There was plenty of noise blaring in the world in 2024, but nothing distracted me from enjoying some stirring albums that dropped during this hectic year. Once again, the power of extreme music helped me cope with the extreme absurdities of modern civilization, and here are my top five records that reminded me of the beauty in barbarity.
No particular sub-genre or style dominates this list. My criteria is fairly simple: Does the album stick? Well, these releases continue to dominate the rotation in my car as I curb road rage and keep from plowing everybody off the road. Also, they produce stimulating discoveries with each listen, preventing me from zoning out and crashing.
Now let’s put the pedal to the metal!
5) NAILS – Every Bridge Burning (Nuclear Blast Records)
NAILS’ Every Bridge Burning is adrenaline incarnate, a perfect score for navigating assholes on the road. This record picks up right where You Will Never Be One of Us left off, even though it’s an eight-year follow-up. It’s a relentless wall of grindcore that employs brevity to the max. There’s no beating around the bush other than a peppering of pummeling beatdowns.
“Imposing Will” is an appropriate title for the album’s opener. It wastes no time dominating the sonic terrain with jarring speed and noise, then devastating with a breakdown finishing move. “Give Me the Painkiller” is as thrashy as it comes, and “Lacking the Ability to Process Empathy” is another highlight of the release, slicing with its harsh grooves. Todd Jones’ vocals are hostile and introspective throughout, and his new lineup of grinding misfits provides the vicious foundation for them.
4) Iniquitous Savagery – Edifice of Vicissitudes (Willowtip Records)
Greetings from Scotland! Now here’s a fist to your jaw of ruthless tech death! And oh yeah, it’s backed by roughly 10 years of formulated rage since Iniquitous Savagery’s debut full-length.
Edifice of Vicissitudes, from its opening crash in “Casualty of Diabolical Trial,” righteously strikes with barbaric precision like William Wallace. The ground-swelling volume outro in its closer “Bio-Digital Convergence in the Fourth Industrial Age” deals an inescapable final death blow.
These eight tracks do not overwhelm with technicality. There are plenty of slamming breakdowns and even a heroic sci-fi synth interlude that caps “Narcotic Exsanguination.” By the way, that same track happens to contain maybe the filthiest beatdown of the year following a cavernous vocal intro. Oof!
3) Dungeon Crawl – Maze Controller (Carbonized Records)
Normally, I’m not big into symphonic metal, nor do I get down with RPGs (role-playing games), but Dungeon Crawl combine these two elements into a spell I’m intoxicated by. I think it’s because, unlike most symphonic metal, their thrash style maintains that dirtiness and edge, especially in Maze Controller’s serpentine vocals (yes, the album is named after the frontman—gangsta).
“Red Shadows” hits hardest, wielding a sense of urgency and solid structure. It puts you in the heat of the game Maze Controller’s governing. “Lost in the Shifting Labyrinth” is a synth-oriented cinematic journey through the droning twists and turns of Maze Controller’s, well, maze. The album’s intro, “Roll For Initiative,” effectively projects the playing field with its heavy marching cadence.
Maze Controller isn’t a corny nerdfest even with its nerdtastic subject matter. It’s a composition of exciting thrash skillfully melding with melodic elements, creating a game that’s fun for the whole head-banging family!
Read my interview with Maze Controller here.
2) Defeated Sanity — Chronicles of Lunacy (Season Of Mist Records)
Like Iniquitous Savagery’s Edifice of Vicissitudes, Defeated Sanity’s seventh album, Chronicles of Lunacy, is a blistering barrage of technical death metal. What separates it, though, and what has always separated Defeated Sanity from the rest, is a disorienting, jazz-infused potpourri. This attribute is exacerbated by new guitarist Vaughn Stoffey—a longtime exclusive swing player. He turned to the dark side of death metal and is collaborating seamlessly with founding member and drummer Lille Gruber.
These eight tracks are presented in a natural, old-school display due to the production wizardry by Colin Marston at Thousand Caves Studio. Piccolo snares pang with vitriol, guitars are hairy, and the bass and vocals provide a piercing low-end. Unlike many modern tech-death releases, Chronicles of Lunacy actually sounds like it was recorded by humans in rooms, capturing the surroundings down to its combustible dust.
For all its off-timing and chaos, the material is well-structured, creating sections that remain in the brain. The pinch-harmonic beatdown in “The Odour of Sanctity” is as gully as they come. The drunken rhythms of “Temporal Disintegration” keep you guessing, and “Heredity Violated’s” hula-grooves are entrancing. All in all, the insane musicianship and rigorous vocals properly encompass the record’s title.
Read my interview with Lille Gruber here.
1) Chat Pile — Cool World (The Flenser)
Yes, I’m jumping on the Pile, too. They left me no choice! Cool World is an album for its time—a dark, anti-war, genre-bending work of art. Also, it’s that goddamn chorus effect on the guitar that floods my veins with warm ’90s nostalgia.
I like to dub Chat Pile an anguish rock band because that’s the vibe their ominous material portrays. Raygun Busch’s vocals range from hopeless meandering to unhinged screaming with tons of sarcasm and irony in between. In “I Am Dog Now,” the record’s opener, he’s a rabid beast, while in “Camcorder,” it sounds like he’s as disenchanted with life as humanly possible.
“Frownland” is the jam, with its “Scentless Apprentice” (Nirvana) groove and haunting vibe. This track gives me the most frisson and reassures me that new music can still hit me this way. “Shame” is super grungey and possesses a catchy hook that’s borderline chanting.
Each track on this landmark album has its distinctive qualities. There isn’t a let-down moment or filler tracks. Every song is delivered with a purpose, with conviction. Just like 2024, Cool World exudes a sense of urgency; it has plenty of important things to say and delivers its message in anguish.
Read my interview with Raygun Busch here.
