🎵 Madder Mortem - Long Road (Album: Old Eyes, New Heart)
⏱️ Durée: 3:53
🎧 #MadderMortem #LongRoad #AvantGardeEthereal #ProgPostAvantGarde #Doom #NowPlaying

🎵 Madder Mortem - Rust Cleansing (Album: Deadlands)
⏱️ Durée: 7:20
🎧 #MadderMortem #RustCleansing #AvantGardeEthereal #ProgPostAvantGarde #Doom #NowPlaying

🎵 Madder Mortem - Far From Home (Album: Marrow)
⏱️ Durée: 4:52
🎧 #MadderMortem #FarFromHome #EtherealAvantGarde #DoomMetal #NowPlaying

🎵 Madder Mortem - Misty Sleep (Album: Mercury)
⏱️ Durée: 6:25
🎧 #MadderMortem #MistySleep #EtherealAvantGarde #DoomMetal #NowPlaying

🎵 Madder Mortem - My Name Is Silence (Album: Desiderata)
⏱️ Durée: 3:18
🎧 #MadderMortem #MyNameIsSilence #EtherealAvantGarde #DoomMetal #NowPlaying

Cam Girl – Flesh & Chrome Review

By Kenstrosity

Every once in a blue moon, reviewing a local band—especially a largely DIY band like Asheville, North Carolina’s Cam Girl—comes with a few extra perks. Because of our proximity, I secured promo months in advance in the form of a sick translucent cyan vinyl and a digital mp3, and gleaned additional insight into how this record was made. Having that much more exposure and access to the band by the grace of locality helped contextualize exactly what Cam Girl aspire to be. In this case, the AVL trio1 have a single-minded focus: to become a phenomenon. Hard at work in pursuit of this lofty standard, Cam Girl prepared a sophomore record, Flesh & Chrome, that not only outstrips their debut, Untucked, but also marks a significant propulsion towards their ultimate goal.

Cam Girl isn’t concerned with what musical box they may or may not fit, but rather with crafting unforgettable, addictive songs written specifically to infect your brain—permanently. To that end, Cam Girl pulled out all the stops in songwriting, performance, and production. Flesh & Chrome builds around the infallible backbone of Kozy Kozette’s simple, but wildly effective guitar lines, exuberant riffcraft, and rich harmonies. Topping that rock-hard instrumental foundation, Lily Larceny’s vocal performance demonstrates a remarkable uptick in skillset, versatility, cadence, and potency from previous efforts. The rhythm section then sculpts heft and power, allowing Flesh & Chrome access to a greater breadth of audiences. But that’s just the tip. In the same way that notable pop songwriters of the 80s used innuendo and sheer metaphors to subvert most public audiences’ tolerance for the risqué, Cam Girl’s lyrics do the inverse. Unabashedly sexual, confrontational, and unflinching in their simplicity and irreverence on the surface, these lyrics present a multifaceted and timely commentary. Instilling messages of empowerment and self-actualization; dispensing of arbitrarily dictated societal, gender, and sexual roles; and rebuking all forms of misogyny and gender discrimination/fetishization, Flesh & Chrome nonetheless makes no sacrifice to irresistible, kinky fun, and therein lies its magic.

Whether it be the stadium-ready “Bubblegum Revolution,” the sassy “Girls Gotta Eat,” or the one-two-three-four-five punch that lights up an unstoppable run from “I Want Your Rock!” to the awesome self-titled closer, Flesh & Chrome offers an endless supply of killer material and no filler across a tight 32 minutes. In the early stages of Flesh & Chrome’s progression, familiar listeners might recognize a similar cocktail of Turbonegro/Blondie touchstones that Untucked showcased. However, hero anthems “Girls to the Top” and “Bubblegum Revolution” rouse the spirit higher with tighter, more focused writing and invigorating choruses. “Face the Facts” and “Stand Back” use that initial push to load in a rebellious Rise Against spirit with more impactful musical energy and lyrical candor than ever. And how can I forget the organ-soaked “Back Sabbath,” a whimsical bit of devilish levity that bisects the record with a summoning of a powerful ass demon for the expressed purpose of dealing for a bigger ass?2

Whatever actually transpired during that “Back Sabbath” worked wonders for Cam Girl, because Flesh & Chrome’s back half is stunning. Even factoring in the occasional—but thankfully brief—in-your-face spoken word verse3 in “I Want Your Rock!” and “Sugar Rush,” the songs burst with vitality and stick with fierce adhesion. Furthermore, bouncy synths bubbling in the background of these tracks provide a new instrumental element that doubles down on chipped tuneage through yet another chorus hero, “Ice Cream N’ Soda Pop.” Reminiscent of a much more adult Wreck-It Ralph OST, these new instrumental baubles complement Kozy’s increasingly metamorphic riffs, leads, and solos across all manner of references and inspirations. But, in no way do these novel excursions across the frets pull away from Cam Girl’s core sound or unmistakable identity. In fact, they reinforce and elevate it. This, in turn, sets up closing duo “Plastic Princess” and “Flesh & Chrome” to gleam as stellar culminations of every songwriting development Cam Girl exhibits across Flesh & Chrome. Boasting fun lyrics, brilliant guitar work,4 and spine-tingling choruses featuring some of Lily’s finest exhibitions yet, these B-sides demand my undivided attention so raptly that I fantasize about listening to them again, even before they end.

There’s so much more about Flesh & Chrome that I desperately want to highlight in greater detail. Lily’s bang-on Agnete Kirkevaag (Madder Mortem) vocal tone when she sings more melodic phrases; bassist Robbie Forbes’ throbbing low end counterpoint; Kozy’s sneaky Iron Maiden gallops, and her cool artwork and layout;5 Matt Langston’s and Jeremy SH Griffith’s punchy production;6 I could go on. And yet, it still feels like Cam Girl is only getting started. If their goal is to become a phenomenon, Flesh & Chrome makes for one helluva launch!

Rating: Excellent!
DR: 5 (Digital mp3) | Formats Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3 | Physical Vinyl
Label: Self Released
Websites: camgirlband.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/camgirlband
Releases Worldwide: June 27th, 2025

#2025 #45 #AmericanMetal #Blondie #CamGirl #FleshChrome #HardRock #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #Jun25 #MadderMortem #MelodicMetal #PopPunk #Punk #Review #Reviews #RiseAgainst #SelfReleased #Turbonegro

Stuck in the Filter: January 2025’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

We enter January under the impression that our underpowered filtration system couldn’t possibly get any more clogged up. Those blistering winds that overwhelm the vents with an even greater portion of debris and detritus pose a great challenge and a grave danger to my minions. Crawling through the refuse as more flies in all william-nilliam, my faithful lackeys brave the perils of the job and return, as they always do, with solid chunks of semi-precious ore.

And so I stand before you, my greedy little gremlins, in a freshly pressed flesh suit that only the elite like myself adorn, and present January 2025’s Filter finds. REJOICE!

Kenstrosity’s Fresh(ish) Finds

Bloodcrusher // Voidseeker [January 9th, 2025 – Barf Bag Records]

The sun rises on a new year, and most are angrier than ever. What’s a better way to process that anger than jamming a phat slab of brutal slamming deathcore into your gob, right? Oregon one-man-slammajamma Bloodcrusher understand this, and so sophomore outburst Voidseeker provides the goods. These are tunes meant not for musicality or delicacy but for brute-force face-caving. Ignorant stomps and trunk-rattling slams trade blows with serrated tremolo slides and a dry pong snare with a level of ferocity uncommon even in this unforgiving field (“Agonal Cherubim ft. Jack Christensen”). Feel the blistering heat of choice cuts “Serpents Circle ft. Azerate Nakamura” or “Death Battalion: Blood Company ft. The Gore Corps” and you have no choice but to submit to their immense heft. Prime lifting material, Voidseeker’s most straightforward cuts guarantee shattered PRs and spontaneous combustion of your favorite gym shorts as your musculature explodes in volume (“Slave Cult,” “Sanguis Aeternus,” “Blood Frenzy”). If you ask me, that sounds like a wonderful problem to have. As they pummel your cranium into dust with deadly slam riffs (“Malus et Mortis ft. Ryan Sporer,” “Seeker of the Void,” “Earthcrusher”) or hack and slash your bones with serrated tremolos (“Razors of Anguish,” “Methmouth PSA”), remember that Bloodcrusher is only trying to help.

Skaldr // Saṃsṛ [January 31st, 2025 – Avantgarde Music]

Virginia’s black metal upstarts Skaldr don’t do anything new. If you’ve heard any of black metal’s second wave, or even more melodic fare by some of my favorite meloblack bands like Oubliette, Stormkeep, and Vorga, Skaldr’s material feels like a cozy blanket of fresh snow. Kicking off their second record, Saṃsṛ, in epic fashion, “The Sum of All Loss” evokes a swaying dance that lulls me into its otherwordly arms. As Saṃsṛ progresses through its seven movements, tracks like the gorgeous “Storms Collide” and the lively “The Crossing” strike true every synapse in my brain, flooding my system with a goosebump-inducing fervor quelled solely by the burden of knowing it must end. Indeed, these short 43 minutes leave me ravenous for more, as Skaldr’s lead-focused wiles charm me over and over again without excess repetition of motifs or homogenization of tones and textures (“From Depth to Dark,” “The Cinder, The Flame, The Sun”). Some of its best moments eclipse its weakest, but weak moments are thankfully few and far between. In reality, Skaldr‘s most serious flaw is that they align so closely with their influences, thereby limiting Saṃsṛ‘s potential to stand out. Nonetheless, it represents one of the more engaging and well-realized examples of the style. Hear it!

Subterranean Lava Dragon // The Great Architect [January 23rd, 2025 – Self Release]

Formed from members of Black Crown Initiate and Minarchist, Pennsylvania’s Subterranean Lava Dragon take the successful parts of their pedigree’s progressive death metal history and transplant them into epic, fantastical soundscapes on their debut LP The Great Architect. Despite the riff-focused, off-kilter nature of The Great Architect, there lies a mystical, mythical backbone behind everything Subterranean Lava Dragon do (“The Great Architect,” “Bleed the Throne”). Delicate strums of the guitar, multifaceted percussion, and noodly soloing provide a thoughtful thread behind the heaviest crush of prog-death riffs and rabid roars, a combination that favorably recalls Blind the Huntsmen (“The Silent Kin,” “A Dream of Drowning”). In a tight 42 minutes, Subterranean Lava Dragon approaches progressive metal with a beastly heft and a compelling set of teeth—largely driven by the expert swing and swagger of the bass guitar—that differentiates The Great Architect from the greater pool of current prog. Yet, its pursuit of creative song structure, reminiscent of Obsidious at times, allows textured gradations and nuanced layers to elevate the final product (“A Question of Eris,” “Ov Ritual Matricide”). It is for these reasons that I heartily recommend The Great Architect to anyone who appreciates smart, but still dangerous and deadly, metal.

Thus Spoke’s Likeable Leftovers

Besna // Krásno [January 16th, 2025 – Self Release]

It was the esteemed Doom et Al who first made me aware of Solvakian post-black group Besna. 2022’s Zverstvá was charming and moving in equal respects, with its folky vibe amplifying the punch of blackened atmosphere and epicness. With Krásno, the group take things in a sharper, more refined, and still more compelling direction, showing real evolution and improvement. The vague leanings towards the electronic play a larger role (“Zmráka sa,” “Hranice”), but songs also make use of snappier, and stronger emotional surges (“Krásno,” “Mesto spí”), the polished production to the atmospherics counterbalanced sleekly by the rough, ardent screams and pleasingly prominent percussion. Krásno literally translates as ‘beautiful,’ and Besna get away with titling their sophomore so bluntly because it is accurate. Melodies are more sweeping and stirring (“Krásno,” “Oceán prachu,” “Meso spí”), and the integration of the harsh amidst the mellow is executed more affectively (“Hranice,” “Bezhviezdna obloha”) than in the band’s previous work. Particularly potent are Krásno’s subtle nods and reprises of harmonic themes spanning the record (“Krásno,” “Oceán prachu,” “Mesto spí”), recurring like waves in an uplifting way that reminds me of Deadly Carnage‘s Through the Void, Above the Suns. Barely scraping past half an hour, the beautiful Krásno can be experienced repeatedly in short succession; which is the very least this little gem deserves.

Tyme’s Ticking Bomb

Trauma Bond // Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone [January 12, 2025 – Self-Released]

Conceptualized by multi-instrumentalist Tom Mitchell1 and vocalist Eloise Chong-Gargette, London, England’s Trauma Bond plays grindcore with a twist. Formed in 2020 and on the heels of two other EPs—’21’s The Violence of Spring and ’22’s Winter’s Light—January 2025 sees Trauma Bond release its first proper album, Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone, the third in a seasonally themed quadrilogy. Twisting and reshaping the boundaries of grindcore, not unlike Beaten to Death or Big Chef, Trauma Bond douses its grind with a gravy boat full of sludge. Past the moodily tribal and convincing intro “Brushed by the Storm” lies fourteen minutes of grindy goodness (“Regards,” “Repulsion”), sludgian skullduggery (“Chewing Fat”), and caustic cantankerousness (“Thumb Skin for Dinner”). You’ll feel violated and breathless even before staring down the barrel of nine-and-a-half minute closer “Dissonance,” a gargantuanly heavy ear-fuck that will liquefy what’s left of the organs inside your worthless skin with its slow, creeping sludgeastation. I was not expecting to hear what Trauma Bond served up, as the minimalist cover art drew me in initially, but I’m digging it muchly. Independently released, Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone is a hell of an experience and should garner Trauma Bond a label partner. I’ll be hoping for that, continuing to support them, and looking forward to whatever autumn brings.

Iceberg’s Bleak Bygones

Barshasketh // Antinomian Asceticsm [January 9th, 2025 – W.T.C Productions]

My taste for black metal runs a narrow, anti-secondwave path. I want oppressive, nightmarish atmosphere, sure, but I also crave rich, modern production and technically proficient instrumental performances. Blending the fury of early Behemoth, the cinematic scope of Deathspell Omega, and the backbeat-supported drones of Panzerfaust, Barshasketh’s latest fell square in my target area. The pealing bells of “Radiant Aperture” beckoned me into Antinomian Asceticsm’s sacred space, a dark world populated with rippling drum fills, surprisingly melodic guitar work, and a varied vocal attack that consistently keeps things fresh. With the average track length in the 6-minute territory, repeat listens are necessary to reveal layers of rhythm and synth atmosphere that give the album its complexity. A throwaway interlude (“Phaneron Engulf”) and a drop in energy in the second and third tracks stop this from being a TYMHM entry, but anyone with a passing interest in technical black metal with lots of atmosphere should check this out.

Deus Sabaoth // Cycle of Death [January 17th, 2025 – Self-Released]

Deus Sabaoth have a lot going for them to catch my attention, beyond that absolutely entrancing cover art. Released under the shadow of war, this debut record from the Ukrainian trio bills itself as “Baroque metal,” another tag that piqued my interest. Simply put, Deus Sabaoth play melodic black metal, but there’s a lot more brewing under the surface. I hear the gothic, unsettled storytelling of The Vision Bleak, the drenching laments of Draconian, and the diligent, dynamic riffing of Mistur. The core metal ensemble of guitar, bass and drums is present, but the trio is augmented by a persistent accompaniment of piano and strings. The piano melodies—often doubled on the guitar—are where the baroque influence shines the greatest, echoing the bouncing, repetitive styling of a toccata (“Mercenary Seer,” “Faceless Warrior”). The vocals are something of an acquired taste, mainly due to their too-far-forward mix, but there’s a vitality and drive to this album that keeps me hooked throughout. And while its svelte 7 song runtime feels more like an EP at times, Cycle of Death shows enough promise from the young band that I’ll keep my eyes peeled in the future.

GardensTale’s Tab of Acid

I Don’t Do Drugs, I Am Drugs // I Don’t Do Drugs, I Am Drugs [January 27th, 2025 – Self-released]

When you name yourself after a famous Salvador Dalí quote, you better be prepared to back it up with an appropriate amount of weird shit. Thankfully, I Don’t Do Drugs, I Am Drugs strives to be worthy of the moniker. The band’s self-titled debut is a psychedelic prog-death nightmare of off-kilter riffs, structures that seem built upon dream logic, layers of ethereal synths and bizarre mixtures of vocal styles. The project was founded by Scott Hogg, guitarist for Cyclops Cataract, who is responsible for everything but the vocals. That includes all the songwriting. Hogg throws the listener off with an ever-shifting array of Gojira-esque plodding syncopation and thick, throbbing layers of harmonics that lean discordant without fully shifting into dissonance. But the songs float as easily into other-worldly soundscapes (“The Tree that Died in it’s[sic] Sleep”) or off-putting balladry (“Confierous”). BP of Madder Mortem handles vocals, and he displays an aptitude for the many facets required to buoy the intriguing but unintuitive music, his shouts and screams and cleans and hushes often layered together in strange strata either more or less than human. The combined result resembles a nightmare Devin may have had around 2005 after listening too much Ephel Duath. It’s not yet perfected; the ballad doesn’t quite work, and the compositions are sometimes a bit too dedicated to their lack of handholds. But it’s a hell of a trip, and a very convincing mission statement. A band to keep an eye on!

Dear Hollow’s Gunk Behooval

Bloodbark // Sacred Sound of Solitude [January 3rd, 2025 – Northern Silence Productions]

Bloodbark’s debut Bonebranches offered atmospheric black metal a minimalist spin, as cold and relentless as Paysage d’Hiver, as textured as Fen, and as barren as the mountains it depicts, exuding a natural crispness that recalls Falls of Rauros. Seven years later, we are graced with its follow-up, the majestic Sacred Sound of Solitude. Like its predecessor, the classic atmoblack template is cut with post-black to create an immensely rich and dynamic tapestry, lending all the hallmarks of frostbitten blackened sound (shrieks, blastbeats, tremolo) with the depth of a more modern approach. Twinkling leads, frosty synths, and forlorn piano survey the frigid vistas, while the more furious blackened portions scale snowbound peaks, utilized with the utmost restraint and bound by yearning chord progressions (“Glacial Respite,” “Griever’s Domain”). A new element in the act’s sound is clean vocals (“Time is Nothing,” “Augury of Snow”), which lend a far more melancholy vibe alongside trademark shrieking. Bloodbark offers top-tier atmospheric black metal, a reminder of the always-looming winter.

Great American Ghost // Tragedy of the Commons [January 31st, 2025 – SharpTone Records]

Boston’s Great American Ghost used to be extremely one-note, a coattail-rider of the likes of Kublai Khan and Knocked Loose. Deathcore muscles whose veins pulse to the beat of a hardcore heart, you’d be forgiven to see opener “Kerosene” as a sign of stagnation – chunky breakdowns and punk beats, feral barks and callouts, and a hardcore frowny face sported throughout. But Tragedy of the Commons is a far more layered affair, with echoes of metalcore past (“Ghost in Flesh,” “Hymns of Decay”), pronounced and tasteful nu-metal influence a la Deftones (“Genocide,” “Reality/Relapse”), and more variety in their rhythms and tempos, reflecting a Fit for an Autopsy-esque cutthroat intensity and ominous crescendos alongside a more pronounced influence of melody and manic dissonance (“Echoes of War,” “Forsaken”). Is it still meatheaded? Absolutely. Are its more “experimental” pieces in just well-trodden paths of metalcore bands past? Oh definitely. But gracing Great American Ghost a voice beyond the hardcore beatdowns does Tragedy of the Commons good and gives this one-trick pony another trail to wander.

Steel Druhm’s Detestible Digestibles

Guts // Nightmare Fuel [January 31st, 2025 – Self-Release]

Finland’s Guts play a weird “caveman on a Zamboni” variant of groove-heavy death metal that mixes OSDM with sludge and stoner elements for something uniquely sticky and pulversizing. On Nightmare Fuel, the material keeps grinding forward at a universal mid-tempo pace powered by phat, crushing grooves. “571” sounds like a Melvins song turned into a death metal assault, and it shouldn’t work, but it very much does. The blueprint for what Guts do is so basic, but they manage to keep cracking skulls on track after track as you remain locked in place helplessly. Nightmare Fuel is a case study into how less can be MOAR, as Guts staunchly adhere to their uncomplicated approach and make it work so well. Each track introduces a rudimentary riff and beats you savagely with it for 3-4 minutes with little variation. Things reset for the next track, and a new riff comes out to pound you into schnitzel all over again. This is the Guts experience, and you will be utterly mulched by massive prime movers like “Mortar” and “Ravenous Leech,” the latter of which sounds like an old Kyuss song refitted with death vocals and unleashed upon mankind. The relentlessly monochromatic riffs are things of minimalist elegance that you need to experience. Nightmare Fuel is a slow-motion ride straight into a brick wall, so brace for a concrete facial.

#2025 #AmericanMetal #AntinomianAsceticism #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AvantgardeMusic #BarfBagRecords #Barshasketh #BeatenToDeath #Behemoth #Besna #BigChef #BlackCrownInitiate #BlackMetal #BlindTheHuntsmen #Bloodbark #Bloodcrusher #BrutalDeathMetal #Converge #CycleOfDeath #CyclopsCataract #DeadlyCarnage #DeathMetal #Deathcore #DeathspellOmega #Deftones #DeusSabaoth #DevinTownsend #DoomMetal #Draconian #EphelDuath #FallsOfRauros #Fen #FitForAnAutopsy #Gojira #GothicMetal #GreatAmericanGhost #Grind #Grindcore #Guts #Hardcore #IDonTDoDrugsIAmDrugs #Jan25 #KnockedLoose #Krásno #KublaiKhan #MadderMortem #MelodicBlackMetal #Minarchist #Mistur #NightmareFuel #NorthernSilenceProductions #NuMetal #Oubliette #Panzerfaust #PaysageDHiver #PostBlack #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #SacredSoundOfSolitude #SamSr_ #SelfRelease #SharpToneRecords #Skaldr #Slam #SlovakianMetal #Sludge #Stormkeep #StuckInTheFilter #SubterraneanLavaDragon #SummerEndsSomeAreLongGone #TheGreatArchitect #TheVisionBleak #TragedyOfTheCommons #TraumaBond #UKMetal #UkranianMetal #Voidseeker #Vorga #WTCProductions

I think Red in Tooth and Claw will forever be my favorite #MadderMortem album but Old Eyes, New Heart comes in a close second.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzf7cvrk3jU

@metal #metal #metalmusic #progressivemetal #progmetal #gothicmetal #music

Angry Metal Guy’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

By Angry Metal Guy

Starting 2025 with a bang was always important, and I elected the “being 26 days late with your Record o’ the Year post” as the best possible way to give everyone that patented Angry Metal Guy feeling of waiting and waiting only to be smacked in the face with 5000 words that you disagree with entirely. Welcome to the Wonderful World of Executive Dysfunction! Let’s make a list!1

Fifteen years of Angry Metal Guy and year 15 will be remembered as a genuinely good year for metal. There were several excellent releases I was genuinely excited about and as the year went on, things got even better. For the first time in a while, I felt like I had a glut of options and felt guilty about what was and wasn’t making the list. In terms of total performance, year 15 at AMG stayed roughly on par with 2023. We wrote 691 posts (mostly reviews), which, in terms of raw numbers, dropped to lower than 2023 and was once again the lowest since 2015. We made up for it in girth, however, with the average post sporting a whopping 955 words! This might be a case of the self-fulfilling prophecy biting me in the ass for consistently yelling at everyone for being overwriters at which point they see themselves as overwriters and begin to overwrite. Or, maybe it’s because we had fewer reviews to balance out the longer posts. Regardless, we finished with a “big-boned” 660,024 total words in 2024. We averaged 38,617 views a day, leading us to our second-highest annual readership numbers ever at 14,129,320 total page views; a tick down from last year, but that’s not surprising when we’re writing fewer posts.

