Top 10 Sludge Albums of 2024

Let's face it this might be the last top ten list for this genre I get to make as the world could end at any moment these days. These are the bands that best celebrated the coming apocalypse as Sludge should. 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 Sludge albums of 2024

10-Ufomammut- " Hidden" 

 Italian psych-progsters are back with a renewed thunder. This is their tenth album so they know what they are doing. It moves in a manner that is not the doom they self-identify as until it does slow into a more sludged-out trudge. The commanding vocals are more sung than howled, though often splitting the difference between the two. The band continues to excel. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/ufomammut-hidden.html

9-Swamp Coffin -"Drowning Glory" 

This band from England approaches sludge with almost hard-core-like aggression as they stomp into the riffs, which is a great deal different from how the Southern-fired sludge of America, takes a more bong-broiled attitude towards it. Sludge is really what happens when punks try to play Doom. This theory is further nuanced when considering the differences between when it's tackled by crust punks vs hard-core kids who grew out of the scene. The hard-core leanings are more noticed when the pace picks up and it becomes sludge in guitar tone only. Even then there are a few riffs with more of a lumbering groove. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/swamp-coffin-drowning-glory.html

8-Autolith - "Artificial  Heaven" 

This Memphis-based band excels at creating a deliberate atmosphere they trudge with authority. Their strength as a band is the ability to recognize they can only effectively crush you by giving you the chance to catch your breath, rather than just a single-minded assault on your ear drums. The album washes you in their beautiful darkness. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/november-is-doom-autolith-artificial.html

7-Canopy - "Empty Light' 

 One of Atlanta's best-kept secrets has just unleashed a new EP that will elevate its status in the metal community. These guys are going above and beyond, as what kept me listening was not the screamed vocals or punchy sludge accents, but the way the chords rang out to create a sense of melancholy. Just being heavy for the sake of being heavy is an easy task, but pouring your pain and depression. These guys are solidly on the side of sludge, there is a penchant for post-rock guitar wandering to balance out their monolithic crunch with the breathing room needed to create a dynamic juxtaposition 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/canopy-empty-light.html

6-Oldspeak- "s/t" 

Sludge fans should find themselves pretty content when this album roars to life. It takes you back to the early 2000s when bands like Isis were the newest most exciting force in metal. The hype around sludge has ebbed to the point bands are not self-identifying as that much these days. No matter what this band from Ohio tells you, they are not post-doom or doom gaze they are sludge. They should be proud as they are doing a fine job of it and bring a convincing level of atmosphere to these songs, that keeps them from sounding like the raw pound of cavemen. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/oldspeak-st.html

5-Couch Slut -"You Can Do It Tonight" 

This New York band plays a beautifully depraved sludged-out style of noise rock, that is dark and burly. The darkness comes from the honest lyrics that provide a commentary on human filth in the big city. The sonic equivalent to drinking booze out of an ashtray.  "Goo " era  Sonic Youth influences clash against a more metallic tendency. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/couch-slut-you-could-do-it-tonight.html

              

4-Inerth -"Hybris" 

Meeting somewhere in the bleak wasted land where sludge intersects with death metal, this band from Spain pulls from a wider range of influences including post-punk and crust. There is a very natural feel to the production of this album that captures the sonic nature of what they do organically. More commanding in the overt sense than what Neurosis did they owe a little more to Sepultura. Though their songs are painted with a dystopian darkness rather than blood-red aggression.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/death-is-june-inerth-hybris.html

3-Sect-"Plagues Upon Plagues" 

 This band is comprised of who's who of post-millennial  Hard-core. At the mic former Cursed vocalist Chris Colohan, who is giving an impassioned performance, with a husky croon that winks in the direction of Neurosis. His approach gives the dark tension of the music, more depth and makes more of an impact when it does get time to scream and kick the riffs driven by former Earth Crisis guitarist Scott Crouse. Darker and denser than the bounds metallic hard-core if what finds them lumped in here.

