This has proved a fantastic year for heavy music and metal, with masters impressing and newer artists shining. These are the best metal albums of 2024.
Opeth’s The Last Will and Testament is their most focused, disciplined piece of music to date and their heaviest work in more than 15 years.
In November’s best metal, the Body corrode all sound, Defeated Sanity balance immediacy and complexity, and Djevel relish the Scandinavian black metal spirit.
Alex Van Halen’s Brothers is infuriating for fans of Eddie Van Halen because we’ve read all this before. We don’t need this high school term paper of a memoir.
Contemplating the future of Iron Maiden by celebrating the present and looking back at an album that was all about looking ahead. That’s a good hook.
On Absolute Elsewhere, Blood Incantation annihilate the death metal rulebook to spread an esoteric message of cosmic proportions.
In October’s best metal, Blood Incantation explore the cosmos, the Bug disfigures the techno sound, and Oranssi Pazuzu contine to transform.
Chat Pile’s new album does not offer catharsis; it is just an unflinching account of the violence we inflict on each other on an individual and global scale.
In September’s best metal, Pyrrhon reinvent themselves again, Ripped to Shreds accelerate their death/grind, and Spite return with blackened malice and ambition.
Mastodon’s Leviathan is a concept LP inspired by American novelist Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Think of it as sludge metal’s answer to Dark Side of the Moon.
In August’s best metal, Mamaleek defy categorization, Teeth evolve their dissonant death metal, and Vomitrot bounce between death/doom and black metal.
Canonical DC hardcore act Bad Brains remain as vital as ever. Almost 40 years after I Against I’s initial release, it’s remarkable how timeless it sounds.
