Best Metal Albums of 2024

Produced by Will Putney (Fit for an Autopsy), Body Count’s eighth album options cameos from steel luminaries similar to Corpsegrinder, Max Cavalera, and Howard Jones — however the primary attraction as at all times is rapper Ice-T, who on the age of 66 continues to be spitting rhymes with the identical unflinching perspective and gleefully twisted humorousness that he’s been bringing to the sport for greater than 4 a long time now. Hard-crunching tracks like “The Purge,” “Psychopath,” and “Drug Lords” supply up cartoonishly lurid tales, however the emotional centerpiece of Merciless is the band’s jaw-dropping reinterpretation of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” whereby Ice casts a chilly eye on the present state of humanity whereas visitor guitarist David Gilmour wails away as if our very future is determined by each string bend. —Dan Epstein

From the shrieking Mexica demise whistle on opening struggle cry “Tetzahuitl,” Tzompantli’s Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force instantly distinguishes itself from the death-metal pack. The California-based indigenous death-doom venture is a 10-musician effort helmed by Brian “Bigg o)))” Ortiz. He additionally performs in hardcore heavyweights Xibalba, however Tzompantli is far more private. Inspired by Ortiz’s indigenous heritage, lots of the lyrics on the album are delivered in roars of Nahuatl, and conventional devices elevate the death-doom compositions’ in any other case cavernous gloom of monstrous bangers like “Chichimecatl.” Otherwise, Ortiz and Co. hew carefully to the ugly blueprint laid out by the likes of Evoken or Coffins, with murderously gradual, percussion-heavy salvos that bridge the depths of demise steel and funeral doom. Dark, brutal, and ominous, Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force redefines American people steel with most brutality. —Kim Kelly

Aussie headbangers Battlesnake resurrect fantasy steel on The Rise and Demise of the Motorsteeple, a brief however hard-hitting eight-song document stuffed with chainsaw guitars, brontosaurus-heavy drums, and outsize vocals. Singer Sam Frank toggles between Rob Halford shrieks and Alice Cooper growls on tracks like “Alpha & Omega” and “I Speak Tongues,” whereas singing lyrics that may make Manowar’s Eric Adams appear grounded in actuality. “Hear the engine because it howls and roars/Feed the flame upon the cross!” Frank bellows on the title monitor, an apocalyptic street tune that drives residence the album’s bike theme. The freeway to hell simply discovered its new soundtrack. —Joseph Hudak

Darkthrone will without end be remembered because the band that helped to steer Norwegian black steel towards a dreary and relentless minimalism on early Nineties classics similar to A Blaze within the Northern Sky and Transilvanian Hunger. More than a dozen albums and several other sonic swerves later, the duo now function fully exterior of subgenre or scene. On It Beckons Us All, they as soon as once more throw all of their weight behind artfully crafted riffs that mix the serrated fringe of black steel with the primitive chug of doom and different primordial kinds, rendering their methodical creations in gloriously thuddy retro sonics. Songs like “Black Dawn Affiliation,” the place guitarist Nocturno Culto’s signature croak provides strategy to drummer Fenriz’s stagy croon, or the expertly paced, seven-and-a-half-minute “The Bird People of Nordland,” really feel immersive and historical, like musty emanations from some long-sealed heavy-metal time capsule. —Hank Shteamer

One of the 12 months’s most potent moments of musical catharsis got here on “The Sharpening,” a caustic standout from the third LP by Gouge Away, a Florida outfit that blends hooky, atmospheric rock with an abundance of pure, seething aggression. “What’s higher than a brand-new pencil?” vocalist Christina Michelle asks in a subdued murmur. She describes the writing implement being sharpened and used to repeatedly stab her within the chest, then sings, “You’d count on me to wash up the mess,” her voice rising to a fearsome scream because the band explodes right into a flurry of turbulent hardcore. Befitting their namesake, a tune by an outfit famend for dynamic distinction, the band deploys this heavy-light duality brilliantly all through Deep Sage, constructing pressure earlier than boiling over into their subsequent riveting outburst. —H.S.