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/sect-plagues-upon-plagues.html

2-Chat Pile - "Cool World"

Expectations are high for this one as 2022's "God's Country" made it to number six on the Top 10 Punk Albums of the Year list. This album feels a great deal angrier. Where every band always says this will be a heavier album than our last, these guys just delivered. They still care about songwriting, perhaps even more so, as the almost industrial sludge beatings give way to nuance. They fell short of bringing the kind of sonic darkness as the band who took the top spot this year, but should still be celebrated for the great album they delivered. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/chat-pile-cool-world.html

 

1-Glassing -"From the Other Side of the Mirror"

In 2021, this band earned the 7th spot on the overall metal top 10 for the year. They have a history of ruling, and it's not stopping. This album was darker and more melodic, giving me more of what I wanted from them. At times, the screamed vocals offset what might otherwise be creepy bass-driven shoegaze. They get feral and deface your eardrums with their tangible sense of anguish. Though none of this is contrived or thought out from a marketing perspective by a record label this is just where they are, perhaps even angrier than the previous album though there is a wide range of emotional colors being used here making them the best sludge album of the year with the inner apocalypse they project outwardly. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/glassing-from-other-side-of-mirror.html

pst582

The Top 10 Metal Albums of 2024...so far

As the Doomsday Clock races, time speeds up, as 2024 is at its midpoint. These lists serve as a decent snapshot of where the year is heading in terms of music. I have already received promos for albums dropping as far out as August in my inbox, so they are really going to need to bring it to compete with the top five albums on this list. There are varied shades of metal represented. Perhaps death metal is leading the charge, but there is also doom and deathcore in the mix.   For my ears darkness trumps speed when it comes to heavy, so these bands reflect that sentiment. Death metal just seems to be bringing it harder than other genres so far. Given the impending wars that lurk at every corner of the globe, this is a fitting soundtrack to the demise of the US.  I have included links to full reviews if you want to check these out and with all that said here are the top 10 Metal albums of 2024 so far. 

10- Gatecreeper- 'Dark Superstition" 

 Right out the gate, they are creeping with harder-hitting riffs, that carry a more hardcore influence punch to them. This is the band's third album and it sounds like not only are they coming into their own, but stepping into the spotlight to earn a larger metal audience. There is more of an Entombed grit to this album, but with it also comes more of a "Wolverine Blues" groove. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/gatecreeper-dark-superstition.html

9-Knocked Loose- "You Won't Go Before You Are Supposed" 

"Suffocate"  was enough to make me look forward to checking this album out. This album is heavier than expected. They are hard-hitting without falling into too many of the metal tropes. This is the album, that is poised to break these guys big. They have established what they are doing here and now need to expand upon that concept, and are willing to indulge their more power- violence-leaning influences. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/knocked-loose-you-wont-go-before-youre.html

 

8-Sect -"Plagues Upon Plagues" 

This band is comprised of who's who of post-millennial  Hard-core. At the mic former Cursed vocalist Chris Colohan, who is giving an impassioned performance, with a husky croon that winks in the direction of Neurosis. His approach gives the dark tension of the music, more depth and makes more of an impact when it does get time to scream and kick the riffs in.  Those riffs are driven by former Earth Crisis guitarist Scott Crouse. Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy / Racetraitor beating the drums. Hurley shows restraint and keeps things at a more sludged-out pace rather than pouring on the punk mania.  The heft of the guitars is bolstered by Jimmy Change from Undying and bassist Steve Hart. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/sect-plagues-upon-plagues.html

7-My Dying Bride  - "A Mortal Binding" 

The band's 14th full length, stays true to who they are, without being predictable. You never know what side of these guys you are going to get, anything from morose doom to the dark vein of death metal they helped create to melodic goth rock with major depression. The wailing tones of the violin weeps over the low-end crunch. Guitar solos are well paced and deliberate with every not counting to draw out the melodies. While Aarons's growl on the first song is not as guttural, his sung vocals are more refined. In both cases, the vocals are really well produced and mixed. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/03/my-dying-bride-mortal-binding.html