The readership of AMG is as global as ever, but the USA, UK, and Canada retained their spots as 1, 2, and 3 on our Top 10(ish) Biggest Readerships. Germans continued to flock here in droves, maintaining their position at number 4 on our list with Australia coming in at healthy 5. I’m a bit surprised at Australia for not taking umbrage at getting beat by the Germans last year, but when you live in constant fear of your absolutely frightening environs, I guess that’s the least of your worries.2 Spots 6-9 are the same as last year with Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Spain. But coming in at number 10 was Finland! Our strategy of lauding Finnish bands is finally paying off. “How” you ask? Well, if I can get to celebrity status in Finland, I intend to go there so I can be awkwardly ignored in social situations by an entirely new population of Scandinavians. I was happy to see Poland sneak up to the coveted “ish” spot on the list, but that means Brazil dropped out of the Top 10(ish) and that sucks.3 We were once again visited a single time by a mysterious robed reader from the Vatican City and I want to extend a warm Angry Metal Guy welcome to the lone citizen of Micronesia who found their way to our sacred halls.

The biggest, coolest thing that happened in 2024 (following one of the shittiest things to happen in 2024) was, of course, helping Kenstrosity deal with the catastrophe that was his life following Hurricane Helene. It was so cool and gratifying to see just how generous and amazing the fans of AMG were and we’ll never forget your generosity. We also added n00bs—welcoming Alekhines Gun, Tyme, and Killjoy as new blood for the Bloodgod (with more coming, we promise)—and saw the return of the illustrious Mark Z. We lost—at least for the time being—Ferox at the end of the year and that sucks for all of us. But losing him to a burgeoning career as a showrunner and movie director seems like the kind of thing that isn’t such a bitter pill to swallow. Personally, alas, 2024 was pretty much the worst year of my life. The reason I equivocate is because every time I think something like that I can only think of Homer Simpson saying: “So far! The worst year of your life so far!” But 2024 was marred by a breakup I did not want and struggles with both my physical health and the obvious consequences thereof. I re-read my Top 10(ish) of 2023 and was amused in that “oh, sweet summer child” kind of way when I read:

On a personal note, this year [2023] was supposed to be one of the best of my life. It has been an unmitigated pile of shit, with only a few bright spots. As usual, I’ll try to make 2024 a better year, where I am Angry Metal Guy in practice, not just in spirit. A new year always brings unreasonable and unrealistic goals that get broken in shame by April, doesn’t it? Well, that’s mine.

Alas, that ended up being quite a bit more prescient than I could’ve anticipated given that it was the 31st of March when the Behind the Music voiceover guy had to step in: “Then tragedy struck…”

So, 2024 turned out to be significantly worse for me than 2023. That said, I did, in fact, work a lot more on AMG than I have in previous years and it’s helped me to create a map of how that’s possible for the future. Furthermore, I’m finally starting to understand the things at the root of my BS—beyond unfortunate and frustrating life circumstances or the fact that I’m a big worthless loser4—and I hope that results in some real progress. Because, when all is said and done, Angry Metal Guy has stood the test of time for a reason and I’m proud of it and want to be involved in it. I like the music, I like most of the people, I like hazing n00bs, and I like arguing incessantly about opinions. Even if I feel a little out of lockstep with metal trends in recent years, I still think that my voice is important here and I want to have it here. And it’s thanks to everyone here, particularly Steel Druhm, Dr. Grier, and the other helpers, as well as the writers and of course, the readers, who have kept this all afloat while I am trying to solve the mystery that is my brain.

To moderate expectations for 2025! Here’s the Top 10(ish) of 2024.

#ish 2: Dawn Treader // Bloom & Decay [August 24th | Liminal Dread Productions | Bandcamp] — I’m relatively certain that if you had polled the writers and readers of AngryMetalGuy.com and asked them to predict this list, Dawn Treader’s Bloom & Decay would not have come even remotely close to placing on my Top 10(ish). And it makes sense. Dawn Treader traffics in a genre of black metal that I rail on at every chance. At this point, my personality is basically constructed of jokes about how calling something atmospheric just means they use a lot of reverb. And yeah, Bloom & Decay uses inordinate amounts of reverb, I can’t deny it. But better, Ross Connell subverts the ‘one-man black metal project’ tropes by being good, actually. The record is emotionally poignant, musically rich, and laden with pathos—causing that aching bloom in my chest while listening to what feels at times like sad songs playing in major keys. If there’s one reason I haven’t been back to this album as much as other things, it’s because it’s hard to listen to at times. The messages contained here and the way they are delivered can be challenging at times; long discursive samples that are hard to have repeated back at you time and again in a time of a lot of despair. Still, that’s hardly a knock against Dawn Treader’s work, there are a lot of people who would suggest that it’s exactly that which makes Bloom & Decay art. And there’s no question in my mind that Bloom & Decay is a work of art.

#ish 1: Verikalpa // Tuomio [April 19th, 2024 | Scarlet Records | Bandcamp] — But then again, who needs serious emotionally poignant works of art when you can listen to Finnish guys writing amazing blackened melodeath that heavily features faux accordion and lyrics, presumably, about drinking? I feel a bit guilty that these guys have yet to make a number on the list—having previously been relegated to an -ish—but they are getting better and better and Tuomio has been a joy to listen to in a year where almost nothing else brought me joy. In a way, Verikalpa’s sound is a form of nostalgiacore for me—with its 2004 production, its 2004 riffs, and my 2004 urge to drink beer and headbang. But, as Steel Druhm would argue out of pure self-interest, some things are timeless and change is bad, so this isn’t a critique. And while the metal-listening public lost its taste for folk metal after the glut that was released in the late 2000s, I find Verikalpa avoids the pitfalls of the sound, delivering only the highest quality riffs and blasts. Loaded with groove and chunky riffs, Verikalpa knows how to write solid, speedy, fun, and brutal metal that will make you want to drink a beer and lift some weights. And again, what more can we truly ask of any metal band? If you aren’t listening to and loving Verikalpa by now, you’re missing out. Of all the Finnish releases with dated sounds this year, Tuomio is the best.

#10: Grendel’s Sÿster // Katabasis into the Abaton [August 30th, 2024 | Sur Del Cruz Music | Bandcamp] — If there was a major “I did not see that coming” moment in 2024, it was that Grendel’s Sÿster never left my playlist once I heard it for the first time. An addictive record, I summed it up best when I wrote that “this German four-piece drops metal that reeks of patchouli and ‘Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!‘ to surprising effect. The core of Grendel’s Sÿster’s sound is the combination of fuzzy guitars, bubbly p-bass, and boxy drums into something that will undoubtedly call to mind the ’70s hard rock of your choice: Wishbone Ash, Jethro Tull, Thin Lizzy or nostalgia merchants like Gygax.” And that sound—not a sound that I spend my free time chasing down—could be directly shot into my veins and I couldn’t be happier. There’s something pure and honest and beautiful about this music. It is both poppy and niche, both pretentious and utterly not; it breaks down binaries and exists in the interstices. And goddammit, it’s what one roadie for Porcupine Tree once said of Blaze’s first three records, “it’s good, honest heavy metal.” And that’s it. The cream rises to the top; good songwriting always wins. And Katabasis into the Abaton is loaded with great songs, fun ideas, and idiosyncratic vocals. It’s surprising in all the right ways.

#9: Oceans of Slumber // Where Gods Fear to Speak [September 13th, 2024 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Some experiences are unforgettable, and getting to see Oceans of Slumber in the summer of 2024 and really hear Cammie Beverly live was one such experience. There are few people in the world who truly have a Voice with a capital V and Cammie is one of them. The band’s performance was entrancing and her presence was commanding. It was literal goosebumps. I had been enjoying Where Gods Fear to Speak for a few weeks at that point, but seeing Oceans of Slumber live transformed my entire understanding of the unique strengths contained herein. Between her voice, genuinely progressive—and at times challenging—songwriting, and the fantastic performances, Where Gods Fear to Speak sounds like the culmination of the band’s career. Having learned from the past and meshed it all, listeners are left with something transcendent, beautiful, and the perfect balance of heavy and delicate. If there’s one knock on this record, it’s that people may struggle with a flowing relationship to song structure and hooks. But for the sophisticated listener, each song on Where Gods Fear to Speak is a beautiful step on an unforgettable journey.

#8: Iotunn // Kinship [October 25th, 2024 | Metal Blade Records | Bandcamp] — Hard truth time: I was never super enamored in Access All Worlds. While the blog and the commentariat were busy heaping praise upon the best band to come out of Denmark since Mercyful Fate, I held my tongue and gave them the spotlight they deserved because I was in a definite minority. But the record never inspired me. So, I approached Kinship with skepticism. I love Jón’s voice—this is no secret—but at 68 minutes long with 10-minute songs and one record in the bag I hadn’t felt… you know how it goes. I was happily surprised when Kinship hooked me hard. Jón’s voice brings everything together, but the blackened undercurrent spicing up the melodeath riffing (pretty sure Amon Amarth called their lawyers about a couple of the riffs in “The Anguished Ethereal”) matched with an epic scope that could be carried only by someone with the brass timbre and Grondesque vocal power of Aldará. I have been back to this again and again since I broke down and dropped it on the proverbial turntable. It is deep enough to keep me coming back, it’s hooky enough to kick that dopamine into high gear, and it’s beautiful and well-crafted with that aching Scandy melancholy that I crave. Bravo, Iotunn, this is a real first step towards me forgiving your spelling of ‘jotun’ and the Stockholm Bloodbath.

#7: Fellowship // The Skies above Eternity [November 22nd, 2024 | Scarlet Records | Bandcamp] — I am hardly the first person to note that it’s difficult to follow a beloved record. I think it’s even harder to follow a beloved debut. And I doubt there’s an album that’s been released in recent years that is as beloved as Fellowship’s debut, The Saberlight Chronicles. Putting the hopes and fate of the Europower scene in the hands of these tiny pastoral persons and sending them off to Mordor was never a good idea. But surprise, surprise, they survived!5 And they’re back with an album that has inspired the kind of dedication that only the rare band ever gets close to, landing super high on people’s lists despite being a late November release. And you can hear why. The Skies above Eternity is yet another 45ish minutes of fantastic, guitar-driven melodic power metal that simultaneously rules and takes itself seriously enough to have good, interesting, relatable, and at times inspiring lyrics while also embracing the fun and natural, inherent silliness of power metal. That’s a hard balance to strike and Fellowship nails it with aplomb. They say you don’t want to be the guy who follows The Guy, you want to be the guy who follows the guy who follows The Guy. I suspect The Skies above Eternity will always be slightly underrated because it isn’t The Saberlight Chronicles. But fuck me if it isn’t excellent.

#6: Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair [October 4th | Transcending Obscurity Records | Bandcamp] — I knew that these kids from Finland were alright when I jokingly called them “Morbid Angelcore” on Instagram and they took it with grace.6 Honestly, of all the stuff that the “No Fun, Only Reverb and Feels!” flank of AMG has dredged up and dumped hyperbolic praise on, Devenial Verdict is one of the bands to which I feel the most grateful to have been exposed. Often sold as either “dissodeath” or “atmospheric death metal,” because they’re both wildly popular subgenres of death metal, both feel like misnomers. Rather, Blessing of Despair is an album loaded with memorable moments and melodies, and while it does, indeed, employ a lot of “atmosphere,”7 I was not prepared for the elite-level Azagthoth-on-LSD riffs that litter Blessing of Despair. I wouldn’t say that Blessing of Despair is OSDM, but the riffing evokes the masters in ways both direct and subtle and it gives the record an impeccable vibe. Devenial Verdict has wrought a brilliant death metal album where riffs abound, the atmosphere is set on the “Cathedral” setting, and every song is better than the last. Maybe the best word to use to describe their x factor is gravitas. But whatever it is, Devenial Verdict’s got it in spades.

#5: Octoploid // Beyond the Aeons [July 5th, 2024 | Reigning Phoenix Music | Bandcamp] — The amount of love that Beyond the Aeons isn’t receiving is one of the scandals of 2024, in my opinion. This started with our own positive—but tepid, if I’m honest—review of Beyond the Aeons and has continued through Listurnalia. As a passive, but legitimate, autocrat of Angry Metal Guy, I have half a mind to shut this place down over this deep disrespect for Amorphiscore. Honestly, it pains me not to make Beyond the Aeons the #1 album,8 because I have listened to these 33 minutes of extreme metal—occasionally tremmy and black, but mostly just solid melodeath—more than almost anything else this year. Tracks like “Coast of the Drowned Sailors” feed my need for new Amorphis and my secret wish that they were heavier. And that’s one thing I’ll give Octoploid, unlike Barren Earth, Beyond the Aeons doesn’t dwell too long on anything. It kicks off and speeds along, hitting you with catchy leads in the key of Moomin and doubled with synth—as one does. Don’t sleep on Octoploid. Beyond the Aeons is energetic, fun, catchy, and worth at least a couple of spins a week six months after it was released.

#4: Opeth // The Last Will and Testament [November 22nd, 2024 | Moderbolaget] — What Opeth has accomplished on The Last Will and Testament is remarkable. Unlike so many bands, Opeth’s reimaginations of its sound still speak to me. The Last Will and Testament is a smart, coherent, and melodramatic record that does Mikael Åkerfeldt and crew credit. The reason that this record elevates itself above the ceiling that most Newpeth lived under, however, is that they are finally able to turn the music up to 11 again compositionally. After more than a decade without the emotional and compositional peak (and release) of a guttural growl released from the diaphragm over a particularly chunky riff or heavy drums, The Last Will and Testament continues the band’s development but gives them a release valve—”§4″ being the highlight for me, where they transition from Opethro Tull—a jazz flute solo—to Deathro Tull with some operatic, but dour, death metal. And it simply feels good to hear them doing both of these things simultaneously. Having gone through and relistened to the discography at length, it is striking how Opeth circa 2024 sounds very little like the band I fell in love with in the late-’90s/early aughts. To be able to both be markedly different and feel like the same band is a deeply underrated trait. This could have been higher if I’d had longer with it.

#3: Fleshgod Apocalypse // Opera [August 23rd, 2024 | Nuclear Blast Records | Bandcamp] — I knew almost immediately that Opera was going to be a controversial record. I was not prepared for the hyperbolic pushback that Opera garnered from fans of Italy’s death metal answer to [Luca (Turilli / Lione)’s] Rhapsody [of Fire] for being, as I wrote myself, “undeniably poppy.” Sometimes I think that we fans of the extreme metal scene have lost sight of what pop music really is. The fact that people have been heaping scorn on Fleshgod Apocalypse for writing operatic death metal because Veronica Bordacchini doesn’t only sing using proper operatic technique and the band simplified some of its compositional tendencies is, to put it lightly, patently absurd. Opera is fun! It’s energetic and well-crafted, and it has a better excuse for writing more palatable and less grandiose music that uses more traditional pop and rock compositional structures than Nightwish ever had,9 and it literally has dramatic choirs arpeggiating in Latin behind grinding blast beats and death metal growls as I’m writing this blurb! Fucking get over yourselves. Go enjoy the shit out of Opera. No one sounds like Fleshgod Apocalypse and when they hit, they fucking hit. And Opera hits! It is thematically interesting, deeply personal, and cohesive in the way that the best albums are while featuring a diverse and excellent performance from Bordacchini. Easily one of the best records of 2024.

#2: Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe [September 20th, 2024 | Century Media | Bandcamp] — One of the things that makes the work at Angry Metal Guy interesting after 15 years is editing other writers’ work. It’s a pleasure to get to talk to, work with, and help guide the brilliant writers that we have working here. And because I want to hear what I’m reading about at the same time, I listen to a lot of music I would not necessarily have chosen to listen to myself. Noise’s work—such as 2023’s #5 record Leiþa—has come to my attention because of the work that Carcharodon has done in covering his projects. So, when I went to edit Die Urkatastrophe, well aware of the impending 5.0, I was edified to read a well-argued analysis that highlighted for me exactly what it was that appealed to me so much about Kanonenfieber’s critically acclaimed10 platter. Die Urkatastrophe is a powerful album that walks the line between black and death metal, with surprisingly polished and smooth production and artfully crafted songs. Like so many of the best albums, it is both thematically coherent and full of standout moments. Arresting moments like the gunshot at the end of “Der Maulwurf,” the best-placed samples since Velvet Darkness They Fear, and a superb flow make Die Urkatastrophe a triumph that we’ll return to for years.

#1: Hamferð // Men Guðs hond er sterk [March 22nd, 2024 | Metal Blade Records | Bandcamp] — The best album of 2024 was an undeniably easy choice this year. Released the day after my life started falling to pieces, Hamferð’s third masterpiece is a tale of tragedy (with a smidgen of hope), driven by strong songwriting and stronger performances. There are plenty of things that one can point to that help to differentiate Men Guðs hond er sterk from the field this year: the band’s sound is expertly crafted, and with pristine production, and the band—who apparently records without a click track?!—carries the emotional weight of their music perfectly despite the largely opaque language in which it’s presented.11 Furthermore, enough cannot be said about the powerhouse of a vocalist that Hamferð is fortunate enough to have. Jón Aldará’s vocals carry the day with a brassy baritone that evokes the mourning that all doom peddlers are chasing but so few nail. Men Guðs hond er sterk is tight, it’s heavy—though not as heavy as its predecessor, which I missed—but more importantly it’s complete and brilliant and my Record o’ the Year for 2024.

Honorable Mentions:

In Vain // Solemn [April 19th, 2024 | Indie Recordings | Bandcamp] — Having been released when I was in the moment of absolute denial and despair as my life fell apart, you’ll forgive me for not having heard this album until the last couple months of 2024. And I suspect that if I had been able to spend more time with it, it would have worked its way onto the list proper (though, man, it’s hard to know what would go). Once again, In Vain does such an outstanding job of balancing all the different sounds and influences, and I will never get sick of any clean vocals from the brothers Nedland (RIP Solefald). These guys are great and Solemn keeps them batting 1.000.

Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God [June 14th | Debemur Morti Productions | Bandcamp] — Another album that should’ve been higher on my list (but where would I have put Verikalpa then, guys!?). Ulcerate has been awesome and it’s almost unremarkable that they continue to be awesome in new and different ways. The thing that I keep coming back to Cutting the Throat of God for is the fact that these are probably the band’s most addictive and hypnotic riffs. Their sound has always had a fluidity that made them unique, but there are times when I feel like a snake being charmed as I’m listening to Ulcerate pump out fascinating, liquid riffs that seem to morph in scope and feel without ever breaking stride. Another record that is getting the shaft on this list.

Sonata Arctica // Clear Cold Beyond [March 8th, 2024 | Atomic Fire Records] — I started out skeptical about Clear Cold Beyond, and then I ended up loving it. The problem is that this was another record caught up in the Great Dumping o’ 2024 and got lost in the mix. This album has the benefit of having some really fun “we’re sorry we wrote Talviyö and then released two fucking acoustic cover records in a row” moments, but it’s not just an apology tour.12 The strength of Clear Cold Beyond is watching Kakko do the things he’s best at: write about creepy dudes with seriously bad boundaries (“Dark Empath”); write awkward lyrics about social topics that are kind of funny but also maybe not (“California”); and most importantly is his transformation into Dad Rocker (“The Best Things”). This record didn’t ever threaten to be Top 10, but it also deserves a nod for bringing me a ton of joy, even if I can’t listen to “The Best Things” without getting choked up.

Anciients // Beyond the Reach of the Sun [August 30th, 2024 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — I have been a little back and forth with Anciients, but Beyond the Reach of the Sun was an absolute banger that got snubbed for a Record o’ the Month spot, despite receiving an excellently written, laudatory review from Saunders. And perpetual self-editing complaints aside, Anciients is one of those bands whose ability to craft Riffs is unmatched. Every single song on this album has one of those Riffs—not just riffs, gotta capitalize that R so everyone knows that we’re talking about iconic stuff here—and I am, frankly, jealous of the feel and groove that these guys seem to have as second nature. This album clicked for me when I put it in the cans on a flight and just sat and listened to it and man, we are spoiled with an absolute embarrassment of riches in metal. These guys are an honorable mention? It’s unfair.

Caligula’s Horse // Charcoal Grace [January 26th, 2024 | InsideOut Records | Bandcamp] — After it was summarily 3.0’d by the guy who brought you the Angra list everyone thought was absolute crap, I feel like everyone just forgot about Charcoal Grace. But I’m going to be honest with you, this record deserved a lot better than it got at the hands of the traitorous reviewer who poo-poohed it and then, allegedly, went on to kick his dog and demand his wife make him a sandwich. This is a more subtle Caligula’s Horse, I admit. How they seem to be swapping places with Haken becomes more manifest with every release. But this record is a true headphones album that deserves a hi-def version of the release, serious cans, and a dark room. It’s loaded with great riffs and fantastic songs and has a particularly poignant and powerful closing. Also, the level of detail here is unreal. Appreciate what you have while they are still putting out amazing albums.

Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System [June 28th, 2024 | Rotted Life Records | Bandcamp] — One of the surprises of the year is an album named after one of the funniest jabs at the anarchosyndicalists in our lives. Noxis’ brand of frantic, technical death metal—complete with my favorite snare of the year—has swept through the Angry Metal Guy staff for a reason. The reason? It’s fucking great. At 45 minutes, Violence Inherent in the System is a record with the energy and addictiveness of Gorod, even if the songwriting chops aren’t quite on that level yet. But you don’t have to be Gorod-good to be good and Noxis is good. I’m looking forward to their sophomore release Scimitars Thrown in Farcical Aquatic Ceremonies, due Q4 2025/Q1 2026.

Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart [January 26th, 2024 | Dark Essence Records | Bandcamp] — In my Record o’ the Month blurb for Old Eyes, New Heart, I wrote “What Old Eyes, New Heart does is show Madder Mortem as alive and creative as ever, showcasing a more vulnerable, introspective side of themselves. Tracks like ‘Here and Now’ and ‘Cold Hard Rain’ weep with power and raw emotion, giving fans all the feelz they yearn for, and there’s simmering anger girding the material as well. As GardensTale noted, regarding the very personal, intense feeling of the new music: ‘Old Eyes, New Heart will stand as one of the most intimate and therapeutic albums we’re bound to get this year.’ And who isn’t going to need a little bit of therapy in 2024?” Yeah, I found myself listening to this album a lot this year because it expresses what I couldn’t. Again, prescient.

Blood Incantation // Absolute Elsewhere [October 4th, 2024 | Century Media Records | Bandcamp] — Yeah, it’s fine I guess. A little overhyped in the comment section, though. Remember that time when it got released and everyone who hadn’t heard it yet was like “RECORD OF THE YEAR!!!!!!1!” five minutes later? Pepperidge Farms remembers.

Top 10(ish) Songs o’ the Year:

#ish: Karol G // “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” — Fuck you.

#10: Sonata Arctica // “The Best Things” — Fans of the band and this album are going to laugh, but this song kills me. Dad rock. I love it.

#9: Wintersun // “Storm” — When I saw everyone sporting “Silver Leaves” as the highlight of Time II, I had to do a double-take. As I covered at length in my review, the one song that I felt lived up to Jaari’s potential as a player and composer was “Storm,” and this track is a fucking doozy. This track perfectly executes both the blend of blackened death metal and power metal that makes Wintersun’s inability to produce something truly epic frustrating. If I had only heard “Ominous Clouds” and “Storm,” Time II would’ve gotten a 4.5. This is the only memorable thing he wrote on the entire album.

#8: Oceans of Slumber // “Wish” — It’s weird the tracks that call to you on an album. I love this whole record for a bunch of different reasons, but on “Wish” there are little melodic things that Cammie does here that make my heart ache. The lyrics, too. I feel ’em. Deeply underrated record.

#7: Fellowship // “Victim” — “I swear, I won’t always feel like a victim! I won’t always fight on my own! So, forgive me these transgressions as I live a life of lessons and I grow to overshadow darker thrones! This king is king alone!”

#6: Opeth // “§4” — No more perfect encapsulation of why Opeth is impressive than how hard they nailed this song. Love the porn beat with the Ian Anderson flute solo (Deathro Tull, lol) that gives way to stadium rock that gives way to grindy death metal. Just inject that fucking shit straight into my fucking veins. Unff.

#5: Grendel’s Sÿster // “Cosmogony” — This song is metal as fuck. I love the fun little extra beat they drop in to make it feel like a slightly lopsided wheel rolling along. But there’s nothing about this that doesn’t live up to what I wrote above: good, honest heavy metal. Catchy, riffy, and fun to listen to. Top it off with a bass-heavy section and a gallop carried on the guitar and you’ve got yourself a recipe for an epic, addictive track. More of this, plz.

#4: Fleshgod Apocalypse // “Morphine Waltz” — This song fucking rules. From the opening strains with the horn section in the orchestra to the 3/4 time signature (y’know, ’cause it’s actually a waltz), to the raw, punky performance from Bordacchini. Extra points for the fucking balls to the wall bridge with the huge choirs before the guitar solo. Like, how do you fucking people not think this is one of the best albums of the year? JFC.

#3: Caligula’s Horse // “Mute” — One of Caligula’s Horse’s strongest traits is their ability to write epic conclusions to their albums. “Mute” is up there with “Graves” in terms of the sheer weightiness of the whole thing—though this time it’s more delicate. Beautiful.

#2: Anciients // “Despoiled” — Riff of the year at 3:57. Gives me involuntary metal face. Love the vocal melodies, too. Great stuff.

#1: Madder Mortem // “Things I’ll Never Do” — This song fucking kills me. Has anyone checked on their lyricist recently?

#2024 #Anciients #AngryMetalGuy #AngryMetalGuySRecordSOTheYear #AngryMetalGuySTop10Ish_ #BeyondTheAeons #BlessingOfDespair #BloodIncantation #BloomDecay #CaligulaSHorse #DawnTreader #DevenialVerdict #DieUrkatastrophe #Fellowship #FleshgodApocalypse #GrendelSSÿster #Hamferð #InVain #Iotunn #Kanonenfieber #KarolG #KatabasisIntoTheAbaton #Kinship #Listurnalia2024 #MadderMortem #MenGuðsHondErSterk #Noxis #OceansOfSlumber #Octoploid #Opera #Opeth #SonataArctica #TheLastWillAndTestament #TheSkiesAboveEternity #TimeII #Tuomio #Ulcerate #Verikalpa #WhereGodsFearToSpeak #Wintersun

Kenstrosity’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

By Kenstrosity

When I think back on this year, a year of unprecedented stress and struggle for this sponge, one predominant emotion rises above the rest. Gratitude. I went through hardships I couldn’t possibly have anticipated; watched as harrowing events, both global and domestic, rocked our world; and trudged through time-dilating frights that I only previously experienced in some of my worst nightmares. And yet, I persist! I found myself asking, once again, why I was spared a worse fate where others weren’t? What have I done in life to deserve the good fortune I’ve received? In time I’ve come to believe that understanding the why of it all isn’t always the most important part. In some ways, the pursuit of an answer to “why” even blinds us to more enriching lessons we can learn from the experiences we share, both mundane and extraordinary. These things teach us how to be human, how to grow, how to thrive, and how to come together as a community. So, for what must be the first time of my life, I stopped asking why anything happened, as tempting as that spiral always looked from outside. Instead, I spent all of my energy prioritizing the moment, experiencing it, allowing it to change me and mold me, and to be present in it not just for me, but for my friends, my family, and my neighbors.

Back to gratitude. More so this year than any other, I must express my deepest, most heartfelt gratitude for damn near everyone. When my roommate and I lost everything overnight, I felt completely and utterly overwhelmed by the response. Hands of friends, family, and community reached towards us, open to do whatever they could to help us up. AMG Himself, Steel Druhm, Sentynel, GardensTale, Twelve, Dolphin Whisperer, Maddog, Holdeneye, Cherd of Doom, Grymm, El Cuervo, Dr. Wvrm, Ferrous Beuller, Saunders, Eldritch Elitist, Doom_et_Al, Dear Hollow, Carcharodon, Felgund, Ferox, Thus Spoke, Iceberg, Mystikus Hugebeard, Itchy, the n00bs, a shit ton of Discord frens, all of my meatspace friends, Mom, Dad, my sister, some of my extended family, my work colleagues and acquaintances, random kind strangers, even Dr. A. N. Grier went above and beyond to help directly with our recovery. Every single member of staff here did whatever they could to give some relief, far beyond what I could’ve ever asked for, and it overwhelms my little heart to know they cared that deeply. My owlpal and great friend Rolderathis, writer and editor at Toilet ov Hell, unexpectedly swooped in via Discord to jump start our financial recovery by creating a crowdsourcing page for us—even as the admin for AMG planned to do the same. Instrumental to its dissemination and subsequent explosion,1 both AMG Himself and Steel Druhm made sure to aggressively spread the word via an official post on this very site, and in their own circles public and private. Friends and family did the same, to great effect. Toilet ov Hell even posted their own article, too, and I don’t even fucking write there. Incredible. My aunt and her husband helped us replace two full rooms worth of furniture without hesitation, and another close friend of mine provided yet another room’s worth on top of that. Our friends reached far and wide to find opportunities to get us shelter, food, essential items, and vital emotional support. FEMA did more than their part for us as well, and they continue to help us as we navigate the next stages of long-term recovery. My therapist stuck with me through the storm, helped carry me through some concerning emotional blockages shortly after, and continues to guide me now. The continuous waves of support and outreach blew me away, and motivated me to pay it forward in whatever way I was capable for those who were going through hell with us. I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

As if a hurricane wasn’t enough to bear, Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer just ten days after the storm hit. Still, there shined small silver linings that kept me going. It was caught very early, and she has already returned home after a resoundingly successful surgery, where they removed the tumor in block.2 As scary as the thought of losing my Mom right after everything else that’s happened was, I choose to emphasize the excellent treatment and attention to detail that allowed Mom to come home quickly and in decent health, all things considered. I choose to be with my family, to live in this moment through the pain, the fear, the uncertainty, so I can be there when the sun inevitably shines again, too. I want to extend a very special thanks to Dad, who remained constantly by Mom’s side and supported her through every stage of this development when I wasn’t able.

All of this merely scratches the surface of everything we’ve gone through in 2024. But we are still here!3 We are living the best we can, helping each other to survive, and perhaps soon to also thrive again. The sense of community I feel not just for my deeply wounded city, but also the people in my life, deepened significantly just in the last few months. These experiences have changed me, changed my outlook on life and on relationships. The fragility of life and the sheer power of the love that comes from the people in it sharpen my understanding of what’s really important. Life is about the people you have, the way you treat them, and how you conduct yourself in this world to try to improve it with your unique light, little by little. It’s about supporting your loved ones as they go through good times just as fiercely as when they go through hardship and change. It’s about growing every day into the very best version of yourself, and being there to witness and celebrate the same journey in those close to you. I understand that more today than ever before, and I am thankful that this lesson, above all else, is my takeaway from 2024.

It’s going to be a while before we can return home to AVL, but I’ve already returned full force to my home away from home, Angry Metal Guy! I’d like to thank Steel Druhm and AMG Himself again for keeping my spot warm for me and for being excellent taskmasters and blogrunners, to Sentynel for keeping things running smoothly on the back end and for being awesome in general at his job, to all the writers for continuously providing the internet with the best worst opinions on metal extant, and to Dr. A. N. Grier for deleting everything I’ve ever written so that nobody has to suffer my silly goofy ramblings.

With that said, everybody should probably snapshot this little Top Ten(ish) of mine before Grier deletes that, too. It looks mighty different to how it would’ve had the storm not happened, both because I couldn’t listen to any new music for a while and because the event itself ushered a sharp shift in my listening preferences. Regardless, I’m happy with my selections, and I fully expect the rest of you to rabble at my confounding omissions.4 Let it commence!

#ish. Elvellon // Ascending in Synergy – Elvellon holds a special place in my heart, and thanks to masterful songsmithing, Ascending in Synergy holds a well-deserved placement on my list. I simply haven’t been able to stop jamming it all year. Ascending in Synergy is everything I loved about metal when I first got into it, and it embodies much of what I love about metal today. It never hurts that the first eight songs are all megaton bangers. This record would have placed nearer the top if it weren’t for the monologue in the penultimate epic. Nonetheless, I love Ascending in Synergy.

#10. Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart – Ever since Marrow, Madder Mortem successfully won me over where every other album in their back catalog failed to resonate. I can’t explain what exactly it was that captured my adoration all of a sudden, but Old Eyes, New Heart has my heart just as Marrow did before it. Smart compositions, earnest delivery, crystalline lyrics, lush sound, this record has it all. I’d be a fool not to award it placement on this list.

#9. Oceans of Slumber // Where Gods Fear to Speak – Oceans of Slumber carved out an ever-evolving, fearlessly creative, and unique sound for themselves since their inception, but always seemed somewhat inconsistent with the quality of their songwriting. Not so on their magnum opus Where Gods Fear to Speak. Immense, cohesive, and richly layered with detail and compelling songwriting, Where Gods Fear to Speak feels like the culmination of their entire career, fully matured and refined to peak form.

#8. Sunburst // Manifesto – There was a point in time that I was confident Manifesto would top this list. That was largely due to sheer excitement that a new Sunburst album, which I never thought I would see in the first place, actually turned out to be great. Rich compositions, sharp hooks, and a masterful performance from everyone involved, Manifesto solidifies Sunburst as one of the best bands out of the Greek power metal scene. I just hope that I don’t have to wait another eight years for the next one!

#7. Scumbag // Homicide Cult – This record is simply unfair. I had my Top 10 all sorted out, and then some bottle-nosed bastard with a dorsal fin and a propensity for beating up smaller mammals on the wrong side of the sea had me check this out, with the promise of killer riffs by the main Noxis guitarist. That bastard was right, this record absolutely rips. There are so many unbelievably filthy, stank-face inducing riffs on Homicide Cult that I had to get plastic surgery to look like myself again. Otherwise, I’d look more like my rotted-out friend on the cover.

#6. Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System – Death metal this good hits me in a special place. While embodying all of the skullcrushing ways of olde, Violence Inherent in the System represents one of the most creative, smart, and well-produced records in modern death metal currently. And while my review helped spike the hype, it still feels a bit like Noxis are running further under the radar than they deserve. Coming out of absolute nowhere and dropping the best straight-up death metal of the year? Unreal.

#5. Feind // Ambulante Hirnamputation – Grind, and all of its hybrids, never once made it on my proper Top 10. I’ve written here for six years. That’s how powerful Feind’s Ambulante Hirnamputation truly is. Immense fun, more quality riffs stuffed into less than twenty minutes than some of the best records can fit into an hour, and cheeky to boot, Ambulante Hirnamputation proves that Feind mastered the grindset. Let’s hope this isn’t the last I get to hear of Feind.

#4. Brodequin // Harbinger of Woe – In contrast to grind, I almost always have a brutal death metal record on my Top 10. It’s a style that resonates with me very easily, and there’s never a shortage of it for my personal enjoyment. Brodequin won the day in a year chock full of great options, with the immensely accessible Harbinger of Woe. The sheer level of groove brimming from this torture chamber sends my booty into overdrive, and the thick, nasty production only serves to enhance the entire experience. There’s very little else I could ask for to sate my brutal death cravings.

#3. Iotunn // Kinship – It’s been a banner year for our friend Jon Aldará. Where Iotunn’s Access All Worlds interested, but did not woo, me, follow-up Kinship absolutely rocked my socks. Every single track is a celebration of epic, melodic, and deeply immersive extreme metal. Gorgeous compositions, ascendant guitar work, ridiculous replay value, and stellar vocals propelled Kinship way up on my list of favorite records at a blistering pace, leaving me revelling in an idyllic honeymoon period. Even after investing more time marinating in its wondrous environs, I’ve only fallen deeper and deeper in love with it. I just can’t imagine how Iotunn are going to top this.

#2. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – This is the year for records that floored me where their predecessors didn’t. Replicant’s Malignant Reality was enjoyable, but couldn’t touch my Top 10 in its year. Infinite Mortality, on the other hand, made a valiant bid for Album o’ the Year from the very first riff kicking “Acid Mirror” into the stratosphere. Hardcore-tinged technical death metal for fans of the discordant and the unorthodox, Infinite Mortality is supremely memorable not just for its sound, but for its infallible, hook-laden construction. Infinite Mortality may not be the only record of its kind released this year, but it’s without a doubt the greatest.

#1. Myrath // Karma – Hurricane Helene took my home. It changed the ecology, geology, and pedology of the entire Asheville region, likely for all time. But one thing it couldn’t take from me is my spirit, my drive to survive, and my determination to thrive. Even during a long period where access to music was a rare luxury, Karma remained at the forefront of my mind. It held me from giving up and reminded me of the strength that burgeoned not just in myself, but also in my friends, family, and greater community as we rebuilt our lives together. If there was ever a record released this year that embodies that spirit of triumph over adversity, it’s Myrath’s incredible Karma. It was always going to be high on this list, thanks to its insanely memorable songwriting and passionate performances of univerally great songs. However, it wasn’t until I personally resonated with its empowering message in the context of a devastating natural disaster that I knew this would be, unquestionably, my Album o’ the Year.

Honorable Mentions

• Amiensus // Reclamation Pt. II – Thoughtful, dynamic, and immersive, Reclamation Pt. II represents the pinnacle of what I like in progressive black metal.
• The Flaying // Ni dieu ni maître – Unsung melodic death metal heroes The Flaying offer up nonstop hooks and a crazy bass performance delivered at a feral pace.
• Hamferð // Men Guds hond er sterk – Empotionally compelling and monstrously heavy, Men Guds hond er sterk is death doom at its peak form.
• Khirki // Κ​υ​κ​ε​ώ​ν​α​ς – Massively dynamic hard rock that comes from the heart and the head, not the butt.
• Saidan // Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity – Fun, fast, ferocious, Visual Kill is an unqualified blast of killer hyper-melodic black metal.
• Unhallowed Deliverance // Of Spectres and Strife – Deathcore rarely offers this level of dynamics and quality in songwriting, and it hits like a runaway train full of unstable nuclear warheads.

Non-Metal Album o’ the Year

• Kali Uchis // Orquídeas – Simply put, this album is pure sex. Period.

EP o’ the Year

• Glassbone // Deaf to Suffering – Far and away the slimiest, crustiest, and bestest slam of the year. Absolute filth.

Song o’ the Year

• Elvellon – “A Vagabond’s Heart” – Easily my most listened to song of the year, “A Vagabond’s Heart” strikes a special chord in my spirit that embodies everything I used to love and everything I love today. Furthermore, it leaves me hopeful and excited for what the future holds. As a delightful bonus, it’s catchy as all get-out. I couldn’t ask for a better song to fit this slot.

Surprise o’ the Year:

• Nightwish // Yesterwynde – My original intent was to place this somewhere on my list proper, but the storm foiled that aspiration, as I rarely got to listen to any new music that came out in late September and pretty much all of October until it was way too late. But when I did get to spend time with Yesterwynde, it continually impressed me. Songs that felt novel and exciting, performances that brimmed with new life, and wonderful pacing from start to finish, Nightwish’s latest record feels like a return to form. I’m excited to follow them on this latest arc in their career.5

Disappointment o’ the Year:

• Vredehammer // God Slayer – The riffs are there, that’s for sure. But the album just doesn’t come together in a way that scratches my brain at all. Therefore, I had the most difficult time sitting through God Slayer. Shame, especially considering how much of a banger each of the previous two records were…

#2024 #Amiensus #Brodequin #Elvellon #Feind #Glassbone #Hamferð #Iotunn #KaliUchis #KenstrositySTopTenIshOf2024 #Khirki #MadderMortem #Myrath #Nightwish #Noxis #OceansOfSlumber #Replicant #Saidan #Scumbag #Sunburst #TheFlaying #UnhallowedDeliverance #Vredehammerð

El Cuervo’s, GardensTale’s, and Eldritch Elitist’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

By El Cuervo

El Cuervo

After more than a decade in this job, the years start to blur. While there may be an almost imperceptible feeling that some years are musically stronger than others, I’ve started to reach the realization that they’re all basically the same. 99% of heavy metal spawned into the world is destined to be forgotten or disparaged.

That’s not to say I’m bored of this state of affairs. The metal community, and in particular its underground, remains in a robust position to peddle the best non-mainstream music in the world, boasting a wide array of sub-genres from all over the globe. Just look at my list below: nine of the selections are from the atypical regions of Northern Europe and North America, hitherto unknown for their metal output.

Nonetheless, it’s the year-to-year consistency that highlights the importance of gathering our thoughts at annual intervals to assemble a list of real quality. This process reminds me why I still spend hundreds of hours each year consuming and reviewing new music. These stand-outs justify my decision and I deeply enjoy commemorating them in this ranking extravaganza. Revel in the albums that most excited me in 2024.

#10. A Burial at Sea // Close to Home – As much as music may impress you with its technical chops or hook you with its bold melodies, it’s music that makes you feel something that endures. The idiosyncratic brand of post-rock heard on Close to Home, dipping into brassy jazz and techy math rock as much as it does shoegaze, always prioritizes its emotive impact above all else. I love the gentle lilt, the crashing apices, the shimmering walls of noise, the orchestral edges. A Burial at Sea ebbs with slow rhythms and delicate chords, but flows with heavy drums and tremolo-picked melodies. The natural cadence across tracks makes the album feel complete. Each year yields one or two ‘mood’ releases for me to savor in a dark room with my headphones and my thoughts; 2024’s is Close to Home.

#9. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – As much as I initially enjoyed Die Urkatastrophe as a studio album, it took the Kanonenfieber live experience to really get its hooks into me. This isn’t just blackened death metal. It’s theatrical, energetic, and catchy, without devolving into something as simple as ‘meloblack’. The shout-along choruses and grooving leads were accentuated in a live setting, and I was incentivized to dig back through the Kanonenfieber back catalog. But the gig wouldn’t have been as entertaining as it was without the underlying music being of high quality. I’ve been to plenty of shows which have encouraged me to revisit an artist – but where the studio release is far less potent. Die Urkatastrophe has the chops and power to excel in both formats.

#8. Aquilus// Bellum II – Lots of black metal adopts the adjective of ‘atmospheric’ but few come as close to this as Aquilus. Horace Rosenqvist forges music that harmonizes but transcends classical and black metal, beguiling and terrifying in equal measure. Bellum II may be marginally the lesser of Bellum I, but it’s still among the best music released this year. Its compositions are extraordinary, as they subtly and satisfyingly transition from delicate piano and strings to towering black metal blasts. This is the prime example of the album’s devastating dichotomies that I previously described (“elegance and savagery; serenity and chaos; airiness and crunch”). Rosenqvist is a singularly mesmerizing instrumentalist and composer, able to pull contrasting music into a brutal but beautiful whole.

#7. Hamferð // Men Guðs hond er sterk – It’s hard to conceive of a more metal homeland than the Faroe Islands. Cold? Dark? Remote? Check, check, check. This results in Hamferð’s frigid, towering block of death-inflected doom metal that owes as much to its isolated island roots as it does to any other metal band. Men Guðs hond er sterk is a crushingly heavy album, but one gilded with a hopeful edge derived from its concept wherein a survivor of a whaling accident emphasizes the miracle of his life. While prioritizing the sheer weight of mass and exquisitely despondent leads, the album also benefits from one of metal’s most talented vocalists in Jón Aldará, who runs the gamut from bellowing growls to melancholic croons. Though it runs out of steam by the gentle acoustic conclusion, the preceding thirty-nine minutes are monumental.

#6. Blood Incantation // Absolute Elsewhere – Blood Incantation is plainly an excellent band. But I’m struggling to explain why Absolute Elsewhere became the underground cross-over metal album of the year, favored by big and small publications alike. Perhaps it’s the savage but technical riffs that make you mosh and think simultaneously. Perhaps it’s the Floydian approach to song structures. Perhaps it’s the penchant for meandering, Tangerine Dreamy interludes. Perhaps it’s the sophisticated fusion of something heavy so listeners feel edgy, with something chill so listeners feel safe. Perhaps it’s the conspiratorial orientation around our alien overlords building the pyramids. Perhaps it’s all of these and more. Hmm. On reflection, I think I do understand why everyone loves Absolute Elsewhere as much as they do.

#5. Crypt Sermon // The Stygian Rose – We all know that doom is the worst core metal sub-genre. To my abject horror, 2024 saw not one but two excellent examples of it. Crypt Sermon stormed the top five of my list, folding excellent leads and engaging solos into some of the most captivating metal of the year. While the front half is good, it’s the back half where things hit another level. “Heavy Is the Crown of Bone” until the title track exemplifies the best of the sub-genre through their epic proportions, memorable melodies and fat, crunchy guitar tones. While the riffs have immediate impact, the detailed compositions give the songs real staying power. Layers of guitars, a tempo that eschews dirge speeds, varied vocals and progressive song constructions march the album to a conclusion that comes too quickly.