In which the Atlanta-based trio hit the riffs, rail towards the haters, and drop what’s simply their tightest, hardest, most satisfying album so far. Building off the less-sludge-more-rage momentum of 2016’s Gold, singer-guitarist Christian Lembach sprays noise and vitriol at his enemies, together with the one who could also be staring again at him within the mirror — “This/Is the way it ends/Broke my life aside/Because I couldn’t bend,” he yowls on “Sicko” — whereas bassist Casey Maxwell and new drummer Douglas Barrett hold all the pieces nailed down. Songs like “Malinches,” “Every Day Is Leg Day,” and the post-hardcore-inflicted “Hieronymus Bosch Was Right” include sufficient headbanging to maintain a legion of chiropractors in enterprise, and when this unholy trinity locks right into a groove, then goes full-metal-jacked-up in “Quitter’s Fight Song,” good luck not trashing your home. (The video for that monitor, by which the band’s music conjures up members of Red Fang, Gaytheist, Naselrod, and Help to beat the snot out of each other, nearly feels prefer it may double as a nature documentary.) —David Fear

Unholy Altar got here slithering out of the Philadelphia underground solely three years in the past, however their full-length debut is already some of the deliciously nasty issues to return out of Hostile City in latest reminiscence. Veil of Death! Shroud of Nite is an unabashed throwback to black steel’s primeval early days, when Satan was king, the punk affect was apparent, and manufacturing was an afterthought. The corpse-painted quintet have embraced the uncooked, bloody, chains-and-black-leather aesthetic to nice impact, and poured their efforts into developing a faithfully old-school sound devoid of any reactionary baggage. Grandly sepulchral songs like “Infernal Flesh,” with its biting environment and melodic underbelly, exhibit a superb grasp of what makes the style so nice. —Ok.Ok.

Tight, brutal, and expertly produced by Drew Fulk (Lil Wayne, Disturbed), You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To serves up each the catharsis throughout a troubled time — and invitation to battle again. From the revenge-drenched “Suffocate” (that includes Poppy) to the class-warfare swagger of “Slaughterhouse 2,” Knocked Loose’s newest is just not solely top-of-the-line steel data of the 12 months, but in addition of their profession. Need extra convincing? Just take a look at Kentucky hardcore band Knocked Loose’s November look on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which noticed lead singer Bryan Garris pig- squealing and visitor vocalist Poppy shrieking within the rain because the studio viewers received down within the pit. —Brenna Ehrlich

Some bands are content material to easily play steel; others, within the vein of staunch avant-gardists similar to Khanate, appear intent on ripping it aside, seeing what they’ll reconstitute from its strewn and scattered elements. Few acts are more proficient at this grisly enterprise than Sumac, who’ve more and more embraced abstraction and improvisation throughout their 10-year historical past. On their newest, the underground lifers — together with Aaron Turner of Isis and Old Man Gloom and Brian Cook of Botch and Russian Circles, together with powerhouse drummer Nick Yacyshyn — current their most forbidding soundscapes but, the place hovering suggestions and waves of distended anti-rock give strategy to concussively brutal or jarringly jagged riffing. The Healer is exemplary artwork steel — a monolith of uneasy listening that doesn’t skimp on both heaviness or true musical danger. —H.S.

Swiss black-metal venture Paysage d’Hiver have been plumbing the icy depths of creator Tobias “Wintherr” Möckl’s soul since 1997, however Die Berge marks solely their third official full-length. It additionally marks the 14th(!) chapter in an ongoing narrative a couple of mysterious Wanderer that has fueled every of the band’s releases, from cult demos to EPs to LPs; this time, the theme is demise. Inspired by the foreboding mountains that loom over Wintherr’s native Bern, Die Berge affords a harsh, low-fi pressure of atmospheric black steel that feels nearly classic in its orthodoxy. Its lengthy, slowly churning compositions (“Urgrund” alone spans 18 shivery minutes) emphasize a grim, icy simplicity that recall the style’s second wave, and refined crystalline melodies shine via. The general impact is hypnotic, an ode to the uncooked desolation of winter in a quickly warming world. —Ok.Ok.

