My music albums of the year 2024
At least one guitar is good, a little nostalgia is always nice, two guitars are better and the extreme is not always the best choice: My (metallic) taste is omnipresent, but also has occasional outliers into the one or other “more leisurely” realm.a
Anyone who knows me knows that you will mainly find albums here that belong to the more extreme side of metal. But there are also some surprises in my Top 10 for 2024!
1. Linkin Park - „From Zero“
The highlight was strong and unexpected and, despite my own refusals in the run-up to it, secured the number 1 spot in my top 10 for 2024 with heart and nostalgia. I would never have expected it, so hats off to another comeback that still brings a tear or two for well-known reasons:
2. Bruce Dickinson, „The Mandrake Project“
If Iron Maiden don't release an album of their own, at least frontman and “Air-Raid Siren” Bruce Dickinson has to step up with a new solo album. My year-long benchmark “The Chemical Wedding” is only just missed in nuances as the pole position in 2024.
3. Dark Tranquillity - „Endtime Signals“
While The Halo Effect won't be releasing their new album until the new year, Mikael Stanne's main band will have to follow in his footsteps and simply put out another typical Dark Tranquillity album that combines past and present in typical fashion and is good for my top 3!
4. Kerry King, „From Hell I Rise“
The master no longer plays with Slayer - a paradox in itself - and the band named after him clearly bears the signature of Kerry King. Together with Mark Osegueda (Death Angel, vocals), Phil Demmel (Vio-lence, ex-Machine Head, guitar), Kyle Sanders (Hellyeah, ex-Bloodsimple) and Paul Bostaph (ex-Slayer, drums), Mr. King delivers exactly what you would expect from him in terms of sound - an album like Slayer should have released last!
5. Judas Priest, „Invincible Shield“
While we're on the subject of the (old) masters, we mustn't forget a band who not only paved the way for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) in terms of sound, but also visually, and who, with “Invincible Shield”, shake an album out of their (studded leather) sleeves that you wouldn't have expected.
6. Nordic Gothic - „Cemetery Skyline“
Mikael Stanne obviously still has enough free time apart from Dark Tranquillity and The Halo Effect: there's no other way to explain the musical mixture of “The Sisters of Mercy and the 69 Eyes meet Type O Negative in the moonlight” - and “Cemetery Skyline” came with a bit of an announcement, but in the complete version with force and despite that unexpectedly good!
7. Amaranthe - „The Catalyst“
You like Amaranthe - or you don't like Amaranthe. Even though I believe that the band, which I've been a part of from the very beginning, left a lot of heart and soul behind after their fourth album (and that wasn't just due to the departure of Jake E. Lundberg in 2017), “The Catalyst” is still a respectable success that, as always, walks a fine line between pop and catchy metal melodies. But the recipe obviously (still) works!
8. Rotting Christ - Pro Xristou“
Rotting Christ have also changed over the years - if you think back to the old extreme times, “Pro Xristou” is a mature and thoughtful work with a catchy touch at a very high level. Nevertheless, they remain true to their pagan roots, including the homage to the old world, and that's a good thing!
9. Nightwish - „Yesterwynde“
Nightwish at the bottom of the top ten is actually inexplicable to me, but I realize that the predecessor “Human. II: Nature.” began to lose itself in orchestral compositions, despite all the love, and this development continues with ‘Yesterwynde’ - only concealed by Floor Jansen's voice. Musically, and therefore also compositionally, absolutely top drawer, but I'm now missing the common thread - unfortunately, the 2015 work “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” let go a little too much.
10. Darkthrone, „It Beckons Us All“
Anyone who, like me, still sees “A Blaze in the Northern Sky” and “Transilvanian Hunger” as cornerstones of the Black Metal genre will find “It Beckons Us All” a little difficult - but this path was foreseeable for some time. Fenriz and Nocturno Culto are still able to set the cold atmosphere of the north to music, but often drift off into doom-like realms paired with synth layers. The album needs a little time, but the Darkthrone touch is omnipresent!
Support your beloved artists!
Small side note: While I mostly consume my music via streaming services (here: Apple Music), I'm noticing the trend towards physical media again and again: I want to own the music again - in this sense: Please support your beloved artists and pre-order, secure the shirt for the album, the poster with signatures, the beer mat or the plectrum for the new album etc. pp. - and attend the (unfortunately extremely expensive) concerts of your favorites, because no band can survive on album sales alone these days!
See you in 2025!