#4. Syst3m Glitch // The Brave Ones – The remainder of this list documents my love for heavy metal and all things progressive. But synthwave is the third pillar of my music library and the most joyous. The best of the year comes from Florida’s Syst3m Glitch. He’s not always been my first pick for synths, but The Brave Ones dramatically outperformed his prior output and muscled its way into my favorite albums from 2024. It’s stuffed full of catchy, memorable tunes that traverse the synthwave soundscape, from the pop-laced sweetness of “California,” to the pulsing rhythms of “Thrill Ride,” to the darksynth pastiche of “Tommy Danger,” and finally to the smooth retrowave of “Raining in Tokyo.” It’s rare for one release to cover this much territory, and rarer still that it’s so successful in doing so.

#3. Dissimulator // Lower Form Resistance – February is early in the year but I knew then that Lower Form Resistance would be high on my list. Dissimulator inherits death metal traits from the members’ other bands (including Beyond Creation and First Fragment) but builds these into uber-tight, technical thrash metal. The excellence of the riffs here is fucking relentlessness; no other 2024 release can boast such a fine repertoire. From the ridiculously good “Neural Hack” until the closer, the album generates such entertainment value that it feels half as long as it is. The exemplary instrumentation, chaotic energy and technological feel make Lower Form Resistance sound like Voivod reinvented for the 2020s. In a sub-genre so preoccupied with rehashing old ideas – I do not accept that thrash metal must sound like 1986 – Dissimulator thrives by looking forward.

#2. In Vain // Solemn – It’s no secret that I’m a prog nerd. While In Vain has always been plenty progressive through varied and unpredictable songwriting, what I envy most is the knack for incorporating myriad styles into one cohesive sound. Solemn follows two prior records demarcated by their fusions of melodic death metal, black metal, progressive rock, and Nordic folk music. This fusion has never been more seamless than it is in 2024. The expansive songs feel like they should be extremely long and complex but in reality, they hardly exceed seven minutes and utilize powerful melodic anchors. As if all this wasn’t enough, the quintessential In Vain guitar and vocal harmonies, and orchestral pomp, elevate the songs into metal magic. Solemn is pure Cuervo catnip.

#1. Opeth // The Last Will and Testament – It feels like I’ve spent much of the last few months describing just how much I admire Opeth. This year-end list is no exception as I properly rank The Last Will and Testament as 2024’s best release. With the Opeth ranking articles so recent, I think it would fall into the upper half of their work. In a discography littered with records revered by both metalheads and prog nerds, this demarcates a record of rare quality. Though – yes – Åkerfeldt returns to growled vocals here, this is just a small piece of what makes The Last Will and Testament so good. From the sophisticated compositions to the entertaining story, and the exemplary instrumentation to the immaculate production, its knotty harmonization of death metal with progressive rock has the aura of perfection. No other record from 2024 can make such a claim.

Honorable Mentions

• Beardfish // Songs for Beating Hearts – The unheralded return of these Swedes yields a shockingly vital slice of prog rock, boasting tidy riffs, folksy warmth, and engaging song-writing.
• At 1980 // Forget to Remember – While predictable, At 1980 remains an interminably satisfying retrowave artist through their smooth synths, melodic guitar solos, and easy vocals.
• Morgul Blade // Heavy Metal Wraiths – Morgul Blade forms a destructive harmony between three of my favorite things: razor-sharp classic metal leads, harsh vocal,s and Tolkien nerdery.
• Kalax // Lost – While bloated and meandering – lost, perhaps – the return of Liverpool’s premier retro synth act finds a delicate dichotomy between frigidity and comfort.

Songs o’ the Year

1. Unto Others – “Never, Neverland”
2. Syst3m Glitch – “Raining in Tokyo”
3. Iotunn – “Iridescent Way”
4. Opeth – “A Story Never Told”
5. Lebrock – “Goliath”
6. At 1980 – “Your Secret”
7. Nestor – “Caroline”
8. Crypt Sermon – “The Stygian Rose”
9. Dissimulator – “Neural Hack”
10. Winterun – “Silver Leaves”

GardensTale

Fucking hell, what a year. Ordinarily, I’d try and wax poetically on the passing of time or some shit here. Looking back with melancholy and whatnot seems to be the intention for opening paragraphs to arbitrary lists of what music this one rando that I happen to be got the most enjoyment from this year. But I think this time, I’ll try some brutal honesty instead. It’s not been a great year overall. I won’t bore you with a tedious list, numbering my shades of the various common mental issues people my age and disposition face, but suffice it to say I’ve closed out most prior years in better spirits. But I’m getting help, I’m fighting it, and I’m learning. Learning to give myself grace, to step back when I need to. And if that sometimes means slowing down on a review, well, it’s a small price to pay.

One consequence is that I have spent less time listening to music I wasn’t reviewing. That shows below because this list will look like the most self-congratulatory thing I ever wrote. The vast majority of entries I penned myself, be it as a full article, a TYMHM or even a filter entry. But the funny part is, I thought it was a really strong year! I had quite a sizeable shortlist to whittle down. But then I was done whittling and discovered I’d almost exclusively cut albums I did not review, like APES, Crypt Sermon and Hamferð for instance. Additionally, I find I’ve added less to the list in the second half of the year, and my sullied brain has questioned myself many times: was autumn weaker than usual, or is my growing ennui obstructing my ability to like things as much as they deserve?

I don’t know, to tell the truth. And I’m unlikely to find out, because time marches on and new releases darken the horizon of January even now. There are only so many hours in the day, so much music hitting the virtual marketplaces and streaming colossi. To give each year its proper due would take 5 years, or having no job or other hobbies. So I can’t give you a fair, balanced and complete list of the best records of the year, because I do have a job and other hobbies, and no time machine. I can only give you the records that made me feel good. I hope they made or will make you feel good, too.

(ish). Dool // The Shape of Fluidity — I’ve been aware of Dool for a while now, even before vocalist Raven van Dorst became a national television personality. But it wasn’t until I caught “Venus in Flames” on the metal radio station in the car that I became interested in their music. The Shape of Fluidity crystallizes Van Dorst’s lifelong struggle with identity into a fierce, defiant, and intensely personal album. The androgynous vocals sizzle with raw emotion, and the instrumentation is likewise fluid in its presentation, swaying from almost post-punk energy to Anathema-adjacent prog and dipping into epic doom. An excellent album that really puts Dool on the map.

10. Alcest // Les Chants de l’Aurore — Here’s a fun fact: I always thought Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde wasn’t Alcest’s first album. It was the first album of theirs I heard, but since about 97 out of 100 bands that evolve their sound go softer rather than harder, I assumed there was something more extreme preceding it. Alcest tends to do things differently, though, changing things up rather radically from album to album. Les Chants de l’Aurore has elements from many of its older siblings, but the mood it sets is such a beautiful warm summer melancholy, it sets it apart in a very special way. And seeing it performed live a few weeks ago was a very special experience that seared the album in my mind.

9. Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart — No, I’ll never stop proselytizing Madder Mortem, why do you ask? Old Eyes, New Heart wasn’t what I expected, yet in many ways was just what I needed, and was strangely prophetic at times. It’s the most intensely personal album from the Norwegians (which is saying something) and through the healing power of shared misery, sitting down with it is like a good session with a therapist.

8. 40 Watt Sun // Little Weight — Patrick Walker could sing me The Cat In The Hat and I’d still feel like weeping. I’m not sure the man could earn anything below a 4.0 from me if he tried. That being said, Little Weight still takes a spot by the sunny window that 40 Watt Sun hasn’t explored before. Where Perfect Light and Wider Than the Sky were steeped in sadness, Little Weight expels it. It might be the most hopeful album I’ve heard this year, a return to the light from the deepest darkest places. It’s been a comforting hug on bad days, a warm blanket to fight the cold.

7. Walg // IV — The second year in a row I get to feature this duo. Walg is quickly becoming one of my favorite black metal bands. IV fits any mood, really. It’s got anger, it’s got despair, but it also has enough catchy tunes and energy for when you’re in a good mood. You can play the whole thing start to finish, and you can pick out your favorites and stick ‘em in a playlist. As such, it’s been this year’s ol’ reliable, the album to return to when nothing else sparks joy.

6. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe — If I had a nickel for every time an acclaimed blackened death metal band exclusively used historically accurate World War I accounts and even performed in uniform, I’d have two nickels. It’s kind of difficult for me to mentally separate Kanonenfieber and 1914 for obvious reasons. Luckily there is space for both in the trenches because Noise’s project has become a mean Menschen mühling machine. “Der Maulwurf” grabbed me by the throat from the first spin, and everything else followed over and over again. Epic, bludgeoning and harrowing.

5. Labyrinthus Stellarum // Vortex of the Worlds — I can’t stop playing this album. It is stuck in my algorithm. The bleeps and bloops that summon Hastur from the depths of space and time live in my head and they do not pay rent. How did two kids1 from a war-torn country manage this? Labyrinthus Stellarum is so goddamn good at composing addictive melodies in 4 dimensions it should be considered unfair. The only reason it’s not higher is because at this point the competition becomes even more unfair.

4. Iotunn // Kinship — A lot of people told me in the comments that the closing track on Kinship is a great song and shouldn’t have affected my rating of the album as a whole. They are wrong on both counts. This is a shame because up to that point, this is the album of the year. Earning what amounts to a 4.495 despite a disappointing closer is an incredible feat, but the songwriting on the best couple of tracks here is simply unparalleled. “Mistland,” “The Coming End” and especially “Earth to Sky” are just massive in a way few bands ever achieve, and Iotunn make it seem effortless.

3. Vredehammer // God Slayer — One improvement to my life is that I am returning semi-regularly to the gym these days. I’ve struggled with working out consistently, but I can usually get a session a week in these days. And my number one companion for these outings has been God Slayer. The bridge in the title track alone gives me enough energy to break whatever personal record I’ll be working on at the time. Just looking at the album art gives me an extra pound of gains for the week.

2. Meer // Wheels Within Wheels — Yeah, it’s not really metal, but it’s proggy and it’s fucking gorgeous so up yours, elitists! I’ve come to the opinion that Norway is simply the best country for prog in general, and Meer is just another notch in that belt. Whereas Playing House didn’t really grab me at the time, I couldn’t stop spinning Wheels Within Wheels. I had to start every day with “Come to Light” for a while, and the climax of that track is so uniquely empowering it’d help beat down whatever funk I found myself in at the time. The symphonic composition and multi-vocal approach are just beautiful and it truly does not get old. Meer has outdone itself.

1. Huntsmen // The Dry Land — I’ve had multiple comeback stories this year. Outside of metal, both Elbow and That Handsome Devil returned with fantastic albums after the last was simply disappointing. The biggest comeback and biggest surprise was, without a doubt, Huntsmen. Mandala of Fear was such a slog, I could never have expected the perfect tight flow of The Dry Land. Every track is a journey in and of itself, and the diversity is immense. The Dry Land has become one of those albums where I can’t put it on without finishing it entirely; I’ll just keep going ‘Oh yes the next song has these awesome mournful vocals’ or ‘Ah here comes that mindblowing transition.’ It’s been a great year for metal and music in general, but the way Huntsmen returned from the grave and far surpassed even their vaunted debut was the absolute peak for me, and it has not since been surpassed by any other release.

Honorable Mentions

• Sleepytime Gorilla Museum // of the Last Human Being — Considering how thrilled I was to get a new SGM album I expected this to wind up higher, but it’s still a great and unsettling resurrection for one of the true premier avant-garde collectives.
• Selbst // Despondency Chord Progressions — There’s been plenty of emotionally grabbing black metal of various sorts this year, but Selbst had the coolest take out of them all, with a melodic sense that felt almost trad metal without losing edge or impact.
• Monkey3 // Welcome to the Machine — Easily the best instrumental album of the year. Tasteful nods to Pink Floyd wrapped in a massive maelstrom of heavy psych that gets the balancing act of repetition and evolution precisely right.
• The Vision Bleak // Weird Tales — An even tighter and more cohesive album than its excellent predecessor. Weird Tales is like an amazing haunted house ride.
• Sidewinder // Talons — I really wanted to have this in the main list, because you don’t get stoner this great very often. Alas, the competition was too strong. But listen to it anyway if you haven’t!

Non-Metal Albums

This is a metal blog, despite our occasional forays into tangential material like Meer. But several of my favorite non-metal artists all released some excellent albums, and considering the year I’ve had and the state of the world, I’d rather end with some positivity for the open-minded among you, who are secure enough in their trveness to partake in some decidedly vntrve yet excellent releases.

• Man Man // Carrot on Strings — The quirky and rambunctious Zappa-in-the-Bayou outfit led by the enigmatic Honus Honus kills it with this eclectic and introspective release. Everything from pulsing club EDM to mellow country and various mixtures further off the musical maps, it’s a wild and engaging odyssey.
• That Handsome Devil // Exploitopia — After the disappointing Your Parents Are Sellouts, these weirdos blew off the barn doors with this comeback. Best described as alternative gypsy surf jazz rock hip-hop, Exploitopia gushes anti-consumerism and anti-capitalism with sardonic humor and biting sarcasm.
• Elbow // Audio Vertigo — The most commercially successful band on this list, but I still feel like many metalheads aren’t aware of how good these Brits are. And Audio Vertigo is one of their best albums to date: versatile, infectious, with a warm melancholy and wry camaraderie. Beautiful.
• Future Islands // People Who Aren’t There Anymore — A breakup album, filled with aching loneliness and longing, yet a strange sense of hope winds through the pulsing synth-pop. Frontman Samuel Herring is an absolute king of emotive, raspy crooning, and his performance brings a ton of personality to the album.

Songs o’ the Year

1. Huntsmen – “Rain”
2. Meer – “Come to Light”
3. Iotunn – “Earth to Sky”
4. Tom Cardy – “Transcendental Cha Cha Cha”
5. Walg – “Als een Korrel Zand”
6. Vredehammer – “God Slayer”
7. Tribulation – “The Reaping Song”
8. Madder Mortem – “Towers”
9. Kanonenfieber – “Der Maulwurf”
10. Iotunn – “The Coming End”
11. Selbst – “Chant of Self Confrontation”

Eldritch Elitist

Huh. It’s apparently been four fucking years since I last penned a proper 2 Records o’ the Year list for Angry Metal Guy. This time last year, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be contributing such a list ever again. I still love this blog and the music we celebrate, but making regular contributions to AMG requires a not-insignificant time investment, and I’ve found myself spread ever-thinner over the years. And then January happened, in which a startling number of fantastic releases in that month alone resulted in the crystallization of a single goal: To make 2024 my most complete year of musical indulgence to date. If there was an album released that even slightly piqued my interest in a given week, I was going to find time to listen to it, ideally to completion. This resolve resulted in so many discoveries that I could have penned Top Ten Records o’ the Month articles for multiple months of 2024.

When I say “multiple months,” I really mean “January through March”, as my momentum dwindled when mid-April rolled around. Compounding factors between life and work suddenly left me with much less time in which to indulge in new music. Once I fell behind, I quickly realized that it would be virtually impossible to keep up the listening schedule I had set for myself, and subsequently gave up the ghost. As badly as I wanted to contribute the most confidently comprehensive year-end list possible, this list might as well be titled “Eldritch Elitist’s Top 10 Records o’ Q1 2024 & Friends”. Lopsided though it may be, that’s no excuse to not take a legitimate stab at a list at all, especially not when comments like this keep rolling in… Wait, why the hell has that guy been hanging around the AMG break room? Christ, I really need to work on staying in the loop around here. Anyway, here’s some albums I like; no -ishs, HMs, or butts about it.

#10. Cruce Signatus // Cruce Signatus – While Cruce Signatus sits at the bottom of my top 10, I have listened to it more than any other record this year outside of my number 1 pick. It’s become a go-to record to throw on thanks to its instrumental nature and soundtrack-like ebb and flow. More than that, Cruce Signatus’ unique blend of metal and synthwave is legitimately compelling, feeling distinct from similar acts as an actual soundtrack to an in-progress animation project. The downside is that this record feels partially complete because it literally is. The upside is that the experience of listening to this record will surely evolve retroactively as this project continues, and in the meantime, I’ll remain content to absorb one of the most ambitious cross-media offerings of 2024.

#9. Myrath // Karma – The release of Karma marked my first prolonged exposure to Myrath, and while I don’t adore it as heavily as some of my AMG colleagues, it remained in heavy rotation throughout 2024 all the same. Karma is an uncommonly proficient slab of pop metal, one that smartly leverages its latent progressive and folk metal leanings in sublimely bombastic fashion. It lacks variety, but Myrath navigates Karma’s narrow aesthetic with such precision as to maximize its scope, resulting in an album that compels through efficiency. Ultimately, the most important quality of any pop record is its ability to lodge its hooks into my brain, and I have had every single one of these songs stuck in my head many times throughout the year. If that kind of recurring impact isn’t worthy of a spot on this list, I don’t know what is.

#8. Soulmass // Principality of Mechanical Violence – Despite Soulmass’ previous LP basing its concept on my favorite video game, Principality of Mechanical Violence hit me way harder despite unfamiliarity with its source material. My knowledge of Gundam may only go so far as that handsome blonde fellow in red who apparently did nothing wrong, but I do know that this Gundam concept album rocks unlike any other Soulmass record. It largely culls the band’s moodier death/doom passages in favor of concise riffage, yet is also densely melodic, neatly slotting melancholic guitar leads alongside meaty riffs that echo Bolt Thrower and Cannibal Corpse. The resulting listening experience is equally absorbing and exhilarating, enticing me to get in the robot time and time again.

#7. Mega Colossus // Showdown – Mega Colossus just gets it. Not once in my years of listening to this band have I gotten a sense that they are trying to recapture the heyday of traditional metal, or otherwise be anything in the moment other than themselves. Showdown further cements my impression, as it sees Mega Colossus reaching ever further into their bottomless bag of nerd fixations. The resulting songs cover topical ground ranging from Porco Rosso to Mad Max: Fury Road, but more importantly, they masterfully weave inspirations as far-reaching as Kansas and Megadeth into their core aesthetic of Iron Maiden-inspired trad metal. Combine the playfully loose hold on genre convention with Mega Colossus’ ever-effusive lyrics, and you have one of the most purely entertaining records of the year from one of the best modern bands in the genre.

#6. Black Curse // Burning in Celestial Poison – Unlike other albums on this list, I have not returned to Burning in Celestial Poison to reconfirm its standing. Call me irresponsible, but I must emphasize that my memory and impression of this record – one formed after multiple days of consecutive spins – remains fully crystalized in my mind. Black Curse’s sophomore outing is one that continues to linger in the darker corners of my mind, a wholly unique vision of blackened death metal that, while not as traditionally thrilling as the band’s debut, is more than the sum of its parts. That “more” manifests as an incorporeal malefic entity seemingly possessing motives independent of the artists who spawned it. Burning in Celestial Poison feels like a living, breathing work, one which unsettles as much as it entices.

#5. Oak, Ash & Thorn // Our Grief is Thus – Our Grief is Thus is one of those albums that feels made specifically for me, with power metal vocals and melodeath riffage wrapped in an overarching aesthetic of black metal, folk metal, and crust punk. Beyond gifting me the forbidden knowledge that power metal with d-beats can and does work, it’s also a generally excellent example of effective genre splicing, feeling as though it belongs in both all and none of the styles from which it cleverly pulls inspiration. What Oak, Ash & Thorn has accomplished with this sophomore outing is an explosively energetic yet cohesive record, and one so melodically effervescent as to be compulsively replayable. Our Grief is Thus is the most surprising record of 2024, and I am firmly seated on the OAT boat for whatever comes next.

#4. Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart – Madder Mortem is a name I’ve heard tossed around since 2009, and who I never bothered to check out because I thought they were some sorta high falutin’, artsy fartsy doom metal band. That may have been the case once upon a time, but at some point they evolved into the accessible sort of dark progressive metal showcased on Old Eyes, New Heart. Immediately gripping and heavy yet disarmingly vulnerable, this record converted me to Madder Mortem fandom almost instantly. Its songs wormed their way under my skin with atomic precision and never left; as early as my third listen, they felt like old friends, albeit ones prone to trauma dumping. There may be records I liked more in 2024, but none moved or shook me quite like Old Eyes, New Heart.

#3. Galneryus // The Stars Will Light the Way – I’ve read dozens of comments all parroting a mildly irksome take: The Stars Will Light the Way feels like Galneryus on cruise control. While this has mostly been opined through a positive lens, it still feels unfairly reductive when considering the sheer quality and consistency of this album. Sure, Sho’s voice is notably strained at this point, but he excels at utilizing his current strengths in the strongest collection of Galneryus tracks since 2014’s Vetelgyus. It’s also the most straightforward record Galneryus has released since Vetelgyus, nixing much of the experimentation and darker leanings of recent offerings (“In Water’s Gaze” notwithstanding) in favor of unbridled jubilance. So yeah, sure, The Stars Will Light the Way is a “safe” record if you want to call it that. It’s still one of the best records from the best power metal band in the world.

#2. Nemedian Chronicles // The Savage Sword – I can hardly believe that Nemedian Chronicles is not a Greek band. They sound so in step with acts like Sacred Outcry that I can practically feel the lamb and tzatziki sauce falling out of an overloaded gyro and onto my lap. Yet the appeal of Nemedian Chronicles is singular. There is a lot of love for Blind Guardian and Sacred Outcry on The Savage Sword, but there is also a distinctly epic, cinematic quality that hearkens back to Bal-Sagoth’s overwrought storytelling. Between the propulsive riffs and sweeping melodies, I’m immediately absorbed into the experience with every listen, and that’s to say nothing of the engaging and often unpredictable songwriting. In most years, The Savage Sword would handily take the crown for best power metal release. However…

#1. Fellowship // The Skies Above Eternity – You know that little bit of text under my review of The Skies Above Eternity that says “Rating: 4.0/5.0?” That number is technically correct per the AMG style guide, but what that number can’t account for is the fact that The Skies Above Eternity is a record I’ll be listening to for the rest of my life. 2022’s The Saberlight Chronicles is a true 5.0/5.0 by any objective or subjective metric, and while The Skies Above Eternity is not as good from a technical standpoint, it fully recaptures the strengths that made its predecessor a modern power metal icon. Fellowship’s debut may have had higher and more frequent peaks, but The Skies Above Eternity excels through consistency and conciseness. The band’s trademark earnestness, vulnerability, and impeccable sense of melodic craft can be felt in every second of the experience. It doesn’t matter whether this record is the best material Fellowship is capable of producing because it warms me in the exact same way they’ve been doing since their first EP, making The Skies Above Eternity one of my most treasured records by default. This album may be a 4.0 in my brain, but it’s a 4.5 in my heart and a 5.0 in my soul.