6-Benighted - 'EKBOM" 

 I like the darker atmosphere that haunts this French band's brand of grindcore. By grind-core, there is a surprising blend of technical death metal in their songwriting DNA. This keeps things spastic and unpredictable.They can make you bob your head to their blend of madness. Some songs were just pure death metal with the grindcore taking a back seat in the meat wagon for the roaring vocals and double bass to be more dominant with a more Morbid Angel-like intention to the beating they are dishing out. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/benighted-ekbom.html

5-Terminal Nation- "Echoes of the Devil's Den" 

This dark hard-core band opens up their new album with a bleak doomy sound of dystopia burning. The vocals snarl and bark with animalistic anger. When they gain momentum it's difficult to hear where the metal ends and the hard-core begins. The chug driving this album is powerful. This is a dark and gritty take on metallic hard-core that crosses it with death metal in a manner that is more deserving of being called metal core or deathcore than the kids who have taken on those labels. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/terminal-nation-echoes-of-devils-den.html

 

4-Chapel of Disease -"Echoes of Light" 

After hearing a ton of interesting things about this album I finally remembered to hunt it down and give it a listen.  The German band is a fairly interesting progressive death metal band, that wacky time changes aside and a penchant for rock n roll riffs are not too far out in left field. They are at times like a less gothy Tribulation. The guitarists are calling the shots here 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/03/chapel-of-disease-echoes-of-light.html

 

3-Candy- "It's Inside You" 

Their 2022 album "Heaven is Here"  took the number two spot on our Top 10 Extreme Metal Albums list of the year, and tenth on the best overall Metal list of the year. With guests like  Aaron Melnick of Integrity lending guitar solos to a song, team-ups like this only make sense here as their hard-core grind carries the same raw sludge-like tone Integrity uses, making their influence on this band more apparent. That is not to say this is almost trying to capture the hardcore sounds of the 90s, the band continues to be very forward-thinking, but those influences abound from different angles.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/candy-its-inside-you.html

2-Glassing - "From the other side of the Mirror" 

Their last album "Twin Dream" made it known that these guys are one of the best heavy bands going. There is more darkness and melody in the opening track than most bands have in their entire albums. Though none of this is contrived or thought out from a marketing perspective by a record label this is just where they are, perhaps even angrier than the previous album though there is a wide range of emotional colors being used here.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/glassing-from-other-side-of-mirror.html

1-200 Stab Wounds - " "Manual Manic Procedures" 

I liked this band's debut "Slave to the Scalpel" It even made the number 9 slot on last year's Top 10 Death Metal Albums. Less than a year later these guys have worked hard to perfect their craft, as this is more nuanced and dynamic songwriting. The lyrics have more depth this time around rather than just horror tropes. Might turn out to be the death metal album of the year right now it is certainly the album to beat. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/death-is-june-200-stab-wounds-manual.html

\ pst313

May's Top 10 Albums

Now at the midway point of the year, it's time for May's top 10 albums. Staying abreast on the month's highlights might help casual readers see what they missed, and give this the option to check these artists out. I am not doing little blurbs on them, just linking the reviews. This will help me organize my lists for the end of the year, by listing the genre of music the album falls under. This does not mean that these albums have been released this month, but it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed the most, I have albums in my in-box that are not coming out til August, so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of what I have listened to the most. This month there is a wide variety from goth to pop to hard-core, so you may find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums for May 2024.

