2024: carl's top 50 metal
2024 will probably go down as one of the WORST years of my damn life. "lost" a job working for one of the most abusive bosses I've ever had the displeasure of working for (so a positive, really), was funemployed for like 3 months constantly stressing about money, finally found a new job but had to move back home (i miss you so much nyc), had some kind of anxiety attack while driving to work and am now on an ssri, etc etc. My Oma, one of my best friends in the whole world and my rock while i was in nyc, is slowly succumbing to what is probably dementia and is now in a home. turned 30. left a healthy "situationship" (miss u E) but hey, I have a better job now. positive thoughts!
I fell out of listening to a lot of new stuff over the summer when I left my last job so I'm probably forgetting a lot so help me fill in the blanks if you wanna! top 10 is the most strictly ranked, the rest is loosely ranked. |
| 50 |  | Wintersun
Time II
sauna package
its time II die |
| 49 |  | Upon Stone
Dead Mother Moon
melodeath
At the Gates worship with nods to In Flames that was hyped up and didnt really deliver as much as i'd hoped. |
| 48 |  | Livlos
The Crescent King
melodeath
no bullshit melodic death metal of the 90s gothenburg variety |
| 47 |  | SUMAC
The Healer
weird sludge
cool album, never listened to em before but a friend got me tix to see em this year which turned me into a fan |
| 46 |  | Sonata Arctica
Clear Cold Beyond
power
everyone freaking out that they returned to their original sound and here I am having not listened to any of their newer stuff so I'm just like alright coo |
| 45 |  | Ante-Inferno
Death’s Soliloquy
meloblack/death
straight forward meloblack that sounds like melodeath at times |
| 44 |  | Oak, Ash and Thorn
Our Grief Is Thus
melodeath
folky melodeath with clean vox that veers into black metal territory at times. really cool band |
| 43 |  | Greyhaven
Stereo Grief
metalcore
I really only vibed with Empty Black from 2018, but kept seeing this on year end lists and thus revisited it to great suprise cuz wow its good. they were the first show I ever saw at Saint Vitus way before i ever moved to nyc |
| 42 |  | Hyperdontia
Harvest of Malevolence
death
probably my favorite album art of the year m/ |
| 41 |  | Words of Farewell
Stories to Forget
melodeath
not an EP to forget! good melancholic, deep melodeath |
| 40 |  | Nightrage
Remains of a Dead World
melodeath
not as good as their last, but a great album nevertheless. one of the most distinguishable riff styles lol |
| 39 |  | HammerFall
Avenge The Fallen
power
Hammerfall is in a similar camp as Dark Tranquillity these days, they continue to drop albums that arent bad or great, just like solid. |
| 38 |  | Vitriol (USA)
Suffer & Become
techdeath
a technical onslaught of death. goes unbelievably hard. |
| 37 |  | Darkest Hour
Perpetual | Terminal
melodeath/metalcore
this one took some heat over here (i'm lookin at you hawks), but I still dug it a lot. i'm back in the dmv, I gotta support my DC bois |
| 36 |  | Kvaen
The Formless Fires
meloblack
sounds like Necrophobic (hey would you look at that, they feature on a song!) |
| 35 |  | Gatecreeper
Dark Superstition
hm2 melodeath
the new direction into melodeath territory is awesome. getting to open for In Flames is really sick too. Anders stays wearin Gatecreeper tee's |
| 34 |  | Vision Divine
Blood and Angels' Tears
power
hard to forgive em for the AI art (and their boomer defense of it) but the music still slaps. apparently the singer left abruptly a few weeks ago? not sure whats going on in the VD camp but i'm sure they'll find another A-list power metal vocalist as they always do |
| 33 |  | Witch Vomit
Funeral Sanctum
death/melodeath
old school death metal band gone pseudo melodeath a la Intestine Baalism |
| 32 |  | Cavern Womb
Stages of Infinity
death
cavernous death metal from philly. debut ep. this band is gonna drop some bangers i assure you that |
| 31 |  | Like Moths to Flames
The Cycles of Trying to Cope
metalcore
never cared for this band when they were just warped tour slop but this is a very mature glowup. just need to cut those cleans out ahhh |
| 30 |  | Wraith (USA-IN)
Fueled by Fear
thrash/black
blackened riffs of SPEEEED |
| 29 |  | A/Oratos
Ecclesia Gnostica
meloblack
awesome and french melodic black metal |
| 28 |  | Desparity
The Incessant
melodic death/doom
a teenager made this damn album yo. check my review for it :) |
| 27 |  | Amiensus
Reclamation Pt. II
black
Amiensus dropped two albums this year, but I went with this one cuz the opener, Solfarid, has one of the best bm riffs of all time |
