Cosmo’s Favorite Albums of 2024

There have been a lot of great death metal demos and EPs this year from the churning depths of the underground, with Bastard Mycosis, Purulency, and Cosmophage to name a few, but above all those, Cavern Womb has stood the test of time to be the best of em. Filthy, slime-ridden death metal that isn’t afraid to take trips into doomier territory or even psychedelic soloing, Stages of Infinity is a promising second release by these relatively new folks in the death metal scene as a whole. Tracks on here expertly blend together different styles of death metal without ever overstaying their welcomes, especially “Cryopreserved”, with its mournful soloing and lead bits — and I’m excited for the future of Cavern Womb, hopefully with a debut full-length next year.

I was mighty impressed by Zorn’s debut full length last year, bringing flanger and chorus infused blackened punk in a way similar to how Devil Master does it, but with way more sleaze. Therefore, when Endless Funeral was released earlier this year I was unprepared for it, but I’m glad I checked it out. This release is exactly what I wanted — more Zorn. Songs on here are short, fast, and filthy, and are a natural evolution of the sounds found on Zorn. With this being a mere 13 minutes, it’s infinitely replayable as well. “Warpath” kicks things off with a snaking lead riff into the trademark feral rasps Zorn is known for. Zorn’s path of destruction is only just beginning, and I just want more. Endless Funeral proves that they still have more rounds in the chamber, and if they keep up the intensity moving forward, they’ll be an unstoppable force.

When two of the biggest bands in the progressive death metal sphere release a split LP you need to pay attention. Diskord are legendary in the weirder death metal circles, dating back to the early 2000s, and Atvm currently has one of the best debut albums in recent memory with Famine, Putrid, and Fucking Endless. It would be a colossal understatement to say I was excited for this release, and it did not disappoint. Both sides of Bipolarities offer completely different takes on progressive death metal, with Diskord focusing on the off-kilter weirdness and Atvm focusing on the more long-form style. The Diskord side feels like a natural continuation of Degenerations, while Atvm, on the other hand, have released their best song to date with “Morphine”, and I want more. The trajectory these two bands are on now is massive, and this is without question the year’s best EP.

Pleroma is one of the greatest things I’ve ever blind bought. While perusing the metal archives back in June before Pleroma released, I saw that this was mistakenly labeled as technical death metal. Being a fan of this, and especially the more long-form side of it, I naturally wanted to check it out. I blind pre-ordered on bandcamp, and was blown away immediately. This is the long-form progressive metal album of the year, spanning different musical styles like lounge jazz, prog, death metal, and more. I’m so glad I found this, and I’ve come back several times throughout the rest of the year for the beauty within. Everything on Pleroma flows beautifully into each other, with highlight “Traversing the Depths” being one of the best songs I’ve listened to all year. Any fan of prog needs this.

I was first introduced to Still by none other than our own Alice F, who sent me their debut {} earlier this year and it was an instant hit. Blackened post-hardcore with a sense of desperation and melancholy sold me, so when Still announced A Theft, I was stoked. I wasn’t prepared for the sudden shift in styles though, as A Theft is one of the most uncomfortable sounding records released this year, and I mean that in the best way possible. Gone is the melancholy, replaced by an album wrought with tension and uncertainty, and the end result is a leaner, meaner package that I love coming back to. A Theft leans a lot more into dissonant black metal than anything else, and “Small Mercies of Falling Apart” is particularly huge, exuding a feeling of being pulled apart and dragged into the blackness below. I’m addicted to this record.

Defeated Sanity have returned, and every other brutal death metal band must bow before their overlords, as Chronicles of Lunacy is one of this legendary act’s finest albums, and my favorite since Disposal of the Dead // Dharmata eight years ago. Lille Gruber again proves why he’s the undisputed champion of the kit in extreme metal with rapid switches between all-out death metal assault and languid jazz patterns throughout Chronicles of Lunacy. The groove that makes Defeated Sanity so great is present throughout, especially on “Accelerating the Rot”, one of my favorite brutal death metal songs from this year. No matter what mood you’re in, whether it be for impressive technicality or nut-swinging knuckle-dragging caveman barbarity, Chronicles of Lunacy has you covered. I’m more of a recent convert to the brutal death metal style, and I can’t think of a band finer than Defeated Sanity for my money.

