If 2023 wasn’t very good, I was in for a ride with 2024. Personal hardships have a way of sculpting ones’ mental and physical abilities. Olive oil is made when olives are being pressed to hell and all of that, I guess. What does shine through, again and again, is the music. Albums that managed to sneak their way (or break the door down like a SWAT team) into my day-to-day music spinning, tunes that stay there when everything else is gone.
And so these are, in my eyes, the best this year had to offer, the cream of the crop the last twelve months.
Antichrist Siege Machine – “Vengeance of Eternal Fire”
Some call it War Metal, some call it Bestial Black Metal. Some call it Lounge-Elevator-Superjazz-musi-… ah, we’re done with overrated definitions? Good.
Antichrist Siege Machine’s music is a lesson of how extreme music should sound like these days.
That is fucking all.
Spectral Wound – “Songs of Blood and Mire”
These Canadians have been hitting the waves since 2015, and their 2024 release is also their fourth full length album. I have been following these guys since the days of “Infernal Decadence”, and the planes the band managed to conquer are vast. The music is raw like an exposed nerve, yet combines a margin of acoustic subtleties in its material, managing to soar to new heights without losing their aggressive edge.
Black Curse – “Burning in Celestial Poison”
We’re staying on the (north) American continent with US-based Black Curse. I can say that one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to, was these guys in Copenhagen and honestly, the albums aren’t that much different, which is obviously a compliment. The band manages to keep a high level of flesh-ripping riffs alongside constant, somewhat ritualistic feel in their tunes.
Having said that, it is so damn violent that there’s no way you’re not kicking the nearest object by the end of the second song.
Attic – “Return of the Witchfinder”
The satanic savants from Germany are back once again with an ear-piercing album that comes no less than seven years since their acclaimed “Sanctimonious” came out. The rooted Mercyful Fate-ish foundation may have provided the band with their base, but the last few years show exactly how the band expanded their musical vocabulary. The haunting riffs and the undeniable theatrical flair the band is known for only adds to the cauldron.
The new release may need a couple of spins to really set in when compared with the previous one, but once it does, it surpasses it and positions itself as a strong contender between other Heavy Metal releases this year.
Spectral Voice – “Sparagmos”
Yeah, another band with the word Spectral in it. Yeah, it’s members of Blood Incantation basically creating their darker, doomier sibling but heck, it has a depth that drags most of the 2024’s releases into oblivion without even trying. The songs are long, the riffs are fat and the soul-crushing song structures make you dive into the abyss. In a good way. If I thought that the band’s previous album was almost genius, this one managed to surpass it. “Sparagmos” is a leviathan.
And lastly, on a personal note and/or a tip for 2025; if your father is around – give him a call. Talk to him a bit. Have a beer with him. You don’t know if he would still be there tomorrow.
