I’m not sure about you all, but 2024 has been a hell of a year. Filled with far more downs than ups than what I would care to admit, it has been a rough year in the personal life as I once again found myself clinging to Head-Banger Reviews as a tether to this corporeal world lest I find myself lost. As always though, this community and all this music is a huge part in what has always kept me going, and 2024 proved no different. Despite the personal adversities I faced, this year as absolutely stacked with excellence from end to end!
Here, as I have done every year, I pay tribute to the standout albums that were all up for consideration for the Top 30. From a lot of doom metal and psych rock that I ingested this year, my favorites see their return along with old bastions and new faces from extreme metal and beyond, I mean it from the pit of my soul when I say that this year was positively stuffed with excellence from practically all angles. Every style had plenty of pivotal movements that were not to be denied in any capacity, and while I know damn well I didn’t get around to it all, I find myself immensely satisfied with what I did come before.
These albums are not ordered in any particular form, and I do mean it when I say I am of the opinion that every album here is more than worthy of your time whether it’s a name your intimately familiar with or this is the first time laying your eyes upon the act. Each of these creations have helped me personally in a tremendous way, and I can only hope that even one of you can find even a fraction of the same satisfaction upon your own delves into these truly wondrous creations.
Tomorrow, I will present to you all my Top 30 Albums of 2024, but it is until then that I beg you to give heed to the creations that also helped my year worth experiencing: the Head-Banger Reviews’ Honorable Mentions of 2024!
As is the case every year, click the band name and album title to be taken to Bandcamp to experience the record.
Thank you all so much for all that you do, and I will see you all in the new year!
Daytripper – Book I: The Trip
“If this is what Daytripper is capable of out of the gate, one cannot help but shudder what can be accomplished with the simple gift of time. “The Trip” is utterly devilish in its intoxications with the very smoke of the land playing a big part…” (read full review here)
Ten Ton Slug – Colossal Oppressor
“…immense heaviness that is no less than acidic to the touch and downright infectious once its devilish rhythms land upon your ears. It becomes exceedingly clear extremely quick that Ten Ton Slug spent the silent years honing their already magnificent craft…” (read full review here)
High on Fire – Cometh the Storm
“…as much as continuation of mastery as much as it is the transition into a new age of High on Fire.” (read full review here)
Partholón – The Ocean Pours In
“The Irish scene has been cultivating some truly interesting names over the years, and Partholón absolutely deserves to be named in the same breath as some of the island’s most captivating acts…” (read full review here)
Ende – L’aube des Anathemes
“…it should be made apparent right from the get-go that this French act has only continued that trend of unrelenting darkness.” (read full review here)
Totengott – Beyond the Veil
“Where there was promise before going in, “Beyond the Veil” confirms any and all suspicions that we’ve ever had when it comes to Totengott.” (read full review here)
Emu – Emu
“If I were to go off of this creation and nothing else, I would not hesitate to claim that Emu is part of the next big thing when it comes to psychedelic rock in Australia.” (read full review here)
Psychlona – Warped Vision
“Every style has a handful of names that qualify as such with psychedelic rock and its contemporaries far from the exception. In an absolutely immense year for the sound, to see Psychlona come around to add their growing presence to the mix is only fitting.” (read full review here)
Ashen Tomb – Ecstatic Death Reign
“…Ashen Tomb has been hard at work to not just challenge itself to become the most imposing beast that it can become, but something that can standout in the vast underground.” (read full review here)
Wraithfyre – Of Fell Peaks and Haunted Chasms
“While the list for this mastermind has now gained another notch in its belt, the sheer power and magnificence of it all has yet to wane with the majesty and glory within “Of Fell Peaks and Haunted Chasms” speaking for themselves…” (read full review here)
Isolert – Wounds of Desolation
“Long has it been clear that the Greek scene in all that it has to offer is far from weak or lacking in quality. As one of many, Isolert still manages to stand out in such a form that feels downright intoxicating to behold for all that they’ve brought to the table…” (read full review here)
Devenial Verdict – Blessing of Despair
“…this is what it means to become utterly deadly at your craft with all the potency and magnitude that one could ask for to not just impress the listener, but prove that they are a tour de force of intensity that is simply intoxicating…” (read full review here)
Bog Wizard – Journey Through the Dying Lands
“What could have easily been naught but a brief venture that was a fun trollop by the end, Bog Wizard simply cannot be contained so easily even by itself!” (read full review here)
Aglo – Control & Torture
“…it is here with but two tracks that we see a brief but laser-focused showcasing of what Aglo is capable of. Capitalizing on every possibility that one can have with sludgy death metal…” (read full review here)
Esoctrilihum – Döth-Dernyàlh
aefgaga “…the seemingly benign addition of a 12-string acoustic guitar has opened a world of possibility for the already-accomplished entity. Across seven tracks that span well past an hour long in total, we see Esoctrilihum do what it does best…” (read full review here)
Yoth Iria – Blazing Inferno
“…Yoth Iria returns to show us just how far they’ve already come.” (read full review here)
Molder – Catastrophic Reconfiguration
“…Molder’s breed of intensity is that of a well-worn axe’s edge, beating and battering its victims with intense force with the end-result nothing more than a warm stain of blood upon the blasphemed earth.” (read full review here)
Lowen – Do Not Go to War With The Demons of Mazandaran
“Bigger, more imposing, and downright intoxicating while still maintaining Middle Eastern-inspired themes, it’s with their second full-length album that Lowen stands ready to dominate any and all who come before its might.” (read full review here)
Dwarrowdelf – The Fallen Leaves
“…in a discography that was already something to be respected, yet Dwarrowdelf really seems to have tapped into something else altogether to bring this record to life.” (read full review here)
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