Reviews: Dominum, Final Siege, Lord Agheros, Mors Atra (Matt Bladen & Liam Williams)

Dominum - The Dead Don't Die (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]

Zombie metal, like pirate metal, dwarf metal etc etc is metal with a gimmick, usually a good gimmick but one that always has the potential to get really old, really fast. Dominum are the first purveyors of 'Zombie Metal' their debut album only being released 10 months ago. They've played many high profile shows since then but the creative brain of bandleader Dr. Dead doesn't cease and they now have their second record ready to go.

So does The Dead Don't Die do anything different to their debut Hey Living People? Well they've leaned more into the horror influence, making for a darker, more sinister style of metal that shifts from power into more classic 'heavy' metal realms. That being said they still use synths/orchestrations, the real heaviness arriving with the pulsing One Of Us while the title track is a twisted lullaby that has a guest appearance from Dominum's tour mates Feuerschwanz's Ben Metzner. Though Killed By Life is much more like Feuerschwanz's style of folk metal.

There's more of epic feel on this record, more maturity but still some tongue in cheek lyrics, including a cover of Scorpions Rock You Like A Hurricane. Dominum seem like they have discovered what works for them as a band, if you want to hear their progression then check out the bonus live disc from Graspop 2024. The Dead Don't Die, they just get stronger on album number two. 8/10

Final Siege – Nuclear Doom State (Wormholedeath) [Liam Williams]

Happy new year to one and all, I hope you all had a very metal Christmas! My first review of the year is for the second album Nuclear Doom State from New York based death/thrash metal band Final Siege. This is a very beefy serving of some great thrash songs with a strong mix of death metal elements to spice things up a bit.

We start off with a short intro track The Day After... This song starts with some eerie clean guitar with a lead guitar joining in over the sound of total warfare. Air Raid sirens, guns being fired, bombs going off, total chaos. A fitting start for what’s to come. Next up is W.A.R. and this track really kicks things off. Nice thrashy intro which leads into the main riff. There’s a short guitar solo before the main riff comes back in. The bridge section has a nice chuggy guitar part with a chorus effect leading into the next guitar solo which begins with some cool divebombs. After the solo the guitars pick up speed and the rest of the band join back in for the outro of the song.

Then we get to the title track, Nuclear Doom State. Another air raid siren and a little bit of duel guitars lead into more chaotic thrash fun. This track features not 1, not 2, not even 3... But 4 guitar solos which progressively get longer and more flashy, with the last being my favourite. It also leads into the outro which slowly fades out. I do think the vocals are slightly weaker in this track but the rest of the band more than make up for it. 

We then come to my favourite track on the album, Psychological Maceration. Really cool intro, nice lead guitar leading into the first verse. From then on the guitars chug along nicely with the drumming until we get to the chorus which is where things get really fast and epic sounding. This repeats for a second time before we come to a more almost progressive sounding bridge section which sounds pretty good. Things then speed up again for the outro and then we reach the end of the song.

Track 5 is An Insatiable Lust For Violence. This one has a dirty dissonant sounding sludgy intro, more great drumming and a nice build-up to the first verse. This is another song where I felt like the vocals were a bit weaker to other tracks on the album but it’s still a good song. There’s a couple of guitar solos, with the second being a lot better than the first. There’s a nice blastbeats section after the second solo and then the song erupts into total chaos for the outro, very epic! 

Primordial Combat is up next and this is another absolute banger of a track. It begins with a drum intro and some guitars slowly creeping in. There’s a nice lead guitar part with tremolo picking, more epic blastbeats while the guitars chug along and some great vocals which fit pretty well with this track. We then come to the final track on the album, Taxed To Death. This track is a great one to end the album on. It keeps changing up throughout the song which keeps things interesting. There’s a nice dirty guitar solo for the outro, bringing the album to a close.

This is a great album. It’s a little rough in some parts with the mixing, I think some of the guitar solos could have been improved on and as I mentioned, there’s a couple of tracks where the vocals don’t quite hit the mark for me, but apart from all that, it’s a solid listen! Some parts are very old school thrash while other parts are proper over the top, crazy death metal with other elements sprinkled in throughout, like little bits of sludge, prog and groove metal. This was a fun album to start the new year off with a bang! 9/10

Lord Agheros - Anhedonia (My Kingdom Music) [Matt Bladen]

Gerassimos Evangelou is Lord Agheros, Lord Agheros is Gerassimos Evangelou, they are one and the same, a single person project which features all compositions/performance's done by the Gerassimos. Because he is a solo artist it means that an album such as Anhedonia will never really be stuck in one genre for too long, fearlessly combining multiple styles for a huge cinematic effect. Be it acoustics, operatic sopranos vocals, a string section and a wind section, these tracks are all epic, noted by long run times and dense compositions. 

