The Top 20 Albums of 2024 : 10 to 1

 

This year I expanded what was once the Top 10 Albums of the Year to the Top 20. The Top 10  was limiting considering there are now 20 best-of-genre lists.  a Top 10 often left off ten albums that captured the top spot for their respective genres.  So we are continuing the countdown here in this second part to the top 10 albums  These are the albums I listened to most. When you take into consideration the fact I listened to over 900 albums this year, it's impressive for these albums to have endured the influx of new music that hit My inbox every morning and made me want to hear them again and again. Yes, this is the culmination of all the other lists done up to this point for other blogs and was refined down to this master list of all genres.; So here ya go...

10- 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

 

 

 

9-O Zorn !- "Vermillion Haze" 

On the darker side of 90s grunge reviving, these guys kept the anthemic slant minimal, and instead cut themselves and allowed the songs to bleed from it. It is heavy with mood rather than hammering at you. This album took me by surprise and exceeded any hopes I had for it, It grew on me more than any other album becoming a staple of my weekly listening due to the honest melancholy that seeps from its pores. If you like grunge, but not the kind for jocks then this will be up your alley. Really can not sing its praises enough. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/03/o-zorn-vermillion-haze.html

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8-200 Stab Wounds - "Manual Manic Procedures" 

. Less than a year after the previous release, the guys have worked hard to perfect their craft, as this is more nuanced and dynamic songwriting. My only complaint about the first album was that it was so straightforward that there was little to separate it from veterans like Cannibal Corpses. Now they are really bringing it hard this time around. They give the oppressive pounding. Plenty of syncopated punches and little nuances make it clear that this operation is meticulous. Perfect blend of creepy melodic parts, and aggressive hooky riffs. 

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

 

             

7-DEHD - "Poetry" 

Over the years this band continued to grow on me until with this album everything clicked into pace. Their finely tuned garage pop is hookier than most pop on the radio. Some of the songs feel like long-lost classics from the early days of California garage rock, despite this band not being from California. At times this finds Beach Boys sounds colliding with the Velvet Underground. The hooks kept me listening which secured them at the top spot. 

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

  

6-Snow Strippers -"Night Killaz 2" 

Producer Graham Perez, and singer Tatiana Schwaninger. have totally killed it here, sonically it's almost like a cross between Charli XCX and Grimes, but on old-school techno drugs. This glitched-out more experimental take on electronica finds the emphasis is on the beats and soundscapes being woven here. Tatiana is not the greatest singer, but the secret to this album lies in how her voice is presented. She has her own charisma in her persona. An infectious listen that got as much playtime as faves like the Cure and Taylor Swift. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/snow-strippers-night-killaz-vol-2.html

 

 

5-Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - "Of the Last Human Being" 

When I place one of my favorite bands on the pedestal of what other bands should aspire to, said band must then meet these exalted expectations. If they are one of the best bands I have ever seen live then expectations are even higher. If they are coming back 17 years later, after you lived thinking their last album was the final chapter, then you can only hope for the best album ever. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum reopened in an attempt to make their best album yet. 2007's "In Glorious Times" is a perfect album, so they were wise not to take it head on but in a more mature step forward, emphasizing more of the chamber music side, while employing all the creepy dissonance they are known for. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/sleepytime-gorilla-museum-of-last-human.html

 

 

4- Crippling Alcoholism - "With Love From a Padded Room" 

This band beautifully captures a darkly honest misery. The singer's raspy voice makes you imagine what it might sound like if Tom Waits fronted Interpol. It took the top spot because the songs are uniquely engaging and this album can be played countless times without getting tired of it. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/crippling-alcoholism-with-love-from.html

 

3-Taylor Swift - "The Tortured Poets Department" 

She managed to beat Crippling Alcoholism, based on this album just being marginally more dynamic and a little hookier, as lyrically the two albums were neck and neck.  There is a reason she has a fantastical cult of fans. If we weigh her other albums again this one there might be more debate, but that is where she is as an artist, Swift only has her own work to measure things against. I think this is at least as strong as her more recent work.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department.html

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

 This band has 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 metal album of the year with the inner apocalypse they project outwardly. 