Although a lot of Thou’s latest work on EPs, compilations, and collaborations has veered towards the grandiose or gothic, Umbilical harkens again to a extra primordial model of the band. The Louisianans’ sixth full-length is a punchy ode to Nineties grunge and Eighties hardcore. It explores their very own relationship to the DIY-or-die mentality that has fueled 20 years of cerebral anarcho-sludge experimentation. The general vibe is noisy and nervy, like a bootleg In Utero run via a crackling amplifier in a ruined church. There are nonetheless moments of unfathomable heaviness, as on the lumbering “I Return as Chained and Bound to You” (and fortunately they’ll by no means shake their Louisiana swamp stank), however this time round, Thou’s extra serious about cracking skulls than increasing minds. —Ok.Ok.

Cool World accommodates all the pieces individuals have come to like about Chat Pile, however kicked up a notch. The songs change between genres with ease, and listeners will hear nu-metal chugging, technical syncopation, post-punk warbles, and driving percussion. “The New World” strikes rapidly with unusual, D-beat-style drumming, whereas “Masc” begins out with a loud guitar break earlier than launching right into a math-y part, shifting towards riffs loaded with shoegaze-y delay and ending with plenty of yelling and large bass. Singer Raygun Busch’s lyrics are extra express on this document. Chat Pile beforehand explored the nihilistic malaise of American life with God’s Country, however Cool World examines how the thanatotic violence of the imperial core will get directed outward earlier than reverberating again upon us when the chickens come residence to roost. The document is an try to shake us awake from the American nightmare. —Rick Carp

The third album from Chicago’s Huntsmen finds the quintet perfecting their distinctive mix of prog-sludge, stoner doom, and Americana. The Dry Land‘s six haunting tracks swell and recede with an nearly elemental confidence, slowly drawing you right into a darkish and distorted aural panorama that’s as engaging as it’s forbidding. But even with their brooding, ornery, and sometimes explosive music, it’s the vocals of Chris Kang and Aimee Bueno-Knipe that basically set Huntsmen aside from their contemporaries. Whether harmonizing or singing individually, the 2 singers faucet into one thing deep, soulful, and timeless, making tracks like “Cruelly Dawns” and “Rain” sound as in the event that they’ve been harvested from seeds planted 100 years in the past or extra. —D.E.

A band in Judas Priest’s place may have simply spent the previous decade-plus in victory-lap mode, regaling followers with back-catalog favorites because it soldiered on past a 2011 tour initially conceived of as a farewell. Instead, with assist from new guitarist Richie Faulkner, the heavy-metal legends have written one complete new chapter after one other. Like its glorious 2018 predecessor, Firepower, Invincible Shield affords ready-made anthems constructed across the precision riffing of Faulkner and longtime member Glenn Tipton that recall Priest of their prime whereas embracing a flashy, larger-than-life sheen. The MVP right here is Rob Halford, whose fierce conviction and staggering vary — from belt to snarl to full-on shriek — hold the band’s British metal sounding arena-primed and battle-ready on mighty, shout-along rockers like “Panic Attack” and the title monitor. —H.S.

This Denver death-metal quartet have been staring deep into the cosmos since their debut 2015 EP, Interdimensional Extinction, however they’ve by no means earlier than journeyed so far as they do on Absolute Elsewhere. A six-track (or, in case you want, three “tablets” divided between two tracks) launch into the outer galaxies, this adventurous album seamlessly interweaves bludgeoning blast beats and technically exact metallic assaults with spacey synth excursions — Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning even company on a monitor — and quietly intense moments of Pink Floyd-like introspection. Don’t let anybody inform you that in house, nobody can hear you shred, as a result of this mind-blowing masterwork fairly definitively proves in any other case. —D.E.

