TOP 30 ALBUMS 2024: Part III (#15-#06)
Barging straight into the top 10 already. Only one part left!
Start with Part I (#30 to #25) and Part II (#24 to #16) if you haven’t seen them yet. If you have, dive right in!
15.
Righteous Underground
Out Of Place
(self-released)
If you’re that kind of underground exploring veteran, you’ll just need to be told that this band features people from Beyond Dawn and The Two Trains and you’ll be all over it. Though it is different music, it features the same kind of cynical deadpan, of sharp angular rock, of non-obvious awesome that will probably keep lingering in semi-obscurity despite its undisputable brilliance. I wrote a whole bunch about the record when it came out (including an interview with the great Espen Ingierd) and I’m still as excited about it as I was then, if not more, so just click on that and go read it if you still need more encouragement, you weirdo.
14.
Haunch
Let’s Get The Surgery
(Long & Short)
All I said about the Righteous Underground album right up there, but replace the other bands the members have been in with Therapy?, Dutch Schultz and Throat. The main difference being this is pop, but is it that much of a difference? Aren’t Righteous Underground also sort of “distorted pop songs” too, as Haunch have described themselves? Isn’t everything good in the world a distorted pop song, in some way, come to think of it? Muse on that while you read the big blurb + interview I did when this amazing album came out. Or just fuck it and press play and listen to the thing. It’ll capture you instantly.
13.
Tzompantli
Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force
(20 Buck Spin)
What the hell was the matter with me that I overlooked Tzompantli when I did May’s The Devil’s Month? It sucks, because now I have to come up with a whole new thing instead of just linking to it. Fortunately it’s an easy album to recommend - if you’re into death metal, or even doom, or, you know, just extreme metal at all, go listen to it right now because you’re missing out. The obvious selling point of this band is, of course, the Aztec theme, and sure, taking stuff from ancient cultures is nothing new in metal, but sometimes a special artist comes along that does it in exactly the right way, that it not only feels absolutely genuine (and mind you, this can be achieved in several different ways - authenticity just is, and from Ysyry Mollvün to, say, Nile, there’s no set formula, you just do it), it’s also musically relevant and, in the end, just a kickass metal record. That’s what ‘Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force’ is. It’s so genuine that it often veers on the terrifying, as you’ll frequently feel as if you’ve been dropped in the middle of a charging Aztec army. From the slower, agonisingly crawls to the charge-ahead death metal explosions, it’s a constantly exhilarating listen. It’s overwhelmingly brutal, but it’s also very deep in its songwriting and in the way it lays down all of the historical weight on you. I hesitate to throw the word folk at it because there have been so many bad examples of folk/metal crossovers that the term has become kind of tainted in this context, but there’s no better way to describe what Tzompantli do - thing is, they do it with an elegance that is rare. Using several traditional instruments yet never shoving them in your face like a lesser gimmicky band would (“look, here’s an animal flute solo!”), they manage to just blend everything into the bigger, thought-provoking yet fist-raising whole, as it always should be.
12.
Scarcity
The Promise Of Rain
(The Flenser)
I don’t care if “experimental” black metal sends you running in the opposite direction, or if you have something against adventurous labels like The Flenser, or if you’ve seen Scarcity described as a “supergroup” somewhere and that put you off - no, whatever gatekeeping shit is keeping you away from this record, remove it from your mind right now, because you’re seriously missing out. Founding Brendon Randall-Myers and Doug Moore (who is now in two bands - Pyrrhon being the other - that made the list, achievement unlocked, sir!) surrounded themselves with a couple more like-minded dudes for this, the band’s second album (‘Aveilut’ came out in 2022 and it was pretty awesome already, let’s face it), namely Lev Weinstein, Dylan DiLella and Tristan Kasten-Krause, and together they just stepped up from “awesome” to “fucking transcendental”. As I described it back in July when it came out, this disorienting yet supremely satisfying record is “a creeping, slithering collection of oddities, from the surprisingly claustrophobic production that really augments the effect of the labyrinthine guitarwork to the seemingly constantly climaxing way the songs progress - it’s like everything is always at the absolute peak of straining, as if it only took one more scream or one more soaring lead or one more beat and the band would physically break down.” They have described it as a “sweat-drenched album”, and that really nails it more than I could ever do with a million words. Just take a deep breath and dive in. It’ll take something out of you, but it’ll then put other stuff back you didn’t know you needed.
