Hey folks. It’s that time again. And in a weirdly apt yet unintended homage to 2024, I’m writing this with literal hours left to the deadline for submission. 2024 has been another bin fire of a year socially and politically, but that has inevitably brought about some great music. The following list is a bunch of stuff that I’ve vibed with this year, for one reason or another. Annual disclaimer: this is the stuff that I personally like the most, it’s not what I believe to be objectively best, which is a subtly different thing.

I’d also like to shout out a few records that almost made the list; specifically those from Hidden Mothers, Regional Justice Center, Dodsrit, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, BRAT, Pijn, Many Eyes and Dawn Treader. All superb records in their own right.

Ultimately, the world of alternative music is a broad church and I think that my list this year typifies that fact more than most of the other years since I’ve been doing this. You might disagree, but guess what? I don’t care because it’s my damn list. So here you go. Enjoy, discover, get pissed off, tell me I’m wrong, whatever. But have an opinion. Talking about music is one of life’s great joys for me. But then I write about stuff all the time as well, so I might just be dull.

Having a bit of a buzz about them as they entered the year but yet to drop their debut full-length, Speed have had a real breakout year, which has been partially aided by their deployment of flutes, of all things. It wasn’t on my 2024 bingo card, but somehow it works incredibly well in Speed’s own brand of tough-guy hardcore. That, along with their undying love for shouting their own name in a variety of semi-comical ways across the whole album means that they’ve been one of 2024’s most memeable bands and I can only imagine they’re pretty happy with that. Because they’re not purely tough-guy hardcore, they also probably take the title for biggest party hc band of 2024. They’ve been road-dogging it all year and with dates in 2025 already stacking up, it seems the Sydney 5-piece are just getting started. As a wiser man than me once said: “SPEEEEEEEEEED!”

I’ve had a bit of a reawakening this year of a love for Trad Metal. I know that there is the ‘NWOTHM’ moniker floating about and although it won’t permeate the mainstream in the way it once did, it’s deeply heartwarming to know that not only are there new bands forming to create this music, but there are the godfathers such as Judas Priest still doing it to an incredible standard as well. I might have to concede that this record is not as consistent as Firepower, but some of the heights this record reaches on songs like “The Serpent and the King”, “Gates of Hell” or “Sons of Thunder” is a joy to behold. Then when you factor in the immense gravitas and charisma of Rob Halford, then I just find this record irresistible. It’s so unabashedly metal. Constant references to the occult, demonology, theology, and madness abound and they make me smile every time I hear them. The same is true for every Glen Tipton/Richie Faulkner solo. And to consider that most of the band have been doing this with Priest (on and off in some cases admittedly) for fifty years is just an incredible achievement and something to be celebrated.

A band that includes members of Visigoth, Sumerlands and Ironsword is always going to be of some interest to me, but my tastest for trad metal are still limited to select bands or records. It turns out that this is just one such record. The level of sword-aloft heavy metal splendour that this record aims for (and nails) is a rare and glorious thing. It’s Knights, kings, vengeance and general swords and sorcery vibes, played through a maximalist heavy metal filter and via some of the best musicians the scene has on offer, The solos and vocal lines are nothing short of spectacular, the chest beating rhythm section and galloping tempos are beguiling and momentous. “Wings of Vengeance” is unquestionably one of my songs of the year and it hypes me up every time I hear it. Yes, there is a leap to be taken to really get into the record and I know some people will simply be unwilling to make that leap, but if you’re into it, get your armour on, pick up your broadsword and charge into battle to this record, as god intended.