Lord Agheros comes from the more atmospheric and avant-garde style of black metal favoured by Ihsahn on his solo project, alongside the gothic proclivities of Wolves In The Throne Room and Moonspell. This new album broadens the style more so than before with fearsome blasts of black metal counterpointed and coddled by symphonic backing, ambient sections, classical/operatic moments and world music influences (Can I hear a digeridoo?) 

There's plenty to get your head around each track unfolds like it's own storyline, taking you through the mind of it's creator. It's a record that needs repeated plays to fully understand and while many may not quite understand what's happening at first, when you listen to it a couple of times you understand that Lord Agheros' takes the pioneering spirit of black metal and brings it to some sprawling musical brilliance.

Not your average extreme metal album but one that is highly impressive. 8/10

Mors Atra - Eternal Rest (Self Released) [Liam Williams]

Back for more! And this time we have a serving from Deathcore group Mors Atra with their new album Eternal Rest. This review is going to be a bit short because as much as I do like most of this album, I really struggle thinking of things to say when reviewing heavier stuff like this and I don’t want to start getting too repetitive with my reviews.

This album is quite a long one, with 13 tracks in total and lasting just under 50 minutes. There are 3 interlude tracks including the intro. The first 2 are quite symphonic and have a haunting vibe, but the third is surprisingly quite upbeat and a little bit funky sounding which was a bit odd but I did enjoy it more than the previous 2, purely because I was expecting it to be exactly like the others. 

I can appreciate it when bands and artists throw a curveball like this in out of nowhere, especially when it’s done well like this example. I just wish they could have experimented like this a bit more. The first proper song is the albums title track and to be honest, I really didn’t like this song. It starts off with just an absolutely unbearable and incomprehensible amount of noise and I had no idea what was going on from the start of the track until the end.

However, the rest of the album is actually really good. Very fast and aggressive throughout most of the run time with hardly any moments of slowing down or getting boring. There was some parts that got really chaotic and a little bit messy sounding but nowhere near as bad as the title track. There’s quite a few standout moments which I really found myself enjoying, like for example; a nice panned guitars section before the bridge of Purgatorium. 

The doom metal sounding intro of No Rest For The Wicked and the panned whispers leading into the first verse of the final track The End. The further I got into the album the more I was enjoying it. It’s very heavy, great drumming, great guitar playing, some symphonic death metal parts and really good screaming vocals for the most part. Although there were a couple of instances of long low EEEEEEEEEEEs which gave me Chris Barnes related PTSD flashbacks, so just adding that in here as a warning.

Overall, like I said, it’s pretty good generally, some parts do sound a bit too messy (especially the title track) but if you like your heavier chaotic stuff then I’m sure you’ll like this. Great playing from the band, and mostly great vocals from the vocalist! 8/10

Review: Wastefall, Stormcast, Scarflood, Empty Mirror (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Wastefall - Soulrain 21 (SleaszyRider Records)

Originally released in 2004, the second album by Greek prog metal band Wastefall, Soulrain 21 has now been remastered by Yannis Manopoulos (Thelemite) and re-released as a 20 year anniversary version. Led in 2024 by Domenik Papaemmanouil (vocals/guitars/keys) after they went on hiatus in 2008, they reformed in 2013 with a new line up.

They are now revisiting this album sees them again delving into 21 Students who lost their lives in worst car accident in Greece. Domenik is now forging his own path looking for live allies to get Wastefall back on the stage but obviously this album has the line up from the time.

Don't let the Nu-Metal influences that come through on Soulrain (record scratches) and Stunned To The World put you off, Wastefall are a prog metal band just using the sounds of the time time to make their prog contemporary, shifting riffs, chugging rhythms and some Russell Allen-like vocals come on Stunned To The World, mirroring what many of the big prog players were doing around this time.

Empty Haven adds some Nevermore melodicism as it shifts towards church organ driven Lullaby For The Gods something that's got some of those early 2000's synths sounds, the drama brought back on the building Lesser. This is a very musically complex, emotionally dense record, written about a horrific incident, it's a concept record but also a tribute this who lost their lives done with some excellent prog metal fans of Dream Theater, Symphony X, Shadow Gallery or Nevermore will lap up.