11.
Insect Ark
Raw Blood Singing
(Debemur Morti)
Oh, hello, Dana’s scary voice! It’s great when an artist you already admire for a long time suddenly draws another weapon you didn’t expect them to have in their arsenal, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not like we didn’t know she could sing - a quick listen through any Bee And Flower song is enough to reveal a sort of softer side to Dana, with the velvety, almost dark cabaret-like kind of voice she has employed in that project being one of its many highlights, but this is different. Not only have we gotten used to Insect Ark being pretty much an instrumental thing, but the intensity, darkness and just sheer from-the-gut conviction her vocal parts are infused with on this album fully justify its own title and help give the band a completely new dimension. None of this downplays the amazing upgrade in songwriting too, with the songs more fleshed out, denser and much more expressive than before, not to mention the effect of the great Tim Wyskida, by far the best fit Dana has had since Insect Ark became a Dana+drummer duo. As we have seen in the shows they have had since the release of the album, they’re now a true powerhouse of a band on stage as well, so it’s natural that they’ve just been announced for Roadburn 2025 recently. If you’re there, do not miss them.
10.
Buñuel
Mansuetude
(Skin Graft Records / Overdrive Records)
It’s great to see that the guys have kept their initial promise, that Buñuel is a “real” band - it was obvious that there was enormous potential here ever since the debut album, and the chemistry between Eugene S. Robinson and the rest of the band, especially guitarist Xabier Iriondo, is one of those magical things that happens only ever once in a while. Their discographic trajectory so far, not to mention their increasingly incendiary live shows, have been an absolute testament to the greatness of this intercontinental union, and ‘Mansuetude’ is but the latest chapter in an ever-growing evolution. The intensity that flows from this record is such that it’s silly to even try to trap it within the confines of any genre, no matter how cool it might be (you know, noise rock and stuff), and that’s really the mark of a great band - particularly because it’s an intelligent, thought-provoking kind of intensity. It’s not just blind rage, it’s justified, socially and politically charged, almost poetic rage. When I first talked about it for the October edition of The Devil’s Month, I likened the album to “a particularly intense therapy session while watching the news at the same time”, and that kinda nails it, to be honest. It’s impossible to stay indifferent to it. For once, the detail that there are some illustrious guests on it (Jacob of Converge, Duane of The Jesus Lizard and Megan of Couch Slut) is just that, a cool detail that doesn’t detract from the main thing - such is the strength of Buñuel’s core. In a world so stupid that not even Oxbow exist anymore, this band is increasingly essential. Don’t miss them while they’re around.
09.
Harvestman
Triptych
(Neurot Recordings)
One of the few good things that crossed almost the entire year of 2024 was the release in three parts of Harvestman’s new epic, ‘Triptych’. Timed to the cycles of the moon (‘Part One’ was released on the Pink Moon on 23rd April, ‘Part Two’ on 21st July's Buck Moon and ‘Part Three’ on 17th October's Hunter Moon), it almost felt like the Earth itself was coughing up these records from its deepest innards, not a dude named Steve. Granted, it’s a very special dude, one of the most special in fact, but he will be the first himself to tell you (as he actually did when we had a chat with him about this remarkable trilogy) that this music feels like it’s being channeled through him from somewhere else. Despite this sort of esoteric description, which is pretty much the best we can do to try and put a work like this into words, don’t be fooled into thinking that this is some sort of aloof, distant kind of ambient music - no, the psychedelia at work here is intrinsically human, and as you travel through the entire piece (the whole three volumes add up to a little over two hours, and I strongly suggest you pull down the blinds, sit somewhere comfortably and just play the whole thing from start to finish to really feel its full impact and its different moods), you will feel the different parts of your heart, mind and soul being activated. There’s darkness, quietude, fear, hope, confusion, dread, strength and light, often intertwined, weaved into it all.