A testomony to the continued efficiency of Dickinson’s long-running collaboration with guitarist-songwriter-producer Roy Z, the Iron Maiden frontman’s first solo album in almost 20 years is often — and gloriously — excessive, a 10-song idea album about an occult-obsessed scientist concerned with a secret venture that’s harvesting and storing the souls of dying billionaires. There’s a Mandrake Project graphic novel as effectively, however you don’t even must comply with the story to be blown away by the theatrical (and at occasions intensely emotional) punch of tracks like “Afterglow of Ragnarok,” “Rain on the Graves,” or the 10-minute gothic nearer, “Sonata (Immortal Beloved).” —D.E.

High on Fire’s ninth full-length marked a momentous shift for the Oakland trio fronted by Sleep guitarist Matt Pike: the primary drummer swap in its quarter-century-plus historical past. But the arrival of Coady Willis (well-known within the underground for his sturdy bashing in Melvins, Big Business, and Murder City Devils) turned out to be extra of a footnote. Cometh the Storm delivered precisely what followers have come to count on from the band: a relentlessly riff-y ass kicking that makes you’re feeling such as you’re galloping into battle alongside some ruthless barbarian horde. Whether rocketing alongside at hardcore-punk pace (“The Beating”) or digging right into a craggy stoner-metal groove (“Sol’s Golden Curse,” epic nearer “Darker Fleece”), Willis supplied the thrust and swagger wanted to energy this weathered however nonetheless formidable behemoth. —H.S.

Epic doom steel is a tough (and extremely particular) style to nail with out feeling spinoff or tacky, however Philadelphia’s Crypt Sermon have been making it look infuriatingly simple for almost a decade. The band’s six members carry a ridiculously excessive stage of musicianship to the desk, and Crypt Sermon’s true power lies of their stellar songwriting (“Heavy Is the Crown of Bone” alone may gasoline its personal status fantasy sequence on HBO). The Stygian Rose is awash in muscular, deftly executed riffs that stomp between brooding doom and conventional heavy steel. The band confidently conjures fist-pumping hooks, rippling solos, and speed-metal swagger with out dropping an oz of esoteric edge. On the mic, Brooks Wilson’s gritty, commanding wail illustrates the LP’s fantastical tales with aplomb, beckoning the listener towards sure doom. The album additionally sounds big. In a simply world, Crypt Sermon could be on tour with Judas Priest tomorrow. —Ok.Ok.

Yes, Opeth’s 14th full-length finds frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt unleashing his first demise growls since 2008’s Watershed, however the actual story right here is that Sweden’s premier purveyors of progressive demise steel proceed to outdo themselves almost 35 years into their profession. An idea album about darkish household secrets and techniques unspooling within the wake of a wealthy nobleman’s demise, The Last Will and Testament is as moodily cinematic as it’s musically dexterous; you may virtually see the crumbling outdated ancestral mansion by which the motion takes place. It’s the form of album that requires and rewards your full consideration, and never simply since you received’t need to miss the pitch-perfect narration supplied by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson. —D.E.

The first solo album from former Slayer guitarist Kerry King is principally the “Still D.R.E.” of thrash steel. But the place Dr. Dre needed to remind his followers that he was nonetheless puffin’ his leafs, nonetheless fucking with beats, and nonetheless not lovin’ police after near a decade of absence, King needs his followers to know that although Slayer are basically hell certain, he’s nonetheless Satan’s preeminent ambassador. On From Hell I Rise, King continues to be drinkin’ his tequila, nonetheless fucking with riffs, and nonetheless not lovin’ the monks. In different phrases, it appears like Slayer — and at occasions, Slayer at their greatest. —Kory Grow