| 26 |  | Wormwood
The Star
meloblack
love my midtempo meloblack allstars Wormwood. the album isnt too spectacular but the closer, Ro, is one of the best meloblack songs I've ever heard in my life. seriously! |
| 25 |  | Dwarrowdelf
The Fallen Leaves
atmospheric/epic/folk black
dude who was a part of Sojourner for an album or EP or something did this solo and it rules |
| 24 |  | Unleash The Archers
Phantoma
power
not their best by far, but theyre slowly adding some more elements I like: midtempo power metal with harsh vox. lets gooo |
| 23 |  | Bereaved
Unleashed Abyss
hm2 melodeath
japanese buzzsaw melodeathers Bereaved were a pleasant find for me this year. all their albums slap, this one included, it just unfortunately has the "worst" production. but maybe someone might like that? |
| 22 |  | Walg
IV
meloblack
Walg's best album so far and a huge step up from III. Vuurdoop is a funny word. its also their best song |
| 21 |  | Dark Tranquillity
Endtime Signals
melodeath
probably the weakest of their modern sound, but still a fun listen. got to meet and chat with Mikael after the show a few months ago which made me like em even more. Not Nothing is an absolute jam |
| 20 |  | Seven Spires
A Fortress Called Home
symphonic/power metal
femme fronted symphonic power metal that is Epic with a capital E |
| 19 |  | Necrot
Lifeless Birth
death
solid, solid, solid death metal. DRILL THE SKULL!!! |
| 18 |  | Dodsrit
Nocturnal Will
meloblack
less crust, more meloblack. not necessarily a good thing compared to their last album but damn this shit good |
| 17 |  | Funeral Leech
The Illusion of Time
death/doom
dark, heavy, morbid, slow, riffy |
| 16 |  | Eternal Storm
A Giant Bound to Fall
melodeath
well crafted and thought out modern melodeath. love to see it |
| 15 |  | Gaerea
Coma
melodic black
these guys dont have one bad album. vibey and atmospheric meloblack that is a pleasure to listen to |
| 14 |  | Balmora/Since My Beloved
Six Pacts Etched In Blood
metalcore/melodeath
early 2000s melodeath inspired metalcore is back baby. Since My Beloved half is my personal favorite |
| 13 |  | Narzissus
Akt III: Erlösung
melodic black
weird, unorthodox meloblack |
| 12 |  | Withering Surface
Exit Plan
melodeath
fun and riffy danish melodeath that feels both modern and 90s gothenburg-y |
| 11 |  | Mother of Graves
The Periapt Of Absence
melodic death/doom
not quite the Swallow the Sun replacement, but an infinitely better offering than whatever it was StS dropped on us this year |
| 10 |  | Blood Incantation
Absolute Elsewhere
pink floydian death metal
really enjoyed this one, as did everyone else on the internet. death metal version of sunbather for sure in terms of like, cultural impact. that sounds way too pretentious, but you know what i mean. it brought the pitchfork dorks to a death metal show |
| 9 |  | Job For A Cowboy
Moon Healer
progressive/techdeath
from myspace deathcore to some of the best death metal out there |
| 8 |  | Eternal Autumn
Below the Lightless Heavens
melodic death/black
OG 90s Gothenburg melodeathers come back after over two decades and drop an absolutely pristine piece of blackened melodeath |
| 7 |  | Maul
In the Jaws of Bereavement
death metal
straight forward, no bullshit, chunky prod death fuckin metal |
| 6 |  | Cave Sermon
Divine Laughter
post-metal/death metal
missed this release earlier in the year but saw it in a bunch of end of year lists. in the last couple weeks I spun the crap out of it enough to bump it up into my top ten |
| 5 |  | Dark Oath
Ages of Man
melodeath
fast, melodic, catchy as hell, and some bomb ass vox |
| 4 |  | Fit for an Autopsy
The Nothing That Is
groovy deathcore
like a fine wine, this band just gets better with age. their best yet |
| 3 |  | Acrid Tomb / Tomb of Annihilation
Hermetic Invocations (Split)
death/doom and melodeath
gameofmetal and dungeonboy really made one of my favorite dm albums of late. the amount of talent this site produces continues to astonish |
| 2 |  | Cognitive
Abhorrence
tech death/deathcore
this was gonna be my AOTY until I heard Belore. goes so insanely hard. brings some Cattle Decap and TBDM vibes with some deathcore garnishings. immaculate production. Abhorrence is in 2nd place for most listens according to spotify wrapped |
| 1 |  | Belore
Eastern Tales
atmospheric/folk black
had this one on repeat big time. awesome fantasy inspired bm a la Summoning and Moonsorrow. Storm of an Ancient Age was my top song according to spoofy wrapped |
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