A self-released black metal record from a corpse-painted two-piece? Absolutely. But this sounds about 10% what you think it sounds like based on that brief description. If we start with the artwork, even. It’s (what appears to be) a Japanese (school?) girl against a layered black and red background with a circular negative space motif, with a moth, what appears to be a stylised spine and a pair of skeletal hands reaching down from outside of the upper frame to wrap their bony digits around her throat. Now I’ve written it down, it does sound very black metal (apart from the fact that it’s also in a distinctly Eastern print style), but we’re a long way from Emperor or Mayhem, let’s make that clear. And the baffling stylistic curve balls keep coming. Yes, it’s a black metal album in most identifiable ways; lots of blast beats (almost constant, frankly), tremolo picking and largely unintelligible white noise-adjacent wretching vocals. So far so good, right? But how does one make that as epic, majestic and downright heavy metal as Saidan do? With undeniable melodies, solos that Steve Harris would be proud of and composition that wouldn’t be out of place in a post-black metal record. The constant sense of purpose, the surging intensity and the downright excitement that Saidan are able to generate across this album is extraordinary. As I’m writing this, the first huge melody in “Switchblade Paradise” has landed (less than a minute into the song, by the way) and I’m grinning like a Cheshire cat. It’s just back-to-back-to-back moments that all deserve their very own celebration. It’s only 36 minutes, it’s 9 songs (the last of which is a female vocal lo-fi campfire song…) and I don’t know that there has a been a black metal record made this year which is more worthy of talking about.

Look, I’m not sure I’m proud of this as such, but I was a big Neck Deep fan back in the Rain in July era (I was in my 20’s then, at least) and my interest has waned pretty consistently since then, punctuated by a complete loss of faith as a result of 2020’s absolute stinker, All Distortions Are Intentional. So imagine my surprise and delight to find that Neck Deep reverted to doing what they’re actually good at, and have released one of the best collection of pop punk songs in years. I appreciate that’s a low bar these days, but as a pop punk apologist, having a band who haven’t got any sketchy allegations surrounding them, rediscovering their core sound and knack for a hook in 2024 was just such a warm hug of an event, that I’ve found myself going back to this record a lot this year. So yeah. They deserve their place here and I’m super happy to have them back in a guise that is familiar and has posi vibes attached.

Another sophomore record for the list. The debut was released in 2021, along with some pretty self-deprecating commentary about the band being little more than a Bolt Thrower tribute band. The record was good, and let’s be honest, there are a lot worse things out there a band can be than massively influenced by one of the best death metal bands to ever do it. So I admit that my interest level for this record was existent, if not huge. So imagine my surprise that Chainsword have come back with one of the best collection of death metal bangers of the year. Yes, it’s still entirely focused on war, yes the guitar tone is very Bolt Thrower, but I don’t have an issue with either of those things, thematically. And when you’re able to write riffs that tip their cap to “The Killchain” and “Lest We Forget”, without directly aping them, then I heartily believe you should do it. There are film audio clips all across the record, most of which do a good job of lending an atmosphere to the songs before they even begin, but the star if the show here remains the riffs. Endlessly satisfying, rhythmically superb and almost innumerable. Listen to “Ov Flesh and Steel” or “Trident, Rise!” and tell me those aren’t world-class riffs. And from a band who have a little over 2k monthly listeners. It’s a (war) crime.

I wrote this record up earlier in the year and I’m delighted to say that the impression the record had on me at the time of writing the review has not waned. If anything, reports of the recent live shows (which I’ve sadly not made it to yet) have strengthened my belief that this record is not only superb, but is also just about the best thing we could have hoped for. A record blessed with all of NAILS signature intensity, but that also somehow has a sense of joy and redemption in its heart. It feels just as furious, but less pissed off, I suppose? The rage is there in spades, but it feels like Todd and co know what they want to produce and how to do it, so they go ahead and do it in the precise way that we want them to, but it doesn’t feel like it’s wrenching out their souls in the process. God, it’s good to have them back.