Soulrain 21 deserves revisiting as it's an excellent prog metal record, made better with the modern remaster, if Wastefall are using this re-release to highlight where they're going in 2025 then I'll be waiting in anticipation. 9/10

Stormcast - Tremors In The Ether (Self Released)

Cypriot/UK based melodeath band Stormcast were formed in Nicosia in 2007 and have been steadily building a fanbase and recording since then. They didn't release a debut until 2014 after playing MetalDays on 2013 then rapidly followed it up in 2018 after some line up changes. Now led by Mike Angastiniotis (vocals/guitars) they entered and won the 2019 Brighton Metal To The Masses.

So with all that behind them they have set about releasing their third album Tremors In The Ether, Mike refers to it as their most mature album yet and that's obvious from Gods From A Stranger Land which has some orchestral swells and haunting female vocals while Kings Of The Everlost is a total blitz at the end, full of shifting proggy rhythms and Gojira-like fret slides. They have embrace modernity too though, with the synths that build through the title track.

Mike's vocals are brilliant, growled and clean while his guitar playing, alongside Diogo Jones is similar to the Heafy/Beaulieu of Trivium on Oceans, intricate and muscular hand in hand it's got influences from melodeath, metalcore and Swedish scene, the guitar duo backed by Panayiotis Chrysostomides' bass as Jack Wrench provides the session drums, keeping a double kicking percussive part even on the lighter moments of Collective Incompetence.

Tremors In The Ether is definitely a mature record from Stormcast, it's also their best record, modern, meaty and brimming with technical prowess, Stormcast show the full spectrum of their talent with this third studio album. 8/10

Scarflood - Scarflood (Self Released)

Only three years in existence, Rethymo based band Scarflood know their way around a riff and on their debut album there's plenty of them for those of you that love your metal with an alternative edge then you'll be banging your head to tracks such as The Wrongdoer and Safer On The Cross quite readily.

Influenced by bands such as Chevelle, 10 Years, Sevendust and Godsmack, they are an alt metal band driven by the thick rhythm section of bassist George Kourakis and drummer Antonis Petridis, they bring some proggy moments to Reset Reality shifting the pace as they bring syrup grunge to Shadows Subside.

Nick Marinakis punches out the guitar riffs and provides the rough vocals too, the AIC acoustics of Dirt Road sit comfortably in the middle of the record. Antonis Pk gives the melodic leads and arpeggios on the choppy Gale and the tough Bones Don't Lie. A relatively new band on the scene, Scarflood impress with their debut. Brash but emotive alt metal from Crete. 7/10

Empty Mirror - Deus Profanus (Self Released)

Something a bit more gothic now from Greece's capital. Athens band Empty Mirror have been through the ringer a few times since forming in 2020. The line up has changed a few times since they first arrived but they have released and EP (Echoes Of Eternity) in 2022 and have now followed it up with Deus Profanus which is touted a debut album but at 6 tracks and 30 minutes I'd consider it to be EP but hey let's get into it anyway.

Featuring some heart tugging violin from Johanna Von Der Vögelweide of Feuerschwanz, Empty Mirror also features two vocalists (male and female), two guitarists, a rhythm section and a keyboardist, it sounds big moody and evocative, the pouring rain and spoken word brings you into the record Luminous Child starting the record properly with some dramatic goth metal, soaring soprano vocals against lower croons/growls.

For the rest of the record not much changes, the metallic elements sit in harmony with the classical piano and acoustic moments. It's gothic symphonic metal that was so popular in the late 90's and Empty Mirror is a great example of it. 7/10

Reviews: Status Quo, Epitaph, Gudger, Altareth (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Status Quo - Driving To Glory (Cherry Red Records)

Status Quo are one of the longest tenured, endearing rock bands inn the UK rock scene. They're perennial road dogs, having been touring for more than 50's and while it seems they may be finally be hanging up their Telecasters and White Sneakers, though nothing is ever confirmed in Quoland until Francis Rossi says so, there's still plenty of gold to mine in their extensive back catalogue.

Driving To Glory presents rare tracks from the late 1990's and 2000's as the Quo balanced between being a nostalgia act and one with plenty of creative ideas. Now these tracks sound like Quo, there's no surprises, it's four on the floor 12 bar blues always in search of that fourth chord but as they are mainly CD singles, soundtracks, or editions of albums only available in one country, collectors and superfans will have them in one place, remastered by Mike Paxman with co-operation of the band.

Picks of the record include the slightly proggy Fighting With The Pack and the full length version of the nostalgic but also slightly sarcastic Famous In The Last Century with a new versions of classic Whatever You Want and Don't Waste My Time, Driving To Glory is just for fans but speaks volumes about the the longevity of Status Quo as a band. 7/10

Epitaph - Path To Oblivion (My Kingdom Music)

Italian doom that begins with some dripping water, ghostly voices and solitary piano? Yeah count me in. Taking cures from Italian horror movies and gothic doom, it's a bit like Cathedral writing the soundtrack for Dario Argento flick, similar occult trappings to the likes of Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble, Saint Vitus and Cathedral.