Song o’ the Year

Fellowship’s “Hold Up Your Hearts (Again)” – I was present in the audience when Fellowship debuted this song live, and everyone was so on board with the silliness of its title that we enthusiastically welcomed it into the Fellowship canon with a communal sea of heart hands. It doesn’t top “Glint” as my favorite Fellowship song, but its concentrated formula of speedy Euro-power metal and the lyrics’ pitch-perfect shonen anime energy handily clear second place status.

Disappointment o’ the Year

Various “Artists” – The Continued Proliferation of Crappy AI Album “Art” – This blog has not adopted a formal stance on albums featuring generative AI artwork, nor do I feel it needs to. But this is my list, and I’m taking the opportunity to say that if I get so much as a whiff of AI coming off of an album going into 2025, I won’t be giving it the time of day, much less a review. It is unfathomable to think some musicians can devote so much time and creative energy into creating an album, only to hold zero value in the image that is supposed to be introducing that album to the world. In fact, if an album features an AI-generated cover, I automatically assume that the devaluation of art permeates the music itself in some form. Either pay a fucking artist to create an album cover for you, or go outside to take a picture of a cool tree or something and slap a Photoshop filter on it. If that proves too difficult, the public domain is your friend. If it’s good enough for Bolt Thrower, it’s sure as hell good enough for your shitty bedroom black metal project.

#2024 #40WattSun #ABurialAtSea #Alcest #andEldritchElitistSTopTenIshOf2024 #Aquilus #At1980 #Beardfish #BlackCurse #BloodIncantation #CruceSignatus #CryptSermon #Dissimulator #Dool #ElCuervoS #Fellowship #Galneryus #GardensTaleS #Hamferð #Huntsmen #InVain #Iotunn #Kalax #Kanonenfieber #LabyrinthusStellarum #Lists #Listurnalia #MadderMortem #Meer #MegaColossus #Monkey3 #MorgulBlade #Myrath #NemedianChronicles #OakAshThorn #Opeth #Selbst #Sidewinder #SleepytimeGorillaMuseum #Soulmass #Syst3mGlitch #TheVisionBleak #Vredehammer #Walg

Saunders and Felagund’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

By Dr. A.N. Grier

Saunders

Rather than delve into the not-so-good parts of a rollercoaster 2024, which had its share of rough circumstances, I’m using this rare soapbox moment to focus on the positives of another action-packed year of metal. Celebrating ten years of writing at Angry Metal Guy was an achievement that crept up. All these years later I remain beyond stoked and privileged to still be contributing in a small way as the blog has snowballed into the juggernaut it is today.

Unfortunately, I haven’t quite fulfilled my writing productivity goals in 2024. However, even when motivation slips, it still gives me great satisfaction to have a platform to share my thoughts and opinions on the music I love. I cannot match the writing chops or word smithery of our most esteemed scribes. However, honing my craft within my own abilities and drawing inspiration from the excellence of my fellow writers continues to motivate me and hopefully steer listeners toward some great music.

While it may not compete with some of the top-shelf individual years over the past decade, 2024 featured a lot of top-shelf stuff across a multitude of genres sprawled over the heavy spectrum. As per usual, the plethora of releases was overwhelming and again I stumble into the end-of-year chaos with a hefty list of stuff I need to check out or spend more time with. Nevertheless, from the numerous albums, I spent quality time with throughout the year, I eventually arrived at the releases that mattered the most to me, with many gems to no doubt uncover in the end-of-year wash-up. This is probably one of the more eclectic lists I’ve cultivated during my time here. Not sure exactly why that was the case, but a year of fluctuating, uneasy shifts on personal and professional fronts perhaps contributed to the more diverse listening rotation.

To wrap up, a heartfelt thank you to our beloved readership for making this all worthwhile and to all my colleagues/writing buddies and general crew of awesome people comprising the ever-expanding blog. Also shout-out to my list buddy Felagund, here’s hoping our combined powers partially align or otherwise complement and provide some listening inspiration. Lastly, a special heads-up to Angry Metal Guy, Steel Druhm, and the rest of the AMG editors and brains trust for whipping us all into order and doing the behind-the-scenes heavy lifting to keep this great thing chugging along. Cheers.

#ish: Anciients // Beyond the Reach of the Sun – Personal dramas, line-up shuffles, and an extended stint away from the studio failed to hamper the triumphant return of Canada’s progressive-stoner-sludge heavyweights Anciients. Beyond the Reach of the Sun marks a strong return that expands the band’s songwriting vision through a standout collection of ambitious, heavily prog-leaning cuts. Loaded with dazzling guitar work and gripping songwriting, Beyond the Reach of the Sun finds the band recalibrating and hitting their songwriting straps without compromising the genre-splicing traits and character they formed across their first couple of albums. It is not a perfect album by any means, with some niggling elements rearing their head, mostly via the way of some bloat, sequencing issues, and a flat production job. But with songs of the outstanding quality of “Despoiled,” “Is it Your God,” and “The Torch” leading the way, the album’s issues fail to extinguish my overall enthusiasm.

#10. Madder Mortem // Old Eyes New Heart – I came to veteran Norwegian progressive metal outfit Madder Mortem late in the game, just as they appeared to be hitting modern-era career peaks via Red in Tooth and Claw, and most recent album, 2018’s Marrow. Six long years in the wilderness and Madder Mortem return without missing a beat, continuing to pump out expressive, powerfully composed jams of their trademark mix of Goth-tinged progressive/alt metal. Although I enjoyed the album from the outset, if anything it has grown in stature since its early year release. The album’s subtleties and bevy of emotion-charged hooks bury deeper into the brain upon repeat doses. The tough period the band endured prior to the unleashing of Old Eyes New Heart is reflected in the album’s raw, potent swell of emotions and overall depth. This is further reflected in the diverse nature of the colorful songwriting, swinging from bluesy, melancholic restraint (“Cold Hard Rain”), pop-infected prog (‘Here and Now”) to urgent, dramatic, and infectious rock powerhouses (“The Head That Wears the Crown,” “Towers”).

#9. Opeth // The Last Will and Testament – As a longtime Opeth fanboy, it is a cool feeling to be genuinely enthused about a new LP, nearly three decades since their underrated Orchid debut. All the pre-release buzz centered on the return of Åkerfeldt’s famed death growls. While certainly a cool and unexpected touch, the fourteenth album The Last Will and Testament is not merely a nostalgic throwback to the band’s glory days. Instead, Opeth fuses those quirky, vintage prog tools from their modern-era material and fuses them into an intricate concept album that is a significant step up from the past couple of uneven efforts and easily their best work since at least 2014’s Pale Communion. Dazzling musicianship, jazzy licks, and inventively crafted, yet notably more focused and concise writing marked an album that features better production and tighter, punchier songs than the band has written in a while. It is also Opeth’s heaviest, most riff-centric release in many moons. Despite the trademark melancholic moods and darker shades, it also sounds as if the band is having real fun, reinforced by the abundance of bouncy, infectious riffs, shreddy solos, and boisterous grooves littering the album. Likely would have earned higher honors with time, as I still feel there is much more to discover.

#8. Oceans of Slumber // Where Gods Fear to Speak – Previously enjoyed the idea of Texan progressive metal powerhouse Oceans of Slumber, more than the execution and finished product. In particular, 2016’s Winter has grown in stature over the years. Yet for much of their career, it has felt like a case of incredible talent and potential not fully realized. That changed on Where Gods Fear to Speak, arguably the band’s most complete, consistent, and hook-laden release. When I felt the prog itch throughout 2024, Where Gods Fear to Speak was often the go-to. An album of lush, moody, drama-filled compositions, deftly contrasting soaring melodies, and skyscraping hooks with muscular riffage and heftier bouts of aggression, the writing is tighter and more compelling than previous efforts. Cammie Beverly’s scene-stealing vocals may take center stage, but this is very much a complete effort, where the rich soundscapes, brooding atmospheres, and technical musicianship shine brightly. Loaded with killer jams, including stirring highlights, “Don’t Come Back from Hell Empty Handed,” “Wish,” and “Poem of Ecstasy,” Where Gods Fear to Speak finally finds Oceans of Slumber firing on all cylinders.

#7. Pyrrhon // Exhaust – In theory, Pyrrhon should be one of my favorite bands. I used to eat up all manner of skronky, dissonant, and abrasive extreme metal. Perhaps my thirst for the weirder, experimental forms of death metal and dissonance has softened over the years. However, while largely enjoying Pyrrhon’s career up to this point, Exhaust feels like the album I have been waiting for the band to deliver. Exhaust dropped unexpectedly and that element of surprise flowed through another oddball, deranged platter of wildly inventive, chaotic, yet oddly accessible (in Pyrrhon terms) extreme metal. From cautious, challenging early listens, I found myself increasingly compelled to revisit Exhaust on a regular basis, marveling at its flexible, fractured songwriting, nimble musicianship, and raw hardcore punk edge infiltrating the dissonant, experimental death metal at the core of the Pyrrhon experience. Gritty production, perfectly unhinged vocal performance from Doug Moore, and occasional burst of groove and shred of accessibility punctuating the chaos (“First as Tragedy, Then as Farce,” “Strange Pains,” “Stress Fractures”) lend the album a refreshingly addictive edge to counterbalance its abrasive, challenging angles.

#6. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – New Jersey’s Replicant previously exhibited their brawny, yet brainy mix of gnarled dissonance, technicality, and knuckle-dragging street grooves to powerful effect. However, third album Infinite Mortality levelled the playing field as the band upped their game to elite levels of controlled chaos, while the writing remained challenging yet strangely accessible and memorable. In spirit, the ugly mix of harshness, discordance, and headbangable blockbuster grooves reminds me of the great Ion Dissonance. Meanwhile, the contrasting blend of unorthodox melody, jagged dissonance, and stuttering, complex song structures come together with cohesion and blunt force, punctuated by the occasional warped solo. Like a harsh, harrowing soundtrack to a bleak dystopian future, Infinite Mortality is a mean, chunky, technical, and deliciously primal slab of advanced disso-tech-death excellence.

#5. Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System – Notably death metal in 2024 was dominated by brutal, dissonant varieties, designed to scramble brains and challenge minds while battering the listener into submission. Refreshingly, unheralded surprise packet Noxis unloaded a killer debut LP to savor. Drawing from an array of old-school influences and ’90s touchstones without ever aping one particular band or style, Noxis unleashed a nostalgic yet unique death metal platter. Managing to at once sound raw and unclean, technical and brutal, thrashy and proggy, sharp and refined, Noxis blaze their way craftily through memorable, riff-infested wastelands with unbridled aggression, speed, and finesse, rubber-stamped by some exceptional bass work. Remnants of the classic Floridian scene mingle with powerful influences, including early Cryptopsy, later-era Death, Atheist, and Cannibal Corpse, resulting in a finished product that sounds fresh and vital, while containing an endearing, workmanlike old-school charm. It works a treat, and the top-notch and frequently inventive writing reveals impressive depth and character that rewards repeat listens.

#4. Dissimulator // Lower Form Resistance – There are some serviceable, enjoyable thrash-aligned albums in 2024, but one stood head and shoulders above the competition. Comprised of a grizzled bunch of underground Canadian musicians hellbent on fusing advanced technical thrash assaults with sick old-school death-thrash, a fuckton of killer riffs, quirky vocoder action, and razor-sharp hooks, Lower Form Resistance has consistently provided an adrenaline-filled shot of thrash when needing that specific fix. Dissimulator rewires thrash in intricate and intriguing ways, giving me the same giddy rush as past experiences with the likes of Capharnaum, Vhol, and Revocation. Excited to hear what these dudes conjure up next. In the meantime, Lower Form Resistance will continue to keep my thrash cogs oiled through potent bangers like “Warped,” “Automoil & Robotoil,” and “Hyperline Underflow.”

#3. Huntsmen // The Dry Land – After somehow sleeping on 2018 debut American Scrap and subsequently their apparent sophomore slumping second album, I finally righted my wrongs by delving into the strange and wildly unique woodlands of Chicago metal troupe Huntsmen and their phenomenal third LP, The Dry Land. A raw, rustic, and emotionally striking explosion of genre-bending excellence, where blackened sludge, doom, post, prog, folk, and Americana influences coalesce into an intoxicating and frequently thrilling musical formula, rich in detail and emotion. The skilled genre mashing is cohesive and genuine, loaded with surprises, structural twists, dramatic ebbs and flows, deep burrowing hooks, and contrasting vocal trade-offs to seal the deal on a remarkable album. Despite only a small handful of songs comprising the album (six in total), Huntsmen make every moment count, from blazing longer numbers with stunning contrasts and peaks (“This, Our Gospel,” “In Time, All things”) to plaintive folk dusted rock (“Lean Times”), through to the stunningly moving, compact power of “Rain.” Huntsmen occupy a unique space in the metalverse.

#2. Borknagar // Fall – I have a slightly odd history with Norwegian legends Borknagar. I recall being taken by their excellent 2012 album Urd, yet oddly enough I didn’t extend my listening beyond that isolated release. Things changed with 2019’s True North, a typically solid offering that inspired my explorations of portions of their vast and consistently engaging catalog. The twelfth album Fall marks their first album since True North and again features an outstanding line-up of talents, including founding mastermind Øystein Brun, multi-talented keyboardist/clean vocalist Lars Nedland, and ace up their sleeve bass/vocal powerhouse ICS Vortex. Fall smacks of a veteran band not merely content to coast on their laurels but rather carve freshly creative trajectories for their now signature blend of epic prog, triumphant Viking, and icy black metal to thrive. An extra shot of old-school blackened aggression and fuller production boosted an album of consistently high quality. Fall became a true all-occasions album in 2024; often uplifting me when I felt down or giving me a punchy charge when the need arose. Wall-to-wall prime cuts feature, headlined by the storming “Summits,” moody earworm, “The Wild Lingers”, and the striking, epic shimmer of “Moon.” Stalwarts still operating at the top of their game.

#1. Counting Hours // The Wishing Tomb – Not since Fvneral Fvkk’s remarkable Carnal Confessions debut has a doom album struck as hard as the second platter of sadboi misery perpetrated by Finland’s excellent Counting Hours. While doom and its death-doom companion may not always dominate my listening habits, when an album does hit that sweet spot, it usually leaves a profound impact. Few forms of metal generate the emotional resonance of quality doom and Counting Hours tears at the heartstrings through a riveting collection of gorgeously played and executed death-doom ditties, spearheaded by former members of the hugely underrated Rapture. Ilpo Paasela backs up the stellar musicianship, superb guitar work, and tight, addictive songwriting with a stunning mix of emotively raw, stately cleans and rugged death growls. The whole package packs an emotional wallop, yet its soulful edge and hopelessly addictive hooks and sing-along moments prevent a drop too deeply into depressive waters, as such earwormy gems as “Timeless Ones,” “All That Blooms (Needs to Die),” and “Starlit / Lifeless” attest. The Wishing Tomb is an epic album to lose yourself in.

Honorable Mentions:

• Blood Incantation // Absolute Elsewhere – Did I overrate Absolute Elsewhere? Possibly. Is it overhyped? Absolutely. Yet Blood Incantation remains a brave, adventurous band and Absolute Elsewhere represents a welcome return to form from these gifted, star-gazing space cadets. A flawed but effective fusing of their death metal roots with an increased focus on ’70s-inspired progressive rock and trippy psych flourishes.
• 200 Stab Wounds // Manual Manic Procedures – I barely took notice of Cleveland’s 200 Stab Wounds debut LP, but sophomore album Manual Manic Procedures provided one of the real surprise packets in 2024. It very nearly cracked the main list sheerly through heavy rotation. A meaty, adrenaline-charged shot of muscular death into the veins.
• Ripped to Shreds // Sanshi – Another reliably awesome slab of old-school death from Andrew Lee and co. Increasingly shreddy, extravagant solo work and a grindier edge powered one of their best albums yet.
• Nails // Every Bridge Burning – Nails is back and that is a great thing. New line-up, the same mode of short, sharp, blast-your-skin-off aggression, head-caving grooves, and hate-filled energy.
• Unhallowed Deliverance // Of Spectre and Strife – A pleasant surprise and one of the best debut albums in 2024. German tech-slam-brutal death juggernaut Unhallowed Deliverance knocked it out of the park with limited subtlety but a heap of talent, creativity, and songwriting smarts.
• Wormed // Omegon – With Ulcerate’s latest release not quite hitting me on the intense level of others, and having run out of time to properly digest and rank the obvious high-quality new Defeated Sanity, Wormed’s long-awaited return gave me my fix of calculated brutality via futuristic, slammy, technical brutal death executed in typically warped, mind-blowing fashion.
• Khirki // Κυκεώνας – Following up an impressive, well-received debut LP is no easy feat. Kenstrosity steered many of us from the AMG community onto Greek band Khirki’s Κτηνωδία debut in 2021, so I eagerly anticipated Khirki’s return for the second go around. The resulting album met expectations through a fiery, passionate, and eclectic mix of metal, rock, and traditional Greek folk.
• Sergeant Thunderhoof // The Ghost of Badon Hill – A late-year list shaker, underappreciated UK psych-prog-stoner outfit Sergeant Thunderhoof unleased a more restrained, psych-enhanced, and introspective album, showing signs of being a genuine grower since its November release, despite not quite hitting the irresistible highs of 2022’s This Sceptred Veil.

Disappointments o’ the Year:

• Several highly anticipated albums did not quite land the killer blows I was hoping for. Respectable to very good albums, but I expected better from Vola (admittedly a grower), Caligula’s Horse, Ihsahn, and especially Zeal and Ardor.

Non-Metal Picks:

• St Vincent, SIR, Michael Kiwanuka, Allie X, MGMT

Song ‘o the Year:

• Counting Hours – “Timeless Ones”

There were any number of standouts and potential Song o’ the Year candidates that could have nabbed top honors, including several counterparts from Counting Hours’ spectacular sophomore album. In the end, I settled on the (proper) album opener of my album of the year, as the tune that really hooked me initially from an album that captivated my soul. A rich, emotive piece of dark, melodic death-doom with superlative guitar melodies and a chorus for the ages. Honorable mention to Huntsmen’s “Rain.”

Felgund

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of living in interesting times. But as that wizened sage, Gandalf so wisely reminds us: “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

So what have I been doing with the time that has been given? A fair amount, as it turns out. 2024 has certainly been a tumultuous year for our small family. On the one hand, the business that I launched in 2023 has been chugging along for well over a year and a half now, and I think I’m far enough along in the process that I feel (at least somewhat) comfortable calling it a success. The baby that we brought home from the hospital is now, inexplicably, a whip-smart 7-year-old. My wife’s career continues to blossom as she continues to moonlight as my business manager. Things are good.

And yet 2024 also proved to be harder than I’d ever imagined. My dad died back in April, an experience that remains both devastating and surreal. He’d had multiple sclerosis for well over a decade, and as I’m sure many of you know, MS is a grasping, grinding petty little disease. But for as much as it stole, it proved incapable of taking away who my father was; it couldn’t quite make off with what made him him. He was my best friend before his diagnosis, and he remained my best friend up until that impossible evening in a hospital room in early April. Truth be told, he’s still my best friend, only now he’s free to walk wherever I see fit to imagine him.

Despite my best efforts, I realized pretty quickly you can’t capture a life in a few paragraphs. I couldn’t do it in his eulogy, and I certainly won’t attempt to do so on a heavy metal blog. But I will share this:

My dad was a carpenter by trade and an artist by choice; he was a fisherman and a cook; he was a handyman, a builder, a designer, and a writer; he taught himself how to play guitar, and he’s perhaps the singular reason why I’m writing for this website today. Because while he wasn’t a fan of metal himself, he instilled in me not only a love for music, but an interest in the process; in the people who create it, the minds that shape it, and the passion that births it.

He played in countless bands in his youth, and I can think of no better way to honor his memory than by sharing some of his music with you all. With Steel’s blessing, I’m embedding a two-song demo (“A Place in Time” and “Street Legal”) ripped from a cassette my old man recorded in the late 80s, so apologies in advance for the questionable quality. He composed both the music and lyrics, played guitar and bass, and sang on both tracks, which were devised when he was perhaps at his Rush fanboy peak. It’s been a delight and a balm hearing his voice again, captured as it was in a moment when he was young, vibrant, and doing what he loved.

So here we are. Despite (or perhaps because of) this, I managed to consume a fair amount of metal this year. And while I was far less productive as a writer than I’d hoped and I wasn’t able to listen to as much as I originally planned, I discovered a plethora of new music here on AMG that soothed what Neil Peart once referred to as his “baby soul.” And surprisingly, I found much of that solace in the discordant, the dissonant, and the off-kilter, as the list below probably reflects. But more importantly, I found compassion, support, and understanding amongst the writing staff here. And while they may not know it, I will be forever thankful for the folks who showed me such boundless kindness during a year that felt decidedly unkind. Thank you, my friends.

Now let’s get to to it. Here are my top ten(ish) albums of 2024.

#(ish). Beaten to Death // Sunrise Over Rigor Mortis – It almost feels like cheating to place an 18-minute album in my Top 10(ish), but here we are. 2024 proved to be a year where my interest in grind and grind-adjacent acts expanded, and this “ish” is the result. While I wasn’t aware of Beaten to Death prior to this release, I was quickly swept away by Sunrise Over Rigor Mortis’ ability to bludgeon its idiosyncratic way into my brain and coil there like the most glorious of infections. Beaten to Death has delivered a concise helping of grinding goodness, with crispy prog edges and a schmear of off-kilter humor. Back catalog, here I come!

#10. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum // Of the Last Human Being – Gardenstale’s gushing review of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum’s fourth album Of the Last Human Being was a tough endorsement to ignore, as was an invocation of Diablo Swing Orchestra. So I threw caution to the wind and leaped headlong into this experimental maelstrom. And I’m so happy I did. Don’t let the runtime dissuade you; Of the Last Human Being doesn’t feel nearly as long as it is, and over that relatively brief timespan, you’re provided with a front-row seat to the aural equivalent of perhaps the most fun kind of performance art. Hard-edged riffs, off-kilter instrumentation, ominous theatrics interlaced with beautiful, sparse melodies, and all capped off by the deranged croons of chief carnival barker Nils Frykdahl. If I’d spent more time with this record it may have placed higher, but as it is, I’m happy it’s making an appearance at the number 10 spot.

#9. Sur Austru // Datura Strǎhiarelor – Despite Twelve underrating this album, I suppose I should commend him for introducing me to Sur Austru in the first place. This Romanian outfit’s third full-length Datura Strǎhiarelor is a potent blend of rumbling, blackened fury, and melodic folk metal, with plenty of flute work, orchestration, choral elements, and plaintive keys thrown in. And, while the gruff, chanting growls might rub some listeners the wrong way, it was this aspect more than any other that first grabbed my attention, and proceeded to keep it. And while I haven’t a clue what the vocalists are shouting at me, the tone and placement in the mix feels just right, especially for this brand of folk-infused black metal. Such is the strength of Sur Austru that this album began as my “ish” before eventually working its way to ninth. Mightly bold of them.