I find this one a little tricky. I’d always liked KK’s meat-headed, tough-guy approach to modern hardcore, but was approaching this record with little more than a mildly positive curiosity. Then, shortly before the record dropped, frontman Matt Honeycutt decided to post on IG saying he refused to be shamed into denying he supports Donald Trump. Ah. That would be tricky anyway, but for a hc band? Even one from Texas. That felt like a pretty surprising statement to make. And so rises (yet again) the ‘separate the art from the artist’ question, but this time it’s not that the artist in question has done anything more than state a political allegiance. As it turns out, one that more than 50% of the American voting public share. So I listened to the record with a degree of apprehension. But here’s the thing; I’m not listening to Kublai Khan for political insight. Nor am I paying that much attention to the lyrics beyond classics such as ‘MOTHERF*CKER, BANG YOUR FU*CKING HEAD’. And I can listen to that (apparently) almost endlessly without having to worry about the band’s political leanings. Look, this record is 23 minutes long, it has some of the most ignorant, dunderheaded breakdowns I’ve ever heard on a record and that means I love it. I’m not liable to have dinner with them anytime soon, so let’s just turn our brains off and enjoy what we have.

Another of the buzzier modern death metal bands, but until now, arguably one who had a less discernible character to them? All of their releases thus far have been good (some of them great), but the surprise drop of “An Unexpected Reality” in January ‘21 really was a curve ball. 8 tracks, 17 mins, the last track being 11 of those minutes? So I don’t think I’m alone in being somewhat taken aback when Gatecreeper pivoted and dropped the best melodeath record of the year in 2024. Packed with crowd-pleasers, memorable riffs by the dozen and backed up by an incredibly commanding live show as the icing on the cake, Gatecreeper have shifted from being a buzzy death metal band in a crowded scene, to a band who have swaggered to the front of a subset of that scene and mace themselves essential listening in one unexpected album that is just front-to-back bangers. Songs from this will be rapturously welcomed on festival stages for years to come, and rightly so.

Amazingly, this is the only record out on Triple B in my list this year. But it’s a doozy. It’s a combination of the urban, NYHC that I love at the best of times, and borderline death metal production. So not a huge surprise this has landed well with me. At 11 songs in half an hour, it’s quick, heavy as balls and with features from the likes of Gridiron and Trapped Under Ice, it feels like a proper ‘grab the mic’ hardcore show in album form. It also doesn’t hurt than in “New York Minute”, Missing Link also have one of the year’s biggest hardcore anthems that is guaranteed to level any show they play it at. All of this on their debut record, too. I would suggest we have another leading light of the heavier end of the hardcore scene on our hands here, and I’m fully on board.

On paper, I should be the biggest Knocked Loose stan alive. Well. If this record specifically, was on paper, I mean. A hardcore band, doing the heaviest shit they’ve ever done, infused with horrorcore soundscapes, becoming inexplicably bigger than they’ve ever been. Arguably bigger than any truly heavy/alternative band have been for a long time (with the possible exception of Turnstile). And yet, this doesn’t hit me as hard as a bunch of other bands this year. That said, this is now a lot higher than it was in the couple of weeks after the record dropped. And that means it could become more and more dear to me in future as well, of course. And whatever way I frame it, this record’s peaks are also its limitations. It’s not far from being a straight beatdown record. And it does that better than any other record this year. No question. But existing almost exclusively in the upper and lower brackets of extremity, one might argue, makes nuance tricky, if not impossible. Luckily, Knocked Loose have become incredibly adept at introducing that nuance into those extremities in a way that makes you think you’re probably the only one who’s noticed, which makes this an increasingly engaging and weirdly conspiratorial listen. All hail the new monarchs.

The debut album, 2020’s Holocene Extinction, made me a fan. The band’s politics and character kept me fully engaged, and then when this record dropped, I knew these guys were going to be one of ‘my bands’ for a long time to come. Savage, unbridled, angry as hell and as focused on its targets as anyone could ever hope a band to be. Not only that, but there is a greater degree of diversity on the record, sonically speaking, and with guest spots from Todd Jones of NAILS and Jesse from Killswitch among others, it’s clear I’m not the only one who sees the incredible talent that exists in this band. Genre-wise it’s a tough call, to be honest. Terminal Nation are a kind of sludgy, death metal/hardcore hybrid band of sorts? But really, what title you give them is neither here nor there. What matters is the message and the delivery. Neither of which could be more in my sweet spot, frankly. I can bang my head to this, I can scream antifash slogans and I can break out the stinkface at the riffs and tone. It does pretty much everything I want an extreme metal record to do. The world needs Terminal Nation. Maybe now more than ever.