It's their first album to feature Ricky Dal Pane behind the mic, a brilliant addition to the band as his powerful vocal has the histrionic style of Bobby Liebling or Leif Edling. He brings a theatrical sound to the record, adding touches of Ronnie James Dio on Condemned To Flesh a track that features some bristling synths under the classic heavy metal riffs.

With Nameless Demon they showcase their doom credentials with an 8 minute gloomy slow burner, the choirs and organs brought in for the interlude of She's Born In Blasphemy before Epitaph adds more grunt to Voices Behind The Wall.

Ok Path Of Oblivion has some clichés to it, in the atmospheric samples especially but if Heaven And Hell/Dio fronted Sabbath was your favourite era then you'll likely love Epitaph's third full length. 8/10

Gudger - Gudger III (Self Released)

Aaron Eddleblute and his brother Matt come from Ohio guitar royalty, their father Derek Eddleblute are all worshippers of the riff, playing blues influenced heavy rock that moves through stoner, doom and classic metal too.

Matt no longer plays in the band but Aaron and his father still rock like there's no tomorrow a familial bond linked but heavy music, Justin Kaplan joining them to add to the muscular heavy rock influenced by classic rock bands, stoner, doom and more.

Gudger III brings to mind The Sword, tracks such as the pacey Dust And Shadow having the thrust of the Texas band while Fever Dream is prime Sabbath Worship. Derek's riffs bring a bit of the blues to Peaks And Valleys and while Dig Deep increases their speed, Live It Down is a massive doomster.

Aaron's vocals have that soulful grit you want from riff slinging music such as this. Taking inspiration from The Sword but also bands like Alter Bridge (Vicious Cycle), Gudger don't like to pigeonhole themselves, they just play riffs and play them well. 8/10

Altareth - Passage: The Welfare Sessions (Self Released)

The Swedes know doom, I mean they know most musical genres but they have a real affinity to doom. One of the hottest acts in the Swedish doom scene is Altareth, a five piece who play the traditional style of doom that's all heavy fuzz, distorted vocals and elongated jams. Think Sleep, Electric Wizard as well as Candlemas and Monolord.

Recorded at Welfare Studios, Passage is a record that is totally live, recorded with the five piece on unison, little added except for the keys on Archetypes, this is punch in the guts heavy doom with stoner tendencies, I'd expect this to be how Altareth managed to get signed to Magnetic Eye Records but now with an independent release they're able to show their rawer, rougher side a bit more.

Captured in situ, Passage will leave you're ears ringing for days after that finally fuzzy chord is played. 7/10

AOTY 2024: Matt Bladen

Top 20 Of 2024 By Matt Bladen (Editor MoM)

1. Opeth - The Last Will And Testament

2. Flamebearer - Brazen

3. Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

4. Lowen - Do Not Go To War With The Demons Mazandaran

5. Sergeant Thunderhoof - The Ghost Of Badon Hill

6. Pantheïst - Kings Must Die

7. Oceans Of Slumber -Where Gods Fear To Speak

8. Louise Patricia Crane - Netherworld

9. Fellowship - The Skies Above Eternity

10. Warpstormer - Warpstormer

11. Dawnwalker - The Unknowing

12. Paralydium - Universe Calls

13. Goat Major - Ritual

14. Iotunn - Kinship

15. Frost* - Life In The Wires

16. Witherfall - Sounds Of The Forgotten

17. Unto Others - Never, Neverland

18. Old Horn Tooth - Mourning Light

19. Klone - The Unseen

20. Dvne - Voidkind

AOTY 2024: Giacomo Fiderio

Top 20 Of 2024 By Giacomo Fiderio (Root Zero/Risperidrone)

Intro: The 2020’s have been a turbulent decade so far. Defined largely by wars, a pandemic, ever increasing living costs and a rise in extreme right-wing ideology, it’s certainly a period in time where catharsis through music is needed more than ever, especially in the wake of so many grassroots venues in the UK struggling to make ends meet. 

Thankfully, amidst all of this chaos there have been some superb releases in the calendar year 2024. The following 20 albums are the ones that stood out to me within the broad spectrum of alternative music.