#8. Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal – Some of the entries on this list were either late discoveries or took some time before they got their dirty little hooks in me. Necrowretch’s Swords of Dajjal was not one of them. As soon as I spun it back in February, it was love at first listen. Swords of Dajjal focuses on the greater deceiver in Islamic mythology, and explores that tradition through the use of ferocious blackened death metal (with perhaps a dollop or two of thrash thrown in). Although, as Carcharodon rightly pointed out in his review, the “blackened” part is doing most of the heavy lifting here. And that’s not a bad thing, as Necrowretch is more than adept at crafting memorable hooks and an engaging atmosphere without sacrificing heft or freneticism. Swords of Dajjal is an unmitigated success, and my only real gripe is that Necrowretch dropped a new platter so early in the year that it may go overlooked on too many end-of-year lists.

#7. The Vision Bleak // Weird Tales – Grier and I may not see eye to eye on music, but what can I say? The man knows his way around gothic metal. So when he awarded a 4.0 to Weird Tales back in April, what was I to do? If you said wait several months before bothering to press play, you’re correct. But folks, I may have been late to the party, but it’s a rager nonetheless. The Vision Bleak has produced an emotive, memorable, downright heart-wrenching concept album; one that is both lush and harsh, both achingly melodic and morosely heavy. Weird Tales isn’t my usual cup of tea, but The Vision Bleak has rejected my assertion by doing what many similar acts appear incapable of doing: cohesively balancing “gothic” and “metal” without lessening the impact of either. A well-earned addition, indeed.

#6. Stenched // Purulence Gushing from the Coffin – While Rots-giving may have been tarnished by a less-than-stellar release from Rotpit back in November, I’ve moved on since then, and am now proudly celebrating Stenched-mas. The Manly n’ Mighty Steel reviewed this one-man grimy death outfit last month, and even though I was still smarting from my failed attempt to poach Purulence Gushing from the Coffin for myself, I can’t in good conscience deny how hard this globular mass of funerary muck rips. From the first track to the last, you’ll be rocking a near-permanent stank face, and you can’t blame that solely on the fungal miasma wafting from your speakers. The truth is, Stenched has delivered a masterclass in riff-heavy, moss-encrusted death metal; the kind that’s perfect to drag your knuckles to. Purulence Gushing from the Coffin is the exact kind of no-frills, all-guts death metal I needed in 2024, and that’s why it’s sitting pretty at 6.

#5. Aklash // Reincarnation – How are we already at the Top Five? And what better way to kick off this most treasured of positions than with the melodic black metal stylings of Aklash on their fourth album Reincarnation? Aklash received a solid write-up in June’s Stuck in the Filter by our very own Kenstrosity, and their most recent outing has continued to climb higher and higher on my list the more I’ve spun it. Part black metal, part progressive metal, part trad metal (epic choruses included), Reincarnation packs a wallop in just a short 37 minutes. overflowing with varied instrumentation and keen lyrical chops, grandiose in scope and medieval in tone, yet more personal than it has any right to be, Aklash is firing on all cylinders here, and, as such, is perfectly suited for anyone’s top 5.

#4. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – And, just like that, more death metal rears its ugly head. I’m still surprised at how high up Devenial Verdict’s sophomore album landed on my list, primarily because their 2022 debut Ash Blind failed to connect. But Blessing of Despair seems to have arrived just in time for my increasing flirtation with the cruel mistress that is dissodeath. As such, I found myself utterly taken with Devenial Verdict’s latest, overflowing as it is with equally heavy doses of discordant ferocity and mournful melodicism. And while Blessing of Despair is an undeniably heavy record, it makes sure to leave plenty of room for quieter moments, where slower sections and sparse instrumentation have room to bloom and breathe. This approach not only results in a wonderfully balanced album but ensures the bludgeoning that’s sure to follow is all the more impactful. Consider me reformed.

#3. Aborted // Vault of Horrors – I’m fairly certain that any death metal fan worth their salt is legally required to include the latest Aborted release on their end-of-year list. Over 25 years and 12 albums into their carnal career, these death metal titans need no introduction. Blood-drenched, gore-soaked, and happily grindy, Aborted are in a league all their own, and it shows on Vault of Horrors. The music remains tight and explosive, building a menacing atmosphere that pervades only the stickiest of grindhouse theaters. Besides, with songs dedicated to classics like Return of the Living Dead, Hellraiser, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, how could I do anything other than include this gem of an album in my top 3? I for one welcome our horror-themed overlords.

#2. Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System – What began as a random pick from the promo sump by one Kenstrosity quickly rose to become a favorite of the death metal maniacs (those with good taste, anyway) on the AMG staff. Now, more importantly, it’s nabbed the second-highest honor on my year-end list. Noxis’ first full-length album Violence Inherent in the System sounds like the product of a much more experienced band. The songwriting is top-notch, the performances are big and bold without being overwrought, and the sticky riffs stay wedged in your mind long after the album ends. And yet for all of its bombast, Noxis is still able to infuse their debut with oodles of atmosphere, not to mention a level of balance between death metal orthodoxy and fresh bells and whistles (and horns) that would make even Thanos grimace in jealousy. Special attention must also be paid to Joe Lowrie’s snare tone and Dave Kirsch’s godlike bass performance.

#1. Pyrrhon // Exhaust – I suppose I was always destined to end up here, I just didn’t know it right away. Pyrrhon’s fifth full-length Exhaust didn’t initially grab me the way some of my other entries did. However, on repeat spins, I found myself falling deeper and deeper into its frenetic, dissonant embrace, discovering both nuances and subtleties amidst the proggy cacophony. On an album that thoroughly explores the universal theme of exhaustion, be it physical, mental, social, or economic, Pyrrhon’s brand of noise-tinged death metal feels like the ideal tool with which to scrawl their livid manifesto. But what truly sets Exhaust apart is its unrelenting groove, stoked by Pyrrhon’s inventive capacity to not only feature but to uplift its unique brand of melodicism amidst the unrelenting maelstrom. It’s hard to overstate just how critical this aspect is to Exhaust’s success, especially since it would have been so easy to excise. But Exhaust’s manic ferocity, which swerves jerks, hops, and heaves, is all the better for it. And while its charms were initially lost on me, I found it easier and easier to finally succumb to its tremulous tendrils. Any record with that kind of staying power (not to mention a theme so applicable to my own experiences this past year) has more than earned my top spot for 2024.

Honorable Mentions:

• Defeated Sanity // Chronicles of Lunacy – Defeated Sanity is a brutal tech death stalwart at this point, and now seven albums in, Chronicles of Lunacy only further cements that status. Chronicles of Lunacy provides the listener with track after aggressively intricate track exploring lunacy in its many forms, but the real treat here is Lille Gruber’s masterful performance on the drums.
• Full of Hell // Coagulated Bliss – while I don’t think I’ve become a complete grind convert, albums like Full of Hell’s Coagulated Bliss and Beaten to Death’s Sunrise Over Rigor Mortis certainly set me on the path to one day become a proud proselytizer. You can’t deny Coagulated Bliss’ infectious groove and whirlwind pace, although I agree with the Dolphin’s rating adjustment.
• Undeath // More Insane – no, it’s not as good as It’s Time…to Rise from the Grave, and there’s no reason to pretend that it is. Nor does it need to be. While More Insane may not reach the lofty heights of its predecessor, it still showcases an Undeath doing what it does best, while also hinting at an undeniable ability to evolve into an even sharper, more fetid OSDM beast.
• 200 Stab Wounds // Manual Manic Procedures – while I wasn’t entirely kind in my review of 200 Stab Wounds’ debut, Mark Z suggested I take their follow-up Manual Manic Procedures for a spin, and I’m glad I did. It’s clear they’ve grown as artists, and their sophomore effort reflects that heightened maturity. Keep stabbing on, your crazy diamonds!
• Mamaleek // Vida Blue – I’m confident this album captures what it would sound like if Tom Waits listened to too much Ashenspire before leaving for the recording studio. Long, difficult, and bold, I found myself returning again and again to Vida Blue no matter how challenging I found the experience. While this album didn’t make my top 10, I’m convinced a future Mamaleek release will.

Song o’ the Year:

• Noxis – ”Skullcrushing Defilement”

This song goes hard. Exceptionally hard. In truth, there are any number of tunes from Violence Inherent in the System that fit the “Song o’ the Year” bill, but I had to give the edge to “Skullcrushing Defilement.” Not only does it begin with an absolutely searing bass solo, but it sets the stage for the four-string onslaught that’s to come. There’s a noticeable Cannibal Corpse influence that I can’t help but love here, alongside heaping doses of maniacal melodicism, turbocharged technicality, and an earworm chorus to boot. Abandon all cervical spines, ye who enter here.

#200StabWounds #2024 #Aborted #Aklash #AllieX #Anciients #Archspire #Atheist #BeatenToDeath #BlogPosts #BloodIncantation #Borknagar #CaligulaSHorse #CannibalCorpse #Capharnaum #CountingHours #Crytopsy #Death #DefeatedSanity #DevenialVerdict #DiabloSwingOrchestra #Dissimulator #Dissonance #FullOfHell #FvneralFvkk #Huntsmen #Ihsahn #Khirki #Lists #MadderMortem #Mamaleek #MGMT #MichaelKiwanuka #Nails #Necrowretch #Noxis #OceansOfSlumber #Opeth #Pyrrhon #Rapture #Replicant #Revocation #RippedToShreds #Rotpit #SaundersAndFelagundSTopTenIshOf2024 #SergeantThunderfoot #SIR #SleepytimeGorillaMuseum #StVincent #Stenched #SurAustru #TheVisionBleak #TomWaits #Ulcerate #Undeath #UnhallowedDeliverance #Vhöl #Wormed #ZealAndArdor

Sentynel and Twelve’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

By Steel Druhm

Sentynel

When I wrote my piece for the fifteen years feature, despite referring to “ten years of running the servers,” it hadn’t really clicked for me that I’ve been here ten years. It was in fact, May 2014 that we moved the server over and I officially joined the staff. While but an eyeblink compared to the oldeness of some of our crew,1 it’s a long time, and a large chunk of my rapidly oldenating life. It’s also over five years since my first actual review. Every year since then, I’ve promised myself I’d write more and then not done that. Whoops. On the plus side, covering bands I already like went a lot better this year than it did last year, with very good or better albums from all three. And the Contrite Metal Guy piece allowed me to correct the record on some errors from earlier in my reviewing career.

This year, my list covers more genres than ever before—there are a few entries I suspect will surprise people, not least because they surprised me. Despite being into instrumental music, the biggest commonality here is great vocals. Overall, I think it’s been a good year. I left organizing my list to the last possible moment due to a particularly rough house move (sorry, deadlines) and was, as usual, flapping about whether I’d have enough good entries. When I sat down to actually write it I realized I’d filled my list and HM slots with no trouble. And for the first time, I’ve been compelled to do a Song o’ the Year list rather than an individual pick.

In addition to the traditional thanks to the readers and the rest of the staff, olde and new, I also need to add a (returned) thanks to the bands. AMG walks a difficult line with our honest approach to reviewing, and it’s not easy sending your work out to face that. Obviously, without bands sending us music we’d have nothing to write here. I met Tribunal and Mares of Thrace at their gig in Montréal this year, and it was immensely reassuring to hear, from them and others, that our coverage can make a real difference.

#ish. Amiensus // Reclamation – The two parts to Reclamation are officially listed as Reclamation: Part 1 and Reclamation Pt. II, an inconsistency offensive enough to bar them from my actual top ten. Okay, fine, that’s not true, I just whiffed on this until Thus‘ TYMHM on part I (sorry Ken) and there’s too much of it to have listened to enough to place either part properly. Nonetheless, these are really beautiful progressive, melodic black metal and absolutely worth the time investment. The balance and transitions between the harsh, the bleak, and the beautiful are often the downfall of this sort of music, and Amiensus absolutely nail it.

#10. Dvne // Voidkind – The brilliant Etemen Ænka took a while to grow on me, and likewise Voidkind. I could rarely name a specific song – their post/sludge sound doesn’t lend itself to big singalong choruses, and I’m terrible with names without that. But every song is memorable. Whenever I see them live, I go “ooh, I love this one” at the intro to every song. Voidkind is no exception. The more I’ve listened to it the more I’ve appreciated it. The riffs, the build-ups, the denouements—listening to it is one “ooh, I love this one” moment after another.

#9. Seven Spires // A Fortress Called Home – Seven Spires continue to carry the whole symphonic metal genre pretty much single-handedly. I still think the editing on A Fortress Called Home could be a little tighter, but I love their sound and songwriting. Mixing in influences from death and doom to the power metal base gives weight. The soaring highs and emotive storytelling here are as good as they’ve ever been. Great cinematic music.

#8. Saturday Night Satan // All Things Black – All Things Black is just a huge amount of fun. It recalls Ghost before their full embrace of pop: proper catchy, occult-themed, rocking heavy metal with a charismatic vocalist. I’ve had “5AM” stuck in my head all year (occasionally at 5AM) and six-ninths of the tracks are in the running for the best song on the record. Uncomplicated but great.

#7. Northern Genocide // The Point of No Return – Wince-inducing band name and confusing theme/sound divergence aside, The Point of No Return rules. High-energy, multifaceted, synthy, dancy, it reminds me of Sybreed but with more going on. I definitely have a bit of a thing for bands that can throw half a dozen styles in and carry the execution off on the basis of being loads of fun (Diablo Swing Orchestra, Sanguine Glacialis). I’ve listened to it a lot when I’m not in the mood for something complex and it’s held up remarkably well.

#6. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – I don’t love Die Urkatastrophe to the extent that Carcharodon does, but it’s still a great album. An incredible vocal performance and sharp melodic writing carry a weighty story, even if I don’t quite have the German to appreciate the lyrics. Blackened death is not my usual style, but the craft here drew me in anyway. I highly recommend their live show as well—there’s a theatricality to it which really works, without taking away from the brutality of the music or the themes.

#5. Suldusk // Anthesis – I tend to take a break from albums I’ve reviewed after submitting the review. Even when I love something, the endless repeats as I try and line up my thoughts can get a bit wearing. So it’s telling how I feel about a record when I go back to it. I put Anthesis on a few weeks later and was immediately transported again. If anything it’s grown on me over the year. Beautiful, atmospheric and evocative, this is atmoblack at its best.

#4. Kalandra // A Frame of Mind – My favorite unexpected discovery of the year. Kalandra are absolutely spellbinding. Heavy themes, gorgeous Nordic folk instrumentation, and deft composition make for a genuinely moving listen. Katrine Stenbekk’s vocals are absolutely captivating and I could genuinely listen to her all day, yet part of the beauty of A Frame of Mind is how well she complements the instruments. I had to fight Dolph for TYMHM rights for this, and as I said there, I cannot recommend it enough.

#3. Fellowship // The Skies Above Eternity – There was pretty much no chance The Skies Above Eternity wasn’t going to land high up my list. After the last record, they would have had to have royally fucked it for that not to happen, and they have not, in fact, royally fucked it. The jury is still out on whether I feel that this is a better record than The Saberlight Chronicles, but it’s certainly up there. Fantastic songs and endearingly honest positivity have always been Fellowship’s strong point, and this is no exception.

#2. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – I would not, prior to Cutting the Throat of God, have expected to see dissodeath gracing my list in any capacity, much less almost topping it, squeezed between two… slightly less brutal records. But then, prior to this album, I wouldn’t have expected to describe dissodeath as suspiciously melodic either. So, surprise! Ulcerate’s composition here is stellar. They weave unsettlingly dissonant yet pretty melody into bleak, brutal death metal and the results are infectious. I got so excited about the whole thing that I even tried listening to a couple of the other dissodeath hits this year, but alas, they just don’t have what Ulcerate have.

#1. Meer // Wheels Within Wheels – Well, this was inevitable. There’s very little out there that sounds like Meer’s symphonic, progressive pop/rock. “Symphonic” is often a euphemism for “some string synths are used,” but Meer’s mini chamber orchestra do symphonic properly. And their lead vocal duo is fantastic. Playing House blew me away and very nearly topped my list. Wheels Within Wheels is better. It’s hard to follow up a great record, and it’s hard to compete with the feeling of hearing a band for the first time. But this does both. Take the great foundation from the previous record, turn up the rock elements, mix in a touch of post-, and sharpen up the songwriting, and you get the brilliant Wheels Within Wheels. 2

Honorable Mentions

• Iotunn // Kinship – Narrowly squeezed off my top ten(ish), partly due to me not getting around to it until quite late, this is another great album from Iotunn.
• i Häxa // i Häxa – Weird? Yes. Pretentious? Also yes. Good? Good question. I think it overuses spoken-word-over-atmospherics and it makes it hard to recommend the whole package, but the rest is compelling.
• Lowen // Do Not Go to War with the Demons of Mazandaran – Really cool interfusion of Iranian music and mythology with doom metal. Nina Saeidi’s vocal lead is remarkable.
• Keygen Church // Nel Nome del Codice – I’m still not completely sold on how natural the merger of MBR’s floppy disk synths with organs-and-choirs church music sounds, but the baroque composition here is good enough to carry it regardless.

Songs o’ the Year

Alphabetically ordered, because I’m a coward.

• The Dread Crew of Oddwood – “The Apple”
• Fellowship – “King of Nothing”
• Kalandra – “The State of the World”
• Kanonenfieber – “Waffenbruder”
• Meer – “Mother”
• Nanowar of Steel – “HelloWorld.java”
• Northern Genocide – “Para Bellum”
• Saturday Night Satan – “5AM”
• Suldusk – “Sphaera”

Twelve

Writing these year-end summaries is always a cathartic experience. It’s odd to try and summarize the year you’ve had, in whatever way resonates best, to an audience of people you don’t know, but that does take some pressure off. Every year, I get a new chance to be grateful for the writers and readers on this blog, and to reflect on what went wrong, what went right, and where I am now versus where I was a year ago.

I can confidently say that, by any measure, 2024 was the worst year of my life. Between personal losses and professional disasters, I spent most of the year feeling demotivated, dejected, and just shy of despairing. And yet, when I compiled my year-end list, I was pleasantly surprised, because there isn’t actually all that much dark material here. You’d think, based on how I started this paragraph, that my list would be filled with the dark and dismal metals from the year, but instead, it leans much lighter, more optimistic, and hopeful. Hope is a tough thing to squash completely, and throughout the year, I have stubbornly remained optimistic that things would get better—and, sure enough, they have. I’ll begin 2025 in a much better place, and take the lessons of the year with me all the way to the next article.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my fellow writers here for their support as I contributed an uneven year (at best) to the blog—your friendships, banter, recommendations, and rare-but-memorable offline appearances mean the world to me. As I come up to the end of my sixth year writing here, I’m still having a blast. Not to mention the music! The music is good too. Speaking of which…

#ish. Opeth // The Last Will and Testament – Having first encountered Opeth during the Pale Communion days, I never really formed an opinion on the growls/no-growls debate. Even so, despite my genuine admiration for their last few releases, The Last Will and Testament feels like some kind of return to form for these giants. An album as dense as it is powerful, The Last Will and Testament keeps me coming back. Perhaps because of that density, I had trouble figuring out how and where exactly to list it. Maybe it came out a little too late in the year for me; I may well regret this “low” placement before long.

#10. Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart – Old Eyes, New Heart is, appropriately, an album with real heart. I love its laid-back approach that does nothing to diminish the cold darkness that surrounds it. And yet, the sense of hope and determination I get from listening to it electrifying. Just listen to “Cold Hard Rain”—”there’s hope in the dark” is one of the best moments in any album I’ve heard all year. The approach Madder Mortem brings to Old Eyes, New Heart is resonant, mixing dark and light in a way that just worked for me this year. It is an excellent album.

#9. Fellowship // The Skies Above Eternity – Conversely, Fellowship brought all kinds of power metal glory to The Skies Above Eternity, an outrageously fun album adorned with hope, excitement, and super impressive performances from everyone involved. The Skies Above Eternity is just so much fun to listen to; it fills the Angus McSix-sized hole in this year-end list admirably because a year without some kind of super-well-done over-the-top power metal is a year that’s just no good. Thankfully, Fellowship are clearly here to stay.

# 8. Dawnwalker //The Unknowing – The Unknowing is one of those albums that rewards repeated listens. Of course, I listened to it plenty before writing my review in October, but I’ve kept listening to it since and I just keep noticing new things. It’s enough to make me want to rewrite the whole review, honestly; there’s just so much to The Unknowing, and I love the way Dawnwalker made this album simple and complex at the same time. The ebb and flow is very well done, the performances are powerful, and the meanings just keep on coming. This is a great album to get lost in, and I still recommend it highly.

#7. Hamferð // Men Guðs hond er sterk – “But God’s Hand is Strong” is an amazing title for such a dark album. Maybe that’s part of why I like it so much—that idea of hope transcending everything else, of faith and optimism keeping you going when things are really bad. Of course, it helps that Hamferð are phenomenal musicians who know exactly what they’re doing; Men Guðs hond er sterk is a crushingly powerful doom album, well-written and performed to the highest standards. Hamferð have long been my go-to band when it’s cold and dark out. Well, winter is back, and thank goodness Hamderð is too.

#6. In Vain // Solemn – I love epic, complex metal, and In Vain delivers with Solemn. I love Solemn for its melodic qualities, its huge ambitions, and its soaring highs. That it uses a horn section is icing on the cake; the first listen-through is unpredictable, but the quality is consistently high. Solemn is one of those great albums that just doesn’t really have faults—it was never a question of whether I’d like it, just one of how much. It’s that solid, and has all kinds of staying power. A definite highlight from the year in whatever style of metal you think it fits in best.

#5. Árstíðir lífsins // Aldrlok – I love Árstíðir lífsins. I’ve criticized their albums before, but the truth is that the base of their sound is so wonderfully up my alley that I’m not sure it’s possible for me to dislike their music. I’m always so excited when Árstíðir lífsins releases new music, and Aldrlok has grown on me immensely since its release in June. I love its mystical quality, its evocative style, and its historic power—Árstíðir lífsins approach their music in a way that few bands or projects do, and it resonates so well. It’s a long album for sure, but it is filled with outstanding material and well worth the deep dive it offers.

#4. Silhouette // Les Dires de l’Ame – Silhouette first grabbed my attention with the release of Les retranchements a couple of years ago. Since then, it feels like they’ve grown tremendously; Les Dires de l’Ame feels grander, darker, and more complex than Les retranchements, and I love this direction. The melodies, harmonies, and vocal performances are stunning, and the balance of beauty and darkness is incredibly well-done. Even now, I feel like Les Dires de l’Ame is still growing on me; I am fully enamored with this symphonic sojourn, and expect to remain so for some time.

