The Top 10 Black Metal Albums of 2024

It is not surprising that Black Metal's popularity has waned in the hipster metal scene. It's now called problematic by poseurs who were only into it for superficial reasons in the first place, as the genre has always represented misanthropic hate and nihilistic disdain for the world. These albums captured what black metal should be with very little compromise. Black metal is a sub-genre of metal that is for the true outsiders. Here are the bands captured that best. 

 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 that 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 I 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 Black Metal albums of 2024

10-Inquisition: " Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence"

The notorious Colombian black metal duo is back to bring the darkness in a manner more in line with their 2010 album "Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm".  Many of the songs are possessed by an eerie throb while Dagon gives his best croak. It sits more forward in the mix on this album and has a drier sound to it. At times a few phrases were declared in a more spoken tone. The guitars are placed oddly in the mix, single not leads mixed to the front while the main riffs churn behind the crash of the drums. It is one of those odd mixes that creates an interesting effect that gives the overall sound of the album a unique charm. 

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

 

9-Darkthrone - "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. It takes what they have been going for on the past few albums and executes it in the most focused form yet. 

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

-

8-Svoid- "Neptunian" 

The Hungarian back metal band pounds their sound into a dark manner respecting their signature mood. that respects the mood they are known to create. I do not remember the vocals having this much of a snarl, but here we are. They dialed in the guitar tones in a  more of a post-punk, manner, but lurch into the songs with brooding aggression that helps the focus stay firmly planted on songwriting rather than letting the momentum carry them away. This makes them a more original black metal band as they are working these elements in and doing their own thing.  There is a great deal of punk in their attack, even in the scowl of the vocals that are sometimes sung.  

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/svoid-neptunian.html

7-Silhouette -"Les Dires de l 'Ame" 

This French band is back with their brand of haunting darkness. The languid wail of the female vocals haunts the gray haze of the ghostly guitar. Black metal elements crash in with female vocals serving as a counterpoint. Their take on black metal does not try to numb you out with a bunch of blast beats. Instead, they work with the mood. The drummer is very solid when it comes to setting the stage for this. When they slow down and let the chords ring out with a creepy throb it's even more effective and gives the female vocals room to slither in.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/silhouette-les-dires-de-l-ame.html

6-1349 - "The Wolf and the King"  

Back to hammer your ears as the defenders of what true Norweigan Black Metal should be. This lineup has been intact since  2001, so they've had nothing but time to perfect their purist definition of black metal that benefits from hooky songwriting without compromising the grimness. There are more deliberate moments on this album that succeed in being aggressive and dark without hitting you with a wall of blast beats.'

        

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/1349-wolf-and-king.html

5-Panzerfaust-'" Suns of Perdition IV :  To Shadow Zion" 

This Canadian band brings the darkness again, ranging from a more sludge-like below to a traditional black metal rasp. The songs carry more of a throb, than the blast-beaten sound that typifies the genre. They hit you with a storm cloud of sound, and live up to the hype. If you want black metal that hits you with a tempest of apocalyptic darkness this album is for you. Out on Eisenwald. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/panzerfaust-suns-of-perdition-iv-to.html

      -

4-Curse Upon a Prayer - "The Worship: Orthoprax Satanism" 

The angriest band on this year's list. This band from Finland has enough balls to refrain from attacking the low-hanging fruit, Christianity, instead, they nut up and attack Islam, whose followers are fanatical enough to come after you for being critical, just ask Salaman Rushdie, who is still in hiding. Rather than just relying on this as a gimmick these guys are legit and bring black metal better than most. Their sound carries all the venom they need to spew to convince black metal fans they are not going for a wider audience here,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/curse-upon-prayer-worship-orthoprax.html

 

3-Vemod -"The Deepening" 

If you get stoned to a black metal album this is the one to do it to. They create an atmosphere that is very organic, jamming the songs out lush layers of hypnotic instrumentation. Not worried about being the trvest black metal band in Norway, played to their strengths as songwriters, and thus a stunning collection of songs was born. 