Every time I’ve come back to Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus this year I’ve discovered new things about it. Gigan and their particularly hypnotic blend of technical death metal that pushes boundaries where riffs are more akin to undulations than delivering a flurry of notes have returned, and this is easily their best album in over ten years. No other band makes music quite like this, and Gigan is one of the few technical death metal bands that can reliably dish out completely unique sounds. This record in particular eschews any conventions especially by slapping a nearly ten minute mostly noise track in the middle of the album and still manages to keep the flow rolling. I’m convinced that Gigan aren’t fully human themselves, and this music is the closest we’ll get to alien communication, because no other metal band can deliver the same atmosphere they do.

I’ve been following the path Griffon have set for themselves ever since discovering them and jumping more into the subset of medieval black metal in 2019, and five years after, third album De Republica has shed the medieval lyricisms for a more impassioned approach — with each song on here simultaneously praising and lamenting the joys and downfalls of the republic. This is the melodic black metal record that set the standard for me this year, and no other release has been able to come close in either songwriting or pure vibes. “L’homme du tarn” is the best track Griffon have written, and their style of furious blasts and more subdued sections have been melded perfectly here. It’ll take a lot for them to top this in future years, and I can’t wait to see them try. Melodic black metal is rarely a genre I love, but Griffon carry the standard high.

Acathexis’ debut LP came out of nowhere and hit me with an emotional gut punch back in 2019, and I wasn’t convinced we’d see a follow-up. Immerse was announced earlier in the year, and there were understandably massive expectations to fulfill — this is the only band in the DSBM style I love, and I wanted an amazing follow-up. Thankfully, Immerse doesn’t disappoint at all. Gentle guitar passages coincide with blistering black metal over four long tracks, but as with the debut, the real highlight is vocalist Dany Tee. Arguably one of the most impressive vocalists in the metal scene at large, he howls, rasps, growls, and shrieks in Ringwraith-ian faction across Immerse, adding a sense of pure anguish to an already depressing record. This is an amazing companion in the bleak winter months ahead, and the best way to experience it is to succumb to its warm, dark cocoon.

Before this year I hadn’t really listened to skramz before, but this year changed that. Thanks to some friends of mine, I’ve developed a deeper appreciation for this emotionally charged music. October brought with it one of the most beautiful albums I’ve listened to in recent memory — Laudare’s Requiem. Melding together furious blackened sections with more somber Latin Mass-inspired cello sections, I’ve been unable to stop listening to Requiem. “Lacrimosa” and “Sanctus” are the highlights here, with the mournful “Lacrimosa” being a setup to the apocalyptic “Sanctus”. No other record has been as heart-wrenching all year, or for the last few years for that matter. Every song on Requiem flows beautifully into one another, and every spin of it I uncover something new. Requiem is an astoundingly beautiful album, and is the pinnacle of this style of emotionally-charged music, right up there with So Hideous.

I went into Pneuma Hagion’s record this year expecting nothing only to be blown away by the sheer monolith this record is. From Beyond is less than thirty minutes of riffs that hit you like a truck from the word “go”. “Harbinger of Dissolution” sets the tone for the album, and there’s no fancy fretwork, no technicality to stare at slack-jawed in wonder and awe, only the sound of Pneuma Hagion crushing you to dust. I’m very picky when it comes to no-frills death metal — it has to really wow me to make me think it’s worth my time, and Pneuma Hagion does it for me. Buzzy, downtuned guitars, fat bass, and earth-shattering blasts alongside bestial roars permeate the atmosphere, and there’s something about From Beyond that makes it infinitely replayable. There isn’t a more enjoyable pure death metal album released this year.

I love the more nightmarish side of black metal. Artists that can expertly weave dark ambience with the sounds of being tormented by sleep paralysis demons is a sound I’ll never tire of. While there was a dearth of this specific subset of black metal this year, Parfaxitas nailed the formula on their debut Weaver of the Black Moon. A supergroup containing members from Suffering Hour, Whoredom Rife, Sinmara, and Oculus, among others, Weaver of the Black Moon came out of nowhere and immediately had me all sorts of excited for it. This is not a pleasant album to listen to — the tracks within are menacing, and yet there’s a hypnotic quality to it all with the addition of the fretless bass. YhA (Suffering Hour, others) does a fantastic job delivering snaking rhythms alongside the reverb-drenched lead tones, and any lover of this style of black metal needs to listen to this album.