08.
William Elliott Whitmore
Silently, The Mind Breaks
(Whitmore Records)
Unless you don’t count the plague years as something that actually existed, the period since 2020’s ‘I’m With You’ until the release of this new one was the longest without a William Elliott Whitmore record, and boy, did we miss him. Though it came out really early in the year (January, if you remember, and if you don’t, The Devil’s Month does it for you), it’s served as a sort of road companion throughout these hard months ever since and it’s been a huge part in maintaining some shreds of sanity, and that alone would have shot it straight into the top 10 of my favourites. Though it also helps that it’s a fucking beautiful album. I’ll stop short of calling it a return to any kind of roots because Will isn’t the kind of guy to ever go anywhere too far from his roots, but there is a sort of rawer approach to this, closer to the first few albums, more centred around Will and his banjo and guitar than some explorations of the last few records, which happens to be my favourite kind of approach, but what really stays are the songs, as it always is. Constantly treading that fine line between tragedy and hope, even with a dash of humour (‘Bunker Built For Two’ is as hilarious as it is bleak) to try to prove that not everything is fucked (even if it is), Will’s records always feel like you have the dude sitting beside you on the couch singing these songs just for you, and feeling exactly the same things you do. So even if it’s all hopeless, at least we’ll be hopeless together, and we’ll sing a few songs about it and drink a few drinks to it. “It’s only pain,” right Will?
07.
Planes Mistaken For Stars
Do You Still Love Me?
(Deathwish Inc.)
Look, I’m only now starting to be able to listen to this record without consuming a whole box of tissues, so bear with me. It was hard enough to openly talk about it once, and I don’t think I can do it twice in such a short amount of time, so please go here and you can read all about how essential and how poignant it is. Though being a Planes Mistaken For Stars album, even a posthumous one, is answer more than enough to that question. As for the other question, yes, of course we still love you guys. We always will.
06.
Doedsmaghird
Omniverse Consciousness
(Peaceville)
Intentionally sounding like the slower brother of the sublime Dødheimsgard (you know that meme, right), Doedsmaghird was created by main man Yusaf “Vicotnik” Parvez and current Dødheimsgard guitarist, the French multi-instrumentist Camille Giradeau precisely as a “driven by instinct without over-thinking” sort of DHG offshot, trying to capture the rawer and more immediate nature of past classics such as ‘Satanic Art’ or ‘666 International’ (incidentally, we did a Discography Deep Dive where we talked about all of these a little while back, if you’re interested), as opposed to the immensely intellectual edifice that was last year’s ‘Black Medium Current’ masterpiece. Though the guys have described this project as “a parallel world & malformed companion of sorts”, the fact is that they almost failed gloriously in that goal. Yes, ‘Omniverse Consciousness’ is a kind of more extreme, more openly noisy affair than most of ‘Black Medium Current’, more obviously black metal, if you will, whatever that might mean to you, but just as those early albums already were so far ahead of the pack as to barely be a part of any kind of genre pigeonhole, so too this is miles ahead of anything else that might be classified as “raw”. More instinctual, less laboriously constructed than DHG it might be, but that doesn’t mean that the raging dissonance that permeates it is in any way easily accessible or casual in any way. It’s still not the band you put on after ‘Ace Of Spades’ during a DJ set to keep the heavy party going, to put it like that, though it would be an experience having a confused dancefloor trying to move to something like ‘Then, To Darkness Return’, which sounds like a room full of inebriated apes tried to write the proverbial works of Shakespeare but armed only with scratched Emperor vinyl instead of pens. Which is the sort of stupid image this fucking weird record will inspire in you the more you listen to it and let its angular fascination wash over you. Damn you, Vicotnik.
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