One of my most beloved bands. Not only that, but one I’ve followed closely for almost 20 years at this point. I am always excited for a new record, but with Des Kensel having left the band and there having been a longer hiatus than is typical for High on Fire, I was slightly apprehensive about this record. As it turns out, I had no need to be. The introduction of a new drummer and influences borne of Jeff Matz’ time spent studying Turkish folk music gives a very particular character to this record, but I will concede the main event remains Matt Pike. His command of sludgy but dominant riffs is unmatched. He’s one part Lemmy, one part Iommi and two parts just Matt Pike. Because few people can begin to approach his remarkable abilities and natural ear for riffing. High on Fire seem, on this record, to have hit a sweet spot between being confident, capable and experienced, but also still having enough zip and fury in the tank that they can turn their considerable talents to just about anything and do it magnificently. Including Eastern instrumentals as it turns out. I adore this band and the fact that they’ve released their best record since Snakes For The Divine (or even Death is this Communion, arguably) makes me a very happy man.

The last Spectral Wound record made a lot of people fans of theirs. And rightly so. They demonstrated an ability to harness crowd-pleasing melody within the more typical constraints of black metal with both skill and alacrity. It does beg the question though; is that enough? Well, in the case of the last record, I would personally say it was not, quite. This time out however, the record absolutely bursts with punk spirit and black ‘n’ roll anthems. In fact, it’s arguably more that the record in and of itself seems infused with demonic momentum or blackened joie de vivre that scant black metal bands are able to commit to record. And with my analytical hat on, it’s not overly rock ‘n’ roll sonically either, to be frank. It’s just that there is such vitality and elemental thrust in the performances that make up this album that I cannot listen to a song from it independently. It is anathema to the listening experience. Whenever I write these lists, it becomes apparent to me how much I love black metal. Which is more than I think I do, if that makes sense? This record is one of a few that don’t deviate massively from the ‘cvlt’ template which I’ve fallen for this year. And I’ve fallen for this one big time. When the material is so good, you don’t need to mess with the ingredients, it turns out.

I was foolishly quick to dismiss High Vis when I first happened across them. They seemed somehow too well-packaged for my tastes to be legitimate. 90’s Britpop guitars but shot through with hardcore attitude and anti-authoritarian sentiment. Then I saw them live and everything changed. What I expected to be slightly underwhelming against the backdrop of some of the best hardcore bands the world had to offer, (Outbreak ’23) High Vis came on stage, opened with a cover of Oasis’ “Morning Glory” to rapturous reception (Yes, it’s a Manchester-based festival, but that doesn’t mean the crowd were all locals) and then proceeded to play one of the most incendiary sets I’ve seen at that festival, whilst still retaining every ounce of their own character, as opposed to simply drawing from other peoples’, as I had imagined. And although this record may not have the same anthems as their previous full-length, it does feel like such a completely cohesive piece of work that I’m yet to work out which one I prefer. Again, the band’s character shines through and from the artwork to the interlude, the record is a prime example of how albums should be made. As a single piece of work, hewn from a vibe and message that feels focused despite the variety in sonics. Just fantastic stuff.

n the modern, flourishing death metal world, there are many bands who overlap with the world of hardcore, but maybe none more so than 200SW. Their debut record Slave To The Scalpel from 2001 cemented their ‘buzz band’ status, and a whole heap of touring and some features here and there (on Pain of Truth’s debut, among them) has helped their star continue to ascend in the years since. So I’d say there was little pressure on the Stab lads in the run-up to this record’s release. As luck would have it, not only does it retain the hardcore inflections that hooked so many people into the debut, but it builds on the rhythmic hooks to create some of the catchiest heavy music of the year. It does feel wilfully revolting, it does stay in the pocket of grimy, congealed blood that they’ve made for themselves, but they also seem to have recognised the incredible skill they have, as a band, for initially complex, but subsequently addictive rhythms and riffs. It’s very hard to listen to this record only once, at any point. And that can only be a good sign.