More hellsounds await. Sacrificial Vein is a two-piece, yet their debut record Black Terror Genesis hit harder than most other bands this year. This is a harrowing album, with vocalist Elegist delivering a phenomenal vocal performance, ranging from shrieks to screams to demented laughter, and adds to a disturbingly oppressive atmosphere conjured up by multi-instrumentalist J.U, making up the landscape for a blackened death metal album that’s best experienced in the dark with a single candle lit. The use of ambience is also appreciated on Black Terror Genesis, as “Nil” is a closing track where this addition works, rather than adding padding for time. I’m quite confident that future Sacrificial Vein releases will be exactly up my alley, and all I can do is hope the next one comes sooner rather than later. Phenomenal debut.

If the apocalypse had a band dedicated to chronicling the sounds of it, Diabolic Oath are that band. Oracular Hexations is a huge step-up from their 2020 debut Profane Death Exodus, a great album in its own right, and their 2022 EP Aischrolatreia. Ostensibly, Oracular Hexations spawns forth feral war metal, but Diabolic Oath play a brand of this normally one-note genre that’s a lot more than the sum of its parts. This ain’t your Blasphemy/Conqueror worship, but a much more intricate beast. Playing with entirely fretless bass and guitars, Diabolic Oath play some of the most impressive riffs in the entire war metal micro scene that borders on being loosely considered prog and Oracular Hexations is one of the best war metal albums of the year. I gushed about this ripper back in April, and my love for it has only grown stronger. Hail the apocalypse!

Everyone’s tired of everything right now. Rent costs way too much, food costs too much, and people we once called friends are actually dicks. Pyrrhon feels this, and Exhaust is the result of that anger. Pyrrhon have always been pissed in their music, but what was a more built-up anger is now a full-fledged boiling-over rage on Exhaust. “Not Going to Mars” sets the tone immediately, and not once does Pyrrhon let up for the rest of the record. This was a surprise drop that shocked the entire metal underground, and it’s been as addictive over three months later compared to when it first released. Exhaust is quickly becoming my preferred dose of Pyrrhon alongside What Passes for Survival, and showcases them in full stride, with hearts full of resigned anger. Don’t sleep on this.

I grew up Catholic, and getting into extreme metal was a form of rebellion against that. I used to be able to claim that Teitanblood’s Death was the most evil record I’ve ever listened to, but Black Curse have their number and are closing in rapidly for that title, because the reverb-drenched, cavernous Burning in Celestial Poison feels like what would happen if you decided to summon a bunch of demons before getting high. Burning in Celestial Poison is the most impressive war metal album of 2024, and it’s not even close. I’m still encountering new things from it every time I listen, and I can’t imagine anything from this subgenre is going to move me quite as much in the future, save for a new Teitanblood record. Burning in Celestial Poison pushes the limits of what war metal can be, and Black Curse have once again proven that they are masters of this scene.

It was two years ago when I was introduced by a friend to Ingurgitating Oblivion. Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light blew me away when I first listened, and I clambered aboard the hype train for the follow-up album, originally slated for release in 2022. That became 2023, and then 2024. I can’t say I was expecting Ontology of Nought to actually release this year, but it did. And I still can’t quite wrap my head around it. Undoubtedly the year’s best death metal album, Ontology of Nought pushes what can be considered metal to such an extreme that borders on lunacy. There’s jazz, crushing death metal, modern classical, and more all sprinkled throughout this staggeringly long record, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m going to be chewing on this for a while to come, and Ontology of Nought was so close to becoming my album of the year. However…

…there was only one other choice, and Árstíðir Lífsins nailed everything with Aldrlok. Even now, nearly seven months later, I’m blown away by the passion poured into Aldrlok. This is the culmination of everything Árstíðir Lífsins have done up to this point, and it’s a magnificent emotional rollercoaster of a record that varies from being languid folk to maelstrom-esque black metal with a wide range of vocal styles: soft spoken word, deep chants, and piercing shrieks. I fucking love Aldrlok. When I was at my low points throughout the year, I could rely on this album to get me through everything. A borderline perfect album to cap off 2024, one of the greatest years for music in recent memory. While this is the undisputed album of the year, I’m looking forward to what gems 2025 will bring, and what new talent is lurking just below the surface, waiting to be discovered.