20. Night Verses - Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night

Is it wrong to include an album on this year-end list when half of it was technically released last year? Maybe, but this latest Night Verses album was too good to emit from this list. After losing their vocalist in 2017, Night Verses decided to continue as an instrumental trio and it paid off, with their third album From the Gallery of Sleep being the strongest release of their career. This album is simply a continuation, with the band moving from strength to strength, once again demonstrating that they can hold their own without a vocalist and still create engaging prog metal. This album even has a few curveballs thrown in, with some great features such as Tool bassist Justin Chancellor and Industrial powerhouse Author & Punisher. There is even the brief reappearance of vocals with Incubus singer Brandon Boyd and Circa Survive singer Anthony Green appearing on two tracks respectively towards the tail-end of the record. These brief vocal appearances help to diversify this record and help it to stand out on its own from its predecessor.

19. Iotunn – Kinship

Is it wise to start an album with a song more than 13 minutes long? Probably not, but that’s what Danish prog metallers Iotunn decided to do on their second album Kinship and it pays off so well. Like many prog albums, this album is a grower and demands multiple listens, but the songwriting and musicianship on display is excellent. Instrumentally it sits somewhere between progressive and melodic death metal, drawing comparisons to bands like Insomnium, but the vocals are primarily soaring operatic cleans, coupled with death growls to compensate the heavier sections. This focus on power metal-style vocals helps to set Iotunn out from their contemporaries, and they are definitely a name to keep an eye on in the future.

18. Amiensus – Reclamation Part I & II

Although these were two separate albums released during different parts of this year, I’m counting them as a double album. This progressive black metal project really outdid themselves with this release; whilst their previous records were no slouches these two albums really feel like a step up for this band. Fans of bands like Enslaved will feel right at home with Amiensus, as their sound is equal parts black metal and equal parts prog metal worship. Despite an obviously long run-time, both of the Reclamation albums remain engaging throughout. This band seems to have flown under the radar for a lot of people this year too, so definitely give these albums a listen.

17. Judas Priest – Invincible Shield

I generally try and avoid filling my year-end lists with legacy acts, partially because if you want a list of the best year-end albums by popular bands you can just go to Loudwire for that but mostly because I like to give the spotlight to bands that you may not have heard of before. However, every now and again a legacy act releases something that really is worth mentioning and Judas Priest have done just that with Invincible Shield. Following on from their already impressive 2018 album Firepower, Invincible Shield sees these metal grandads go from strength to strength, essentially using the aforementioned Firepower as a foundation to build an even stronger album on top of. Rob Halford’s vocals sound amazing as per usual, the rhythm section is as strong as ever and Glenn Tipton still shows he can write a shredding solo in spite of his health difficulties.

16. Opeth – Last Will and Testament

After a long period of absence, Opeth mastermind Mikael Akerfeldt has brought death growls back into his music, so this album was bound to be on this list right? Well, it’s not quite as simple as that. Opeth has shown in the past they can make fantastic progressive rock with albums like Damnation, but their foray into progressive rock since 2011 has been hit and miss mostly as it seems to lack that signature Opeth melancholy. However, thankfully 2019’s In Cauda Venenum recaptured some of that spirit, and Last Will and Testament further builds upon that and combining it well with the retro prog worship Opeth have been doing recently. The reintroduction of harsh vocals is the icing on the cake, and makes this album the best Opeth album in quite a long time.

15. Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown

Including a chamber pop album on a list like this may raise some eyebrows, but the first solo album from Portishead frontwoman Beth Gibbons should be something that a lot of rock and metal fans will really appreciate. Portishead as a band have always appealed to me personally as a trip-hop/electronic group that really capture a similar sense of melancholy that you get from a lot of the darker metal styles, and the lo-fi production on their debut album in particular really scratches the same itch for me musically as a lot of black metal does. Lives Outgrown very much continues with that same sense of melancholy, although it abandons almost all of the electronic elements from Portishead, but it’s definitely one of the strongest non-metal albums of 2024 and one that I think deserves a spot here.

14. Múr – Self-titled

This album is a bit of a deceptive one; from looking at the cover you’d assume them to be some sort of Eurovision-ready pop act, but what you actually have is an excellent debut album from these Icelandic post-metal newcomers. Fans of Cult of Luna and The Ocean will feel right at home here with lots of dense synth sections coupled with pummelling sludge riffs, and whilst it does get a little repetitive at times, it’s still a captivating and very solid album, and this band is definitely a name to watch in the future.

13. Chelsea Wolfe – She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She

Chelsea Wolfe has had a busy past few years. After having an incredibly strong album streak from 2011s Apokalypsis through to 2017’s Hiss Spun, she followed up with the enjoyable if slightly underwhelming Birth of Violence before doing a slew of collaborative projects, including a song with Emma Ruth Rundle, a full-length album with metalcore stalwarts Converge and featuring on the Dark Nights: Death Metal soundtrack. After a few quiet years she has returned with her 7th full-length She Reaches Out… This album sees Wolfe returning somewhat to the darkwave sound present on her albums Pain is Beauty and Abyss and is another shining example of Wolfe’s ability to blend abrasive walls of sound with her incredibly delicate and sombre vocals. This album is absolutely a must-listen for anyone needing a dose of mopey electronic goth music.

