The Top 10 Extreme Metal Albums of 2024

Extreme metal encompasses many sub-genres, all of which shun mainstream aspirations with their commitment to intensity, but that is not to say that these albums are the heaviest ever, as all of the albums listed in our Top 10 Extreme Metal Albums of 2024 list are very song-oriented, some even have melody, perhaps this year even more so than the past. The bands here did not fit neatly into other genre lists, because they blended other harsh genres, such as black metal or hardcore into these warped versions of grindcore or screamo.  They are all very dark and lash out with their own forms of sonic fury, but they are the albums that proved best at it.  

After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of 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 Extreme Metal albums of 2024.

10-Beaten to Death - "Sunrise Over Rigor Mortis" 

 This band from Norway is not playing black metal. They are heavy but thanks to their feedback squealing vision of grind-core.  This album is a great deal of fun, and the production makes it less dense than what I normally want from the genre, but it's a fun album that takes more chances than not, and they all pay off, I look forward to hearing what they do with a bigger budget and taking the time to dial this in

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/beaten-to-death-sunrise-over-rigor.html

9-Sars- "Nothing Hurts Quite Like Life" 

Metal Core is one of the hottest bandwagons to jump on, these guys are one of the few legit metallic hard-core bands pumping out real shit that is not just over-produced nu-metal.  . A few bands have taken on the moniker of SARS, but this Finnish band might be the most deserving of it as their songs are both crushing and infectious. If you are looking for rabid old-school hardcore with a metal pulse pumping its veins, these guys have you covered.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/sars-nothings-hurts-quite-like-life.html

8-meth. - "SHAME" 

This band from Chicago taps into the same torment that bands like Portrayal of Guilt dig into. The riff is pounding with a sludge-like deliberation, while their singer screams with the unrelenting anguish of someone being disemboweled alive. With the chaos being invoked on this album, it feels like blackened sludgecore would be the best description if we needed to tie it down to a genre. When things speed up there is more of a power-violence feel to it. They do hit you with rapid-fire intense blast beats. It does not give your ears the same sonic lubrication that black metal does by creating a hypnotic buzz. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/black-metal-history-month-meth-shame.html

7-Infant Island-"Obsidian Wreath"

On this album the band roars into a more metallic vision of screamo, that is balanced with a post-rock atmosphere. "Fulfilled" finds things lashed out in a more chaotic frenzy with an almost power-violence-like abandon. This is on the more extreme end of screamo. It more than likely appeals less to fans on the emo side of that equation. It builds into the shimmer of wild screaming. I wonder if he is even trying to utter lyrics at this point. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/infant-island-obsidian-wreath.html

6-Yersin- the Scythe is Remorseless" 

Crust is one of my favorite forms of metallic punk, as it connects with a primal darkness.  The lyrics are delivered with an anguished yell that bares an honest anger. An atmosphere haunts the album giving it an even darker tone than expected. Sometimes they drop down into more of a death metal growl. Their sonic arsenal ranges from black metal blasting interjected as an accent to riffs that pound like a hard-core band, throwing many of the best genres at you in their sound. 

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/yersin-scythe-is-remorseless.html

 

5-Hell is Real-"Scared by the World" 

This album grew on me, as it's aggressive but still has an unexpected groove to its hard-core hammering. Though they are capable of taking your head off with their chug.  The higher-pitched black metal-like vocals are still articulated enough to make out Eric Blum's hateful message. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/hell-is-real-scared-of-world.html

4-Benighted- "Ekbom" 

 I liked the darker atmosphere haunting 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

3-Deadform - "Entrenched In Hell" 

This is the first full-length from this Oakland-based crust trio which features Dino Sommese from Dystopia on drums as well as sharing vocal duties with Brian Clouse from Stormcrow, who is also playing bass in this project. The furious sounds unleashed on this album highlight the things I love about the Crust genre. It's heavy, yet grooving in its pummeling. There is also a dark apocalyptic mood churning from the songs. The tones coming from their blown-out amps are burly enough to belong to a sludge band, but they are played with more of a punk attitude. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/deadform-entrenched-in-hell.html

2-Full of Hell-"Coagulated Bliss"

This album grew on me more than any other this year, partly due to catching these guys live where it all clicked. It's also a huge step of maturity in songwriting. From a production standpoint, it's more organic. They were not darker, but more punk than the sludge-tinged gnarliness that comprised their guitar tone on other albums. The guitarist claims that he learned how to serve the song during their sessions for the album with Nothing. Things here reflect that due to the fact it is angular and mathy, but not spastic. The vocals are more deliberate as well.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/full-of-hell-coagulated-bliss.html

1- Weston Super Maim- "See You Tomorrow Baby"