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

 

 

1-The Cure - "Songs Of a Lost World" 

It's no secret these guys are one of my favorite bands, but that means my expectations were higher. While Smith and friends claiming the top spot will not be a surprise to regular readers or people who know me, they earned this one.  This album sounds like they picked up where they left off on "Wish". Amazingly, they are still inspired to create something so perfect 14 albums later. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-cure-songs-of-lost-world.html

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The Top 10 Metal Albums of 2024

As the world finds itself coming closer to critical mass, We need heavy music more than ever. This is the culmination of all the other metal lists. Yes, I have done other metal lists for other blogs, and I see them as being a refining process for when I make this list. The results might vary to at the end of the day I checked my Last FM to see what I actually listened to the most and here we are with these results. Truth be told this still included most of the number-one picks from the varied sub-genre lists, though other albums that ranked maybe two are three on their respective lists, also earned a place here, due to growing on me or replay value of their albums. While results may have varied, this is the final word. 

The very fact these bands made it to this list means they are cream of the crop 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. You can bitch and complain about your favorite band not being on the list. However, I listen to over six hundred new albums this year, so chances are  I heard your favorite album and was not impressed.  I 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. Anyway here are the top 10 Metal albums of 2024

10-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

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9-Maul- "In the Jaws of Bereavement" 

This album clicked for me right away as it packs a powerful punch, yet does not shy from guitar melodies to show they care about writing songs. North Dakota is not where I would expect this to come from but here we are. There is no shortage of head-banging grooves. This album makes a strong argument for having the bass prominent in the mix when it comes to death metal. There are some technical thrashing riffs, that are balanced out by locking into chugs to bring a more deliberate attack that plays to their strengths. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/maul-in-jaws-of-bereavement.html

8-Witnesses - "Joy" 

 Despite my preference for Kody Ternes as the vocalist, things changed, and  Bibby from Seventh Angel is handling the vocals this time around. He is more of a metal singer than Ternes, he does make melodic choices that think outside of the power metal box, some doom singers lean toward. His voice grew on me.  Not as dark as some of their previous work the album deals more with self -actualization. There is a highly emotive nature they invoke with the atmosphere. It is one of Greg Schwan's strengths as a songwriter. Things are very dynamic, with the vocals soaring above it all. They once again excelled, and if you are a doom fan who enjoys melody then this album is a must.  This band is onto something and it is one of the more original expressions of doom I have heard in a minute. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/november-is-doom-witnesses-joy.html

 

7-Crypt Sermon- "The Stygian Rose" 

Taking their  80s-flavored metal down its darker grittier path, not unlike Savatage or Metal Church, the songs benefit from more vocal colors going on this time around. The riffing carries more thrash, as they hit their stride as songwriters.  There are lots of tasteful guitar solos that relentlessly hit you with killer riffs. This album finds them coming into their own, and standing shoulder to shoulder with the albums these songs draw inspiration from.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/crypt-sermon-stygian-rose.html

6-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

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5-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

4-Nails - "Every Bridge Burning" 

It's been 8 years since the last album from this California-based hard-core band. They are just as angry as they were on "You Will Never Be One of Us".  The grind-core influence on the band has them spitting out minute-and-a-half songs that are propelled by an unrelenting momentum. The faster moments that create a frenzied wall of sound are balanced out by the intentional songwriting masterstrokes delivered here, and find this album to be worth the wait and put the band on the top of the heap. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/nails-every-bridge-burning.html

3- 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

 

2-200 Stab Wounds - "Manual Manic Procedures" 

 Less than a year after the previous release, the guys have worked hard to perfect their craft, as this is more nuanced and dynamic songwriting. My only complaint about the first album was that it was so straightforward that there was little to separate it from veterans like Cannibal Corpses. Now they are really bringing it hard this time around. They give the oppressive pounding. Plenty of syncopated punches and little nuances make it clear that this operation is meticulous. Perfect blend of creepy melodic parts, and aggressive hooky riffs. 