I can’t quite put a finger on why, but this record, Undeath’s third in 4 years, felt like it appeared with rather less fanfare than 2022’s It’s Time… but that could be more to do with me being otherwise engaged with my day job I suppose. Whether that is true or not, the quality of what Undeath have brought to their public, again, is not in question. Their signature sound of super-catchy, gore-soaked party death is still very much present and correct. And the bangers show no sign of stopping, either. Early single “Brandish The Blade”, the title track, and deeper cuts such as “Sutured For War” or “Wailing Cadavers” are all equally guaranteed to get crowds moving wherever Undeath rock up. And on which subject, it should be noted that these guys are showing their colours as true road dogs; touring seemingly non-stop and winning fans all over the globe in the process. Rad dudes, making sick death metal and having a great time doing it. The death metal scene is a far richer place for Undeath being part of it.

Fun fact: due to carrying an injury into the festival, I only stage-dived once at Outbreak 2023 and it was during One Step Closer’s set. A band who, until this year, I had always just thought were decent, to be frank. The last record (2021’s This Place You Know) maybe suffered slightly from being released a few months after Fiddlehead’s magnificent Between The Richness, but in 2024, there is more of a gulf between the 2 bands in style and I would say that the change has mostly been in the 1SC camp, and has been a change that plays to their strengths. They’ve gone further down the path of melodicism, dare I say it, in the direction of pop punk, but without ever crossing the bridge to the dark side. This record is absolutely jam full of hooks, choruses, relatable lyrics about personal shortcomings or fears, but it coats them all in a melodic hardcore case that is simultaneously gritty and delicious. It’s like when you get an ice cream with crumbled Oreo’s/Lotus Biscoff on it. It’s initially a bit odd, b it then you wonder why everyone doesn’t do it. It even does quasi-ballads. It’s just great. One of my most reached-for records of the year and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.

I’ll confess that it took me a bit longer than many others to get fully into this band. When Mana was released (under their previous name of Idle Hands), I for some reason, simply wasn’t into the concept of gothy stuff at that point, and in spite of critical acclaim (albeit in specific corners of the internet), it largely passed me by. When Strength came out in 2021, it took me almost a year to finally fall under its spell. I then made a very serious pledge to myself to go and see them the first time it was vaguely feasible, which I did in 2022 and I’ve never looked back. So this record was liable to be a big one for me, one way or the other. I’m delighted to say that this record, as thematically disjointed as it is at points, has some of my favourite songs of the year on. “Suicide Today”, “Time Goes On”, “Angel of the Night” and “Raigeki” have moved seamlessly into a whole heap of my playlists, songs like “Sunshine” and “Flatline” show the extent of the band’s songwriting chops and then there are the guitar lines and solos. Ugh. The way that melody comes to Unto Others makes me wonder how they’re not massive every time I listen to them. Then I remember that I’m delighted they’re still mostly just a part of our weird little world.

This record is a masterpiece. And I mean that. I’ve thought about it every day since it was released (since I didn’t get a promo of it, not that I’m bitter…) and I cannot perceive it as being anything other than a singular piece of magnificence. It does a million different things, over what is essentially 2 songs (split into 3 tracks a piece for the purposes of making it vaguely more commercially viable, one suspects) and every single one of those things, it succeeds at, without a single misstep. Jazz? Lounge music? Folk? Clean singing? None of these things are typically associated with death metal, cosmic or otherwise, yet this record utilises all of them within the theoretical framework of death metal, yet at no point does it even seem strained or incongruous. It just feels like this is music that has been summoned, entirely whole, from the pyramids featured in the album’s artwork. I just don‘t know how it’s possible. Yet the evidence is here for us all to hear.