12. Alcest – Les Chants de L’Aurore

There’s something so uniquely blissful about listening to Alcest’s music that no other metal band can quite replicate, even other blackgaze contemporaries such as Deafheaven, and that is very much the case with their latest album. After wading into darker lyrical territory on the past two records, Alcest mastermind Neige expressed a desire to return to the band’s roots as such, with dreamier topics and a less riff-oriented approach. The result is an album that sits somewhere in between the band’s earlier outputs and Shelter, their purely dream-pop album. This was the soundtrack to my summer this year, no less as it was released on the summer solstice, which seemed so apt I refuse to believe it was a coincidence.

11. Fit for an Autopsy – The Nothing That Is

I’ve really grown to despise modern deathcore, largely due to the fact that most of the bands aren’t really interested in writing music, but instead churning out YouTube reaction-ready slop with the most over-the-top breakdowns imaginable. Thankfully, Fit for an Autopsy stand out as an anomaly in this regard, being a deathcore band that actually focuses on writing good songs. They have been going from strength to strength since 2017’s The Great Collapse, and The Nothing That Is is a continuation of that, with a lot of crushingly heavy riffs reminiscent of bands like Revocation and Gojira coupled with breakdowns that actually compliment the songs rather than overshadow them.

10. Orgone – Pleroma

Undoubtedly one of the wildest albums included on this list, Pennsylvania death metallers Orgone have been at it for a while with their name largely going unnoticed. Pleroma is their third album and their first in 10 years, and my personal introduction to them. Their music is very diverse, ranging from dissonant death metal you’d expect on an Ulcerate or Gorguts album, all the way through to soft folky acoustic sections. Of course, a lot of progressive death metal bands combine soft passages with big riffs but never before have the contrasts been quite as extreme as they are here, and despite that, this album is incredibly well put-together and flows exceptionally well.

9. Ihsahn – Self-titled

Ihsahn has come a long way over the years. From his days in legendary black metal band Emperor throughout his solo work, his evolution as an artist has been a real treat to observe and experience when listening to his discography. His self-titled release feels like a celebration of that evolution, as it combines some of the best elements of all of his past releases into one. Far and beyond the most symphonic release he’s done since Emperor, the extra orchestral parts compliment this album fantastically, giving it an almost Devin Townsend-esque sense of grandiose.

8. Job for a Cowboy – Moon Healer

Job for a Cowboy were one of my favourite bands back during the Myspace era, and following the evolution of the band was a real treat, that culminated with their 2014 release Sun Eater, a progressive death metal beast of an album that was equal parts memorable and very technically proficient. Despite waiting 10 years for the follow-up album, Moon Healer doesn’t miss a beat and sees the band build on Sun Eater. The vocals and bass are the standouts for me on this record, but really the musicianship on this album in general is so impressive. Hopefully we won’t be waiting another 10 years for the next release!

7. Chat Pile – Cool World

I opened this piece by outlining some issues that the 2020s have been plagued with so far, and Oklahoma noise metal band Chat Pile have no qualms about tackling these topics head-on with their music. Continuing where their previous album God’s Country left off, Cool World offers listeners with their signature blend of noise rock, sludge metal and industrial metal and frontman Raygun Busch snarls and yells about how much the world sucks, and unfortunately I am inclined to agree with him. It’s a bleak and grimy listen, but it’s impossible to deny the catharsis this album offers, and the raw production makes the whole thing really sound like it was recorded in a garage in the 1990s, but in the best way possible.

6. Jerry Cantrell – I Want Blood

Anyone who has even a surface-level interest in heavy music should already be aware of Jerry Cantrell and his contributions throughout the years, obviously most notably with grunge legends Alice in Chains. His solo career started in the late 90s during his band’s hiatus which would ultimately lead to the tragic death of the beloved Layne Staley. After two solo albums, Cantrell seemingly retired his solo work and reformed Alice in Chains, but he brought his solo material back in 2021 with Brighten, an enjoyable but ultimately flawed listen. I Want Blood, however, shows Cantrell back on top form and firing on all cylinders. Although a relatively short affair for his standards, not a single minute is wasted on this 9-track album which is easily the strongest work Cantrell has put out since Alice In Chains released Black Gives Way to Blue. Joined by plenty of familiar names that he has worked with before, Jerry Cantrell brings in the riffs aplenty on this album, going back into the darker musical territory he is known for. This album may not rock the boat too much, but it is a fantastic display of Jerry’s strong songwriting skills and is an essential listen for fans old and new.