This band is out to crush you with their industrial-strength metal, possessed by chaotic outbursts of jarring mathematics like a grind-core version of Meshuggah. This album proves you can go to the extremes of heaviness while still having a huge sound. At times electronic sounds enter the fray. Impressive guitar work does not hinder the sheer weight this album hits you with while writing memorable songs. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/weston-super-maim-see-you-tomorrow-baby.html

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

Last year too many journalists tried to erroneously hail hot garbage as the best black metal album of the year,, forcing me to set straight, because such a claim is disrespectful to the genre, so I decided to uphold this mid-year tradition. Just sounding good from a production standpoint is not going to make the cur, since studio magic alone is not what black metal is about. Though I am not looking for something to sound like trash in the name of being cvlt either. I am also not paying homage to bands that are just press darlings for whatever social reason of the day might be. After all, Blackbraid continues to show what he got right about Native representation is being an alcoholic,. I want bands who are effective at creating darkness, so with that said here are the top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2024 ...so far.

10-Litosth-"Cesariana" 

This Black Metal project from Brazil is doing big things on its third album. They are not just hitting you with blast beats, but hitting you with a massive cinematic scope of sound, that is being used to write songs. It carries a similar orchestrated grandiosity as Dimmu Borgir. This might not be seen as cvlt enough for some, but fvck them as these songs go somewhere and have their own sense of identity.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/black-metal-history-month-litosth.html

9-Deadyellow- What Was Left of Them" 

This Philly-based black-gaze outfit seems to have taken notes from Deafheaven when it comes to which influences to sway their sound toward, to nest achieve the best sonic misery set to simmering glory while packing a punch. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/deadyellow-what-was-left-of-them.html

 

8-Compress - "The Final Level of Consciousness" 

This band is pretty impressive they come on strong feeling like "Show No Mercy " era Slayer, but ride a more atmospheric black metal throb. There is an eerie coldness, and while other sub-genres like crust and hardcore have an influence I feel like the darkness prevails making these guys more of a black metal band. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/compress-final-level-of-consciousness.html

7- Ihsahn- "s/t' 

The Emperor frontman returns for his 8th solo album, taking his black metal past and running it through a wild, wandering filter of progressive rock. This is not to say there is not black metal in and of itself.  There are symphonic elements but also hefty syncopated punches, as his knack of labyrinth arrangements continues to create winding passages that twist and turn in odd time signatures. He is not just hitting you with blast beats, and he still uses plenty of clean vocals to contrast his impressive snarl that has not lost any of its power. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/black-metal-history-month-ihsahn-st.html

6-Selbst-" Despondency Chord Progressions" 

This album also has an edge over the average black metal band, as the production is on point. It is almost mixed like a Deathspell Omega album. There is enough tangled chaos to sit back in the shadows of the reverb, but the bulk of the instrumentation is front and center so the sound is not obscured. Some great guitar playing is found amongst this album's tangled shadows. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/05/selbst-despondency-chord-progressions.html

 

5-Borknagar -"Fall" 

The 12th album from these Norse giants hath arrived and it is hard to not think of them as the ICS Vortex band, but Arcturus might fit that description better as other singers have claimed the mic. There is the kind of bombast coloring this album that has its roots steeped in their black metal history by leading off with screamed vocals and a super aggressive slice with razor-sharp riffing to balance out the band's more progressive side. The more operatic croon of Vortex's trademark soaring bellows is also present, to bring the majestic wonderment fans know they are capable of

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/black-metal-history-month-borknagar-fall.html

 

4-Dartkthrone - "It Beckons Us All" 

Thought of as one of the forefathers of second-wave black metal, it's been a minute since they conformed to any genre, and have been digging up the graves of 80s Celtic Frost for the past few albums which have done so with varying levels of nostalgia, Nordic atmosphere, and grimness. The first track makes it evident they have taken their time to dial these sounds in while still being true to who they are as a band. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/darkthrone-it-beckons-us-all.html

 

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3-Vemod -"the Deepening" 

This Norweigan band is not hung up on being trve Norweigan black metal. They blend more folky sounds into the ambiance of their atmospheric tension. There is a dynamic ebb and flow to their sound that allows for atmosphere in a manner that does not pigeonhole them into being just Atmospheric black metal. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/black-metal-history-month-vemod.html

2-Infant Island- "Obsidian Wreath" 

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There is more to this album than writing it off as black-gaze. It also falls on the most extreme end of screamo. Though will more than likely most appeal to fans of black metal and power violence. it builds off the shimmer of wild screaming. I wonder if he is even trying to utter lyrics at this point. Chaotic and still at times deliberate with the kind of dynamic shifts that can make something this unsettled have melodic value, which they manage to do. Even hardcore gang vocals chime in at times. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/infant-island-obsidian-wreath.html

1-meth- "Shame"

This band from Chicago taps into the same torment that bands like Portrayal of Guilt dig into. The riffs pound with a sludge-like deliberation, while their singer screams with the unrelenting anguish of someone being disemboweled alive. It is very dark, so much so that it becomes black metal. The chaos being invoked on this album, it feels like blackened sludgecore would be the best description if we needed to tie it down to a genre.