10 Omsorg- "Echoes" 

Hard-core 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/omsorg-echoes.html

9-Gatecreeper - "The Dark Superstition" 

Death Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/gatecreeper-dark-superstition.html

8-Knocked Loose  -   "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" 

Metal-core

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/knocked-loose-you-wont-go-before-youre.html

  

7- St Vincent - "All Born Screaming" 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/st-vincent-all-born-screaming.html

6-Sect- "Plagues Upon Plagues" 

Sludge

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/sect-plagues-upon-plagues.html

5- Take Offense- "T.O. tality" 

Hard - Core

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/take-offense-totality.html

4-DEHD - "Poetry" 

Indie-rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/dehd-poetry.html

3-Astari Nite -"Resolution of Happiness' 

Goth rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/astari-nite-resolution-of-happiness.html

2-REZN -"Burden" 

Psychedelic Rock 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/rezn-burden.html

1-Candy- "It's Inside You" 

hard-core 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/candy-its-inside-you.html

pst253

Sect : "Plagues Upon Plagues"

 This band is comprised of who's who of post-millennial  Hard-core. At the mic former Cursed vocalist Chris Colohan, who is giving an impassioned performance, with a husky croon that winks in the direction of Neurosis. His approach gives the dark tension of the music, more depth and makes more of an impact when it does get time to scream and kick the riffs in.  Those riffs are driven by former Earth Crisis guitarist Scott Crouse. Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy / Racetraitor beating the drums. Hurley shows restraint and keeps things at a more sludged-out pace rather than pouring on the punk mania.  The heft of the guitars is bolstered by Jimmy Change from Undying and bassist Steve Hart. The first song that finds things aggressively accelerated is 'Drowning in Sorrows" which is three songs into things. 

Their chemistry as a unit grants them the ability to shift from heavy grooves to more patrol rock wanderings with some great interplay of guitars along the way. "#foreverhome" is a scathing commentary on today's society, and I am surprised more bands are not fed up with the world around them like these guys are. While their press release seems to angle them in a more left-leaning direction, which is not surprising for punk rock, when you give the songs an actual listen things are not that black and white, as the bleak nature of things touching all in the western world seems to be what they are raging against here. As someone who is "apolitical", I can appreciate this as it never seems I am being preached the gospel of either side. 

"The Lovers of Life" works off the same stormy tension that has been driving this album. "Inventory" goes straight for the throat. They rein the song in to give the mood room to breathe. The last song is a more sludge-influenced take on a hard-core dirge. I like that it is as sonically heavy as it is metal-heavy. You can call this a metallic hardcore album if that definition includes something as dark and dense as this album. I will give this album a 9.5, as it's the kind of brooding shadowy hardcore I prefer. This comes out June 7th on Southern Lord, which makes sense for both the band and the label that they should be paired. 

pst238

Vile Creature : "Cast of Static and Smoke"

This album is supposed to be a dystopian sci-fi story. The spoken word section that opens the first song pushes this point. It descends into fuzzed out sludge from there. With venomous screamed female growls following the crash of distortion. Midway into this song that lock into a powerfully crusty chug. The vocals double up to create a strong accent. We get both male and female voices calling out from this duo that is creating a hug sound for just two people. Though throughout the album they are joined by a few guests. Chris Colohan of Cursed / Burning Love who lends his voice to the outcry. I like the darker place this song eventually winds around to. At ten minutes the sprawl of the songs makes sense here and is engaging rather than droning.

There is a more lingering build to the brooding beginnings of "Circuits , Bending and Breaking". The anguished screams of KW's vocals lay over the simmering rise of the chord progression. It doesn't lock in as heavily as the first song and lets the atmosphere drone a little more. Rather than lock into one another they hover around each other. James Claypool the guitarist for False/ Deathwish joins in on guitar. While it has a dense pulse the song is not as dynamic as the album's previous offering and hits you as one dense frequency. There are a few chugged accents that break this pulse up. By the end of the song they do lock into more of a riffy groove.

Things slow down for the last song. To the point that the first three minutes drag and drone. I don't think this plays to their strengths. It builds in intensity while staying at the same tempo. it becomes rather plodding even with the spoken interlude. Overall despite the lackluster closing song, the bulk of this album is solid. I'll give it a 7.5. If you want some apocalyptic emotive sludge here is one to check out.