5. Knocked Loose – You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To

In recent years I have all but given up on most metalcore bands. Gone are the days when bands would bother to pull you in with hard-as-feck riffs, the Gothenburg rip-off bands that popularised the genre, or even the over-the-top scenecore of the late aughts, and instead most modern metalcore bands seem to be more interested in churning out generic butt-rock or djent riffs, brickwalled production that wouldn’t sound out of place on an Imagine Dragons album and vocals so over-processed that any remaining humanity left in the music is completely squeezed out. However, one name in the most popular echelon stood out to me, that being Kentucky band Knocked Loose. Uninterested with sanitising their sound at all, their traction is the antithesis of practically all of their contemporaries, and this has only continued to work in their favour. On You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To that really pays off, and despite being such an ear-splittingly heavy listen it is a surprisingly dynamic work with each song having its own identy and the entire album flowing seamlessly like some sort of beatdown musical suite. Their career should really serve as an example that you can experience a growth in popularity without sanitising your sound, and this was perhaps best showcased when the band played Suffocate live on Jimmy Kimmel, to the dismay of pearl-clutching conservatives aplenty.

4. Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere

Blood Incantation have been on my radar for a few years now and I’ve definitely been interested in their somewhat unique approach to death metal, even if I haven’t revisited their past material that frequently. However with Absolute Elsewhere they have finally won me over, and the way they did that was by adding fantastic keyboard and synth arrangements to their signature death metal sound. Absolute Elsewhere is a masterclass in progressive death metal; the entire album consisting of two songs both split into three separate movement (or tablets) that move between death metal brutality and serene proggy space rock almost effortlessly. Don’t mistake this album for an Opeth clone though; despite clearly sharing similar influences to the Swedish heavyweights, Blood Incantation have a much spacier, sci-fi themed approach to their sound, thanks to the vast array of synthesizers they accumulated for this album’s composition. The end result is very Pink Floyd-esque, and to top it all off there’s a Tangerine Dream feature on here too.

3. Crippling Alcoholism – With Love from a Padded Room

Yes you’re reading that right; a band called Crippling Alcoholism is on my year-end list of 2024. Before the band name leaves you running for the hills, let me explain why this band has ended up so high on my list in the first place. With Love from a Padded Room is the sophomore release from this Boston gothic/noise rock project, and it delves into some truly dark and depraved musical and lyrical territories during its 61 minute runtime. Anyone who is a fan of aforementioned noise metal stars Chat Pile or the disgraced former heavyweights in this style, Daughters, should feel right at home with this record, although even then With Love from a Padded Room truly stands out from their contemporaries, combining wailing noise rock swells and leads with downright creepy synth passages and goth rock macabre. Despite all of that, this album is absolutely littered with earworms and before you know it you too will be humming along to vocalist Tony Castrato’s Mark Lanegan-esque croons, in spite of how fucked up the lyrical content is. To top it all off the album sounds amazing, with some of the best production you’ll hear this year.

2. State Faults – Children of the Moon

In a very short period of time this Northern California band have become one of my favourite contemporary names within post-hardcore. On previous albums such as Clairvoyant they proved to me that they have a real knack for effortlessly fusing post-hardcore with a variety of other styles of music such as screamo, black metal, shoegaze, post-rock and more. However, nothing could have prepared me for their fourth release, Children of the Moon. A miraculous release in and of itself given some financial and personal difficulties the band have struggled with in recent years, this 63 minute mammoth album is a culmination of everything that is great about post-hardcore in general and then some. Throat-shredding screams, incredibly heartfelt and relatable lyrics and melodic hooks galore, State Faults also use this long runtime to reach into the aforementioned genres, such as the 10 minute long No Gospel which gives their sound a progressive edge, or the Underoath-tinged Distant Omen or the blackgaze-inspired Nazar. Despite such a broad range of influences on display, nothing ever feels out of place or forced, and the songwriting and musical talent on display is nothing short of astounding. This is a genre-defining record for post-hardcore and should not be missed by anyone remotely interested in any of the genres mentioned.