 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/black-metal-history-month-meth-shame.html

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January's Top 10 Albums

Here is something I decided to do this year. Granted we do not know if we are going to make it to the end of the year, and 2025 will surely be our last, but 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. I think it 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 June, 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 indie pop to punk to black metal, so perhaps you will find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums for January of 2024.

10-Slower- "s/t" 

Doom

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/slower-st.html

9-Inquisition- " Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence"

Black Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/inquisition-veneration-of-medieval.html

8-New Model Army - "Unbroken" 

 Rock/ Post-punk

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/new-model-army-unbroken.html

7-KMFDM- "Let Go" 

Electronic 

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

6-Rejoice-"All of Heaven's Luck" 

 Hard Core

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/rejoice-all-of-heavens-luck.html

5-Modern Life is War -"Tribulation Worksongs"

Punk

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/modern-life-is-war-tribulation-worksongs.html

4-Alkaline Trio-"Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs" 

Pop Punk 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/alkaline-trio-blood-hair-and-eyeballs.html

3-Infant Island -"Obsidian Wreath"

 Screamo / Black Metal

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/infant-island-obsidian-wreath.html

2-Middle Kids -"Faith Crisis" 

Indie Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/middle-kids-faith-crisis.html

1-Cold in Berlin -"the Body is the Wound" 

Doom /Post Punk

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/01/cold-in-berlin-body-is-wound.html

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Infant Island : "Obsidian Wreath"

Infant Island roars into a more metallic vision of screamo with the opening track that is also balanced with a post-rock atmosphere. "Fulfilled" finds things lashed out in a more chaotic frenzy with an almost power-violence-like abandon. "Found Hand' is an ambient interlude that leads into the crazed assault that is "Clawing Still". This is on the more extreme end of screamo. It more than likely appeals less to fans on the emo side of that equation. It builds into the shimmer of wild screaming. I wonder if he is even trying to utter lyrics at this point. "Veil" is more deliberate. This provides the kind of dynamic shift we need to make something this unsettled to have melodic value, which they manage to do. Even hardcore gang vocals chime in on the song. 

"Amaranthine" starts off with a delicate beauty. Then it erupts in the explosion of screaming that you might expect to come. They control this with a more focused metal attack. "With Shadow" offers the kind of dynamic twist I enjoy where there are screamed vocals over really pretty music. "Unrelenting" lives up to its title. This however beats your ear drums rather than evolving into a compelling song. The breathing room this song does give you is sparse. "Kindling" finds the melody returning with faintly sung vocals starting things off.  Their mastery of the quiet before the storm is very effective. They linger there for the right amount of time to create a false sense of security to jerk you back in for another soaring propulsion of tangible emotion. It reminds me a little of some of the more bleeding-heart depressive black metal bands in how the tortured pleas call out over the guitar. 

The perfect balance of brutality against the more soul-baring glimpses at the complex splattering of abstract emotions invoked here is what makes the guitars flagellating your ear drums worthwhile. There is not a twist to the ending of this album, as it follows the course they have already laid before. It sums up what they are about in 2024. It is cohesive with who they have been as a band up to this point in their careers, and fans of the previous work will find this takes what they do and places it on a darker canvas with sharper colors. I will give this album a 9.5, it is heavy music that is lavish yet real, some may see this as the band's "Sunbather", but is an artistic swathe of contradictions that falls into place just as the band intended. There is grace in the bloody mess made here. 

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the Top 10 Punk / Hard-core Albums of 2020

Given the state of 2020 it might be surprising that punk was more atmospheric than angry this year. Not that I am into political punk. Those albums I gave up on after two songs.  These albums have more passion to them.  Ok now that that is out of the way , much like in years past sort through the genre lists before making the overall top ten of the year list. I know many of you are ready for 2020 to be over with. Hate to break it to you but nothing is getting better next year. As far as 2020 goes there is only a couple new bands on this list.

