D-Rock's Top 24 Albums of 2024
I really like this a lot but also prog metal is always incredibly difficult to mix with extreme metal and this is no exception. Some really cheesy parts but a lot of really superb parts.
Excellent prog-thrash stuff that gives hints of Vektor at times but very much its own identity.
I mean it's Godspeed, they're always gonna be one of the best of the year but I'm surprised people think so much more highly of this than their last two records, both of which I think are better (especially Luciferian Towers which is everyone's least favorite but I think it's fantastic!).
This seemed kinda overhyped at first blush. I still think it kinda is but this is definitely a very creative, impressive spin on electropop and I understand the lyrics are also very personal even though I'm not a big lyrics person.
One of the best modern country albums I've heard in years!
Kind of a Godspeed situation--it's Parannoul, this dude cranks out incredible music like clockwork. It's a little bit of a downgrade from After the Magic which was a bit of a downgrade from To See the Next Part of the Dream but those are both insanely high bars and this is still excellent!
I really dig this kind of unorthodox dance music with a healthy amount of bombast. Really kicks into gear at the end of "Reckless."
The fucking resident weirdos of avant-garde metal did it again. Just completely unhinged as always.
For me this is their best record in a walk, adding some depth to what was largely a very Deathwish sound and making it their own.
Saw these guys open for Gouge Away at the Deep Sage record release show in Miami and they really blew me away but they barely had any music available--now here they are putting out one of the best post-rock / post-metal hybrid records of 2024!
This is another one that's kinda like...Chelsea Wolfe fucking rules so this rules...it's a little monotonous but it's Chelsea Wolfe and Chelsea Wolfe fucking rules so this rules! (There are a lot of these this year so we're not done yet...)
This one kinda snuck up on me. Not many people talking about it but it's just kinda right in my sweet spot of alt-metal / post-metal and I just love it.
Another one! This is definitely an Ulcerate record. Good thing Ulcerate is fucking amazing.
I've never really been fully hooked by one of Glass Beach's albums these past couple years but this one is just so relentlessly creative and yet flows so freely and seamlessly. One of the most creative electronic artists making music right now.
This was one of my most anticipated albums of 2024 after 2021's masterpiece Holoceno. It definitely falls a bit short of that insanely high standard but Papangu is definitely establishing themselves as an incredible creative force in avant-prog and brutal prog music.
Here we go again--fails to live up to the unfairly high standard of Mercurial World but that is literally a perfect pop album. This is a bit simpler, a little less intricate and meticulous, but still an absolutely incredible piece of pop music.
What an absolute beast of melancholy this is. If you've never heard The Microphones or Mount Eerie, this probably isn't the best place to start but what is, really? What they do is so singular and so captivating, you just have to hear it and let it wash over you multiple times.
Oh how I love foreign extreme metal that catches me totally off guard and boy oh boy is this a unique one! Expertly swirling together multitudes of genres with a super creepy vocal style all their own, this is very much worth checking out.
This band put out THREE albums last year, all of which I had to include on my top albums list because this avant-garde metal band is so goddamn relentless and so creative it just boggles my mind.
Another avant-garde metal band does it again. What a creative force this band has become in a relatively short amount of time (with a relatively large output in that time).
Bands that can find a way to do something truly distinct that is truly its own thing in this day and age are insanely impressive and this unhinged post-hardcore noise rock band will slither its way into your blood.
I'll be honest, a big part of why I put this here is for what it is. What it is is an excruciating first-hand accounting of the abuse, sexual violence, and degradation women suffer at the hands of men. My favorite quote about this is: "This album makes men uncomfortable. Good."
I absolutely LOVE what Chat Pile did with the "pigfuck" (lmao) sound by toning down a lot of the guitar work to a fat, thick, twangy overdrive. It works AMAZINGLY well and turns it into a whole different thing and I love that.
It is actually insane how good this is. I think this might be my favorite thing The Cure has ever done. Unreal.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Arooj Aftab - Night Reign
Ceremony of Silence - Hálios
Geordie Greep - The New Sound
Gigan - Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus
Judas Priest - Invincible Shield
Mayhemic - Toba
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