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

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

 This band has 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 metal album of the year with the inner apocalypse they project outwardly

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

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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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August's Top 10 Albums

It's time for August's top 10 albums. Staying abreast of the month's highlights might help casual readers see what they missed and check these artists out. I am not writing little blurbs on them, just linking the reviews. I' am using this to organize my lists for the end of the year, by listing the genre of music the album falls under. Inclusion here 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 October 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 Country to Black Metal so you may find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums for August of 2024.

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

Black Metal 

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

9-Bleed the Earth- "Shapes That Stood in Silence" 

Funeral Doom

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/bleed-this-earth-shapes-that-stood-in.html

8-Falling in Reverse - "Popular Monster" 

Nu-Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/falling-in-reverse-popular-monster.html

7-DAUFØDT -"Glitter" 

Hard-Core 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/daufdt-glitter.html

6-SPEED - "Only One Mode" 

Hard-Core 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/speed-only-one-mode.html

5- Kacey Musgraves -  "Deeper Well" 

Country 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/kacey-musgraves-deeper-well.html

4-Fontaines DC- "Romance" 

Indie Pop 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/fontaines-dc-romance.html

3-GEL -"Persona" 

Punk 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/gel-persona.html

2- Amiture - "Mother Engine" 

Trip-hop 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/amiture-mother-engine.html

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

Extreme Progressive Metal  

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

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Weston Super Maim : "See You Tomorrow Baby"

 This band has flown under my radar, one of those names I recognize but never checked out. They play an industrial-strength metal, that leans close to death metal but is fairly chaotic in the progressive outbursts working in ample use of electronic sounds into the fray.  This song also features guest vocals by members of Blind Folded and Led Into the Woods. The opener in a steadier Godflesh adjacent crunch, and then things get more abrasive on the second song that abandons most form and function jumping out like a monster at a haunted attraction to scream at you. It does make more sense the second time I listened to it. Most of these songs would benefit from multiple listens as they do hit you with a lot at once. 

The darkness they create goes a long way to counterbalance the more overt aggressive tendencies that almost border grindcore. Comparisons could be drawn to Harms Way if those guys were not a hard-core band, as the more overt metal leanings play more to the overall sound of this album. They do not shy away from how big dramatic sounds that hardcore fans might think are pretentious. Often compared to  Meshuggah, this was not something heard until "Slow Hell" which might bring to mind the mathematic Swedes' earlier work. Thought the vocals do take on more of the drill sergeant yell, than death metal growl at times. 

There is no lack of chops here as ys are no less skilled than Meshuggah as there is a Joe Satriani-style solo in "Slow Hell"."Johnny Menomic" has a more straightforward machine like a chug. It grooves enough for fans of more mainstream metal without conforming to the status quo as the arrangement can be jarring at times. I am not normally one for hyper-technical shit, but the syncopation they hit on this song is sick. "Brute Fact" hits with a more feral explosion that holds more in common with grindcore. They balance out by putting weight punches where they need to be to keep my attention. This was another song I had to give an additional listen to to gather my thoughts about. 

"The Bare Maximum" features a guitar solo by Ian Waye of Soreption. It brings a little chaos to a song that otherwise stomps your head in with more groove and a bit of ambiance lurking around the angular sonic wall. "Kryptonite Renegade" chugs with impressive heft, the first song that touches on a more metalcore feel. Chad Kapper of Frontierer lends his voice to the last song. It alternates between staccato chugs and in-your-face blasts, before wandering into an almost jazz-like section. At eight minutes this song is twice as sprawling, and as it is they already cram a great deal into a four-minute song, so it's a lot to take in. At the halfway point, it feels like it wants to build up into something more like Perturbator. Instead, they hit you with a dense groove. This album is stunning. I can not listen to it enough. If you like heavy music that does not allow itself to follow a middle path check this out. I will give it a 10. 

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