The fact these artists 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. Sure you can bitch and complain about your favorite band not being on the list. However I listen to five new albums a day so yes I heard your favorite album and was not impressed. No I do not care what you think about it .I do hope you can find your next favorite on this list and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out audio on these guys. Anyways here are the top punk / hard core albums of 2020

10-Eyes- " Underperformer" -

Danish hard core with a metal sneer to the beating they throw at your ears. Riff wise they have more in common with Converge than not. I can live with metal core if this is what it really is and not some type of  Suicide Silence bullshit. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/09/eyes-underperformer.html

 

9-Coma Regalia - "Marked" 

This band from Indiana is more screamo than Eyes . That is not to say they do not have their fair share of hard core to them as they do. They offer more mood and melody than Eyes , which is why they are number 9.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/09/coma-regalia-marked.html

 

8 Svalbard - "When I Die , Will I get Better?"

The dark hard core out fit from Bristol still has plenty of shoe gaze to cushion the break neck speed of their sonic thrashing. Coma Regalia is pretty melodic this guys take both ends of the spectrum and make them more dynamic. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/09/svalbard-when-i-die-will-i-get-better.html 

 

7- Infantisland - "Beneath" 

One thing I have noticed so far in this year's top 10 is atmosphere is a bigger factor from hard core. These guys have it , but they are also more chaotic than Svalbard. Sure screamo factors into what these guys do as well but they have their own twisted spin. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/08/infant-island-beneath.html

6- Spice- "s/t:

 A side project of the members of Ceremony that heavily embraces the indie rock / post hard core sound of the 90s. The singer of Ceremony lends his voice and does some of the best singing  of his career. to this and his singing is much better than it was on the last Ceremony album. It is more emotive. He comes much closer to singing. When it comes to the sound , they nailed it , but also care about the songs.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/07/spice-st.html

 

5- Pigs x7 -" Viscerals"

This band is influenced by sludgey metal , but at the end of the there is more Black Flag than Sabbath in their veins , if it confuses you then you just need to do more drugs. Because these guys are clearly high as hell. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/04/pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs-pigs.html

4-Cro-Mags -" In the Beginning" 

Harley is helming this incarnation. He picks up where they left off with "Best Wishes". Even with their shit show drama , the Cro-mags will always be my favorite 80s hard core band. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/06/cro-mags-in-beginning.html

 

3- Higher Power - "27 Miles Underwater"

Ok so this album might not be for the zine reading punks with Integrity tattoos. This British band is like the love child of Snapcase and Sunny Day Realestate. It goes places that your normal hard core albums won't. That is because most of your normal hard core albums are boring . These guys bring new life into familiar old sounds.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/11/higher-power-27-miles-underwater.html

  2- Metz- " Atlas Vending" 

There is Am Rep quality of the 90s set against a more Stooges like swagger. Lots of attitude and angst but they still really care about the songs. I never really paid a great deal of attention to these guys before , but they have my attention now as this album really grew on me .

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/11/metz-atlas-vending.html

1- Coriky-"s/t" 

Not the fastest punk album of the year. The anger is filtered through the wisdom of age. Some might cry out wait this is not punk and to them I would say... shut the fuck up this is Ian Fucking Mckaye...he eternally punk. This album is almost the second coming of Fugazi.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/07/coriky-st.html

Infant Island : " Beneath"

 The first song is a droning ditty where the screamed vocals do not come into until the last minute of the song making it amost just feel like an intro rather than a song. The sounds are pleasing , but this is the last time they are going to get away with sounds instead of writing a song. That may or may not be a challenge as these guys are a blend of black meta and screamo. The urge to bast and just scream will be strong. They are aso prone to noisy bouts of ambiance as felt in "Content", but the over all mood of the song which would fall under post black metal works for me. "The Garden" does something I like with moody music that has screaming over it to contrast it . The defy most conventions on this song. It is chaotic but in the best way. Very nightmarish.


"One Eyed" gets lost in the feral explosion. They have already shown me they can rein this in and do something special so this is less than impressive. The more melodic guitar going into "Death Portrait" renews my hope. The screaming is more overpowering in the mix. Not as good as 'the Garden" but it works for what they do. I am not sure I think what they do well 90 pecent of the time at this point. The have sense of dynamics and are sonicaly heavy two things that work in their favor. This gy does havea convincing way of torturing his throat. I think if they gave us more of what they are doing on "Stare Spells" this album would be great. I am not saying make everything sound like this , but use the elements that work best with the musical colors at their disposable. That is what that song does.

The album ends with something, that is really just an ambient outro. This album has several of such pieces that I did not feel like bringing up as when it comes to songs are not something I am just going to listen to on my iPod. Maybe if I still did drugs I might appreciate more.  I think overal these guys are onto something, the screamo wins out over the black metal giving it a more punkish feel. I like the bulk of what they do after it sinks in so I will give this album a 9 as they are dark and experimental without trying to sound like anyone.