I’m in the minority in this opinion at Firesideometer, but I think this was one of the best years for metal in quite a long time. I spent days moving albums up and down in my list until I finally had to stop and go with what follows. There are excellent honorable mention records that would’ve been top 10 in another year. I could make a case for any of the albums here to be ranked number 1, and if I compiled this in a month, the order would likely be different. Read on for 15 certified bangers that represent the best of an outstanding year for heavy music.
Jerry’s latest solo record is a great set chock full of all of the great riffs and vocal harmonies that you would expect. His solo material has tended to lean away from his signature sound with Alice in Chains, but many of these tracks would fit great on an AiC record. My only hope is that he saved back some riffs for the next AiC album.
Borknagar can always be counted upon to deliver an excellent album of progressive black metal and Fall is no exception. ICS Vortex and Lazare could sing with a Taylor Swift tribute band and I’d listen to it: their twin clean and harsh vocals are some of the best around. The band treads upon themes similar to their last album, both musically and lyrically, but it feels like a natural progression forward. In a different year, this could’ve easily been a top 5 album for me.
I’ve been following Witherfall since their excellent debut record in 2016 and they’ve continued to get better and better with subsequent releases. Sounds of the Forgotten hearkens back to the days of my youth when metal concept albums reigned supreme on albums like King Diamond’s Them and Conspiracy. They’ve taken up the unofficial mantle as the next Nevermore, with Joseph Michael’s soaring vocals and Jake Dreyer’s guitar wizardry reminiscent of the magic between Warrel Dane and Jeff Loomis. My only quibble with the record is that it feels a bit ballad heavy. I love a good metal ballad, but three feels a bit out of balance, and it makes me wish for another ripping track of the progressive metal at which they excel. Nevertheless, it’s an excellent work for a band that is consistently excellent.
It’s another slab of great death grind from the masters who have been doing it for 25 years. The lyrics are brutal, the riffs hit you like a machine gun, and the drums relentlessly pummel you for its taut 40 minutes. I found myself coming back to this over and over through the year when I needed a hit of brutality while tending the garden. Vault of Horrors isn’t going to blow you away with originality, but Aborted know who they are and execute it with perfect precision.
After a fourteen year hiatus, Dååth came roaring back with the best tech-death album of 2024. Chock full of guest musicians of no less stature than Jeff Loomis and Per Nilsson among others, The Deceivers is everything you want in a genre album: technical death metal riffing at blazing speed and bombastic keyboards throughout. Let all the doubters know: Eyal Levi is back.
On their 5th album, Pallbearer have pared back the crushing doom weight and replaced it with emotional weight. This one took a long time for me to get on board with, but I really came to like it quite a lot. It sags a little for me in the middle, but the first two tracks are outstanding, and the final track extends the band's unmatched streak of writing brilliant album closers. I’m really looking forward to where they go next.
When long-time bassist and vocalist Dallas Toler-Wade left Nile in 2016, I was concerned about what the band would be like without him. Vile Niotic Rites from 2019 was solid, but I wondered if maybe the band’s best days were behind them. Well, Karl Sanders told me where to stick my canopic jar by releasing their best album since 2009 in The Underworld Awaits Us All. The first half of the album is nearly flawless and had me thinking album of the year was a possibility. The second half loses a bit of steam, but only when compared to the band’s own stratospheric bar. The production is immaculate, the interplay with the four vocalists works perfectly, Sanders’ riffs are intricately punishing, and George Kollias confirms once again why there are few better drummers in the world. I may look back on this one and wonder what I was thinking when I ranked it so low.
I’ve been a fan of Devin Townsend’s work in all of his various guises for quite a long time. However, if I’m honest, I’ve liked, but not loved a lot of his most recent albums. So I get a lot of joy in saying that he’s back with his most entertaining album in years. Townsend has stated that his goal for this album was to not overthink things and see what happens if he wasn’t so meticulous, and it shows: some of the songs are rather simplistic and some lyrics are downright goofy (Petting the cat! Petting the cat!”). But what makes it all work is that Powernerd is so much fun to listen to. With its big, anthemic choruses and singable lyrics, I can’t help but smile when I listen to this album. When you just need a break from feeling miserable and need a little joy in your life, Powernerd is your perfect soundtrack.