#3. Hell:on // Shaman – For a long time, I assumed Shaman would be my album of the year, and it was not something I would have predicted before May. And yet, here it is: Shaman is incredible, a powerful slab of death metal decorated with just enough melodic, mystic, and folk elements to keep me coming back. It’s rare that I like death metal this much, but Hell:on is just so compelling, from the throat singing to the acoustic interludes that break up blisteringly powerful riffing. Shaman’s got it all, and it is captivating at every moment from beginning to end.

#2. Forndom // Moþir – I can’t believe I’m not giving this one Album of the Year. Maybe it just came out too recently, but it’s still surprising because I adore Forndom. Moþir’s orchestral folk approach to creating time-defying music is essentially flawless, and it is so easy to get lost in. The vocal work, orchestral performances, and lead violin are all exemplary, and it’s been truly wonderful exploring this darker, grander side of Forndom these last several weeks. On the one hand, I wish it had come out sooner so I could have more time with it before writing this blurb—on the other, it suits December weather so well that I believe I’ve been getting the best out of it since day one. Forndom is doing amazing work, and I really can’t recommend Moþir enough. Time travel is real, and I am convinced that Forndom knows the secret.

#1. Meer // Wheels Within Wheels – What can I even write here that Sentynel hasn’t said better in his own review? Wheels Within Wheels is my new go-to album when things are bad—it is melancholic and angry, but also optimistic and hopeful, a delicate-yet-gorgeous balance that really speaks to me. It’s got a ton of variance, and knows when to go big and when to keep quiet. The songwriting is exemplary, and you really feel the impact of the many musicians who’ve come together for each song. The singing in particular is outstanding, lifted by strings, piano, guitar, and drums with a cohesion that most projects can only dream of. More than all of that, however, is that Wheels Within Wheels is an honest, vulnerable album. It is willing to be fragile and open and is achingly beautiful in those moments. Lyrically, it’s like a hand outstretched, a friend with an ear always ready to listen. Done well, this progressive rock style has limitless potential, and Meer do it so, so well. I really love this album; in many ways, it saved my year.

Honorable Mention

• The Dread Crew of Oddwood // Rust & Glory – I don’t know what else to tell you—there isn’t enough goofy music on my list. The Dread Crew of Oddwood are an absolute blast, and I keep coming back to Rust & Glory purely for the fun factor. It also helps that “Lost Comrades” perfectly encapsulates the experience of writing for this blog.

Song of the Year

I’ve written the word “hope” too much in this article—I know that. But metal music is personal, and often our choices for our favorites reflect our experiences. This year, I needed hope. That’s why “Come to Light” by Meer is my song of the year for 2024—because there were times when this song genuinely kept my head up, kept me smiling, and forced me into the right headspace to get through what really was a very bad year. Now I’m on the other side of it, and hey, it’s still an amazing song! It perfectly encapsulates that limitless potential I was going on about a few sections ago, and realizes it in such a beautiful, endearing way. An outstanding song from an outstanding album by an outstanding band.

#2024 #Amiensus #ArstidirLifsins #BlogPosts #Dawnwalker #Dvne #Fellowship #Forndom #Hamferð #HellOn #iHäxa #InVain #Iotunn #Kalandra #Kanonenfeiber #KeygenChurch #Lowen #MadderMortem #Meer #NorthernGenocide #Opeth #SaturdayNightSatan #SentynelAndTwelveSTopTenIshOf2024 #SevenSpires #Silhouette #Suldusk #TheDreadCrewOfOddwood #Ulcerate

If there's violin in it, it must be symphonic, right? For @sariash's #SymphonicMonday:

#NiceToEatYou: Blood Red

https://song.link/cpj9g35hgwp83

#PostHardcore #SymphonicMetalcore

FFO #DivideAndDissolve #MadderMortem #TheRhubard

CW Linked video contains shots of #SelfHarm

Dreamslain – Forge of Rebellion Review

By El Cuervo

One of the best things about living in Europe is the ease of access to hundreds of amazingly varied locations within a few hours of relatively cheap travel, traversing borders, languages, and cuisines. One of my most favorite destinations is Tromsø in Northern Norway; a grand coastal city with modern amenities ensconced in the beautifully bleak Scandinavian wilderness. It makes for a great hub to discover scarcely-touched lakes, waterfalls and mountains. A little band called Dreamslain hails from Tromsø, and their second full-length album is called Forge of Rebellion. I’ve started with this because it’s the most positive things you’ll read in this review. It’s in every metalhead’s interest to support bands toiling in the underground to self-publish their work, which is what makes this piece so difficult to write.

Dreamslain heavily rely on keys of various types, from piano to organ to harpsichord to synths, shifting between these as their songs develop. These contribute to an almost carnivalesque swing on tracks like “Secrets of the Forge” and “Ghost Story,” conveying how the band aimed for something grand here. The layers of keys, changeable guitars, switches between heavy and light, varied vocal approach, and chunky song lengths belie a fantastical tale woven with progressive metal. Forge could be distantly compared to Madder Mortem (for the varied, zany approach to prog) or Arjen Lucassen (for the over-the-top storytelling). However, you should not mistake the quality of these acts as an indicator of the quality here. When I hear a good album, my brain immediately begins identifying its strengths. Forge has the opposite effect, where I immediately begin identifying its deficiencies. There’s unfortunately a lot to say.

The greatest weakness is probably the bizarre, toothless production. The keyboard tones are comically terrible, and the bass is so buried as to be almost inaudible. It has the lo-fi feel of a demo recorded in one take, except that the Dreamslain one sheet suggests this is intended to be a full-length release in their discography. I can only assume that it sounds like how it’s intended to sound. I generally prefer production that isn’t overly polished, but Forge is so unpolished that it sounds amateurish. Likewise, the clean singing takes the form of a misguided warble that lacks depth, grit, and melody. Again, I’m forced to assume that this is how it was intended to sound but I’m bewildered as to how this can be the case. These warbles are blended with sneering shouts and shrieks that lack the cutting edge you would expect from harsh metal vocals. Only the harsh vocal passage over the piano scales on “Ghost Story” is remotely interesting. In their best passages, the vocals are passable, but at their worst, they’re distractingly shoddy.

By contrast, other instrumentation is reasonably accomplished. Dreamslain’s drums are genuinely impressive, and by far the best element of Forge. There are some groovy fills and transitions bridging passages where the drums are the one sound in the medley that feels deliberate and in control. It’s just a shame that they’re neutered by non-existent bass in the mix and an aggravating kick drum tone. Likewise, where the guitars are given some breathing room away from the keyboards, they’re solid enough. The opening riffs on “Braving the Storm” and “Humankinds Fall” aren’t bad, and there are a couple of shredding passages that cause my ears to pick up. But even in these moments, these guitar melodies are merely average compared with the perplexing remainder. Guitars should dictate the tone and feel of metal music, developing songs from one place to another, but all tracks here meander without purpose for six to ten minutes a piece. They begin feeling too long after just 60 seconds.

From the directionless song structures to the tepid melodies, to the phony keyboard tones, to the crappy production, almost everything here follows an aesthetic choice that I would not have made. It isn’t utterly irredeemable – these cats know their way around their instruments and demonstrate chops through the faster passages – but simply being able to play your instrument should be a minimum requirement, not the highlight. I’ve tried to write reasonably in response to Dreamslain with this review. Punching down on a small band participating in their passion project is rarely the right course of action. But Forge is bafflingly bad. They should return to the drawing board.

Rating: 0.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 224 kbps mp3
Label: Self-released
Websites: dreamslain.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/dreamslain
Releases Worldwide: June 14th, 2024

#05 #2024 #ArjenLucassen #Dreamslain #ForgeOfRebellion #Jun24 #MadderMortem #NorwegianMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased

AMG Turns 15: Middle Management Speaks

By Carcharodon

15 years ago, on May 19, 2009, Angry Metal Guy spoke. For the very first time as AMG. And he had opinions: Very Important Opinions™. The post attracted relatively little attention at the time, but times change and, over the decade and a half since then, AMG Industries has grown into the blog you know today. Now with a staff of around 25 overrating overwriters (and an entirely non-suspicious graveyard for writers on permanent, all-expenses-paid sabbaticals), we have written more than 9,100 posts, comprising over seven million words. Over the site’s lifetime, we’ve had more than 107 million visits and now achieve well over a million hits each and every month. Through this, we’ve built up a fantastic community of readers drawn from every corner of the globe, whom we have (mostly) loved getting to know in the more than 360,000 comments posted on the site.

We have done this under the careful (if sternly authoritarian) stewardship of our eponymous leader Angry Metal Guy and his iron enforcer, Steel Druhm, while adhering to strict editorial policies and principles. We have done this by simply offering honest (and occasionally brutal) takes, and without running a single advert or taking a single cent from anyone. Ever. Mistakes have undoubtedly been made and we may be a laughing stock in the eyes of music intellectuals, socialites and critics everywhere but we are incredibly proud of what AMG Industries represents. In fact, we believe it may be the best metal blog, with the best community of readers, on the internet.

Now join us as the people responsible for making AMG a reality reflect on what the site means to them and why they would willingly work for a blog that pays in the currency of deadlines, abuse, and hobo wine. Welcome to the 15th Birthdaynalia.

Thou Shalt Have No Other Blogs!

Carcharodon

AMG and me

I lurked quietly on AMG for about five years, reading daily, discovering great records, but never entering the fray. Not so much as a single comment. I didn’t feel qualified to get involved. Until that is, I inexplicably decided—I’m still not sure why—to answer the 2018 casting call. To my surprise, I got a shot and, under the threatening (but surprisingly fair) tutelage of Steel Druhm, I evolved from nameless_n00b_17 to become Carcharodon Sharkboi. I figured it would be a fun hobby for a year or two.

Coming up six years and more than 250 posts later, AMG Industries is so much more than a hobby. It’s become part of my daily life. And that is because of the people and the culture here, not just the staff, but also the regular readers and commenters. Although there’s a wry humor to nearly everything we do, and more in-jokes than even the seasoned staffers can keep up with, people actually care. They care. About the music. About our editorial standards. About the quality of our output. About each other. And, apparently, about Yer Mom. Caring and having standards are rare commodities on the internet, and it makes the AMG community a special place to be a part of. Are we perfect? No. Mistakes have been made. We Melvins that make up AMG are a dysfunctional family, but you love your family and you’re always a part of it. This adoptive family helped me get through some really tough times as a new(ish) dad during the COVID lockdowns and exposed me to some really impressive people, I would likely never have met otherwise. Thanks AMG for starting this place and, along with Steel, Grier and other key players, ensuring that it remains what it’s always been: a place for appreciating the music we love, free from adverts, clickbait, and dicks. I’m proud to have played my small part in it.

AMG gave to me …

Gorguts // Colored Sands – I couldn’t tell you exactly when I started perusing AMG but I remember this being one of the first reviews I stumbled across. Today, it’s not a record I reach for often but it completely changed my perception of death metal. Until I heard Colored Sands, death metal to me fell into either the Cannibal Corpse school, or the progressive Opeth and late-era Death camp. The former wasn’t for me, the latter very much was. Gorguts ripped my preconceptions apart. The band was completely unknown to me but the technical precision and dissonance they channeled into this record blew me away. And having heard it, it’s impossible not to hear Gorguts’ influence on dozens of other bands. As Noctus opined, the “riffs are absorbing, dizzying and uncompromisingly heavy … [while the] mix is dynamic, well-balanced and above all, crushing.” But it’s more than that. It’s such a complete package and, together, all the elements are simply transcendent.

Mistur // In Memoriam – It pains me to say it but Grier was right. Okay, so it was once, about eight years ago but he was still right: Mistur’s In Memoriam is an absolute banger. It does deserve a 4.5. And I did miss it. And it’s absolutely in my top-5 black metal records of the 2010s. Would I have found it without him? Perhaps. Perhaps not. After all, I didn’t know their 2009 debut, Attende. But I didn’t need to do the work because Grier did it for me. He was also right to say that In Memoriam is packed full of highlights but that the “record is impossible to appreciate unless listened to from beginning to end.” It’s a perfectly crafted piece of Windir-inspired melodic black metal, with absolutely no fat on its “magnificently structured” carcass. Every track is excellent in its own way (the duo of “Matriarch’s Lament” and “The Sight” being my personal highlights), but the album is undoubtedly greater than the sum of its parts. As a general rule of thumb, do not trust Grier but he was right on the money about Mistur.

Gazpacho // Demon – Demon is in my top ten records of all time. From the yawing note, fragile vocal line, and keys that open the record on “I’ve Been Walking, Pt. 1a” to the final notes of “Death Room”, it gives me chills every time. I’m not someone who has overly emotional reactions to music, as a rule. But I love Demon. There is something about this record’s dark vulnerability that haunts me. And given the band’s shitty name, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with it were it not for the review here. Sitting right on the intersection of alt-rock and prog, with a few heavier riffs, I could say that it has all the progressive chops of Radiohead’s OK Computer and that there’s something of Thom Yorke in Gazpacho frontman Jan-Henrik Ohm’s quiet, emotive power. I could point to the excellent use of violin (the polka that closes “The Wizard of Altai Mountains” is just fun). I could, as AMG did in the review that hooked me in, praise the fantastic production. He also, rightly, said that “[e]very listen to brings forth new experiences, new ideas, new emotions”. But it’s more than that. Demon just has that undefinable something. It’s heart-wrenching, somber and I never tire of it.

I wish I had written …

Grymm Comments: On Mental Health Awareness and Our Favorite Music. Okay, I don’t actually wish I had written this. Nor should I have been allowed to. However, I am extremely glad that Grymm, Kenstrosity and The Artist Formerly Known As Muppet took on this project. In any space, it’s an incredibly important subject but mental health struggles seem to have an outsize impact on people in our (still relatively niche) scene, as the engagement with this piece showed. The number of incredibly personal and moving stories people felt able to share in response to Grymm‘s post made me very proud to be part of this place and I like to think that, perhaps, it helped a few people, who felt they had nowhere else to turn, feel a little less alone. Chapeau gentlemen.

I wish I could do over …

Kanonenfieber – Menschenmühle [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]. In the write-up of my favorite record of 2021, I opened with a disclaimer, setting out what this record categorically was not. It was an effort to head off what I predicted would inevitably become an issue for a German band, writing and singing about war in German … you figure it out. To be fair, when I interviewed its creator, Noise, a couple of years later, it seems I was right. Still, I don’t think my efforts helped. If anything, they sparked a pointless debate in the comments (of which I was part). I should have left well alone and just focused on this outstanding record.

I wish more people had read …

The Art of Labelling – Part I and Part II. All the way back in early 2020, while locked up in my house, I penned a two-part feature looking at three great, independent record labels—Hypnotic Dirge, Naturmacht and Transcending Obscurity. I wanted to understand the challenges, and opportunities, facing them and their founders. I found these fascinating to write and I learned a lot. Part I did ok numbers, not great but ok; Part II … less so. Given the huge amounts of time Nic, Robert and Kunal gave up to help me with these pieces, I had hoped to get more exposure for these excellent labels.

GardensTale

AMG and me

It’s hard to overstate the impact AMG has had on my life. When I found the site, checking out reviews for Book of Souls, I wasn’t listening to that much metal anymore. The quality of the writing drew me in, I got caught up on recent big releases, and the writing bug sank its teeth in me. Soon, metal had become a big part of my life again. Not long after, my partner expressed an interest as well and I introduced her to the various types and subgenres of metal, and we started going to more concerts and festivals, which is our favorite shared experience to this day. We started going to Roadburn, met and befriended several bands. We made friends from Wales at Graspop. During the pandemic, the staff started doing Zoom calls,1 and I got to know many of my fellow writers. After the pandemic, we made more friends through Roadburn and Angry Metal Days. We’ve been to Brutal Assault, with people we met at other festivals. One even moved to our city and has become a close companion since then. How much smaller would our world be without these friendships and experiences! This one shared interest—the love of music—is a wonderful, ongoing journey, that has enriched our lives in ways I can scarcely describe, and the match that set the fire was a click on a link while I was bored at work. AMG has brought my partner and me incalculable joy. Here’s to 15 more years!

AMG gave to me …

King Goat // Conduit – Conduit is important to me for several reasons. It was my first Album of the Year at AMG, with the title track a well-deserved Song of the Year. But it was also the album that showed me how wrong I was about doom metal. I had this notion that Swallow the Sun levels of drudgery were the standard for the genre, something I could (at the time) only tolerate in small amounts. Having just begun my AMG career in August that year, I was keen to unearth as much as I could from 2016, and King Goat blew my mind wide open, an obliteration of preconceptions that has served me well since. Despite the cataclysmic recalibration, I have not yet discovered a doom album to top Conduit. The mighty vocals, the colossal riffs, the cosmic scale of it all … it is a truly monumental album. Just thinking of the anthemic duet of the title track’s bridge still sends chills down my spine.

Disillusion // The Liberation – If you didn’t see this coming, welcome to AMG! I have made no secret of how much I love The Liberation.2 It is, quite literally, my all-time favorite album. The first time I heard it, it was overwhelming. The second time, “Time To Let Go” got its powerful hooks into me. Third time round, the sheer scope of “Wintertide” began to land. Every time I span it, I discovered more depth, more hooks, more intricate details, which connected all the tracks like a perfect web. It’s a bold treatise on dying and letting go, emotionally charged not just through the vocals but with every chord. I love progressive music principally for its storytelling ability, as the freedom from structure allows the music to emulate the endless ways to build a narrative arc. It’s why I love Pink Floyd and, more recently, Major Parkinson so much, and it’s the reason Edge of Sanity’s Crimson is one of the only albums I’ve done a YMIO for. But none do it better than Disillusion, and they’ve never done it better than on this album.

Madder Mortem // Red in Tooth and Claw – I’d heard Madder Mortem before, back in their Desiderata days. Although I enjoyed that album, it hadn’t stuck with me somehow. Red in Tooth and Claw brought me back into the fold in a big way, and Madder Mortem’s become one of my favorite bands since, owing to its unique sound and peerless emotional acuity. This album’s closer, “Underdogs,” remains one of the most effective and affecting tracks in the stellar discography of Norway’s best-kept secret. A disastrously scheduled and attended gig during the Marrow tour allowed my partner and me hours of drinks and conversations with the band, especially with vocalist extraordinaire Agnete Kirkevaag, and it remains the best and most personal experience I’ve had with any band. Madder Mortem will always hold a special place in my heart, and I would likely never have gone back to them if I hadn’t read Jean-Luc Ricard‘s review and decided to give a long-forgotten band another shot.

I wish I had written …

Alcest – Kodama Review. We have some mighty fine writers here at AMG, each with their own style and voice. But few could match the poetry of Roquentin. Starting out here, this was the review that made me sigh dreamily and wish for the ability to write such extraordinary prose. When you’ve been writing reviews for a while, you often find yourself trying new ways to phrase the same things; this is good, that is bad, etcetera. The Kodama piece is a masterclass in melding these points into a beautifully phrased flow, which never feels repetitive or perfunctory. Roquentin, you are missed.

I wish I could do over …

Hemina – Venus Review. I’m only human, and humans make mistakes. My biggest mistake, though, was the framing of Hemina’s Venus. A lengthy, winding progressive metal album from my early AMG career, I found the love-themed concept album trite and too cheesy. And though I may have been able to defend that musically, I was completely wrong about the concept, which dealt with the happiness love brings, as well as the drama and destruction. And the band called me out on it in the comments, in the worst way: with polite kindness. One more memory for the ‘lie awake at night’ bank, I suppose.

I wish more people had read …

Wills Dissolve – Echoes Review and Album Premiere. We don’t do a lot of premieres around here, so when we run one, it’s a special event. Hypnotic Dirge is not an unknown label, Wills Dissolve had a very good album with a great Burke cover. All the ducks in a line, right? Crickets. 3 comments, 2 of which talked about the lack of comments. Just a strange fluke, it seems, but certainly one of my bigger AMG disappointments.

Kenstrosity

AMG and me

When I first applied to write for AMG, I felt terribly unconfident that I would get anywhere with it. A certain commenter’s (Septic, you scoundrel, you) and my meatspace friends’ constant, and sometimes irritating, encouragement and support conspired to keep me from chickening out. Lo and behold, I jammed my foot into the Hall door. Just. Brutal though that training was, now that I’m here and somewhat seasoned, I can say that this gig represents one of the most rewarding and meaningful hobbies in my life. I’ve learned a ridiculous amount, both about metal at large and about writing—and made an unprecedented number of great friends along the way—in the last six years (this November), and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. I’m not the same person I was when I applied, of that there’s no doubt. But, I like to think that, with the support of the staff, the commentariat, the silly goofy Discordians, and all of the readers that keep this place vibrant and burgeoning with views, I’m better for it. I owe this place and the people in it a huge debt, one I can never repay. Thank you everyone, for everything!

AMG gave to me …

Sulphur Aeon // Gateway to the Antisphere – Up until discovering this review, back when I first encountered AMG in 2017, I listened almost exclusively to metalcore, Evanescence, and operatic symphocheese. Then I hit play on this incredible record, and my life forever changed. I’d heard snippets of death metal and other extreme fare before, but it never clicked. Sulphur Aeon, on the other hand, had me swooning within seconds, initiating what was, effectively, the musical equivalent of the Big Bang in my brain. A whole universe of metal, extreme and otherwise, expanded exponentially before me in an instant. Those cosmic wonders revealed to me in the process, provided endless hours of joy, excitement, and vigor, the likes of which I could never anticipate. With time, I only grew fonder of Gateway to the Antisphere, until it eventually became a Ken icon, the standard by which I judge all other records of its ilk, even today.

Slugdge // Esoteric Malacology – If you asked me to curate a Top 10 metal records of the 2010s, Esoteric Malacology easily hits my Top 3. If you asked me to curate a Top 10 metal records of all time, Esoteric Malacology easily hits my Top 5.[Um … what?! – Carcharodon] Much like Gateway to the Antisphere before it, Slugdge’s fourth LP clicked immediately and, all these years later, shines just as bright, if not brighter. Rarely does a week go by without me picking this back up for some quirky, proggy death metal fun. Esoteric Malacology even transcends the trend of clumsy lyrics endemic to metal writ large, instead showcasing devilishly clever prose and subversive messaging that conveys meaningful themes, and compelling emotional depth. Then you have the stellar performances of this dynamic duo (now trio), perhaps most effectively portrayed in Song o’ the Decade contender “Putrid Fairytale,” which remains to this day my favorite piece of progressive death metal of the modern era. Needless to say, I love this record. HAIL MOLLUSCA!!!

