jackhammer, as it sonically fucks your brains out right from the first song

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/gothtober-death-killer.html