Everything that needs to be said about Priest has already been said, so I’ll cut to the chase: this is the band’s best album since Angel of Retribution, and their most consistently great since Painkiller. The riffs are fantastic, the solos are blisteringly great, and Halford hasn’t sounded this good in a very long time. There are a couple of tracks that aren’t quite top tier, but with everyone other than Richie Faulkner eligible for a pension, the band really shouldn’t be putting out records this good. God bless Faulkner for breathing new life into one of the greatest metal bands of all time.
Ihsahn has never made the same album twice, so when he releases a new one, the question for the listener is whether you’re willing to go along for the journey. This time around, he’s doubled down on the symphonic elements, so much so that he released a companion album with just the orchestral parts. In some respects, IHSAHN is a bit less avant garde than his prior album - the black metal sax is completely absent. For me, it works perfectly and is one of his best albums. But, one’s mileage always varies when it comes to someone as progressive, in the truest sense of the word, as Ihsahn.
OMG THE GROWLS ARE BACK!!! As one of the apparent few who have actually liked quite a lot of Opeth’s growl-less, more progressive rock-influenced albums since Watershed, I’ll admit that it was a rush to hear the harsh vocals return on the opening track. However, fans who thought the return of the growls would also mean less prog will be sorely mistaken: this is probably the most progressive album the band has ever made. There are flute solos, strange interludes, spoken word bits, and more that will make the average hesher run for cover. For me, it all really works, from the eerie lyrical concept to the complex musical compositions. Those who are looking for Ghost Reveries II need to realize that those days are gone. Those who are willing to meet the band where they are now will find a lot to like in their best album since Watershed.
In 2016, Anciients released Voice of the Void, which was not only one of the best progressive death metal albums of the year, but of the decade. Due to some family health issues, guitarist/vocalist Kenny Cook had to take some time away and much of the rest of the band drifted apart. With his family matters sorted, Cook resurrected Anciients eight years later and released the outstanding Beyond the Reach of the Sun. It took some time to warm to it - this is not Voice of the Void II - but once I did, I could not stop listening to it. The ratio of clean to harsh vocals is a bit higher, and it cranks up the prog and lessens the death a bit. The result is a work of art worthy of the top spot on my list in any other year. Fans of the genre miss this to their own detriments.
There are parts of this album that make me wince just a little and wonder if I’ve gone emo in my old age. There are other parts that are absolutely sublime. I’ve tried to talk myself into moving it lower on the list, but I just can’t do it. Hijacking the Zeitgeist is just too damned good as a whole, and is a section or two away from being my top album of the year. See my thoughts from June or just give in and accept the inevitability of Exist.
I think I was one of the only people on the planet who absolutely loved 2022’s Timewave Zero, Blood Incantation’s full-on foray into Krautrock. The band claimed at the time that that sound would continue to be a part of them moving forward, and I’ll be damned if they didn’t pull it off with Absolute Elsewhere. Their latest album perfectly melds the technical, progressive death metal of Hidden History of the Human Race with the Krautrock of Timewave Zero in two side-length tracks of metal perfection. I agonized for weeks over whether this should be in the top spot and have no issues whatsoever with anyone who puts it there. This is genre-defining stuff that will be referenced in years to come.
I’ve been a fan of Hail Spirit Noir’s brand of strange cosmic black metal since I heard Oi Magoi in 2014. Their sound has taken all sorts of strange twists, from the psychedelic weirdness of Mayhem in Blue to the 80’s synth horror of Mannequins. Some work better than others, but Hail Spirit Noir are always interesting. For Fossil Gardens, the band has dialed back the weirdness and streamlined things a bit, making it a spacey black metal album that is their best ever. The thing that struck me about this record from the first listen is that it is haunting. The keyboard sound is reminiscent of Mustis’ work with Dimmu Borgir on albums like Spiritual Black Dimensions and adds a melancholic, eerie quality that truly captivates the listener. Pair that with the Arcturus-esque spaced out oddity, and the sum is a perfect record. I listened to this dozens of times this year and never grew bored of it. In what has been the best year for metal in quite a long while, Fossil Gardens was my favorite album of the year.
Grand Magus - Skybound
Chapel of Disease - Echoes of Light
Lord Dying - Clandestine Transcendence
Fleshgod Apocalypse - Opera
Lowen - Do Not Go to War with the Demons of Mazandaran
Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose
Perchta - D’Muata
Alcest - Les Chants de l’Aurore
Bruce Dickinson - The Mandrake Project
Weather Systems - Ocean Without a Shore