Unfathomable Ruination // Finitude – Brutal tech death doesn’t get better than this. Easily my most cherished Kronos find, Unfathomable Ruination’s unbelievable triumph of crushing artistry left me speechless when I first span it. Considering this was my first foray into the dense, challenging extremities of more technical music, I expected Finitude to fly way over my head. I found myself bewildered that its impenetrable density and ridiculously high level of detail were so effortless for me to access. Blame that on the record’s immense groove and flawlessly structured writing. With enough time to acclimate to the intense environment conjured by Unfathomable Ruination, I found greater appreciation for its nuanced detailing and deeply satisfying tones. Hell, that perfect snare alone brings enough aural pleasure to overwhelm even the coldest spirit. At the end of the day, you should just go read Kronos‘ review of this beast, as it explains, more eloquently than I ever could, why this should be on everyone’s essential listening schedule.

I wish I had written …

In This Moment – A Star-Crossed Wasteland Review. Boy was I mad when I found this piece for one of my favorite metalcore albums. While my confounding taste is the butt of many a joke for my colleagues and our readers alike, seeing a 1.0 for this record truly hurt my soft baby heart at the time. Given the chance, my assessment would’ve likely precluded me from being hired by AMG Inc in the first place, but nothing could change how dear this record is to me. Even now, over a decade since its release, I still regularly reach for these romantic, adventurous, and theatrical tunes.

I wish I could do over …

Ascend the Hollow – Echoes of Existence Review. I’ll be frank, this review is bad. Like, really bad. Partly due to the last minute nature of the piece and partly due to my unbridled enthusiasm for the record itself, I unleashed a tidal wave of unhinged band comparisons, more than half of which don’t make any sense in retrospect. An insane density of passive voice further plagues this write-up. It’s actually kind of embarrassing. The only things that wouldn’t change much are the overall score and some of the hard points of my analysis. Otherwise, this post desperately needs an overhaul.

I wish more people had read …

Into the Obscure: Straight Line Stitch – When Skies Wash Ashore. While I’m over the moon that one of the band members unexpectedly dropped by in the comments to offer kind words for my coverage of Straight Line Stitch’s excellent When Skies Wash Ashore, I do wish more readers had given this album a chance. Many didn’t bother to even read this article because of the tags, unwilling to spend even five minutes of their time. For an album personally significant to me, that felt pretty lame.

Holdeneye

AMG and me

What does Angry Metal Guy mean to me? Honestly, this is a question that I’m constantly trying to answer. As life goes on, and my kids enter their busy teen years, my hunger to listen to, and write about, new music has definitely waned. But there was a time when this music blog was exactly what I needed in my life. I’ve never felt totally fulfilled by my job as a firefighter, and I went through a period where I questioned whether it was actually the career for me. I considered going back to school or switching professions in order to be able to better use some of my seemingly untapped skills. I’d been reading AMG off and on for years at that point and had already fantasized about joining the roster of talented writers when a casting call came about. I answered the call, forever marring the Angry Metal archives with my questionable taste and questionable humor—and forever changing my life. Put simply, Angry Metal Guy is where I found my voice; it’s where I realized that no matter what it is that I want to say, I have a natural ability to say it in a way that seems to resonate with people. I may have dreams of writing something a little more meaningful than a heavy metal review filled with potty humor, but if that dream should one day come to fruition, all those poop, fart, and penis jokes will have been instrumental in bringing it about.

AMG gave to me …

Anaal Nathrakh // The Whole of the Law – When I first heard this record, it was unlike anything I’d ever heard. Grymm‘s review and the album’s subsequent success during List Season 2016 convinced me to give this thing a whirl, despite it lying way outside my wheelhouse. Sure, I’d enjoyed some extreme metal before, but Anaal Nathrakh was in a whole different league for me. Until The Whole of the Law, I never dreamed I could actually like something so insanely … well … insane. The project’s brand of philosophical violence hit me at a time when I was struggling to reshape my worldview after deconstructing my inherited Christian faith, and just about everything about the album’s aesthetic clicked with me. This record has fueled many a sweaty therapy session in Holdeneye‘s Iron Dungeon of Pain and Enlight(dark)enment™, and it opened me up to a whole new world of musical brutality.

Sabaton // Carolus Rex – This one will probably shock a lot of people. I was a late adopter when it came to Sabaton, and I never really gave their early records a shot because I felt the whole history-metal thing was too gimmicky. But when Angry Metal Guy and Steel Druhm gave Carolus Rex the old tag-team tongue bathing, I took notice. I think the conceptual nature of the album really helped the band’s schtick resonate with me. It was the first time an album had me running to Wikipedia to learn more about the events described in the music, and this combination of learning history and enjoying heavy metal has become the best part of every new Sabaton release since. It’s no exaggeration to say that Sabaton has become one of my favorite bands of all time, and I’ll always be grateful to this site’s malevolent dictators for showing me the way.

Candlemass // Epicus Doomicus Metallicus – If I had to choose a feature that solidified Angry Metal Guy as my go-to metal blog, it would have to be when Angry Metal Guy and Steel Druhm each curated their personal top 50 heavy metal songs of all time back in 2011.3 These features reveal a lot of each of their personalities and their tastes in music, and I found a lot in common with both lists. I used them as tools for broadening my musical horizons, but no other new-to-me album hit me as hard as Candlemass’ EDM. Steel recommended “A Sorcerer’s Pledge” as a ‘doom odyssey akin to Rainbow’s “Stargazer,”‘ and that was all the nudge I needed to give the full album a try. As far as I know, EDM was the first full-fledged doom album I ever loved, and it has grown into a personal desert-island record. Thanks, Boss!

I regret nothing! But I wish I could do over …

Scardust – Strangers Review. While I don’t actually wish I could do this one over, I wish I would have done it harder. Strangers is a world-class album, and it’s only gotten better in the years since its release. This should have been a 4.5, minimum, and it should have been my Album o’ the Year for 2020. I took so much delight in how divisive the album was for our beautiful commenters, and I can only imagine how much more fun it would have been to watch you guys lose it over an even higher score. Scardust is a uniquely talented band, and I really wish I could have helped insert that glowing eggplant into even more earholes.

Sentynel

AMG and me

AMG landed in my life at a pivotal time for my music taste. I stumbled into 70s classic rock and prog in my early teens, and on to Nightwish, Blind Guardian then Isis by my late teens. Searching for more, I found the Skyforger review here and, unwittingly, an endless deluge of new music. I am terribly novelty-seeking, and AMG has kept me interested in music – not for me the endless adulthood of listening to one’s teenage favorites. I’ve picked three highlights I haven’t already written anything about anywhere below, but choosing was a brutal process and I had over a dozen Desert Island Discs-worthy choices shortlisted. But the music is only part of it. Ten years of running the servers here has taught me a lot, and it’s also a source of pride how stable it’s been over that time.4 Eventually, I was talked into trying my hand at reviewing. It’s been rewarding and great for my writing more generally, even if I don’t have time to write as much as I’d like. Huge, huge thanks to Dr. Wvrm‘s editorial help and support. Finally: there’s a weird, worldwide crew of friends behind this site, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

AMG gave to me …

The Ocean // Pelagial – This is the obvious choice for this spot; my favorite record of the 2010s and possibly ever. I never tire of listening to Pelagial, over a decade later. From the opening piano to the last guitar line fading into electrical noise I am transfixed. Sitting on the boundary between prog and post-metal, it’s rich, melodic, even catchy at times, crushing at others. Each of its moods and styles hits perfectly, while the narrative and thematic arc of a descent into the deep gives it an enduring coherence. It’s taken me a few attempts to actually write this piece because I keep getting distracted just listening to it. I’ll never stop seeking out new music, but contenders to Pelagial’s throne are few and far between.

Esben and the Witch // Older Terrors – Perhaps the record I reference the most while trying to explain my specific music taste. This is an incredibly me album. Sparse, hypnotic, atmospheric, Older Terrors does an awful lot with very little. The balance here is incredibly delicate. Getting music this minimalist to have real impact is hard, and the albums where it works are some of my all-time favorites. Here, the folk stylings—the sense of forests, rituals and magic—are key to its success. I associate this album with its cover art much more viscerally than anything else I listen to. It’s genuinely transportive; pressing play feels like stepping into that starlit forest.

Vienna Teng // Aims – Ah, how can I pass up an opportunity to write about an album that only tangentially qualifies for this section on a bunch of axes? I mentioned my love of Teng’s work in my 2023 AotY list, but I think Aims is particularly special. It’s at once incredibly catchy and poppy, yet also very experimental, and really shows off her lyrical and thematic flair. “The Hymn of Acxiom” casts an internet marketing database as a choral hymn, more relevant now than ever; “Landsailor” is a love duet between humanity and capitalism.5 These songs sit alongside more traditional themes of love and loss. They’re heavy subjects handled in a way that’s sensitive and moving. None feel out of place, and I still get them stuck in my head out of the blue regularly. Metal isn’t completely devoid of meaningful lyrics—last year’s Wayfarer did a good job here, for example—but it’s rare that I would describe anything as poetic, or that it makes me think to this degree.

I wish I could do over …

Mitochondrial Sun – Mitochondrial Sun Review. When I penned this review, I was very new to actually writing here, and hadn’t quite figured out my voice or a writing process that really worked for me. I don’t think I did a terrible job by any means, and this isn’t the only thing I’ve underrated here either (looking at you, Musk Ox), but this record is really something special and deserved both a better review and more attention generally.

Huck N Roll

AMG and me

I am olde, and I am stuck in my ways. I only ever read reviews at two sites, and the first of those was AMG. When I applied to write here, I knew for sure I would not get the gig. But by some stroke of luck, AMG Himself missed my application and Steel—perhaps just wanting an equally olde curmudgeon on staff—brought me in. I loved every minute of it. Hopefully, I became a better writer, thanks to all the talented miscreants I was with. What a great group of people – the writers and the regular (and irregular) commenters. It’s certainly a regret of mine that life got in the way and I had to leave the team.

It was the actual reviews on AMG that got me hooked. They were irreverent, entertaining, and always, always brutally honest. Hands down AMG could (and still can, even with 4.0ldeneye)6 be counted on more than any other site for the TRVE review. No 5.0-pandering to labels and bands: if it sucked, it sucked, and if it was good, well, it sucked less.

You might also be surprised to learn what great people these AMG writers are because, once you get behind the review curtain, they are a bunch of sweethearts. I miss them all!7

AMG gave to me

Darkher // Realms – The year I started with AMG, I was a deer in the headlights. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do a full year-end list, just a quick Top Ten(ish). And tops for me was Realms, from Darkher. Thanks to my good friend Grymm’s amazing writeup, I jumped on this album and never jumped off. This album got me more into doom than I’d ever been, and it’s a genre I still go to quite often (although more in the dark of winter than other times). I still spin the vinyl quite a bit. Thanks Grymm!

The Night Flight Orchestra // Amber Galactic – Another of my albums of the year that I discovered thanks to the undying admiration of my (still) good friend Dr. Fisting. Such fun. And when the guy from Bear Mace says he loves it, well, you take him seriously folks! I always read all the reviews here (still do!) and sample anything highly-rated. Amber Galactic is a big reason why.

A whole bunch of super friends // Whether they know it or not – Yes, even you, Grier!8

I wish I had written …

More YMIO features on Kiss. I did manage one for Love Gun but still, the site is sorely lacking in Kiss material.9 There should be two dozen YMIO features now.10 There should be an album ranking.11 There should be … well, maybe that’s enough.

But seriously, I wish I had written a lot more than I did in my final days. Having to cut down to two reviews a month sucked. I love finding new bands (Sermon) and writing about them, and doing it half as much, meant I was also way less engaged with the rest of the staff. So it was a double whammy. Less new music, and less camaraderie.

I wish I could do over …

Raven – Metal City. If I had known the olde feller from Raven was going to pounce on the comments because I said his album was a 2.5, I would have gone lower just to get him going even more. Nothing in my AMG days made me prouder than “Off you fuck, chief” becoming the catchphrase of the year. And Steel, I never bothered listening to All Hell’s Breaking Loose but I know for a fact you overrated it!12

#2024 #Alcest #AMGTurns15 #AnaalNathrakh #AscendTheHollow #BlogPost #BlogPosts #Candlemass #Darkher #Disillusion #EsbenAndTheWitch #Gazpacho #Gorguts #GrymmCommentsOn #Hemina #HypnoticDirgeRecords #InThisMoment #Kanonenfieber #KingGoat #Kiss #MadderMortem #MentalHealthAwareness #Mistur #MitochondrialSun #NaturmachtProductions #Raven #Sabaton #Scardust #Slugdge #StraightLineStitch #SulphurAeon #TheNightFlightOrchestra #TheOcean #TranscendingObscurity #UnfathomableRuination #ViennaTeng #WillsDissolve

Elvellon – Ascending in Synergy Review

By Kenstrosity

As I’ve mentioned a few times during my tenure, fem-fronted symphonic power metal was my gateway into the metalverse. Bands like Nightwish, Epica, pre-Hydra Within Temptation, and Neverworld’s End-era Xandria, among many others, were my favorite things in the world for many years. Even today, the style still holds a crucial place in my rotation. Unfortunately, very few breakout acts in the last decade made a mark in the scene. Two names in particular who buck that trend come to mind: Connecticut-based Dialith and the subject of today’s piece, German five-banger Elvellon. Featuring highly engaging songwriting and passionate performances, Elvellon’s debut Until Dawn rocketed to the forefront of my listening schedule. Six years later, can follow-up Ascending in Synergy renew their status as one of my favorite up-and-coming symphonic metal bands?

The short answer is a resounding, exuberant yes! Much like Until Dawn, Ascending In Synergy showcases everything great about symphonic metal when it’s done right: huge hooks, opulent orchestrations, and satisfying heft wrapped in a sparkly bow. Evoking an alternate universe where Nightwish released a transitional record between their Once and Dark Passion Play releases, Elvellon’s sophomore full-length contains enough bounce in its consistently addicting songwriting to shame a superball (“Unbound,” “My Forever Endeavor”). All the while, its songwriting retains the rich, theatrical delivery and vivacious attitude I hoped for (“A Vagabond’s Heart”). Gilbert Gelsdorf’s crunchy lead guitars and Jan Runkel’s delightfully gravelly bass guitar dance their way in and out of Pascal Pannen’s lush, yet tasteful keys with a graceful, yet palpable weight (“Into the Vortex”). To complement this striking balance, Martin Klüners’ percussion juggles dance-able beats, exuberant fills, and entertaining cymbal gymnastics with poise and purpose (“A Legacy Divine”). Over top, Nele Messerschmidt’s crystalline, yet brassy siren song makes every moment of Ascending in Synergy a special occasion, leveraging beauty with bite and making it seem as effortless as breathing (“Ocean of Treason”).

You’ll find Ascending in Synergy to be direct, lively, and most of all, irresistible if you have any affinity for this style. Especially strong in its front half, Ascending in Synergy presents five consecutive contenders for album highlight right out of the gate. Everything from opener “Unbound” through “Aftermath of Life” found its way into my daily rotation in an instant—whether in my office, in my car, or in my head. Of those, “A Vagabond’s Heart” jumped straight to the top of my Song o’ the Year list, proving that Elvellon have the songwriting chops to pen a true showstopper. Its verse and chorus work alone are enough to flood my heart with pure joy, and its instrumentation pulls more than enough weight to hold its own in the face of Nele’s stellar delivery. A close second, the epic “Ocean of Treason” throws a few Madder Mortem melodies into the mix, which helps differentiate the number from the lineup as it lights up my spine, and its final chorus evokes an all-encompassing euphoria powerful enough to brighten even the worst of days.

As with many symphonic metal albums, Ascending in Synergy involves a fair measure of sappiness, found primarily in its two ballads, “Last of Our Kind” and epic penultimate track “The Aeon Tree.” I happen to enjoy ballads in this genre, but these two represent a step down from the rest of the tracklist. In the former’s case, admittedly gorgeous vocal melodies and sultry guitar soloing allow for a welcome point of rest before the record’s second act, but on its own “Last of Our Kind” isn’t compelling or memorable enough to stand out. Thankfully, late album bangers “Into the Vortex” and “A Legacy Divine” pick up the slack. However, “The Aeon Tree” fumbles the final landing at the eleventh hour by including an overlong, disruptive monologue in the song’s center. It’s also odd that “The Aeon Tree” doesn’t close the album out. Instead, Elvellon chose to depart with one last bop, “Epiphany of Mine,” which feels misplaced in the album’s context.

Quibbles aside, Elvellon prove themselves as the genuine article with Ascending in Synergy. Not only is this record impossible to put down, it’s also improbably memorable. Despite its flaws and minor missteps, I’m hopelessly in love with Ascending in Synergy. Although I can’t fairly rate it as highly as I hoped, I nevertheless wholeheartedly recommend Elvellon’s sophomore outing to anyone and everyone who enjoys epic music like this. You won’t be disappointed!

Rating: Very Good!
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: facebook.com/ElvellonBand | elvellon.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: May 17th, 2024

#2024 #35 #AscendingInSynergy #Dialith #Elvellon #Epica #GermanMetal #MadderMortem #May24 #NapalmRecords #Nightwish #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #SymphonicMetal #SymphonicPowerMetal #WithinTemptation #Xandria

Record(s) o’ the Month – January 2024

By Angry Metal Guy

As the new year unfolds, the potential for timely Record(s) o’ the Month raises its battered and bruised face in hope of a rebirth—or at least some bandages. My enthusiasm for promising such updates clashes with the realities of regional supply shortages, a tendency towards procrastination, systemic delays, and institutional intransigence/sick leave. January of 2024 did not bring a wealth of standout music releases, as indicated by the sparse new growth in our music review section and the carping of the cadre of Too Cool for School AMG writers who refused to vote, claiming there was no good music in January rather than that they hadn’t been bothered to listen to anything anyone else wrote a review of. Nevertheless, some of us agreed that the latter part of the month did see some noteworthy music that shone amidst the slow start. So, here’s to 2024 and to what I hope is the first of 10(ish) lovingly curated monthly—”monthly”—highlights, aimed at enhancing and enriching your refined metal music tastes in 2024.

But before we dive into the fray, I think it’s important to take a minute to reflect a little bit on history. This being the 15th year of AMG’s existence, I am hoping to spend some time thinking about what’s gone before and to appreciate what it is that we’ve built.1 Since I started doing Record(s) o’ the Month in mid-2012, there have been 10 Record(s) o’ the Month for January. And contrary to what I suspect is popular belief—that January is a slow month—the Record(s) o’ the Month from January have acquitted themselves well during Listurnalias. Prominent high-ranking albums include Angra’s Secret Garden (#10 in 2015), Pain of Salvation’s In the Passing Light of Day (#1 in 2017), Hamferð’s Támsin likam (#1 in 2018), Soilwork’s Verkligheten (#6 in 2019), Demoniac’s So It Goes (#ish) and Soen’s Imperial (#3) in 2021, Wilderun’s Epigone (#3 in 2022), and finally Leiþa’s excellent Reue (#5 in 2023). An eighty percent hit rate is pretty good and, frankly, better than I was expecting.

It feels good that there are not just three, but four albums I can get behind in January of 2024. Only time will tell if this month is as strong as previous years, of course. But, I’m pretty sold on our top entry and I intend to throw a certain delphinophile under the bus regarding his tepid review of another album that I quite liked. To the list!

Brutal, technical deathers Vitriol hit the new year hard with their sophomore outing, Suffer & Become [released on January 26th, 2024 from Century Media]. Blending grand technical chops with the brutish fury of Floridian death and the bombast of Behemoth, Vitriol wants to hurt you and they brought all the right tools for the job. This is punishing, unrelenting stuff that hammers at you with swarming, skin-ripping riffs and a percussive assault designed to induce panic attacks. Immensely heavy and wildly technical, the music will pull your feeble mind apart. Yet, despite the “all gas, no brakes” philosophy, Vitriol learned how to give just enough breathing room, with brief, beautifully melodic segments offering the tiniest of respites. This allows the listener to hold on, barely alive, but only mostly dead. Holdeneye Himself summed up this impressive feat best: “The pure rage, born of suffering, expressed on the band’s debut has been metabolized, emerging with a healthy dose of perspective and nuance.” “Nuance” here is contextual.

Runner(s) Up:

Madder Mortem // Old Eyes, New Heart [January 26th, 2024 | Dark Essence Records] — Norway’s premier gothic prog metal act continues to churn out impressive albums layered with mood, emotion, and atmosphere. They took almost 5 years to deliver the follow-up to their impressive Marrow opus, and fans would be justified in fearing they couldn’t equal or top it. What Old Eyes, New Heart does is show Madder Mortem as alive and creative as ever, showcasing a more vulnerable, introspective side of themselves. Tracks like “Here and Now” and “Cold Hard Rain” weep with power and raw emotion, giving fans all the feelz they yearn for, and there’s risible anger undergirding the material as well. As GardensTale noted, regarding the very personal, intense feeling of the new music: “Old Eyes, New Heart will stand as one of the most intimate and therapeutic albums we’re bound to get this year.” And who isn’t going to need a little bit of therapy in 2024?

Saxon // Hell, Fire and Damnation [January 19th, 2024 | Silver Lining Music] — Going strong after nearly 46 years in the metal business, Saxon returned with another impressively spry, energetic outing on album number 24!2 With founding Diamond Head guitarist Brian Tatler aboard the ship, Saxon stick to what they’ve always done best, fusing hard rock and NWoBHM idioms into simple, catchy, anthemic tunes. Cuts like “Madame Guillotine” and “Super Charger” are classic metal gold and impossible to resist, while more hard rocking numbers like “There’s Something in Roswell” stick quickly and deeply. As a satisfied Steel remarked, “This has everything you want from a modern Saxon album and if this is what the band can do in their 46th year, I can’t wait to hear what’s coming in their 50th.”3

Caligula’s Horse // Charcoal Grace [January 26th, 2024 | InsideOut (24-bit HD digital)] — Sometimes even the greatest of friends can think differently. With regard to Caligula’s Horse’s latest album, Charcoal Grace, there’s a certain delphinophile who shares so much of my taste but often has lukewarm feelings about things I really like. Such is the case with Charcoal Grace, and since I didn’t get time to drop a double review, so it seemed like I should take my chance now. What Charcoal Grace does well is not the same as what Caligula’s Horse did well on its earlier albums. While Charcoal Grace doesn’t deviate from the band’s increasingly chill trajectory, giving the sense that Haken and Caligula’s Horse have converged over the years, the album also showcases the band’s powerful riffs, lumbering chug and exceptional guitar performances (like that guitar solo in “Golem,” por ejemplo). And it’s moments like the pinnacle of “The World Breathes with Me,” where the mix of hooks, Jim Grey’s velvety vocals and chug intersect—that litter Charcoal Grace and which keep me coming back.

#2024 #HellFireAndDamnation #MadderMortem #OldEyesNewHeart #RecordSOTheMonth #Saxon #SufferAndBecome #Vitriol

File under: #FemaleFrontendMetal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzf7cvrk3jU

#MadderMortem