1. The Cure – Songs of a Lost World

As I reach the end of my 20s I have been looking back and reflecting on the last decade of my life. As far as musical discoveries go, no band have had quite as profound an impact on me this decade as The Cure have, and hearing they had a new album coming out was obviously a cause for celebration for me and every other mopey goth out there. It truly is a testament to The Cure’s level of talent that they return after a 16 year album gap with not only a great album, but the best release since their seminal 1989 album Disintegration. This is one of Robert Smith’s most emotionally raw performances, staring his own mortality in the face and reflecting on the death of loved ones, and the spacey instrumentation surrounding these sombre topics fits perfectly, with extended instrumental passages supplementing Smith’s vocals in a way that fantastically encapsulates what this band is all about. Comeback albums after over a decade of musical inactivity are rarely good, and ones like this are a needle in a haystack. This album is a masterpiece, an absolutely essential listen, not just for the aforementioned mopey goths like myself, but music fans in general.

AOTY 2024: Rich Piva

Top 20 Of 2024 By Rich Piva (MoM)

1. Luna Sol - Vita Mors

2. Kitsa - Dead By Dawn

3. Shotgun Sawyer - Shotgun Sawyer

4. Free Ride - Acico y Puto

5. Tangled Horns - Lighter

6. Daily Thompson - Chuparosa

7. Greenleaf - The Head and the Habit

8. Tarot - Glimpse Of The Dawn

9. Psychlona - Warped Vision

10. 10,000 Years - All Quiet On The Western Front

11. Phantom Hound - From Boon Town To Ghost Town

12. Hazehound - Macrodose

13. Magick Potion - Magick Potion

14. Sons Of Arrakis - Volume II

15. Sacri Monti - Retrieval

16. Big Scenic Nowhere - The Waydown

17. Blue Heron - Everything Fades

18. Gjenferd - Gjenferd

19. Full Tone Generator - Refuge Of Sinners

20. Horseburner - Voice of Storms

AOTY 2024: Mark Young

Top 10 Of 2024 By Mark Young (MoM)

1. Heriot - Devoured by the Mouth of Hell

2. Homecoming - Those We Knew / Mountain Caller - Chronicle II: Hypergenesis

3. Voidgazer - Dance of the Undesirables / Still - A Theft

4. Shadow Limb - Reclaim

5. Tombstoner - Rot Stink Rip

6. Old Horn Tooth - Mourning Light

7. Azell - Death Control

8. Knocked Loose - You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To

9. Monument of Misanthropy - Vile Postmortem Irrumatio

10. Black Lava - The Savage Winds of Wisdom/Celestial Sanctuary - Visions Of Stagnant Blood - EP

AOTY 2024: GC

Top 20 Albums Of 2024 By GC (MoM)

1. The Hope Conspiracy- Tools of Oppression/Rule by Deception

2. Earthtone 9- In Resonance Nexus

3. Umbra Vitae- Light of Death

4. Mother of Graves- The Periapt of Absence

5. Nails- Every Burning Bridge

6. Terminal Nation- Echoes of the Devils Den

7. Turin- The Unforgiving Reality in Nothing

8. Orecus- Dreadnought

9. ACxDC-G.O.A.T

10. Child- Shitgeist

11. Atrae Bilis- Aumicide

12. The Last of Lucy- Godform

13. Oceano- Living Chaos

14. Daufoft- Glitter

15. 200 Stab Wounds- Manual Manic Procedures

16. Lifesick- Loved by None, Hared by All

17. Desolate Tomb- Scorned by Misery

18. Brat- Social Grace

19. Earthburner- Permanent Dawn

20. Full of Hell- Coagulated Bliss

Top 5 EP’s Of 2024

1. Sylosis- The Path

2. Worn Out- Low

3. Comeback Kid- Trouble

4. Chaos Reigns- Sweet Violence

5. Dwelled- Suffering Heritage

AOTY 2024: Joe Guatieri

Top 10 Of 2024 By Joe Guatieri (MoM/BristolVinylGuy)

10. Uboa - Impossible Light

9. Shellac - To All Trains

8. High On Fire - Cometh The Storm

7. Human Impact - Gone Dark

6. Chat Pile - Cool World

5. Knoll - As Spoken

4. Slomosa - Tundra Rock

3. Urzah - The Scorching Gaze

2. Maudissez - Maudissez

1. The Malefic Grip - Virtue and Industry

AOTY 2024: Rick Eaglestone

Top 10 Of 2024 By Rick Eaglestone (MoM & A Certain Taste)

1. Winterfylleth – The Imperious Horizon

 
2. Hekeseblad – Kaer Morhen

 
3. High Parasite – Forever We Burn

 
4. Ard – Untouched By Fire

 
5. Opeth – The Last Will And Testament

 
6. Burial – Rejoice In Sin

 
7. Devastator - Conjurers Of Cruelty

 
8. Vemod – The Deepening

 
9. Andracca – To Bare The Weight Of Death

 
10. Kingcrow - Hopium