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

 

2- Nachtmystium - "Blight Privilege" 

One of my favorite black metal projects is back. Blake Judd personifies inner darkness, which can create our darkness, legitimizing his work's melancholy. This new album picks up where they left off. The scathing rasp of his vocals sits back in the mix. The synths play a larger role in the overall sound which is carried by a great deal of drive, thanks to drummer Francesco Miato.  It's fine to welcome back to a band that is badly needed as the world becomes more miserable. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/nachtmystium-blight-privilege.html

1-Ellende -  "Todbringerin" 

 This explains the growth in the more melodic direction of their sound, and the pristine nature of the production that is organic enough to capture the spirit of the genre without being so polished they lose the black metal feel like say Behemoth. These Austrians are doing their own thing in the best way possible without turning off fans of the genre, as the scope of sound has changed but even with the jazzy guitar interludes nobody is going to doubt these guys are a black metal band even when they skimp on the blast beats. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/ellende-todbringerin.html

pst619

Silhouette : "Les Dires de l 'Ame"

 

This French band is back with their haunting darkness. The first song finds the languid wail of the female vocals yearning from the gray haze of ghostly guitar. The second song finds the black metal elements crashing in with female vocals serving as a counterpoint. When it comes to black metal they are not trying to numb you out with a bunch of blast beats, but work with the mood. The drummer is very solid when it comes to setting the stage for this. When they slow down and let the chords ring out with a creepy throb it's even more effective and gives the female vocals room to slither in. The guitars chug and churn under the melodic atmosphere in a manner that allows them to carve out their own unique niche in the genre. Which for black metal is impressive and much needed to keep the genre alive. 

The eponymous track reaches a middle ground between the melodic hypnosis and the anguish of the male vocals that keep their pained howling going into the night. They incorporate some of the more typical black metal sounds into the sonic melancholy that feels like an expression of depression turned inward. The cool thing is it's atmospheric black metal that has no aspirations to follow Deafheaven or try to be Summoning. Yeah, being from France you might expect Alest influence, but no elves are dancing around either. They effortlessly weave melodies around the swirl of shadows. The minor jey sung vocal lines add a brighter shade of gray but offer only more hopelessness. The guitar keeps tremolo-picked tension, without reverting to the typical buzz. 

The title track storms into more of a conventional black metal if the bar for what conventional black metal is hovers around Emperor. It's not just a blast fest; the sung vocals color the background. There is a more rapid-fire double bass to create an almost beat-beat feeling. The album is not devoid of last beats nor need to be, they are just not overly relied upon. "Litnae contre la Peur" is more deliberate in its pulse with the scowling male vocals dominant. "Dysthymie" works off female vocals with a different beauty and the beast dynamics building into the more bestial ones. The album ends with a softer female-sung outro piece. I will give this a 9,5, as once again they have excelled at doing their own thing while still being true to black metal yet not confined by it.

pst435

Black Metal History Month - Silhouette : "Les Retranchement"

 

Black metal is a careful balance. Perhaps even more so if you are trying to win over my fickle ears. You cannot just sell me on relentless blast beats with not other dynamics as it becomes noise. At the same time if you linger on melody and atmosphere to much then you are not convincing me you are evil enough. For the purpose of this review the first track which is basically an intro that is just Nightwish like singing. The metal elements are not introduced until the 2nd track which is the first song, and we are going to refer to it as the first song from here on out.  It reminds me of Mykur's first album. The second song gets better as darkness is the most important quality of black metal and it gets darker. In some way being French allows me to cut them a little slack as Alcest also has to warm up into things and find a balance. 

In some ways this album is actually more of an ep than a full-length album as there is an interlude after the second song breaking the two halves of the album up along with an outro, that I will skip altogether. The interlude has some cool music to it, and I think it should have been worked into one of the actual songs. The female vocals also sound more like the Gathering here which I am a fan of. At almost two and half minutes the dreaminess summoned here is more like song So I will count it for the purpose of this review, though if you are not a fan of atmospheric music like the Cocteau Twins and came here just for black metal you might want to skip it. When they back in with the title track the male vocals are sun not screamed at first. The clang of the guitar is still dissonant enough to work as black metal. It all begins to click into place for me by this point. 

The last full-length song is heavier and more black metal with the female vocals floating in here and there, but not being the main focal point of the song until midway into things. I think they have played a better balance act in the previous songs. Though some of the atmospheric passages here are creepier.   I will give this a 9.5 and see how it sits with me, it is going to take many listens to fully unpack what is going on here and what this is , there is however enough black metal for it to belong here, and if you want something that is atmospheric with folk inspirations along with a side of black metal check this out. Out on Antiq Records